Darkest Dungeon II

[Infinitron]

https://www.darkestdungeon.com/news/darkest-dungeon-ii-the-man-at-arms/

Darkest Dungeon II - Hero Paths: The Man at Arms​

The Man-At-Arms
"A resolute defender, tempered by the merciless blows of innumerable assaults!"​

Bulwark or Sergeant?​

The Bulwark path bolsters the Man-at-Arms defense with increased HP and heightened Riposte and Crush damage. However, with his focus on the melee, the Man-at-Arms becomes vulnerable to bleed, blight, and fire.

The Bulwark Man-at-Arms relies on an increased HP pool to weather the DOTs that he can no longer resist, all the while destroying monsters with enhanced Crush and Riposte damage. He maintains his regular defensive kit, loaded with protective Block tokens that will make it extremely difficult for direct damage to work though his newfound mountain of health.

This is not a Path that evokes finesse. Crush can deal enough damage to kill a number of monsters in a single strike and Retribution’s Ripostes, while not as strong, will quickly wear down anything unfortunate enough to target the Bulwark.

DOTs are the only real threat to this Path, having no real resistance to any of them. A Plague Doctor’s Ounce of Prevention+ will mitigate much of the penalty but, even then, it’s still not going to provide much protection without additional trinket support. If you’re really concerned, you can trinket your resistance up on a region-by-region basis with items like the Curing Cuppa but it might be better to just rely on a Greater Hale Draught to push the Bulwark’s already considerable health pool to its limits.

If you’re planning on taking a lot of hits via Retribution, Reverberating Redoubt and Price of Pride are strong trinket choices that will make it easier to keep your Riposte tokens flowing!

If Crush is more your thing, there’s always the oft-suggested Greater Gnarly Knuckles or Wounding Words.

With The Sergeant path the Man-at-Arms stands his ground and takes command, using his authority to increase Allies’ Bleed, Blight and Burn resistances. Unfortunately, while his focus is on reinforcing his allies, and holding his position, the Man-at-Arms damage is decreased.

The Sergeant Man-at-Arms sacrifices damage in the name of stability and support. Given his reduced damage, consider placing him in the back in order to open the front ranks up for more damaging Heroes. The Sergeant can still provide tanking via Retribution – don’t expect much damage from the Ripostes – or Defender.

The Path’s enhanced version of Bolster allows the Man-at-Arms to keep everyone fighting fit by clearing Weak and Vulnerable tokens in addition to the usual stress heals. Command’s ability to clear Blind and grant Strength makes it an obvious pairing choice with the Leper or other damage-focused Heroes.

The passive chance to radically raise the Bleed/Blight/Burn resistances of other Heroes pairs well with the Plague Doctor’s Ounce of Prevention+; any Hero under the influence of both will be all but immunized to DOT damage.

If your Sergeant is going to hang out in the back ranks, consider the possible applications of Bellow. Beyond the obvious defensive option of clearing CRIT and Riposte tokens from monsters, it has some fun debuffing potential with trinkets. The Runaway’s Firestarter skill also turns the skill into an AoE firebreath! It also adds a Burn DOT to Retribution’s Ripostes; a handy way to get around some of the lost damage.

Slap a Dead Ringer or Disarming Dagger on the Sergeant and Bellow can now stun or leave monsters Vulnerable, which will assist other Heroes in making up for the damage he can no longer contribute. The Laden Lantern will benefit him if you’re running Firestarter Bellow or Retribution.

If you really want to rely on Retribution or Crush in spite of the penalty, Greater Gnarly Knuckles or Grim Mask will help to offset the sizable damage debuff, but why not put those on other damage dealers and let your Man-at-Arms push their damage to new horizons via support?

Community Impression​

When put to a vote, Twitter and Discord agreed that Bulwark was the preferred path. On Twitter, Bulwark had 64.8% and Sergeant had 35.2%. Bulwark had an overwhelming majority on Discord with 303 votes, and only 39 votes for Sergeant.

