For those unfamiliar with Darkest Dungeon, it is a gothic roguelike turn-based RPG in a setting resembling a Lovecraftian nightmare. As you might imagine, there are near endless monsters, undead and vagabonds out to get you. But the danger is plentiful in the Darkest Dungeon, and your brave heroes will face booby traps, mounting stress and even psychological quirks that help or hinder them based on their experiences.
Consequently, selecting your team should be a delicate and careful process that yields you a varied roster capable of taking on these dangers—feeling overwhelmed already? No worries! We here at Gamers Decide have got your back, and I will be providing you with ten different party combinations (in no particular order) that will make your explorations of the Darkest Dungeon a little brighter.
This team looks ready for action and soon you will be too.
1. “Tricky Glory.”
Position 1: A Crusader equipped Smite, Stunning Blow, Holy Lance and Inspiring Cry.
Position 2: A Vestal, equipped with Judgement, Dazzling Light, Divine Grace and Divine Comfort.
Position 3: The Highwayman's move set will be Pistol Shot, Point-blank Shot, Duellists Advance and Open Vein.
Position 4: The Plague Doctor will be equipped with Battlefield Medicine, Noxious Blast, Plague Grenade, and Blinding Gas.
This Plague Doctor is ready to give the dungeon some medicine.
To see the team in action, click here.
It's easy to see why this is considered a beginner team. The classes are all very straightforward with uncomplicated roles.
The Crusader is invaluable in rank one. He can soak up a fair amount of damage and put out decent damage of his own, making him the group tank. The Vestal is the team's healer as she comes equipped with a solo and a party heal in her arsenal. The Highwayman is the group D.P.S. His move set is solely designed to deal damage. Finally, the Plague Doctor is the group debuffer and backup healer if the Vestal gets overwhelmed. Their ability to put out damage over time provides an excellent counter to high protection stat enemies.
One significant thing to note is that you will want to use duellists advance on your Highwayman at the start of every fight to activate his riposte and put him in his ideal position, position two.
Team Positives
- Effective in most areas of the game.
- A high number of stun moves are available.
- Great for ruins where the Crusader will be dealing extra damage and blight is effective.
Team Negatives
- Weak in warrens where enemies have high blight resistance.
- Vulnerable to stress dealing enemies.
2. “The Three Horsemen.”
Position 1: A Helion equipped with Wicked Hack, Let it Bleed, Barbaric Yawp and Iron Swan.
Position 2: A Abomination (You can't change this character’s move set).
Position 3: A Vestal using Divine Grace, Divine Comfort, Judgement and Dazzling Light.
Position 4: A Grave Robber with Thrown Dagger, Lunge, Pick to the Face and Shadow Fade.
"A moment of valour shines brightest against a backdrop of despair."
To see the party in action, click here.
This team is very similar to The Four Horsemen composition, hence the nickname I have given it. This team's primary focus will be on inflicting damage and damage over time to get quick kills and minimise retaliation. The original Four Horsemen team uses a Plague Doctor instead of The Vestal.
This party is not for the faint of heart. It will be a little harder to manage than the last as its members will be swapping places a lot, especially the Abomination and the Grave Robber. Another thing you will need to keep an eye on is the passive stress your party will acquire when the abomination is in beast form, especially since this party has no stress healing. I would recommend this to more experienced players who like to end fights quickly and bring lots of torches to minimise party stress.
Team Positives
- High damage output.
- Good access to stuns.
- Excellent ability to reposition.
Team Negatives
- Critical lack of stress healing.
- No tank characters.
3. “Critical Role.”
Position 1: The Occultist equipped with Sacrificial Stab, Wyrd Reconstruction, Vulnerability Hex, and Hands From the Abyss.
Position 2: Bounty Hunter with the moves Collect Bounty, Mark for Death, Flashbang and Finish Him equipped.
Position 3: Jester with Battle Ballad, Inspiring Tune, Dirk Stab, and Finale equipped.
Position 4: An Arbalest equipped with Sniper Shot, Suppressing Fire, Battlefield Bandage, Rallying Flare.
The Leper is sick, but far from defenceless.
To see the party in action, click here.
As far as I'm aware, this party composition doesn't have a nickname, but its ability to up your critical chance with multiple characters makes the above a good fit! This party is most effective when utilising its synergy; several characters can mark enemies and have attacks that deal more damage to marked targets. Furthermore, the use of the Occultist in position one gives great stunning potential with Hands From the Abyss.
Team Positives
- The team has impressive synergy when using marks for extra damage.
