Stress (Darkest Dungeon II)

"The mind cannot hope to withstand such a protracted assault."

- The Academic

Stress is a mechanic in Darkest Dungeon 2. It represents the mental strain caused on the heroes by the battle and the travel. High levels of stress will cause negative effects on the heroes and reduce its effectiveness, mainly through Relationships. Managing stress and maintaining a good relationship between team members is essential for the victory of the expedition.

Stress levels
Stress is divided from 0-10. Low levels of stress will not cause a problem for the player, however high levels of stress will start to affect the heroes through Negative Banter. Negative banter will cause stress and cause the heroes to lose Relationship pips to each other causing a snowball effect. The player should try to keep the stress as low as possible to avoid these problems.

0-4: No negative Banter

4-9: Negative Banter

10: Meltdown or Resolute

Meltdown
When the hero reaches 10 stress and is in combat there is an 80% base chance that the hero will suffer a Meltdown. Meltdown will reduce the hero's HP to 10%,  will give -15% Death Blow Resistance debuff, and will reduce -4 pips with all other team members. There is also a 40% chance that a quirk to be added to the hero. Automatically the hero stress is reduced to 2.

Resolute
On the other hand, if the hero reaches 10 stress and is in combat there is a 20% base probability that the hero will be Resolute. Resolute will heal the hero 50% HP, will give +15% Death Blow Resistance buff and add +4 pips with the rest of the team members. There is also a 40% chance to add a positive quirk to the hero. Automatically the hero stress is reduced to 0.