Darkest Dungeon itself offers deadly battles in every location. Your heroes will suffer from stress and wounds. They will become absolutely insane and die. But there are several foes which can crush your party in one-two hits. Yeah, we’re talking about bosses!
In this article, we will focus on main strategies and basic information about bosses. You can also check another article with the detailed description of every boss. Let’s start with the basics and figure out who the bosses are.
Types of bosses
Bosses are typically big and difficult foes. Most of them take two or more tiles. You will find bosses in all game locations, such as the Ruins, Weald, Warrens, Cove and Courtyard. Each boss has a lot of HP and special abilities and conditions. There are also two types of bosses in the game:
- Bosses itself. You will encounter them at special missions with one main goal – to kill the boss. Such missions appear as you get enough experience in the certain location.
- Mini-bosses. You may encounter them in the middle of any mission. Each mini-boss has his own conditions to appearance. Be ready to face them everywhere.
Here are a full list of all bosses and mini-bosses:
- Located in the Ruins: the Necromancer and the Prophet.
- Located in the Weald: the Hag and the Brigand Pounder.
- Located in the Warrens: the Swine Prince and the Flesh.
- Located in the Cove: the Siren and the Drowned Crew.
- Located in the Courtyard: the Baron, the Viscount, the Countess and the Garden Guardian. There is also mini-boss the Crocodilian located in this dungeon.
- Located anywhere – mini-bosses: the Shambler, the Collector and the Fanatic.
- Can be faced in special missions: the Brigand Vuulf and the Shrieker.
Note that all Courtyard bosses, as well as the Fanatic, appear only after Crimson Court DLC installation. Note also that there are several final bosses in the game. We will describe them in the last paragraph because there are some spoilers.
Finding bosses
To unlock every boss you should finish a few expeditions in the certain location. The longer your expedition, the more experience you can grant. Therefore, you even can unlock the boss after the one long mission. Check this detailed dependence:
- Apprentice level. Short expedition grant 50% progress, medium grant 75% and long grant 100%.
- Veteran level. Short expedition grant 33% progress, medium grant 50% and long grant 67%.
- Champion level. Short expedition grant 25% progress, medium grant 38% and long grant 50%.
Excess of experience after unlocking the boss will be recalculated for the next boss. For example, new medium expedition at 50% progress of the Necromancer will unlock this boss and also give 25% progress of the Prophet).
To find mini-bosses you shouldn’t take special missions. These nightmares will find your squad themselves. Just be sure to meet the conditions:
- For the Shambler. This monster appears in the middle of the mission when the light is at zero. Also you can use a torch on the Shambler’s Altar and summon it.
- For the Collector. Here is only one condition. Probably you will face the Collector in the middle of the mission in case your stock is at least 65% full.
- For the Fanatic. It appears only in Crimson Court DLC. If you have 2-3 characters infected, the Fanatic appears with the chance of 20% at the medium level and 33% at the high level. The chance is rising to 75% with all squad infected.
During some quests, you will fight with special bosses. The Shrieker is located in the Weald, but it appears only after certain events. To find this boss you should lose at least 8 trinkets by heroes’ deaths. There is also a random event in which the Shrieker steals 8 trinkets and you have to return them. The second special boss named the Brigand Vuulf. It appears after «Brigand Incursion» town event. To get this event you have to meet the conditions:
- It is at least week 35.
- You have at least four LVL5 heroes.
- Event is repeatable with the basic chance of 12%. The chance is increased by 4% every time this event has happened.
However, all these foes are just preparation for the final challenge. Beware! Next paragraph may comprise spoilers about the plot and ending!
Final bosses
Final bosses wait for your expedition in the Darkest Dungeon, means the last location in the game. You will face a few mini-bosses:
- The Templar Impaler. This creature guards the altars in the middle of the dungeon.
- The Templar Warlord. This mini-boss is similar to the previous but more powerful.
- The Mammoth Cyst. There are several copies of the enemy near the end of the quest. Although, you have to kill only one to get access to the quest curio.
In addition, the true bosses dwell in this final dungeon:
- The Shuffling Horror. This monster is the evolved version of the Shambler. You will face it at the start of the final quest.
- The Ancestor, the Gestating Heart and the Heart of Darkness. Here you see all forms of the final boss. Firstly, you have to kill your Ancestor in human form. Then you will face with an eldritch incubator and finally, the COSMIC enemy type will appear.
The Heart of Darkness is only for in the game that has such level of difficulty. It also can instantly kill one hero when reaches 67% and 33% of HP. Brace yourself!
Helpful tips
We also have some tips, which can help you kill successfully all bosses:
- Almost every boss is located the furthest from the entry. Therefore, you can plan your expedition to reach the boss in the right moment.
- Long and exhausting journey probably will weaken your squad. So try to reach the boss as quick as you can.
- Keep the light level at the mark of 100% and you will always have scouting bonus. In addition, use trinkets that increase heroes’ scout skills.
- Trigger town events which give your characters certain bonuses. A good example is «Gentle Tide» event which grants +15% DMG in the Cove.
- In fights with bosses on the Champion level or simply with tough enemies at the end of the game build a squad of damagers. You may exclude healer and use several attackers to kill the boss very fast.
Good luck in this challenging game!
