With occasional specific exceptions, it is generally accepted that each stage of the game typically lasts a week, and there will be at least eight phases[1] in total (hermits will determine how many phases are necessary based on the pacing of the game and how much fun the players are still having). There will be separate scoring for each phase. As a result of that phase's standings, overall points will be awarded. In the end, the adventurer who has accumulated the most overall points on the Scoreboard will be crowned the Decked Out 2 champion.
As you acquire Victory Tomes, your chances of beating your peers for 1st place increase. If you wish to be in a specific place, you do not need an exact number of Victory Tomes, but rather it scales up as all players submit a higher amount of their Victory Tomes. As an example, the most Victory Tomes submitted by a player during a phase is 9. Whether the player will submit 10 or 20 Victory Tomes does not matter, they will be in 1st position and receive 6 points.
The points in each phase are awarded based on Victory Tomes submitted, as follows:
Phase Points Awarded
Position
Points
1st
6
2nd
4
3rd
3
4th
3
5th
2
6th
2
7th
1
8th
1
9th
1
10th
1
In every phase, adventurers will also receive Frozen Shards. Each phase begins with a "base number" of 8 Frozen Shards. In addition, they will receive bonus shards based on how many Frost Embers they have accumulated since the game began: those who had lower standings will receive 6 bonus Frozen Shards to help them catch up the next phase. These bonus shards will continue to diminish up to the person who has acquired the most frost embers overall, who will not receive any bonus shards.
The players received a starter deck named "Frozen Assets", which contained three cards: Moment of Clarity, Sneak, and Treasure Hunter. In addition, they received 10 Frozen Shards and 3 Crowns.
Note:
A player's total number of Frozen Shards may vary from player to player, as the Hermits may receive extra Frozen Shards for various reasons and perks, mostly in exchange for helping out in some way with Decked Out 2. The amount of Frozen Shards is completely determined by the dungeon master. For example, FalseSymmetry received two additional Frozen Shards from TangoTek as a result of building the portal to Decked Out 2.
Phase 1 began with a Livestream Weekend from TangoTek, in which he streamed for eight hours on Saturday, September 9, 2023, and five and a half hours on Sunday, September 10, 2023.
Decked Out 2 Phase 1 Winner
The 1st phase saw the Hermits delving into the first two levels of the dungeon and learning the mechanics as well as the dangers hidden within. For TangoTek, the phase was filled with keeping track of mechanics that might be broken, or need slight adjustments. First Hermit to enter the dungeon was GoodTimesWithScar and the first one to make it out alive was EthosLab.
At the very last minute, the dungeon master changed the distribution method of Frozen Shards, so instead of counting their Victory Tomes (which can be quite easily flawed because the Hermits can submit just one or two Victory Tomes in a specific phase), their calculations are based on the amount of Frost Embers they have collected so far, which is monitored by the community.
The scoreboard and the winner of this phase were announced during TangoTek's livestream.[2]
From September 17th, 2023, to September 23th, 2023
According to a post on Hermitcraft's subreddit,[3]Grian and GoodTimesWithScar discovered that a Suspicious Stew can increase your saturation stats to their maximum level.[4] Using this method can significantly reduce the time required to pick berry bushes and streamline the artifact hunting process. Their intention was to keep this information to themselves, so they slipped out at night and fetched a Brown Mooshroom Cow and hid it in the walls of the game. Only then do they discover that Xisumavoid provides a free re-saturating service[5] at the game entrance to all players free of charge.
During this phase, TangoTek responded to JoeHills' question[6] by saying that in-game items can be traded with other players as long as they are traded between in-game items and are not traded for other currencies.
From September 24th, 2023, to September 30th, 2023
TangoTek introduced[8] three changes and new definitions of the rules of the game during the distribution of points of Phase 2, as a result of different methods of play that he observed during Phase 2, giving players substantial advantages over other participants:
It is acceptable to enter the dungeon, use the berry bush at the entrance, and eat some food like a Cooked Porkchop or a Golden Carrot (which has good hunger restoration and saturation levels), however, the system must not be abused with maximum saturation using science, with a known amount of Suspicious Stews or Honey Bottles.
Hermits have pointed out to TangoTek that this change may lead to differences between players when entering the dungeon, but he prefers it that way. TangoTek will gladly provide the players with the food they need.
There is a limit to the amount of Treasure and Frost Embers that can be retrieved from a single level per dungeon run. Considering it is quite high, most players will not reach it. Yet, without this limitation, they would be able to camp within the levels. TangoTek claims it will encourage players to explore deeper into the dungeon, meaning there is a linear relationship between the depth of a level and the rate at which Treasure and Frost Embers will be dropped. According to him, even though there is a chance that you will not receive a key because of this new limitation, it is a chance of 1/350,000, which makes it extremely unlikely.
