The first time you're introduced to the decrepit and devolved manor estate of Darkest Dungeon, you were probably surprised that you can venture straight into the final level right away. Of course, you likely didn't because whatever horrors awaited you there didn't care about your ego and your mad gaming skills. The game punishes overconfidence, so preparing forthedarkest dungeon in the game is what the grind's all about.
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So how exactly do you prepare for it apart from the obvious trinket roulette and hero recruitment drive? That's why we're here. There are only so many ways you can prepare for the final level of Darkest Dungeon. We're assuming you're probably nearly there after exhausting all the lesser dungeons in the game; some reminders are due before you finally delve down the dreaded depths of the Darkest Dungeon.
10 Practice Killing Beast, Humans, And Eldritch Enemies
You don't actually need to worry much about the non-boss enemies of the Darkest Dungeon. You've already faced the majority of them before; humans, beasts, and Eldritch monsters are the flavors of the final level.
You'll want to practice dealing with them by going into the Warrens or the Weald and turning any beast or human you see into proverbial punching bags. You'll also want to adjust your party compositions accordingly. Anything that can deal easily with humans and beasts is gold; Eldritch monsters can go to hell, just bring an Occultist.
9 Practice Dealing With Stress
Another thing you'll want to practice dealing with is stress as it seems to want to follow you in-game, not just in real life. Such is the case in Darkest Dungeon and the prolonged dungeoneering in the final level is a great source of stress for your party.
The enemy attacks also deal extra stress to anyone and the foreboding atmosphere of the place alone is enough to drive your party members insane. For easier stress management, you can bring a Jester, but he's not that necessary as other heroes such as the Crusader can also fill in for the stress relief role.
8 Bring A Good Healer
The key to enduring the Darkest Dungeon, or just about any long dungeon in the game, is bringing a good healer. The Vestal is the best among them and she can also help in managing the party's stress.
Other characters that can provide some backup healing are the Crusader or the Plague Doctor but don't rely on them solely. The Vestal is still a better investment so make sure to have one at a high enough level.
7 Bring Someone With Stun And Blight
Now that you've improved your party's survivability in the Darkest Dungeon, it's time to cover your offensive bases. Stun and Blight are two of the best skills in the game that allow you to disrespect and toy with the bosses and tough enemies with glee.
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Stun takes them out of combat while Blight damages them regardless of their defense. It just so happens that the Plague Doctor specializes in both of those skills. So having one in your party or a high-level Plague Doctor before going into the final level is already an advantage.
6 Bring Countermeasures For Damage-Over-Time
Just as you'd want to deal damage-over-time to enemies using Blight or even Bleed, so too will they give you a taste of your own medicine. Lots of attacks in the Darkest Dungeon will bleed out or infect your heroes. Two can play that game.
That's why stocking up or saving gold for Bandages or Antivenom is crucial if you want to keep your party healthy in the final level. Heroes with the Wound Care Camping skill are also good to have as that can be used to heal Blight or Bleed.
5 A Party That Can Hit All Four Ranks Is Mandatory
Combat can often become a pitfall in long dungeons and result in disastrous deaths or stress buildup. You'll want to reduce the time your party spends on combat as much as possible and to do this, you must work on heroes that can hit all enemy ranks.
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Crusaders, Highwaymen, Bounty Hunters, or even Arbalests.Most classes can hit 1-2 ranks.Just make sure that your party's combined specializations can reliably hit any enemy. This way, you don't have to bother with destroying enemy corpses and waste a turn doing so.
4 FourCamping Skills Go A Long Way
Camping is the perfect opportunity for your party to recover from stress, damage, or debilitating status effects. In order to maximize this healing moment for your party, you'll want to ensure that each of your final dungeon heroes is a great outdoorsman.
That is, having a Camping Skill such as Wound Care or Pep Talk is irreplaceable for trying to repair the impact of long dungeons. So make sure to take care of any hero who has developed such Camping Skills. They might just save your party in the future.
3 Bring Characters You Don't Mind Losing
Now here's the hard part about the final mission. It's also ironic advice since we've been telling you all this time to build your heroes up and make them irreplaceable. Well, you must also not develop an attachment to any heroes you'll want to take to the final level.
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Without going into detail or spoiling too much, Darkest Dungeon's final level has a big narrative surprise. Although, if you've made it that far already, then you're probably accustomed to treating your heroesas expendable fodder.
2 Forget About Curios And Spades
The final level of Darkest Dungeon isn't that rewarding item-wise. In fact, you've probably gotten all the trinkets you want and need from the previous levels. Defeating the final boss in the final level is mostly just for bragging rights.
To that end, curios and other treasure chests are not as ubiquitous in this level compared to the earlier dungeons. Hence, you don't need to pack up as many spades as possible in order to reap some rewards. You can allot that precious inventory space for something else instead.
1 The Final Boss Isn't Really That Hard, So Relax A Bit
With all that's been said and done, you can rest assured that you probably won't find the final boss of the game too difficult once you've had your fill of the other long dungeons in the game and the more annoying bosses.
Parts 2 and 3 of the final level are the most difficult part and everything else is more or less manageable if you have torches and followed the previous advice. You don't need to stress yourself too much before going into the Darkest Dungeon.
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