Darkest Dungeon 2: Finest crew comps

A lot of the work in a Darkest Dungeon 2 run is accomplished earlier than the run has even formally begun. The celebration creation stage, the place you select which 4 heroes you’ll be taking with you, is extremely vital, outweighing many of the particular person selections you’ll make out on the street or in battle. It’s vital to choose the perfect heroes for the job, after all, but it surely’s equally vital to rearrange them into a celebration that is smart, and has the inner synergy vital to hold you thru to the Mountain. If you would like some solutions on squads that may just do that, then learn on for our information to the perfect crew comps in Darkest Dungeon 2.

The most effective crew comps in Darkest Dungeon 2

The ol’ dependable

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That is the crew comp you’ll see most frequently in Darkest Dungeon 2, and for good cause: it gives the perfect, most balanced set of skills doable, and might get you thru runs very constantly. The truth that it’s nearly fully composed of characters unlocked by default reveals that Crimson Hook Studios does have a coronary heart, someplace in there.

We’ll begin with the Man-at-Arms. On this comp he does what he does greatest: lead the celebration from the entrance and help his teammates as they carry you to victory. Vanguard is our path of selection right here, offering a stable well being and injury enhance whereas the Man-at-Arms is in your entrance rank. Defender is his main ability, letting you defend certainly one of your different heroes from a few assaults. That is nice when somebody is low on well being, or after they’re gearing up for an enormous assault and also you don’t need them getting disrupted by standing results. On prime of this we use Bolster for Stress therapeutic with incidental Block achieve, Maintain the Line to recuperate from rank disruption strikes like Categorize, and Bellow to decelerate enemies and stop them from touchdown devastating crucial hits. We prime issues off with Crush, a stable attacking transfer, particularly on the Vanguard path, and one that may present essential therapeutic in a pinch.

Subsequent up is the Highwayman, the celebration’s fundamental injury vendor. On the Sharpshot path, all of his ranged assaults get a large injury enhance, and we’ve chosen to lean onerous into that right here by together with all three of them: Pistol Shot, Grapeshot Blast, and Double Faucet. All three have their makes use of in several eventualities, however earlier than you employ any of them you must open every fight with Take Purpose, which ensures two crucial hits as soon as upgraded. Take Purpose adopted by Grapeshot Blast is a dependable opening sequence, dealing huge injury to the entrance ranks whereas sustaining a Energy and Crit token in your subsequent flip as nicely. Double Faucet is essentially the most damaging of your assaults right here, particularly on foes beneath 50% well being, so when you have got the prospect to make use of it, achieve this. Pistol Shot isn’t any slouch both, nevertheless, and might attain the again ranks, making it a terrific selection in opposition to utility enemies who cover within the again and supply help to their allies. Lastly, we end off with Freeway Theft, a ability that may take away, and as soon as upgraded, steal, optimistic tokens from enemies. That is notably helpful in Cultist battles and boss fights, and might prevent from loads of injury if timed appropriately.

The Jester is up subsequent, and he fills a number of completely different niches on this celebration. He can apply Combo tokens with Razor’s Wit, Blind with Fade to Black, Bleed with Harvest, and deal huge injury himself with Finale. Harvest is a good opener in opposition to enemies with Block or Dodge, because it hits two ranks directly and might eat by means of these pesky tokens so as to clear the best way for the Highwayman to deal full injury. Razor’s Wit can arrange a double-damage Finale from the Jester himself or a heal on the Man-at-Arms through Crush, and it could additionally get the Jester in place for the previous as nicely, since by default he’s unable to make use of it. Lastly, we have now Encore. This grants an additional flip to a different celebration member, and it has an enormous array of doable makes use of on this comp. One stable line is to start out the Highwayman off with Take Purpose, then have the Jester use Encore on him, permitting for an instantaneous crucial hit. It might additionally enable for essential heals, of HP or Stress, by concentrating on the Plague Physician or Man-at-Arms, respectively.

