Surprise

Upon entering a battle, there is a chance to surprise enemies or be surprised by them.

Surprised party

If your party is surprised, party members will be shuffled around, messing your formation. Escaping from battle becomes impossible for the first turn.

If you surprise enemies, they will go last on the first turn, allowing you to reliably plan actions.

There is a base 10% chance of being surprised, or surprising monsters, in rooms and corridors that haven't yet been scouted. But in corridors and rooms that have been scouted, the base chance of surprising monsters increases to 25%, with no chance of being surprised. The chances differ again depending on the current light level, the specific increases can be seen in the below table:

Light Level	Get Surprised	To Surprise
75+	0%	25%
50-75	0%	15%
25-50	15%	10%
0-25	25%	5%
None	40%	0%

The maximum surprise chance is 65% for both sides.

NOTE: While in the Darkest Dungeon and the Farmstead, it is impossible to be surprised or surprise your foes, rendering items that affect the surprise chance obsolete.

Dealing with being surprised

Surprising your enemy is very good: you will have 4 turns before they get to act. Being surprised, on the other hand, can be extremely bad: e.g. having the Leper in the 3rd rank and a Vestal in the 1st. It will take a few turns to get them back into optimal positions, prolonging the fight and taking extra damage.

Increase your chance to surprise the enemy and reduce your chance of being surprised with:

• Trinkets
• Camping skills
• Keeping your light meter high
• Scouting battles (heroes don't get surprised in scouted battles)

Reduce the negative impact of being surprised by:

• Equipping moving skills (e.g. Grave Robber's Lunge, Jester's Finale)
• Equipping skills that can be used from multiple positions (e.g. Plague Doctor's Incision, Hellion's If It Bleeds)
• Using a sub-optimal set of skills to end the fight as soon as possible

The party will always be surprised when facing the Shambler or Fanatic, or when being ambushed while camping—this cannot be avoided by modifiers to surprise chance. In these cases (at least when it is predictable) it is advised to pre-arrange Heroes into their worst possible formation, so that being surprised strictly improves their tactical situation.

Camping Skills that Affect Surprise Chance

Skill	Character	Time Cost	Target	Effect
Bandit's Sense		4	Self Only	-20% chance Party Surprised (4 Battles) +20% chance Monsters Surprised (4 Battles) Prevents a nighttime ambush
Hound's Watch		4	Self Only	-20% chance Party Surprised (4 Battles) +20% chance Monsters Surprised (4 Battles) Prevents a nighttime ambush
Tracking		2	Self Only	-15% chance Party Surprised (4 Battles) +10% chance Monsters Surprised (4 Battles)

Trinkets that Affect Surprise Chance

Generic Trinkets

Trinket Image	Trinket Name	Rarity	Origin Dungeon	Effect	Additional Notes
	Book of Intuition	Common		-20% Chance Party Surprised -1 SPD
	Ancestor's Lantern	Ancestral		-20% Chance Party Surprised +20% Chance Monsters Surprised +10% Stress

Hero Trinkets

Trinket Image	Trinket Name	Rarity	Class Restriction	Origin Dungeon	Effect	Additional Notes
	Evidence of Corruption	Crimson Court	Houndmaster		+25% Scouting Chance -15% Chance Party Surprised +10% Stress