- A good arsenal of stun moves.
Team Negatives
- No access to damage over time.
- Limited manoeuvrability.
4. “Buff N’ Spank.”
Position 1: Leper with Solemnity, Revenge, Purge, Chop.
Position 2: Crusader with Holy Lance, Inspiring Cry, Stunning Blow, Smite.
Position 3: Vestal with Divine Comfort, Divine Grace, Judgement, Dazzling Light
Position 4: Jester with Inspiring Tune, Battle Ballad, Solo, Finale.
Darkest Dungeon's heroes sure know how to strike a pose.
This party composition is based on the Tank N' Spank composition, which uses an occultist instead of a jester. This composition solely revolves around healing and buffing your heavy hitters, especially your Leper. The Leper is notorious for being inaccurate and sometimes called useless, but everyone can acknowledge that when this guy hits, he hits harder than a nuclear warhead. To get the most out of this team, use the Lepers self-buffs at the start of fights and buff him with the Jester to make sure his attacks hit his targets. You should also focus on eliminating the front rows as quickly as possible and use Leper's purge ability to reach the back rows before they can ruin your team.
Team Positives
- The party has a ridiculously high damage potential (R.I.P. enemy tanks and bosses).
- Highly durable with lots of healing options.
- Can disturb the back row by clearing enemy corpses.
Team Negatives
- This roster has no damage over time causing attacks.
- Almost impossible to kill the back row enemies quickly.
- Vulnerable to being caught out of position.
5. “Manhunt.”
Position 1: Flagellant with Punish, Rain of Sorrows, Exsanguinate, Reclaim
Position 2: Hound Master with Hounds Rush, Hounds Harry, Guard Dog and Blackjack
Position 3: Bounty Hunter with Collect Bounty, Mark for Death, Flashbang, and Finish Him
Position 4: Plague Doctor with Noxious blast, Plague Grenade, Blinding Gas and Battlefield Medicine.
A halo Beyonce would be proud of.
To see the party in action, click here.
This party's strength is inflicting damage over time and stunning the enemy lineup. Your bounty hunter can also focus on dealing flat damage to tough enemy targets by marking them and following up with buffed flat damage moves. Furthermore, both the Flagellant and Hound Master are capable self-healers meaning this party doesn't suffer too badly from its lack of a Vestal. I would warn players not to bring this composition to areas containing enemies with high bleed or blight resistance. The team’s nickname is also made up by yours truly.
Team Positives
- High damage over time output to make short work of high protection and boss enemies.
- Good access to stun moves.
- Three party members have self-sustainable healing.
Team Negatives
- Very limited stress healing options.
- Limited reach to the back ranks.
- Overreliance on stacking bleed.
6. “Saints & Sinners.”
Position 1: A Helion with Iron Swan, Barbaric Yawp, If It Bleeds and Bleed Out
Position 2: A Vestal with Judgement, Dazzling Light, Divine Grace, Divine Comfort
Position 3: A Antiquarian with Flash Powder, Fortifying Vapours, Protect Me and Festering Vapours
Position 4: A Highwayman with Pistol Shot, Point Blank Shot, Duellist's advance and Open Vein.
In future, you should keep the mask on...
To see the party in action, click here.
This is a very diverse and strong party. You can take two separate approaches to dealing damage; you can stack bleed onto enemies, which is incredibly easy with Open Vein’s bleed resist debuff and the Helion's move set. Alternatively, you can go for raw damage with the Helions other moves and the Highwayman's gun.
As usual, the Vestal is here to provide a steady source of healing that is simple but effective. The Antiquarian is in an interesting spot. Their best use on this team is to force the Highwayman to guard them while his riposte is active, vastly increasing the chances of his riposte being activated and reinforcing the strength of this team’s D.P.S. potential.
Team Positives
- Great potential to maximise usage of the Highwayman's riposte.
- Decent reach to the back rows.
- Party can bleed stack by utilising bleed resistance debuffs.
Team Negatives
- Reliance on bleed makes the party suffer against skeletons.
- No stress healing.
- Antiquarian provides limited use other than buffing Highwayman's riposte.
7. “Faith and Science.”
Position 1: Man at Arms with Rampart, Defender, Command and Bolster.
Position 2: Flagellant with Punish, Rain of Sorrows, Reclaim and Redeem.
Position 3: Vestal with Judgement, Dazzling Light, Divine Comfort and Divine Grace.
Position 4: Plague Doctor with Noxious Blast, Plague Grenade, Blinding Gas and Disorienting Blast.
