How Good is the Man-at-Arms?

Darkest Dungeon class guides are here! Filthy discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the various DD classes both in general and with the Crimson Court DLC.
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[@skelskeleton]

I once killed a brigand pounder with bellowing. Nothing says fun like an elderly man yelling at a medieval tank loud enough that it physically falls apart.

[@JoeLund]

I killed the Necromancer with his Bello once and I was so happy.

[@rcmini1000]

local man yells at heavy explosive ordnance

[@simonosen2064]

where is the local man meme originally from

[@IAmTheStig32]

FUS RO DAH

[@realhumanbean7915]

Simon Osen The simpsons

[@misteral9045]

A seasoned veteran of war is one of the best classes in a game centered around dungeon battles. Makes sense.

[@WillYum97]

Jay Blodget A lawman and his dog is one of the best classes in a game centered around dungeons, makes sense. How does the doggo not break her jaw from all that biting D:

[@GutsOfRivia]

imagine if he was in his prime

[@zaratrustamaster]

Give the doggo a treat and it can bite the shit out of bigger undead dogs and abyssal horrors! Also...a nun holding a mace is one of the best classes in a game centered around dungeon battles... makes...sense? Or a bloodthirsty, masochistic religious-obsessed nutjob... or a primitive, drunk, godforsaking barbarian chick... Really, when it comes to DD nothing and everything makes sense at the same time. Which is part of its beauty

[@klumpos]

Or a man with a lute and a farming implement

[@Maedeiros]

@@GutsOfRiviaIf he was in his prime he wouldn't have all that experience

[@sezarsezar4052]

i think a guide on party building is needed

[@alfarabi73]

Agreed. I'd also like to see a Trinket/Quirks guide.

[@jaegybomb]

The bigger problem with mark is all the stuff that matters has multiple attacks per turn and mark becomes really inefficient really fast.

[@agamemnonofmycenae5258]

-Bring at least one stunner -Have a decent damage dealer

[@alfarabi73]

Thanks; this is kinda useful. I must say, however, a lot of what he uses is not needed for most "average" difficulty runs - which is what most folks will aim to do (e.g. so no need for Stress healers every run).

[@agamemnonofmycenae5258]

Stress healers are a must in long dungeons.You can go around it in short or medium,but in dark run you will have to spend money to fix em in Hamlet later.Bringing stress heal is easily 3-6k gold saved on stress heal in town.

[@seimouralrom]

Remember kids. When wolves come throwing bombs at your door, bring the man-at-arms. The old man gives no shits about explosions.

[@gob384]

Yeah, when he came I brought Highwayman and Man At Arms (Along with a Plague Doctor and Vestal cause it was my first time going in and it was short so I didn't care about stress) He used his bombs so I was all like, ok, I will just riposte this with my Highwayman. Imminently fell to deaths door. Then I was like well crap, ggs Dismas it was nice knowing you, but I guess I will use guard (without knowing too much about the protection buff) I guard stack to 90% and that attack that did 39 damage does 4. I got through the entire fight without loosing anyone. That is when I finally found the power of the old man.

[@faerie7dragon]

That's how he survived his Story comic, he gives no fucks about explosions, the Old Seargant had it worse.

[@gabrielkerne9175]

I brought him along with 80% prot, dude protected ppl from every single bomb taking less then like 10 dmg each time, I love it.

[@tomaszjurczak7256]

Old man yells at skeletons

[@Manglet762]

I can picture him yelling "Get the FUCK off my lawn!"

[@difenderu]

Madness.

[@tru8637]

There can be no bravery ~ without madness.

[@damyzs]

I love how you always indirectly shittalk the Leper when describing the abilities

[@bassmage4666]

If I yelled at a corpse and it exploded, I'd feel pretty good about myself.

[@powersmurf2433]

Fun Fact: Ripostes also ignore guards. So if a guarded enemy attacks for example a HM with riposte than the enemy still gets hit by the riposte and not the one who guards him.

[@dehydrogenaza0]

Lol randomly dissing the Leper in an Man-at-Arms video, never change.

[@bobbob5007]

Przemysław Szymański the lepor is the worse tank and even with bounty hunter dps wise makes him the worse melee by a lot lol he deserves the diss

[@keystonelyte]

The Leper is good at one thing. Killing bosses.