"Bulwark is probably one of the single strongest hero paths in the game currently, you do ungodly damage after a riposte and the extra action on hit trinket allows you to either set more up or bludgeon with crush." - @gottonbygarf

"The only thing that's really good about Sergeant is the move res, and even that doesn't feel all that worth it compared to Bulwark, which is monumentally better." - @Jigglebogems

"When the game is a damage race, having 33% less damage in a hero without dot damage is too much. MOV resistence isn`t as impactful as it sounds. Sergeant is a worse version of a one-trick-pony hero." - @MarcosF59994229

"I do think Sergeant is a more interesting and fun class to play with due to how you have to change up your playstyle for it, but I do think Bulwark is the literal better class in terms of how the game is played" - Tusk

"Sergeant is nice but it just doesn't do anything that feels properly impactful. It's a lot of utility that feels a little too niche to justify losing your damage. The movement res is nice, the bolster buff is nice, the dotres buff is nice, but none of it really makes sergeant a upgrade instead of a sidegrade (Or for some, even a downgrade). Bulwark is unbalanced in part because Retribution is unbalanced, and the penalties to your dotres are even offset within the path itself thanks to the HP buff. It makes the game almost boring unless you choose to not run Retribution." - Chibi

"Definitely Bulwark for Man-at-Arms. The game is currently very damage oriented, and Bulwark offers a lot for that. Sergeant is still pretty solid for certain fights like Leviathan and it stands out more if the rest of your team has a lot of damage. With that said though, Bulwark is almost an auto-pick when I see it." - ShuffleFM

"Personally, I really enjoy Sergeant MaA: feels like the "optimal support" character, as I think he should be. You still have access to his skills utility (stun, move, daze, immobilise, heal, guard, buff, debuff...), and that's what matters for this playstyle. Bulwark is stupid: Crush and Retribution already have decent damage for a tank, with this path, MaA just become more powerful than any other characters with so much health and damage.
So, I prefer Sergeant because I feel it's more "fair", even if it seems trash in comparison with Bulwark. Bulwark is here if I want to win, and Sergeant if I want to play." - Henry Von Kartoffen

"Bulwark's only downside being the DoT resistance is honestly a joke of a dent in his durability due to the huge HP buff he gets. In any regular situation he has over 50 hp, is dealing 8-14 damage with ridiculous reach twice (or more per round), and has constant Block tokens. Strategic Withdrawal+, Crush and Retribution (no Mastery needed but very helpful) and a Footman's Grog or Reverberating Redoubt is all you need to clear entire regions even with combat nodes (Cultist, Resistance, Creature Den). It's ridiculous to turn down a one-man army of a hero, as it's just too good to pass up.
The idea for Sergeant is definitely a good start; like many of the other paths it does heavily incentivize different playstyles by encouraging a rank 4, Bolster/Command support with Defender, Retribution, and Bellow. The DoT Resistance buff to allies, personally, doesn't particularly make sense, where I would expect Move Resist or perhaps Stun Resist instead. But frankly, there's no reason to pick Sergeant when you can kill 2 or 3 enemies per round with 1 skill and suffer maybe 7 damage in total. And the damage penalty makes that so much worse of a choice.
Although people favor Sergeant in their own rights, Bulwark is unsurprisingly more popular to pick." - Koffee

"Bulwark is hit guys and repost, it’s more limiting then Sargent as it only buffs the damage on crush and repost, sergeant is really good less damage is noticeable, you can still just use utility like shield slam and other already lower damage moves. I feel like bulwark could be nerfed like 50% less as 100% bonus damage on his already above average damage move that hits 3 ranks is crazy, and incentivizes a build more tank as you already have basically crits on your normal attacks." - Average Crusader Fan

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Thank you for taking time out of your day to read the Hero Path blogs. If you would like to be more involved with discussions on hero paths come over to our Discord server! We would love to hear your thoughts on the paths, how it’s changed your playstyle, what trinkets you use, and any suggestions you may have.

To join our Discord server follow the link below:

https://discord.gg/darkestdungeon

Thank you everyone for being a part of the community and taking a part of this ride through the crumbling chaos of the world.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.darkestdungeon.com/news/darkest-dungeon-ii-trinkets-and-baubles/

Darkest Dungeon II: Trinkets and Baubles Update​

M3 - Trinkets and Baubles​

“Are such treasures ever truly yours? You are their caretaker, at best. Make the most of their visit, for they will linger long after you are remanded to dust.”

