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KickStarter Darkest Dungeon AKA the Celerity Attention Whore Thread

Silva

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What's all the fuss about the Man-at-Arms ? I'm on late game (going only on level 5 missions) and I couldn't find what his stchick is.

A attacker he is not, as his damage is mediocre.

His riposte is weak, because of his low damage (Highwayman's is light years better).

As a buffer/debuffer, I also can't see the point. He has some neat things with Guard and that debuff which makes enemies lose SPD and DODGE. But this isn't thaaaat good.

I tend to think another pure damager (like Shieldbraker) is usually better than him at any party. And if you really need a support /versatile dude, I think there are better ones like the Doggy guy (whose Mark lowers enemy Prot) or Plague Doc (stun gallore and bleed/blight treat) or even Occultist (debuff lowers DMG and Prot).

So, please , elucidated to me why Men-at-Arms has such a huge fame in the webz.
 

Dayyālu

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As a buffer/debuffer, I also can't see the point. He has some neat things with Guard and that debuff which makes enemies lose SPD and DODGE. But this isn't thaaaat good.

It's a buffer/debuffer, but mostly controller. His job is mostly to Guard and support the others, that's exactly what he's good for. I found him valuable for the CC content, the vampires are so finetuned to death that having something that lets you partially control the flow of the battle makes for a less annoying experience.


Doggy guy or Plague Doc.

The Houndmaster is (was?) so self-reliant and efficient to be almost broken. I do agree, it overshadows the poor MaA.
 

Wunderbar

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Messages
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Men at arms are tanky and they have good camping buffs. Make a party MAA + MAA + two versatile damage dealers, then use guard on both of your damage dealers - really good strategy for lengthy battles (like on farmstead, during CC quests or during boss fights).
 

NJClaw

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What's all the fuss about the Man-at-Arms ? I'm on late game (going only on level 5 missions) and I couldn't find what his stchick is.

A attacker he is not, as his damage is mediocre.

His riposte is weak, because of his low damage (Highwayman's is light years better).

As a buffer/debuffer, I also can't see the point. He has some neat things with Guard and that debuff which makes enemies lose SPD and DODGE. But this isn't thaaaat good.

I tend to think another pure damager (like Shieldbraker) is usually better than him at any party. And if you really need a support /versatile dude, I think there are better ones like the Doggy guy (whose Mark lowers enemy Prot) or Plague Doc (stun gallore and bleed/blight treat) or even Occultist (debuff lowers DMG and Prot).

So, please , elucidated to me why Men-at-Arms has such a huge fame in the webz.
My experience with Darkest Dungeon can probably be summarized like this:
- "Ah ah ah, nice game, I'm having fun"
- "Oh, I finally unlocked high-tier quests"
- "Oh no, everyone is dying"
- "Time to try other heroes, my groups no longer work"
- "Maybe let's give the Man-at-Arms a try"
- "Nice, now my heroes are immortal, bye bye, I won the game"

Keep in mind, however, that I played the game prior to the patch of 19 June 2018, which heavily nerfed the Defender skill, from 25/30/35/40/45% to 15/18/22/26/30%. Back then, an unupgraded Defender was almost as strong as it is now when fully upgraded. You could use it two times in a row and get 90% PROT, which basically means enemies' attacks are going to always deal less than 10 damage each, even on crits. So you could put the MaA in rank 2 and endlessly spam Defender on your rank 1 guy (probably an Hellion) and, since most heavy-damaging attacks deal damage to someone in your first two ranks, you were guaranteed to never see your heroes die from damage.
Playing like this, I managed to go through the game even while being extremely bad at it; that's what the MaA represented for me: a way to breeze through the game even while being unable to play it well. I choose my party (Vestal/Houndmaster/MaA/Hellion) and I finished every single mission without switching a single character (except from very specific bosses and DD quests). My roster was something like 4 Vestals, 4 Houndmasters, 4 Hellions, 4 Man-at-Arms, a Plague Doctor and an Arbalest.

After the nerf, I was forced to learn how to play the game and now I am able to deal with different areas using different heroes, but the MaA, along with the Vestal and the Shieldbreaker, is still one of my top picks, because using him I learned to appreciate his skills: you can still gain obscene amount of PROT (it only takes longer to accumulate) and Defender is still my favorite skill in the entire game, but his other skills are almost always extremely useful. With Command you can substantially increase your damage capabilities (+25% is nothing to laugh at) and with Rampart you can competently stun the first two ranks while you deal with the most dangerous enemies behind.
To me, the MaA would be worth using even if that was everything he had going on for him, but he also has some of the best camping skills in the entire game: +10 dodge/+5% crit or +10% dmg/+8% crit to the entire party, +10 acc/+3 spd to a single companion, +15% prot/+15% damage to himself.
 
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Silva

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Thanks for the info. I'll try using MaA more to see how it goes.

In what position(s) should I use him? I see his main attack only work in the frontline, while the stun attack also works in rank 3. But the most intriguing shit is some Very Rare trinket I've found that gives him super strong bonuses for position 4. Which means having him purely as support without any attacks (except riposte, I think?).
 

NJClaw

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I always put him in rank 1 or 2, depending on who I am bringing along, but mostly in rank 2 (with a Hellion, Shieldbreaker or Higwayman in rank 1). This way, you can use Defender on your other rank 1/2 character to be sure enemies' most powerful attack will hit your MaA and deal as little damage as possible. Since your MaA will suffer almost all the damage (usually all attacks that target health are directed to your first 2 ranks), you can equip him with a +X% healing item to always keep him at full health and maximize your action economy. You will find yourself eating two to three attacks and covering for the entire damage dealt with a single heal from your vestal. You don't need Crush, you aren't going to attack that often and you will never waste your action: if you don't know what to do, you can't go wrong with Defender.

