Affliction

Characters in Darkest Dungeon are not the unwavering heroes of high fantasy to which you are accustomed. While they are certainly tough and capable fighters, they are also very human and you will need to manage their Mental Health as well as their Health. As such if their Stress Bar reaches a peak, they will respond emotionally to the horrors they encounter, by becoming Afflicted, or, more rarely, Virtues.

Affliction
"Madness... our old friend."

Affliction is a temporary state a Hero most likely to enter upon reaching 100 stress. Afflicted Heroes suffer stat penalties, can act on their own, pass turns, stress out other party members, move around, disrupting your party formation, steal loot, refuse heals and buffs. Becoming Afflicted does stress damage to the entire party. Accumulating stress doesn't stop after becoming afflicted and if a Hero reaches 200 stress, he will have a heart attack, reducing his hp to 0 and bringing them on death's door. If a Hero has a heart attack on death's door, he will die instantly and permanently. Afflictions can also be cured in Town, by participating in the activities in theAbbey or Tavern, or in the dungeon, by reducing afflicted hero's stress to 0.

List of Afflictions

 * Paranoid
 * Selfish
 * Irrational
 * Fearful
 * Hopeless
 * Abusive
 * Masochistic

Virtue
Virtue is a temporary condition of increased effectiveness that a Hero acquires after passing an Affliction Check. Virtues Heroes have increased stats, can randomly heal himself, reduce stress of the party or buff his teammates at the start of his turn. Becoming Virtues reduces stress of the entire party by a small amount. Virtues Heroes are immune to a heart attack (their stress will not increase over 100%). Virtue state will end upon returning to the Hamlet. While the exact chance of becoming virtues is unknown, its speculated to be around 15-20%.

List of Virtues

 * Powerful
 * Courageous
 * Stalwart
 * Vigorous
 * Focused