As anyone who’s ventured into this fiendish dungeon crawler will know, Darkest Dungeon is not a title for the faint-hearted. Its RPG trappings boast more RNG than your average Pokémon battle, and its many ghastly monsters are determined to wipe out your party in the grimmest ways possible. You wanted an easy, relaxing ride? This isn’t the game for you.
To survive in Red Hook’s dark, gothic hit, you’ll need a good working knowledge of each of the game’s hero classes, what makes them tick, and how best to utilize them in a party. The Man-at-Arms, for instance, is a wily old warrior who can be a huge asset to your campaign in a variety of ways. Let’s take a look at how best to utilize the class.
10 Firstly, Understand How He’s Designed
In some RPGs, players are free to customize their characters’ appearance and tailor their strengths and weaknesses to their own tastes. Darkest Dungeon does allow for a variety of strategic approaches, but, for the most part, you’ll struggle—even more than you already will with this game—if you don’t grasp what a hero class is “meant” to do.
The Man-at-Arms, as his armor and weighty shield may suggest, is a stalwart unit who protects and buffs his allies. This is the primary role you’ll want to keep in mind and spec him for, though he also has a nice secondary offensive role, but more on that later. It’s all about preparing for the mission ahead and adapting to the situation.
9 Always Keep His Weaknesses In Mind
As a general rule, the Man-at-Arms wants to be supporting his party. Drawing heat away from them by marking himself with Retribution or guarding with Defender is a key aspect of this.
The trouble is, though, that damage can be stacked on a party member much faster than you’d ever think, especially in champion level dungeons. Even the Man-at-Arms’ large health pool can be whittled down, especially if the critical hits start to fly. This hero has no way of healing himself, meaning that you can’t rely on his supportive abilities alone to keep his allies alive throughout the expedition.
8 Make Sure He’s In A Party That Makes Good Use Of His Buffs
The Man-at-Arms can serve well as the backbone of many parties, but, unlike some tanky characters, he isn’t a simple meatshield. Between Command and Bolster, he can also endow a wide range of buffs on the whole party.
Will the Dodge bonus from Bolster be more useful, or the ACC and CRT boost from Command? This depends on the setup you’re running. For the Man-at-Arms, in particular, it’s important to have all your skills leveled up and available to swap between depending on the situation—though you’re stuck to four moves during combat. By the same token, squishy attackers and more fragile parties, in general, will greatly benefit from his ability to guard them.
7 Make Sure He’s Supported Too
As we’ve previously mentioned, the Man-at-Arms isn’t able to heal himself in the same way that similarly tanky classes such as the Leper can. It’s important that he’s kept healthy, though, because he’s often going to be absorbing damage for his friends.
When putting a team composition together, don’t let the fact that the Man-at-Arms is a supportive character prevent you from supporting him, too. A party with a Vestal or Occultist will take a lot of the pressure off of this stalwart soldier, allowing battles to run smoothly—as far as the challenging combat in this title ever can, that is.
6 Don’t Think Of Him As A Melee-Only Warrior
New players would be forgiven for parking their Man-at-Arms in the first slot of the party and going to town. After all, he’s a hulking tank with a mace and shield. He belongs in the front line, right?
While this class can indeed be a mace-whirling, bearded agent of death and destruction, he’s also clearly a supportive powerhouse. His primary attacking ability, Crush, is very basic and doesn’t have the raw damage output that other more offensive classes do. Most of the time, he’s a handy secondary attacker, and that’s about the extent of it.
5 Don’t Neglect His Melee Capacity Either, Though
There’s an important caveat to be made here: this wizened older warrior might struggle if positioned as a party’s main offensive force, but this doesn’t mean you want to count him out entirely in this regard. That mace isn’t just for show, you know, it’s for concussing eldritch horrors from the depths of Lovecraft’s nightmares, as well.
Crush might be average as far as damage output goes, but it’s able to hit the first three rows from the first two. That’s a good deal more versatile than a lot of the more powerful attacks Darkest Dungeon’s heroes can muster. A timely Crush can turn the tide of a battle by eliminating a crucial enemy and pile up damage in general, so never forget you have the option.
4 Make Careful And Tactical Use Of His Camping Buffs
On longer expeditions, camping can be the difference between glorious victory and devastating defeat, especially when there’s a tough boss lurking at the end of a mission. Once again, the Man-at-Arms brings his versatile range of helpful abilities to the table here too.
There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding which camping skills to use. If an enemy/boss that deals heavy single-target damage is just in the next room, Maintain Equipment goes very well with a Defender-oriented Man-at-Arms or an offensive one. If stacking Dodge will be a greater benefit, Tactics will help the whole party, while Weapons Practise will buff everyone’s power (with a high chance for a CRT boost too). Planning and adapting on the fly is key to success in Darkest Dungeon.
3 Make Sure His Trinkets Match His Specific Role
Depending on how far you’ve progressed through the game, a range of powerful Trinkets will be available to you. Which would we recommend for a Man-at-Arms? Well, with versatile characters, it depends on how you intend to use them.
A more standard tank would appreciate the Longevity Eyepatch or anything similar that helps with PROT or HP. The Tough Ring gives a very nice buff at the cost of some damage. Standard offensive Trinkets such as the Ancestor’s Pen—if you’ve made it that far—can also be advantageous if you’re taking that route. Finally, a buff-oriented Man-at-Arms gets a huge advantage from the Guardian’s Shield but must be in the fourth slot to use it.
2 Try To Match His Quirks To The Rest Of The Loadout
The final customizable element of a hero to take into account is Quirks. These provide traits, similar to the class abilities of Fire Emblem, that either boost or hinder your character and can be either locked in or removed at the Sanitarium.
In a similar vein to Trinkets, the right Quirks are hugely beneficial for a Man-at-Arms. Tough gives him +10%, Hard Skinned gives his PROT the same boost and Warrior of Light adds the same amount to damage for those who always keep the light topped up. If you’re shooting for CRIT, damage, or Dodge, you can hope for the appropriate Quirks and should immediately remove ones that hinder your gameplan.
1 Play To His Versatility
The Man-at-Arms is a hero that can be vital to a player’s success. He can pull your team through an expedition in a variety of ways, whether through absorbing damage with Guard, outright preventing it via Dodge boosts, or doing the heavy lifting himself, either directly or through Riposte.
The key thing to remember, however, is that he isn’t limited to any one of these roles. Don’t be afraid to tinker o his job from almost any position and can stun or knockback foes in a pinch. He’s got a great toolbox, so don’t get too flustered if plan A doesn’t work out. Not while you’ve got a Man-at-Arms on your side!
NEXT: Fallout 4: 10 Pro-Tips For Using Power Armor
