Darkest Dungeon Catch All

I almost never bring torches now, except on boss runs and situations where I'm running a party that's perhaps a bit underpowered for what I want them to do. Although I still haven't done a champion run.

I'm sure I'll be bringing plenty of torches for those at least at first, and probably the rest of the way. I'm going to miss all that sweet loot, but I expect my days of running dark are about to abruptly end.

My squad is mostly level 5 now so I'm going to have to give champion a go soon. I think there's still 2 veteran bosses to do and I'm not sure I have enough veterans to pick them off. Going to have to move up to champion just to get some heroes killed off since they're all too good to be bothered with a lowly veteran run now.

edit: and, first champion run down, if you count making it through one fight losing 2 heroes as "down". I'd only lost 4 heroes total up to this point. The reason: I forgot trinkets. Again. My healer was healing for pitiful amounts and I couldn't make it through what should have been a fairly easy fight. I did remember trinkets on one character, which is why I didn't get the warning that I should equip them. Oh well.

The new patch is out, with the new Antiquarian class! I like her quite a bit - you can carry more gold, find unique artifacts that sell for a nice chunk o' cash, and there are new class-specific trinkets. She also has a pretty potent protection buff, a weak heal, and a little stabby-stabby ability that is fine to finish off nearly dead foes.

Plus, NEW WAYNE JUNE QUOTES! Even if the new class doesn't float your boat new June content should get you frothing at the mouth to boot the ol' Dungeon up again.

Most importantly did they expand the character roster? They can't add a new class and not give me more slots, I need 2 of everything in case one dies! And I guess more than 2 vestals since I'm pretty sure I have 4 of them.

Yes they did expand it - not by much, but there are 3 more roster slots available at the highest upgrade. As a side note, it is easy to mod this value in the game files.

Here's a link to a mod that accomplishes this:
http://www.nexusmods.com/darkestdung...?

Got this for the Vita on sale for $10 (I think) and tried it out when I was away for the holidays. It almost got pushed aside due to the initial learning curve but now that I got the hang of it this is the only game I've been playing.

This seems like a perfect game for the Vita but the controls take some getting used to. Only thing I'm really baffled by is equipping artifacts - seems like it should automatically open the artifact menu when you hit the equipment slot rather then have to hit triangle.

UI isn't the game's strong point, especially when it comes to artifacts. Even dozens of runs i would still launch missions without everyone having equipment or some of my best gear on someone in the bar. That said. This game is an amazing on the go grind. Glad you're enjoying it!

One of my nine pro tips. Spend no money on traits. Use your money on upgrading the stage coach a little bit then all on equipment and skills, then stress reduction when you can. Those are the key spots.

If you can't afford to stress heal an affliction just toss the character ornsens then on a lightless loot run.

Only put in a casual 6 hours through out 2016 but I suddenly got a hankering to learn this thing yesterday.

Going to go in with a Dark Souls meets Xcom mentality and see how I fare.

Radiant mode is now out if anyone was on the fence waiting for a quicker, less grindy, experience of Darkest Dungeon.

I restarted in radiant as I never finished first time through. it does seem to be quite a bit quicker with faster town upgrades thanks to lots of heirlooms being handed out and I believe a bit easier time in dungeons in terms of stress and light; specifically it seemed to me that light levels didn't dip much when going back through a corridor you'd already been down.

I didn't actually read the update before firing it up as I didn't want to know specifics, so I'm not sure what all they changed, but I've definitely gotten off to a very fast start.

Outlandish wrote:

Radiant mode is now out if anyone was on the fence waiting for a quicker, less grindy, experience of Darkest Dungeon.

That sounds promising. I loved the game, but stopped because it was just getting too grindy.

I think I read somewhere that you're supposed to be able to complete it in under 40 hours now; how much under I don't know. That's probably still too grindy for some, but not near as bad as it was.

Picked this up last night on steam , its currently 50% off, was lucky because I almost bought it the previous night for the full price.

Expansion is out as of yesterday!

