Darkest Dungeon (PC)

Starting a thread to share tips and talk about this awesome, awesome game.

www.darkestdungeon.com/

It's early access but it is really polished. They're still adding two more character types and balancing the different units, also a couple dungeons are still unfinished. The gist of the game is like a hero management game/dungeon crawl RPG. So heroes come and go but you are like the provisioner sending them into deeper and deeper dungeons.

Some early tips for you:

1) Bring plenty of torches and always keep the light level 70+. It makes a huge difference
2) On longer maps you get to camp. YOU choose when camping happens but it can only be done in rooms---just click on the firewood
3) Just consider your first play a throwaway. You're going to start over again in all likelihood so don't worry too much about. You can really run your game into the ground early
4) First expansions really need to be to the hero caravan to make sure that 3-4 heroes are entering at all times and you have a big, full roster. You have to cycle heroes in and out every mission since they start going insane. You go through a lot of them.
5) Hit that retreat button if you're about to lose good heroes, it's usually not worth losing anyone worthwhile. There are always more people coming---and remember that heroes are FREE to recruit.

Love to hear hero combos and strategies you guys are using. I've been relying on the straightforward types and only venturing into the Ruins (undead) so far---so like Crusaders, Vestals, Hellion, Graverobber have been getting a lot of play with me. I'm not enjoying the tricky support classes (e.g. Plaguebearer guy) all that much but that's probably just an experience thing.

I tried watching you play but Steam said your system couldn't handle it.

ha, I totally forgot about that feature! Yeah, I've been playing on a laptop that isn't much...

This has been on my Steam watch list for a while now, and I was watching a playthrough video from Quinns from Shut up and sit down last night. I really want to give it a try, but I also want to give Invisbile Inc and Massive Chalice a try too. Goddamn it Steam.

I picked this up during the Steam sale, and am looking forward to delving into it.

I played the beta a lot when I was on paternity leave, but now that I'm back at work I haven't played in months. So some of what I have to say might not be applicable if things have been nerfed. To your numbered points:

1. Light is kind of overrated, especially at first. You're going to lose so many low-level guys that keeping them sane isn't a big priority.
2. Yup, camping is awesome. But hold off on developing the camp skills; they are pricy for minor benefit.
3. I recommend NOT doing this. If you start over you lose all your town upgrades. It's way better to dismiss all your crazy people and recruit fresh meat.
4. Agree, but armor and weapon upgrades are at least as important.
5. Yep.

One good strategy at the beginning of the game is to go on total throwaway delves in order to get gold. Gold is the scarcest resource at the start of the game. Charge in with four fresh recruits. Don't bother with torches or food or anything else -- too expensive. Kill things, get as much loot as possible. As long as at least one party member survives, you can abandon the dungeon with all the gold. Dismiss anyone who is damaged beyond help. Repeat as necessary.

For party composition, the main thing you want is to have party members who have attacks that move them around. Keeping your characters in the correct rank is very important -- if your heavy hitter is at the back, and your healer is up front, you're going to have to waste valuable turns shifting people around. But developing skills that let them (e.g.) move forward two ranks and attack will pay off big. I like the Highwayman for this.

Other important skills are ones that blind or stun enemies. They lose their turn while your other party members gang up on the active ones. The Plague Doctor is really good for this.

A good game. Now I want to go back to it.

The RPG equivalent of this is Luke Crane's Torchbearer. A very fun, brutal game about grave robbers getting ground down.

Great game, backed the Kickstarter and have been playing it off and on ever since. So excellent on so many fronts (Art! Writing! Voiceover!) that the weak spots stand out to me. My only complaints have to do with the Vice/Virtue and stress systems.

I want all of the Virtues and Vices to be directly related to in-game events, or a the very least not contradictory of same. It's great, for instance, that a wild dog will give you Tetanus, or a barfing pig-man will make you Bulimic, but why do you get "Weald Explorer" after exploring the Ruins? More traits than not appear to be awarded at random; coupled with the sheer number of them, the characters end up feeling less distinct than they might with fewer traits of greater impact.

And it really bugs me that when a character maxes out stress and goes into a negative or positive state (can't remember the terminology), it seems so dramatic but has no lasting effects outside of the dungeon. The minor traits take on greater weight than these "stress break" moments, which should be character-defining. At the very least, I want s given character to always break the same way -- if my Grave Robber goes "Masochistic" one delve and "Sadistic" the next, her personality is further watered down.

I feel like for a game that really sells itself on this character trait stuff -- and they do deserve credit for bringing that stuff to the fore -- they're not following through on these particular concepts. I've brought it up on their forums and I suppose can still hold out hope that things will shift before final release.

Still a great game, regardless of my qualms.

Oh yeah, and dysjunct, I beg to differ about the light thing. I consistently keep my light at 76+, I haven't lost a single character, and they're all up to level 3. Might just be a playstyle thing.

I think next to FTL, Darkest Dungeon is a great game. Another one to keep an eye is Guild of Dungeoneering (the creator was inspired by Dungeon Quest).

My most successful set group has been (back --> front): Occultist, Highwayman, [Hellion], [Hellion]. I think the Occultist is a far better healing deal than the Cleric. And when your Valkyries are buffed to resist bleed, the negatives from Wyrd Healing don't seem so bad.

If Arkham Horror was every translated into a game. I think I'd want it to be done in a Darkest Dungeon-life fashion.

I've just been grinding out low level stuff, beat the necromancer first boss and then doing level 1s to try to up my dudes' levels and equipment. I think my favorite class is the merc guy with the shield. His normal attack is decent but I love his Retribution skill which gives you riposte.

bioball wrote: My most successful set group has been (back --> front): Occultist, Highwayman, Valkyrie, Valkyrie. I think the Occultist is a far better healing deal than the Cleric. And when your Valkyries are buffed to resist bleed, the negatives from Wyrd Healing don't seem so bad.

I've never seen the Valkyrie class...

Sorry, I meant "Hellion"- which doesn't quite fit the class like the other names.

I love the Hellion... good call. My favorite is the attack the last rank move from the first row. I end up opening with it most times.