Behold, traveler! Gaze upon a vast chasm of immeasurable depths – a mystical realm teeming with strange horrors and perplexing challenges. Welcome to the sinister realm known as the Darkest Dungeon. Uncertainty looms with every step you take, and the burden of making choices weighs heavily upon you, like an insatiable specter.
But fear not, for there is a glimmer of hope amidst this chaotic world. A guide, forged through experience and tempered with practical wisdom. Within its pages, you will unravel the unsettling enigma of prioritization – the key to freeing yourself from the overwhelming material burdens that threaten to push your sanity to the edge.
This compendium of knowledge is not a mere catalogue of trinkets and artifacts. No, it is a whispered secret amidst the deafening chaos, a beacon cutting through the all-consuming darkness. It illuminates the vague path towards discernment, empowering you to confidently discard and wisely retain.
In this realm where the laws of reality bend and contort under the influence of otherworldly forces, this guide serves as your unwavering and trustworthy compass. It does not promise to make your journey easier, but it ensures clarity amidst the haze and confusion. An invaluable companion as you venture into the abyss of madness that is the Darkest Dungeon. Enter, if you dare, armed with newfound understanding, and be prepared to confront the unknown.
Tier 1: Essential Items – Rarely Discard
These items hold significant importance throughout your journey and should only be discarded under dire circumstances:
- Relics: These serve as the primary currency in the game, necessary for coach upgrades, repairs, and valuable trinkets. It is crucial to prioritize keeping them.
- Combat Items (such as Powders, Concoctions, and Bombs): These have the potential to greatly influence the outcome of challenging battles. Strike a balance between using them wisely and avoiding wastefulness.
- Chalk Dust: This item removes enemy stealth. If stealth enemies are infrequent or can be dealt with through alternative means, it can be considered for discarding.
- Neutralizing Powders: These powders enhance blight resistance. If you are not frequently encountering blight-inflicting enemies, their usefulness diminishes.
- Clotting Powders: Similarly to neutralizing powders, these powders boost bleed resistance. Their importance depends on the prevalence of bleed-inflicting enemies.
- Ablative Powders: These powders strengthen burn resistance. Their relevance is determined by the frequency of burn-inflicting enemies.
- Antivenom: This item cures blight and provides healing. It becomes more valuable when facing enemies that inflict blight.
- Bandages: These cure bleed and provide healing. They become more valuable when facing enemies that inflict bleed.
- Burn Salve: This item heals burn effects and provides healing. It gains prominence when facing enemies that inflict burn.
- Noisemaker: It adds taunt and block abilities, making it more valuable if you have a tank character capable of drawing enemy attacks.
- Adrenaline Tonic: When a character’s HP falls below 50%, it heals 50% HP and increases stress by +1. It proves useful in emergencies.
- Medicinal Herbs: These herbs cure bleed, blight, or burn effects. They offer versatility and are worth keeping.
- Pouch of Lye: This item clears all corpses, proving essential in hastening battles by eliminating enemy remains.
- A Glimmer of Hope: It provides a +15 Flame boost. Consider keeping this item until last, as maintaining a high flame level is crucial to success.
Tier 2: Valuable Resources – Discard With Caution
These items hold value, but in challenging situations, you may need to part with some of them:
- Bauble: This alternate currency can be used for purchases at The Hoarder and the Inn, particularly for combat and inn items, but it is not as essential as Relics.
- Provisions: While useful, if your party is in good condition and you have no other options, you may consider discarding some provisions.
- Calming Incense: This item reduces stress by -2. If stress management is not a concern, it can be discarded first.
- Stale Bread: It restores 10% HP. If healing is not a priority, you can consider discarding it earlier.
- Flapjacks: Similarly to stale bread, they restore 15% HP. The same reasoning applies.
- Apples & Cheese: This item restores 20% HP. Consider discarding it for the same reasons as the previous two items.
- Stitching Kit: It heals 25% HP. If healing is not a significant concern, you can consider discarding it earlier.
- Invigorating Stew: This item increases maximum HP until the next visit to the Inn. It is worth keeping for tough battles.
- Restorative Herbs: These increase healing received until the next visit to the Inn.
- Whiskey Barrel: An Inn item with a high chance of positive affinity, a low chance of negative affinity, and reduces stress by -2.
- BOOK: My Time in the Desert: An Inn item that has a chance to spawn a stealth token each round until the next visit to the Inn.
- Whetstone: An Inn item with a 50% chance to grant Dodge or Dodge+.
- Blasphemous Idol: An Inn item with a chance to spawn a positive token each combat turn until the next visit to the Inn.
- Nightshade Concoction: An Inn item that provides +20% Deathblow Resistance.
- Poetry: An Inn item that reduces stress by -5 for one target.
- Steak & Spuds: An Inn item that restores 30% HP and provides +10% DOT Resistance.
- Songbook of Rousing Tunes: An Inn item that affects the entire party, granting +2 Speed until the next Inn visit and reducing stress by -2.
- Book of Bawdy Tales: An Inn item that reduces stress by -4.
- Wild Tea: An Inn item that purges a negative quirk.
- Whiskey Flask: An Inn item that reduces stress by -2. Blocked by the “Resolution” trait.
- Whittling Tools: An Inn item that reduces stress by -3. Blocked by the “Boisterous” trait.
- Impermeable Poultice: An Inn item that grants the blight token status effect. Blocked by the “Germophobe” trait.
- Invigorating Stew: An Inn item that affects two targets and increases maximum HP until the next Inn visit.
- Soothing Poultice: An Inn item that grants the burn token status effect until the next Inn visit.
Tier 3: Least Necessary – Usually Discard
These items are generally less valuable and can be discarded unless they have an immediate use:
- Unused Trinkets: Although trinkets can offer advantages, any extras that you don’t intend to utilize can be safely discarded to free up space for more essential items.
- Unused Stagecoach Upgrades: If you possess stagecoach upgrades that do not align with your current strategy or have no plans to utilize them, it is viable to discard them as well.
Conclusion
And so, dear traveler, we arrive at the culmination of our exploration through this intricate compendium of prioritization. No longer shall you wander aimlessly through the bewildering haze of indecision, burdened by a satchel overflowing with somber curiosities.
Indeed, the otherworldly forces you confront may contort reality into unrecognizable forms of madness, but at least the weight of the material possessions you carry, both tangible and metaphorical, need not exacerbate the palpable anxiety that clings to your weary spirit like a damp cloak.
The path ahead is shrouded in impenetrable darkness and enigmatic horrors, yet the kernel of understanding you now possess shall serve as a guiding light, a luminous fragment of wisdom piercing through the abyssal depths.
As you venture deeper into this realm swathed in shadows, always remember the counsel contained within these pages. However, be cautious, for no compendium of sagacity is flawless. Trust in your instincts, let them guide you like a celestial compass in the engulfing void, for the unique circumstances of your journey will inevitably shape and influence your choices.
May you forever stride with the beacon of rationality illuminating your path, and may the ravenous, anarchic terrors that skulk in the obscurity of the Darkest Dungeon quiver in the face of your enlightened resolve. Confront your fears, embrace the unknown, and press onward. Amidst terror and lunacy, may you discover triumph.
