There are a lot of classes the player must choose from when constructing their party to face the horrors of the Darkest Dungeon. The player only has four options per expedition, but a total of 17 classes from which to choose, and forming the right party could very easily be the difference between life and death.
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Of course, the best classes depend on the player’s preferred playstyle, and different strategies require different heroes. Here are some that are useful in various situations or really stand out in one specific role.
Updated February 26, 2022 by Ryan Bamsey: The classes in Darkest Dungeon are at the heart of the game and its strategy. Party make-up is incredibly important, and you'll want to know what works well with others and what ends up flopping.
17 Antiquarian
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
17 | 10 | 5 | 0% | 1% |
The Antiquarian is incredibly useful for finding treasure, gathering gold, and keeping the party stocked with supplies. But, from a combat standpoint, she’s a huge liability.
She has the worst base stats out of any class in the game and lacks a solid attack move. This wouldn’t be so bad if she had some form of viable support ability, but this is also lacking.
16 Crusader
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
33 | 5 | 1 | 0% | 3% |
It’s not that the Crusader is bad; it’s just that he’s not the best at anything. He can be used to tank, deal damage, and certain builds can even highlight his support and healing abilities. The drawback is that his low speed makes others better suited for these roles.
If parties didn’t exist and the player could only pick a single hero, then the Crusader would rocket almost to the top of the list. But, when building a team of four and creating synergy, it’s better to go with specialists.
15 Highwayman
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
23 | 10 | 5 | 0% | 5% |
The Highwayman is incredibly powerful in the early game, but he becomes outclassed by many other classes towards mid-game. At first, he can deal some major damage, and his bleed effects are incredibly useful.
But, even Riposte starts to pale over time, and his lack of durability becomes a major liability. Players should use him in the beginning, but keep an eye out for someone to replace him later on.
14 Arbalest
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
27 | 3 | 0% | 6% |
The Arbalest is powerful in the third and fourth ranks assuming she never leaves those spots or has another class to support her if she does. Because of this, she doesn’t rank very high.
Don’t misunderstand. The Arbalest can be powerful with the right team setup, but she’s very picky about positioning without any ability to maintain that position.
13 Leper
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
35 | 2 | 0% | 1% |
The Leper is a popular class and easily the best damage dealer in the game with absurd base damage and strong abilities. There are just two problems: he must be in the first or second position to be useful, and he has abysmal accuracy to boot.
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Certain trinkets and teammates can offset this, but the entire team needs to be built around him. An annoying number of his hits won’t connect, and he can’t reach the enemies in the third or fourth position anyway, making him something of a liability.
12 Jester
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 | 15 | 7 | 0% | 4% |
The Jester is a bit complicated to use and generally requires a versatile party to be effective. Unfortunately, his main benefit is providing position control and stress healing, which doesn’t mean much with your average class.
He’s great if you have heroes like Arbalest or Graverobber, but pair him with someone like the Leper, and the results are just annoying. He does have pretty high dodge skills, though.
11 Occultist
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 | 10 | 6 | 0% | 6% |
The Occultist is a support class and a decent healer. Unfortunately, he also has low health and damage, and his heal doesn’t always heal or heal well — it all depends on RNG.
He has some incredible critical bonuses, and he can really mess with the enemy’s positioning. Still, he’s as likely to cause a dying teammate to bleed as he is to heal them—well, not statistically speaking, but it certainly feels that way at times. It takes a special party to support the Occultist, and, even then, there are no guarantees.
10 Shieldbreaker
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 | 8 | 5 | 0% | 6% |
Shieldbreaker is a solid fighter. She's not the best class, but certainly not the worst. She’s basically a tank that sacrificed some durability to be able to target any position, as long as she’s in any position other than fourth.
If the player is unsure who to pick, then the Shieldbreaker isn’t a bad choice, as she’s flexible and well suited for most parties. Not the best, but not the worst. She's also one of the game's few DLC classes, meaning that base-game players won't have access to her.
9 Abomination
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
26 | 7.5 | 7 | 0% | 2% |
The Abomination is very powerful in his dark form but also a major liability due to the added stress levels. This can still be a problem even with stress healers like the Grave Robber. He still has usefulness in human form, which is why the Abomination doesn’t rank lower. But, exploiting this class’s full potential requires a very specific party.
In previous versions of the game, the Abomination could not be teamed up with any religious heroes. However, this was changed with The Color of Madness update.
8 Flagellant
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
22 | 6 | 0% | 2% |
The Flagellant is both the most selfish and selfless class on the list. His full potential is unleashed the more stress, damage, and bleeding he does. He’s incredible support for everyone else, but it requires a balancing act of keeping him close to death without actually killing him. As a result, having a healer like a Vestal is almost required to pull this off.
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The Flagellant is another DLC character, added to The Crimson Court DLC. You cannot have more than one Flagellant in a party.
7 Grave Robber
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 | 10 | 8 | 0% | 6% |
The Grave Robber is an excellent pick for your team due to her strong versatility. She’s a solid ranged attacker, can dodge enemy attacks, and her Shadow Fade attack is brutal when done properly.
She does a lot of position switching, which is an issue if the party isn’t set up for it. She does have some abilities to help dictate her own position, which offsets this a bit.
6 Man-at-Arms
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
31 | 5 | 3 | 0% | 2% |
The Man-at-Arms is a tank incarnate. He’s essentially a combination of the Crusader and Leper with the ability to smack units on all positions except the fourth. This balance of durability, support, and even some low-level offense is incredibly useful on any team. If the party needs a tank, then the Man-at-Arms is the one for you.
5 Bounty Hunter
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
25 | 5 | 5 | 0% | 4% |
The Bounty Hunter has excellent crowd control and can devastate the opposing Lovecraftian horrors with single-target attacks. His drawbacks are that he lacks durability due to his light armor exclusivity, and he has to target enemies one at a time. However, he's a very useful unit between the stuns, range, and enemy position disruption.
4 Vestal
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
24 | 4 | 0% | 1% |
The Vestal is the best healer in the game, hands down. Whether it’s a tough battle or a lengthy dungeon, her healing powers are always welcome, and this makes her a mandated part of most players’ teams.
She lacks some combat finesse in the mid to late game, but her healing abilities hold up both in battle and at camp for the entire game. So overall, she's a good healer all round for whichever part of the game you are at.
3 Houndmaster
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
21 | 10 | 5 | 0% | 4% |
Houndmaster is a damage dealer, support, and crowd control unit that can hold his own in a fight. This tremendous adaptability and versatility mean he can be part of any team, and as such, he should be considered very useful.
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He struggles a bit against enemies resistant to bleed, but he’s powerful against bosses or any horror classified as a beast.
2 Plague Doctor
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
22 | 7 | 0% | 2% |
The Plague Doctor is easily the best support in the game, be it offense or defense. She can blight and stun the entire enemy team and can cure allies of blight and bleed. She can also nudge the enemy’s position around a little and stun certain enemies.
If the player needs someone to take down a troublesome back-line fighter, this is who to pick. She has a potent blend of offense and defense that never fails to be impressive, especially when taking on areas full of blight-happy enemies.
1 Hellion
Base Stats
Max HP | Dodge | ACC | SPD | Prot | Crit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
26 | 10 | 4 | 0% | 5% |
The Hellion is a beastly class that can devastate the enemy when she's in the first position. She can dish out powerful attacks, stun enemies, and cherry-pick backline supports. She does struggle in long, drawn-out fights, as her abilities debuff her.
However, even mediocre support on the team can offset this, making her the top pick for any party. Her damage output is simply that good.
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