With the Shroud finally hatched and grown, we were at last able to turn a watchful eye to that class of item that often makes or breaks an expedition: trinkets!

Trinket Design Philosophy

Early Access has already been extraordinarily useful as we’ve been able to get to know the game better through observing all of you play it! In that reflection time, we’ve noted that the launch catalog of trinkets still left some meat on the bone in regards to exploring all of the wild things that we could potentially do with them. With this eagerly-awaited update, we are steering trinket design to allow players to get more creative and push hero boundaries further via strategy-altering effects. We’ve also brought back some of the trade-off concept of Darkest Dungeon 1 trinkets. That is, some trinkets confer generous bonuses, but not without a cost. Our goal is to make sure that trinket looting and selection is exciting, dynamic, and non-trivial. Crucially, we want the rarer and most powerful trinkets to be run-altering, as this is the best type of reward to be earned from a hard battle! Last and certainly not least, we’ve put a lot of effort into also making sure that trinkets are fun, and thematically rich.

The entire trinket catalog has been examined, with the vast majority undergoing revision. Full details below. As always, we invite your feedback!


Path Triumvirate

Hero paths have been well-received ever since their addition in January’s Beasts and Burdens update. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the recent community discussions around them. While that feedback is still distilling in our alchemical apparatus, we found the time to slip a bit of bonus content into this update: a third path for each hero!

Our goal with hero paths remains the same as before, which is to encourage dynamic party assembly and also to lead you to explore alternative roles for even your most trusted of roster members. Furthermore, we intend the feature to present a bit of the thrill of the jackpot when you roll up to the Crossroads and find your favorite hero predisposed to a path of your liking. Adding another path into the mix confers additional texture and possibilities to your party construction.


Trinket System Changes

• Massive trinket changes! See full list below.
• Profile unlocks for trinkets have been updated
• Region trinkets now only appear in their respective regions -- including trinkets sold by The Hoarder and found in Academics Cache
• Field Hospitals no longer sell trinkets

Heroes

• 9 new Paths added; 1 per Hero
  • Grave Robber: Venomdrop
  • Hellion: Carcass
  • Highwayman: Yellowhand
  • Jester: Intermezzo
  • Leper: Monarch
  • Man-at-Arms: Bulwark (new version)
  • Occultist: Aspirant
  • Plague Doctor: Physician
  • Runaway: Orphan
    

Highwayman

• Take Aim and Take Aim+ now have a 1 round cooldown
• Highway Robbery and Highway Robbery+ are now considered Melee skills
  

Man-at-Arms (Bulwark Path)

• Bulwark renamed to Vanguard with new flavor text
• HP bonus reduced to 20% from 33%
• Crush DMG bonus reduced to 50% from 100%
• Riposte DMG bonus reduced to 50% from 100%
  

Occultist

• Binding Shadows and Binding Shadows+ launch ranks changed to 1 2 3 from 2 3 4
  

Occultist (Ritualist Path)

• Ritualist Path no longer increases Sacrificial Stab damage
• Vulnerable token is no longer resistable
• Vulnerable chance raised to 33% from 25%
• Cursing Skills bonuses now apply to Malediction
• Cursing Skills now have a +10% Debuff Chance
  

Runaway

• Ransack and Ransack+ can now be used in all ranks
• Smokescreen and Smokescreen+ can now be used in all ranks
• Cauterize and Cauterize+ launch ranks changed to 2 3 4 from 1 2 3
• Controlled Burn and Controlled Burn+ launch ranks changed to 1 2 3 from 1 2
• Controller Burn and Controlled Burn+ no longer ignore Dodge or Blind
• Controlled Burn and Controlled Burn+ now have an initial Burn application, dramatically accelerating the DOT process; this can be dodged or miss but the Controlled Burn token will still be applied as it was before
  

Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where characters with Breacher would forget where they are supposed to be if you quit the game during combat start
• Fix to dot damage based damage calculation to account for dot damage buffs
• Current HP now scales up or down when max HP is modified
• Added more hero specific act out barks
• Added missing Stew use limit barks
  

Driving

• Fixed some road collision with tiles in The Sprawl and The Foetor
• Cleaned up z-fighting issues that were found/reported
  

UI

• Fix to torch affinity buffs so they show up on the HEROES side of the torch tooltip
• Fixed an issue with Master Hero Path upgraded skill icons would carry over to other characters while building your party at the Crossroads
• Fixed an issue where the Attack preview would sometimes focus on enemies without mouseover
• Fixed an issue with ui scaling when opening the biome goal ui panel while driving
• Fixed an issue where heal preview would double if the skill was selected with keyboard, then mousing over the actor.
• Added tooltip max width text wrapping
• Fixed a minor issue with the Profile Wheel scrolling
• Fixed the biome pane background image from jumping/flickering on mouseover
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to click the continue button on the results screen while invisible
• Added vfx for Ordained enemy icons
• Discounts granted via stagecoach items now correctly show on store tooltips when discounts are present
• Updated Trinket tooltip text and frame colors, as well as minor art repositioning
• Removed “Discard for Hope” line in the Inventory UI
• Removed the ability to open the pause menu the Lair/Guardian loot window is open
• Fixed a vfx and ui flicker issue when placing the cursor on the edge of the hero roster ribbons
• Added Quirk remove pop text when coming from a trinket
• Added Diseases gained pop text when coming from a quirk
  

Hero Shrines

• Man-at-Arms Shrine Challenge 2: increased difficulty by decreasing Handful of Dirt damage as well as increasing stress damage taken from the ghosts
• Plague Doctor Shrine Challenge 2: Decreased stab damage for the Plague Doctor
• Leper Shrine Challenge 2: Advisors will do more damage, but Leper can heal a bit more and gets Block+ instead of Block

Quirks

• Slayer of Fisherfolk had an incorrect banter effect
• Sanguine stress heal chance reduced to 25% from 100%

Fixes

• Guardian Node final combats no longer only award city currency
• Cleaned up some city VFX decor items on common nodes to increase performance
• Fixed a softlock that could occur by abandoning a run right as combat starts
• Fixed an issue that would allow players to equip up to 2 cultist trinkets with them both being unlocked as if Dark Impulse was equipped.
• Fixed an issue where end turn effects would happen before the skill result was applied
• Fixed an issue where double kills could result in an invalid corpse and thus blocks creature summons
• Added confirmation dialog check for pause menu
• Added error SFX when double-clicking a player inventory item to equip fails in certain cases
• [Community] Fixed an issue where the Almanac: The Shroud appeared twice and the Almanac: The Tangle wasn’t appearing at all from certain Academic Studies.
• Fixed an issue with the General's Dream trophy showing the incorrect version of the Immobilize token
• Stitching Kit no longer appears in Field Hospitals
  

Known Issues

• Venomdrop: additional Blight granted by Path cannot be adjusted by Trinkets
  

Full Trinket Change List

 

[Sarathiour]

Yeah sure, add more stat and gimmick change instead of vestal/crusader, or god forbid, finishing the goddamn game.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

The first one had so many great elements and I played it a fair amount. But... I dunno, it always felt a little too random, and yet somehow at the same time, a little too formulaic. Bring a healer, and stress reducer. Kill the stress causers first. Try to squeeze in a little extra healing and stress relief by keeping a couple weak enemies around, but not for too long!

It had fantastic atmosphere and the narrator was just an amazing part of it. Very unique experience. I hope this ends up as a better version of that, but optimism is the path to disappointment so I'll just be cynical and assume the worst.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.darkestdungeon.com/news/from-beyond-oblivions-ingress/

From Beyond: Oblivion's Ingress​

OBLIVION’S INGRESS​

The Loathing Festers!
New avatars of the Loathing demand your supplication! Join the denizens of this crumbling world and worship the yawning void. Hear the demoniac piping of the Herald, prostrate yourself before the Altar, but gaze not upon the high Exemplar, for you are not worthy of such honors.

