Dungeons in Darkest Dungeon
This guide covers just about everything you want to know about dungeons. It has information about what to expect from each dungeon, what curios you'll find (and how to cleanse them), and quick explanations of boss fights.
This guide contains spoilers, but you probably already knew that when you clicked on the guide. If you want to make Darkest Dungeon as challenging as possible, you probably shouldn't be reading this guide (or at least ignore the content about the bosses).
Note: Due to the length of this article, I strongly encourage you to take advantage of your browser's find feature (CTRL+F) to find the what you are looking for (especially curios, just CTRL+F and type the name of the curios that you are looking for).
General Dungeons
Prioritizing dungeons each week using the following guidelines:
- Can your team complete the mission? Are your heroes properly leveled and upgraded? Do you have enough money for provisions?
- Level 0 heroes should complete short, apprentice missions (lvl 1)
- Level 1 heroes should complete medium, apprentice missions (lvl 1)
- Level 2 heroes should complete long, apprentice missions (lvl 1)
- Level 3 heroes should complete short/medium, intermediate missions (lvl 3)
- Level 4 heroes should complete long, intermediate missions (lvl 3)
- Level 5 heroes (fully upgraded weapons, armor, and skills) can complete any champion missions (lvl 5)
- Which mission offers the most useful trinket right now?
- Tier 1 trinkets are almost always useful (Legendary Bracer, Tough Ring, and Focus Ring)
- Most very rare and rare class specific trinkets are worth picking up
- Trinkets for light or dark runs (Sun/Moon Ring, Solar/Dark Cloak)
- Which mission offers the most useful heirlooms?
- Deeds are the most useful heirloom until you've finished upgrading the the carriage and blacksmith.
- Portraits are the second most useful heirloom until you've upgraded the guild.
- Busts are useful for upgrading the sanitarium, but pretty much worthless after that.
- Crests are needed to upgrade virtually everything, but have the highest stack and are quite common.
Provisions
The following table is a quick and dirty list of provisions to bring into a dungeon. Almost all of the numbers are excessive, but it's better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. The rewards of each dungeon will pay for the provisions used to complete the mission (and extra provisions will be sold upon completion), but you should expect to make money off of what you find in the dungeon and not based on the reward of the mission.
| Item | Ruins | Weald | Warrens | Cove | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Medium | Long | Short | Medium | Long | Short | Medium | Long | Short | Medium | Long | |
| Food | 12 | 18 | 20 | 12 | 18 | 20 | 12 | 18 | 20 | 12 | 18 | 20 |
| Torches | 8 | 13 | 16 | 8 | 13 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 8 | 13 | 16 |
| Shovels | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Medicinal Herbs | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Holy Water | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bandages | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Antivenom | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Skeleton Keys | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Again, these numbers are just recommendations, feel free to adjust however you'd like (antivenom and shovels help deal with locked chests, so they are a little more multipurpose than skeleton keys).
Curios
The following table shows the curios that can be found in all dungeons:
| Curio | Cleansing Item | Result w/ Cleansing | Result w/o Cleansing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crate | X | X | 75% Heirloom 25% Nothing |
| Discarded Pack | X | X | 60% Gold/gems/supplies 20% Scouting 25% Nothing |
| Eldritch Altar | Holy Water | Purge Negative Quirk | 25% Stress +50 33% Positive quirk 16.7% Negative quirk 25% Nothing |
| Hierloom Chest | Skeleton Key Antivenom |
Heirloom (x3) Heirloom (x3) |
75% Gems/gold 12.5% Bleed 12.5% Blight |
| Sack | X | X | 75% Gold/gems 25% Nothing |
| Sconce | X | X | 100% Torch |
Quests Specific Curios
The following curio only spawn during certain quests.
| Location | Curio | Quest Item |
|---|---|---|
| The Warrens | Animalistic Shrine | Pick-Axe |
| The Ruins | Corrupted Altar | Consecrated Essence |
| The Weald | Chirurgeon's Satchel | Medicine |
| The Warrens | Foodstuff Crate | Grain Sack |
| The Weald | Infected Corpse | Potent Salve |
| Darkest Dungeon (Quest 2) | Iron Crown | X |
| Darkest Dungeon (Quest 3) | Locus Beacon | X |
| The Cove | Protective Ward | Pineal Gland |
| The Ruins | Reliquary | Holy Relic |
| The Cove | Shipment Crate | Ancestor's Relic |
Unique Curios
Some curio only spawn in certain areas.
