Combat Items are new to Darkest Dungeon 2. They add another layer of strategy and tactics in battles which makes them a powerful mechanic to increase your chances of survival.
Combat Items can be equipped into any of your characters’ skill slots to aid in battle. They can provide a variety of different effects ranging from healing to removing negative tokens to revealing stealth enemies.
While you may not really need to use Combat Items all the time, it really helps to keep one on you and use it in battle anyway because they can take up unnecessary space in your inventory. However, to do that, you first have to equip your characters with Combat Items.
How to get Combat Items in Darkest Dungeon 2
There are several ways in which you can acquire Combat Items in DD2. You can either purchase them from merchants, loot them from the world, or produce them on your own in your Stagecoach.
The only problem is that each Darkest Dungeon 2 expedition has a random set of Combat Items. You do not have control over finding a specific Combat Item at any point in the game.
Purchase from the Inn, Hoarder, and Field Hospital
There are three different places/merchants that you can purchase Combat Items from in DD2 – the Inn, the Hoarder, and the Field Hospital. Most Combat Items in the game are purchased with Relics, but in some cases, you might also require Baubles to purchase them.
The Hoarder is typically found on the roads of the Valley. The Field Hospital is another location node just like the Hoarder and serves as a place for your heroes to rest after a battle.
You can find Combat Items available for purchase from the Pharmacy section of the Field Hospital, but Healing and Restorative items form the bulk of its stock.
Lastly, the Inn serves as your main resting spot at the end of every route. Just like the Field Hospital, the Inn also provides many services. If you are planning to get some Combat Items specifically, then you should find them in stock at the Provisioner in the Inn.
Reach the Desperate Few
The Desperate Few are location nodes that are also known as Assistance Encounters in Darkest Dungeon 2. They are people who stayed back to fight the apocalypse, albeit in devastating conditions.
When you reach the Desperate Few, you will be given a random set of up to four choices, one choice per hero. You can choose to either help, assist, inspire, or donate to receive different rewards.
Combat Items are a pretty common reward to get from the Desperate Few. That and Food Items to use at the Inn. You can also get Quirks for your heroes as well as increase your Flame points.
Win enemy fights
Most of the time you spend in DD2 is fighting all sorts of different monsters. At the end of each fight, you are presented with a couple of rewards, of which Combat Items are common.
Although they may be random, this is still a great way to obtain a lot of Combat Items since you are pretty much fighting enemies all of the time. The only catch here is that you have to win the fight to get the rewards.
The rewards that you get can also depend on the strength of your enemies. Normal enemies may give common rewards, but bosses will yield much rarer rewards upon defeat.
Run over debris in the Stagecoach
As you are driving your Stagecoach around the world, you should notice random debris scattered along the road from place to place. These items can be grabbed by running your Stagecoach over them, which counts as automatic loot. Among other things, many of these piles of debris contain Combat Items.
Produce with Stagecoach Items
You can upgrade your Stagecoach with Stagecoach Items for various buffs and effects in Darkest Dungeon 2. Some Stagecoach Items will help you automatically produce Combat Items after reaching each location on the road.
Do note that each Stagecoach Item produces a random Combat Item from a specific category. For example, “Alembic and Retort” produces a random Concoction and Powder Combat Item, “Chirurgeon’s Mixing Kit” produces a random Restorative Combat Item, and “Explosives Magazine” produces a random Explosive Combat Item.
Something to keep in mind is that your Stagecoach Pet gives you buffs based on what Stagecoach Items you have. If you have “Pygmy Pliskin”, you will want to have Medical Gear on your Stagecoach to get additional healing. Both “Alembic and Retort” and “Chirurgeon’s Mixing Kit” are Medical Gears in this case.
It is going to take some gameplay hours but once you get to know the right combinations of Stagecoach Items and Equipment, you will be able to produce some of the best Combat Items in Darkest Dungeon 2.
How to equip and use Combat Items in Darkest Dungeon 2
The first thing to know is that you can only equip Combat Items when you are traveling in your Stagecoach or have arrived at an Inn in Darkest Dungeon 2.
You cannot equip Combat Items during a battle. Hence, make sure that all of your heroes are prepped before a battle starts.
To equip a Combat Item, open your inventory by pressing “I” and click on “Combat Items” to see a list of all items that you have in your current expedition.
Then open your character sheet by pressing “C” and click on “Combat Skills” for any hero in your party. There will be an empty slot with a “plus” icon in the left corner just before the skills.
To equip a Combat Item, you have to drag a Combat Item from your inventory panel to the empty item slot. Do note that you can switch between different Combat Items as many times as you want in DD2.
Combat Items show up as the last skill option for a hero in battle. During your turn, simply select the Combat Item Skill and use it either on yourself, your other heroes, or your enemies depending on what the Combat Item does in Darkest Dungeon 2.
Remember that you can only use a Combat Item once. Also, unlike in the first game, you can use it on any hero without worrying about their positioning.
Something incredibly important to know is that Combat Items are not counted as actions in Darkest Dungeon 2 as long as they are used at the start of your turn. This is what makes them so powerful in the game.
However, if your hero uses any of his skills such as to attack an enemy, they will use up their turn and not be able to use their Combat Items until the next round.
