How to beat the Brain boss in Act 1 of Darkest Dungeon 2

Three expeditions across hellish zones. These are what you need to do in a single run in Darkest Dungeon 2 without failing. If you manage to triumph against all odds, then you’ll be able to travel to the Mountain (the only possible option). Here’s our guide to help you beat the Brain boss in Act 1 of Darkest Dungeon 2.

Traveling through the Mountain

The Mountain zone in Darkest Dungeon 2 no longer has branching paths. After all, you’ve probably gotten sick of those roads throughout Act 1. Instead, it’s just a linear path with two encounters. You’ll fight mobs that you’ve seen before such as Cardinals and Cherubs.

Act 1 – Brain boss mechanics

When you reach the end of the road, the Brain boss fight will commence. This thing is, well, a gigantic brain, and it’s also surrounded by four sentient padlocks:

• Padlock of Wasting – 75 HP; average resistances to debuffs.
• Latch of Regret – 75 HP; low blight resistance.
• Bolt of Lamentation – 75 HP; low resistances to blight, burn, and bleed.
• Shackle of Despair – 75 HP; low burn and bleed resistance; no blight resistance.

Needless to say, you’ll want to apply the debuffs that these entities are weak against. You can use the following abilities:

• Plague Doctor – Noxious Blast and Incision.
• Grave Robber – Poison Dart.
• Hellion – If It Bleeds and Bleed Out.
• Highwayman – Duelist’s Advance; this is actually so the character can do Riposte counters whenever he gets hit.

But, there are still a lot of things to watch out for. That’s because each device or entity will use different attacks and spells. Some of these will directly increase Stress, while others will cause your group’s positioning to get shuffled. This can be a hassle since there are abilities that won’t work if characters are standing in the wrong spot.

Worse, because the Brain boss in Darkest Dungeon 2 follows a “locking” theme, there are times when your entire party will be debilitated. At certain intervals, you might be prevented from using melee attacks, using ranged attacks, or casting healing abilities.

It’s a battle of attrition but, with any luck, you should be able to take out all four “evil padlocks.” This will lead to the defeat of the Brain boss in Act 1 of Darkest Dungeon 2. Since the game is an early access title and this is the only act that’s available, you’ll end up back at the Crossroads. At the very least, you’ll gain a lot of Hope XP to increase your profile rank.