Final however not least, we have now the Plague Physician, who serves as a healer and help unit for the celebration on this comp. We embrace each of her therapeutic expertise, Battlefield Drugs and Indiscriminate Science, as each are nice in several eventualities; the previous when coping with standing results, and the latter when coping with debuffs. Whereas Battlefield Drugs barely advantages from being mastered, Indiscriminate Science most definitely does, so get that executed as quickly as doable. We additionally use Emboldening Vapours, which lets us apply the Energy standing to both the Highwayman or the Jester for an enormous hit subsequent flip. Lastly, we spherical issues off with two Blight-inflicting expertise: Noxious Blast and Plague Grenade. Each are preferrred on giant targets, and might soften them up properly in your injury sellers to complete off later, however Plague Grenade specifically is extraordinarily helpful, as it could hit each of your back-rank foes directly, eradicating Block and Dodge and inflicting Blight all of sudden. Notably in Cultist battles, it is a useful ability to deliver.

The combo meal

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Whereas our first construct emphasised stability and synergy, our second is extra of an all-in technique, going for essentially the most injury doable within the fewest variety of turns. Hellion, Leper, and Jester are all able to huge injury, and all make nice use of Combo tokens, which the Runaway and Jester can arrange reliably every flip.

The Hellion is our frontline fighter on this comp. The Ravager path offers her 20% further well being and 25% further injury so long as she stays in that rank, two important bonuses that concurrently let her last more and be certain that your enemies received’t. In addition they play properly along with her innate passive means, which grants 25% further injury whereas she’s beneath 50% well being, and an extra 25% injury when she’s beneath 25% well being. On this comp, we’re funneling all of that juicy further injury into Hellion’s attacking strikes: Depraved Hack, Iron Swan, and Howling Finish. Hack is essentially the most fundamental, and might be your go-to in most eventualities. It offers stable injury, and offers much more if the goal has a Combo token. Iron Swan is extra specialised, hitting the again rank solely, and is useful in battles with annoying help models that like to hang around there. It additionally applies a Combo token when mastered, which performs very properly on this comp. Howling Finish is immensely highly effective, but it surely applies Winded and pushes Hellion again into rank 2: two issues you can very a lot do with out. For that cause, it ought to primarily be used as an emergency kill button and never as a strong opener, tempting as which may be. Past injury, we have now a few help strikes: Adrenaline Rush, which provides therapeutic and a way of eradicating the Winded tokens inflicted by Howling Finish, and Raucous Revelry, one other heal that may additionally present important party-wide Stress therapeutic.

The Leper is subsequent in our lineup of heavy hitters, and whereas he can’t do as a lot injury because the Hellion more often than not, he can take much more, which supplies him a robust defensive area of interest throughout the celebration. His core attacking transfer is Chop, which offers huge injury to enemies in rank one or two, however typically leaves the Leper Blind afterwards. This may be a problem, however we have now a number of methods of working round it. Firstly, Combo tokens. Chop at all times hits, no matter Blind, if the goal enemy has a Combo token. Given how simply you’ll be able to apply these on this comp, you’ll be counting on this facet of the ability loads. Secondly, you’ll be able to take away Blind utilizing Reflection, a ability which additionally gives incidental Stress therapeutic and removes the uncommon Combo tokens enemies place on the Leper. This ability will get loads higher when mastered, because it heals extra Stress and can be utilized with out a cooldown, so throw some extent into it when you’ll be able to. The Leper’s different attacking transfer right here is Bash. It doesn’t deal a lot injury, but it surely locks the goal in place, which may be useful, and it additionally applies a Combo token when mastered, tying in properly with our comp. We prime this stable base off with Solemnity, which is an unimaginable therapeutic possibility for each well being and Stress, and Stand up to, which lets the Leper tank up and take hits for the remainder of the celebration for some time. That is notably helpful when the Hellion is operating low on account of frontline publicity, or when she’s been pushed again on account of Howling Finish.

