Darkest Dungeon 2 Patch Notes September 2023

Darkest Dungeon is my love to hate it but hate to love it game, mainly because of the challenge. All it takes is a single mistake, and my run is ruined. That said, the game receives updates, which means I need to stay on top of what's new to ensure I can survive. I also need to verify any mods I have installed still work. So, let's look at what's new with the Darkest Dungeon 2 patch notes.

Darkest Dungeon 2 Build Number: 1.02.54580 - September 26, 2023

Our latest quality of life update has completed its public beta period and is now available for all game owners on Steam and the Epic Games Store. We want to thank everyone who submitted feedback during the beta. Overall, the changes received an overwhelmingly positive response, and we were able to take the feedback we received and use it to tweak and refine these new features.

Darkest Dungeon II remains our studio's whole focus, and we look forward to sharing more updates and expansions with you!

Monster Death Armor: We have introduced an entirely new mechanic for how monsters deal with Death’s Door. Previously, some monsters had Deathblow Resistance just like heroes. This sometimes led to incredibly frustrating moments where a lucky monster would defy all odds and survive endless blows.

We listened to the feedback and decided to rework the system. Now, death protection for monsters is token based rather than resistance percentage based. Monsters who previously had Death Resistance will now have one or more Death Armor tokens. When such a monster is reduced to 0 hp, the first Death Armor token is consumed. Further damaging blows consume one Death Armor token each. When the monster has no further Death Armor, damage will kill them outright.

We hope that this change will reduce the worst of the maddening RNG elements present in battle, and allow for more concrete tactical play. We have made adjustments to all skills, quirks, and items that have previously interacted with Death’s Door Resist to now engage meaningfully with the new token based system. Specifically, some skills and effects have the execution keyword, which allows for bypassing a set amount of Death Armor entirely.

Swap Hero Paths at The Inn: A much requested feature, now a reality! The goal of this change is to allow players to better strategize for the region ahead, and create a more dynamic party state across the entire expedition. Changing paths costs a nominal sum and will refund any mastery points spent on that character, allowing you to respec your hero.

Choosing Hero replacement at the Inn: Another community request brought to life! Now, when you arrive at The Inn after losing a hero, you are able to pick which replacement hero (from the available pool) to bring into the party. The intent of this change is to allow for more strategy when trying to save an expedition after losing party members.

Factions are back in Road Battles! Factions have been reintroduced to road battles to add greater variability to routes, and an additional challenge for those tired of the regular mix of Pillagers and Gaunts.

Related: Affinity System Guide – Darkest Dungeon 2

COMBAT

General

• Fixed an issue in which extra actions were incorrectly being granted when a Hero was already on a turn granted by an extra action
• Stygian Flame no longer increases Deathblow RES on monsters
• Stygian Flame now provides an additional 1 Death Armor to relevant monsters on combat start
• After equipping a torch or pet, other pets and torches will be removed from the store
• Choose your skill order: The order in which you select your hero's active skills will be the order they appear on the bar.
• New VFX added to the Bounty Hunter poster to improve visibility in the Inn

Combat Items

• Death Cap Spores no longer reduce Deathblow RES
• Death Cap Spores now remove 1 Death Armor from the target

Trinkets

• Covert Cloak no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Covert Cloak now has “Execution 1” property for Ranged skills
• Staggering Striker no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Staggering Striker now has “Execution 1” property for Melee skills
• Dismas’ Head no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Dismas’s Head now has “Execution 1” property for Ranged skills
• Vengeful Kill List no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Vengeful Kill List now has “Execution 1” property for all Bounty Hunter skills

Deliverables

• Hero Remains: Now provide +2 Mastery upon delivery. Mastery bonus not available for Hero Remains found in the Valley.

