Darkest Dungeon: Welcome to the Estate... you're probably not leaving.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

So this will more or less be the catch all thread for things Darkest Dungeon. Can talk about your runs and how RNG beat you over the head into oblivion, or how at the least second your character passed their test of resolve and became the ultimate badass killing machine and single-handily wrecked a fight.

Either way, for those that don't know, Darkest Dungeon is a newly released Rogue-like Dungeon Crawler RPG. It's more or less heavily based within the Cthluhu Mythos and the game oozes this from every aspect. It really brings out that Gothic Horror vibe with a beuatifully crafted Art style and jsut solid as hell art direction period. It started as a humble kick-starter and quickly worked it's way on Early Access. As it was worked on they added quite a few new features to the game and fixed a lot of bugs and issues. ((there were still some outstanding ones on launch however those have been cleaned up and gotten in working order now.)) Anyway, the point of Darkest Dungeon... is it asks how would heros really be affected in the face of such horrors? How would they cope with the madness... the ever encroaching dark? Well... not well is the answer. Instead of your characters being just a giant ball of health they also have a more or less... secondary life mechanic.

Each Hero has a Stress bar which can hold 200 stress and furthermore has many effects. Firstly upon reaching 100 they will have their resolve tested. Mostly... they will fail ((the odds are believed to be around 20% succeed and 80% failure as far as data miners can tell but since it's random what you receive between a bunch of options... it's hard to tell.)) If they fail they receive an Affliction, or a Mental Ailment. Basically... they have a psychotic break of some sort. They can become extremely paranoid thinking that their companions are in league with the monsters, or extremely abusive literally yelling at their companions and comrades in arms for missing an attack. Either way, in combat and the field they become a nuisance. They'll skip turns, they'll move back or forward spaces in your combat formation ruining your carefully laid plans. They'll even do things that cause your companions to gain stress and become closer to going mad themselves.

If they succeed they become Virtuous. The Opposite and more of an Affliction. They have a chance to randomly buff your allies, heal all of your parties stress, or heal their own health at the start of their turns. In addition their stats are increased making them be able to slaughter foes with ease. They also cannot accrue anymore Stress damage then 100. Which is a very big deal. They remain in this state the rest of your mission which is powerful indeed.

At 200 stress... well your character has a Heart attack. This drops them instantly to 0 health. Which... normally would kill a character in other RPGs. HOWEVER. In Darkest Dungeon dropping to 0 HP is not a death sentence. You teeter on Death's Door. Each blow you take there after has a chance to kill you no matter how small the damage. Even a bleed or blight ((poison basically)) status ticking at the start of the turn can end your short miserable life. Each time you are hit, you chance death. It's not good to chance it... too many times. If the character is already on Death's Door when they have a Heart Attack however... they instantly die and there's nothing that can be done.

Stress and Stress Inducing Actions ((also how to remove stress!)).

List of Virtues and Afflictions.

Characters progress by completing missions and and having their equipment, skills etc be upgraded. They also acquire Positive and negative Quirks ((think like perks etc... it's that sort of system.)) that have profound impacts on how they play and what they do. They could be an Early Riser gaining them +2 Speed when the light level in a dungeon is high. Or maybe them have a Hard Noggin, making them 15% more resistant to stuns! ((important... stuns suuuuuck.))

Maybe your character is Calm... well funny thing... is that's actually Bad in Darkest Dungeon as they will ahve a -15% penalty to all damage on the first turn of combat. Maybe your hero is a bit of a Stress Eater, so if their stress meter is above 50, they just eat double the amount of food. ((which is a suuuper limited supply.))

List of Quirks, Positive and Negative.

For those that would like an Impression on what the game is about or are more... of the visual type there is this here first impressions video by Totalbiscuit. This isn't in-depth review, let alone does it touch on the more in-depth stuff in the game but it will give you some idea of what the game is like and how the Combat works etc.

Thanks to Gaunt for posting it here ((this will pop you down to the post so you don't potentially miss it.)): Click here!

I'll do a small run down on Classes here, mostly for fun

Key for Skill Load-Outs:

Name of Skills inflict Bleed status.

Name of Skills that inflict Blight status.

Name of Skills that inflict Stun status.

Name of Skill that inflict Moves ((knockback and pulls count as same status)).

Name of skill that inflicts the Mark status

Name of Skill that manipulates one's own position.

Name of Skill with no special properties.

Name of Skill that Provides a Buff.

Name of Skill that inflicts a Debuff.

Name of a Skill that heals either HP or Stress.

Name of a Skill that cures a Status.

Name of a Skill that does... other stuff... basically this is really just for Transform... XD.

#: Indicates the skill does increased damage to marked targets.

&: Indicates the skill does increased damage to a certain type of enemy.

* : Indicates the skill adds light to the Torch on use.

/ :Indicates that the skill removes light from the Torch on use.

@ :Indicates a skill that Shuffles.

~ :Indicates a skill that clears corpses.

Abomination:

Skill Loadout: ((only base values for level one of the skills.))

Transform:

Icon:

Type: Transformation

Position: [ X Y Y Y]

Target Position: Self

As Human:

Self: Change to Mode [beast]

+ 20% Blight Resist ((as buff))

+ 10% DMG ((as buff))

Other Party Members:

+8 Stress damage

As Beast:

Self: Change to Mode [Human]

-4 SPD ((as debuff))

Heal 5 HP

Other Heros:

+3 Stress Heal

Manacles:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ X Y Y X ]

Target Position: [ Y Y Y X ]

ACC Base: 95

DMG Mod: -60%

Stun: Base: (100%)

Beast's Bile:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ X Y Y X ]

Target Position: [ X Y-Y X ]

Acc Base: 95

DMG Mod: -100%

Blight: (100% Base)

Blight Damage: 2 pts/rd for 3 rds

Debuff: -20% Blight Resist

Absolution:

Icon:

Type: Heal

Position: [ Y Y Y Y ]

Target Position: Self

Self: Stress Heal + 8, Heal 4 HP

Rake:

Icon:

Type:Melee

Position: [ X X Y Y ]

Target Position: [ Y-Y X X ]

ACC Base: 90

DMG Mod: - 40%

Crit Mod: +2%

Self: +15% Damage from Rake

Rage:

Icon:

Type: Melee

Position: [ X X Y Y ]

Target Position: [ Y Y Y X ]

ACC base: 85

DMG Mod: None

Crit Mod: +5%

Slam:

Icon:

Position: [ X Y Y Y ]

Target Position: [ Y Y X X ]

ACC Base: 80

DMG Mod: -25%

Knockback: 2 Spaces (100% Base)

-10 DODGE (100% base)

-2 SPD (100% base)

Pros:

• Hybrid Ranged and Melee fighter due to his Transformation skill.
• Is very good at applying Blight Status to foes with Beast's Bile skill. This Skill also applies a debuff making it even easier to tack on more Blight ticks as it lowers their resistance.
• Has a decently reliable Stun.
• Has a Knockback that allows him to step forward and attack at the same time ((basically if your formation is ruined he can still attack while trying to right yours while messing up the enemy formation as well.))
• Has a Self Targeted HP HEAL AND STRESS HEAL. Sole best self efficient heal in the game.
• All Abilities are unlocked from the get go meaning that you don't have to spend money on unlocking them.
• Can have more abilities active than any other class as all of their abilities are usable in combat unlike other who must take a loadout of 4.