The Jester performs a lot the identical as he did within the ol’ dependable comp above on this one: he applies Combo tokens with Razor’s Wit, doubles up on highly effective expertise with Encore, and sometimes lands a killer blow himself with Finale. The latter situation is more likely right here, nevertheless, given our easy accessibility to Combo tokens, which means the Jester will get to share extra of the highlight this time round. He nonetheless does loads of supporting although, utilizing Fade to Black to close down highly effective enemy attackers, and Battle Ballad to use Energy to both the Hellion or Leper: whoever’s subsequent within the flip order. Battle Ballad additionally pushes the goal ahead one rank, which makes it an effective way of reorganizing the celebration post-Howling Finish.

Lastly, we have now the Runaway. She’s at her greatest in a help position, and that’s what she performs right here, organising enemies to take enormous injury from the Leper and Hellion, and providing situational therapeutic in a pinch. Smokescreen is her greatest ability, and the most effective setup expertise within the recreation, making use of a Combo token, Blind, and, as soon as mastered, Weak, to a single foe. This all however ensures that the subsequent Depraved Hack, Chop, or Finale that hits the enemy in query will end it off, except it’s a boss such because the Dreaming Basic after all, whereas additionally decreasing the specter of the enemy through Blind. Hearthlight removes Stealth from all enemies, which is area of interest at greatest, but it surely additionally removes Blind from all the celebration when mastered, which is the rationale for its inclusion right here. This works notably nicely for the Leper, after all, however Blind can be pretty frequent all through the sport, so it’s good to have an accessible remedy on-hand whenever you want it. Cauterize is an admittedly-situational therapeutic ability, but it surely’s nice when it really works, and Bleed is frequent sufficient for it to be viable. Along with these help strikes, we’re additionally operating two Burn-inflicting expertise right here: Firefly and Firestarter. The Orphan path boosts the Burn inflicted by every, whereas additionally letting Firestarter grant you a Crit token on use. Each may be helpful in drawn-out boss battles, and in between cooldowns on different expertise, however typically Runaway ought to give attention to supporting your different three celebration members on this construct.

The sunshine and darkness

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A pleasant thematic construct in addition to a mechanically highly effective one, the sunshine and darkness comp sandwiches two of the sport’s most evil characters between two of its most virtuous. The Man-at-Arms and Vestal present two-sided help to main injury sellers within the Occultist and Flagellant right here, forming a construct that may hit onerous and get hit onerous in equal measure.

Man-at-Arms does what he does greatest on this comp: protects your different celebration members from hazard. He does this through Defender and Retribution primarily, the previous of which accurately guards one other member from a few assaults, and the latter of which pulls the subsequent two enemy assaults to him earlier than shelling out injury in return. Retribution will get a pleasant enhance since we’re on the Vanguard path, but it surely’s the Taunt facet we’re most enthusiastic about, because it permits us to maintain the warmth off of the Flagellant and Occultist. Bolster and Maintain the Line allow you to cope with Stress and celebration lineup disruption with ease, whereas Crush gives a stable attacking transfer to make use of in a pinch, additionally backed by a lift from the Vanguard path. Total, the Man-at-Arms helps you retain your celebration alive, which is completely very important.

The Flagellant is likely one of the extra complicated characters within the recreation, and the position he performs right here is complicated as nicely. He concurrently gives stable injury, Blight, and help in a single twisted package deal, making him really feel a bit like a ‘darkish world’ model of the Man-at-Arms. Punish is a stable attacking transfer that inflicts Blight as nicely, making it your go-to on most turns. Acid Rain features very equally to Plague Physician’s Plague Grenade, letting you disrupt the enemies within the again ranks, take away their Block and Dodge, and apply some Blight to melt them up. Lash’s Reward is a self-heal and a buff multi functional, greatest used after a pair rounds of Punish and Acid Rain, and greatest utilized to the Occultist, since he could make greatest use of the Energy and Block tokens. Extra! MORE! Is much like Retribution, drawing fireplace to the Flagellant whereas offering him a profit in return, on this case self-healing. This can be utilized when your different heroes are operating low, or when the Flagellant himself is, and it’ll work nice in each eventualities. Lastly, we have now Sepsis: most likely the Flagellant’s strongest transfer, offering injury, self-healing, and Blight multi functional. While you fall low sufficient to make use of this, you nearly at all times ought to, since it could flip the tides of a battle in a single flip.