Quirks

• Slayer of (Faction) quirks no longer pierce Deathblow RES for their relevant faction
• Slayer of (Faction) quirks now have “Execution 2” property for their relevant faction

HEROES

Bounty Hunter

• Mark for Death now removes all Dodge/Dodge+ from the target
• Finish Him no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Finish Him now has "Execution 2" property

Grave Robber

• Glint in the Dark now removes all Stealth from target instead of 1
• Glint in the Dark+ now removes all Stealth from target instead of 1
• Glint in the Dark no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Glint in the Dark now has "Execution 1" property
• Glint in the Dark+ no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Glint in the Dark+ now has "Execution 1" property
• Glint in the Dark+ now has "Execution 3" if Grave Robber has Stealth

Hellion

• Bloodlust DMG bonus increased from +20% to +30%
• Bloodlust now has a cooldown of 2
• Bloodlust+ now has a cooldown of 2
• Bloodlust+ now provides Execution 1 vs. Bleeding targets for 5 rounds
• Bloodlust+ no longer provides +20% Bleed RES

Highwayman

• Wicked Slice no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Wicked Slice now has "Execution 1" property
• Wicked Slice+ no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Wicked Slice+ now has "Execution 1" property
• Double Tap no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Double Tap+ no longer pierces Deathblow RES
• Double Tap+ now has "Execution 1" property

Leper

• Fixed an issue in which the self-inflicted Vulnerable on Revenge & Revenge+ could sometimes be resisted

Occultist

• Sacrificial Stab+ now has "Execution 1" property
• Binding Shadows no longer generates Unchecked Power vs. Combo targets
• Binding Shadows+ no longer generates Unchecked Power vs. Combo targets
• Binding Shadows launch ranks changed from 1 2 3 to 2 3 4
• Binding Shadows+ launch ranks changed from 1 2 3 to 2 3 4
• Binding Shadows now inflicts a -10% Debuff RES debuff vs. Combo targets for 3 rounds, non-resistable
• Binding Shadows+ now inflicts a -15% Debuff RES debuff penalty vs. Combo targets for 3 rounds, non-resistable
• Binding Shadows now has a 50% chance of generating Unchecked Power
• Binding Shadows+ chance of generating Unchecked Power increased from 50% to 66%
• Binding Shadows no longer moves the Occultist
• Binding Shadows+ no longer moves the Occultist
• Malediction now lasts for 3 Rounds instead of 3 Turns
• Weakening Curse now applies 2 Weak tokens instead of 1
• Weakening Curse+ now removes all Strength from the target before applying Weak tokens
• Vulnerability Hex now applies 2 Vulnerable tokens instead of 1
• Vulnerability Hex+ now removes Block/Block+ before applying Vulnerability tokens
• Wyrd Reconstruction minimum HP threshold has been raised from 33% to 50%
• Wyrd Reconstruction+ minimum HP threshold has been raised from 33% to 50%

MONSTERS

Beasts

• Carrion Eater Mutated: Deathblow RES changed from 15% to 1 Death Armor
• Gander: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor

Cave Swine

• Brute: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor
• Wilbur: Deathblow RES changed from 33% to 3 Death Armor

Cultists

• Evangelist: Deathblow RES changed from 0% to 1 Death Armor
• Deacon: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor
• Deacon: Exultation now grants 1 Death Armor
• Cardinal: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor
• Cardinal: Exultation now grants 1 Death Armor
• Exemplar: Deathblow RES changed from 50% to 2 Death Armor
• Exemplar: Pillar of Sacrifice now grants 1 Death Armor

Fanatics

• Masterful Kinred: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor
• Her Ladyship: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor
• Pit Fighter: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor
• Pit Fighter: Accelerant is now a regular initiative action
• Pit Fighter: Accelerant is now a high priority skill to use in round 1, rather than being delayed to round 2+
• Pit Fighter: Accelerant now grants 1 Strength and 1 Dodge token on use

Fisherfolk

• The Hullkeeper: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor
• Docker: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor
• Leviathan: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor

Gaunts

• Woodsman: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor
• Ghoul: Deathblow RES changed from 0% to 1 Death Armor

Lost Battalion

• Bullseye Barrett: Deathblow RES changed from 15% to 1 Death Armor
• Fallen Templar: Deathblow RES changed from 60% to 3 Death Armor
• Fallen Templar: now gains +30% DMG / +2 SPD for every hit survived at Death's Door
• Fallen Templar: En Garde now grants 1 Death Armor
• Fallen Templar: En Garde can now be used on Death’s Door
• Foot Soldier: Deathblow RES changed from 0% to 1 Death Armor
• Knight: Deathblow RES changed from 60% to 3 Death Armor
• Knight: En Garde now grants 1 Death Armor
• Knight: En Garde can now be used on Death’s Door

