Deltarune: How To Spare Every Chapter 2 Darkner Quickly

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With only 2 of the 7 chapters released to date, Deltarune is fast becoming one of the most loved indie RPGs of all time. A few of the reasons for its popularity are the quirky and intricate activities that players can pursue within the game. One such activity is the recruitment of the Darkners to live in Castle Town. This recruitment system was added to the game with the Chapter 2 release.

Many things in Castle Town change depending on which of the possible recruits have been obtained. For example, getting at least 9 recruits will make Seam replace their Dark Candies in their shop with CD Bagels, a much stronger healing item. Additionally, several recruited Darkners will appear in Castle Town and can be spoken to, complete with unique dialogue.

They will also appear in Café as additional options for placement. There are more advantages to recruiting certain characters. However, some of the battles can become drawn out and tedious if the player doesn’t know the quickest ways of finishing them. So with that, here are the quickest ways to recruit the Deltarune Chapter 2 Darkners.

Werewire

Werewire possess the unique trait of permanently having the “Tired” status on them, making sleep spells highly effective. Having Kris or Susie defend before Ralsei’s turn is the most efficient way to gain TP to afford his Pacify spell. This tactic also works with Noelle, but both she and Kris need to defend in order to afford her Sleep Mist spell. It will spare every Tired enemy in the battle, so the speed of the sparing process evens out.

A total of 6 Werewires need to be spared to recruit them officially. Luckily, unlike some other enemies, they’re easy to find. They can be encountered in Cyber Field, Cyber City, and Queen’s Mansion (Acid Tunnel). If this requirement has not been reached before Giga Queen, the easiest Werewire to encounter is located 1 room east of the Music Shop in Cyber Field, which can be found just 1 room north of Cyber Field’s Warp Door.

Tasque

Tasques are extremely easy to recruit. Using Ralsei’s “SoftVoice” ACT found in Kris’ ACT menu a singular time will bring all Tasques up to 100% Mercy. Just use the spare command on them at that point to end the battle.

A total of 5 Tasques need to be spared to officially recruit them. They can be encountered in Cyber Field, Cyber City (Weird Route only), and Queen’s Mansion. If this requirement has not been reached before Giga Queen, the easiest Tasque to encounter is located 1 room east and 1 room south of Cyber Field’s Warp Door.

Virovirokun

Virovirokuns are very similar to Tasques, as using “TakeCareX” will bring all of them in a battle to 100% Mercy, and then they only need to have the spare command used on them. This works with both the full trio and with just Kris and Noelle.

A total of 4 Virovirokuns need to be spared to officially recruit them. They can be encountered in Cyber Field and Cyber City. If this requirement has not been reached before Giga Queen, the easiest Virovirokun to encounter is located at the end of a narrow room east of Cyber Field’s Warp Door.

Poppup

Poppup is by far the easiest recruit to get. At the very first one encountered in Cyber City right before Noelle joins, use the “Click” ACT on them twice. This will bring them to 100% Mercy and spare all 3 of them on the same turn, and 3 just so happens to be the number needed to obtain the recruit. No other Poppups need to be battled after that.

If the opportunity to do this has been missed, there is a Poppup one room east of the Trash Zone Warp Door.

Ambyu-Lance

Noelle’s “Hospitality” ACT in Kris’ menu will instantly make all Ambyu-Lances in a battle able to be spared. There aren’t many chances to use this with how little she’s in the party for though, so using the “GetHit” ACT in Kris’ menu with the full trio and running into one of the Ambyu-Lance’s bullets immediately is the best way to spare these.

A total of 4 Ambyu-Lances need to be spared to officially recruit them. They can only be encountered in Cyber City. If this requirement has not been reached before Giga Queen, the easiest Ambyu-Lance to discover is located 5 rooms east and 2 rooms south of the Trash Zone Warp Door.

Maus

Kris’ “TrapOne” and “TrapAll” ACTs are the most helpful ones to use for singular Maus and multiple, respectively. When timed correctly, any enemy caught in the red cage will gain 100% Mercy. “TrapAll” even works on enemies that aren’t Maus, meaning that it can bring all enemies in a battle to 100% Mercy in a single turn if all of them get captured.

3 Maus need to be spared to officially recruit them. They can only be encountered in Cyber City. If this requirement has not been reached before Giga Queen, the easiest Maus to encounter is located 1 room east of the Trash Zone Warp Door, joining the Poppup visible in the overworld when the battle begins.

Swatchling

Swatchlings are the most complicated enemy to spare. When the battle begins, all of them will have a random color. The colors can be manipulated using the “Warmify,” “Coldify,” “Half-Warm” and “Half-Cold” ACTs. “Warmify” and “Coldify” will adjust their colors by 2 stages, while “Half-Warm” and “Half-Cold” only do 1 stage.

The coldest stage is blue and the warmest stage is red, with green, yellow, and orange being the ones in-between. These ACTs must be used carefully to make all of Swatchlings share the same color, which brings all of them to 100% Mercy. A blue Swatchling cannot become colder and a red Swatchling cannot become warmer, so don’t use their respective ACTs on them, as that will waste the party member’s turn. The vast majority of color combinations the game gives players can be made to match in just 1 turn, though some do require 2.

A total of 5 Swatchlings need to be spared to officially recruit them. They can only be encountered in Queen’s Mansion. If this requirement has not been reached before Giga Queen, the easiest Swatchling to encounter is located in Tasque Manager’s room after she has been battled. A good thing to know is that breaking pottery in Queen’s Mansion whenever possible gives additional Swatchling encounters that are normally skippable.

Tasque Manager

When answering Tasque Manager’s questions, say “Left, Bottom, Left” in that order. This will give her 100% Mercy on the first turn where she can be recruited instantly. 2 Tasques also join her in battle if their requirement of 5 spares hasn’t been met yet, though they must be spared individually for them to count.

Mauswheel

An extremely well-timed “CatchX” can get Mauswheel as much as 50-60% Mercy in 1 turn, meaning only 2 turns minimum are needed to end the battle. Don’t bother with Susie and Ralsei’s “S-Action” and “R-Action” that much. They only give 5% Mercy each. These are helpful when Mauswheel only needs 5-10% Mercy to reach 100% and no other situations.

Werewerewire

Werewerewire can be a somewhat challenging enemy, so knowing how to spare it quickly is good. Using “BeSweet” and “S-Action” on the first turn, “BeTough” and “R-Action” on the second turn, and “BeCold” followed by the spare command on the third turn will bring it up to 100% fairly fast, so it all comes down to surviving its attacks long enough to pull this off. Make sure to enter the battle with full HP on everyone.

Deltarune Chapters 1 and 2 are available on PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.