Got it. Started a third campaign (prev. two unfinished) and did a couple initial dungeon runs. Out of the gate it's not significantly different (didn't expect it to be), but there were some new items. I forget the name of the one, but you buy it pre-dungeon run, along with torches, etc. Not sure what it does yet. During the run I found a vial of blood which is apparently something you can keep and store, but no idea what it's used for yet. Anyone know?

yeah the blood ties into the new curse you can get from the garden area. If a character is infected they need to occasionally consume blood vials or bad things happen, apparently.

The new region opens up after about your second mission, i think. Assuming that's not random.

Played a lot more of a game incorporating the expansion pack now and it's really fun!

The structure of the Courtyard missions are completely different to the regular grind and keeps things interesting. I'll spoiler tag my progress so far in case you want to go in blind (which i recommend)...

Spoiler:

So far, it's split into very specific non-random chapters (except maybe in physical layout which is probably still randomised). The first mission (unlocking around your third day or so) is a basic introduction to the area, which is short, but introduces a new map mechanic (the map reveals itself as you progress, room by room, so you can find yourself at legitimate branching paths and dead ends).

From there, with the gates open, you get a counter of sorts showing you how much the infection has spread (presumably this is based on the number of missions you do and days pass). This results in more and more random encounters with the new vampire creatures in the regular zones.

In order to get into the second courtyard mission, you need an invitation, which drops from specific creatures in these random encounters (i think he only shows up once infection rate is high, though).

And the second mission is where I am now. It is a HUGE mid-level dungeon, with dozens of rooms, branching paths, locked doors and is designed in such a way that you need to forge some progress forward and then retreat back out to rest (at no cost, and you keep all your loot). It takes 1 invitation per attempt to enter, so you always have to keep mixing in your regular missions for more invitation drops (which are common enough not to be annoying, you usually get at least 1 per mission at this stage).

I've no idea how close I am to finishing it, but I've made probably around 8 or 9 runs at it so far, each making gradual forward progress and it's GREAT. I almost wish they'd come up with this for the original five dungeons because it really fits well with the idea of pushing deeper and deeper into some massive labyrinth over many days and attempts.

Meanwhile, I'm getting worried about the fact that the number of merc's infected with the blood are rapidly starting to outnumber the uninfected in my crew roster :O

If you've not checked out DD in a while I really recommend giving the expansion a go, 'cause i really think it's given a huge shot in the arm to the regular vanilla campaign.

I haven't done nearly enough in it yet to get a good feel for it (I've only completed the first quest mission in the new area; I had a bizarre amount of trouble with the boss in there), but generally I agree with this. It definitely adds to the game, although if they're going to create more inventory items I'd of liked more inventory. I have a hard enough time managing that as it is!

I've been playing the hell out of this for the past week. Steam tells me I've got 153 hours into this game and yet I think I've only ever run one mission into the actual Darkest Dungeon wing. I keep starting new games every 6 months or so and I get 30 hours or so in and run out of steam. This time I'm really going to try to stick to it and finish up a campaign.

I've read all the gripes people have with the Courtyard and the crimson curse. I waited until about week 30 to run the first courtyard mission with a very well geared party of Level 2's. It was a breeze. I'm now up to week 45 and so far I've only got one character who has contracted the crimson curse. I'm about to run the second Courtyard mission so I may change my tune after that but, so far, I haven't found the new content to be too difficult. I like the new blueprint additions and have scrimped and saved to constructed both the Bank and Cartographer's Camp, which have both been very beneficial.

All in all a very hearty thumbs up from me on the expansion. Hopefully I won't get distracted before I can put another 20 hours into this one and finally finish a campaign.

I wish I'd picked DD up sooner than the Steam Sale, the atmosphere is perfect for a dungeon crawler. No party member deaths yet, but I'm only 2 hours in. The narrator is gold, Jerry. Gold.

My only gripe so far, and I know it's illogical because you still get to pick your route, is that the side scrolling nature makes it seem like we're seeing how far we can walk in a line before having to retreat. I guess it's because I grew up on isometric or 3D dungeon representations.

Back to the Pit!