NEW CULTISTS​

Three new enemies will be added to all the current locations in the game where Cultist monsters are encountered: ambushes, guardian encounters, and Cultist encounters. These new units will provide some much needed texture, variety and challenge to the game’s most sinister faction.

The Herald​

Hear now, the trumpet of the end!
The Herald is a back row combatant capable of high stress and token manipulation. Using its infernal instrument to strike dread and pain into the player’s party, the Herald also has a unique ability to absorb the negative tokens from the rest of the Cultists, to convert them next turn into positive tokens.

With Evangelists covering melee offense and Cherubs acting as debuffers, there was a clear role for the Herald to fulfill: ranged damage and stress burst. An appropriate harbinger of the end times, the Herald packs a more direct punch than the harassment delivered by Cherubs.

The Altar​

Offer of yourself, and be cleansed.
Fulfilling a vital support role within its faction, this writhing mass of tentacles empowers its hateful kin; buffing allies with single-target or group-wide blessings. A warning: do not leave the Altar unattended…

The Exemplar​

Loathing made manifest!
The Exemplar is an apex predator within its own faction; a Cultist so powerful that it could generate its own worship or consume lesser cosmic servants for theirs. A Cultist capable of fueling its own wild Exultations, demonstrably devouring the world piece by piece.
The Exemplar appears before the third Inn, and again at the first Mountain combat encounter. It is a massive (size-3) Cultist unit that, like other mini-bosses, gets an additional action per round. A key concern in this encounter is finding a way to deal with the worship tokens that accrue throughout the fight. Once an ally has enough worship tokens, the Exemplar will consume it - gaining the worship, healing effects, and riposting.
Upon being properly worshiped, the Exemplar unleashes a massive attack on 2 random heroes and summons a fresh Cultist to join the fight!

CULTIST ENCOUNTERS​

With the Cultist faction growing in size and power, we wanted to both a)better reflect their presence throughout a run, and b) ramp up the challenge at the end of each region. As you approach the Inn, you will notice the Guardian encounters have had a striking visual and mechanical upgrade. Notably, the Guardian encounters are now 2 fights long instead of 3. However, you can no longer retreat. You must push through and finish the entire Guardian encounter in order to reach the light of the Inn beyond.
We have also dialed up the severity of Cultist ambushes by including a Deacon or Cardinal in those fights. And, if you happen to reach full Loathing, you'll find yourself face to face with the towering Exemplar!
These changes better reflect the threat level we want the Cultists to represent.

FREE WORSHIP​

All Worship skills are now considered Free Actions.
Previously, Worship skill was functioning as a special type of Start Round skill, which meant that it could ignore certain token types (Stun/Daze) and DOTs. In order to make managing Worship situations feel more tactical, we've converted it to a free action that now occurs as part of the Cultist's turn in the initiative order. Since they no longer use it automatically at the start of a round, you have a window to finish them off before they get the chance. However, be warned that multiple Cultists can also Worship within the same round now.

APPROACH THE ALTAR​

We are deploying this patch to Darkest Dungeon II - Experimental Branch today. And we ask all of our players to jump on and see how these new additions and changes impact your run. The feedback you provide has been a valuable addition to our team since we released last October, and we look forward to implementing even more in the coming updates.
If you do not have the Experimental Branch downloaded follow these instructions:
Go to your Library
Filter to show All games
Search for Darkest Dungeon II
Download the one that says "Darkest Dungeon II - Experimental".
When downloaded it will look like the one on the left in the image below.

ON THE HORIZON​

You must remember the world as it was, if you hope to save it…
The next update will introduce an entirely new progression system, and is planned to release in September. We’ll share more details about this in the weeks ahead.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.darkestdungeon.com/news/darkest-dungeon-ii-update-oblivion-s-ingress/

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.darkestdungeon.com/news/from-beyond-bounty-hunter

 

[Takamori]

Best boy is back, bring crusader and we are good.

 

[Ibn Sina]

Best boy is back, bring crusader and we are good.

He is not a hero or a recruit, more like a temporary power up replacement for one region only. Garbage mechanic.