[@arthursimsa9005]

@@keystonelyte Not the hag though

[@keystonelyte]

@@arthursimsa9005 Leper can one shot the cauldron, so they still have their use in that fight

[@art-cs6us]

@@keystonelyte eh u tend to focus down hag rather than cauldron

[@Zorayah]

He protec, he attac, but he also bello.

[@sidgar1]

Such might

[@lilpotayto]

Don't you mean; "He protec, he attac, but he buffs also stac."

[@whymee123]

bello, is it me youre looking for?

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

@5:59 The stress healing comes from the thrill of defeating or inflicting great damage upon an enemy. A corpse is already defeated, it wouldn't make sense to get a stress healing from quite literally beating a dead horse.

[@M0torsagmannen]

clearly you haven't felt the catharsis of caving in the skulls of your fallen enemies!

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

Motorsagmannen Is that a quote from the game? "Cause it could be.

[@M0torsagmannen]

CidGuerreiro1234 haha no, but it does fit with the overall theme and setting

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

"The catharsis of caving in the skulls of your fallen enemies" really sounds like something the Ancestor would say, lol. Well done, sir.

[@seiban8455]

I've got to admit, 'never going to have actions' is a fair description for death.

[@Rydoste]

0:50 to skip the disclaimer

[@joepaulukonis9525]

The hero we needed.

[@cloudtf458]

But not the one we deserve

[@KoboldCommando]

And 1:22 if you're capable of reading spreadsheets

[@DentonX12]

I approve of this message.

[@IamNCortex]

you should do a similiar video to How Good Is but about enemies

[@BeatPls]

EE ROCKK how dangerous is x?

[@TechPriestFred]

How Dangerous is Wilbur?

[@spectator3272]

This needs to happen

[@pamesman]

RNGrino Kripperino I killed him first turn ezy pezy

[@Timon-IrishFolk]

THAT'S THE SHIT!

[@Reffie2]

4 lepers disliked this video

[@jhudielgabrielsabelino9278]

35 now including me. Leper is life

[@kostasxanthos2901]

When you want to yell someone to death,bellow is your friend.When you want surprise round every round,bellow is your friend.When Leper leaks into your class' guide video,bellow is also your friend.

[@RhyainnStone]

These vids are great! I'm getting so much better at DD thanks to you! Beat LV 5 Fanatic yesterday. :)

[@steffensimon2949]

I hate that dude! Had to run last time at Champion level :( GJ!

[@Arturas002]

@@steffensimon2949 "dude"

[@gg2fan]

I get the sense that this game would be much more fun if the action economy was spread out more. As it is there are a TON of great skills that just never get used because they're not worth the real estate when there are better or even more necessary options. I also think three rounds is WAY too short, it makes debuffs utterly useless against multi-turn bosses and generally makes them less usable. If a dodge debuff lasted for 6 or 8 rounds instead there would be much more compelling arguments for using stuff like that. Man at arms suffers from both these problems, all his awesome buffs never get used because you have to constantly reapply them and he has responsibilities every turn that outweigh them anyway. It makes this game kind of spammy imo.

[@GrNen]

These videos are so good. I'm loving the super in depth analysis! Keep it up!

[@nightgyr]

Filthy Robot, thanks for all your class reviews. Just picked up this game a few weeks back, and your videos have been very helpful, and I realised how deep and advance the combat can be. In the harder dungeons, you have to REALLY understand the classes + group synergy. AMazing game and thank you !

[@BertHeymans]

I really like your analytical approach in these videos! Thank you.

[@OnlyZunkin]

I was looking forward to this one. The man at arms is one of my all time faves.

[@TheNoodleGod9001]

12:18 command has it's uses against the shrieker, as the shrieker has so many turns that dodge debuffs tend to dissipate before you can really do anything with them

[@jpinard]

Man these videos have been excellent and helpful. Wish I'd come across them when I first started playing.

[@theonionigame]

i love how fast these are coming out

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

Retribution is the most useful damn skill in the game. Put it along side guard, and such a devastating blow will never go unpunished. And the self mark is great as well.