| Area | Curio | Cleansing Item | Result w/ Cleansing | Result w/o Cleansing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darkest Dungeon | Ancestor's Knapsack | X | X | 100% gold/gems, Ancestral trinket |
| Secret Room | Ancient Artifact | Skeleton Key | Special trinket/Puzzling Trapezohedron x3 | 100% Gold/gems (x2.5) |
| Old Road (NG+) | Transcendent Terror | X | X | 100% Stress +100 |
Special Bosses
The Collector
The Collector has a random chance of spawning when your inventory is more than 60% full. He drops always Puzzling Trapezohedron (worth 2,500 gold) and has a small chance to drop a very rare trinket (Barristan's Head, Dismas' Head, and/or Julia's Head; all of them are pretty good); these trinkets can also be found in secret rooms so fighting The Collector isn't necessary.
Strategy: Assuming you've followed the dungeon guidelines above, a decently prepared team shouldn't have too much of an issue with The Collector. Ignore the Collected Vestal (you should be able to outdamage her heals), make it a priority to kill Collected Highwayman (almost all of the damage comes from this spawn) and try to keep The Collector in the third position. Stun the Collected Man-at-Arms to remove the guard buff if he's guarding The Collector.
The Shambler
The Shambler is harder than most bosses you'll encounter. Thankfully, the only way to fight him is to use a torch at The Shambler's Alter (a curio that randomly spawns in any dungeon). Most people decide to fight The Shambler for a chance to get ancestral trinkets (Ancestor's Map, Ancestor's Bottle, Ancestor's Candle, Ancestor's Tentacle Idol, Ancestor's Scroll).
Warning: When/if you decide to spawn The Shambler, he'll teleport you to a hidden area and the light level is reduced to zero and cannot be increased. It is highly recommended that you are not wearing any trinkets that require a light level above 75 to be effective. There is also a guarenteed chance that your party will be suprised at the beginning of the fight, so expect your party's positions to shuffle.
Strategy: Make sure your party has high bleed/blight resistances. The Shambler is slow, so your team will almost always act before him but he summons tenacles that are much faster than he is and they will often shuffle your party's order. AoE attacks from your front line heroes (either an abomination with Rake or crusader with Zealous Accusations) can one shot the summoned tenacles. Mark The Shambler and proceed to kill him with an arbalest or bounty hunter.
Ruins
The Ruins is the first dungeon once you've reached Hamlet in the Darkest Dungeon story. This area has a lot of unholy monsters, so crusaders excell here. Stress damage can be a concern here, so ignore books in the dungeon.
- Monster Type
- Unholy (common), human (uncommon)
- Bring
- Blight skills, crusaders, extra holy water, extra keys
- Don't bring
- Bleed skills
Provisions
Here's a quick recommendation of what to bring with you in the Ruins based on mission length:
| Item | Mission Length | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Medium | Long | |
| Food | 12 | 18 | 20 |
| Torches | 8 | 13 | 16 |
| Shovels | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Medicinal Herbs | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Holy Water | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Bandages | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Antivenom | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keys | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Curios
The following table lists the curios you can expect to find in the ruins:
| Curio | Cleansing Item | Loot w/ Cleansing | Loot w/o Cleansing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alchemy Table | Torch Medicinal Herbs |
Increase light to 100 Gold/gems (x2) |
50% Blight 25% Gold/gems 25% Nothing |
| Altar of Light | Holy Water | Buff DMG 30% until camp | Buff DMG 20% until camp |
| Bookshelf | X | X | 25% Scouting 25% Stress +50 16.7% Positive quirk 8.3% Negative quirk 25% Nothing |
| Confession Booth | Holy Water | Stress heal +30 | 50% Stress + 20 25% Gold/trinket 25% Purge negative quirk |
| Decorative Urn | Holy Water Shovel |
Gems/trinket (x2) Negative quirk - Guilty Conscience |
44.4% Gems/trinkets (x1.5) 22.2% Blight 7.4% Disease - Creeping Cough 3.7% Random disease 22% Nothing |
| Holy Fountain | Holy Water | Stress heal 20, cure status effects, heal 12 HP | 50% Stress heal 10, cure status effects, heal 5 50% Gold/gems |
| Iron Maiden | Medicinal Herbs | Any loot (x2) | 40% Any loot (x2) 20% Negative quirk - Claustrophobia 13.3% Disease - Tetanus 6.7% Random disease 20% Nothing |
| Locked Display Cabinet | Skeleton Key Shovel |
Gold/gems/heirlooms (x2.5) Gold/gems/heirlooms (x2) |
50% Bleed 50% Blight |
| Locked Sarcophagus | Skeleton Key Shovel |
Gold/gems/heirlooms (x1.5) Gold/gems/heirlooms |
50% Bleed 50% Blight |
| Sarcophagus | X | X | 60% Gold/heirlooms 20% Negative quirk - Thanatophobia 20% Nothing |
| Stack of Books | Torch | Stress +100 | 26.7% Stress +25 26.7% Random positive quirk 13.3% Random negative quirk 13.3% Decrease light by 25 20% Nothing |
| Suit of Armor | X | X | 75% Buff PROT/DODGE +10 until camp 12.5% Positive quirk - Ruins Adventurer 12.5% Positive quirk - Ruins Tactician |
Bosses
Boss information coming soon.