 

[Takamori]

Best boy is back, bring crusader and we are good.

He is not a hero or a recruit, more like a temporary power up replacement for one region only. Garbage mechanic.

"Unlike the core group of adventurers who rally at the Crossroads, the Bounty Hunter wanders from Inn to Inn, in search of his next job. If you are lucky enough to stumble upon him, and are willing to pay the price, he will replace one of your active heroes for the duration of the next region."


Talk about doing us dirty

 

[Larianshill]

Who asked for this

 

[Cyberarmy]

Best boy is back, bring crusader and we are good.

He is not a hero or a recruit, more like a temporary power up replacement for one region only. Garbage mechanic.

What the bloody fuck? From 1 to 100 how much this game declined comparing to the first game???

 

[rusty_shackleford]

this is what happens when you think the people making smut are your core audience

 

[whydoibother]

Who asked for this

Unnecessary sequel, that makes further unnecessary changes to the OG game formula.
I wonder if the general community for the game feels the same way, or if I am in an echo chamber here.

 

[Harthwain]

Unnecessary sequel, that makes further unnecessary changes to the OG game formula.

I wouldn't mind a sequel, but the changes are puzzling to me. I doubt I will be getting it, and I really liked the previous one.

 

[NJClaw]

Unnecessary sequel, that makes further unnecessary changes to the OG game formula.

I wouldn't mind a sequel, but the changes are puzzling to me. I doubt I will be getting it, and I really liked the previous one.

I will at least try it due to how much I liked the first one, but I've been extremely skeptic since they announced they were going to somehow make it 3D for no reason whatsoever.

 

[1451]

Who asked for this

 

[whydoibother]

Unnecessary sequel, that makes further unnecessary changes to the OG game formula.

I wouldn't mind a sequel, but the changes are puzzling to me. I doubt I will be getting it, and I really liked the previous one.

How would you make a sequel to Darkest Dungeon? What would be a game design that is sufficiently similar so the fans like it, and sufficiently different so it couldn't just be a mod or a DLC?
A Dungeon Keeper style game where you play as the Estate, and fight off the approaching mercenaries of the DD1 player until you manage to connect to the Heart of Darkness and make yourself one with the universe.

 

[Wunderbar]

How would you make a sequel to Darkest Dungeon? What would be a game design that is sufficiently similar so the fans like it, and sufficiently different so it couldn't just be a mod or a DLC?

tbh i'd settle for "more of the same but in a different setting".

Maybe managing an early 20th century scientific camp in some frozen hellhole, sending grunts on expeditions to gather materials and artefacts for a research. Replace knights and rogues with tommygun-wielding mobsters, Herbert West-looking scientists, private detectives, etc etc.

 

[whydoibother]

Northern expedition into the frozen wastes uncovers a lost temple of an extinct civilization and.... yeah, I can dig it.

 

[Wunderbar]

Basically "Mountains of Madness" / "Dan Simmons' The Terror" / Sunless Sea mashup. You can even replace the camp with an icebreaker ship, and add mutiny events (in place of stress checks).

 

[whydoibother]

Sunless Sea

That would've been a good game to mix with Darkest Dungeon for a sequel. But the mood is very different.

 

[Alienman]

Basically "Mountains of Madness" / "Dan Simmons' The Terror" / Sunless Sea mashup. You can even replace the camp with an icebreaker ship, and add mutiny events (in place of stress checks).

Wasn't that the idea behind the sequel at first? Something similar to Mountains of Madness.

 

[Larianshill]

They claim that's still what they're doing.

 

[Harthwain]

How would you make a sequel to Darkest Dungeon? What would be a game design that is sufficiently similar so the fans like it, and sufficiently different so it couldn't just be a mod or a DLC?

Why not? Aren't sequels "more & better"? You could make exploration of the dungeons more interesting by having a bigger map, a proper exploration/scouting mechanic, mobile enemy patrols, etc.

I would redo the psychological aspect of the game though, maybe even combat along with it to tie the two together (unless you could handle the psychological aspect via other gameplay elements than combat), because the way stress and quirks work is not as interesting as it could've been.