Darkest Dungeon 2features an incredibly large number of skills to make use of, and knowing which ones are the best to use can prevent a very undesirable outcome, such as death. You will be able to acquire more of them thanks to the Shrine of Mastery feature. The more mastery points you accumulate, the more skills you’re able to upgrade.
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Skills have two main uses, to be used against enemies or to support the members of your party. Some skills will damage front-liner enemies; some will handle back row, so deciding on a solid composition will be key. Being able to deal a lot of damage spread out over many targets is equally important as being able to prioritize which single target to remove as fast as possible.
10Abyssal Artillery
This is a skill that the Occultist class will have access to. You will be able to target two enemies when using this skill. This can spread out the damage for a higher total number compared to other skills, but that means an enemy might live longer and be able to get 1 more hit in before it dies.
You want to prioritize not taking damage over dealing as high a total as possible. This is how you win in the long run. This skill is great for raining down death from your back row against the back row of enemies.
This is a skill that the Leper class will have access to. This skill will require you to be on the front lines of your party and will be hitting one of the front-line enemies. Whenever you use this skill, there is a chance that the skill will inflict blind on the user, a 75% chance to be precise.
Don’t be discouraged; this skill’s pros heavily out way the cons. While blind, all your attacks have a 50% chance of missing. The damage this skill pushes out is high, so really lean into using it. This skill truly captures the heart and soul of howdark and bleak its world is.
This is a skill that the Man At Arms class will have access to. You will need to be in either the first or second position to use this skill and will be able to hit one of the first three enemy positions with it. Its damage is decent but not amazing.
What is amazing is that it also heals the user while dealing this damage, meaning you can press damage while not needing to worry about using a heal on them, while another character is better off getting the heal instead. The more total healing you are able to pull off, the longer you can survive.
7Noxious Blast
Next up is an ability for the Plague Doctor class. The Plague doctor may be a lot of people’s go-to healer choice, but you will still need to do stuff while everyone is healthy and at the top of their game.
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This skill needs the Plague Doctor to be positioned near the back, but that is right where they want to be. This skill will let them poison an enemy front liner, so they take some damage each turn to help chisel them down and out of the fight.
6Plague Grenade
Two skills in a row for the Plague Doctor shows just how useful and versatile this class is to have in your party. This is the alternate option to Noxious Blast, allowing you to target enemies in the back instead of those serving as the front liners.
When you really need to remove something in the back row, it’s great having a party that can prioritize dealing with it early into the fight. This skill hits 2 targets and poisons both, allowing for some additional total damage over time.
Another skill that the Man At Arms class will have access to is Defender. You can use this skill no matter where you are positioned in the party. The user will gain the Block buff, and an ally will be granted the guarded buff. There are many different kinds ofhorror-inspired enemies, and being able to defend against them all is a great option.
When the guarded ally is attacked, Man At Arms will interpose the attack to take the damage themselves; this is made better by the fact the Block buff will reduce the incoming damage they receive. This can prevent the deaths of allies and keep your run going.
4Iron Swan
One of the most metal-sounding skill names in the game goes to the Hellion class. This skill does good damage to the enemy back row and can be used from a unit in your front row. This will be useful in some runs more than others,being a roguelike and all.
What makes this such an amazing skill is it lets you prioritize which unit you need to deal with after the fight has already started. Allowing you to prepare a dedicated party composition that has a lot of versatility on how it can handle enemy groups.
This jester skill is named after the French word to repeat performance. You’ll need to be in the back row for this skill, either fourth or third. Encore is easily one of the best skills in the game to keep doing what is best for the situation at hand.
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This skill will give the user two negative conditions; these are Dazed and Weak. In exchange, the user is able to grant one ally an extra turn. This will allow you to decide what you really need to get done and allow it to happen 1 turn faster. This skill has a cooldown, but its use allows you to prepare and deal with a lot of situations.
2Indiscriminate Science
This skill is the best healing skill you may pack and is part of the plague doctor’s kit. You will need to place the user anywhere except the front of the group to be able to use this skill. This skill can only be used on allies that are under 50% health, but that is perfectly fine.
It doesn’t matter when you heal, so long as it is before an ally dies, and you get the most healing out of it. This skill will heal a unit by 10% for each positive token they have on them and removes them. To balance such a powerful skill, they added a cooldown of 1 turn on it.
Yet another skill for the Man At Arms class, this class just has a lot of really amazing skills because of the role it plays in the party as a supporter and a tank. This skill can be invaluable at a lot of times. Going in with all hits and no support will rarely ever pan out, so skills like Bolster are something to use even when you don’t get the maximum value from using them.
This skill will remove the Vulnerable state on any member of your team and provide the Block buff. When this skill is mastered is what makes it a must-have for every run. It can remove the Horror state and has a chance to reduce the stress of your characters.
