Last Updated on July 10, 2024 by Samuel Franklin
This Darkest Dungeon guide details the best quirks for each class for players to maximise the benefits from positive quirks and maximise your hero power level. While quirk benefits seem small initially there are a number of powerful traits within the quirk system to improve your party effectiveness.
With this list of the best quirks to use and comprehensive explanation of the trait mechanic players can optimise this source of hero strength alongside trinkets, weapons, armour and combat skills. Players can also save a substantial amount of gold by keeping an eye out for universally useful traits like Evasive, Natural Swing, Quick Reflexes, Steady and Tough to lock them in through the Sanitarium once available.
Table of Contents:
– Best Quirks For Each Class List
– Quirks Mechanic Overview
Darkest Dungeon Best Quirks Guide
The best quirks in Darkest Dungeon provide buffs to core character playstyles and consistently provide these benefits to their heroes rather than being conditional to be active (such as particular enemy types to trigger). The quirks below includes quirks from DLC content although do not include the hard to obtain quirks (Corvid and Prismatic) from specific boss events. A full list of all positive and negative quirks is available on the Darkest Dungeon wiki.
| Quirk | Quirk Effect | Best Heroes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Riser | +2 SPD if Torch above 75 | All | If you prefer to play at higher torch levels this is an okay source of speed although not the best of the available speed based perk options. |
| Evasive | +5 DODGE | All | A simple but effective boost to dodge this quirk is effective across all heroes and will decrease the overall damage you receive. |
| Hippocratic (The Colour of Madness DLC) | +20% Healing Skills | Healing Heroes | Designed for heroes that have a healing role in the team such as the Vestal with this quirk you will find your heals simply go further. |
| Luminous (The Colour of Madness DLC) | +2 SPD, +5 DODGE | All | Providing speed and dodge this quirk is effective across all Darkest Dungeon heroes to improve your average turn priority and provide some survivability. |
| Natural Eye | +5 ACC Ranged Skills | Ranged Heroes | For ranged heroes that want an additional chance to land their hits this quirk will improve your overall damage output. |
| Natural Swing | +5 ACC | All | With all heroes at some point needing to land their attacks on enemies this is a fantastic quirk that has broad effectiveness. |
| Photomania | -20% Stress if Torch above 75 | All | Another quirk that is more suited to players who regularly run at higher light levels with a reduction to total stress. |
| Quickdraw | +4 SPD on First Round | Utility Heroes | One of the niche best quirk options in Darkest Dungeon this can be useful on a high utility hero where the additional speed in the first round is pivotal to your strategy (such as stun) although can be replaced with alternative generalist speed quirks later if available. |
| Quick Reflexes | +2 SPD | All | A simple and effective source of speed that is hard to pass for any Darkest Dungeon hero if available. |
| Slugger | +10% DMG Melee Skills | Melee Heroes | A reliable boost to damage for melee focused heroes that deal their damage primarily through melee attacks. |
| Steady | -10% Stress | All | Reductions to stress is always useful given the potential impact to your party and this quirk offers a broad reduction. |
| Tough | +10% MAX HP | All | HP is an effective method to increase heror durability and helps to counter some of the debuffs like bleed and blight that make regular combat appearances. |
| Hard Skinned | +10% PROT | Frontline Heroes | While this can be used on all heroes with some effectiveness it shines on frontline heroes who are likely to take higher amounts of damage overall. |
| Unerring | +10% DMG Ranged Skills | Ranged Heroes | For heroes that are solely ranged the extra damage helps to dispatch threats faster. |
| Warrior of Light | +10% DMG if Torch above 75 | Offensive Heroes | For players that stay at high torch levels this is an alternative method to acquire 10% DMG buff through quirks. |
Darkest Dungeon Quirks Mechanic Overview
The quirk system in Darkest Dungeons provides positive and negative traits that impact on each hero individually and are listed on their hero page and works as follows:
- Darkest Dungeon Heroes will start with random quirks when recruited from the Stage Coach although backer heroes acquired from the Stage Coach have a fixed set of quirks that make some of them highly sought after.
- Additional quirks can be obtained through various means including Hamlet events, in response to Hamlet building activities or while on expeditions (either during through a curios interaction or at the end of an expedition). End chance to acquire a positive or negative trait is influenced by your success or failure on that expedition and the ending stress of that hero with success and lower stress being beneficial.
- Characters are limited to a total of 10 quirks split evenly between negative and positive modifiers (5 each). When players are already at the maximum amount of negative or positive quirks and they obtain a new one it will randomly replace a current one unless locked.
- If you’re wondering how to lock in quirks you will have to wait until you unlock the Sanitarium. Positive quirks that are locked in through the Sanitarium (shown by a lock) or reinforced negative quirks overtime (shown by a red skull symbol) will not be replaced under the above mentioned mechanic. This creates some advanced tactics where players will purposefully reinforce negative quirks that have little impact on gameplay to protect against worse traits.
- Negative quirks can be removed in the Sanitarium for gold with the cost based on if the quirk is reinforced or not. Some expedition curio encounters can also remove these perks with many requiring the correct supply item.
- Players can only lock a maximum 3 of positive quirks on a hero using the method described above with the absolute best quirks to lock generally based on hero archetypes as they have higher values than the strong generalist quirks.
- The Sanitarium is limited to only changing one positive and one negative quirk per week.
- Most positive quirks have an inverse negative quirk that flips the effect around and may have a similarly themed name.
Written by
Samuel Franklin
Samuel Franklin is the founder and lead editor of the Games Finder team and enjoys video games across all genres and platforms.
Darkest Dungeon is the most played roguelike game in Sam’s gaming library as he regularly returns for the dark atmosphere, hero party mechanics and brutal difficulty that it offers. The Crimson Court holds no secrets for Sam as he has plundered every corner through countless expeditions full of twisting corners and eldritch horrors. He favours a team of safety through healing, stuns and stress management where his stalwart hero choices use calculated strategies during their expedition. His achievements include fully upgrading Hamlets in normal mode to defeating the Darkest Dungeon terrors in the terrifyingly difficult Bloodmoon mode.