Cons:

• Cannot Venture with the Religion Based classes. ((Crusader, Vestal and Leper))
• Transforming into a Beast has a HIGH Stress cost on your other party members. Transforming back barely regains the stress caused.
• Attacks are locked to form meaning that you can't freely use them.
• Doesn't have any full damage attacks in human form in fact... Beast's Bile doesn't do any direct damage and Manacles deals -60%. It locks human form into being a ranged disabler.
• His Camp Skills focus mainly on buffing himself but at a cost of Stress or being more prone to stress gain. His Stress Heal for the party forces him to gain stress to heal it. ((it's a net gain of 10 though as he gains 20 but heals 10 from each companion. Since the Abom is good at Stress management this mitigates this a bit but still it's his only teamwide Camp Skill and it has a drawback.))

This class is a very solid one however he's forced to be a ranged disabler unless you can take the stress hit. If you can he becomes a devastating melee combatant able to drag himself to the front line with his movement skill Slam while simultaneously screwing up the enemy's front lines by knocking them back ((well if it succeeds of course.)). His inability to be used with one of the better healing classes... or really... the only good healing class in the Vestal, and one of the better self-sufficient classes in the Leper, really limit a party. It forces them to rely on the Occultist for healing((which is risky as hell.)), or try to make the team as self-sufficient as possible... which is hard since the Leper is locked out of use. It's a powerful POWERFUL class, but comes at a steep and heavy price.

Arbalest:

Skill Loadout:

Sniper Shot#:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ Y Y X X ]

Target Position: [ X Y Y Y ]

ACC Base: 95

CRIT Mod: 5%

Self: +50% DMG vs Marked, + 5% CRIT vs Marked.

Suppressing Fire:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ Y Y X X ]

Target Position: [ X Y-Y-Y ]

ACC Base: 85

DMG Mod: -80%

CRIT Mod: -5%

Target: -5 ACC ((100% base))

Target: -5% CRIT ((100% Base))

Sniper's Mark:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ Y Y X X ]

Target Position: [ X Y Y Y ]

ACC Base: 100

DMG Mod: -100%

Marks Target

-20 DODGE (100% Base)

Bola:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ Y Y X X ]

Target Position: [ Y-Y X X ]

ACC base: 95

DMG Mod: -50%

CRIT Mod: +5%

Target: Knockback 1 (75% Base)

Blindfire:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ Y Y Y Y ]

Target Position: [ Y Y Y Y ]

Random Target

ACC Base: 80

DMG Mod: -10%

Self: +5 SPD

Battlefield Bandage:

Icon:

Type: Heal

Position: [ Y Y X X ]

Target Position: [ X Y Y Y ]

Heal: 2-3

Target: +20% on heals received

Rallying Flare*:

Icon:

Type: Heal

Position: [ Y Y Y Y ]

Target Position: [ Y-Y-Y-Y ]

Clear Stun

Clear Mark

Target: +10% Debuff Resist

Torch +3

Pros:

• High Ranged Damage. Can deal big damage to targets from relative safety.
• Has a Heal that synergizes extremely well with other heals as it increases their potency. It even helps self-healing classes get suuuper health refunds from their heals.
• Can Mark enemies. ((Special Status.)). This allows her to deal big damage with Sniper Shot to marked foes as well as synergize with other party members that benefit from marks. ((Highwayman, Houndmaster, to name some)).
• Has an ability named Blindfire that can be fired from any position and gives her a +5 bonus to speed. This will nearly guarantee her to go first next round. It easily cements Blindfire as a bread and butter skill in a lot of Arbalest builds.
• Has a Double Knockback in Bola. This will send both the frontline foes packing and ruin the enemy lines by dragging a squishie artillery foe to the front of the pack.
• Has a powerful Accuracy and Crit debuff in Suppressing Fire which hits the 3 back ranks of the enemy formation.
• Can cure Stuns and enemy marks with Rallying Flare. This also gives a small amount of torch light, a sweet little bonus.

Cons:

• Her Heal is very hard to justify in low healing based parties and even in ones with Self-healers. One dedicated healer tends to be the best since they can get more bang for their buck and if it happens to be a Frontliner with a self heal than that can be augmented on top of the Dedicated Healer's heal. If not this skill tends to be a super dead skill as it doesn't heal enough on it's own to really be worth it.
• Blindfire while an AMAZING utility ability... has to hit a random foe. This has issues... in that it can sometimes just be useless. ((especially since when foes die they leave their Corpse which gets in the way. These count for targets and the random shot can just hit one of these effectively wasting a turn unless it destroys the corpse... it's still not as good as it hitting a living foe though))
• Other than a Knockback... ((and strong one at that)) the Arbalest has no Crowd Controlling abilities that prevent foes from being able to attack that turn.
• Outside a Marking Party, the Arbalest has to mark for herself, using a slot on a sub-par mark ((as hers decreases enemy dodge chance rather than their Protection or damage resistance.)) to make Sniper Shot an effective attack.
• Suppressing Fire has very low damage output unlike a lot of other area attacks which tend to hover around 50-60% reduced damage. Suppressing Fire has a -80% mod which means if it fails to debuff you really didn't do any damage either.
• The Arbalest is only effective in the Back two slots with an exception of Blindfire. ((which as mentioned before hits random target.)) This means she is SUPER weak to pull effects which while uncommon from enemies do exist.

If you need super ranged damage or a pretty safe support character the Arbalest is your gal. She's also a pretty big lynch pin to the popular "Marking" party as her abilities tend to enable all the other Marking Heros to get their +dmg versus marked abilities online. This is easy to achieve by setting up a Blindfire for the SPD boost and then marking EEEEVERYTHING that moves. She's got added synergy that she can help get online the Dodge Tanking Houndmaster so that if he does get slammed with an attack she can cause his self-heal to be much more effective if your willing to use a whole ability slot on it. Otherwise she has a notable synergy with the Vestal making her heals MUUUUCH better. ((and as they have no downside only upside is gained here.)) While she's not easy to splash into just any team she can be a valuable support unit or Ranged Damager.

Bounty Hunter:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Collect Bounty#&:

Icon:

Type: Melee

Position: [ X Y Y Y ]

Target Position: [ Y Y X X ]

ACC Base: 85

CRIT Mod: 5%

Self: +90% DMG on Marked targets, +15% DMG on Human Targets

Mark for Death:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ Y Y Y Y ]

Target Position: [ Y Y Y Y ]

ACC Base: 100

DMG Mod: -100%

Marks Target

-10% PROT (100% Base)

Come Hither:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ Y Y Y Y ]

Target Position: [ X X Y Y ]

ACC Base: 90

DMG Mod: -67%

Target: Pull 2 (100% Base))

Uppercut:

Icon:

Type: Melee

Position: [ X X Y Y ]

Target Position: [ Y Y X X ]

ACC Base: 85

DMG Mod: -67%

Target: Knockback 2 (100%), Stun (125% base)

Flashbang@:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ Y Y Y X ]

Target Position: [ Y Y Y Y ]

ACC Base: 95

DMG Mod: -100%

Target: Stun (125% base)

Shuffle Single

Finish Him&:

Icon:

Type: Melee

Position: [ X Y Y Y ]

Target Position: [ Y Y Y X ]

ACC Base: 85

CRIT Mod: 2%

Self: +25% DMG vs Stunned Targets

Hook and Slice:

Icon:

Type: Ranged

Position: [ Y Y Y X ]

Target Position: [ X X Y Y ]

ACC Base: 90

DMG Mod: -85%

CRIT Mod: 2%

Target: Bleed (100% base), 3 dmg/round for 3 rounds.

