Best Darkest Dungeon Heroes?

A Tier List for Darkest Dungeon is hard, technically no class is worse than the other because all of them are so unique.

Secondly, you could go into the final boss fight and still come out as victorious, but you shouldn't have to. So here is a helpful guide who you should take into your next quest in Darkest Dungeon.

S Tier

These are the most valuable members of your team. In many instances, you will need these heroes in boss battles or just surviving the onslaught of the different locations in the manor.

• Hellion: 97/100
• Plague Doctor: 93/100
• Vestal: 91/100
• Houndmaster: 90/100

A Tier

The A Tier includes heroes who can be enjoyable to play with and add a good amount of damage or support. They aren’t as good as the S Tier but still adds a good amount of strength to your party.

• Bounty Hunter: 88/100
• Grave Robber: 85/100
• Shieldbreaker: 84/100
• Leper: 83/100

B Tier

This tier has the heroes who are good replacements for when you have no one who is better for their position. Not necessarily bad, but they aren’t the best either.

• Flagellant: 79/100
• Highwayman: 77/100
• Crusader: 74/100
• Arbalest: 72/100

C Tier

The heroes here can be useful, but generally, you will only use these if you have to. Some great teams can be made with them - don’t get me wrong - but there are just better options.

• Man-at-Arms: 69/100
• Abomination: 66/100
• Occultist: 64/100
• Jester: 61/100

Z Tier: This tier is reserved for the worst of the worst.

Antiquarian: 13/100

1. Hellion (S Tier)

The Hellion is an incredibly useful class. She is a savage Barbarian who is bred for war. She reflects her personality by being versatile, reckless, and skillful. She is my personal favorite of the heroes.

Why the Hellion is strong:

• Really High Crit chance
• Deals enormous amounts of damage
• Fastest First position fighter in the game
• She is able to hit enemies in any position

Hellion’s Pain Train vid:

Power Rating: 97 /100

2. Plague Doctor (S Tier)

The Plague Doctor is a great addition for any team. Her buff that gives a hero extra damage will be extremely useful in a boss battle. She can heal bleed and blight and does great blight damage while also being able to bleed enemies if need be.

Why the Plague Doctor is strong:

• The ability to heal bleed and blight becomes very useful in the hardest battles
• Gives a hero +31% damage with her buff
• Versatile through stun, blight, and bleed abilities
• Can heal diseases as a campfire skill

PlagueDoctor Video:

Power Rating: 93/100

3. Vestal (S Tier)

The Vestal is a healer who was once a nun. She has a good amount of usability in multiple positions, and she even can heal herself while damaging enemies with Judgment. In multiple boss battles, the Vestal is necessary unless you want to take casualties.

Why the Vestal is strong:

• Ability to stun enemies in multiple positions.
• When necessary, can deal a very substantial amount of damage in front positions.
• She is the only hero with a group heal which is sometimes needed in boss battles.
• Her heals are guaranteed… not like some other healers *cough* Occultist *cough*

Class Video:

Power Rating: 91/100

4. Houndmaster (S Tier)

This ex-lawman and his dog have vowed to protect the innocent in the world of Darkest Dungeon. He shows this by his ability to guard allies to prevent damage altogether with his high dodge. He also uses his dog to help him fight these terrible monsters or to destress the party.

Why the Houndmaster is strong:

• In many boss battles, the Houndmaster is necessary if you want to have a chance at winning
• The Houndmaster has many bleed abilities that can stack to cause dot damage
• He has a high chance to stun enemies with his cudgel
• He is also able to stack his dodge high enough to be invulnerable to attacks

Character Video:

Power Rating: 90/100

5. Bounty Hunter (A Tier)

The Bounty Hunter is well known to be able to exploit the weaknesses of the enemies. He is able to target his enemies to decrease their protection and can follow that up with an enormous critical hit. If there is an enemy in the back hiding behind some tanks, he can even throw his hook to bring the enemy to the frontlines for a killing blow.

Why the Bounty Hunter is strong:

• His stun abilities have absolutely incredible odds of success
• He is able to move enemies around with either his Flashbang or Come Hither ability.
• The Bounty Hunter deals bonus damage to stunned, human, and marked enemies.
• He is an effective damage dealer from all but the last position

Character Video:

Power Rating: 88/100

6. Grave Robber (A Tier)

The Grave Robber is definitely my second personal favorite after the Hellion. She has a wide variety of skills and abilities. She has high dodge, is able to blight, can cure herself of blight/bleed, will stun when in a front position, and can attack enemies ignoring their protection.

Why the Grave Robber is strong:

• She has good survivability due to her naturally high dodge
• Her pickaxe ignores protection which is absolutely incredible to have in some boss fights
• The Grave Robber is the fastest hero and she is tied at having the highest Crit chance
• She is also the only hero that can stealth herself

Character Video:

Power Rating : 85/100

7. Shieldbreaker (A Tier)

The Shieldbreaker is from the desert and acts as though she is a snake dancer. Her skillset shows this as her moves are fluid like her dance. She is also able to deal poison blight damage which is like that of adders in the desert. She is the latest edition in Darkest Dungeon with her own story and challenges.

