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Once you've completed the Confession of Denial in Darkest Dungeon 2, new areas will open up for more advanced runs. One of these is the Shroud, the home of the Fisher Folk. If you're brave enough, you can raid their Sacred Pier and destroy the Leviathan, the terrifying sea monster that the Fisher Folk worship!
The Leviathan is one of the largest bosses in Darkest Dungeon 2, with only its head and a single hand ever appearing on-screen. Never fear, though, because with this guide you'll be able to bring down the scaly, slimy giant!
Where To Find The Leviathan In Darkest Dungeon 2
The Shroud can appear as a possible destination when you plan your route from an inn during the Confession of Resentment or later. It pays to bring a party that can resist forced movement or is able to fight effectively while out of position, because the Fisher Folk and the Leviathan itself will disrupt your formation constantly!
Like the game's other bosses, the Leviathan waits at the end of the Lair in the Shroud. The only way to face the beast is to fight your way through two waves of Fisher Folk. For the most part, this enemy type is on the weaker side, but they have lots of disruptive abilities that can hamper your game plan. It's best to go after the Leviathan earlier in the run, before negative relationships between your Heroes start to restrict your options even further.
The Leviathan's Abilities
The Leviathan has a fairly predictable pattern, but if you aren't ready for its attacks you could be in for a rude awakening. It will start the fight with Eyes Of The Storm, which will mark two of your Heroes. The next round, it will cast Deep Rising, which causes its gigantic hand to emerge from the depths. The hand is an aggressive attacker that deals damage and forces your Heroes to move around.
When it first spawns, the hand will use Undertow, targeting one of the two Heroes marked by Eyes Of The Storm. The attack attempts to pull the targeted Hero to the front rank; if it's successful, the Hero is dragged under the water and removed from the battle until the hand is defeated!
Throughout the fight, fog will roll in and out. Whenever the fog appears, each of your Heroes has a chance of becoming Blinded!
While the hand is battering your party, the Leviathan's head will continue to debuff the party using Tidal Surge, which places Barnacles on your side of the battlefield. Any Hero that moves off of a position with Barnacles - willingly or not - is inflicted with Bleed. Even worse, Breath Of The Sea can inflict Vulnerable on your entire team, setting you up for a rough couple of attacks from the hand.
When the hand is destroyed, the captured Hero will wash up in the front rank of the party, pushing the rest of your team back; they'll have taken damage and Stress from their time underwater, so they will likely need healing. The next round, the Leviathan will use Eyes Of The Storm again, starting the cycle over.
Strategy For Defeating The Leviathan
It's important that everyone in your party, even the support characters, is capable of dealing at least some damage during this fight. If your primary damage-dealer gets taken underwater, it will take a long time to free them if the rest of the party can't make up the difference. Try to destroy the hand as quickly as possible using heavy melee attackers like the Leper or Hellion, while the rest of the party manages buffs and debuffs or makes ranged attacks against the head.
The hand only has 24 HP, but it will continue to respawn over and over. The sooner you destroy it, the more you can focus on wearing down the head!
The Flagellant and Plague Doctor are both excellent for this fight, because the Leviathan has zero Blight Resistance. It's rare for a regular enemy to be that vulnerable, let alone a boss, so use that to your advantage and pile as many stacks of Blight onto the head as you can. The Grave Robber can also help with this, but her low Move Resistance can make her a liability against the Leviathan. On the other hand, she can work together with the Jester to quickly reconfigure your formation after your Heroes have been thrown around!
When the hand isn't around, hit the Leviathan's head with everything you've got! It moves to the front rank during this time, making it a prime target for your melee Heroes. Once you've gotten the rhythm of the fight down, it becomes simply a matter of outlasting the Leviathan.