In response to Hypnotizd's question, TangoTek clarified that once you draw a card from your deck containing Frost Embers, they will queue up, but if you reach the maximum drop limit of a level, they will not be distributed until the next one below.
Hypnotizd later verified[9] that upon hitting the maximum amount, the map will still count down, but nothing further will be dispensed.
One change to the Reckless Charge card: you now have only 8 seconds to trigger a Skulk Shrieker instead of the previous 12.
Those players who have not used up their entire pool of Frozen Shards at this point will receive half as many Frozen Shards as they should have: 7 instead of 14 shards, for a total of up to 20 Frozen Shards, so inactive players cannot stack them.
In phase 3, the players discovered that after hitting max clank, a few water pillars would emerge from the ceiling of Level 1, making escaping the Vexes even more challenging. From the minor changes TangoTek mentioned at the beginning of this phase, this is probably the most significant one.
"Coming Soon! Shhhhh"
During Hypnotizd 30th run,[11] he discovered a secret area near the Old Pirate Ship with a sign stating: "Coming Soon! Shhhhh". TangoTek then advised Hypnotizd to visit the area once it is established in the future. This could be a potential location for the Black Market.
TangoTek mentioned[12] that he will be on vacation from Thursday, 5 October, until Monday, 9 October. The dungeon will be closed during this time, and will be reopened on Tuesday morning, October 10, once he returns, since the game itself requires close supervision and management of the complicated Redstone and the various mobs, which occasionally die.
This phase will take place over a period of two weeks, giving the hermits a total nine days of gameplay. For this phase, TangoTek gave a few extra shards to compensate for the extra-long time, so the 'base number' of shards will be 9, instead of the previous 8, and the 'bonus shards' will be spread out between 0-8 instead of the usual maximum 6.
Due to TangoTek's personal commitment to the game and the great anticipation of the viewers, he updates the viewers on the changes that are taking place. On TangoTek's social accounts, he stated[14] that phase 5 will be delayed for several days because "everything is so bad right now. Important recording tomorrow afternoon, TwitchCon this week...". Later, he said,[15] "Phase 4 results will be done in a short stream tomorrow (October 18) at noon PDT. Phase 5 will begin when I return from TwitchCon." But he didn't finish before updating:[16] "On the positive side, lots of changes coming for phase 5!"
On October 18 TangoTek announced that the dungeon would not reopen until the day after 2023 TwitchCon Las Vegas as he participates in it, and that there would be major changes to Level 3, and some new additional content would be added. Moreover, he states that some of the rarest cards, as well as some of the less common ones, will be subject to price adjustments in a future phase.
Random Key (Level Key) cost 2 crowns (previously 4).
The Dungeon Master Lackey Coupon comes with the Dungeon Lackey card, provided personally by TangoTek.
The game has been customized to fit the Halloween theme:
Animated sequences at the entrance to the dungeon featuring a pumpkin in the middle of the door, following with flames visible through the carving.
Ravagers now have custom skins, with pumpkin-skinned faces and skeleton-like bodies.
There is a new treasure drop called Halloween Pumpkin.
A new Halloween 'Trick or Treat House' has been added to the side of the Spore Forest, which trades a Halloween Pumpkin for either a trick or a treat. Treats might include a Cooked Porkchop, Treasure, and Frost Embers. The game will generate two Clank if you are tricked.
Through hermit runs, we discover some traps have gotten harder to pass through once activated, all the missing easter eggs have been found, and mid-phase, a third Warden, named "Pancakes", has been added to Level 3.
TangoTek announced on his social media[19] on November 5 that the next phase wouldn't begin until Tuesday, November 7, when the 4th level of the dungeon will finally be revealed.
Stumble now shuffles to the top of the cards deck instead of the bottom. Since Stumble is placed at the top of the deck every two minutes, if the player does not play cards that affect their deck, every fourth card is a guaranteed Stumble, regardless of how many cards they possess.
The Card Shuffler was completely remade, and the dungeon reopened on the second day of the phase.[20] Stumble no longer has priority following heavy backlash.
Whenever a card is played, it will now reshuffle all other cards in the deck. This means that Stumble will not be placed near the back of the deck consistently, and may reshuffle itself to the front of the deck.
Cards with Quickdraw have been changed to instead reinsert the next cards drawn.
The cards Evasion, Tread Lightly, Loot & Scoot, Frost Focus, Second Wind, Beast Sense, and Bounding Strides are now permanently available, and do not need to be drawn randomly.
TangoTek announced that Haste will be scrapped and replaced with a brand new card in Phase 8. Anyone who owns the card will be given the new card once the phase begins.
Due to Phase 7's many big changes, many things were tested during gameplay and needed to be fixed on the fly, making it difficult for TangoTek to complete everything in a short amount of time.
