Since each hero starts out with a negative Quirk, the general feeling in Darkest Dungeon 2 is that these should be tolerable. This is mostly the case as the Quirks usually have a negative benefit that can be fought through or compensated for.
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But some of the nastiest Darkest Dungeon 2 make going forward tough. Players should consider either finding a Field General to cure these Quirks or perhaps having a Bounty Hunter stand in for the hero. If characters get a quirk on this list, be very careful about proceeding or risk defeat.
10 Off Guard
- Dazed at combat start
- 15% Vulnerable chance every round
Getting moved to the back of the combat order in round one is a pain. On tanks, this can allow opponents to get a wave of free hits against their teammates. Worse, with extra Vulnerability happening every so often, players will need to have somebody else share in tanking duties. Unless the tank has some great positive Quirks to compensate, this can be lethal to frontliners.
9 Stiff Knees
- -3 Speed
Constantly being behind the rest of the team and the enemies is an issue. Gamers should be building up their squads to have a rotation with each hero feeding into another. When somebody is constantly behind in the rotation, it messes up the damage for the entire group. Stiff Knees might need to be compensated for by grabbing a Stained trinket.
8 Lazy Eye
- -10% ranged damage
- -5% ranged critical hit chance
Unlike the positive Quirks, which have ranged and melee variants, the melee negative Quirk only decreases crit chance. While that's not great, it's also not the end of the world. Lazy Eye destroys both ranged damage and critical hit chance. The best Highwayman build can guarantee a critical hit but most ranged damage dealers will be stopped in their tracks after picking up this Quirk.
7 Hypochondria
- 5% Disease chance when hit
A 5% chance of taking on most debuffs wouldn't be much of an issue but Diseases are a totally different monster. Most Diseases would be on the top five of this list to put it in perspective.
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The best Inn items to buy can get rid of diseases but this can get expensive. Even on a backline hero, the hero is likely to average one disease at least between Inns. By the end of the game, they'll be hemorrhaging stats and become a liability.
6 Lost In Space
- When stressed:
- 30% shuffle chance
- 30% chance to destroy positive token
- 30% Stealth chance
There are three "Lost" negative Quirks but the other two variants provide a +8 Speed to compensate. Stealth is alright but there is a 60% chance of something bad happening instead. Shuffling the whole team around is awful and will move important characters out of position since this ignores movement resistance. Destroying positive tokens is also a rather nasty side effect. This sequel can be seen as better than the first game but it won't feel like it with Lost in Space.
5 Fragile
- -15% max health
- 10% Stress chance when hit
- +15% meltdown chance
As soon as players max out stress, things are going downhill anyhow, so the 15% extra meltdown chance from Fragile is just salt in the wound. A whopping 15% taken off of maximum health is like starting each fight by giving up a free hit. And the 10% stress will add up over time, especially on frontline combatants. The best Man-At-Arms build can reduce some stress but this makes the job much harder.
4 Torn Rotator Cuff/Sprained Wrist
- -10% damage
Melee and ranged units suffer alike when they've got a Torn Rotator Cuff or a Sprained Wrist. These Quirks have different names but they both do the same thing. If they get stacked, the damage output suffers immensely.
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Some gamers may not feel this matters on a tank or support unit but the decreased contribution is always noticed. When an enemy who would ordinarily just barely die then just barely lives, it's a losing proposition.
3 Bad Digestion/Chatterbox/Neat Freak/Tune Hummer
- More negative banter
- (Bad Digestion only) 33% chance for food to do nothing
Players who think they can deal with bad Affinity between teammates are likely rookies. Nothing will derail a run faster than having teammates that hate each other. They debuff each other's abilities, so even upgraded abilities need to be avoided to use lesser skills. Banter can't be avoided while traveling, it happens a couple of times between each node. Making most of these conversations negative will ruin everyone's mood.
2 Selfish
- -10% positive relationship chance
- +10% negative relationship chance
Building relationships is critical to success. Heroes with positive interactions will glide through to victory while arguing teammates will injure each other as badly as any enemy can. Decreasing positive interactions and increasing negative ones essentially guarantees hostile relationships and this will be the leading cause of losing a run.
1 Shattered Will
- -20% max health
- Destroy one positive token each turn
- Gain Vulnerable and Weak at the start of combat
- +20% meltdown chance
No negative Quirk has the sheer volume of bad things that Shattered Will has. A 20% penalty in maximum health alone would qualify for this list. Yet that isn't even close to the end. Guaranteed Vulnerable and Weak at the start of combat is a terrible way to begin. Destroying a positive token each turn can be the end of a character's usefulness. The extra meltdown chance at that point is simply the final nail in the coffin.
Darkest Dungeon 2 is available now for PC.
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