Going blow-for-blow against the horrors in Darkest Dungeon 2 is a recipe for disaster. Ultimately, even if the team wins one fight, they're going to be confronted with more and more challenges until the wheels of their stagecoach come off.
The Highwayman makes his presence felt in an important way. By providing loads of damage, he becomes a battle-ender in Darkest Dungeon 2 which can prevent the team from taking on too much damage. With the right build, he's a core member of the squad and key to finishing runs alive.
Skills
- Wicked Slice
- Highway Robbery
- Open Vein
- Double Cross
- Take Aim
The Highwayman can choose between a mix of ranged and melee abilities. Since the paths encourage focusing on only one or the other, this build opts for the Highwayman's melee damage which is a few points above his ranged damage.
This build is not designed to be a tank. A great Plague Doctor build can heal the hero but he should stick to being just behind the main tank at the front. Skills like Highway Robbery and Take Aim sound like ranged attacks but they are not, so they will receive the buffs to melee damage abilities.
Path
- Yellowhand
Sharpshot boosts the Highwayman's ranged attack but at the expense of melee attack damage and speed. At Rank 4, Rogue cuts the Highwayman's damage in half, making the character almost useless. For this build, Yellowhand is clearly the way to go.
The health buff helps out the character who is second from the front. This path also enables the Highwayman to steal positive buffs instead of just getting rid of them as well as delete an opponent's protective buffs. Popular characters from the franchise are coming back and the Highwayman looks to become a fan favorite with this path.
Trinkets
- Tormenting Locket
- Cursed Coin
Most trinkets come with negatives and these two are no different. Tormenting locket will add a stack of stress for every ranged skill used and that gets completely negated. The Cursed Coin penalizes crit chance when in possession of over 100 Relics. By spending at the Inn, this penalty can also be of no effect.
The perks are outrageous. The Highwayman gets boosts to his Open Vein and Highway Robbery skills, already staples of the rotation. The extra crit damage and regular damage per buff are equally welcome. The game has some dangerous curses but none of them can contain what the Highwayman can do.
Combat Items
- Laudanum
It might feel odd to carry around an item that removes stress on a primary damage-dealer but one of the Highwayman's weaknesses is having no consistent way to manage stress. Plenty of opponents will skip the tank and attack the second in line, meaning he'll be racking up some stress counts.
Being able to reduce stress is critical to the build. Having a support character that can help out with this is also a wise idea. So long as the character doesn't have a meltdown, monsters will find they don't stand a chance against the Highwayman's blades.
Darkest Dungeon 2 is available now for PC.