In the grim and punishing world ofDarkest Dungeon, afflictions represent one of the most dangerous and unpredictable mechanics. They can turn a dependable hero into a liability, ruin an expedition, or even lead to a team wipe in the depths of a dungeon. Understanding how to remove afflictions, manage stress, and prevent these psychological breakdowns is essential for long-term success. Each affliction has a unique impact on gameplay, and without the proper strategy, a single afflicted hero can spiral an otherwise well-planned adventure into chaos.
Understanding Afflictions in Darkest Dungeon
What Are Afflictions?
Afflictions in Darkest Dungeon are negative mental states that a hero can develop when their stress reaches 100 during an expedition. Unlike diseases or physical ailments, afflictions alter a hero’s behavior, often making them act against your commands or harm their teammates’ morale. Once afflicted, a hero becomes less reliable and more unpredictable.
Types of Afflictions
Each affliction reflects a different psychological collapse. Some of the most common include:
- Masochistic: The hero seeks pain, often placing themselves in danger or refusing healing.
- Fearful: Increases the chance of skipping turns or moving to the back of the party.
- Abusive: The hero verbally assaults teammates, increasing their stress.
- Hopeless: The hero believes defeat is inevitable, lowering party morale.
- Selfish: The hero acts only in their interest, taking healing or loot from others.
How Afflictions Impact Gameplay
Loss of Control
Once afflicted, a hero may ignore your commands, move to the wrong position, refuse healing, or even pass their turn. This makes it extremely difficult to maintain effective team composition, especially in boss fights or long dungeon runs where every move matters.
Team Stress Amplification
Many afflictions cause the afflicted hero to lash out at others. This can dramatically raise stress across your team, leading to a dangerous snowball effect where multiple heroes become afflicted or suffer a heart attack from maximum stress.
Increased Risk of Death
With less control and higher stress levels, afflicted heroes are more likely to make poor choices that lead to death. Whether refusing healing or positioning themselves in harm’s way, these actions can ruin a well-structured plan in seconds.
Removing Affliction During Expeditions
Virtue Chance and Affliction Reversal
Though rare, afflicted heroes have a small chance to reverse their condition by reaching 200 stress. This triggers a Virtue check where they can overcome their fear and regain a positive mental state such as Courageous or Resolute. However, relying on this is a major gamble and rarely worth the risk.
Camping Skills That Can Remove Affliction
Some camping abilities, especially from religious or stress-focused classes, can remove afflictions:
- Leper’s ReflectionandAbomination’s Stress Reliefoffer direct affliction removal.
- Houndmaster’s Therapy Dogcan significantly reduce team stress and help prevent afflictions.
- Jester’s Encouragementis also excellent for mitigating stress preemptively during long dungeons.
It’s worth noting that these skills often come at a high cost and limited use, so planning when and where to camp becomes crucial.
Use of Holy Water and Trinkets
Although holy water doesn’t remove afflictions directly, it can protect against stress effects when used during battles or curios. Trinkets that reduce stress or increase virtue chance can also help prevent a hero from becoming afflicted in the first place.
Removing Afflictions in Town
Sanitarium
While the Sanitarium is primarily used for removing quirks and diseases, it cannot cure afflictions. Afflictions must be resolved during or immediately after a mission ends. However, stress-related quirks often come from affliction episodes, and curing those can prevent repeated breakdowns.
Tavern and Abbey
The most reliable method of removing afflictions is sending afflicted heroes to the Tavern or Abbey after the mission. Once a quest is completed, any affliction converts into a corresponding negative quirk. By reducing the hero’s stress to zero, the affliction is effectively cured.
- Tavern: Ideal for heroes with low religious traits. Offers bar, gambling, and brothel options for stress relief.
- Abbey: Suitable for religious or faith-based heroes. Options include cloister, transept, and penance hall.
It’s critical to remove stress immediately after an affliction is resolved to avoid long-term impacts or costly removals later through the Sanitarium.
Dismissal as a Last Resort
If a hero becomes too unstable, costly, or dangerous to manage, dismissing them may be the most practical option. This is especially true if they’ve developed multiple harmful quirks or are consistently triggering stress spirals in your team. While it may feel harsh, dismissing a hero can prevent future disasters and free up roster space.
Preventing Affliction Before It Starts
Stress Management Strategy
One of the best ways to remove afflictions is to prevent them from occurring at all. Successful stress management includes:
- Bringing a Jester or Houndmaster for in-combat stress healing
- Equipping trinkets that reduce stress taken from crits or attacks
- Targeting stress-dealing enemies like Madmen or Bone Courtiers first
- Choosing low-stress dungeons or shorter missions when managing fragile heroes
Smart Party Composition
Balancing your party with reliable stress reducers and consistent damage dealers helps avoid drawn-out fights, which often lead to afflictions. Avoid stacking too many stress-prone classes unless you have a clear way to manage their risk.
Use of Light Levels
Higher torchlight levels reduce stress damage, increase dodge, and improve scouting. Keeping your torchlight above 75 (or even at maximum) is a powerful method to prevent affliction triggers. If you’re attempting a low-light or darkness run, make sure your heroes are fully prepared.
Special Considerations for Affliction Mechanics
Affliction Interactions
Not all afflictions affect gameplay the same way. Some might be manageable depending on your party setup, while others can devastate your strategy. For example, a Fearful healer moving to the back row may not be game-breaking, but a Selfish healer refusing to heal can be fatal. Understanding how each affliction behaves helps with mid-mission decisions like whether to press forward or retreat.
Crusader and Flagellant Synergy
Certain classes synergize particularly well when dealing with high-stress situations. The Crusader’s stress-healing abilities and the Flagellant’s resilience under duress make them natural counters to affliction risks. These classes can keep a party stable even when things go south.
Removing affliction inDarkest Dungeonis not about finding a single cure but rather developing a consistent strategy that blends stress prevention, smart retreat decisions, and effective use of the town’s facilities. Afflictions represent the psychological toll of repeated exposure to darkness, death, and despair, and learning to deal with them is essential for survival. Whether you’re managing stress in the field with camping skills or using the Abbey and Tavern back in town, understanding how to remove affliction is vital for keeping your heroes alive and mentally intact. Mastering this system not only improves your dungeon success rate but also prepares your roster for the even darker horrors that lie ahead.
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