Death's Door (Darkest Dungeon II) (2024)

Death's Door is a mechanic in Darkest Dungeon 2. Every time the HP of a hero (and some enemies) reaches 0 instead of dying they enter a state called Death's Door. In this state the heroes (or enemies) receive a Death's Door penalty, and any following hit has a chance to be fatal and instantly kill our heroes (or enemies).

Heroes will start with a 60% Base Stat chance of surviving Death's door and this chance can be modified up to a maximum of 90% and a minimum of 5%. Resistance beyond 90% will solely counteract debuffs to DBR. The Player must always keep in mind that the heroes can die at any moment. A hero will no longer be at Death's Door if they receive at least 1 HP of healing (so that they are no longer at 0 HP). Once healed above 0 HP, any Death's Door penalties will be removed.

Each hit a hero (or enemy) takes and survives while on Death's Door reduces their Death Blow resistance by 10%.

Effects[]

• Death's Door Penalties: -3 SPD, x2

Deathblow Resistance on Heroes[]

Each hero starts with a base stat of 60% Deathblow Resistance and this stat can be modified by the following means:

Trinkets:[]

The following Trinkets affect Death Blow Resistance on heroes:

Trinket	Effect	Notes
Rotten Tomato	If Rank = 1: -25% RES If Rank = 2: +25% DMG Apply On Hit: Breakthrough Skills: (66%)	Exclusive to Hellion.
Inevitable End	Gain When Hit: If <= 2: Remove 2 Negative Tokens Break Skills: Ignores +66% RES -2% RES per Round	Exclusive to Leper.
Minor/Anchoring Charm	+15%/+25% +10%/+20% -10%	Only the Minor Anchoring Charm and The Anchoring Charm version of this trinket gives -Death Blow Resist. The indelible version does not.
Temptation	If Stained item is equiped: Turn Start: Extra Action (50%) -100% RES	Dropped by The Cultists.
From Beyond	+10% RES per Stress +10% RES per Stress	Dropped by The Shambler.
Minor /Greater/ Gilded Mind	+15%/+20% /+25%RES +7%/+10%/15% RES -10%RES
Vanished Vanity	Apply to Attacker When Hit: (33%) If Flame >75%:-15% RES

Combat Items:[]

The following Combat Items affect Death Blow Resistance on heroes:

Name	Effects
	+25% RES (3 turns) +6 on Death's Door (3 turns) +10% CRIT on Death's Door (3 turns)

Inn Items[]

The following Inn Items affect Death Blow Resistance on heroes:

Inn Item	Effects
Nightshade Concoction	[1 target] +20% RES (Until Next Inn)

Quirks:[]

Act-out buffs:[]

TBC

The Altar of Hope:[]

The Altar of Hope features several permanent upgrades for our heroes, including a permanent upgrade to theirDeath Blow Resistance. By entering The Living City you will be able to upgrade each hero individually. The upgrade that affectsDeath Blow Resistance is called "Resolution". (+5% ). This will permanently affect your heroes and increase their survivability for all the next expeditions.

Each hero will receive "Resolution" three times for a total of (+15% ) increasing the base stat from 60% to 75%. The only exception being Hellion, as she receives the upgrade 4 times for a total of 80%. base Death Blow Resist.

The Flame:[]

The flame will give a Death Blow Resistance buff, as long as it is high. Increasing the survival of the heroes.

All other flame levels do not affect Death Blow Resistance,

Deathblow Resistance on Enemies[]

A group of enemies differ from the others by having Death Blow Resistance, and like the heroes, when they reach 0 HP they suffer the penalties for entering Death's Door. But they also have a chance to survive the following hits, making it more difficult to execute these enemies.

Dealing with Enemy Deathblow Resistance[]

Aside from repeatedly hitting the enemy, there are a number of ways to deal with enemy deathblow resistance.

Skills[]

The following skills pierce a certain amount of deathblow resistance:

• The Grave Robber's Glint in the Dark
• The Highwayman's Wicked Slice and Double Tap
• The Bounty Hunter's Finish Him

Glint in the Dark is, notably, the only skill in the game that can ignore Death's Door completely, instantly killing an enemy when it reaches 0 health.

Items[]

Some combat items can be used by all heroes that reduce enemy Death Blow Resistance, those combat items are listed bellow.

The following Combat Items affect Death Blow Resistance on enemies:

Combat item	Effects
Death Cap Spores	-33% RES -33% RES

Trinkets[]

The following Trinkets affect Death Blow Resistance on enemies:

Trinkets	Effects	Notes
Vengeful Kill List	On Kill: +3% DMG (Until Next Inn) Ignores +20% RES	Exclusive to Bounty Hunter.
Inevitable End	Gain When Hit: If <= 2: Remove 2 Negative Token Break Skills: Ignores +66% RES -2% RES per Round	Exclusive to Leper.
Covert Cloack	If Flame < 40: (66%) Ranged Skills: Ignores +66% RES	Exclusive to The Sluice.
Staggering Striker	Apply On Hit: If Flame < 40 (33%) Melee Skills: Ignores +66% RES	Exclusive to The Sluice.

Death[]

If one of the heroes (or enemies) fails a Death Blow Check. They will suffer a Death Blow and die. Death in Darkest Dungeon 2 is permanent for the rest of the run.

If a hero dies you will not be able to recover them until the next Expedition and you will have to continue the journey with one less hero. If the player reaches The Inn all missing heroes will be replaced with new heroes until the game runs out of heroes to give you. If there are no heroes left the player will not receive any.

Once all four heroes die in combat the Expedition is failed and you will get Lost in Darkness.

Lost in Darkness[]

Without the heroes the expedition will fail and The Stagecoach will is longer able to continue. You will be able to spend your Candles at the Altar of Hope, select a Confession, and choose 4 new heroes for the expedition.