Best, worst and must have Heroes in your opinion

[Henrique87]

Which are the best (you use it in every or almost every team, it'syour MVP), the worst (you avoid it like the demon avoid the cross) and the must have (you don't, necessarily, like it, but you use it because it's a good character and adds value to the team) heroes in your opinion?

Best 》 Leper: a beast, can sustain hit like a tank and, with the properly buffs, can one shot mobs all day long.

Worst 》 Ranged Heroes: always get sick after ANY mission, miss hits like a stormtrooper, can't even heal themselves properly, etc.

Must Have 》 Vestal: it's the only reliable healer.

PS: no mods

[Panfilo]

Leper is actually rather bad, too slow to really take advantage of his good damage, too limited in reach, unable to really draw fire to exploit his tankiness, virtually useless outside rank 1/2. He's self sufficient but so is Crusader and Houndmaster and they have the benefit of better team synergy compared to Leper.

Ranged heroes you are going to have to elaborate. Ranged heroes main function is killing dangerous back row targets that will stress out your team.

Vestal is overrated. If you're reliant on Vestals all the time then your whole strategy will cave in when she gets stunned, afflicted, or shuffled out of position. Turns the Vestal is healing is turns you're not killing things. The most valuable heal in the game is every heal that can take an ally from 0-1hp and there's plenty besides Vestal that can pull that off.

[Henrique87]

Originally posted by Panfilo:

Leper is actually rather bad, too slow to really take advantage of his good damage, too limited in reach, unable to really draw fire to exploit his tankiness, virtually useless outside rank 1/2. He's self sufficient but so is Crusader and Houndmaster and they have the benefit of better team synergy compared to Leper.

Ranged heroes you are going to have to elaborate. Ranged heroes main function is killing dangerous back row targets that will stress out your team.

Vestal is overrated. If you're reliant on Vestals all the time then your whole strategy will cave in when she gets stunned, afflicted, or shuffled out of position. Turns the Vestal is healing is turns you're not killing things. The most valuable heal in the game is every heal that can take an ally from 0-1hp and there's plenty besides Vestal that can pull that off.

Dude, it's to you to say yours... I don't need an essay about the heroes I use or not.

[Determined Man]

The must haves IMO are Occultist and Vestal, as healing in the dungeon are really valuable.

Best are easily Bounty Hunter, Man-at-arms, and Crusader. BH hits like a truck, and absolutely sends size two monsters/any human enemy packing. MAA is a great hero to keep the unit together with strong buffs and a good whallop. And Crusader is just a good solid hero with tankyness and some good abilities.

Worst for me is the Antiquarian, I don't even think they're that bad. Just out of all the heroes they're my least favourite.

[Norton 360 for Gamers]

Leper, Leper and Leper. When you embrace the Leprosy it becomes an inseparable part of you. Well, until it falls off.

[MicroQueen™]

it's really tough for me to pick between Highwayman, Grave Robber, Bounty Hunter, Flaggelant, Abomination,, Plague Doctor, Shield Breaker, and to a lesser extent, Jester. So all those are best classes imo. Highwayman, GR and SB for their mobility, BH can function in third spot, even fourth, ♥♥♥ for his sexy stuns, blight and big d*ck damage when you need it and Flaggelant because for that high risk high reward playstyle and plague doctor for their ability outright stun the backline and Jester because stress heals are much more valuable then HP heals imo and he buffs the whole party.
Flaggellant hands down THE must have class. Excellent self sustain and nice clutch heals.
Worst class I gotta say that it's musketeer. Because she's basically an arbalest skin. I have to use mods to make her better.

[No One]

Worst: leper. His big selling point is useless. Can make any party better by taking out the leper for someone else.

Best: PD. Queen of All Stuns reigns supreme. Also fast as ♥♥♥♥, has immense, reliable damage, and has both rare and unique utility. Any party without a PD can be improved by swapping in a PD.

Sure you need a healer, but CRU can heal just fine as long as he's backed up by a PD's stuns or something of similar power.

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by No One:

Worst: leper. His big selling point is useless. Can make any party better by taking out the leper for someone else.

Best: PD. Queen of All Stuns reigns supreme. Also fast as ♥♥♥♥, has immense, reliable damage, and has both rare and unique utility. Any party without a PD can be improved by swapping in a PD.

Sure you need a healer, but CRU can heal just fine as long as he's backed up by a PD's stuns or something of similar power.

Also ARB/MUS' minor heals also come with a heal received buff that makes food/camp healing practical. My teams range from every hero having at least a self-heal to having no healer at all, although either extreme is unusual.

