Darkest Dungeon II – The Jester Hero Paths

If there was one Darkest Dungeon class I didn’t want to see returning in Darkest Dungeon II, it would be the Jester. But since this clunky sickle-wielding lute player is apparently back, we might as well learn a thing or two about the Hero Paths that allow him to become a Virtuoso or a Soloist.

Check it out:

The Jester.

“Unchained melodies, played feverishly with lute and blade.”

Virtuoso or Soloist?

The Virtuoso Path utilizes the Jester’s musical acumen to soothe the party and keep meltdowns at bay. The Virtuoso boasts improved stress healing and resistance, higher speed, and larger health pool. The price is a reduced Bleed, Blight, and Burn resistance, however.

Virtuoso Jesters have a chance to negate Stress damage to their allies, further amplifying their usual Stress control capabilities and occasionally sparing them a turn of maintenance work. The Path’s increased Speed is useful for first strike tactics but the HP buff, while helpful, is somewhat offset by the Jester’s extreme vulnerability to DOTs.

Since the Virtuoso Path penalizes neither Bleeds nor damage, this path can support any Jester playstyle you normally enjoy. Like Bleeding monsters dry? Grab a Corrupted Bile Gland. Prefer to dance through the lines while you deal damage? Try the Grim Mask to strengthen your blade. Prefer to use your Jester as support? Clenching Claws will keep him in his place while he buffs the party.

No amount of Trinketing is really going to offset the lost resistances across the board, so keeping Dodge up with Razor’s Wit or keeping enemies Taunted with a Hellion or Leper can go a long way towards keeping your Jester safe. If you’re lucky, you can offset the penalties on a Biome-by-Biome basis – e.g. using the Kitchen Knives in the Foetor – or rely on a Plague Doctor’s Ounce of prevention to counter the majority of the loss. A little luck with the Sneaker’s Standard can do as well.

The Jester is likely too fast for anybody to assist him with Combo in the first round of battle but Finale can still make for a solid first strike to remove low-health targets like Livestock. Less monsters on the field means less chance he’s eating DOTs!

The Soloist Path focuses on the Jester’s cutting performance to inflict damage on the enemies, giving him increased damage, bleed chance, and crit on bleed skills. Even though the Soloist’s Max HP and SPD is diminished, having a Jester with strong offensive power to take down enemies makes it worthwhile.

Soloist Jesters are glass cannons, capable of dealing out Bleeds and respectable direct damage at a severe cost to their already limited HP. Razor’s Wit and Fade to Black don’t gain much damage from the buffs but they still provide useful Dodge and Blind Tokens. Slice Off and Harvest shine for dishing out the DOTs and Finale’s damage output, particularly when Combo is involved, is staggeringly high.

The Speed debuff can actually work to the Jester’s advantage, giving a chance for a faster Hero – a Highwayman with Tracking Shot, for instance – to Combo mark a target before the Jester’s Finale.

The Soloist Path grants enough of a buff to Bleed that you can probably forgo Bleed Chance Trinkets unless you really want to hedge your bets, in which case the Corrupted Bile Gland can close the remaining distance.

The usual damager boosters – Gnarly Knuckles or Sharpness Charms – will serve well if Finale is your Jester’s focus. The Busker’s Haul gives you a great chance of following up with an additional action after Finale scores a kill but it’s less useful if you’re focusing on the DOT end of this Path as monsters slain by DOTs won’t trigger it.

Pairing the Jester with somebody who can tank, like the Man-at-Arms, will help keep him alive long enough to do his job if you don’t want to use Trinket slots to offset his HP penalty. Lean into that glass cannon life and Bleed all that stand before you!