Darkest Dungeon II – Official FAQ

EGS / Platforms / Versions

How long will it be exclusive to EGS?

On PC, Darkest Dungeon 2 will be exclusive to EGS during its time in Early Access. The 1.0 will release May 8, 2023 on Steam.

Will it come to consoles, and when?

We have a lot of Darkest Dungeon 1 players on console and will definitely be making Darkest Dungeon 2 available on console as well. However, we are not yet ready to confirm specific platforms or dates, beyond confirming that console releases will follow the May 1.0 release.

Will there be Steam Deck support?

We plan to support Steam Deck but most likely that full support and optimization will occur post 1.0.

Will we see a physical release?

We enjoyed making physical editions for DD1 and are interested in doing so for DD2. But we have nothing firm to announce at this time.

Early Access

How long will it be in early access?

Darkest Dungeon 1 was in EA for 11.5 months. We find the yearlong period to be a good goal which allows for lots of additions and refinements but also doesn’t become a perpetual Early Access product. However, part of the benefit of Early Access is being able to adjust a bit to feedback, so we aren’t fixing that duration in stone at this time.

Update: We’ll be exiting early access on May 8, 2023!

How much content will be in the EA version of the game (compared to the hoped 1.0 release)?

This is tough to predict, but we like the rule of thumb that we need about 60% of the content (heroes, monsters, environments) to make a solid Early Access launch. This is about what we did with DD1.

Will the game have a price increase when it comes out of EA?

Just like with DD1, there will be a small price increase as the game comes out of Early Access.

Where can we contact you for support during Early Access?

Discord + Zendesk

Misc

Is it 3d?

Darkest Dungeon II a loving interpretation of the game’s signature style in 3d, with hand-drawn textures! Thanks to this change, we’re able to bring more life to the characters and amp up the fx, while preserving the classic DD combat presentation. The teaser uses in-game character models and is rendered right out of Unity!

Will there be a narrator?

Yes, Wayne June is back!

Is Stuart Chatwood returning to compose new music?

Absolutely!

Will we meet familiar enemies? Or are all of them brand new?

The road is long and gruelling, and the kingdom full of new horrors, but a few old nemeses may emerge from the shadows…

Who are these cool looking cultists in the trailer? Will we meet them commonly?

They are one of the new enemy factions!

Will the general mechanics (trinkets, 4 abilities, frontliners/backliners) of combat be changed or familiar?

The basic configuration of 4 heroes /4 monsters and two trinkets per hero is still true. But we are doing some significant changes to the base mechanics, stats, and so on that we are excited about and look forward to sharing in the future! Still, we feel that combat was a success in DD1 and are building upon that foundation.

Will the dungeon crawling aspect of the game contain a few surprises (other than existing traps, curio and secret room of the first game?)

We are keeping this secret for now!

Will the way expeditions and town management change significantly?

We are keeping this secret for now!

How different will the base of operations (or equivalent) be from the Hamlet?

We are keeping this secret for now!

How different will gameplay be compared to DD1?

We can confirm that similar (but upgraded!) combat is making a return. Other than that, it’s all a secret for now!

Is this a direct continuation story wise to DD1?

We are keeping this secret for now!

Will DD2 be more intensive for computers than DD1? If so, by how much?

We don’t have firm system spec requirements yet, but because the game features 3D and is coming out 6 years after DD1’s Early Access debut, you can expect a bit higher requirements.

Will Butcher’s Circus or any kind of multiplayer make its way into the Early Access or full release?

We love watching Butcher’s Circus matches! The whole DLC was great fun to build and release. However, only single player is planned for DDII Early Access. The rest is TBD.

Will there be anything similar to the Hero comics released at some point? Either a continuation of the stories of the Heroes, or even detailing something entirely different?

We love our cast of broken heroes, and look forward to exploring their traumas in more detail.

Heroes

Which Heroes made the cut?

The cast is not limited to the heroes shown in the teaser…more details later!

Will there be any new heroes added to the base game (outside of DLCs)?

Many familiar faces will return, but we hope to inject some new ones as well.

Will the DLC heroes of the first game come back to the base version of DD2?

Deciding which heroes to include and when has been very difficult, like trying to choose favorite children! We aren’t ready to confirm any heroes just yet other than the ones you see in the trailer.

Will heroes in DD2 be more personalized and individualistic, or will they remain how they are in DD1 where they are characters archetypes rather than characters themselves?

Secret for now.

Will returning heroes have the same battlekit as before, or can we expect new abilities?

You can expect some new skills, and some reworking of old ones!

Will heroes interact with each other more often in DD2 compared to DD1, where only afflictions/virtues could cause hero interactions you did not control?

Secret for now!

Modding

How will the state of modding be on release, and how different will it be to mod DD2, will it be easier or harder? When released on Steam, will it have the workshop at launch?

Modding has been an instrumental part of the DD1 community and it’s something that we are passionate about supporting with DD2. However, just like what happened with DD1, we are unable to devote substantial time to providing official modding information and tools until after the 1.0 release.