Darkest Dungeon 2: Best Inn Upgrades

The Kingdoms mode in Darkest Dungeon 2 offers a lot of upgrades to your Inns which are pivotal to your success. A total of five trees and a couple of handfuls of options per tree are available, allowing for a ton of gameplay customization. That said, given how challenging and punishing this mode is, you're somewhat restricted in your choices at the beginning of Darkest Dungeon 2 Kingdoms, whether you know it or not.

Some of the trick is knowing you can only dip into one Advanced tree per Inn, so you'll want to specialize Inns. For example, a Physician Inn that heals Fatigue will prove imperative at keeping combat a smooth experience in your favor. Choosing where to specialize is important, too: Physician and Mastery Trainer specialized Inns will do best at a central location and/or near the final boss.

Best Inn Upgrades To Take And When In Darkest Dungeon 2

Barracks And Mastery Trainer Upgrades Are Pivotal Early

Early on you'll need to set up various Inns with Barracks units so you can defend Inns from Sieges as they come up. Lose enough Inns and the campaign ends, but even if you just lose a few, that can be enough to make life a lot more difficult than it should be, since Inns are valuable resources. Focus on grabbing Partisan Trainingfor as many Inns as you can as soon as possible; this will wipe the floor with enemies in Escalation 1 (i.e. the first 15 days about).

Once you reach Escalation 2, Partisan Training can still hold up, but you may want to advance to Veteran Specialization to ensure victory. Veteran Specialization will be critical in Escalation 3 for making it to the final boss.

Next is Mastery Training. It's just 10 Inn materials to take Specialist Instructor or Gymnasium, so do this aggressively early on before you pick up Mastery points from encounters. If you've built your team comp in Darkest Dungeon 2 Kingdoms correctly, it shouldn't be necessary to spend many points on new skills. As such, try to focus on Gymnasium for a bit, making exceptions for critical new skills that give yourteam a huge power boost.

In the midgame (Escalation 2), you should set up a Physician Inn in a centralized location that takes Journeyman Physician and possibly goes all the way to Physician's Stipend. This will take the edge off Fatigue to ensure your team remains comfortable in combat. Meanwhile, the Trainer's Text node in the Mastery Training tree will serve nicely around this point.

At higher difficulties, the Apprentice Wainwright node is respectable, but you shouldn't need it on lower ones. Take Journeyman Wainwright after your first Trophy (if you get one), which tends to be in Escalation 3, but can happen earlier. The Cage Mounts node can be worthwhile if you pick up a free pet, but consider it low priority.

The Provisioner tree becomes more appealing at midgame as you have more currency to throw around. However, make sure to leave it until most of your Inns have been defended. I favor permanent, long-term rewards like trinkets in Darkest Dungeon 2 as well as Stagecoach items, but combat, inn, and food items are fine choices, too. Meanwhile, Whiskey is there if you're in a bind relationship-wise.

Once you reach the late game (Escalation 3), apart from the aforementioned Veteran Specialization and Physician's Stipend, you should look into the entire Physician tree. Make sure not to sleep on Sterile Storage, as healing items are a huge boon in Kingdoms, especially on high difficulty. Again, make sure the Inn you have this set up for is positioned near the final boss and/or Alpha den, and preferably near the center of the map as well.

Best Capstone Upgrades In Darkest Dungeon 2

Time These Wisely And You’ll Be Handsomely Rewarded

The Trauma Centre Capstone upgrade in Darkest Dungeon 2

Capstone upgrades are ones on the middle-right side of the Inn Upgrades menu, as marked by a lock. They are pretty expensive at 40 Inn materials each, so you won't want to take them early. However, choosing the right one later on can be a major boon.

Ordnance Supply (Barracks) - Can be a reasonable upgrade to your Peasant Militia in the late game when you need it most.
Grand Bazaar (Provisioner) - By the time you can afford to take it, you don't really want it anymore.
Training Grounds (Mastery Trainer) - See Grand Bazaar.
Stables (Wainwright) - Helpful in the late game to combat Flame Drain (more important on higher difficulties).
Trauma Centre (Physician) - The best of the bunch, as you can use it for major fights like the Alpha den and/or the final boss. Once it's unlocked, you're very likely to stay in top shape in time for the boss, while adding some valuable positive quirks to your heroes for good measure.

Now you're well-equipped to take on Kingdoms in Darkest Dungeon 2. Just remember: Barracks and Mastery Trainer are the important nodes to take early; the rest should somewhat take care of itself.

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