Pros:

• Has a lot of abilities that can be used nearly anywhere he is splashed in a formation making him very versatile.
• Has both a 2 space Pull and a 2 Space Knockback + Stun combo. This makes him very good at manipulating enemy positions and a go-to CC guy.
• Has a Shuffling Stun in "Flashbang." This is a bit risky in that it can literally not help at all at times ((as you don't know where the enemy will end up after the Shuffle)). However it has SUPER high Stun chance and as a result is very hard for an enemy to avoid the stuff without a buff.
• Can Capitalize on his own Stuns and others stuns with the Attack "Finish Him".
• The Bounty Hunter's Attack "Collect Bounty" has a 90% DAMAGE MOD ON MARKED TARGETS. This is a LUUUUUUUUDICROUS amount of damage.
• Has a powerful 3dmg per round Bleed on "Hook and Slice"
• Has Camp Skill "Scout Ahead" which allows a better chance to scout the rooms ahead of you.

Cons:

• Pretty rare class and you will not get a lot of them. Beeee careful with them.
• Without others to mark for him he has to use a slot on his mark ability. This really cuts into the amount of awesome crowd control the BH can do.
• "Flashbang" is well... a Shuffle Stun. This makes it pretty unreliable at times for dragging a squishie back liner to the front of the enemy lines. Worse yet his other Stun "Uppercut" with the knockback can only be used towards the front of the formation. This is an issue as the Bounty hunter has very light armour making him prone to damage. Both his own stuns have inherent risk so it's typically better to have other stuns he can rely on.
• Has 4 Slot syndrome as he cannot fill out his kit and make it entirely robust and cover all areas. You really need to pick and choose carefully. Do you have a Pull, or a Knockback? Stuns, or bleed? You can't really have it all and take his abilities that actually do damage.
• Pretty much the only damager class with NO AoE. This makes him hard pressed to deal with multiple enemies.
• Most of his other Camp Skills are... pretty garbage buffs. With one only applying to Size 2 creatures ((which are unreliable to find at best and the buff will tick down in fight without them effectively wasting it.))

The Bounty Hunter is a very powerful Crowd Controller or a super high damage dealer to singular targets. He's easier to splash into a team as his abilities work from nearly any position allowing him to stay out of the fray and still operate if he does somehow get pulled to the front. He's very effective in the aforementioned "Marking Party" due to how powerful his "Collect Bounty" skill is. An honourable mention goes to the Plague Doctor in that they really synergize well due to all of their combined stuns that can really shuffle up the enemy line ruining their positional strengths.

Crusader:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• One of your starting two characters is a Crusader meaning you will always have one.
• A Potent Tank that has access to some seriously good utility skills such as "Bulwark of Faith" which causes the Crusader to Mark himself ((take more damage)), but gain Protection to compensate. Enemies tend to gang up on a marked targets as well being more likely to attack them. This allows the Crusader to cover his allies more effectively.
• "Holy Lance" can allow the Crusader if he ever gets pushed to the backline to Jump forward two spaces back into the fray. This makes knockbacks near useless against him even if they trigger.
• "Smite" and "Holy Lance" deal extra damage to Undead making the Crusader immensely powerful when fighting them.
• The Crusader's "Stunning Blow" is a very reliable stun that can inflict some damage.
• "Inspiring Cry" heals a smidgen of HP and a lot of Stress from a target. It also has the upside of adding light to your torch.
• Hands down best Stress reliving camp skills. "Unshakable Leader" gives 25% Stress resist TO ALL party members, "Zealous Speech" removes 15 stress from himself and all party members, while giving a 15% Stress reduction buff. ((think these stack though not 100% sure.)) Zealous Vigil heals 25 self stress while knocking off another 15 if afflicted. It Also prevents a nighttime ambush. "Stand Tall" removes 15% of stress from an ally while removing the large debuff from having hit Death's Door.

Cons:

• The Crusader you start with has the quirk Kleptomaniac. This perk is one of the WORST perks in the game as it has a chance to have them steal any valuables them come across and you lose them forever. This has to be dumped as a negative quirk in the Sanitarium ASAP once it's unlocked for use.
• The Crusader has GAAAARBAGE range. he can only ever hit the first two slots unless he's using "Holy Lance" However... he has to be out of position to use that skill.
• "Zealous Accusation" while a good skill that hits the first two ranks of foe... can only hit the first two ranks of foe. This means it will usually hit the big tanky front line which will soak most of the damage.
• The Crusader relies on other classes to go "Backline fishing" for him to bring the easy to kill ranged units forward for him to smash.
• Most of his Utility Skills are pitiful in what they do and should only really be used when there's just nothing better from him to be doing.
• Is much less effective against non-undead foes.
• "Holy Lance" is a very dead weight ability unless the Crusader gets knocked back into the back ranks. However once there it's a good tool. You'll just be hard pressed to find use of it if the enemies never knock you around. ((the most I've used it is from being Surprised when your party gets randomly shuffled. Otherwise Crusaders have stupid good Knockback resist.))

The Crusader is a good frontline fighter especially in area with a lot of Undead. He pairs well with a dedicated healer. He also likes the company of those with strong ranged attacks to make up for his lack such as the Arbalest, Grave Robber, or Highwayman. Another class he likes to hang with are those that can manipulate enemy position so that he can pick at the weak enemy back line. All in all the Crusader is a very strong Tank especially in areas with high undead concentration. Building around one isn't bad. His versatility isn't the greatest but he's still very solid in the right team.

Grave Robber:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• You need a Jack of all Trades? Well... look no further! Very good Melee and Ranged capabilities.
• Highly accurate not having a single ability under 90% hit base. Even has an Accuracy buff on Thrown Dagger.
• Has powerful position manipulation in her own kit. "Lunge" deals good damage and places her 2 spaces forward, while "Shadow Fade" Places her back one while stunning a foe and giving her a massive Dodge Buff.
• "Flashing Daggers" is not only a powerful multi-hit skill ((it's damage mod is only a modest -33%)) it can debuff an enemies Bleed resist allowing fellow companions to easily pile bleeds on a foe.
• "Poison Darts" is one of few Blight causing abilities. It also reduces Blight resist, making subsequent Blight applications much easier.
• "Toxin Trickery" is a powerful self buff that give +10 to dodge chance, cures blight/bleed on herself and increase the Grave Robber's speed. A Multi-purpose and very robust buff.
• Has one of few Disease removing Camp Skills. Not only does it remove one from the Grave Robber herself, but also one target ally removing two diseases at once. This saves a lot fo time and money down the line.

Cons:

• Is bad in parties that rely on member who need cemented positions to be effective due to how much she is moving herself.
• Is the lowest damage output of the damage dealing classes.
• Most other Camping Skills are outclassed or... don't have very relevant effects.
• Doesn't heavily specialize in anything giving the class much less focus.
• Has no CC to speak of outside of the Stun on "Shadow Fade" and relies on other party members to do this task. While Shadow Fade is a good Stun, it relies on her being in the front which can be dangerous as heck for as lightly armoured a class she is until she gets some of her dodge buffs rolling.

Generally can fit all comps. Seriously... go ham with finding ways to use her! It's like impossible to fill out all the good uses for her here!

Hellion:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• High Damage Frontline Fighter.
• "Iron Swan" is a move that can pick at the enemy formation's back slot allowing her to reach pesky support/Damagers that reside back there without needing to rely on allies displacing them.
• "Breakthrough" can be used from any slot and hits 3 enemies. It also allows the Hellion to move forward one slot in the formation.
• "Barbaric YAWP!" STUNS TWO FOES!!! It's even hugely reliable!
• "Adrenaline Rush" Buffs Damage by 20% and gives a +5 Acc boost. It also cures Blight/Bleeds and gives a single HP back. All in all a solid buff.
• Has two MASSIVE bleeds. "Bleed Out" inflicts 15% bonus damage on the hit and can apply a 3dmg/round bleed. "If it Bleeds" applies one for 2dmg/round.

