Heartwarming / Darkest Dungeon II

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• Through all the trials and tribulations on the way to the Mountain, it is always immensely satisfying to watch your party members form positive relationships with one another and become Fire-Forged Friends. It gets even better if just a region ago they were at each others' throats but you managed to cross a threshold between them through a pivotal sharing of a drink, sparring match, game of darts, exchange of love songs, etc. Better yet is if you've played your cards right, you'll get five or six positive relationships just before entering the Mountain, signifying how tightly knit your group has become throughout your journey.
• Any time the heroes in your party develop an Amorous relationship. Not only do they become a Battle Couple, but using their selected skills either cleanses the other of all DOT effects, or heals them by 10%.
• The Leper's final hero shrine ends with a beautiful affirmation of optimism as he begins Walking the Earth. We guarantee you it'll be the most stirring reaction to contracting leprosy you'll ever see.
  ...As he walked beyond the city gates, he marveled at the beauty of the world, and was grateful for his many blessings.
  • There is also the reason for why he contracted leprosy to begin with: He wanted to help and embrace his less fortunate subjects, against his advisor's wishes. While it tragically ends with disease, his selflessness shines through, and it's more than implied he does not regret a thing, as while all other heroes (save the Flagellant) are shown retreating from the Flame in their hero shrine portraits, The Leper is shown standing stalwart against the flames of his past.
• The Vestal's backstory. One might expect she would feel shame for witnessing such lewdness, and her journey is atonement like the Hellion. Instead, she learns that love and sexuality are wonderful, and she shouldn't be ashamed. And the Light agrees with her. What's unfortunate is that the abbot disagrees.
• Maxing out a Hero's candles in The Living City at the Altar of Hope (i.e. earning their Inn item) has the Academic giving a special comment about them:
  Highwayman: "A watchful protector, he will safeguard the roads he once hunted."
  Man-At-Arms: "Humility fortifies hand and heart. Behind his unwavering shield, the peasant militia will rally."
  Grave Robber: "She will seek out what was lost in the shadows, and restore it to where it is needed."
  Plague Doctor: "The world's wounded have much to teach. She will study them, and work tirelessly to free them from their trauma."
  Hellion: "She will gather the remnants of her people, and rid the wilds steppes of what horrors yet remain."
  Runaway: "She will teach others to survive in scarcity. And through her, abundance will flow through lifeless debris."
  Jester: "Where people gather, his songs will soothe the destitute and galvanize the fearful."
  Leper: "Wherever the weak and vulnerable bow beneath a cruel yoke, he will be there to repay their oppressors in kind."
  Occultist: "Warden and watcher, master of the outer spheres. He will be a cosmic bulwark against intrusions from the void.”
  Vestal: "A beacon in the dark, her radiant faith will reaffirm the humanity in us all."
  Flagellant: “In the world's dark corners, he will revel in his rotting immortality.”
  Duelist: "Her sword upon the mantle, she will seek meaning beyond the blade."
  Crusader: "He will retire his battered helm atop a scarecrow, and labour the land beneath its baleful gaze."
• The ending is just a wave of good feelings - we see the Runaway helping a family out of ruins, the Plague Doctor tending to the injured, the Jester playing for a group of children, the Grave Robber giving to others... Then there's things like the Vestal finding love, the Occultist standing over a dead shambler, the Hellion being accepted back into her clan, the Man-at-Arms leading a new army, the Leper admiring a bluebird and the Highwayman looking at his locket. It shows that the heroes have not only delayed the end, but are finding some measure of peace, having faced their failures and come through their trials all the stronger. For all the darkness, the light is recovering.
  • After The Binding Blade, the Crusader's helmet laying abandoned in the ending is now also heartwarming, implying he finally feels secure enough and has made enough peace with his actions to retire and go back home.
• When doing the quest to unlock The Crusader, you'll eventually reach a step where you have to go to an assistance encounter to get a lead. Most characters just ask if they've seen a knight. If you have a Highwayman in your party, however, he has a unique line:
  Highwayman: "I'm looking for my friend- big guy, armor. Seen him?"
  • He even has idle chatter when you have the final item mounted on the stagecoach to find him.
  "I'm coming old friend."
• Getting a Positive relationship between Reynauld and Dismas grants the achievement "Friends 'til the end". Guess on the Old Road they did find redemption after all, in each other!
• "For Old Time's Sake" is an achievement that requires you to beat any Confession with the "The Usual Suspects" party composition^note left to right; Vestal, Plague Doctor, Highwayman, Crusader, which was the very first set of four heroes you unlocked in the original Darkest Dungeon. It's a very adorable little way of signifying how you're Putting the Band Back Together if you do so.
• Some of the Highwayman's chatter implies that he's found redemption in his Accidental Murder. He will never forget it, and the wound can still be reopened. But he is no longer tormented by it, and he'll keep saving people for as long as he can.

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