Take also into consideration that some bosses have attacks that deal an obscene amount of damage but that show you the future target: you can use this information to maximize your Defender efficiency.
 

Silva

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Thanks, NJClaw . What do you think is a good party to go with him?

Also, what's a effective way to go without healers in the party? Or are healers mandatory when it really matters (like say, in Lvl 5/6 dungeons) ?

And am I the only one who finds Flagellant crazy fun to play? Aside from the Ruins where enemies are obscenely resistant to bleed, I usually carry him around all time and it's a blast.
 

Dayyālu

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Also, what's a effective way to go without healers in the party? Or are healers mandatory when it really matters (like say, in Lvl 5/6 dungeons) ?

You don't. A healer is needed in advanced dungeons, be it Vestal/Doctor or Occultist. Flagellants are a good secondary option.

And am I the only one who finds Flagellant crazy fun to play? Aside from the Ruins where enemies are obscenely resistant to bleed, I usually carry him around all time and it's a blast.

Flagellants are insanely fun. So fun that they nerfed him hard. DD's devs are peculiar creatures, they like a lot to force the players to play as they like.

I'll get skinned alive for this, but I seriously suggest you to change the rewards values (it's a simple .txt file) to let you fuck around. The fights are the same (DD's difficulty never changes) but you can fuck around and avoid grinding to replace random losses.
 
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NJClaw

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Thanks, NJClaw . What do you think is a good party to go with him?.
My usual composions with MaA are:
- Cove: Plague Doctor/Vestal/Shieldbreaker/MaA (but I prefer Plague Doctor/Vestal/Shieldbreaker/Shieldbreaker);
- Ruin: Crusader/Vestal/MaA/Shieldbreaker (my favorite Ruin comp, but Crusader/Bestal/Highwayman/MaA also works)
- Weald: Vestal/Houndmaster/MaA/Shieldbreaker (my favorite Weald comp)
- Farmstead: Vestal/Jester/MaA/Shieldbreaker (my favorite Farmstead comp, but Vestal/Jester/Highwayman/MaA also works)

In Warrens and Courtyard I never bring the MaA along, because I usually go with Vestal/Houndmaster (or Jester)/Flagellant/Hellion.

As for the bosses, the MaA is a great addition for the Brigand Pounder fight, where I usually go with Vestal/Bounty Hunter/Highwayman/MaA or Vestal/Highwayman/Shieldbreaker/MaA.

Keep in mind that I always equip him with the Rampart Shield for the +30% stun.

Also, what's a effective way to go without healers in the party? Or are healers mandatory when it really matters (like say, in Lvl 5/6 dungeons) ?
Not only I can't imagine playing without a healer: I can't imagine playing specifically without a Vestal, to me she is the single strongest character in the entire game and I always entirely depend on her. The only place I can go without her is the Cove, where I feel confident enough with Plague Doctor/Occultist/Abomination/Hellion or Plague Doctor/Occultist/Abomination/Bounty Hunter.

And am I the only one who finds Flagellant crazy fun to play? Aside from the Ruins where enemies are obscenely resistant to bleed, I usually carry him around all time and it's a blast.
The Flagellant is amazing, you can actually solo certain dungeons with him. In the Warrens/Courtyard he is my top pick (after Vestal, obviously), but I don't like having him around elsewhere. But it's mostly about personal preferences.
 

vazha

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Aug 24, 2013
Messages
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Re: healing, not only healers are almost imperative in later dungeons, you'll also have to think about stress healers too. If you use modded characters, there are some very nice stress or hybrid healers, as well as self-reliant frontline chars (hello again, pit fightah), otherwise you'll be stuck with the jester and as much as RH tried to make him FUN!, he really isn't.
 

NJClaw

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Re: healing, not only healers are almost imperative in later dungeons, you'll also have to think about stress healers too. If you use modded characters, there are some very nice stress or hybrid healers, as well as self-reliant frontline chars (hello again, pit fightah), otherwise you'll be stuck with the jester and as much as RH tried to make him FUN!, he really isn't.
During my first playthrough I never even touched a Jester and I still managed to finish the game without problems.
 

vazha

Arcane
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Aug 24, 2013
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Re: healing, not only healers are almost imperative in later dungeons, you'll also have to think about stress healers too. If you use modded characters, there are some very nice stress or hybrid healers, as well as self-reliant frontline chars (hello again, pit fightah), otherwise you'll be stuck with the jester and as much as RH tried to make him FUN!, he really isn't.
During my first playthrough I never even touched a Jester and I still managed to finish the game without problems.
I play severely modded bosses / enemies and fighting those without at least fringe stress support is a real pain. Never finished vanilla, so cant attest to that.
 

Zombra

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Make the Codex Great Again! RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
This one game that I made up out of pieces built by random strangers who didn't even know each other requires that you play it in a certain way.

cool_story_bro.png
 

Invictus

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Divinity: Original Sin 2
I have tried some weird combinations instead of always taking a Jester for stress control; mostly focusing on high damage dealers like the Hellion with my favorite class the Lepers and dealing a lot of damage heals a lot of stress but never tried to do bosses without Jesters
 

ERYFKRAD

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Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
you guyz, being proud of not playing with bard, disgust me
Bard's got some musical instrument or the other, he can play that all he likes without bothering the actual adventurers.
 

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