Cons:

• The Hellion's most powerful attacks tire her out causing her to lose 20% damage and 15 chance to dodge. These attacks include "Bleed Out", "Breakthrough", and "Barbaric YAWP!". While "Adrenaline Rush" can make back the damage... it can't make up for the diminished dodge.
• "Iron Swan" and "Bleed Out" can only be used from Position 1. This makes them the most position specific attacks in the game ((there's a few more you'll see.)). They also can both only hit one target, "Iron Swan" being only the last and "Bleed Out" being only the first of the enemy formation.
• Only CC while powerful has a serious drawback that takes a turn to partially recover from. Needless to say it's risky to use but does have a large pay off as a result.
• Both Bleeds have a lot of limiters on them. "Bleed Out"'s were explained above. "If It Bleeds" can only hit the second and third ranks of the enemy formation.
• Has veeeery situational Camp Skills. Be warned.

A very high risk high reward class. They don't really have any strong synergies with any particular class so it makes her more of a "splash and forget" type of character. She can benefit a lot for classes that can buff dodge chance however like the Man At Arms.

Highwayman:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• Another Jack of All Trades that can fit nearly all Parties. He brings good range and Powerful Melee.
• While technically ranged "Point Blank Shot" is a melee ranged attack that pushes back both the Highwayman and his target one space. it has STUPID high damage at 150% damage ((mod of 50%)). It's Acc is 95 base meaning it's super hard to miss it on most foes.
• "Grapeshot Blast" hits the front three ranks of the enemy laying down some powerful chip damage and finishing off weakened backline fighters.
• "Open Vein" is a very reliable 2 dmg/round bleed. It's damage mod is also only -15% meaning the attack itself isn't too shabby for damage.
• "Tracking Shot" is the buff that allows you to get off some small chip damage when using it. It buffs dmg by 12%, buffs Acc by +6, and buffs crit chance by 5%.
• "Duelist's Advance" allows the Highwayman to reposition while still doing a sizable chunk of damage to a foe. ((Move 1 Forward)).
• Has an ability that works in nearly all slots, making him more or less... immune to position displacement.
• Has a powerful Camp Skill in Gallows Humor though it can backfire. His other camp skill while self-buffs really buff his offensive abilities and make them notable unlike other buffs more or less. They are strong, the melee one in particular giving him dodge.
• You start with one, just like the Crusader.
• Really common class so easy to replace.

Cons:

• Lacks focus and isn't tanky or super high damage dealing.
• Lacks CC. This can be an issue as Stuns are very valuable.
• "Point Blank Shot" requires you to put yourself in very high danger situations as a not so crazy tanky character. This is not ideal. Only an issue if you are using this skill of course but it a very big draw back.

Probably looks like god send with all those Pros versus the cons. But keep in mind those cons are huuuuge. However if you need a bread and butter fourth guy for your team... you can almost never go wrong with a Highwayman. a Notable strat is to use a Highwayman and a Grave Robber together utilizing the Knockback from "PBS" on the Highwayman to displace himself back and have the Grave Robber come to the first slot. Then, the Grave Robber should use "Shadow Fade" to stun a target and get super boosts to dodge. ((especially if she can get a Toxin Trickery up in there somehow as well.)). Warning though... you can't really effectively use a frontline tank with this set-up. BE WARNED.

Hound Master:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• Has a dog. ((yes... really. Dogs are awesome. Look... I'm making this list so... bite me XD))
• Has a lot of great support abilities that really give allies space to breathe. "Guard Dog" allows him to intercept attacks while giving him a massive +15 dodge boost allowing him to dodge those intercepted blows a lot more often. "Blackjack" is a very reliable stun that deals pretty good damage as the dmg mod is -60%. "Cry Havoc" is a PARTY Stress heal that's a pretty considerable.
• Both Skills "Hound's Harry" and "Hound's Rush" have good chance to bleed with Hound's Harry hitting all 4 enemies.
• "Target Whistle" is the sole most powerful Mark in the game as it lowers enemy Prot by 20%. It's even useful on non-marking based parties. "Hound's Rush" synergizes with marks as it deals more damage when they are applied.
• "Lick Wounds" is a super reliable Self-Heal. ((it also has a great animation of a man just hugging his dog in the heat of battle all like taking solace in the comfort that his greatest friend is there with him.))
• Has very strong Camping skills. "Release the Hound" gives 50% to scout nearby rooms, "Therapy Dog" removes 10 stress from an ally and makes them 10% more resistant to stress damage. "Man's Best Friend" removes 20 stress from the Hound Master with no drawback. ((most others of this nature do have a drawback.)) "Hound's Watch" gives a -20% chane to be surprised and the enemies a +20% to be surprised whole preventing a nighttime ambush.
• Carries 2 Dogtreats which give your Hound Master a crazy boost to stats in two fights. This makes the Hound master super strong at fighting. It gives a +100% damage mod, + 20 acc, and +5% crit chance for 3 turns.

Cons:

• Has middling base damage and "Hound's Harry" has a big negative dmg mod at 80%
• Suffers from... "I've got only 4 moves" syndrome... why does that seem like a familiar issue... especially on this forum?
• Tends to like the back line... however... this conflicts heavily with his stun which must be in the frontline to be used. It's a rather strange dilemma.
• Cry Havoc has a percent chance to succeed, so you might waste your turn doing bubkis.
• Is a pretty rare class. Hard to replace if lost.

Another super good character that can it most teams. He's more of a Supporter than the Grave Robber and the Highwayman, giving him a distinct niche and edge over the two. He synergizes with... pretty much most classes as his wide range of abilities really help him to shine. His rarity is a testament to how freaking good he is. It's hard to not splash on pretty much every team, especially those going for a boss attempt. All in all, his Pros easily outweigh his cons.

Jester:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• Really really powerful buff in "Battle Ballad". It increases the entire party's speed by 3, their acc by 5, and their crit chance by 2%.
• Powerful Debuff in "Solo" if it manages to hit at a hefty -10 Acc to all foes. It also has a synergy with a later ability.
• "Finale" causes massive damage and then sends our Jester friend all the way to the back of the formation. "Solo" Brings you directly to the front to use this devastating attack next turn after a super beduff on all foes. They form a pretty strong core of abilities on a Debilitating support.
• Two Strong bleeds effects. "Slice Off" is effective on a singular target and applies 3 dmg/round bleed. "Harvest" deals less damage to two targets and can proc a 2 dmg/round bleed on both.
• "Dirk Stab" allows the Jester to move forward and back in the line up.
• "Inspiring Tune" is the most powerful base Stress Heal at 10 Stress heal at rank one. It also reduces incoming Stress damage here after by 10%.
• Has very good stress relief Camp Skills. "Every Rose has it's Thorns" removes 15 stress from all party members while giving them 15% resistance to Stress Damage moving forward. "Turn Back Time" removes 30 stress, and 15 more if the target has an affliction for a total of 45 or nearly half their stress bar.

Cons:

• Cannot function around classes that need to be in certain positions. ((especially the Leper.))
• As a very squishie class getting that close to the frontline with 0 CC is just... asking for trouble.
• "Finale" suuuuper debuffs after being used. -40% damage, -30 dodge, and -10 Acc.
• Has a lot of abilities that can only be used certain places making you have to really pay attention to where he is in the formation at all times.
• "Solo" brings him DIRECTLY to the front. The problem here being it means it cannot be used without "Finale" as otherwise it makes you way too vulnerable and ruins your formation. It's just super risky to run at that point.

A High risk character who more or less demands the party be built around him and not the other way around. He might be very useful, however using him ((especially as a damager)) can be difficult and tough to master properly.

