Darkest Dungeon 2, the challenging single-player roguelike, has an Affinity and Relationships system that players must maintain to be successful. This guide will cover everything you need to know about the mechanics.
In Darkest Dungeon 2, each Hero has an affinity value that dictates how friendly each of your characters is with one another. Low affinity will lead to bickering and can have negative effects on your party, while positive affinity will provide your group with buffs. Like Stress, Relationships have points that can increase or decrease depending on your actions in-game.
How to Increase Affinity in Darkest Dungeon 2
Players can increase their Heroes’ affinity by performing certain actions in combat, using items that increase relationships at the Inn, selecting story choices that other parties agree with, or forming positive relationships with others to obtain Blessed skills.
The following actions will increase affinity while in combat:
- Buffing, healing, or guarding another Hero.
- Moving an ally with low stress.
- Using Blessed Skills.
- Completing a combo with two Heroes or attacking an enemy immediately after it attacks a hero.
The following actions can improve affinity while in the game world:
- Making story choices that other characters agree with. This is indicated when they are highlighted in gold.
- Obtaining Quirks that improve conversation while on the road. This is mainly achieved by maintaining a positive relationship.
- Items that players can purchase that are shared between two Heroes, like the Whiskey Flask, Playing Cards, and Whiskey Barrel, will also increase the relationship between the two characters that you use it on.
Forming Relationships in Darkest Dungeon 2
To form a positive relationship in Darkest Dungeon 2, improve your heroes’ affinity with one another so that it is over 10 points, and there will be a chance of forming a positive relationship at The Inn. These will be revealed by clicking them before embarking on your journey after resting. To view your Heroes’ affinity to each other, hit R to pull up the relationships tab.
For relationships, there are a total of 20 points. When over 10, the characters have a chance of gaining a positive relationship which will unlock Blessed Skills. When the score slips below 10, there’s a chance of gaining a negative relationship, which will give some characters Cursed Skills.
Blessed Skills will appear after forming positive relationships at The Inn and will benefit the relationship partner when used. On the other hand, Cursed Skills will negatively affect the relationship partner when used.
Though the mechanic may seem a bit confusing at first, once you understand the ins and outs of affinity and relationships in Darkest Dungeon 2, it will make getting further on each run a lot easier since you won’t have to deal with constant bickering and debuffs.
For more guides on the game, visit our Darkest Dungeon 2 section.