[RopeDrink]

I'm of the opinion that there are no outright awful heroes in the game - just some being far superior to others. I'm never surprised to see people loving the Leper -- he's always been very popular since the very beginning and you can absolutely beat the game perfectly fine by using them -- but alas, he still remains the antithesis of DD's meta and has done for years.

Thankfully, you don't need meta to win or to have fun. It's also the reason why tier-lists in general don't work very well and will always be disputed no matter what reasoning you give. DD's comp-potential is crazy-high and so much can work -- and the strengths of some are usually brought out (or dampened) by the presence of others -- so putting each one in a vacuum isn't a good way to judge anything.

Regardless -- here's another opinionated tier list to throw into the bazillion others out there. Make of it what you will and don't think about it overmuch. I'll need to stop looking at it afterwards as I'm sure I'll want to revamp or tweak it myself if I think too much.



------
★S★
------
PD - undoubtedly the best stunner with an extremely usable backup kit.


------
★A★
------
HEL - arguably the best overall damage dealer.

HM - excellent generalist with great projection and a fabulous backup kit.

SHB - excellent projector and a great disabler.


------
★B★
------
CRU - excellent catch-all generalist. Most balanced hero if you ask me.

FLA - best bleeds in the game and a great overall generalist.

ABM - arguably the best ST-stunner with solid backup options.

HWM - versatile all-round damage dealer and the meatiest assassin archetype.

OCC - great backup healer with a very versatile kit.

MAA - great support and the only true 'tank' in the game.


------
★C★
------
JES - undoubtedly the best stress-healer (and a solid bleeder).

VES - undoubtedly the best healer.

GR - solid all-round damage, great burst-opener and best speed/crit in the game.

ARB/MUS - inverse Leper with good projection, damage and backup healing.

BH - great damage potential backed by solid stuns.


------
★D★
------
ANT - "Not enough cash, stranger!"

LEP - the meme-worthy meat-sack supreme.

[Trash Panda]

with the change to abom being allowed in religious groups He's almost always a must take with his stress reduction gear.....Flag - Abom - Jester/Cleric/Plague Doctor - PD/Hound Master
Serpent Chick - Flag - Plague Doctor - Hound Master is fun as ♥♥♥♥. AP/Heals/Stress reduction/Stun/Dots with medium damage but damage soak potential like none other. Leper is considered the worst hero because he's slow - has a high miss chance and is limited by his reach. But he is the only one that can 1 shot the last boss if in the right group....and has some insane damage potential. All around "Good in any list" 1. Flag 2.Crusader 3.Jester 4.Vestal aka Cleric. Heals/Damage/Stress reduc (aside from cleric) with utility and good camp skills all around solid champs.

Amazing but in the right grouping - 1. Abom 2. Hellion 3.MaA Hellion is a mean first liner with heals/damage buffs and can reach the back rannk/front rank np. Abom's stun is AMAZING and his transformation can be devestating. MaA is situationally a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ GOD on certain bosses/areas and can just SHUT DOWN certain bosses. Otherwise he's just ok?

Just good solid heroes - the rest. All do stuff just okay but are more focused on damage or a specific niche. HM is a great stress reducer with great damage and is amazing in mark teams. Occultist has an OP heal with a debuff that can save ur life if applied right and some okay damage. Arb/Musk is a ranged leper with a heal and a situtionally useful flare. HWM is just solid in the first 2 ranks and in a dance-dance party can jumble around with the best of em. HWM in first slot with PBS with a Snake Chick in the second can devestate with damage potential. Bounty Hunter has just some solid tom-♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with a decent mark party and can compleptely mitigate 1-2 bosses (pirate captain and 1 other one i can't thinnk of atm).

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by RopeDrink:

I'm of the opinion that there are no outright awful heroes in the game - just some being far superior to others. I'm never surprised to see people loving the Leper -- he's always been very popular since the very beginning and you can absolutely beat the game perfectly fine by using them -- but alas, he still remains the antithesis of DD's meta and has done for years.

I know Leper is objectively bad and always advise people having trouble with the game to avoid this awful character, but I love playing them. There is just something really fun about a nearly indestructible monster of a character who also deals insane amounts of damage (albeit after your party with this jerkoff has taken insane amounts of damage because you have this turtle slow pinhead in your team who then immediately misses even with an ACC boost).

People should just know this is an absolutely awful hero.

Leper is a never-bring. Until you're winning every single encounter so resoundingly that you need something to make the game worth playing again.

Then you bring Lepers.

[Skinny Pete]

Also as for "must-bring" there's seriously Hellion. Absolutely based generalist who can do everything you want in the front line.

