All heroes are damage classes using the same balancing formula to keep them even in PvE and PvP, regardless of their extra functions. Darkest Dungeon is not a trinity RPG, and this video is not an exclusive in-game role or mechanics comparison -- it is a fun, composite, 1v1 battle that considers several related elements both in and out of the game.

Thanks Cool. I'll do some Abomination edits when the DD2 DLC lands, no doubt about it.

@ what about for DD1?

@@Coolestediter1 Abomination was my first DD1 edit back when I started battle edits. There's so many characters and I try to rotate through them.

@ 𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚎

The previous few edits have been pretty phonky, so I wanted to mix it up a little. Been meaning to use this track ever since my recent replay through BL3, because it made me think of Flagellant ;)

Flagellant wipes the floor with most of the roster in both regards. He cares the least about stress and deathblows - becoming more powerful through both - and has an obnoxious array of self-sustain. Passive block-token bypass (also helping him to ignore damage debuffs), can transfer his negative tokens to the opponent, broader speed, range, and so much more. Man-at-Arms is hands-down one of the sturdiest and most versatile tanks in the game - top 3 hero overall (along with Flagellant), but without reliable combos, he has no healing at all, can't stress-heal himself without a target, has comparable damage, more mobility, etc, but a Flagellant will whittle him down over time. Like most of these battles, they'll always be close (due to how the game is balanced), but Flagellant is annoyingly good.

Glad you like 'em, Imperator! There'll be more DD1 and DD2 edits down the road - got a few planned out - but sadly, work is slowing things down.

Pretty much. Occultist beats Vestal in almost every aggressive way - and that can save you a lot of health - but Vestal being the undisputed queen of healing keeps her competitive.

Glad you like it :)

I also really like Hellion, and she's very strong (mechanically), but in terms of battle edits, she's one of the weakest heroes in the roster, sadly.

HWM has better H2H feats, yes, but that's not going to win a compositional 1v1 duel by itself. Grave Robber is practically twice as fast, has comparable reflexes, and many other tools to keep up with him. She is also the stealthiest hero in the game (with some of the best self-sustain mechanics), with equal reach and comparable damage. When you look at all possible points to give, Grave Robber is the closest to having the edge, but yes, it's very close, and looking back on this edit, the HWM should have taken Stamina and Endurance, making it closer to a draw.

Absolutely. At some point, I might do a second edit using newer effects to flesh out their points some more, like the way I do them now - but we'll see how it goes.

It's a lovely little tune. Used to listen to it a lot back in the day. Downbeat but very catchy.

Neither have a particularly strong case against the other when it comes to IQ or even Battle IQ. It's unclear whether either of these sheltered individuals have any form of education, and both arguably have "anti-feats" when it comes to thinking. Vestal is more team-centric, but that is more in-game mechanical rather than a legitimate element you could levy as intelligence - social or otherwise - and Baldwin being the former ruler of a Kingdom in itself doesn't say much. He's more worldly and definitely more knowledgeable, but apart from being a part-time poet, nothing to say he's particularly smart. TLDR: There's not enough to say one is decidedly more intelligent than the other. You could argue tit-for-tat, but it wouldn't really justify a full-on intelligence point during a compositional 1v1, as neither have a notable edge.

No points were awarded for that joke/reference, and all my battle-edits are as objective and unbiased as possible. In this case, I just wanted one more tick for the audio. Either way, thanks for dropping in.

Check the reply to the pinned comment - and enjoy!

Thanks for the kind words and the offer, but as usual, I don't accept gifts or help. All progress will be my own.

@@RopeDrink Alright, I didn't know that. I just thought you'd like the Kraken Slayer because it has Zero Critical Chance (just like a shotgun) and only requires 50 str to use (No proficiency). I'd highly recommend and it'd probably allow you to do endgame content with minimal implants.

@@RopeDrink They're the best and make fine damn gifts (in my personal opinion). Plus they're cheap as hell right now. Much lower than original release price it's mind boggling...

@@BurgerofMan I'm already doing end-game content with minimal implants. I have no idea what the Kraken is but I'm happy enough with my gear. All I need to work on is implants at the moment, but thanks anyway.

@@BurgerofMan That's because quite a few of the old credit implants can now be bought for money, and you can even buy 7 day GM tickets from the vendor for short-term looting.

If I do any more boss battles, it will likely be conventional fights, like Siren vs Prophet.

