Ruin has fallen upon our horse, um, house.

I didn't think I would do it but I did. Bought Darkest Dungeon. Yeah, I know, I had told myself that I wouldn't get the game after watching some guy do a walk through. He went nuts when one of his fav characters died.

In time, you will know the full extent of my failures.

Yeah but who could resist the Steam deal?
Eleven bucks for the game and all of the DLCs.
Like a klepto reaching for a trapped chest, I had to go for it.

What is Darkest Dungeon?
It's an old RPG/Turn based strategy game.

If you don't grow multiple eyes, you'll be at a disadvantage.
Thanks Opal.

Soo many things to keep track of. Have to be a master tactician and strategist. Must hold those gold coins so tight that you leave a fingerprint if you want to get to the Darkest dungeon. Running out of money at the start is time for a restart.

Not only do you have to manage money and health and the rundown ramshackle heap of hazardous hovels they call a hamlet, you have to make sure your characters are properly equipped.

And the most important thing you'll wrestle with is STRESS.
Just like in real life, stress can be a mind killer as well as a character killer.
Seriously, your chars if they get too much stress, they can die of a heart attack.
No defibs in the Darkest Dungeon. Dead is not better and it's forever.

Don't get attached to the suckers, um, brave heroes that you may have to send to their deaths, um, early retirement.

And like real life, stress is everywhere.
Chars can get stressed just walking down a horror filled hallway or traversing a tenebrous tunnel.
And there's nothing you can do about it. Oh yeah, monsters cause stress too. Oh, yeah, yeah, some chars on your team can cause stress too. That's probably why they don't get invited to parties.

Besides keeling over from a heart attack, chars could bug out when their stress levels get too high.
Most of the time it's not good for you. Having a prized char refuse healing because they're at Death's Door and masochistic, well, things can go soo south.

If you want to go far, you have to invest in your chars. Upgrade their weapons and armor, send them to therapy to lower stress and upgrade their skills. That costs lots of money. And seeing that investment going to feeding worms is not so good. Since the game autosaves, no save spamming for you. Have to accept that your favorite char that you spent lots of money on is dead and buried. The game has a graveyard to visit too.

Luckily, there are chars that can reduce stress so your chars have a chance.
The game loves to give hard choices. And sometimes you'll get punished severely for mistakes.
Nothing says fun like getting some nice jewels, but having to decide which important thing to drop because inventory space is limited. Gotta have money.

Always bring bandages.
They cure bleeding and have another use.
Yes, there are chars that can cure bleeding, but maybe their turn would be more useful attacking the enemy than healing someone.

The good news is that there are several upgradeable buildings that will reduce stress on your chars. Better bring money, and have another team ready to go.

Gotta hit the dungeons every week to make money.

When I send a team into the different areas in the game, I'm sitting close to the edge of my seat. The last time I sat at the edge the chair tipped over. Also I do one trip and that's it. It's too stressy for me to do more.

Some basic tips.
You can find more on youtube videos.

1. Don't spend all of your money at once. Save at least 2k -3k so if a trip goes south, you have enough to provision another team.

2. Don't skimp or overspend, but if you have to, go on the overspend side. Any extra stuff left over gets sold back. Depending where you go, bring enough stuff.

Bandages
Holy water
Antivenom
Keys
Shovels-Definitely take a few. Don't make your chars clear blockages with their bare hands, you'll pay for that.

Food- Depending on the length of the mission definitely bring a lot. Since the game doesn't have any healing outside of camps and curios, food is a way to do some healing. Chars do get full so you can't totally heal them. And sometimes there will be a hunger event so you need some food for that. If you camp, will need food for that feasting removes stress.

Torches- Take a lot.
Why? If your light is at max, you have a greater chance to surprise monsters. Surprised monsters politely let your team hit them without reprisal. Who doesn't like a free round to pound someone? The monsters won't hesitate to repay the favor when your chars get surprised.

Also your chars get less stress. The downside to bright light is that you get less loot. But rolling in the dark gives you more loot, but the monsters hit harder, and your chars dodging ability is reduced. Stress levels are also higher in the dark.

It might be possible to put out the torch before opening a chest to get more goodies, not sure if that's right.

Success, but maybe it's a trick of the light.

I've breezed past a whole bunch of other nuances.
There are many layers to this hell-spawned onion.
But I've sliced too deep, and my eyes drip with ebony ichor on to my keyboard.

I will have fun when I put an anti-ichor cover on my much put upon keyboard.