Flame

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

- The Academic



The Flame is a mechanic in Darkest Dungeon II, representing the last hope for the world. It is the player's responsibility to protect the flame and bring it to The Mountain.

Flame Level
The strength of the Flame is measured on a scale from 0 to 100. The Flame waxes and wanes during the journey, altering the difficulty of battles. The Flame starts at 100 when entering a new region, and decreases naturally when travelling. There are a number of factors, like Loathing, that affect this rate. Stalling too long in a fight (e.g., not using any damaging abilities in order to heal) will decrease the Flame. A small number of enemies, like Ghouls, also have attacks that decrease the Flame.

The easiest way to increase flame is through Assistance Encounters. By choosing to help passersby, the player can earn from 15 to 30 Flame in addition to other rewards. However, there are also more selfish options that decrease the Flame while granting larger rewards. Many combat encounters—at an Oblivion's Ingress, Lair or Oblivion's Rampart, for example—also grant a small amount of Flame upon completion. Lastly, the Combat Item A Glimmer of Hope restores 15 Flame every time it is used.

When the Flame reaches 0, Cultists will ambush the party; defeating them will award 40 Flame, enabling the expedition to continue. At low Flame levels, the party also has a chance to be ambushed by the Shambler during a road battle.

Effects
Having high Flame levels grants small bonuses to the party in combat; conversely, having low Flame levels penalizes the player and buffs enemies. Unlike in the first game, there are very few benefits to having a low Flame level—Sluice trinkets being a notable exception.

Radiant Flame
"Radiant light will suffuse you with the strength of your convictions..."

- The Academic

The Radiant Flame is an item mounted onto the Stagecoach that reduces the difficulty of the run at the cost of reducing Candles of Hope collected. The Radiant Flame is always available at in Inn in The Valley at the beginning of each run, and once equipped, the Radiant Flame cannot be removed for the duration of the run.

Each consecutive unsuccessful run increases the power of the Radiant Flame, starting with two buffs at level I and increasing to five buffs at level IV. Each Radiant Flame level also decreases the traveling Flame Drain rate.

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

- The Academic

Conversely, Infernal Flames, when mounted onto the Stagecoach, greatly increase the difficulty of the run in exchange for comparatively minor boons and bonuses to Candles of Hope collected. Infernal Flames are unlocked at the The Intrepid Coast, and once unlocked, all of them appear at the Inn in The Valley. Once equipped, an Infernal Flame cannot be removed for the duration of the run.

Bugs
There are currently a number of tooltip/display bugs related to Flame levels and the Infernal Flame.
 * While the in-game tutorial states that Flame levels can have varying effects depending on the act, currently they all share the same effects.
 * The Stygian Blaze negates healing in between Lair fights; however, this is not stated in the in-game description.