I need to play this game with some intentionality. Anyone have a good beginners guide they would recommend?

Chad

Copingsaw wrote:

I've been playing the hell out of this for the past week. Steam tells me I've got 153 hours into this game and yet I think I've only ever run one mission into the actual Darkest Dungeon wing. I keep starting new games every 6 months or so and I get 30 hours or so in and run out of steam. This time I'm really going to try to stick to it and finish up a campaign.

My story with this game has been much the same (although I'm at a mere 98 hours; that's a huge number for me on a single game that isn't a Witcher 3-style RPG). When I picked up Crimson Court it had been months since my last run, so I started yet another campaign, got about three weeks in, thought, "This is dumb," and went back to my 52-week campaign (which is now approaching 70, I think). I'm so glad I went back to it as I don't think I would have lasted on yet another restart and having a full roster is probably better for approaching the Crimson Court content.

I'm very much digging what this add-on is selling. I've gotten more infected than Copingsaw has, but it's taken several in-game weeks of getting that rando crimson mob in a standard dungeon and taking a bad beat on a bite. (I swear it always happens when I almost kill a crimson beast, but not quite and their next attack gets one of my squaddies.) I definitely haven't felt overwhelmed by it at this point (I've also cut a couple of infected loose) and I think it's an interesting way to shake things up, as are the districts (have only built one) and some of the new loot you can get. I still need to get a flagellant character leveled up, but I keep reading they're incredibly powerful once they get below 50% health during a run.

At this point, I've cleared out all but one of the middle level bosses (+Wulvf) and am very close to making my first run in a Darkest Dungeon quest as I'm starting to accumulate a handful of Level 6 characters (with a bunch of 5s right behind them). I still haven't done the second Court quest (for the Baron) as it has taken forever to get an invitation (finally got one on my last run), but will tackle that one in my next couple tries. Such a good game.

Chooka, not sure about a good beginner's guide but the Darkest Dungeon wiki has a lot of good resources. Specifically, check out their tables of curio interactions. I have found that indispensable. Their guidelines for what you need when venturing into various dungeon areas is also pretty useful.

chooka1 wrote:

I need to play this game with some intentionality. Anyone have a good beginners guide they would recommend?

Chad

There's a wiki that's pretty good for explaining what stuff does (some people enjoy working it out, others don't), but I'm not sure about guides in hte sense of "upgrade X first".

Thank you both. Heading to the wiki.

Chad

This guide also helped a relative newbie like me.
http://guides.gamepressure.com/darke...

Knowing a few smart moves to help will hopefully lead to some progression and maintain my interest in sticking with it.

Chad

I am still playing the hell out of this game and am really enjoying the new content. I'm surprised it isn't getting more run here. The art direction and design of this game are really really good.

One thing I will say is that once you understand the various classes and the game mechanics, beginner and veteran missions are generally very easy. Champion missions, however, require both a firm grasp of game mechanics and a mental toughness. They will test both your resolve and your sanity.

I really love this game and was playing it non-stop until Zodiac Age released. Hopefully I can get back into it after I'm done with Final Fantasy. On my last attempt I managed to down the first couple bosses, but ended up having to quit anyway because I entered the Crimson Court way too early.

I mean to start a game in the new 'less grindy mode'. I can't remember what it's called - wait I think it's radiant mode.

Well I finally finished the game on darkest mode. Took me 112 weeks of game time. I finished all the content including all of the expansion. It don't know how many actual game hours it took me but I would guess around 80. It was a long slog ... well worth it, but I was starting to falter at the end. My recommendation for anybody not wanting to invest several weeks of gaming into this is to play on Radiant mode. Darkest mode is for only those who truly love the game.

Congrats! In my opinion with as hard as Radiant can be, finishing the game on Darkest is truly an accomplishment.

Just started playing. What do you wish you had learned at the beginning of the game that you didn't learn until later?

jrralls wrote:

Just started playing. What do you wish you had learned at the beginning of the game that you didn't learn until later?

When it dawned on me to not heal up my rookies. They are expendable. If they survive and level up, those are the ones to save.