Flame

""Take this - it is Hope. The very last of it, it is yours now.""

- The Academic

The Flame, also known as Hope or Torch is a mechanic present in Darkest Dungeon II. Presented to the player by their mentor to take to The Mountain. It represents the Last Hope of the world and it is the duty of the heroes to protect it.

Effects
As the Flame waxes and wanes during the journey, it alters the difficulty of battles and the stress accumulated by Heroes. It is strengthened a small amount with each victory, reduced with every league that the party travels aboard the Stagecoach, and is replenished in full every time the party reaches an Inn.

The strength of the Flame is measured on a scale from 100 to 0. As the flame is reduced, enemies will become stronger, receiving various buffs. Therefore, the player should try to keep the torch as high as possible. Unlike the predecessor game, there is no benefit to having the torch low. The cultists will ambush the party when the torch reaches 0, serving as a punishment to the player for letting The Hope die.

Increasing the Flame
Each time the heroes successfully defeat an Oblivion's Ingress, The Lair or Oblivion's Rampart the party will be rewarded with 10 flame. The punishment battle with the Cultists for letting the flame die will also give 40 flame upon completion. Throughuse of the combat item "A Glimmer of Hope" during combat the player will receive 15 flame each time it is used.

But the easiest way to get flame is through Assistance Encounters. This node will grant flame that varies from 15 to 30 without counting the other rewards. This will depend on the quirks that the heroes have at the moment as these will influence their decisions, the player must keep in mind that the risk of losing flame is present.

Lastly, The inn will recharge the flame to the maximum once you leave, meaning that you always start with 100 flame in each region.

Decreasing the Flame
The flame will extinguish naturally throughout the trip. The amount of flame that will be lost along the way depends on several factors, such as Biome Modifiers and Loathing. Some enemies such as Ghouls can reduce the flame with their attacks during combat.

Heroes should avoid this from happening since letting the flame dwindle will only make the enemies stronger.

The Infernal Flames
"'Only death for those who would seek to stifle us!'

- The Academic"

The Infernal Flames are items unlocked in The Intrepid Coast. Once unlocked, all of them appear in Valley Inn's shop. They serve as an optional alternative to classical hard mode, adding major challenges to the heroes in exchange for comparatively insignificant boons and bonuses to Candles of Hope collected.

Even though they are required to be mounted onto the Stagecoach, they are not considered as Stagecoach Items.