When Darkest Dungeon 2 (opens in a new tab) released in early access on the Epic Games Store in October 2021, it shared a pretty big part of the campaign: it was populated with enemies and equipment, and you could reach an end point on The Mountain, defeating the boss at the end of it. first act of the game.
However, what it didn’t have was much of a progression system. But all that is about to change thanks to a major update brought to the Altar of Hope. (opens in a new tab)a permanent base similar to Hamlet in the Darkest Dungeon where players can unlock classes, items, and other upgrades.
The new progression system will award players Candles of Hope for completing objectives, progressing through areas, and defeating evil, which can then be used to acquire various upgrades that will (hopefully) make your future journeys more profitable and safer. survival. Naturally, daring deeds will reap the best rewards, but if you push your luck too far, you’ll be punished for it: you can end your current expedition at any inn and keep any candles you’ve earned so far, but if you press and clean, there will be a penalty. “It’s always better to get to the next inn,” said developer Red Hook Studios.
The only exception to that rule is for players who make it to the mountain, the home of Darkest Dungeon 2’s current final boss: even if you ultimately fail your quest, you’ll keep all the candles you earned.
So, Candles of Hope is a currency that can be spent at the Altar of Hope, which players will visit at the start of each journey, to upgrade attributes in one of four categories:
General updates
Heroes
Items
Regards
The last category is different from the first three because it is not permanent: the memories are powerful but only last for the lifetime of that specific hero. Those lives aren’t always particularly long, but heroes who can withstand the final boss fight will retain their memories, making them even more powerful.
“While their Mastery level will be reset, surviving heroes will also keep their hero path, quirks, and name,” Red Hook explained. “In addition, heroes who survive a final boss battle can now have an additional Memory invested. These characteristics will persist until the hero’s death.”
The Altar of Hope grants another benefit to players in their battle against evil: as candles are invested in it, the view of the Realm will gradually be restored to what it once was. Not very practical, perhaps, but a nice touch.
The Altar of Hope update is available today in the experimental branch of Darkest Dungeon 2 on the Epic Games Store, so you’ll need to subscribe if you want to check it out. Red Hook Studio warned that the update “is a total rework of the fundamental foundations of the Darkest Dungeon 2 metagame and progression,” and that all current hope scores will be reset, meaning unlocked items and heroes, and any expedition in progress, will be reset. be erased
You’ve got a bit of time to wrap things up if you’re not ready to get into all of that yet, as Red Hook expects the update to be ready to release on the Darkest Dungeon 2 main branch in a week. or two
The update also introduces the new Bounty Hunter (opens in a new tab), a returning character from the first game, and also makes numerous changes to other heroes, monsters, and gameplay. Full details are at darkestdungeon.com (opens in a new tab).