by The Man-at-Arms is hands down the best tanky character in Darkest Dungeon . In case someone is not familiar with the concept of “tank” in video games, these are characters specialized in sustaining a lot of damage and in attracting the attention of enemies so that they are the ones who receive the damage instead of their companions (who usually they will generally resist much less).
This is a character with tremendous stamina and of course the idea is to put him in position 1 so that he can withstand most hits from enemies. But what stands out the most about this is that he can also counterattack the enemies that hit him (thanks to this, even being a tank, he ends up doing a lot of damage) and he can even protect a teammate so that the Man-at-Arms is the one who takes the blows you receive.
The truth is that he is a character that I highly recommend, if I haven’t convinced you yet… keep reading and you’ll see.
BEST COMBAT SKILLS
These are the 4 abilities that we recommend (remember that you can only equip 4):
- Crushing : The standard melee blow of the Man-at-Arms, we can do it as long as we are in positions 1 or 2 and we will hit the enemies of the same positions (the 2 front ones). We will not use it excessively because it has better things, but it is very good to have it for when we have applied the other abilities that we will be commenting on.
- Wall : Ability that can be used in positions 1, 2 and 3 with which we can hit the first 2 enemies. It’s very good mainly because doing it will move us forward, so it’s great when they move the Man-at-Arms; the worst thing would be that they move us to position 4, but that is quite rare to happen. On top of that we’ll deal a little damage to the enemy, displace them and stun them, so not bad.
- Retribution : His best movement without a doubt, we can do it in positions 1, 2 and 3 and it allows us to hit the same enemy positions. The damage is low, but that doesn’t matter, the important thing is that we will activate the thrust, which implies that when an enemy hits us we will make a counterattack. It is a slight damage, but it is passive and the truth is that it ends up noticing a lot; In addition, being in first position will take a lot of hits and therefore activates a lot (it also activates in area attacks). Since it will also attack quite often, there is also a higher chance of getting a crit and a bit of stress healing .
- Defender : It is a buff that we can perform in all positions. We will have to select a teammate (one who is having a hard time or else by default the one in position 2 since he will receive more attacks in general) and we will protect him (the Man-at-Arms will stand in front when he is attacked and will eat him the blow), it will also apply additional Protection to us to endure more. Together with Retribution it’s amazing because since we’ll be covering 2 positions (ours and that of the compi we’re protecting), we’ll make a lot of counterattacks.
The Retribution + Defender combo is really amazing, if you haven’t tried it I encourage you to do it, you’ll see how you don’t regret it.
BEST CAMPING SKILLS
The Man-at-Arms has some very interesting Camping Skills since he has some buffs for the team (one more offensive and another more defensive, as needed) that are really good. He also has the typical buff to himself and this one is also very worth it.
- Tactics : 4 cost. One pass will provide your entire team with a buff of 10 Evasion and +5% Critical. Suffice to say that 10% more evasion to your entire party is a blast to make him more protected and that crit chance will also boost his offense and stress management as critical hits restore stress. A must have .
- Weapons Practice : 4 cost. Another buff for the whole team, this one more offensive since it provides +10% Damage and also has a 75% chance (which when it does not jump gives a lot of rage) to also provide +8% Critical. I think words are superfluous, except for the inconvenience that we don’t get that juicy 8% Critical… the truth is that it is a very good offensive buff .
- Maintain Equipment : 4 cost. This is a buff that applies only to himself and therefore would be less of a priority than the previous ones, but it’s fine. Gives him +15% Protection and +15% Damage, making him tougher and more damaging. Especially recommended if you are going to have to face a boss that hits very hard.
An alternative to “Keep Equipment” (the other 2 skills don’t touch them, they are very good) would be “Instruction”. This Camping Skill will provide +10 Accuracy and +3 Speed to the character of your choice; It is a tremendous option especially if we go together with a Leper (something that I do not recommend too much, 2 tank characters together is not something very optimal) since that Accuracy will come in handy.
BEST TEAMMATES
The Man-at-Arms is one of those characters that really gets along with any character (barring perhaps other tanky characters) as most characters will generally appreciate the protection he can provide them . Anyway we will make some mention.
- Characters that are in Position 2 : In general, it will be the position that we defend and since, in addition, in this position we usually put characters that are generally not as resistant as the one in position 1, since this one will benefit greatly from the protection (not the stat, the fact that it blocks your attacks) that the Man-at-Arms will bring you. The Bandolero (in this case it would be better not to activate his own thrust, since it would not work if the Man-at-Arms protects him) or the Grave Raider would be good examples of this.
- Healers : Either a Vestal or an Occultist. On the one hand, it will lighten their work a lot by absorbing the damage of other teammates and holding it very well, and on the other, it will be able to protect them in the event that they have problems so that they can recover safely.
BEST BEADS
Facing Beads, our first priority will of course be everything that allows us to hold out better since, after all, we are talking about a tank class. Protection, Evasion and Health will come in handy (Health a little less priority because the others end up spreading more).
On the other hand, being clear that the priority is to endure more, anything that increases his damage or his melee damage (it would be the same in this case) and of course the Critical Chance will also come in handy. Speed will also come in handy like everyone else, but he’s a pretty slow character in itself, so it doesn’t seem as important to me as in others… it’s much more worth it if he lasts and hits more and is slow than the opposite.