Leper:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• Is the Class with the highest Base damage and Highest base HP.
• "Solemnity" is a powerful Self heal that provides buffs to most major statuses. This makes the Leper a master of taking hits and staying right where he wants to.
• "Withstand" is a great Stress Heal and provides a Prot bonus of 25%. This makes it much harder to take down the Leper
• Powerful Self Buff in "Revenge" giving a huge damage boost to already large base damage, much needed accuracy and a small chance to crit.
• Has one of the most crippling damage debuffs in the game in "Intimidate". It lowers the Front Two ranks damage by 20% and their ACC by 5
• "Purge" is a super strong Knockback displacing the front enemy 3 spaces
• Has the Camp Skill "Reflection" which is a GOD TIER Buff for the Leper. It removes 20 stress and buffs his ACC by 10 and his Crit by 5%. This is a muuuust have and one of the better Unique Camp Skills. ((especially for the character it is on.)) Bloody Shroud is another good mention as it gives The Leper 25% resistance to all major statuses ((like his self heal.)) further making him resistant to them.

Cons:

• Has the same Issue as the Crusader in that outside of the front two slots... they just can never hit anything.
• While they have wonderful HP base... their Dodge is pretty much if not the lowest in the game ((starting at 0.))
• The Leper's not very good at aiming and probably needs a pair of glasses. He doesn't have a base ACC higher than 75 on an ability that's for damage which makes hitting anything pretty tough. While he has ways to grab ACC himself... well they've got drawbacks.
• Remember how I said "Revenge" was a Sweeeeet buff? Turns out it's got a downside. Of course those stats were too good to be true. It comes at the cost of -15 Dodge... which okay he's bad at that anyway but -25% Prot. THIS IS BAAAD. You can mitigate with "Withstand" but that's when you start finding you are running out of ability slots.
• You need Dedicated Healer or someone who can boost The Leper's ACC for him to be effective. He simply relies heavily on team support.
• While his utility skills are good he's got no true CC and they do very small amounts of damage. Taking them can be risky but provide Leper with something to do on down turns that help his entire team rather than just himself. ((his healing.)) However... the benefits they provide only hit the front line. This is something to keep in mind.
• The Leper is also one of the Slower Heros in the game capping at a measly 4 SPD. This makes him often go last in the turn order which can be a big issue as he can get pummeled to death pretty easy having to be on the front line.

The Leper is easily the hardest class to properly utilize and needs more support than other heros. It's... actually the funniest thing about him since he's really the biggest enigma in the game. He really can be extremely Self-Reliant, on the Defensive side and bulk up super well but at the cost of having terrible ACC. On the Flip side, he can be the exact opposite way as well. Trying to take both Defense and Offense Leaves the Leper with Few slots for his powerful utility and ability to hit more than a single opponent. The Most self reliant class that also simultaneously needs the most support it's.... so bloody strange. He can't just be plopped in any team and be effective. Either he needs Healing back up, or to provide his own healing but have someone who can boost his offense. As a result he Pairs wonderfully with the Vestal and the Occultist. The Occultist's "Wyrd Reconstruction" gets a special mention because while it can be unreliable at times it is mad powerful. The Leper's not as prone to getting the bleed as he seems either so long as you have the Leper's Self Heal buff online as it puts him just over the average Bleed Resist number of 30%. The Occultist can pull double duty as well if he packs "Daemon Pull" as it does what Leper loves best, pull nice tasty snack of backline foes to the front where they meet their miserable demise at the Leper's mighty blade. Another Good partner for Leper is the Man At Arms who can both him both with "Command" giving a much needed boost to ACC ((the same amount as Revenge with out the damage buff or negative parts. As Leper does a buttload of damage already... that part isn't too necessary for his use.)) and "Bolster" which gives the Leper MUUUUCH needed Dodge and SPD. 5 and 2 respectively. This allows the Leper to not only do damage, but be an absorption tank that sponges up a lot of damage with the PROT boost from "Withstand" and the HP refunds from "Solemnity". If one has a healer they can even ditch the Self-heal for more Utility in "Purge" which can clear corpses ((hard to explain... it's a good ability to have though trust.)) and Knockbacks the front most Foe to the back of the formation. Hew is another Good Offensive skill that is hard to find room for on The Leper but could also be used here so he can deal good solid damage to both of the frontline slots. Finally he may pick up "Intimidate" to cripple foes as well fitting a more disabler based role for the party. It should also be mentioned The Plague Doctor is also very good paired with him as she can boost his DMG output, but more importantly buff his lacklustre speed with "Emboldening Vapors". He's a very versatile character if he's given the space and it's why I think the Leper is easily the most powerful class when utilized properly. However he's easily the worst if he's not made for the team or... it starts falling apart around him. Probably the hardest character to use properly, pick with caution. However, keep in mind this guy can destroy the endgame if you use him well.

Man At Arms:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• Has a high health pool and is one of the more tanky heros. He can boost his defenses through the use of "Defender" giving him 25% PROT.
• The Man At Arms has access to some powerful party buffs. he has "Bolster" giving his team +5 DODGE and +2 SPD to all. This gives much needed defenses to his party and makes dodge based heros better at it. It also speeds up slower heros allowing them to move much faster in the turn order. He can also use "Command" giving all party members +10 ACC making them hit much more often.
• "Bellow" is an attack that lowers the Enemy's DODGE by 5 and SPD by 5. This is a very crippling ability allowing them to be much more easily dealt with. It has a huge synergy with "Bolster" as it allows the slower characters to be guaranteed to move before the enemy's turn.
• "Rampart" is a goooooood Knockback + Stun Combo. It also allows the Man At Arms to take a step forward.
• "Defender" gives the Guard buff to one ally allowing the Man At Arms to intercept any damage coming their way.
• "Retribution" is an attack that gives the Man At Arms the Riposting status while marking himself. This makes him automatically counter attack any attack that comes his way even if they miss or he dodges it. He can also Counter attack on AoE attacks allowing him to hit backliners that rely heavily on AoE based attacks with ease. It pairs amazing with "Defender"
• Has a better reach then the Crusader being able to hit the third slot more easily.
• Has probably the hands down best Buffs for Camping skills. Since all 4 are good.I'm not going to go over them here, just trust... they are good.

Cons:

• "Bolster" the only AoE attack that the Man At Arms has and it... doesn't really do damage. It has a DMG mod of -90% meaning it's purely for utility of the debuff not the damage.
• The Man At Arms has one of the lowest damage outputs of all characters. He kinda makes up for this in his pure defensive capabilities and Utility but he himself deal very modest damage to singular targets.
• Outside of "Retribution" The Man At Arms still has a lot of issues hitting the back slot of Enemy party.
• Is a pretty low CC character. Since he only has access to a one space knockback + stun in "Rampart". It's really better to grab more utility on him rather than worry about CC which your other party members can easily grab.
• Due to not having a self-heal he's very reliant on a dedicated healer to recoup lost health. Not even his Camping Skills can refund his HP.
• Has no unique camp skills that reduce stress either. He totally relies on other party members to manage his stress.
• "Retribution" self-marks the Man At Arms making him take more damage and be targeted more often. While that's good since it gets off more counter-attacks however it might hard to keep up with all the incoming damage.

The Man At Arms is probably one of the better Tank Classes from the standpoint that he is maddeningly tanky. Defense and buffing is his game What he's lacks in damage he makes up for in giving his companions the room to do damage and CC. He's the ultimate in providing much needed breathing room for low health units or healers as he can protect them with "Defender". This can be paired with a Hound Master in a Party to entirely defend the backline. There's also the aforementioned synergies with the Leper. Most ranged Units really love the breathing room they get from the Man At Arms. Either way while he himself doesn't do a whole lot of damage he makes the room to do it. He's solid choice in most Parties.