Weald
The Weald is the second dungeon unlocked in the story line and a combination of human and eldritch monsters.
- Monster Type
- Human (common), eldritch (common)
- Bring
- Bleed skills, extra provisions (all of them), plague doctors (for DOT removal)
- Don't bring
- Blight skills
Provisions
Here's a quick recommendation of what to bring with you in the Weald based on mission length:
| Item | Mission Length | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Medium | Long | |
| Food | 12 | 18 | 20 |
| Torches | 8 | 13 | 16 |
| Shovels | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Medicinal Herbs | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Holy Water | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Bandages | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Antivenom | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Keys | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Curios
The following table lists the curios you can expect to find in the ruins:
| Curio | Cleansing Item | Loot w/ Cleansing | Loot w/o Cleansing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient Coffin | X | X | 50% Gold/heirloom (x2) 8.3% Positive quirk - Weald Adventurer 8.3% Positive quirk - Weald Explorer 33% Nothing |
| Beast Carcass | Medicinal Herbs | Food (x2) | 42.9% Food 28.6% Disease - Rabies 14.3% Negative quirk - Zoophobia 14.3% Nothing |
| Eerie Spiderweb | Bandage | Gold/gems/trinkets (x1.5) | 40% Gold/gems/trinket 10% Negative quirk - Slow reflexes 10% Negative quirk - Slowdraw 40% Nothing |
| Left Luggage | Skeleton Key Antivenom |
Any loot (x3) Any loot (x3) |
50% Any loot 50% Blight |
| Mummified Remains | Bandage | Gold/trinkets (x2) | 50% Any loot 50% Blight |
| Old Tree | Antivenom | Any loot (x3) | 50% Any loot (x2) 25% Blight 25% Nothing |
| Pristine Fountain | Holy Water | Stress heal 30 | 100% Stress heal 20 |
| Shallow Grave | Shovel | Gems/heirlooms (x3) | 50% Blight 50% Random disease |
| Traveler's Tent | X | X | 37.5% Gold/supplies/hierlooms (x2) 37.5% Scouting 12.5% Stress +25 12.5% Nothing |
| Troubling Effigy | Holy Water | Random positive quirk | 18.7% Random positive quirk 18.7% Random negative quirk 18.7% Bleed 9.4% Blight 9.4% Stress +15 25% Nothing |
Bosses
Boss information coming soon.
Warrens
The Warrens is the third dungeon you unlock that's full of beast type monsters (that also happent o be human too?). Outside of being able to remove blight and bleed, plague doctors are not very good for this area due to high blight resistances.
