With tough bosses, sometimes even tougher minibosses, permadeath, and just about a million different ways to get your heroes killed, Darkest Dungeon is enjoyable because it’s a difficult game.
That being said, sometimes even the best of us get stumped, and it’s not enjoyable to smack your head against the wall when it comes to tough opponents. Such is the case with Vvulf, the leader of a group of bandits in Darkest Dungeon — and the boss at the end of one of its more frustratingly hard quests, “Wolves at the Door”.
If you’re stuck on this particular section of the game, don’t worry! We’re here to help you beat the Wolves at the Door quest in Darkest Dungeon.
Preparing for the Wolves at the Door Quest in Darkest Dungeon
If you’re worried Vvulf is like Crocodilian, in that he shows up early to kick your heroes into an early grave, keep calm. The Wolves at the Door quest won’t start until you’ve spent at least 35 weeks in the game, and you have at least 4 level 5 heroes. Even then, the quest only has a random chance of starting, so don’t sweat too much.
However, you should be prepared for this quest. First, make sure you have four shovels on hand, as you’ll want to have them after you beat Vvulf to secure some treasure. Second, try to have four level 1 heroes you don’t care about – ones straight off the stagecoach. This isn’t so much for preparing to take on the quest as it is insurance if the quest pops up and you aren’t ready.
Sending four level 1 heroes to their deaths is preferable to starting this quest unprepared, or starting and abandoning the quest. If you abandon it, the game chooses one of your heroes at random and kills them. Not good if it kills one of your better heroes!
To prep your heroes for the quest, try to level a Man at Arms, a Vestal, a Houndmaster, and a Jester to 5+. These four heroes are one of the better bets for a team to take on Vvulf and his cronies. You’ll also want to stockpile bandages and medicinal herbs in addition to the four shovels you’ll need, as well as trinkets to increase your heroes’ survivability during the fight (more on that below).
Once the quest starts and you’re ready, take your four heroes to the starting area. Wolves at the Door is like the Darkest Dungeon quests — so there’s no scouting, but the map is static. If you want to beeline for Vvulf, head upward. But before you rush headlong into battle, bear in mind that the rooms to the left and right contain treasure with a high chance of getting Ancestral Trinkets (the treasure room in the center of the dungeon can also contain an Ancestral Trinket). These items alone make the quest well worth its difficulty.
How to Beat Vvulf in Darkest Dungeon
Vvulf has a suite of nasty abilities that make him a tough fight. He takes two actions during a round, which he will most often use to summon a Brigand Cutthroat via the Get Them! ability. He’ll also cause stress by using Warcry.
The real danger with Vvulf is his Barrel O’ Bombs, a static enemy that he uses to throw a bomb at a random hero using Bombs Away. Vvulf does this at the start of every round for free (as in, he doesn’t use an action to throw the bomb), and detonates the bomb with Time’s Up! at the end of the round (again, for free). The bombs deal 23-45 damage, meaning they’re extremely deadly.
The safest tactic is to have Man at Arms use Defender when Vvulf places a bomb at the feet of one of your characters. If Vvulf manages to put the bomb at your Man at Arm’s feet, use Retribution instead because the Riposte will target Vvulf. Use Jester and Houndmaster to lay down bleeds on Vvulf, as well as de-stress your heroes (if they need it). As Vvulf takes two actions, bleeds will be doubly effective. Vestal is here to heal, of course.
Avoid hitting the Barrel O’ Bombs for two reasons: one, it has Riposte and can crit; and two, even if you manage to destroy it, Vvulf will summon another Barrel with Get Them! anyway. And be careful with Jester’s Harvest ability at the start of the fight; you don’t want to hit the Barrel.
Your entire task for this fight should be to focus on Vvulf. If you try to focus on the Brigand Cutthroats, Vvulf will simply summon more – he’s got a 100% chance to summon one, and a 33% chance to summon another, So even if you kill two, there’s a decent chance he’ll get them both back. Just put all the bleeds you can on Vvulf, and watch his 200 HP drop quickly.
Which Trinkets to Use
Trinkets can save your bacon in this fight, so here’s some quick recommendations. Put +protection and +healing on Man at Arms, as he’s your meat shield. Put +accuracy and +bleed damage (or just +damage) on Houndmaster, and +accuracy and +bleed chance on Jester. Any healing trinkets will do for Vestal, because, you know… healing.
After you beat Vvulf, head straight down for the treasure room, and collect your well-deserved rewards.
Got other tactics to beat Vvulf in the Wolves at the Door quest? Let us know your favorite party and tactics in the comments. And be sure to check out the rest of our Darkest Dungeon guides for more help with this punishing game.
- Darkest Dungeon Crimson Court Boss Guide
- Darkest Dungeon: What are Laudanum and The Blood For?
- Darkest Dungeon Provisioning Guide
- How to Get the Invitiation in Darkest Dungeon: Crimson Court
- Darkest Dungeon: Complete Guide to Quirks and Their Effects
- Darkest Dungeon Crimson Court DLC: Guide to the Flagellant Class
- Darkest Dungeon Crimson Court DLC: Guide to New Curios and Achievements
- Getting Started With Darkest Dungeon’s Crimson Court DLC