And Abomination, as a stunner with Broken Key. What enemy team survives this in any shape to do anything at all after the first round? AB-HEL --> front line from Hell.

[RopeDrink]

with the change to abom being allowed in religious groups He's almost always a must take with his stress reduction gear.....

If you mean beastform specifically, there's a problem with that if you care about efficiency. Various heroes can achieve what a beastform ABM can do -- without the AoE stress, ramping self-stress and/or using a trinket slot solely to dampen that effect and/or heroes specifically for that as well.

By not transforming at all, you gain one of the best ST-Stunners in the game thanks to an aptly named "Broken" trinket on top of his great baseline values, and can remain in form all day long to use Abso whenever you want, rendering de-stress gear entirely moot.

There's no real need to transform at all. The saving grace is that doing so isn't the worst thing in the world and can be quite useful, or even fully built around if you really want.

Leper is considered the worst hero because he's slow - has a high miss chance and is limited by his reach. But he is the only one that can 1 shot the last boss if in the right group

Jester has done it too - possibly even before the Leper - which is only a benefit if you don't want to fill 1-2 graves - but the game is pretty much over by then. That realistically shouldn't be considered a perk given it involves 0.1% of the game and has no real benefit other than a player wanting to achieve a certain thing that means very little.

Also, his weaknesses go way beyond that. He has 1 SPD more than the slowest hero in the game, which means all that damage typically comes too late from one of the most inaccurate heroes (with infantile projection), meaning you are almost entirely relegated to SPD/ACC above all else and pumping all that damage into useless targets for most of the game.

He's completely immobile and loses functionality in R2, and ceases to function outright when in R3/R4 - which is doubly crippling thanks to that low-speed and immobility.

His self-sustained meatsackery is entirely selfish, sporting no team-support of any kind outside of Intimidate, which pales as anything but a 'It's all I can do to hit farther', a situational debuff strat, or a de-stealth. Contrary to what some people think, self-marking is not a benefit in any real way, nor is self-protting on the healthiest hero who can already keep himself alive through serious punishment as it is -- and the only reason he'll need to is because him being there will inevitably lead to himself (or worse, other heroes) eating more unnecessary damage.

He lacks practically every tool that makes the game easier in the long run and you have to build him up in order to achieve the little he can actually do. In short, simply taking one generally makes the game harder on yourself except for specific scenarios -- which is self-punishment in a game that is ALL about reducing risks.

Despite that, I still enjoy using them - and it's not like the game is strict enough to cripple players for playing off-meta or prevent them from having fun. Alas, seeing anyone put the Leper anywhere other than last place (in a serious manner) will forever make me cringe. Excluding the Antiquarian of course. She was intentionally designed to be inferior.

[Panfilo]

I actually like making the Leper as tanky as possible even though it's suboptimal. I figure he hits too late to bother going fast, won't have good targets left to wreck anyway, but has a great self heal/stress heal and a lot of abative HP. Also his camp skills are great, there's a solution for every problem.

The one high point in my Leper usage was getting nearly wiped by the Siren and having the sole surviving Leper pretty much solo her. She can't mind control a hero if it's the only one left and he could easily out heal her and her minions' damage.

Also I've seen people use the Leper to solo DD3 which is hilarious.

[marcv666]

Here is how I would rank each class in PVE content (playing on Bloodmoon difficulty). Just bear in mind this list fits MY playstyle. It's ok if you don't agree...

God Tier:
- Vestal, The vestal is the only class I would bring in every party. Of course without a healing trinket the class looks balanced but add her a healing trinket and she becomes a god. I usually try to recuit 4 of them, and the only time I don't include one in my party is when I don't want to over level them, to keep some low level so I have one against specific fights.

S Tier:
- Plague Doctor, Plague Grenade is just OP, give him a speed trinket to act first and trinket to increase your blight skill accuracy and he will handle the enemy back rank easily. His ability to cure Bleed/Blight is also extremely useful especially in the cove... He would be god tier if he had better camping skills or if he was less susceptible to moving skills

- Highwayman, Mainly for his riposte skill and good camping skills. The guy doesn't hit the back row as efficiently as the Plague Doctor but at the same time he doesn't have shuffling weakness.

- Crusader, Inspiring Cry gives Light, reduce stress and heal a bit, it is insanely good. He can also stun front row for stalling tactics and Holy Lance is very good against ambushed where your party gets shuffle.