Occultist:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• Has many skills that have increased DMG against Eldritch creatures.
• "Abyssal Artillery" Is a POWERFUL AoE ability ((it's DMG mod is only -25%)) with few flaws.
• "Hands from the Abyss" Is a very powerful Stun that deals pretty hefty damage. ((DMG mod only being -50%))
• "Weakening Curse" can significantly cut the DMG of a single foe. It can hit from any position and hit any enemy position making it able to hit the most powerful enemy foes no matter where they are.
• "Wyrd Reconstruction" heals for SUPER HIGH amounts of HP. It can sometimes off a crit heal back more than your characters life totals. This allows the Occultist to work as a dedicated healer despite other drawbacks this heal may have.
• "Daemon's Pull" is a pooooooowerful tool for dragging enemy backlines straight to the front to make it easier for other party members to hit them with more powerful attacks.

Cons:

• While he has access to a Marking Ability... he's not so much the best member for it. His Mark limits their dodge. Unlike the Hound Master's or other marks that remove PROT, this is nowhere near as useful.
• "Hands of the Abyss" can only be used from the front two ranks. This leaves The Occultist very vulnerable to enemies attacks he really can;t afford to be hit by. It is also very bad in kits that intend to use "Wyrd Reconstruction" or "Abyssal Artillery" as they can only be used in the back ranks. It also... makes you lose light level from your torch. This makes it a tad risky to use as it might make you need to use more torches. However... if you want your light level low... well that good XD.
• "Wyrd Reconstruction" can sometimes whiff and heal very low amounts. Furthermore, it can cause bleeds as well eating into the amount of healing. worse yet... the higher rank it is the more powerful this bleed is and the more likely. It's a high risk ability.
• "Abyssal Artillery" can only hit the back two rows. Now... this probably sounds stupid as a con but hear me out. While hitting the Squishies at the back is a super powerful boon after they are dead this ability is pretty much dead weight. It also cannot hit something like saaaay... a Boss.
• Camp skills are all very situational... be careful when using them.

The Occultist is both a great backline damage dealer, and a pretty strong supporter. He can be a dedicated healer though he's a bit more risky than something like the Vestal. He has a very powerful debuff for crippling High damage dealers, and pull squishies towards the front so your allies can smash them into the ground. The Occultist is another party member who can fit nearly any team to some degree as the number of roles he can take are numerous. He's one of the best for dealing with powerful DMG dealers that like hiding in the back of formations by either "Weakening Curse" to debuff their damage away, or smashing them with "Abyssal Artillery". "Hands from the Abyss" can even allow him to give the party more time to fix itself after being shuffled. The Occultist doesn't have any particularity strong synergies with any one Hero class once again making him easy to splash into many different compositions.

Plague Doctor:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• Has a high amount of abilities that Blight enemies. The Plague Doctor is your girl for setting up all the DoTs on your foes. "Plague Grenade" hits both the enemy backline with a 4 dmg/round DoT and it only gets better when improved. "Noxious Blast" applies the same damage of Blight instead to one of the front positions.
• "Incision" can apply a Bleed for even more DoTs. Though it is a bit weak of a bleed.
• "Emboldening Vapours" give a +25% DMG buff. Let me go back and highlight that for you... Twenty... Five. This is a huuuuuge amount of damage. Furthermore it increases SPD by 3. If you needed your Leper to go fast... well look no further.
• "Battlefield Medicine" allows the Plague Doctor to remove Bleeds and Blight from her companions. This is the only ability in the game that can remove Blight from ANOTHER character then the one using the ability.
• "Disorienting Blast" is a great Stun ability that can really shuffle up the enemy lines making it easier to pick at the backline. It also removes all corpses from the battlefield which is a small but powerful boon.
• "Blinding Gas" can stun BOTH of the enemies in the back of the formation. Unlike the Hellion's "Barbaric YAWP!" it doesn't have a drawback either.
• Has very powerful Camp Skills. "Experimental Vapors" heals one party member for 50% of their HP, and then makes any heal they receive 33% more effective. "Self-Medicate" and "Leeches" both have the same effect more or less as they both heal the target a large amount and remove any lingering Bleeds or Blights. "Self-Medicate" has a few benefits in the fact that because it can only be used on the Plague Doctor herself it gets a few bonuses. It has a modest Stress Heal of 10 and gives a +10 ACC boost. All in all very solid Camp skills.
• Is always initially available upon unlocking the Stagecoach building. You'll always get one.

Cons:

• Outside of "Incision", The Plague Doctor has no direct offensive moves.
• "Plague Grenade" and "Blinding Gas" can only hit the enemy backline, so once they are taken care of this ability can't do anything.
• While "Battlefield Medicine" is a powerful ability for removing Blights and Bleeds, as a heal it doesn't really do much. It starts at a measly 1-1 heal. The Highest it gets is 3-3. So... it's not for healing a character it's just a nice little side benefit. Keep this in mind as it makes The Plague Doctor not able to be a dedicated healer class, and firmly cemented in being a support class.
• In areas where enemies are resistant to blight it is very difficult to make use of the Plague Doctor as pretty much all of her damage comes from Blight.

The Plague Doctor is the more or less best supporter in the game. She has access to very potent CC abilities, a powerful buff and deals immense indirect damage to pesky high PROT enemies. She doesn't have huge synergies with many classes, but she can shine in nearly any composition of party as their CC user or as a buffer. She can make one of her allies' blazing fast and deal huge damage, or keep DoTs from slowly whittling away at your own heros. A special mention must be made for how powerful the Plague Doctor is in the Cove one of the hardest areas in the entire game if not the hardest of the basic ones. Due to her huge access to Blight Based attacks she can deal with a lot of the high PROT enemies there as their resistance to Blight is super low.

Vestal:

Skill Loadout: WIP

Skill 1:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 2:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 3:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 4:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position:

Skill 5:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 6:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Skill 7:

Icon:

Type:

Position: [ ]

Target Position: [ ]

Pros:

• Has the only available Group Heal in "Divine Comfort", while it's got a rather low HP to each party member... it gives it to EACH party member. This allows the Vestal to heal up the group as a whole when one isn't significantly damaged to require a bigger heal.
• Has a reliable heal in "Divine Grace". While not as crazy powerful as the Occultist's can be... it has no chance to backfire and do nothing and doesn't cause the target to bleed. As a result it's consistent and more easily relied upon.
• The Vestal has access to a powerful Stun in "Dazzling Light". Better yet this attack generates Torchlight which is fantastic in long dungeons as it removes pressure on needing to use torches as commonly.
• Unlike some other backline supports the Vestal has access to things such as "Hand of Light" or her "Mace Bash" to protect herself in the case she does get dragged to the front.
• Oh, and if that wasn't nice enough, "Hand of Light" is a powerful DMG debuff and ACC buff on the opponent it hits as well.
• "Judgement" is a pretty powerful ranged attack that also heals the Vestal on use. This allows her to attack and keep her own health up at the same time. Pretty solid if you ask me.
• "Illumination" reduces a foe's DODGE base by 20 while also netting some more light for your torch.

Cons:

• Has a rather low damage output as most skills have negative damage mods on them. She also has no skills that deal AoE damage.
• "Divine Comfort" while nice can be hard to find room for in a loadout because it's more for twiddle your thumb turns and it cripple her offense((which her utility is tied to.)) if she takes both this and "Divine Grace" ((which... not having "Divine Grace" mostly out of the question since it's more or less the point of the class.))
• "Hand of Light" can only be used in the first two slots a very dangerous place for a Vestal to be.
• Her camp skills are hugely dependent on being religious. Meaning that without certain quirks or with certain ones... they won't really be nearly as effective. When they are at full power... they are very powerful, but otherwise are a bit on the weak side.

