How to remove Negative Quirks in Darkest Dungeon 2

Darkest Dungeon 2 is a game very much defined by the Quirks of its characters: from the relationships each of your party members share with one another, to the individual traits, dealt out randomly by the cold hand of digital genetics, that make them unique when compared to their incarnations you may have taken on runs in the past. Some of these traits are more desirable than others, however, and some can completely ruin your run if left unchecked. Thankfully, there’s a way to check them. Read on to learn how to remove Negative Quirks in Darkest Dungeon 2.

How to surgically remove your Negative Quirks in Darkest Dungeon 2

What are Negative Quirks?

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Before we talk about getting rid of them, let’s briefly cover what exactly Negative Quirks are. At the start of each run, every character in your party will be randomly assigned two Quirks: one positive, and one negative. These Quirks have effects on different aspects of the character. Some are simple, like a +3% critical hit chance, and some are complex, like a 50% chance of receiving 1 Stress point when encountering Gaunt enemies. Quirks range wildly in terms of impact, so it’s always a good idea to fully read over the Quirks each character has at the start of a given run; doing so may influence your final party-forming decisions.

Beyond their baked-in Quirks, characters in your party can also receive additional Quirks during a run. These can be granted at different times, such as at the Inn, Academic’s Study locations, and during combat, in response to an enemy attack or a key point brought on by high Stress. These Quirks can be both positive and negative, so be sure to keep a close eye on your characters, and read up on every new Quirk they receive carefully.

Removing Negative Quirks

Now that you understand what Negative Quirks are, let’s talk about how you deal with them. As mentioned above, some Negative Quirks can completely ruin your planned party setup. For example, a Man-at-Arms with the ‘Cowardice’ Quirk would be unable to fulfill their usual role of a frontline tank, since the Quirk would regularly force them to the back of the party. In cases like these, you’ll want to remove the Quirks in question so you can get back to business as usual.

To do so, you’ll need to visit a location on the map called the Field Hospital. These exist in every region, with more than one often appearing in each. They’re represented on the map by a cross icon, so you can scope them out ahead of time and plan a route to reach them if you really want to get rid of a particular Quirk.

Once you reach the Field Hospital, navigate to the ‘Wellness’ tab (the middle one, represented by a mask at the top of the screen), and you’ll be shown a list of all the Quirks each character in your party has. To remove a Negative Quirk, select it by clicking on it, then click on the button below, with the mask icon. This will remove the Quirk at the cost of 16 Relics. You can repeat this process as many times as you can afford, across any number of characters.

You can carry out a range of other useful actions at the Field Hospital too, including healing up your party, curing diseases, buying handy Combat Items to use later, and locking in Positive Quirks so that they persist into your next run. Unlike Negative Quirk removal, this operation can only be performed once per Field Hospital, but it’s worth bearing in mind, especially when you’re going for a full five-Confession campaign.

So there you have it: a complete guide on how to remove Negative Quirks in Darkest Dungeon 2. It may not seem like the best use of resources on the surface, but every tiny advantage counts as you trundle on towards the Mountain, and removing Negative Quirks from your party can greatly increase the consistency of your runs.