Best Heroes For The Kingdoms Mode In Darkest Dungeon 2

Darkest Dungeon 2 has grown a lot since its early access release in 2021. New enemies, heroes, and regions have already been added, and the Kingdoms update adds an entirely new game mode, offering a new take on the game’s structure and new enemies to fight. It also coincides with the separate release of the game’s second DLC character, the Abomination.

With all the new additions, players can expect some shake-ups in the most effective team combinations. Not only is there a new character to consider, but the new Kingdoms mode has some slightly different considerations for map exploration and hero progression. On top of that, the new Beastmen enemies have their own mechanics and weaknesses to be aware of. With that in mind, here are the best heroes to take into Darkest Dungeon 2‘s Kingdoms mode.

12

Occultist

Dark Spellcaster

• Best Path: Ritualist
• Best Skills: Abyssal Artillery, Weakening Curse

The Occultist can be useful in the Kingdoms update, but he’s mostly used for debuffing or removing buffs from the enemy. Weakening Curse and Vulnerability Hex are both useful debuffs against the Beastmen enemies, and Abyssal Artillery provides damage as well.

Players should avoid relying on the Occultist’s Wyrd Reconstruction for healing, as the RNG elements will only lead to frustration when a heal misses or procs a bleed on a character who already has damage over time effects.

11

Crusader

Holy Defender

• Best Path: Banneret
• Best Skills: Stunning Blow, Inpiring Cry

The Crusader is still a solid, if average, pick for the Kingdoms game mode. His self-sustain through off heals is always useful, and he does have access to stun moves that most of the Beastmen are vulnerable to.

Taunting abilities are much less effective against the Beastmen, as some have positional-based moves that will always target certain rows, which hurts some of the Crusader’s kit.

10

Leper

Frontline Sustain

• Best Path: Wanderer
• Best Skills: Chop, Solemnity

The Leper is always a strong choice for a frontliner, but his lack of speed can hurt him. High damage moves like chop are good for piling out single target damage.

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Most Beastmen fights will involve the player trying to focus on bringing each enemy down before they can enrage, so being able to deliver a big blow to a vulnerable enemy is a valid role for the Leper to fill. He’s best used in conjunction with a buff or debuff character as a finisher of weakened enemies.

9

Hellion

Berserker’s Rage

• Best Path: Carcass
• Best Skills: If it Bleeds, Iron Swan

The Hellion’s ability to target multiple enemy positions with physical damage and bleed damage can come in very handy in Kingdoms. Beastmen tend to be more resistant to blight than bleed, so moves like If It Bleeds can quickly spread strong damage over time effects.

This can be an important factor, as Beastmen who have entered the “Berserking” state won’t take direct damage, but they will still take damage from existing damage over time effects. Effects like bleed can help if a fight drags out too long.

8

Vestal

Cardinal Healer

• Best Path: Confessor
• Best Skills: Judgement, Divine Grace

The Vestal is always useful as a primary healer, but the Confessor path can be particularly useful in Kingdoms mode. They have a pretty versatile set-up that can work in a number of ways.

Consecration of Light can be a powerful buff for a player’s damaging characters, Judgement can hit with burning and stun, and Mantra can help remove negative tokens from characters. There are multiple effective ways to play Vestal for Kingdoms.

7

Jester

Shuffle The Pack

• Best Path: Wanderer
• Best Skills: Fade to Black, Encore

The Jester works best in Kingdoms when played with the default Wanderer path. His other paths offer buffs that aren’t particularly useful here, with trade-offs that might actually hurt the player’s effectiveness. With that said, the bleed damage and buffs offered by his basic kit are more than enough to make the Jester a very effective character for Kingdoms mode.

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Fade to Black and Harvest are both very useful for outputting bleed, Encore is generally as useful as always, and Battle Ballad can also become a handy utility move in Kingdoms mode if the player is having trouble with characters being pushed out of position.

6

Highwayman

Versatile DPS

• Best Path: Wanderer
• Best Skills: Double Cross, Pistol Shot

One part of the Highwayman’s kit is basically shut off in Kingdoms mode, and this makes him less effective than usual. Ripostes are not as useful against Beastmen, as the priority should be shutting down their turns and ending fights quickly.

That means that the Rogue path is basically off limits, but gamers can still make good use of the Highwayman’s stunning Pistol Shot, Open Vein for bleed damage, and the ability Double Cross for applying block to the player and vulnerability to the enemy.

5

Plague Doctor

Pocket Healer

• Best Path: Alchemist
• Best Skills: Plague Grenade, Battlefield Medicine

Players might think that the Plague Doctor would be less effective for Kingdoms mode, given the Beastmen’s inherent blight resistance. The Alchemist path can get around that, though, and a Plague Grenade opener can still be an effective backline killer.

Battlefield Medicine is a useful heal, and players can alternatively set up the Plague Doctor to have a non-blight based healing, buffing, and melee damage kit.

4

Man At Arms

Holding The Line

• Best Path: Sergeant
• Best Skills: Rampart, Hold the Line

The Man At Arms is one of the best choices for a tank character in the Kingdoms update. His ability to throw out Guards and Blocks on characters, as well as his moves that inflict stun, are invaluable for Beastmen fights.

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The Sergeant path will also help the Man At Arms build combo with other characters and give his moves useful effects based off of combos, like partial heals from attacks. The only caveat is that players need other characters to focus on DPS, as Man At Arms won’t provide it.

3

Runaway

Burn It All Down

• Best Path: Arsonist
• Best Skills: Smokescreen, Firefly

The Runaway leaps up in overall effectiveness in the Kingdoms update. Her ability to dish out burning damage over time is very effective against beastmen enemies, who are easily burned. The Smokescreen ability can also easily proc the blind status, which can skip enrage turns and help the player avoid enemies going into the Berserking state.

The Runaway is another character who can build combo, so she works well with other heroes that can do so. The arsonist path is probably the best choice, as this will help spread the burning damage over time.

2

Bounty Hunter

Singular Focus

• Best Path: Wanderer
• Best Skills: Mark for Death, Guard

The Bounty Hunter has a lot of synergy with effects that players will want to use in Kingdoms mode, so they’re a very good choice for a DPS character. Their ability to hit for big damage against stunned targets is very effective when players have other characters to dish out stuns.

The Bounty Hunter is also adept at dealing damage to marked and vulnerable enemies, so they’ll always be outputting high DPS if used effectively.

1

Abomination

Manacled Beast

• Best Path: Wanderer
• Best Skills: Backlash, Instinct

The newest DLC character, the Abomination, is highly effective in the new Kingdoms mode. He’s got access to stun and block in his basic kit with just the move Backlash, which is great for managing Beastmen fights. Absolution also offers a self-heal, which gives the Abomination great sustain as a melee tank.

The transformation moves of the Abomination offer some good melee damage and the ability to cleave the front two rows, and Instinct gives players a way to remove enemy ripostes. Depending on a player’s team composition, the Abomination can be one of the most effective heroes in Darkest Dungeon 2‘s Kingdoms update.

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Tactical

Strategy

Roguelite

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Released

May 8, 2023

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ESRB

Teen // Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence, Use of Alcohol

Developer(s)

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Red Hook Studios

Publisher(s)

Red Hook Studios

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