Aliens: Dark Descent – How to Reduce Stress

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How to Reduce Stress in Aliens Dark Descent

Reducing your squad’s Stress levels is essential in Aliens: Dark Descent if you want to avoid getting any negative traits.

To reduce Stress, players will need to rest, utilize certain items and perks, and understand how the Trauma mechanic works.

In this guide, I will explain how to reduce Stress in Aliens: Dark Descent to help you avoid getting any negative Trauma traits.

If you prefer a more combat-focused guide, check out our list of the best weapons in Aliens: Dark Descent.

How to Reduce Stress in Aliens Dark Descent

How to reduce stress in Aliens Dark Descent.

Thankfully, there are various ways to reduce Stress in the game, and knowing all of them will be helpful when you’re in a tricky situation.

Here are all the ways to reduce Stress in Aliens Dark Descent:

  1. Rest in a Shelter – While exploring an area, you’ll notice a green house icon in your Automap. These areas can be turned into Shelters by closing all surrounding doors. Within these areas, you’ll be able to reduce your squad’s Stress level by 100%
  2. Increase Bravery stat – Bravery is a stat that reduces the Stress each Marine receives in stressful occurrences. To increase Bravery, level up the Bold Attribute (each level of Bold increases Bravery by 5). Also, having a Sergeant class in the squad will increase every Marine’s Bravery by 10.
  3. Use Naproleve – Naproleve is a consumable item that can be used to reduce Stress by 100% at the cost of one of your Medical Supplies.
  4. Equip Morphine Ability – Morphine is an ability available exclusively to the Medic class. It reduces Stress by 30% whenever a Marine is healed with Medical Supplies.

Based on your situation, use any of these to make sure your Stress doesn’t reach high levels so that you can avoid Trauma debuffs. But what exactly is Trauma?

How Trauma Works in Aliens Dark Descent

How to reduce stress in Aliens Dark Descent - Trauma explained.

Marines can develop Trauma based on their Stress level while deployed:

  • Anxious (Yellow) – 1 Trauma Point
  • Panicked (Orange) – 2 Trauma Points
  • Terrified (Red) – 3 Trauma Points

When a Marine gets three points of Trauma, they will receive a random Trauma debuff. Here are all the Trauma debuffs and their effects:

  • Paranoid – When there are 3 or more active Marines, take Stress damage every second.
  • Xenomorphobia – When seeing Xenomorphs, take Stress damage every second.
  • Depressive – Start each mission with extra Stress damage.
  • Pyrophobia – When using the Incineration skill or igniting an Oil Puddle, take Stress damage.
  • Hypochondriac – When the squad runs out of medical supplies, take Stress damage every second.
  • Robophobia – When seeing Synthetics, take Stress damage every second.
  • Hematophobia – When another Marine is suffering from Hemorrhage, take Stress damage every second.
  • Anthrophobia – When seeing Human enemies, take Stress damage every second.
  • Obsessive – Increased reload time.
  • Borderline – Restore more Stress with Naproleve and Resting in a Shelter but also take increased Stress damage from all sources.
  • Claustrophobia – No longer restores Stress when in a Shelter.

In general, you want to avoid getting any Trauma debuffs as they will make managing Stress extremely hard.

If you’re interested in more similar guides, check out our article on how to stealth kill in Aliens Dark Descent.

Wrapping up

To sum up, that’s everything you need to know on how to reduce Stress in Aliens: Dark Descent.

Increase bravery and have the Morphine ability to keep your overall Stress level low while also building Shelters and using Naproleve when in tricky situations.

What’s your go-to way for managing Stress in the game? What’s the worst Trauma debuff in your opinion? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Harry
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