Darkest Dungeon 2, like its predecessor, is being offered to players as an early access title, meaning developers will be listening to community feedback to help shape the iconic sequel to the Indie smash hit. This gives players a lot to look forward to concerning the future of the game but it is important to note that, in its current state, things appear to be “episodic” with Darkest Dungeon 2 and developers will look to add new content in an “acts and chapters” style structure.
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Right now, players have the entire first act to sift through, with multiple characters, a few bosses, a handful of zones, and a final battle culminating at the top of a massive mountain. But how long does it take players to reach the summit and what’s waiting for them when they cross the veil? Here’s a look at what it takes to reach the precipice and how to take down the final boss of Darkest Dungeon’s Act One.
How To Reach The Mountain
Many aspects of Darkest Dungeon 2 are randomly and procedurally generated. It’s rare that any two journies will ever be the same, thanks to a cavalcade of skills, ailments, enemy compositions, and zones. But players can still get a loose grasp of what to expect when traveling towards The Mountain.
In order to reach the freezing summit, players will need to first make their way through three zones. It doesn’t matter in what order players tackle these zones, so long as they manage to make it through three of them intact. That sounds simple on the surface, but thanks to Darkest Dungeon 2’s punishing world, it’s rather easy for players to find themselves restarting from the beginning, especially during the early hours of their journey.
The Foetor, The Scorch, The Tangle, and The Sluice are all filled with dangers and any given run can be more (or less) punishing depending on what directions players choose when making their way through each area. Although developers promise that each run should last less than 5 hours, players shouldn’t feel discouraged if they fail to reach the Summit for the first few (or many more) runs they take.
How To Reach The Final Boss Of Act One In Darkest Dungeon 2
Once players have made it past three zones and are comfortably sitting at the Inn, they’ll only have access to one path moving forward. The traditional “choose your zone” will be replaced by an extra-large icon featuring the shrouded, looming peak of The Mountain. Once gamers have done everything they can and stocked up on as much as possible at the Inn, they can set out towards the freezing tundra.
The Mountain is slightly different than most zones, being much shorter and featuring one extra-long straight path that creeps towards a massive gate-like structure. Although it’s a “straight shot” to the boss' chamber, there are still some enemies that players will need to face before getting a shot to take down the big bad itself.
Sprinkled along the path are two Cultist Lairs, although they’re slightly different than the traditional “three battle” structure from previous zones. Instead, players will enter a Lair and tussle with a Mini-Boss. Gamers should avoid being complacent with these fights as the Cultists are capable of wiping out a team. Once both Cultist Mini-Bosses have been defeated, players are free to roll the Stagecoach towards the final encounter of Act One.
How To Beat The Brain Boss Of Act One
The final battle for Act One is a slough against a massive brain. Symbolism aside, this enemy is capable of flipping a player’s traditional tactics by “changing the rules of battle” as it sees fit. The actual fight isn’t against the Brain itself, but rather a set of locks that adorn the battleground in front of it.
Each of these locks has the ability to turn the tide of battle as it will offer up a Denial at the start of each turn. The locks are capable of blocking players from reducing stress, healing, using ranged attacks, or even melee strikes. This mechanic will force players to adapt their strategy each turn and it’s entirely possible that the locks will block certain skills at the worst possible junctures.
To make matters worse, the locks themselves come packaged with some fairly powerful attacks that can overwhelm players over time. They’ll also stack stress pips, apply status effects, and even stun characters. Thankfully, the fight seems to get easier as time goes on (as fewer locks mean less damage or game-changing mechanics) but the beginning stages of the lengthy battle can be overwhelming for some.
Once all of the locks are defeated, the encounter will end and players will be rewarded with a hefty boost to their Hope before being forced to start the cycle all over again.
Tips To Defeat The Brain Boss
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