He can apply Combo tokens with Razor’s Wit, Blind with Fade to Black, Bleed with Harvest, and deal big damage himself with Finale. The Jester is up next, and he fills a few different niches in this party.

This is particularly useful in Cultist battles and boss fights, and can save you from a lot of damage if timed correctly. Finally, we finish off with Highway Robbery, a skill that can remove, and once upgraded, steal, positive tokens from enemies. Pistol Shot is no slouch either, however, and can reach the back ranks, making it a great choice against utility enemies who hide in the back and provide support to their allies. Double Tap is the most damaging of your attacks here, especially on foes below 50% health, so when you have the chance to use it, do so. Take Aim followed by Grapeshot Blast is a reliable opening sequence, dealing big damage to the front ranks while maintaining a Strength and Crit token for your next turn as well. All three have their uses in different scenarios, but before you use any of them you should open each combat with Take Aim, which guarantees two critical hits once upgraded. On the Sharpshot path, all of his ranged attacks get a sizable damage boost, and we’ve chosen to lean hard into that here by including all three of them: Pistol Shot, Grapeshot Blast, and Double Tap. Next up is the Highwayman, the party’s main damage dealer. We top things off with Crush, a solid attacking move, especially on the Vanguard path, and one that can provide crucial healing in a pinch. On top of this we use Bolster for Stress healing with incidental Block gain, Hold the Line to recover from rank disruption moves like Categorize, and Bellow to slow down enemies and prevent them from landing devastating critical hits. This is great when someone is low on health, or when they’re gearing up for a big attack and you don’t want them getting disrupted by status effects. Defender is his primary skill, letting you protect one of your other heroes from a couple of attacks.

Vanguard is our path of choice here, providing a solid health and damage boost while the Man-at-Arms is in your front rank. In this comp he does what he does best: lead the party from the front and support his teammates as they carry you to victory. The fact that it’s almost entirely composed of characters unlocked by default shows that Red Hook Studios does have a heart, somewhere in there. This is the team comp you’ll see most often in Darkest Dungeon 2, and for good reason: it provides the best, most balanced set of abilities possible, and can get you through runs very consistently.

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