Retreating

The choice to retreat from battle or abandon an expedition entirely is always available to the player. Due to the unwholesome mechanics of the game, it will be not uncommon to retreat.

Retreating from battle
To retreat from battle, click on the white flag on the top left corner. You can only interact with the retreat option when it is your hero's turn to act in combat. Retreats are not guaranteed to work when desired and will act like a turn skip. There are few things to keep in mind before attempting to retreat:


 * Heroes will suffer a large amount of stress after a successful retreat. This is usually around 20 stress, so be prepared for potential afflictions and heart attacks.


 * Retreating from a room battle will leave your heroes in the hallway that they entered used to enter the battle room. They will all need to back track in order to move back into a safe room.
 * Retreating from a hallway battle will leave your heroes in the previous room they were in.
 * Wandering bosses like the Collector will reappear when your heroes enter the same hallway battle that they retreated from.
 * Heroes that are out of control (i.e. lured by the Siren or being cooked by the Hag) will not retreat with other heroes, and will instead suffer a deathblow.
 * You cannot retreat from the Shrieker or from the final boss.

Abandoning an expedition
To abandon an expedition, click on the "x" button on the top left corner. You can only abandon a quest when your heroes are out of combat. Abandoning a quest will always be guaranteed, but similar negative effects to retreating will occur:


 * Heroes will suffer a large amount of stress after abandoning a quest. This can be very dangerous for heroes that are on Death's Door and are close to getting a heart attack, the hero may suffer a deathblow before returning to the Hamlet. (May need verification).
 * Heroes are most likely to develop negative quirks upon retreating.
 * Retreating from the Darkest Dungeon can be harsh. If retreating with more than one party member, one member must sacrifice themselves in order for the rest of the party to retreat safely. This will also occur in the Wolves at the Door mission.