Finding and Lighting Your First Torch
You are deep in the woods at night, the path ahead swallowed by an inky blackness. An unsettling growl echoes from the trees, and you fumble in your inventory, desperately seeking a light source. This is the moment every Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 player faces, where understanding how to use a torch becomes a matter of survival, not just convenience.
Unlike a simple toggle in many games, torches in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 are physical items you must acquire, equip, and manage. Your journey begins by obtaining one. The most reliable early-game method is to find a torch holder. These are mounted sconces often found on the exterior walls of buildings in towns like Rattay, inside guard towers, or at the entrances to mines and caves.
To take a torch from a holder, simply walk up to it and press the interact button. Henry will reach out and grab the lit torch. If you find an unlit torch lying on the ground or in a container, you will need to light it. Approach any active fire source—a campfire, a lit brazier, or another torch holder—and press the interact button while the unlit torch is in your hand. Henry will hold it to the flames until it catches.
Equipping and Managing Your Light Source
With a torch in your inventory, open your gear menu. Navigate to the weapon slots. You will typically assign the torch to a quick-select slot, much like you would a sword or bow. On PC, this often involves dragging it to one of the numbered slots on your inventory screen. On console, you use the weapon wheel.
Once assigned, you can draw the torch by selecting its corresponding quick-select number or using the weapon wheel. It will replace your currently held weapon. Remember, you cannot hold a torch and a weapon like a longsword simultaneously. The torch is a one-handed item, so if you switch to a torch while wielding a two-handed weapon, you will stow the larger weapon away.
Torches have a limited burn time. You will see the torch model physically shorten as it burns down. When it is nearly spent, the flame will sputter and grow dim. To avoid being plunged into darkness at a critical moment, always be aware of your torch’s condition and have a spare unlit torch in your inventory or know where your next light source is located.
Practical Uses for Your Torch Beyond Illumination
The primary function is, of course, to see in the dark. This is not merely cosmetic. Dark areas like crypts, deep forests at night, and unlit interiors are pitch black. Without a light source, your screen will be nearly opaque, making navigation impossible and hiding threats and valuable loot. A torch raises the ambient light level, allowing you to see the environment, spot enemies, and find interactive objects.
However, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 gives the torch surprising utility. One of its key uses is in combat against certain foes. Creatures and enemies that are nocturnal or dwell in dark places often have a vulnerability to fire and bright light. Waving a torch in their face can cause them to flinch, hesitate, or recoil, creating a vital opening for an attack or a chance to retreat.
It can also be used as a very crude weapon. While it does negligible damage compared to a proper mace or sword, a swinging torch can set dry, grassy terrain or certain enemy materials alight. This can create environmental hazards or cause panic. In a desperate pinch, a few bashes with the burning end might finish off a badly wounded opponent.
Furthermore, a torch is essential for interactive tasks in the dark. You cannot pick locks, read notes, or alchemize potions at a bench if you cannot see the mechanism or ingredients. The torch must be actively equipped and held to provide the necessary light for these detailed activities.
Lighting the Way During Stealth and Exploration
Using a torch involves a trade-off. While it lets you see, it also makes you dramatically more visible to others. When trying to sneak through a bandit camp at night or avoid patrols, carrying a lit torch is like carrying a beacon. Enemies will spot you from a much greater distance.
For stealth operations, you must learn to move without light. Use moonlight, stay near faint environmental light sources, or let your eyes adjust. Only ignite your torch when you are in a safe, enclosed area where you need to search containers or read something. Remember to extinguish it by pressing the sheathe/button or selecting another weapon before moving into a risky area.
Exploration of caves and tunnels is where the torch is non-negotiable. These areas have zero ambient light. Always ensure your torch is freshly lit before entering. Use it to check for branching paths, spot valuable ore veins on the walls, and reveal the locations of traps or lurking creatures before they are on top of you.
Troubleshooting Common Torch Problems
A frequent point of confusion is the torch not lighting. If pressing the interact key near a fire does nothing, check these points. First, ensure the torch is actually in your hand, not just in your inventory. You must have it actively equipped. Second, not all fire sources are interactive. Large bonfires usually are, but small decorative flames might not be coded for lighting items.
Another common issue is the torch appearing to provide no light. This is often a graphical settings issue. Check your game’s brightness and gamma calibration in the settings menu. If set too low, even a full torch will seem weak. Also, ensure lighting quality settings are not on a low performance mode, which can reduce the radius and intensity of dynamic light sources.
Players sometimes find their torch vanishes when drawing a weapon. This is by design. The torch is held in the same “hand” as your one-handed weapons. Switching to a sword will automatically stow the torch. You cannot fight with a sword while holding a lit torch. To re-light, you will need to go through the equipping process again after combat.
Advanced Tips and Alternative Light Sources
For the prepared adventurer, always carry 2-3 spare torches in your horse’s inventory or your own. You can find unlit torches for purchase from general goods merchants, loot them from bandit camps, or take them from holders during the day when you do not need them.
If you are caught without a torch, look for alternative light. Lanterns sometimes found in buildings provide a stationary, permanent light source. Some helmets, like certain kettle helms, can be fitted with a candle, providing a hands-free but very dim light. Potions of Night Vision exist in the alchemy system, temporarily enhancing your ability to see in the dark without a light source, perfect for stealthy night operations.
Mastering the torch also means mastering its dismissal. Do not simply drop a spent torch; this can create clutter. Either let it burn out completely in your hand until it disappears, or stow it. A spent torch will vanish from your inventory automatically once its timer reaches zero.
Integrating Torch Use into Your Overall Strategy
Think of your torch as part of your core toolkit, alongside your weapon, lockpicks, and healing items. Before embarking on a journey that might extend into night or involve dungeons, perform a light check. Do you have a lit torch ready? Do you have spares? Is your quick-select slot configured for easy access?
During combat encounters in dark areas, do not forget your torch’s utility. Against human foes, a sudden flare of light to the face can momentarily blind them, breaking their guard. Against beasts, it may be your primary means of defense. Practice quickly switching between your torch and your weapon using the quick-select slots to adapt to the flow of battle.
Finally, use light strategically in roleplay and quests. Meeting a contact in a dark forest? A lit torch is a good way to identify each other. Investigating a spooky haunted mine? The quest likely expects you to have and use a torch to find clues. The game’s world reacts to your light, making it an integral part of the immersive experience.
By moving beyond seeing the torch as a simple graphical effect and treating it as the vital, multi-purpose tool it is, you conquer one of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2’s most immersive and challenging survival elements. You turn the oppressive darkness from a feared enemy into a manageable part of the landscape, one flickering flame at a time.
