Darkest Dungeon 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the challenging and atmospheric dungeon crawler, features an array of unique and interesting pets that can accompany players' parties on their perilous journey, each with its own unique abilities and advantages. While some pets can provide powerful bonuses and synergies, others may not be as helpful or can even be downright detrimental to a team.
While some pets may seem underwhelming at first glance, they may have hidden synergies that make them more useful in certain situations. On the other hand, some pets may seem powerful on paper, but their bonuses may not be worth the cost of bringing them along. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each pet, players can optimize their team's effectiveness and increase their chances of success, in even the most challenging battles Darkest Dungeon 2 can throw at them.
10 Shrieker Chick
As adorable as it is, the Shrieker Chick is arguably the worst pet in the game. It gives players a +2% CRIT per Scouting Gear item equipped and +2 quantity of Looted Baubles. Scouting gear itself isn't that good, because scouting isn't too important, so it's not really worth bringing along and is completely irrelevant on the Mountain.
The Shrieker Chick is a fun call-back to the special boss in the first game but unfortunately doesn't have much else going for it.
9 Crocodilian Hatchling
The Crocodilian Hatchling often fails to inspire. It provides players with a 2% bonus Damage for moving in battle, but there's a 20% chance they'll lose 1 Speed in the battle too. This ability is particularly disappointing, as it often doesn't pay off quickly enough in short battles. The speed debuff is unnecessary, given how weak the bonus damage is on its own.
Where the Crocodilian Hatchling does particularly shine, however, is in longer fights like bosses. Despite this, unless players are running a team composition that specifically relies on moving around a lot, the bonus damage just isn't worth it.
8 Crimson Tick
The Crimson Tick has a particularly interesting ability. It gives a player's party a chance to produce The Blood (5%) on Killing Blow. The Blood is a rare combat item that provides players with additional Strength, Speed, and CRIT chance, but at the cost of Horror.
While The Blood itself can be beneficial, as long as players have some reliable Stress management, the Tick's chance to produce it is low, making this pet unreliable. A buff to make the Crimson Tick more consistent would be helpful.
7 Larval Carrion Eater
The Larval Carrion Eater's power is pretty underwhelming. It gives players the ability to Heal 15% of their life and gain the Block status effect whenever they kill a Corpse. However, the heal from the Corpse doesn’t work on corpse destruction, and players have to hit the Corpse directly to kill it. When players don't have a reliable Corpse killing method, it will take them at least two turns to take out a Corpse and acquire the bonus.
Although the ability will save players some resources in the long run, if there are already Corpses on the battlefield, they're probably winning anyway. Not only this, but the pet is completely redundant in boss fights. One redeeming quality, however, is that the Larval Carnion Eater does particularly shine in the Foeter.
6 Unnatural Owlet
This pet is good for teams that can put out lots of Debuffs, as it offers +5% Debuff RES Piercing per Tinker's Gear Equipped and an increased chance of producing items from Stagecoach Items. This can help players make lots of Traps and produce useful Combat Items, but it's not as effective if the team doesn't have many Debuffs.
As the team can put out lots of Debuffs, being able to land them consistently is excellent. However, the Owlet is not as good if the team doesn't have many Debuffs, and provides less value in shorter runs.
5 Reanimated Rabbit
The Reanimated Rabbit offers a lot of synergy for players. It supplies a party with +1 Speed per Food Gear item equipped and +1 Max HP per 4 Food Items in the inventory. Food is pretty common in this game, so being able to turn that into bonus health is very helpful, and can help to beef up a party.
Getting Max HP particularly helps low HP characters as it makes heals more potent for them. Speed is always great, and the more Food players have, the more Resolute chance they have. Overall, the Rabbit is a solid pick.
4 Orphan Wolf Cub
The Orphan Wolf Cub is the first pet players get in Darkest Dungeon 2 and is particularly good for new players, as it's easy to use and straightforward. This pet offers a bonus of +5% Stress Resistance per Luxury Gear item equipped and a really helpful bonus of +10% Positive Relationship Chance.
This is great for players looking to maximize their party's relationships. Luxury Gears are already quite good, which means that the Orphan Wolf Cub has a lot of synergies and can be a great addition to new players' parties.
3 Pygmy Pliskin
The Pygmy Pliskin is a great pet for players looking to boost their party's healing abilities. This pet offers a bonus of +5% Healing Received from Skills per Medical Gear item equipped. Additionally, it will heal a random Hero after each Location for 5% of their total HP.
The Pliskin has a lot of synergy with Medical Gear, which is already quite good on its own. Overall, it can be a great addition to the team, especially for players who are looking to focus on healing.
2 Mucilaginous Slime
This pet is great for blocking Debuffs, which is incredibly important in Darkest Dungeon 2 as there are a lot of Debuffs enemies can put on a party. Players get +5% RES to Debuff per Road Gear item equipped and an increased chance of looting items from road debris.
All of the Road Gear is pretty good and Debuff RES is incredibly important because of the amount of Debuffs in the game. Therefore, being able to block them consistently is excellent, and there's lots of stackable potential. Additionally, road item looting is already quite common, so making it even more consistent is superb.
1 Shambler's Spawn
The Shambler's Spawn is great for players looking for flexibility in their builds. It counts as a Dark Impulse for the entire team, unlocks the potential of Cultist Trinkets, and provides +200% Cultist Encounters when Location Scouting. This pet offers lots of flexibility in builds. There are some superb Cultist Trinkets, and being able to equip them without the drawbacks of a Dark Impulse is a huge benefit.
However, all of this comes at the cost of not being able to scout, apart from Cultist Encounters. This trade-off is huge, but Scouting isn't too important, and the effects gained are far too excellent to complain.
Darkest Dungeon 2 is available now on PC.
Source: Darkest Dungeon Wiki