As it did in its predecessor, Darkest Dungeon 2 has a very volatile, oft-frustrating Stress mechanic that will threaten your heroes constantly. You can't really blame them, what with their days consisting of perilous journeys, fights with horrific cannibals and cultists, and the awful food they have at those inns.
Monitoring and managing stress is one of the most important tasks that the game will give you, and learning how to go about it may be the key to success. It's also important to note that even with the strongest tools available, your heroes will inevitably have breakdowns - it's how you recover that's important.
This guide was written during the Early Access release of Darkest Dungeon 2. These details are subject to changes as a result.
Stress Overview
A hero's Stress is tracked underneath their health bar. It is a gauge of ten pips that fill out with white to denote a point of Stress.
The first three pips are smaller than the rest, and you can consider these "safe Stress" - it's when the larger pips start being filled that you have to worry. Characters with a high amount of Stress are more likely to insult each other while traveling or during battle, which will reduce their affinity with their teammates.
When all ten pips get filled the hero will undergo a mental breakdown. This is a worst-case scenario. Not only will they lose a substantial amount of affinity with all of their allies, but they can be reduced to critical health. This is a nightmare during battles and can be the thing that comes between you winning and losing.
Somewhat luckily, all Stress pips are removed after a mental breakdown.
How To Manage Stress
The first step to managing your heroes' Stress levels is to recognize where Stress changes come from.
- Stress will randomly increase and decrease as you travel and your heroes banter and bicker. When they are at high levels of Stress (i.e. they have some of their larger Stress pips filled) there is a much higher chance of them bickering and increasing Stress for others.
- Heroes getting in the way of each other's actions in battle thanks to a sour relationship will also increase Stress.
- Some enemies have attacks that are designed to cause Stress.
- Some enemies can inflict Horror which increases a hero's Stress every round and functions similarly to the DoT ailments - Burn, Bleed, and Blight.
- Some Inn Items can cause Stress increases randomly, for example, the Whiskey Barrel which can either heal or damage Stress.
- Some Combat Items can also cause Stress increases in exchange for their main benefits. An example of this is the Adrenaline Tonic, which inflicts Stress in exchange for a very large heal.
- Party members dying will vastly increase Stress, especially if they had a good relationship.
- When at a crossroads while traveling, heroes will often produce a small speech bubble denoting which path they wish to take. If you take their choice of path they will heal one Stress pip, and lose one Stress pip if you disagree with them.
It's also handy to know what all of your options for reducing Stress are.
- One of the main methods of reducing Stress is to use Inn Items such as Poetry. Some of these are risky, but many are not and should be used to keep your party's sanity high.
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Many heroes have Stress-healing moves. The Plague Doctor has Ounce of Prevention, the Man at Arms has Bolster, and the Jester has Inspiring Time, to give you some examples.
- Probably the best hero ability for Stress healing is Ounce of Prevention, but it only has this aspect once it has been upgraded. Make this a priority if using the Plague Doctor.
- Keeping your intra-party affinities high is another great way to manage your Stress levels. When your heroes help each other out in battle they will heal also heal a little Stress.