@@RopeDrink okiee

@@Coolestediter1 Thanks for the suggestion by the way. If you're interested, I've already done edits of the Fanatic, Shambler, and Collector. As for the "HOD", it is perhaps the strongest creature in the verse, so it's not something I'd be comfortable editing. Safe to say it will stomp most things in the game. I've been very tied up with work lately, but other boss battles I'd like to do when I get time are Siren/Prophet and Croc/Shrieker. I've already mapped out their stats - just need lots of free time to edit the 2D resources, so it'll be quite a while.

Glad you liked it, Coolest.

All of these edits take comics, hero shrines and narration across both games into account, not to mention barks, mechanics, equipment, and general scaling. The only thing not considered is prep (such as trinkets and pre-fight camping skills), focusing more on instant baselines.

@@RopeDrink You just called the tactics of a man who gained his position by kissing ass- VS a man who became renouned for his combat ability. . equal? I'm not going to bring up every little thing, but knowing their stories in full this just seems like guess-work.

You say "knowing the full story" without using the full story - glossing over everything else in DD1+DD2 by hinging solely on one element of his intro, which predates a hundred campaigns worth of experience. MAA's hero-shrine (by itself) boils down to him wanting to be a leader so bad that he talked or intimidated his way into command - and failed miserably due to having absolutely no battle experience. His subsequent regret and wounded pride then pushed him into a lifetime pursuit of death on the battlefield as penance for his mistakes, but like many "jaded old veteran" tropes, he always seemed to survive despite his desire to be punished, gaining the most battle experience across the entire franchise's roster by a country mile. By the time MAA and CRU can be properly compared, MAA is hailed as "an old, battle-scarred veteran (who) has seen enough war and bloodshed to last more than a dozen lifetimes", and is now a more accomplished and experienced leader, albeit just a Sergeant, with up to a hundred campaigns under his belt (if the Ancestor is to be believed). Conversely, you are referring to tactics purely from a leadership perspective - which has its own categories and scores. In general, most battle edits treat Tactics much like Battle IQ - the execution of strategy, getting from A-to-B, thinking on the fly, acting in the moment - ie. not leadership specific.

​@@RopeDrink ​ I would like to point out that seeing enough bloodshed to last however long doesn't mean it was the enemies blood- or that you caused it. Being a battle scared veteran doesn't make you some notorious victor. It doesn't even mean hes seen more than one battle, just one, bloody, awful big one. MAAs whole story is that he sucks, and is trying to do everything he can to make it up. We're comparing a man who cannot live with his faliure to a man who cannot live without victory.

Once again, "a hundred campaigns", with your comment glossing over the MAA's official comic, design sketches, class and skill descriptions, barks, narration, shrine dialogue, and more, all pointing to a lifetime of trench warfare. Most of your earlier points about Crusader go towards feats and statements, which he won without hesitation. In fact, Crusader beats most of the roster in that regard -- but when it comes to Tactics (in its most valuable form during a compositional 1v1 battle), it's a draw, plain and simple.

Glad you liked it, Ibra!

Hey Edward. HAX (or 'hacks') is a catch-all term for abilities that can bypass something the other character has. However, that explanation is primarily used for power scaling. For these edits, I also lean on in-game mechanics too. For example, mechanically, MAA's PROT and BLOCK isn't as efficient against DoT's, and CRU has access to Burn, which will tick for full value regardless of almost all defensive bonuses in the game. Conversely, in terms of scaling HAX, CRU has things such as anti-healing (which would reduce MAA's DD2 healing combos), light / holy / fire manipulation (almost bordering on magic), and various other aspects that the MAA doesn't have at baseline. Hope that helps!

@@RopeDrink ohh.. i get it, thanks

@@Edwardo8822 You're welcome!

That's kind of you to say, but in fairness, battle edits about Darkest Dungeon cover a super-small niche.

Ironically, I've been meaning to reinstall Nuclear Throne for a few more games this year. It's still one of the smoothest rogue shooters on the market today.

There are no outright bad heroes in Darkest Dungeon. Some are merely better at certain tasks than others. Leper has the short end of the stick in terms of pure meta, but meta isn't required to stomp through either game.

@@RopeDrink i prefer Leper but Vestal is great to

Thanks, Hzon! It's quite different from my usual edits - a bit of an experiment, really - so I'm glad you liked it!

That's... not the word I would have used, but I appreciate the comment! ;)

Thank you kindly, Omid! Hope you enjoyed :)