Darkest Dungeon: The Town of Hamlet Explained

Darkest Dungeon: Welcome to Hamlet

Dark roads, bandits around every corner, monsters in the shadows, giant bugs in the forests, mushrooms, and the most terrifying of all, a dungeon that is somehow even more horrifying beneath the mansion on the hill. Welcome to the town of Hamlet. Let's take a look together at Darkest Dungeon, the free game Epic Games gave away recently.

Our story begins when the family members who have led the town for generations give in to their curiosity and open the passage leading down into the hell beneath our mansion. Afterward, the letter above reaches us and the game begins. With the help of the heroes we recruit, we then try to reclaim the roads, the corners, the shadows, the forests, and the mansion.

Darkest Dungeon is a roguelike RPG with gothic artwork in which our characters have to protect not just their bodies but their sanity as well. In the RPGs we usually play, we control characters who fear nothing, are brave and pure of heart, and are stronger and healthier than our enemies. What sets Darkest Dungeon apart from similarly conceived games is exactly this: the characters we command get scared, get sick, go hungry, and, most importantly, pick up various traits (Quirks), most of which are negative.

What Are the Districts of Hamlet?

The game starts challenging us from its very first minute. Right after we return to town, we get our first taste of combat against the bandits blocking our way. Good thing we brought Reynauld (Crusader) and Dismas (Highwayman) along. Otherwise, meeting our maker before we even reached town wouldn't have been much of a stretch. After winning that first fight and continuing on, we finally reach the town of Hamlet.

Town of Hamlet

The town has ten different buildings that help fend off the darkness. We can list these buildings and their features as follows;

• Abbey: This building is used to lower the stress points our heroes accumulate in the dungeons. Using the same amount of money and time as the Tavern, you can reduce the same amount of stress here. However, it's safer than the Tavern, since you can't pick up bad habits here.
• Ancestor's Memoirs: Besides letting us track the progress we've made so far, this building gathers information from the book pages we've collected and lets us learn about the bosses in Darkest Dungeon.
• Blacksmith: In this building we can upgrade our heroes' armor and weapons in exchange for gold.
• Graveyard: This building keeps records of characters who died during our dungeon runs.
• Guild: In this building we can activate our characters' abilities of our choosing and strengthen them.
• Nomad Wagon: Various trinkets are sold in this building. These trinkets are items our heroes carry to enhance their attributes.
• Sanitarium: In this building we can cure the illnesses mentioned earlier, and remove bad quirks or add beneficial ones to our character.
• Stage Coach: This building offers new heroes we can buy to expand our roster.
• Survivalist: In this building our heroes' camping skills can be developed.
• Tavern: Like the Abbey, this building is used to reduce the stress that builds up in our heroes. However, once you send a hero with the gambler quirk to the tavern, you may have a bit of trouble getting them to leave.

You can upgrade these buildings' effects by spending the Crests and Portraits you collect during your dungeon runs. Now that we know the town of Hamlet, let's get to know the heroes who'll rescue us from the darkness. Stay tuned for our upcoming article, "Darkest Dungeon: Hero Traits and Classes"!