- Monster Type
- Beast (common), human (common), eldritch (rareish)
- Bring
- Bleed skills, extra medicinal herbs, extra bandages, bounty hunters, houndmasters
- Don't bring
- Blight skills, as much food (food is easy to find), plague doctors
Provisions
Here's a quick recommendation of what to bring with you in the Warrens based on mission length:
| Item | Mission Length | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Medium | Long | |
| Food | 12 | 18 | 20 |
| Torches | 10 | 16 | 20 |
| Shovels | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Medicinal Herbs | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Holy Water | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Bandages | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Antivenom | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Keys | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Curios
The following table lists the curios you can expect to find in the ruins:
| Curio | Cleansing Item | Loot w/ Cleansing | Loot w/o Cleansing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bone Altar | X | X | 100% Buff +15% DMG, +10 ACC, +5% CRT, Cure Status Effects |
| Dinner Cart | Medicinal Herbs | Gold/food/trinket (x2) | 25% Gold/food/trinket 25% Blight 25% Random disease 25% Nothing |
| Makeshift Dining Table | Medicinal Herbs | Gold/food/supplies (x2) | 25% Gold/food/supplies 25% Blight 25% Random disease 25% Nothing |
| Moonshine Barrel | Medicinal Herbs | Buff +30% DMG until camp | 33.3% Gold/food/supplies 33.3% Blight 11.1% Negative quirk - Alcoholism 22.2% Nothing |
| Occult Scrawlings | Holy Water | Debuff -20% DODGE | 33.3% Random positive quirk 25% Stress +25 17.6% Random negative quirk 25% Nothing |
| Pile of Bones | Holy Water | Any loot (x2) | 25% Any loot (x2) 25% Random disease 25% Negative quirk - Bloodthirsty 25% Nothing |
| Pile of Scrolls | Torch | Purge negative quirk | 33.3% Scouting 16.7% Stress +15 11.1% Random positive quirk 5.6% Negative quirk 33.3% Nothing |
| Rack of Blades | Bandage | Gold/gems/food (x1.5) | 40% Gold/gems/food 40% Bleed 20% Nothing |
| Sacrificial Stone | X | X | 50% Stress +50 25% Purge negative quirk 12.5% Positive quirk - Warrens Explorer 12.5% Positive quirk - Warrens Scrounger |
| Stack of Books | Torch | Stress +100 | 26.7% Stress +25 26.7% Random positive quirk 13.3% Random negative quirk 13.3% Decrease light level 25 20% Nothing |
Bosses
Boss information coming soon.
Cove
The Cove is the fourth dungeon that you unlock and offers crests as an award. Bring an occulist since the majority of the enemies in this area are eldritch. Thralls are unique to this area and explode at low health dealing significant damage to the entire party. Damage is significantly higher in this dungeon and getting surprised can result in a party member's death.
- Monster Type
- Eldritch (common), human (uncommon), unholy (rareish)
- Bring
- Blight skills, extra bandages, extra shovels, extra medicinal herbs, occultist
- Don't bring
- Bleed skills
Provisions
Here's a quick recommendation of what to bring with you in the Cove based on mission length:
| Item | Mission Length | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Medium | Long | |
| Food | 12 | 18 | 20 |
| Torches | 8 | 13 | 16 |
| Shovels | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Medicinal Herbs | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Holy Water | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bandages | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Antivenom | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keys | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Curios
The following table lists the curios you can expect to find in the ruins:
| Curio | Cleansing Item | Loot w/ Cleansing | Loot w/o Cleansing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnacle Crusted Chest | Shovel | Any loot (x3) | 50% Gold/gems/hierlooms/supplies (x2) 25% Bleed 25% Nothing |
| Bas-Relief | Shovel | Stress +100 | 67% Positive quirk 25% Negative quirk 8.3% Disease |
| Brackish Tide Pool | Antivenom | Stress heal +5 OR Heal 5 HP and Cure statuses | 75% buff 33% resist blight, bleed, disease, and debuff until camp 25% Random disease |
| Eerie Coral | Medicinal Herbs | Remove negative quirk | 50% Stress heal 10 25% Stress +25 25% Nothing |
| Fish Idol | Holy Water | 50% Buff +18% DMG until camp 50% Buff +10% DMG, +5 ACC until camp |
50% Debuff -25% DMG, -10 ACC until camp 50% Debuff -12 DODGE until Camp, Marked for 3 rounds |
| Fish Carcass | Medicinal Herbs | Any loot (x3) | 16.7% Gold/Gems/Supplies 16.7% Disease - The Red Plague 11.1% Blight 5.5% Bleed 50% Nothing |
| Giant Oyster | Shovel Dog Treats |
Gold/trinkets (x3) Buff +25 DODGE until camp |
40% Gold/Trinkets (x2) 40% Bleed 20% Nothing |
| Ship's Figurehead | X | X | 66.7% Buff +20% DMG, +4 SPD until camp 33.3% Stress heal |
Bosses
Boss information coming soon.
External Links
Change Log
- 03/11/2016 - Removed quest rewards from each dungeon as the antiquarian patch randomized the rewards.