[@GentleIceZ]

I just like how with Bellow and Bolster, the Man-at-Arms is basically a Time Mage. Someone make a mod where he gets the purple hat! It'd be adorable! :3

[@jpbd7574]

Stacking Bolster is a very good Strategy you should look into, instead of bellow or defender. The dodge buff gets noticeably high when stacked, and the speed buff assures the teams goes first next round. Much better than defender in tight situations where guarding a character means the two other ones are basically defenseless.

[@nagasuao1129]

When I use my Man-at-arms I also use one of my crusaders which has the holy lance. Man-at-arms starts at pos. 3 and when he uses rampart, he moves pos. 2, crusader to pos. 3 from which he can use holy lance. They synergise fairly well

[@jim83181]

@filthyrobot, your analysis of this game is unmatched. I've watched these class videos a couple times now.

[@FilthyRobot]

I'm really looking forward to DD2 !

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

Filthy's How Good Is series should get some kind of big-time recognition. It's KZbin treasure

[@Maurice040684]

Stacking dodge by using dodge trinkets and two MAAs using Bolster is a viable (I don't say it's the best) strategy against some bosses. I used one Flag, one HWM and two MMAs with this strategy against the Countess and the fight was a piece of cake.

[@TheZoobZoobs]

this guy runs really well with antiquarian when you want to have a loot run

[@joelruvalcaba6282]

Awkward Minds Inc. the collection party run too good. MAA,HM,vestal, Antiquarian. riposte party of dreams

[@gamemaster2638]

Boss killer party: 3 MMA+anyone you like. Before boss fight do camp and use Tactics 3 times. On start of boss battle use Bolster with every MMA. After, you can use Retribution, Crash or Command to win. Main point of this strategy is very high dodge. Enemies will have hard time to land a blow and Retribution let you counter any attacking attempt. Only Thing from the Stars is weakness for this party, because Return to the Stars and his debuffs ignores dodge.

[@mirion3383]

You can just see the happiness on his face when he says that it's gonna be a contrast after reviewing the Leper.

[@BenEphla442]

Thank you, very helpful

[@sgraves6408]

you stress relief from any aoe that hits a corpse and an enemy, its not just bellow.

[@thegreattsbob]

Crits* and I'm pretty sure we all got that.

[@avalon8310]

Well, to be fair, Filthy apparently didn't.

[@sgraves6408]

pretty sure in context, everyone knew I meant crits, but yes, I didn't exactly state that in my post.

[@thegreattsbob]

I can't really say that for sure, he was speaking specifically about bellow. In any case AOE crits on corpses healing stress is probably a bug.

[@ryanlilienthal8741]

yo so been watching your class review vids and i have tried some of the strategy's and now its like playing the game on ez mode

[@stephenmoney4722]

all of your videos are so helpful man

[@FilthyRobot]

Thanks!

[@zimnylech527]

Retribution is actually amazing when you're bringing an Antiquarian. 1st round: Antiquarian casts Protect me! on MaA, MaA uses Retribution. 2nd round: MaA stuns, Antiquarian does whatever. Repeat. With this tactic you essentially maintain a guard and riposte on two characters while still being able to stun/heal/damage in between.

[@harkthestormer]

Granted you can do the same with a Highwayman, which does more damage, and in the actual damage regard the highwayman Antiquarian combo is much better

[@davidbayley4785]

The Shrieker stole my Man at Arms Crimson Court trinket before I even got to use it and I don't even have level 5 characters to go fight it. So much salt.

[@sleep3417]

The trinket is great even without the crimson curse. Just send a bunch of tanky characters and a flagellant to survive long enough for your trinkets.

[@dragensrul]

You don't have to kill the Shrieker or the nest to get your trinkets back. All you have to do is survive the encounter.

[@davidbayley4785]

Ah, appreciate it. Thanks.

[@awsomomo]

Whenever i lose stuff to the shreiker i just send 4 level 0's and pray one comes back woth the stuff. Works like 70 percent of the time

[@garrhettroebuck8402]

I love the Man-At-Arms and the fact that he will go with the A-Bomb unlike some of the other tanky characters (looking at you Leper and Crusader) just makes him even better.

[@thomasvanwonterghem1498]

I got so high when Playing this game that I started crying for 15 mins cause my Leper died

[@manlet_king]

By far my favorite hero, not just gameplay wise but looks as well. My current D&D character draws inspiration from Man at arms. The ultimate tanky/buff/stun boi

[@jodyrappin]

Actually I like command because it allows you to hit high dodge targets. Shout also does that, but it can miss and not land the dodge debuff, but yeah shout is usually better.

