Darkest Dungeon 2 lets you form a party of heroes who will take on an adventure to destroy a great evil. However, you can only take up to 4 heroes with you.
As such, it’s really important to decide who these four heroes will be in order to optimize your party and increase your chances of survival.
That said, there are several heroes to choose from in the game. We’re going to show you who are the best among them. Let’s get started.
Best Heroes You Should Use in Darkest Dungeon 2
There are 11 main heroes you can choose from in Darkest Dungeon 2.
These are the Plague Doctor, Grave Robber, Highwayman, Man at Arms, Hellion, Runaway, Jester, Leper, Occultist, Vestal, Bounty Hunter, and Flagellant.
Each of them has its own specialty and unique perks in combat. However, we’re going to exclude Bounty Hunter.After all, he’s more of a power-up that’s only available for a certain period instead of an actual hero.
If not for that, he could easily be the best hero you should always pick during adventures.
That said, the three best heroes you’d want to make sure are always in your team are the Highwayman, Plague Doctor, and Vestal.
Highwayman
When it comes to overall DPS, the Highwayman is no doubt the best in this aspect.
When you pair him with the Rogue or Sharpshot paths, he’ll be able to do quick work of your enemies, both in the frontline and backline.
Needless to say, the Highwayman is a solid choice for a hero, and one that you should always include in your party.
He’s capable of dealing damage consistently and is even flexible with his positioning. That said, here are the skills that the Highwayman has in his arsenal:
Grapeshot Blast – This ability lets you reposition by moving one position backward. This way, you can hit two frontline enemies which is pretty useful for taking them down quickly.
Point-Blank Shot – If you position this hero in the frontline, you’ll be able to deal decent damage to the enemy’s frontline as well. Not only that, but you can gain a combo token in the process.
Duelist’s Advance – Possibly the most versatile skill in the Highwayman’s kit, this allows him to reposition to the front in order to damage an enemy. Aside from that, he’ll also gain riposte which allows him to counter incoming enemy attacks.
The Highwayman’s riposte is perfect for quickly taking down enemies as it allows him to retaliate even if it’s not his turn.
Overall, the highwayman should be one of the heroes you should include in your party due to his DPS alone.
Plague Doctor
The Plague Doctor is yet another character that you must always include in your party. She’s a character who is capable of healing your characters in the game. However, she acts more like an offhealer rather than the main healer.
Aside from that, she’s also capable of dealing decent damage which makes her a hybrid DPS and support character.
She even has a healing spell that can remove debuffs which is pretty useful for your party.
As far as skills go, her kit focuses on applying buffs on your allies and debuffs on your enemies. They’re as follows:
Ounce of Prevention – The Plague Doctor’s most useful skill, this one lets you give a buff to all your party members to increase their resistance against status effects. It also reduces the stress they gain which is a huge lifesaver early on in the game.
Plague Grenade – This is a skill where you apply poison on two enemies at the back, making it effective for taking them out quickly.
Battlefield Medicine – A potent healing skill that also removes DOT effects, though it can only be applied to a single target.
Blinding Gas – As the name implies, this skill lets you blind two enemies at the backline, causing them to miss their attacks.
Indiscriminate Science – Technically a more powerful version of Battlefield Medicine which heals a massive amount of health depending on how many tokens your target has.
While the PD’s heals are outperformed by the Vestal, it’s her other skills that make her valuable during fights.
You want to use her as an offhealer and position her at the backline for her other debuff-inflicting skills.
Vestal
Lastly, we have Vestal who will serve as the dedicated healer for your team.
Once she gains access to all of her healing skills, you’ll be able to give your team powerful buffs throughout any fight.
Not only that, but Vestal is quite tanky. She even has a heal that can remove stress from your party members.
Her gameplay mostly revolves around gaining Conviction stacks using certain skills to increase the intensity of her skills. This allows her to increase her healing output or deal massive damage against targets.
Despite being your party’s main healer, Vestal can also take on the role of a DPS depending on her position.
However, her best position will be at the 3rd and 4th spot as it’s where she can make full use of her skills which are as follows:
Consecration of Light – Buffs any party member with Strength and also gives that hero an increased crit chance.
Consecration of Fortitude – The defensive version of Consecration of Light, this one allows you to buff a party member with Dodge or Block.
Ministrations – A very useful skill in Vestal’s arsenal that lets her remove Blight, Burn, Bleed, Dazed, and Stun effects on a target. It will also grant 30% increased resistance upon mastery.
Divine Grace – The Vestal’s main healing spell, Divine Grace allows you to target any character and heal them for a certain amount. The amount increases as you start building up Conviction stacks.
Divine Comfort – Unlike Divine Grace, this spell applies regeneration to all party members instead of instant healing. When a character’s turn comes, they will be able to regenerate 2 HP (3 HP upon mastery).
Her powerful support skills make Vestal a must-have character in the backline of your party. Though she can deal decent damage on the frontline, you can just leave that to your DPS characters.
That said, the other characters in the game are viable as well. However, if you want to optimize your party, these are the best heroes you’d want to use.
Brought into the world of gaming by the time he was 10, Argie knew that gaming will bring him countless hours of fun, a thing that has never changed even up to this day. His passion for games is apparent in the articles he write, and as an expert in the genre, being able to share what he's learned, discovered, and accomplished to his fellow gamers is such an amazing opportunity.