Cubfan135 is the first to complete a level 4 run.[22] Although he finds the artifact's location, it has been dropped into a soul fire, making it disappear. Due to the supervised run by TangoTek, he could get help immediately and figure out what went wrong. We now know where level 4's exit is thanks to this run.
On the last day of the phase, PearlescentMoon obtained a mysterious item called "The Bomb" from a tower in Level 4: The Burning Dark. Its usage is currently unknown, but it has been implied that it is used to open a special door in level 4, and stated that it was not supposed to be available yet.
The card to replace Haste was revealed to be Pirate's Booty. "There's a little surprise once this card is getting played", TangoTek mentioned. Once played, it drops one of the following cards on the pirate ship in Level 2: "The Caves of Carnage": Moment of Clarity, Porkchop Power, Tactical Approach or Pay To Win. The dropped card can only be kept if you escape with an artifact.
During TangoTek's absence from November 19 to 24, the dungeon will be closed.
The Hermitcraft community held a special event on November 18, 2023,[24] where six members had the chance to play Decked Out 2 under the supervision of other hermits. Each guest got to play with their "mentor's" deck.
Decked Out 2 has been such a sensation since its launch that most of the Hermits' content has been about it. As a result of the constant element of surprise and frequent updates, the game has attracted a large following. With time, we see fewer and fewer active participants in the game and a desire to continue engaging in new content and promoting other projects.
On November 28, TangoTek announced Phase 9 will be the final phase of Decked Out 2.[26] Any future content that was planned, including The Forge and Legendary Cards, and future "DLCs" planned will cease to exist. Later on, he revealed some never-to-be-revealed secrets, shared his thoughts and some of his plans for the game's future during a few streams he made for the fans of the game.
During competitive gameplay, PearlescentMoon was the first to solve all the riddles, mysteries, and extra stuff on level 4, making her the first to beat Decked Out 2. Later, she uploaded a special episode[30] that explains how she did it:
Level 4 features, among other things, high tendrils (or: "sculk veins", as TangoTek calls them). There are signs at the top of Level 4's tendrils that state: "Hide from Camera/Stream!", which means that no hermit could show it was up on their camera. Nine tendrils in total contain a secret, each containing an item to be discovered and noted:
Dirt (block).
Egg.
Ender Chest.
Fire Charge.
Orange Dye.
Potato.
Respawn Anchor.
Snowball.
Torch.
There are five towers on level 4. For every Deep Frost difficulty run, The Bomb item will be spawned as soon as the key to unlock level 4 is entered in one of those five towers. It is the player's responsibility to determine which tower contains The Bomb before 5 minutes have passed (6,000 in-game ticks, despawn time).
The Basalt Door
Once the player has located it, they must take it to the Basalt Door located at the far end of the floor. By placing The Bomb in a barrel at the front of this door, an explosion will take place and the door will be opened.
The player will be rewarded with a large amount of Treasure and Frost Embers every time the door is opened (regenerated and closed after each run).
"Because you are the first..." barrel
Extra rewards were contained in the barrel on the floor for the first person to open the big Basalt Door:
This room also contains a button labeled "The Hideout" off to the side. On activation, a sticky piston is triggered on the side of a circular platform, close to the door. By pulling down with it a block of netherite, a path of magma blocks is then exposed.
Upon entering the circular platform, the player can notice a warped pressure plate, which activates a timed mechanism.
A player must sprint through a magma path (while taking damage and making a lot of noise to all nearby wardens) once the warped pressure plate is triggered.
The Dungeon Master Hideout
An ice tunnel can be accessed at the end of the path if the player is quick enough.
Within the ice tunnel, there is an iron door labeled "Dungeon Master Hideout" that contains a key in an item frame.
A player who determines the anagram is Deep Frost may then present their answer to TangoTek, the dungeon's master, and receive their glory crown: Decked Out Explorer Champion!
Post-game Streams[]
Once the competitive gameplay ended, TangoTek took his Twitch audience on a captivating journey where he delves into uncharted territories, revealing hidden aspects and secrets never before discussed. These extra special streams go beyond conventional, as TangoTek not only unveils exclusive insights into the game but also shares his personal thoughts on various subjects related to Decked Out 2. With a unique blend of entertainment and knowledge, these streams provide an engaging experience for fans eager to explore the depths of Decked Out 2 alongside the mastermind himself.
A team of fans created a google spreadsheet[32] that tracked all player data in detail during the game's runtime and updated it in real-time. These sheets provide detailed information on every player and mob in the game, including but not limited to links to player runs, decks, easter eggs finding locations, statistics, and prediction of victory chances.
As a reliable source and with widespread participation, TangoTek himself calculated the shard distributions to the next phases by using the various statistics and functions found in it.