The Vestal is the best dedicated healer and it's what she's made for. "Divine Grace" is a must have on a Vestal as it allows her to keep up your damage dealing classes and your tanks from kicking the bucket. "Divine Comfort" is a nice boon on top of that as it allows her to spread the health around on turns she isn't in dire need of throwing a big heal. Her other abilities are very useful for debuffing foes or Stunning them to keep them from dealing damage for a turn. If paired with a Jester they can keep the tides of HP damage and Stress damage from overwhelming some characters and really keep a party on their feet. The Vestal also has the added benefit of a lot of her attacks gaining bonus light for your torch which is invaluable in long dungeons where Torches WILL run low. Once again the Vestal is a backbone member of many parties as her healing everyone wants. She synergizes with really any party and can be dropped in with nearly no problems. She's a go to healer and in the early game is one of the best units. She can drop off quite a bit towards end game, but She is without a doubt the one tht will make your early dungeon runs go smooooothly.

EDIT: Realized it was a bit stupid to not put the references to what their abilities were in here in some form despite the fac that I mentioned them. I did a mock up for what they will look like with the Abom's profile. A word of caution... I get the Positioning thing will probably be mad hard to understand, but there's not much I can do about it. I could try and rip the files from the game... but I don't think those images would be much more helpful since i'd still have to explain what they are conveying... basically it's hard to be like this is what this means!!! unless you know how the battle system works. Sorry, but there's not really a way around it lol.

[Combat]

I got this game a few months ago, and I have mixed feelings about it. While the start of the game starts strong, the core RNG mechanic is kind of a turn off for me. Having almost every action be decided by the roll of a die is accurate, but is also slightly tedious in my opinion. I've played this game for eighteen hours, so I can say it's playable, but the RNG system may be a deal breaker for some. All in all, I love this games music, style, mood, and most of it's mechanics, and would recommend it to others.

Especially if you edit the games configuration files to make your heroes do insane amounts of damage. Take that high protection maggots!

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

I got this game a few months ago, and I have mixed feelings about it. While the start of the game starts strong, the core RNG mechanic is kind of a turn off for me. Having almost every action be decided by the roll of a die is accurate, but is also slightly tedious in my opinion. I've played this game for eighteen hours, so I can say it's playable, but the RNG system may be a deal breaker for some. All in all, I love this games music, style, mood, and most of it's mechanics, and would recommend it to others.

Especially if you edit the games configuration files to make your heroes do insane amounts of damage. Take that high protection maggots!

High Prot are really easy to beat with Blight Strats since they tend to be super weak to it so you can just stack it on them really hard. Like Plague Doctor + Abom or Grave Robber. If you want to go with high Physical damage strats just take a Hound Master as their Mark cuts Prot super hard. Also Stuns are a god send on them since if they Guard an Ally if you Stun them the Guard instantly drops. ((Hound Master can serve Double Duty here by using Blackjack.)) Honestly though you just Blight them up and slay the back line by either knocking the high Prot into the backline or just straight up ignoring them if you got the range since they tend to not have stress inducing attacks or things that proc diseases etc. Basically get your DoTs ticking on them and laugh as you kill all their friends and they die slowly.

Also, welcome to Tabletop RPGs! Where everything is literally decided by a die roll at the end of the day((let's just say I'm used to rolling a one and boom character's dead. Dungeons and Dragons can just be straight up more brutal than Darkest Dungeon.)). DD is a game about Risk Management and Stress Management. Not knowing what can happen at times is pretty important. Because that adds stress on you the player. I makes you constantly worried that "Well... shit I might run out of food." etc... or "Maybe opening that Iron Maiden was a terrible idea" It the play off that that entirely makes the game work. It's definitely not for everyone, but it fundamentally wouldn't work as a game without it. It's pretty much what all Roguelites do because that mechanic set thrives on it. Some more than others, and Darkest Dungeon definitely has quite a lot, I get that. The only thing I really don't like is ingrained negative quirks. Because you can't lower their price to my knowledge even with the upgrades and it super expensive to the point it's probably not worth it and just axing that guy if it a suuuuuper bad one. I'm not really sure what causes them to ingrain which what I don't like more. Like the Death's Door Mech imo really dissolves a lot of my gripes since it's not like a random lucky crit can kill you it just drops you to Death's Door((even if it's overkill.))... which is bad, but your not dead yet.

In short, yea i get that there's definitely RNG... but in my opinion other than some outstanding things ((like Negative Quirks ingraining)) I don't find much issue personally. Maybe I'm just highly RNG tolerant due to playing many a table top XD. RNG doesn't ruin my fun it improves it imo. ((I'm that one guy that loves when my opponent manages to fish out the Scald Burn on me, or the random flinch. Because to me that makes things more lively and exciting! XD.))

[Skeleton]

me naming my party is basically shitposting extraordinaire

abomination doesnt deserve this hate by fellow party members

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

me naming my party is basically shitposting extraordinaire

abomination doesnt deserve this hate by fellow party members

Honestly I find it damn hilarious that the Leper of all folks has issue with him. From a certain point of view... they are one in the same. It's just a difference in perspective that makes them hate each other. It's... kinda sad because they would probably understand each other if they only gave it a chance.

And Feeeeeeeeeeeel free XD. I'd actually wouldn't mind too much. However I was thinking of making a separate Darkest Dungeon naming thread in sorta the vain of Inno's namin' thread for XCOM. That'd come after I make the OP nice and pretty though. Speaking of which Leper ((probably one of my more fav classes.)) is now up. Sad part is due to doing the classes in alphabetical order... half of the Leper's synergies make 0 sense... since... well... I've not had the time to do them yet.

[Gaunt]

Really like this game, i feel that this is how all RPG (or at least the more "dark" ones) are supposed to feel, dead means dead (supposed) heroes go insane from horror and all plot armor is gone. My only problem with the game are the quirks, i feel like they are a little unbalanced, the negatives pile up faster and are usually "stronger" on top of that when you have too many positive ones they get randomly swapped if not locked in place (and that always costs too much for me) so i never bother and just kick out the heroes that are too much "compromised".

As for "best" moments i can name a few:

1) Meeting the Collector for the first time, in that moment i thought my party is dead but actually he's not that strong (but still cool).

2) Activating by error the Shambler altar and losing my best party, restarted (while raging and cursing) the game and never touched another one.

3) Going to beat the Hag without knowing you need range fighters (lost only my Vestal there).

[Despair Syndrome]

How would you guys rate Darkest Dungeon compared to other roguelikes?

I'm not a stranger to roguelikes and their shitty rng (FTL and their goddamn solar flares...). I was considering Darkest Dungeon as my next buy and I would love to hear your opinions on it. Especially in terms of replayability.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Personally, it give it decently high it's kinda more or less one of my favourite games at the moment. ((hence... making a thread about it. If I hated it... that be weird...)) It just plays with ideas that are really interesting and it oozes theme. Like it feels great to play because the visuals, sound design etc... all go to further the experience in tandem with the game mechanics. It feels very Gothic horror and very much is a wonderful example of the "World's gone to shit and everything is shitty as a result" bleakness. The Stress Mechanic imo is like one of the greatest parts. Like AAAAAAH It's so good. It just adds so much to the tension since if it's not at 100 it doesn't do anything, but once it hits that the shit hits the Fan. Because it just makes your other heros get there much faster as they now have to deal with a person who's having a psychotic break more or less. And yea.. in a dark scary Dungeon... that'd be stressful as hell.

