There is no denying that Darkest Dungeon 2 has been one of the most challenging role-playing games for a large player base. The characters and how they work can be overwhelming, but once you understand their weaknesses and strengths — you will slowly get better at combat. To make the game’s combat easier for players, we have created this ranked tier list of all heroes in the game.
Ranking All Characters in Darkest Dungeon 2
There are no terrible characters in Darkest Dungeon 2, but it is without question that some are better than others. Below is a table of tiers ranging from S to B, along with each hero. Read further for a description of why they fit into each tier.
| Tier | Characters |
|---|---|
| S | The Leper, Hellion, Man-At-Arms, The Plague Doctor. |
| A | The Highwayman, The Jester, Runaway. |
| B | Flagellant, The Occultist, Vestal, Grave Robber, Bounty Hunter. |
Flagellant – B Tier
Flagellant is one of the characters with a combination of a damage dealer and frontline, and while it sounds good in theory — this character suffers to make it work. While Flagellant can heal allies and debuff enemies, it does so at the cost of its health and stress. The worst is that this character cannot deal with stress stacks, creating an impending doom of damage upon himself.
The Occultist – B Tier
The Occultist is a huge gamble, and those gambles for the player most likely turn out detrimental. What I mean by this is that there is only one way to use his best skills — by stacking Unchecked Power tokens. He can only acquire these tokens by inflicting self-harm or getting lucky with combos. While we wait for the developers to buff this character, maybe, he should be avoided for now, as he can be harmful to himself and the player’s party.
Vestal – B Tier
Vestal changes the most throughout the game compared to the rest of the heroes due to its buffs and debuffs changing depending on the path selected. This alone makes it a tough character to reach its full potential as it only shines on a specific path, leading to rare opportunities. Additionally, Vestal has prolonged cooldown times and slow speed overall.
Grave Robber – B Tier
Grave Robber seems like she does it all through her ability to heal, deal damage, apply buffs, and cause debuffs — but don’t let all of that fool you. While she can do all these excellent skills, she is average in every single one of them, and her ceiling cap for each is surprisingly low. So while other heroes don’t do as much as her, they at least have one skill they excel in, while Grave Robber is mediocre across the board.
Bounty Hunter – B Tier
Bounty Hunter is an excellent character in Darkest Dungeon 2, but he has a hefty “for hire” price tag that makes me put him lower on the list. He does significant damage and can be a perfect replacement for another hero to allow that hero to rest. That said, though, he is temporary and can’t be built around for improvement. Also, the cost of four candles isn’t worth it as other options can do what he does better.
The Highwayman – A Tier
This is when we get into valuable characters that should be the player’s go-to. The Highwayman’s perfect combination of melee and ranged damage makes him versatile in most situations. While he doesn’t have the best defense up front, if you play your cards right and position him correctly — you can have him attack from anywhere on the battlefield while protecting his health bar, creating a great source of damage output.
Related: The Best Pets in Darkest Dungeon 2.
The Jester – A Tier
The Jester can be tricky to master as every move changes his spot on the field. While this can be a pain, The Jester makes up for it by applying the most combo tokens out of all heroes in the game. I found that this fact alone makes the Jester a great teammate considering some heroes, such as the Occultist, are pretty weak unless there are combos set up for them.
Runaway – A Tier
Runaway’s focus is on stealth, and she succeeds at it flawlessly. Her stealth makes her incredibly difficult to hit, and while she is evading, she does fire over time damage that slowly drains the enemy’s health bar. Not only that, but Runaway can help heal the team, remove stealth from opponents, increase her own defense, and damage over time to a group of enemies.
The Leper – S Tier
The Leper is probably the best tank in the game, but it comes with a drawback that players must overcome. This drawback is called “blindness,” and he comes with two stacks of it. Players can make this blindness worse and add stacks if they don’t play their cards right. On the bright side, Leper’s Reflection skill can help with blindness and even decrease his stress. Even if he never lands a hit on the enemy due to being blind, he can heal himself on the frontline, making it difficult for the enemy to win.
Hellion – S Tier
Hellion is the best teammate due to her Raucous Revelry skill that heals the entire team while reducing their stress level. While helping the team, she can also remove debuffs from herself — allowing her to focus more on helping out her allies. Pair Hellion with a great healer who focuses on keeping her on the playing field, resulting in a whole team that stays alive longer and is overpowered.
Man-At-Arms – S Tier
Man-at-Arms is a great hero that can apply block buffs to himself and another teammate in the second rank. This tank-like ability makes him the perfect candidate for the frontlines, and he even has a debuff that prevents him from moving back — essentially acting as a barricade for allies. The amount of hits Man-At-Arms can absorb allows him to keep his stress lower than other heroes in the game.
The Plague Doctor – S Tier
One of the first heroes in the game also turns out to be the best in the game as well. The Plague Doctor is a great healer who can continuously heal himself and others while taking debuffs and using them to his advantage by turning them into even more healing. Additionally, The Plague Doctor can apply harmful debuffs to the opponent, such as Bleeding, Blight, and Fire — making him the best option against bosses and challenging fights.