A Tier:
- Jester, a bit squishy but his ability to heal stress is insanely good. When starting a new game I like a lot getting a Jester early, this character reduce significantly the cost of healing stress, allowing me to ignore all Abbey and Tavern upgrade so I can focus on more important upgrade. And I always seems to get fewer negative quirk when I finish a mission with low stress damage, I tend to think that later in the game when your town is fully upgraded he's less good but the best starts I had always involved a Jester, he just makes the early game so easy that he deserve a spot here in the A Tier.

- Hellion, Best stun in the game. While the 2 enemy stun from Plague Doctor look good as well, I tend to mostly always use his blight skill instead to kill as fast as possible the back row, I honnestly prefer to run the single target stun from Plague Doctor instead of his 2-hit stun. From my experience stalling the front row is by far more useful than the back row.

- Houndmaster, just because of his versatility. You can use this class in whatever position you need him in a group. In the front row he'll provide good stuns, in the back row he'll provide good range attack. And his ability to guard ally is extremely good when you got someone low on HP or at death's door. He also have very good camping skills.

- Man at arm, He's got a stun, he provide valuable buff and have the most OP camping skills. Whenever you bring a Man at arm in your party all your other characters looks better thanks to him.

- Graverobber, The usefulness of this class seems to vary a lot depending who you bring with him. I had some party where he was the MVP of the group and insanely good. The best party setup I had with him was 1- Man at Arm, 2- Crusader, 3- Graverobber. Those 3 classes together if they act in the right order, you'll be able to use his Lunge ability every turn without having to spend a turn going on the back row. So basically you Lunge with Graverobber putting him in position 1, then you stun with Man at Arm pushing the grave robber to position 2, and then Holy Lance with Crusader putting the Graverobber back in position 3. This was easily the best party setup I ever created and even though he's not as good with other classes, it was so insane that it deserved at least the A tier.

B Tier:
- Bounty Hunter, To me the Bounty Hunter is your average guy that can fit most party. He he can stun, move enemy around and do good damage while having good HP as well and have good camping skills. Overall very good, the only thing I dislike about the Bounty Hunter is how his damage works. I mean he does more damage when enemy is stunned or marked and we all know marking target is just alright, and using a stun to output more damage is kinda dumb and defeat the purpose of a stun... He's still a good class for all the options he provide to your group.

- Abomination, I don't use his transformation skills very often because I don't like stress damage. Now that he can join any party he's way better... He's able to stun and he's self sufficient I rarely get in trouble when I bring an Abomination but he's kinda a support character that helps reduce damage intake while your other party members do the real damage.

- Flagellant, was easily god Tier before the nerf but not anymore. He does good amount of damage, also good at targeting the back row but unlike the Plague Doctor since he's a front liner he's way more susceptible to damage and is a lot more risky to use with his low HP. Whenever you're at low HP or at death's door, you alway pray to be able to heal himself up before the enemy kills him.

C Tier:
- Occultist, just like the Flagellant, the Occultist is a risky class. Mostly every time I got a death on my team, who was in it? It's because the Occultist healed for 0 HP while at death doors and put bleed on my other guy and you just guess what happens after that... While debuffing with the Occultist is decent I dislike a lot the random factor with him. Whenever you're in a bad spot, you don't want to pray RNJesus with an Occultist around to get you out of trouble.

- Shieldbeaker, strong damage and can hit all row but like the Flagellant you don't want a squishy character in the front taking the big hits. Also when you camp with him it can turn very bad, so for those 2 reasons I can't see him higher rank.

- Antiquarian, It is true the Antiquarian is pretty weak in combat but if you ever struggle with money he can definitely help in that matter. It's true that if you manage well your town probably won't need him but I've seen others who had big problem and the Antiquarian helped a lot in overcoming the money problem. I can't rank him higher because you'll have to bring strong character with him to survive but unlike the Leaper (last pick) at least he can fix some problem.

Garbage Tier:
- Leper, Self sufficient, can do incredible amount of damage, but while you try to kill enemies in the back he doesn't add any value to the rest of the group. Whenever your party gets shuffle, you know you're in big trouble with the Leper... Also you normally want to kill back row as fast as possible and then stall the front row with stuns and things like that so you can heal up or cure some stress for a turn or 2 but the Leper doesn't fit at all with the meta. Even though most people would rank the Antiquarian as their weakest class at least he provides something that no one else does.

[DomnMaistru]

Occultist is a must have that 65 crit heal is very nice + the other utilities grab,stun, debuffs ( dodge, damage, protection) and that eldritch dmg bonus.I usually take him on champion bosses/dungeons and in the end game it's super fun but also very risky. It can either save your crusader/leper/man at arms with 45-60 heal when they have been hit with 2 30 dmg crits in a row (bleed included) or do 0-1 heal and screw you.