[@stevenhetzel6483]

I just started and felt like this character was incredible. Glad to see I'm not as terrible as I thought initially.

[@cubandarknez]

these vids are awesome!

[@SlavicusVile]

Quality options: 144p 360p 1080pHD60fps Seems legit.

[@GK_GAMES]

typical youtube

[@SuicideDeathCommando]

Awesome guide, commenting for the algorithm

[@sylvananas7923]

Man i love the MAA soooo much,thanks to him my crimson court campaign was not that hard

[@dorsiaonfriday5803]

Hey man I just wanted to say that your videos are amazing and they are a big help. Thanks for taking the time!

[@FilthyRobot]

[@WeedSmoker69]

'or you killed them outright, which means they're never going to have more actions' damn. that was deep

[@steubenbreunden]

I'm infinitely sad they removed the damage from Bellow...

[@Telgrom]

funny you explained use him at the prophet i used him with a leper a vestal and a flagelant (because i wanted all 3 wood pieces for gold (lvl 5 boss with no light and medium difficulty)

[@nicolem2576]

Man at arms is definitely my favorite character.

[@TheHalogen131]

All into formation! We are made INVINCIBLE!

[@RussianSmacker]

retribution also gives you taunt, makes it much more useful

[@brooklynpl6069]

I like him, because he is quite complex champ. You can do quite a lot, and do a few combos.

[@brothermutant7370]

Hey Filthy, are you gonna revamp these vids for the newer changes to the characters, trinkets, quirks, etc.?

[@patricktan7120]

Omg finally someone that respects bellow

[@GoodVulture]

i'd love to see these updated for the color of madness patch please rip bellow crits :(

[@RenegadeY]

Will you ever do any team comp guides?

[@lulbat8714]

what's your opinion of the guardian shield (man at arms trinket)? is using him in position 4 as strictly a tank via the defender skill a viable strategy with this trinket?

[@pyguy7]

"Let's keep on this hype train. It's such a nice refreshing change of pace after recording a Leper video where everything is Shit" Oh Damn that burned

[@Detector1977]

easily the best

[@wackyiowa724]

I HAD NO CLUE BELLOW HIT EVERYONE! I thought it was horrible because originally I thought it only hit one!

[@tsui1024]

I think Man at Arms is one of the best classes in the game. With a Man at Arms some content becomes significantly easier. I always make sure to pick up at least one because of how much impact he has. He is also super versatile and belong in some dodge comps, using riposte to deal damage.

[@everinghall8622]

The man at arms is retardedly good early game, he brings so much versatility that I feel the crusader lacks, but then my crusader is firmly stuck with my jester and graverobber shuffling around for days with holy lance on the back line xD graverobber+jester is one of my favorites too, flash of daggers to strip bleed resist and then harvest to apply huge bleed, amazing bc jester and graverobber act consecutively (graverobber first) and also can shuffle the vestal around to go from tanking and smiting to healing. sadly I made the mistake of having my veteran jester insta gib the little piggy in the prince of pigs fight, RIP my best party

[@foamywebbing1204]

Man at arms, man at arms, man at arms, leper

[@AdeptusForge]

I willingly run bolster for the sheer reason that it makes your guys MUCH less hittable. A stacking +8 dodge that lasts 3 turns means you can keep a solid +16% up almost all of the time with a +8 speed. In the action economy, a turn where an enemy misses their attack is effectively a more effective stun, since it doesn't apply a debuff to resist stuns in future. In addition, it becomes a more consistent way of keeping up pressure when you need to and can't risk a bellow missing. In addition, with other dodge boosters like another man-at-arms, a party can become nigh-unhittable, effectively negating all enemy turns simultaneously. I quite frequently run a Vestal-MaA-MaA-BountyHunter team comp and regularly make short work of complete darkness Long Champion quests. I feel like you should put a little bit more stock into dodge, as it is a VERY powerful stat that you seem to completely ignore, you even ignored it when you mentioned Bellow.

[@anghainguyen9951]

I miss when 2 MAA are enough to make a lot of boss lock like a fool...

