Darkest Dungeon II – Plague Doctor Hero Paths

Red Hook Studios’ Darkest Dungeon II, currently in early access on the Epic Games Store, apparently features an extra layer of character customization in the form of Hero Paths that ensure that characters of the same class can differ greatly from one another. As such, we now get this article on the game’s website highlighting the Hero Paths available to the Plague Doctor class. Check it out:

Hero Paths

With the Beasts and Burdens update, we introduced randomized specializations to heroes at the Crossroads, called Hero Paths.

Some paths are available for all heroes: Wanderers appear as a default and confer no special bonuses. Apprentices have 1 of their skills already mastered. Rarest of all, Masters will have every skill upgraded already. Additionally, there are two paths per class that are unique to that hero type. Paths are persistent, passive buffs/debuffs that encourage different playstyles and party comps.

Going forward, each week we will talk about the Hero Paths that are unique to each Hero, starting with…

The Plague Doctor.

“What is a physician if not a student of decay?”

Surgeon or Alchemist?

The Surgeon Path grants the Plague Doctor increased health and specialization in melee, bleeding and healing. This gives her the opportunity to be in the front, doing a good amount of damage while still being a useful healer.

The Surgeon Path’s HP boost makes the Plague Doctor better suited to the front ranks than usual. Positioning her in Rank 2 grants her access to her enhanced Incision and Indiscriminate Science, Cause of Death, and a couple of utility Skills for the rare occasion she isn’t cutting her way to victory. This also frees up the back row Ranks that she would normally occupy herself, allowing for some unusual party compositions.

The increased damage on Incision makes it an ideal direct damage attack that still leaves a lasting DOT if the target survives. With the right boosts to damage or a CRIT, the Mastered version can fell a lot of smaller monsters in a single hit. Pair her with a Rank 1 Hellion for a solid one-two punch of melee damage and Bleed that can quickly wear down hefty targets or set them up for an explosive Cause of Death.

Did You Know: The melee damage bonus also applies to her Relationship attacks!

While the boost to healing makes Battlefield Medicine a little bit better, it really shines when applied to Indiscriminate Science. Consider pairing her with the Man-at-Arms. Using Defender on a Hero at Death’s Door not only protects them but also allows all of those Guard Tokens – along with the Weak Tokens from Death’s Door – to be consumed by Indiscriminate Science for a potent heal!

When choosing Trinkets for the Surgeon Path, you can get a lot of bang for your buck out of simpler trinkets such as Greater Gnarly Knuckles and Greater Hale Draught, further amplifying Incision’s damage while bolstering the Plague Doctor’s survivability with additional HP. If you like to gamble with your relationships, the Grim Mask provides a huge boost to melee damage.

If your Plague Doctor is doing her stabbing from the Rank 3, you can more safely dedicate both Trinket slots to enhancing damage.

If healing is her primary party role as a Surgeon, Trinkets that improve Speed and Stun RES will help keep her ready to go when the need arises.

The Alchemist Path focuses the Plague Doctor on toxicity, buffing her Blight and increasing resistances and making her more a more well rounded support unit. Add a Blight trinket, such as the Corrupting Cleaver, and she’s unstoppable.

The bonus to CRIT on this path is no slouch. Landing a CRIT with a Blight Skill not only ignores an extra 20% of the enemy’s RES but also increases the duration of the Blight by an additional 2 rounds. A Mastered Noxious Blast CRIT can potentially be followed by a 30 point Cause of Death! Unfortunately, the low HP of the Alchemist Path makes her ill-suited to survival in the Rank 2 position required for Cause of Death but a good Man-at-Arms or a Taunting Hellion can potentially keep her safe. You’ll have to weigh the risk/reward carefully.

Alternatively, remaining in the back ranks and hurling Noxious Blast and Plague Grenades with abandon can quickly overwhelm monsters who lack extremely high Blight RES to counter the Path’s bonuses.

While the Alchemist Path does result in low HP, the RES bonuses go an extremely long way towards protecting the Plague Doctor from DOT damage. Ounce of Prevention can easily max out those resistances for several rounds, leaving her with little to fear but direct damage itself.

The Greater Hale Draught trinket can be useful on this path; its HP bonus is calculated from the Plague Doctor’s base HP rather than the Path’s reduced value. The Trinket consequently offsets a large portion of the penalty.

If the Path’s inherent penalty to enemy Blight RES isn’t enough for you, Trinkets such as the Corrupted Bile Gland or Corrupting Cleaver will eliminate almost any chance of the Blight being resisted. For fans of Plague Grenade, Trinkets like the Sparkleball, Disarming Dagger, and Staggering Striker have a chance to apply their effects to each target individually, letting you stack some additional negative Tokens on monsters while inflicting all that Blight.

Of course, you could always try pairing the Galvanizing Goblet with the Befuddling Sundial if you really want to boost survivability without sacrificing your offense!