The Occultist is our main injury vendor on this comp, relying primarily on his devastating Burning Stars ability to demolish your foes in a single hit. His immense energy comes with two important tradeoffs: his personal frailty and lack of well being, and his reliance on Unchecked Energy tokens, which put extra strain on his already-limited life by usually making use of the Burn standing to him. Due to this, loads of this comp is devoted to defending the Occultist from hurt in order that he could make the perfect use of his excessive energy stage. The Burning Stars requires two Unchecked Energy tokens to make use of, so we’ve included Chaotic Providing right here as a straightforward technique of producing them. Mixed with the Warlock path, it’s doable to generate two Unchecked Energy tokens a flip with Providing, which can can help you use The Burning Stars each flip, because it doesn’t have a conventional cooldown. For turns when the Stars don’t fairly align, we have now our different expertise. Weakening Curse is a perfect setup transfer, making use of Weak alongside a Combo token, whereas Abyssal Artillery and Daemon’s Pull are different ranged assaults that profit from the Warlock path whereas supplying you with extra choices. Pull specifically is nice, as it could deliver pesky utility enemies to the entrance, inside vary of the Man-at-Arms and Flagellant.

And to prime off our morality sandwich, we have now the Vestal. She performs a help position right here, utilizing the Seraph path to maximise the facility of her Consecration expertise, then utilizing stated expertise as a lot as doable to spur the opposite crew members on to victory. Consecration of Mild boosts injury, and will subsequently be utilized to the Occultist at the beginning of each battle, because the 5 turns it lasts ought to be sufficient to spice up two to 3 makes use of of Burning Stars. Consecration of Fortitude can be utilized on both the Man-at-Arms or the Flagellant, whoever wants it extra on the time. It raises defenses, and is good for supporting the tanky playstyle we use on the frontlines. We additionally run Mantra, which is a stable therapeutic ability with a large utilization window, due to the prolonged lengths of our Consecrations. These three expertise might be what Vestal is utilizing more often than not, however her different two slots enable for some extras. Illumination removes each Stealth and Dodge, which may be useful to make sure you don’t miss with The Burning Stars, and Judgement is a stable ranged assault that may hit any rank, and deal respectable injury after you amass two Conviction tokens through the use of your Consecrations. With the Vestal, you must cycle between organising Consecrations, eradicating Block and Dodge with Judgement and Illumination, and therapeutic with Mantra when vital.

The rogues’ gallery

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Our last crew comp is certainly one of our most complicated: a group of the darkest-hearted heroes within the recreation, organized into a celebration that makes intensive use of motion expertise and off-kilter ways to win the day. Should you’re on the lookout for a extra dynamic and attention-grabbing approach to play Darkest Dungeon 2, then that is the celebration for you.

We start with high-damage favourite the Highwayman, albeit on the Rogue path this time reasonably than his typical Sharpshot. As a Rogue, the Highwayman will get a major injury enhance whereas in rank one, in addition to a free Riposte token after every use of Level Clean shot, a strong ability that may solely be used from rank one. For that reason, we begin him out in rank one, however he’ll be leaping backwards and forwards between one and two for many of every battle. This is because of Level Clean Shot, which sends him again a rank, and Duelist’s Advance, which brings him ahead one. Neither of those expertise have cooldowns, so you’ll be able to swap ranks at will. Whereas up entrance, you’ll typically simply be utilizing Level Clean Shot and fading again once more, whereas in rank two you have got extra choices. You should use Pistol Shot to achieve extra of your enemies, or arrange for elevated injury with Monitoring Shot and Take Purpose. He’s efficient in each ranks, however his place additionally determines which expertise can be found to our subsequent hero in line, the Leper.

