One of the most notable features of Darkest Dungeon is the Quirk/Affliction system. The stress of being an adventurer will take it's toll upon the mind and body for everyone eventually...


Every adventurer has the potential to earn positive and/or negative quirks

They are usually earned through adventuring, from being hit by a special attack, interacting with the environment, or finishing a dungeon. They can also be acquired in town by doing various Stress relieving activities. (Example is drinking at the bar can result in Tippler, and meditating in the abbey can grant Meditator)

Negative quirks can be removed for a decent fee at the Sanitarium, which is unlocked a couple adventures into the game.

Each hero can have up to 7 positive and negative quirks. If a hero has 7 of either, and a new quirk is acquired, it will overwrite a random quirk on the hero's list.

Afflictions and Virtues is another notable feature in this game. This is the defining mechanic that relies upon the stress bar, and a gauge to see how mad your character is!

Afflictions and Virtues are achieved when a a character reaches 100% stress. Upon reaching maximum stress, the adventurer will roll for a resolve check. This will determine whether the character will receive an affliction or a virtue. Obtaining an affliction means that your adventurer could not handle the horrors that he/she faces. Afflictions will last until the adventurer has undergone through some sort of stress-relief activity. Obtaining a virtue means that your adventurer has the resolve to continue to fight on and vanquish all the evils before him/her! Virtues will only last until the end of the dungeon.

There are many quirks that can not appear at the same time. This is mainly because these quirks are direct opposites of each other and would not make sense, in terms of flavor, to attain them. Here is a list of positive and negative quirks side by side with their conflicting counterpart. To interpret this, if you have one quirk such as "Tough", you can not get "Fragile". Unless stated, empty boxes mean that the quirk has no conflicting quirk.

Curio Automatic Trigger Quirks

These quirks will automatically make the character interact with the curio as soon as you walk by it. Some quirks cause the character to keep any loot found from the interaction.



Only relevant in town. You can have multiple of these types of quirks, potentially barring you from any form of stress relief.



Quirks that increase or decrease the amount of stress damage you take, and overall resistances to certain debuffs.

Afflictions are temporary quirks that is obtained after a character achieves maximum stress. Their resolved is tested, and there is a high chance that the character will become one of the following

• Irrational
  
• Fearful
  
• Paranoid
  
• Selfish
  
• Masochistic
  
• Abusive
  
• Hopeless

Afflictions will stay on the character until they become de-stressed through town activities.

Each affliction gives different stat penalties, or bonuses. In general, they all decrease resistances. Each specific affliction also causes the character to trigger a specific curio when approaching it.

Virtues are temporary quirks that are earned when the character reaches maximum stress. Their resolve will be tested, and there is a chance that they will immediately become one of the following:

• Stalwart
  
• Courageous
  
• Focused
  
• Powerful
  
• Vigorous

Each one of these virtues will grant the character different bonuses and sometimes result in benefits to the party. Virtues can often be the second wind that gets your party through a desperate encounter gone bad. Below are tables that show just what sort of bonuses each virtue grants.


Below is a table that describes the buffs that each virtue grants to the hero.