Mastery Points & Skill Upgrades

Mastery Points are a crucial resource in Darkest Dungeon II, allowing you to significantly enhance your heroes' abilities and tailor them to your preferred playstyle. Understanding how to acquire and effectively spend these points is key to surviving the treacherous journey to the Mountain.

Acquiring Mastery Points

Unlike traditional experience points, Mastery Points are not gained through combat alone. Instead, they are primarily found as rewards from specific encounters and locations throughout your expedition. Keep a keen eye out for these opportunities:

Loot from Combat Encounters: While not every battle will yield Mastery Points, many challenging fights, especially against Elite enemies or during Lair Boss encounters, have a chance to drop them. Prioritize these tougher fights if you're in need of upgrades.
Road Encounters: Various road events and points of interest can offer Mastery Points as a reward. These often involve making a choice or succeeding at a skill check. Always consider the potential for Mastery Points when presented with options on the road.
Hoard Curios: Certain curios found within regions, particularly those in Hoard locations, can sometimes grant Mastery Points upon interaction. Examples include the "Priceless Trinket" or "Ancient Scroll."
Academic's Studies: These rare locations often provide valuable lore and sometimes, more importantly, a guaranteed Mastery Point or two. Always prioritize visiting an Academic's Study if you encounter one.
Assistance Encounters: Helping out distressed travelers or resolving certain dilemmas on the road can occasionally reward you with Mastery Points.

Mastery Points are a finite resource within each expedition. Plan your route and engagements carefully to maximize your acquisition.

Spending Mastery Points: Skill Upgrades

Mastery Points are exclusively used to upgrade your heroes' skills. Each hero has a unique set of skills, and each skill can be upgraded once. An upgraded skill gains significant improvements, often increasing its damage, healing, debuff potency, or adding new effects.

How to Upgrade Skills:

Access the Skill Menu: During your journey, you can access your heroes' skill menus at any Inn or by clicking on a hero's portrait during a combat encounter (though you cannot upgrade mid-combat).
Select a Hero: Choose the hero whose skills you wish to upgrade.
Identify Upgradeable Skills: Skills that can be upgraded will have a distinct icon, typically a small upward-pointing arrow or a glowing border, indicating they are eligible for enhancement.
Confirm Upgrade: Click on the desired skill. The game will display the benefits of the upgrade and the cost in Mastery Points (typically 1 Mastery Point per skill upgrade). Confirm your choice to apply the upgrade.

Strategic Considerations for Upgrades:

Core Abilities First: Prioritize upgrading the skills that form the backbone of your hero's role in the party. For a damage dealer, this might be their primary attack. For a healer, their main healing ability.
Synergy with Trinkets and Quirks: Consider how an upgraded skill might synergize with equipped trinkets or beneficial quirks your hero possesses. For example, upgrading a skill that applies a Blight token is even more effective if your hero has a trinket that boosts Blight damage.
Party Composition: Think about your overall party strategy. If you're running a heavy DoT (Damage over Time) composition, upgrading skills that apply Bleed, Blight, or Burn will be highly beneficial.
Situational vs. Core: While core abilities are usually the priority, don't neglect situational skills that can turn the tide of a difficult fight. An upgraded stun or move skill can be invaluable against specific enemy types.
Early Game vs. Late Game: In the early stages of an expedition, focus on upgrading skills that provide immediate impact and improve your survivability. As you progress, you can start investing in more specialized or synergistic upgrades.
Don't Hoard Too Many: While it's wise to save a few Mastery Points for crucial upgrades later, don't be afraid to spend them. An upgraded skill now can prevent significant damage or even a hero's death, saving you more resources in the long run.

Remember, each skill upgrade is permanent for that expedition, so choose wisely. Experiment with different upgrade paths to discover powerful combinations and adapt your party to the challenges ahead.