Home sweet home...
To see the party in action, click here.
This party has excellent defensive capabilities that predominantly revolve around the Man at Arms. The Flagellant's ability to self-heal means that the Vestal can keep the rest of the party alive. The only major drawback of this party is its lack of flat damage output and reliance on damage over time. Just make sure to only bring this team to areas without high bleed or blight resist enemies and keep stacking damage over time on enemies.
Although this team can work very effectively, I recommend bringing at least one flat damage dealer instead.
Team Positives
- Great defensive and healing capabilities.
- Good access to healing.
- Lots of stuns.
Team Negatives
- Low flat damage output.
- Vulnerable to being caught out of position.
8. “The Bodyguard.”
Position 1: Antiquarian with Protect Me, Nervous Stab, Festering Vapours and Flash powder.
Position 2: Flagellant with Punish, Rain of Sorrows, Redeem and Exsanguinate.
Position 3: Plague Doctor with Incision, Plague Grenade, Noxious Blast and Battlefield Medicine.
Position 4: Arbalest with Sniper Shot, Battlefield Bandage, Rallying Fare and Suppressing Fire.
Perhaps robbing graves wasn't the most lucrative profession after all.
Click here to see footage of the team in action.
The lack of a front-row tank makes this team stand out, the relatively squishy Antiquarian upfront could put some people off this list, and I wouldn't entirely blame them! However, as long as your Antiquarian consistently uses Protect me with the Flagellant, the team shouldn't suffer from its lack of a tank.
By having the Flagellant take all the attacks targeting positions 1 & 2, you can also make great use of the flagellants powerful low H.P. abilities by making like Kenny Loggins and sticking him in the danger zone. Overall, I think this team has a lot of potential for an experienced player. The buff to your looting that the Antiquarian provides is also beneficial.
Team Positives
- Incredibly efficient use of the Flagellant's power moves.
- Great damage over time.
- Good access to healing.
Team Negatives
- No stress healing.
- If their guard fails, your Antiquarian is helpless.
- May struggle to deal with the front row.
- Very weak in areas where enemies have high DoT resistance.
9. “Back to Front.”
Position 1: Occultist with Wyrd Reconstruction, Hands from the Abyss, Weakening Curse and Sacrificial Stab.
Position 2: Houndmaster with Hounds Rush, Target Whistle, Guard Dog and Blackjack.
Position 3: Jester with Finale, Dirk Stab, Battle Ballad and Inspiring Tune.
Position 4: Crusader with Holy Lance, Smite, Inspiring Cry and Stunning Blow.
Cthulu is going to be really unhappy about this picture.
Click here to see the party in action.
This composition isn't the most effective, but it is very fun! Effectively, the Jester and the Crusader will be swapping places using Holy Lance and Dirk Stab while coordinating team buffs and stress heals simultaneously. Towards the end of the battle, your Jester should also be able to use his finale.
The Occultist may seem like an odd choice for rank one because he isn't a tank, but he can only make use of the great Hands from the Abyss move from rank one or two, and you can protect him with the Hound master's Guard Dog ability. This team's real strength is that it can't really get pulled out of position because every character can still do something from every rank.
Team Positives
- Highly manoeuvrable.
- Lots of buffs available.
- Great access to Stunning.
- Very good stress healing.
Team Negatives
- The roster has limited access to damage over time.
- It could be hard to coordinate all the characters movements for new players.
- Reliance on Wyrd Reconstruction for healing can be scarier than most enemies (if you haven't been there yet, pray you never are).
10) “The Unusual Suspect.”
Position 1: A Crusader with Stunning Blow, Smite, Inspiring Cry and Holy Lance.
Position 2: A Highwayman with Point Blank Shot, Duellist's Advance, Pistol Shot and Open Vein.
Position 3: A jester with Battle Ballad, Inspiring Tune, Finale and Slice Off.
Position 4: A Vestal with Dazzling Light, Judgement, Divine Comfort and Divine Grace.
Does anyone else feel like this could be from Curse of The Blackpearl?
To see the team in action, click here.
This final team is a very reliable composition with good synergy between the Highwayman and the Jester for reliable bleed damage over time. The team also has access to stress healing, regular healing, flat damage, and stuns. If you want a reliable jack of all trades composition that will thrive in most areas of the game, then this one is for you.
Team Positives
- Good access to stuns.
- This team has good access to stress healing and standard healing.
- Good bleed synergy.
Team Negatives
- Not a lot of manoeuvrability.
- No access to guard.
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