Why the Shieldbreaker is strong:

• The Shieldbreaker can ignore stealth and remove guard which, for the boss battle of the Garden Guardian, means she is a necessity
• She is able to attack enemies while ignoring protection with Pierce
• She has useful abilities in all positions, dealing damage to many enemy positions
• Her Aegis scales can ignore all damage done to her

Character Video:

Power Rating: 84/100

8. Leper (A Tier)

The Leper is an incredible hard hitter and one of the best tanks. He doesn't have many abilities you can use from the back so he will always be in the first two positions. For some of my friends he is their personal favorite, but overall he is a well-rounded tank.

Why the Leper is strong:

• He is especially useful for small battles
• The Leperhas the highest max HP of all the heroes
• Heals and destresses himself
• He deals the most base damage

Character Video:

Power Rating: 83/100

9. Flagellant (B Tier)

The Flagellant is a new addition through the Crimson Court DLC and he works best under pressure. Obviously, he only occupies the flagellation room in your Hamlet when destressing, but he has some great camping skills to destress himself and others.

Why the Flagellant is strong:

• He has very strong bleed abilities
• His secondary abilities, under a certain health percentage, heal others or damage enemies
• Works better when stressed and not at full health
• He has the highest Death Blow resist

Character Video:

Power Rating: 79/100

10. Highwayman (B Tier)

The Highwayman is one of your original characters and is a useful addition to any party. He has moderate dodge, is fast, and has good survivability. Although he might not be the best, he is certain not bad at anything. His scouting and camping skills that prevent you from being surprised are most useful.

Why the Highwayman is strong:

• He is good at everything but not excellent at one specific thing
• Can be combined with any team without being a handicap
• Works in all positions with either ranged or melee skills
• He can deal a massive amount of damage with a Point Blank Shot

Character Video:

Power Rating: 77/100

11. Crusader (B Tier)

The Crusader is your other original character and although he is one of the few characters you can use in the first position, he isn’t excellent at it. His abilities just aren’t good enough to justify putting him higher on this list. You can certainly put him in your team, but there are better options out there.

Why the Crusader is strong:

• Has support and attack abilities
• He can heal, stun, destress and deals good damage
• He has a nice amount of health and protection
• He deals bonus damage in the Ruins; so, he is an exceptional choice there

Character Video:

Power Rating: 74/100

12. Arbalest (B Tier)

The Arbalest is one of the few characters who is only useful in the back. She can debuff enemies, be a healer in a pinch, and can attack the back ranks of your enemies. She is a useful character if you don't want enemies to hit you by decreasing their accuracy.

Why the Arbalest is strong:

• She can damage enemies in the back arguably better than any other hero
• Can be used as a healer if you need it
• She is able to mark enemies
• Since she can get rid of marks on your heroes which is a necessary ability when fighting the Swine King

Character Video:

Power Rating: 72/100

13. Man-at-Arms (C-Tier)

The Man-at-Arms is the somewhat worse form of the Houndmaster. He can guard other people but instead of increasing his dodge, he increases his protection. Some may consider him better, but, objectively, higher dodge is better than higher protection.

Why the Man-at-Arms is strong:

• Can guard others while increasing his own protection
• He has some of the best camping abilities that give you buffs
• The Man-at-Arms is able to use Riposte and mark himself

Character Video:

Power Rating: 69/100

14. Abomination (C-Tier)

Personally, I like the Abomination, but I know some people just can’t warm up to this class. In his human form, he can stun and blight people. In his demonic form, he moves himself to the front, starts stressing himself and your party, but can do very high damage. If you know when to use this transformation, he will be a fun character but beginners should try their luck somewhere else.

Why the Abomination is strong:

• Since the update, he can also be included win parties with religious characters
• Does good stun and blight damage in his human form
• The Abomination is a very powerful attacker once he transforms

Character Video:

Power Rating: 66/100

15. Occultist (C-Tier)

The Occultist is a good healer… sometimes and he can be very useful………… sometimes. It really depends on his mood if he will get your heroes up to full health or do a critical failure and give a hero bleed and let them die right in front of him. His healing ability can yield better results than the Vestals but he also does not have a group healing ability.

Why the Occultist is strong:

• Great against eldritch enemies and specifically the Cove
• Has some very, very useful debuff abilities
• Although unreliable, his healing ability is much stronger than the vestals

Character Video:

Power Rating: 64/100

16. Jester (C-Tier)

The Jester is certainly an interesting character and not suitable for beginners. Normally, he can only be used in the second or third position and can only do bleed damage in those positions to enemies. His saving grace is his ability to do massive damage with his Finale skill. You just fall back on more dependable heroes though until he can boost up his Finale.

Why the Jester is strong:

• A challenge for the more experienced players
• Can destress and buff your entire party
• In certain situations, he can even one-shot bosses if that's your thing

Character Video:

Power Rating: 61/100

17. Antiquarian (Z-Tier)

The Antiquarian is not completely useless, but almost as useful as a stack of bricks. She is weak, heals very minor wounds, and can't do much damage. The reason she is still useful is that she can buff other people and find you money when you take her on missions.

Reasons to take the Antiquarian:

• You desperately need money
• If you think a handicap makes the game more fun
• If you have an otherwise strong team

Character Video:

Power Rating: 13/100