Darkest Dungeon 2: How to Beat the Denial Confession Boss

There are a few tricks to know if you’re wondering how to beat the Denial Confession boss in Darkest Dungeon 2. Since this is the first boss you’re likely to encounter on your journey, it stands between you and your party making it to the mountain. It’s also tough as nails if you’re not prepared. Taking out the Shackles of Denial can be a taxing experience. But if you follow these tips you can defeat Denial Confession relatively easily.

How to Defeat Denial Confession in Darkest Dungeon 2

The battle against Confession Denial requires strategy more than pure brawn. The four different Shackles of Denial have their own attacks. More importantly, perhaps, they also deny your party from using a certain type of skill being used for a round.

From left to right, the four Shackles of Denial are:

• Shackle of Despair: Can inflict Denial of Reason, blocking stress heal skills.
• Latch of Regret: Can inflict Denial of Arms, blocking melee skills.
• Bolt of Lamentation: Can inflict Denial of Reach, blocking ranged skills.
• Padlock of Wasting: Can inflict Denial of Fortitude, blocking healing skills.

The main thing to keep in mind here is that you’ll want to use as many DoT skills as possible when facing off against this first boss.

Each Shackle has different resistances, with the Padlock of Wasting having the highest resistance to Burn, Bleed, and Blight at 50%. You’ll want to equip any combat items that can inflict high levels of DoT on targets to quickly take them out.

Focusing on a single shackle at a time will get you the win here. The shackle you focus on will depend on your team comp, but I like to get the Shackle of Despair out of the way first. Each lock can inflict Stress on your party, and having repeated meltdowns reduces available HP quickly.

Depending on my party build and their HP levels, this is the order in which I attack the Shackles in this fight:

• Despair
• Wasting
• Regret
• Lamentation

Best Party Compositions to Beat The First Boss

The following are some prospective party members you can include when fighting the Denial Confession boss in Darkest Dungeon 2. The list below also includes the best skills for this fight. Skills should be leveled up as much as possible or unlocked at Hero Shrines before beginning this battle.

Party Composition 1

These are the four characters you have unlocked at the beginning of the game.

• Plague Doctor: Noxious Blast, Ounce of Prevention, Indiscriminate Science, Magnesium Rain, Plague Grenade
• Graverobber: Poison Dart, Absinthe, Pick to the Face
• Highwayman: Duelist’s Advance, Pistol Shot, Point Blank Shot, Open Vein
• Man-at-Arms: Defender, Retribution, Stand Fast, Strategic Withdrawal, Bolster

Party Composition 2

This party build is one of my favorite compositions, covering healing, stress removal, and damage output.

• Vestal: Ministrations, Judgement, Consecration of Fortitude, Divine Grace, Divine Comfort
• Jester: Battle Ballad, Inspiring Tune, Harvest, Solo
• Highwayman: Duelist’s Advance, Pistol Shot, Point Blank Shot, Open Vein
• Leper: Chop, Withstand, Solemnity, Reflection

If you’re taking the Leper, make sure to stock up on Milk-soaked Linen so his blind doesn’t impact his attack too much.

That’s how to beat the Denial Confession boss in Darkest Dungeon 2. While it seems like a difficult battle, if your party has a mixed set of skills, can inflict DoT, and tank damage, you’ll defeat it in no time. For more help in Darkest Dungeon 2, like which Pets are the best or what the new tokens mean, check out our DD2 guide library.