Resolve Level

Resolve Level governs the overall strength of heroes, increasing their resistances and allowing for improvements on their abilities and equipment.

Effects and Drawbacks
Each resolve level increases hero resistances to stun, blight, bleed, move and debuff by 10%, while increasing the chance to successfully disarm traps by the same amount. Resolve level also unlocks access to stronger equipment to be purchased at the Blacksmith and higher level abilities to be acquired at the Guild.

In Darkest (normal) and Stygian Difficulty campaigns, heroes will happily (i.e. without penalties) join expeditions when their resolve level is equal to or one greater than the expedition's level. Apprentice expeditions can be considered Level 1, suitable for resolve level 1 and 2 heroes, Veteran expeditions can be considered level 3, appropriate for resolve level 3 and 4 heroes, and Champion difficulty expeditions can be considered level 5, suitable for resolve level 5 and 6 heroes. In Radiant campaigns, these rules are relaxed; resolve level 3 and 4 heroes can join an Apprentice expedition without penalty, and resolve level 5 and 6 heroes can join a Veteran expedition without penalty.

If a hero's resolve level is too low for an expedition, that hero gets additional stress on entering the dungeon (20 stress for every level of difference) and every time they take stress damage (+25% stress for every level of difference). A hero will always refuse to take part in the expedition if his resolve is too high. Resolve level 0 heroes will always have this stress penalty on their first expedition, but will level up to resolve level 1 after any successfully completed expedition.

Additionally, the prices for stress relief activities or disease and quirk treatment at the Sanitarium in the Hamlet will increase with resolve levels (with prices being different between resolve levels 0-2, 3-4 and 5-6)

Gaining Resolve Experience
Heroes will gain experience when successfully completing an expedition. Retreating from an expedition will never grant any experience to the surviving heroes, regardless of the amount of enemies slain or objectives partly completed.

Expeditions will reward higher amounts of Resolve Experience depending on their difficulty and length. Likewise, different Resolve Levels require increasing amounts of experience in order to pass on to the next level.