Pillagers

• Antiquarian: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor

Plague Eaters

• Lord: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor
• Lord & Lady: Feeding Time regen increased from 3 to 4
• Lord & Lady: Feeding Time SPD buff increased from 1 to 2
• Lord & Lady: Feeding Time no longer grants an immediate bonus action; instead, it grants an additional regular initiative action on the following round. This action is subject to DOTs, Daze, Stun, and all of the usual combat effects.
• Lord & Lady: Feeding Time now grants 1 Death Armor
• Dinner Cart: Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor

MINIBOSSES

Chirurgeon

• Deathblow RES changed from 0% to 1 Death Armor

Collector

• Reduced chance to use Collect Call when 1 and 2 heads remain
• Deathblow RES changed from 5% to 1 Death Armor

Death

• Deathblow RES changed from 50% to 3 Death Armor

Shambler

• Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor

LAIR BOSSES

Dreaming General

• Deathblow RES changed from 33% to 3 Death Armor

Harvest Child

• Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor

Leviathan

• Breath of the Sea now occurs as a regular initiative action instead of as a Start Round skill
• Leviathan now receives an additional initiative action during rounds in which he would use Breath of the Sea
• Undertow now occurs as a regular initiative action instead of as a Start Round skill
• Leviathan's Hand now receives an additional initiative action during rounds in which it would use Undertow
• Blight and Burn RES increased from 30% to 40%
• Bleed RES increased from 50% to 60%
• Debuff RES decreased from 40% to 30%
• Fixed an issue where Eyes of the Storm could target corpses

Librarian

• Deathblow RES changed from 25% to 2 Death Armor

Related: Should you hit the rubble in the road in Darkest Dungeon 2

Confession 1 Boss

• Speed of all monsters has been adjusted to reduce likelihood of clustered actions
• Latch of Regret SPD reduced from 4 to 3
• Bolt of Lamentation SPD increased from 4 to 5
• Padlock of Wasting SPD decreased from 4 to 1
• Shackle of Despair SPD decreased from 4 to 2

Confession 2 Boss

• Deathblow RES changed from 33% to 3 Death Armor

Confession 3 Boss Changes

• Updated Academic View and Seen token descriptions
• Seen token max stacks reduced from 4 to 3
• Seen tokens are fully removed when a hero is in Stealth
• 1 Seen token is removed from a hero when an enemy misses that hero
• 1 Seen token is removed from a hero landing the killing blow on a Cloistered Eye
• Blind is no longer ignored on certain skills for eye stalks and the Focused Fault
• Eye stalk attacks Gaze, Glare, and Glower now apply -10% Debuff RES (1 Battle) when a target has 2x Seen tokens
• Cluster of Eyes: Now has a chance to apply 1, 2, or 3 Seen tokens rather than always 3. Speed reduced from 4 to 3
• Bifurcated Eye: Now has a chance to apply 1 or 2 Seen tokens rather than always 2

Focused Fault

• No longer gains an immediate action upon phase 2 starting
• Actions per round increased from 2 to 3. The first turn will always be Behold
• ‘Apply to Attacker when Crit: Combo’ buff has been removed
• Reduced Bleed, Blight, Burn RES from 50 to 40
• Reduced Debuff RES from 30 to 20

Behold

• No longer a free action on round start
• No longer has a chance to apply Weak tokens
• Now applies 2, down from 3, random tokens from a selection of Vulnerable and Daze
• Now only targets heroes with a Seen token or a random hero if there are no Seen tokens present

Suppress

• No longer targets the hero party when 2+ heroes have a combo token
• Now requires targets to have no Seen tokens and 3+ Positive Tokens
• Can still hit multiple heroes as long as they meet the conditions
• No longer guaranteed to use this skill when conditions are met
• Damage increased from 1-2 to 6-8
• Now deals +2 Stress and reduces Flame -10 for each target hit
• Now has a chance to apply Weak tokens

Limerence

• Limerence damage scaling per token increased from +25% to +100% per token
• Now when the target has 2x Seen tokens it applies -10% Debuff RES (1 Battle)
• Now when the target has 3x Seen tokens it has +100% CRIT Chance
• Now applies a Daze token to non-Seen heroes when possible

Fixes

• Fixed Chirurgeon’s Unique Leucotomy buff for Ghoul that wouldn’t properly converts all Block tokens
• Fixed Grave Robber hero story issue where the husband wouldn't riposte against non-damaging skills

For more information on Darkest Dungeon 2, check out All Jester Chapters in Darkest Dungeon 2 and What are Flapjacks in Darkest Dungeon 2? on Pro Game Guides.