By selecting the Poet path, we relegate the Leper to extra of a help position than a damage-dealing one on this construct. With much less injury however extra self-healing, he can afford to spend extra time taking hits for the celebration reasonably than dealing them out himself. We nonetheless deliver Chop, after all, because it’s fairly highly effective even with the injury discount, and it’s good to make use of on the off turns in between self-healing and help strikes. Stand up to is important, and will normally be your opener, because it lets the Leper tank by means of loads of hits for the celebration. Solemnity and Reflection are your self-care expertise, nice for maintaining well being excessive and Stress low in an intense battle the place the Leper is taking many of the warmth. Intimidate is an unimaginable help transfer, appearing as one other supply of Taunt alongside Stand up to, whereas concurrently weakening any goal’s subsequent two assaults. It additionally, bizarrely, lacks any form of cooldown or use restrict, which means you’ll be able to spam it with impunity when you’ve exhausted your provide of Stand up to to maintain the taunt prepare chugging alongside properly. It does require the Leper to be in rank one, nevertheless, so that you’ll have to time it proper, and use it when the Highwayman has slipped again to rank two.

Subsequent up is the Grave Robber, the celebration’s resident Stealth skilled. Whereas selecting the Nightsworn path reduces her well being by 20%, it gives an enormous 50% injury enhance whereas in Stealth, making the target of this construct clear: purchase Stealth, and assault from it as typically as doable. To realize this, we have now two expertise: Useless of Night time and Shadow Fade. The previous requires an enemy corpse to make use of, but it surely gives therapeutic and corpse clearing alongside two Stealth tokens. The latter is extra accessible, however gives no extra advantages, outdoors of sending the Grave Robber again two ranks. When you’re in Stealth, the standard line is to make use of Lunge, adopted by Pirouette on the subsequent flip. Each of those are high-damage expertise with excessive Crit charges, which mix very properly with the 50% injury enhance that Stealth affords the Grave Robber right here. They can help you focus down the enemies within the entrance ranks, earlier than retreating to the again to attend out your cooldowns. In addition they each transfer you round, Lunge ahead by two, Pirouette again by three, which means they will unlock some position-dependent expertise for our final celebration member, the Runaway. Whereas these are the Grave Robber’s core strikes, we additionally run Poison Dart for a dependable assault possibility that can be utilized with out altering rank, for turns when doing so would mess up bigger plans.

Lastly, the Runaway rounds issues off, adopting a Burn-focused moveset alongside the Arsonist path, for apparent causes. She retains Smokescreen and Hearthlight from her moveset in our combo meal comp, to help the damage-dealing efforts of the Leper and Highwayman, however this time she leans tougher right into a Burn theme with Managed Burn. This is a wonderful ability that units a everlasting fireplace in an enemy rank, inflicting Burns over time. She will solely use it from rank three onwards, which means you’ll have to shift her place through the Grave Robber, however that is simply executed with both Shadow Fade or Pirouette. Past this she makes use of Firefly and Firestarter for full Burn protection, letting her deliver down her vengeful flames on any enemy, wherever it’s. The Runaway ought to alternate between setting fires and organising injury, utilizing Smokescreen each time doable, and softening up enemies with Burn on the off turns.

So there you have got it: the perfect crew comps in Darkest Dungeon 2. These 4 celebration setups every have loads of inner synergy, a coherent gameplan, and, most significantly, the capability to get you to the tip of a run. Some are trickier to grasp than others, and a few might be extra attention-grabbing to play over a number of runs than others, however all 4 will serve you nicely in your quest to achieve the Mountain.