The Best Characters in Darkest Dungeon 2

Red Hook Studios provides 14 playable characters for players to add to their party in Darkest Dungeon 2. The player has to account for each character’s strengths and weaknesses when facing the ghoulish enemies. However, with a plethora of characters to choose from, crafting the best team may prove difficult. With only four slots available in a party, here are the best characters to build a team within Darkest Dungeon 2:

Man-at-Arms

Character placement is a huge part of Darkest Dungeon 2. Man-at-Arms not only moves himself forward with the Rampart skill, he allows players to knock back enemies as well. The Defender Skill allows players to increase the defense of Man-at-Arms and an ally for two attacks. As a Hero who specializes in the Front Rank, his durable defense coupled with his Defender skill makes him a good fit for most team compositions.

Jester

Similar to Man-at-Arms, the Jester has the ability to move an ally forward with the Battle Ballad skill. However, Jester’s strength lies in his Inspiring Tune skill. In Darkest Dungeon 2, Stress is a mechanic that affects the player’s combat compatibility and skills. Players will go into a Meltdown, Resolute, or Toxic state if Stress reaches the maximum level. These states could leave the Hero with lower health and weaker attacks amongst other effects. Jester’s skill lowers Stress to prevent these issues from taking hold of the Heroes. In addition to lowering Stress, Jester’s Harvest and Slice Off skills inflict Bleed damage to enemies, making them easier to kill.

Grave Robber

Grave Robber is a Hero that thrives in any position you put her on the team. Her critical rate gives her the chance to cause high damage with each attack. With abilities such as Poison Dart, Grave Robber can induce Blight, or Poison, over time. These skills along with the ability to ignore the high defensive skills of the opponent makes her a great pick as a party member.

Occultist

Keeping Heroes alive is integral to a successful run in Darkest Dungeon 2. With encounters involving high damage opponents, the Occultist’s healing skills will help bring victory in battle. The Occultist is a hero that specializes in ranged damage along with his healing skill, Wyrd Reconstruction. Wyrd Reconstruction is a skill in which the Occultist heals up to 50% of a Hero’s health. However, this skill has a drawback of not consistently healing the heroes. Though this is a huge detriment in a roguelike where characters die, the Occultist is not limited to how many times the skill can be done like other Heroes.

Each of these Heroes has an ability to help players with other gameplay mechanics such as the Stress mechanic. While crafting your own team is always important to the gameplay experience, having at least one of the characters above will ease the turbulent roads as players head towards the Mountain in Darkest Dungeon 2.

Play Darkest Dungeon 2 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4|5, Xbox, and PC.