I can;t speak onto the Replayabilty as it has a lengthy Campaign mode unlike other Roguelites, and it's more or less built around that idea. You're going to lose party members left and right. So it makes them a bit more easily replenishable. It's ahrd to straight up 100% lose, but if your not careful ahve to scramble back to where you were more or less. Basically, there's a lot of game to play and that's where the meat of it is rather than having quite as much replayablity. ((though I'd personally probably load up another campaign after awhile and give it another run through.))

It's a fresh idea of a Roguelite and it feels very different from them in ways that really set it apart. I think it's a really good purchase/pick up based soley on this fact. If you're looking for a number rating... I don't do those since they are arbitrary lol. ((like really if I ever became a reviewer my two options would literally jsut be "I liked it!" or "I didn't like it!". Those are the only relevant pieces of information.))

But I love it and think it's a pretty strong contender out there. It feels very unique and is a really fun to play imo. I'd highly recommend it if you like the genre.

In other news I finally got all the classes overviews complete!!! What do you guys think? Any improvements you might want me to add etc? Also... how relevant does the info look in the Abomination's List? Does having the abilities there help the understanding? It mean a lot to me if you answered some of these things for me.

On Negative Quirks... yea they really can pile up pretty fast... but... really don't click Curio unless you are willing to take that risk since those are the most common source for SUUUUPER bad ones. Also, try to get rid of them via the Sanitarium asap if they are very bad ones ((like Klepto or things that are really crippling for certain characters.)) I still need to figure out if the Negatives ingraining means they are stuck on the character and won't be overwritten and basically lock them kinda like Positive quirks since this could be a way around some of the terrible quirks. Like if you let something like say... Tippler ingrain and stay there it's not really that bad. ((nor are other "Will only do X for stress relief" perks imo.)) or other less crazy stuff such as Calm on a character that won't really be attacking on turn 1 anyway. Basically... I think there's ways around this that make it not so bad for me personally. Like Building upgrades wise... the Sanitarium is 100% the thing to focus on imo since it gets rid of bad quirks can keep good ones and gets rid of Diseases. Others ones ou can;t really worry about until your heros are higher level and can benefit from that. Stress Relief ones are pretty important to but i feel are only really important to open up until you get their second slots then worry about later. But, that's me lol.

[Despair Syndrome]

INNOVATION™!

Seems really unique and has lots of strategic elements to it judging from your class overview (nice work btw, read through it all even though I have no idea what any of the terms mean)

tfw gonna use it as a guide

Guess I'm gonna go for it then. thx for game recommendation, m8. May the RNG be ever in my favor. although it never is

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Yeeeeea... I should've made a term guide... and forgot. I think I'll put one together for folks looking to get into it. Or... grab one from the wiki. ((or possibly... just screenshot the in game one. That's a really nice thing by the way. They have in game term guide etc... most would just expect you to know that stuff.))

[Gaunt]

The class overview looks really good imo (i even learned some new things) but it's probably a little difficult to understand for someone who never played (on the positive side they'll need only a few runs in the dungeons to "grasp" the concept)

When a negative quirk is "ingrained" it can still be removed in the sanitarium it just costs (a lot) more.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Na, I meant from the point of "will other Negative perks replace it." deal. ((like the Positive ones can replace anything but locked ones.)) So I'm wondering if that is how the negative ones becoming "Severe" ((the actual term for it... Oops?))

[Gaunt]

Na, I meant from the point of "will other Negative perks replace it." deal. ((like the Positive ones can replace anything but locked ones.)) So I'm wondering if that is how the negative ones becoming "Severe" ((the actual term for it... Oops?))

Ah understood...i don't think so because i had 2 heroes with the max number of negative perks and after a few levels they gained only positive ones (or diseases) but maybe i was just lucky.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

I'm not like suuuper far in my run so I don't got a lot to work with ((most don't have nearly that many Negative perks yet.)) so I can't really test it lol. Also I'm getting lucky in that a lot of my negative perks tend to be Stress Relief in that they restrict which they can use. I honestly had so many ith Tippler I had to like super upgrade the Bar at the tavern. I even paid to remove it on a hero since I have that many damn drunkards runnin' about XD>

[Gaunt]

Here is a review of the game by TotalBiscuit:

Maybe it'll help those not familiar with these concepts to understand how it works.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Yea I was going to post that ((also do remember, he doesn't do reviews he does... first impressions or impression videos. Like as he says throughout the video he doesn't know what the endgame is like cause he's just never gotten there.))

I was waiting a bit of time to put it up since yeeeea last post. Think I'll slap it in the OP or at least a link to your post so that it'll smack on down to the video for easy viewing. I'll try and find a few things etc... and maybe write some guides once I've gotten more hours in the game and feel more solid to write one lol. Thanks for plopping this here though really helpin' me out XD>

[Flux]

Don't know how I missed this thread the first time, but this game looks really cool. I like the art style and overall setting and theme of the game, so I'll definitely have to look into this one. ^^

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Okay, made a key to show what abilities do at a glance for the ability kits lol... and got down to the Bounty Hunter thus far... I really really... next time I go for this just need to leave the Icons until I just finish the rest here. Hopefully will get some more done in a bit or so. We'll see XD.

[Nhadala]

Just started playing this game, found this sweet little party combination:

1x Plague Doctor with blight and stun abilities.

1x Grave Robber with Lunge, Poison Darts, Flashing Daggers and Thrown Dagger.

2x Highwayman with Point-Blank Shot, Open Vein, Pistol Shot and Wicked Slice.

Lots of bleed and poison, very high damage, battles usually end fast with this party and has no problems hitting any mob regardless of position and it also good against movement manipulation since every character can hit from most positions.

However, all of them rely on dodge to effectively keep their health high and i have to bring extra food in the dungeon just in case something goes wrong with my health and stuff or if rng decides to screw me over.

Any feedback?

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

It's a pretty good early party for sure not entirely sure how it'd hold up in later dungeons.

I think rather than Poison Darts you might rather have Toxin Trickery. Poison Darts Blight isn't really that necessary when you have the Plague Doctor to do it already and the Plague Doctors are much more effective and can more actively be applied. ((as she doesn't need to pull double duty and status/deal damage at the same time)). It gives you +5 SPD and more importantly +10 Dodge. This makes her even harder to hit and basically makes it certain you'll go first than most basic enemies.

Also I should mention if you use this party in the Weald and aren't being super careful there is an enemy that can oneshot all of those characters with a single attack if it hits((the rest of it's attacks are a bit less relevant since one is a party shuffle)). Be warned. Worse is there's an enemy in that area that has a mark that acts like the Occultist's in that it lowers your dodge chance. So that area I don't suggest too much for this party XD.

Also though, seriously get a lot of variety in parties and just heros in general. You're going to need them, trust lol. There's a LOT of cool little synergies to find out there for sure. Seriously, just experiment with everything XD>

[Gaunt]

I personally never go in the dungeon without a healer tried twice and both times it ended (extremely) badly. When the game was in early access i had a pretty good stun party but now that it's nerfed that's not going to work.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

I've actually had to get super good without healers siiiiiince I've got like bad RNG and don't really have any other than the first one you have to get. I've mostly had to rely on self-healing Heros so far wehn my Vestal is in need of destressing/getting diseases removed.

But yea, no heal parties can work, just difficult at times. I mean... I beat the Necromancer without a dedicated healer... was a liiiiiiiiittle tough but yea. It can work at times, it's jsut suuuper risky lol.

[Nhadala]

Beat the Wizened Hag and didnt lose anyone, im surprised.