Original-game rules reference

Darkest Dungeon Mechanics: Combat Rules & Status Effects

Use current game text and source-aware references to understand combat decisions, starting with the Fire’s Edge Burn mechanic and its confirmed original-game context.

1 published mechanic page

Burn damage happens at the target’s turn end

Unmodified Burn deals its current stack at the end of the target’s turn, then halves it with rounding down. A 7-stack deals 7 + 3 + 1 = 11 damage without new stacks or decay modifiers. Use the Burn guide for Wildfire, corpses, and the 27987 skill changes.

Read mechanics without guesswork

Open the relevant guide for concrete steps, formation diagrams, and linked source data.

  1. 01

    Follow target turns

    Calculate the next damage tick before deciding whether to add or transfer stacks.

  2. 02

    Account for modifiers

    Firefly changes decay; the plain halving example does not model that debuff.

  3. 03

    Choose a spread target

    Wildfire and corpse removal make adjacent positions matter.

Published mechanics files

Current Darkest Dungeon mechanics coverage

Open the relevant guide for concrete steps, formation diagrams, and linked source data.