[@steveozone4910]

position 4 Man at arms ftw 😀

[@H9O]

Hello! I like ur videos and i ask you 1 idea to talk about, maybe here or in a video or something... Are all the heroes balanced? Is dogde atribute shit?

[@TUX3D0S]

In a lot of his other character vids he talks about how he doesnt care for dodge at all whatsoever unless you can stack it super hard on classes like HM or GR, and even then its still unreliable. He plays on no light, so enemies have +ACC, but even on lower difficulties you'd rather itemize for damage/ACC or HP than dodge because that will save you more HP in the long run.

[@MrAlopex112]

go full protec on man-at arm kill backline use defender on the 2 guy hear the lamentation of the woman while stress/heal :D

[@thomasvanwonterghem1498]

Now I'm back, crying again watching this vid is my last option

[@impossibru7259]

Turns out he's preeeeeettttyy good

[@McTheWarhammer]

Command is good against the Shrieker and his 68 goddamn dodge.

[@vampirel1983]

told you guys.. man at arms, vestal, houndmaster and flagelent... the only one i miss is hellion

[@TenSyc]

RIP bellow

[@lackusshock]

Nothing like shouting an enemy into submission. Or i guess its to death, in this case.

[@peterangel6463]

Hello. Do you have that spreadsheet downloadable anywhere/ Pete

[@anphoneron]

FlippyRobot SkippyRobot - 0:41

[@DarkAngel-jo8ix]

I feel like this video is also putting down lepers

[@Daniel00232]

He got nerfed...sad :'(

[@sevenbrokenbricks]

You mention a Highwayman's riposte vs the Man at Arms' riposte. Would the Man at Arms not be getting about twice as many ripostes as the Highwayman if you alternate Retribution and Guard, since Guarded attacks trigger it as well? Or does that change on higher difficulties?

[@FluffyFractalshard]

those videos are great! more often than not i came to similar conclusions about skills myself :) however i don't get the moves column in your table.. what does it refer to?

[@FilthyRobot]

their ability to move positions

[@FluffyFractalshard]

thanks for the reply! can you further explain that? do you mean move positions through skills or just switch instead of using a skill? and what does the 2,2 stand for exactly?

[@the_brutal_king4314]

I prefer my man at arms in slot 4. Protect and bellow. Would be amazing if Retribution was 4 slot...

[@nikolasversteeg]

Bolster also got a stress % decrease, though it's still kinda meh.

[@xisigma]

"Hitting rank 3 is 10x better than hitting rank 2." thats why i like abom over leper.

[@Mithguar]

I guess bolster would be good on bosses that summon stuff that can hurt you. If you keep debuffing enemies that die often, you might save actions by just buffing your party.

[@TheNetherlandDwarf]

I have a speed 0 man at arms in my run :(

[@whyamievendoingthis...]

He *is* an old man, I suppose :(

[@edenra8734]

Bellow got nerfed already

[@drummingtildeath]

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM DOING

[@virtuelwind9357]

Bellow got nerfed hardcore

[@ciupanezubogdanel]

Well..fuck.. i run my MaA's in possition 4 with Defender, Retribution, Command, and Bolster. I guess i'm doing it wrong then.

[@joelruvalcaba6282]

BogCiu retribution cant be used in spot 4 though?

[@ciupanezubogdanel]

joel ruvalcaba yeah but i put him in pos 4 cause of items. and he only has 3 skills that can be used from pos 4 so i just use retribution when they move him or he gets shufflede

[@garcipat]

Also the shout is a speed boost for the whole party and the speedbuff only for the man at arms

[@thegreendoge]

it would be better if you put some gameplay in the back ground and you show the stats when it is necessary , but in general it pretty helpful

[@darkmatterpancake9824]

tl;dr Man-at-arms is good because even his rarely used combat/camping skills have a niche, and he can protect allies.

[@romekkko]

I love how "leper meme" has born inside our DD family

[@TheMarvelousMeatMan]

So what about a position 4 guardian shield MMA? I usually use him with a hound that dodge tanks and almost never take damage.

[@crilleedara]

I would like to point out though that unlike Bellow, Bolster is guaranteed to always go through, as it can never be resisted like debuffs can (unless your characters are for example Afflicted)