The Highwayman is one half of the pair of heroes you’d get at the beginning of Darkest Dungeon. In Darkest Dungeon 2, he is still one of the first characters you have unlocked, but his Crusader buddy is currently missing.

In this game, the Highwayman fits the rogue archetype quite perfectly. He’s great when it comes to inflicting ranged damage, is able to move around the party a little, and can even steal positive status effects from the enemies – and this is definitely something you’ll want to capitalize on. Overall, he’s a very solid character to have in the middle ranks.

This guide was written during the Early Access release of Darkest Dungeon 2. These details are subject to changes as a result.

Highwayman Abilities

Darkest Dungeon 2 How To Make An Overpowered Highwayman

The Highwayman is the game’s most rogueish character and his abilities do reflect that. He seems to have a specialty for rather weak moves that come with additional effects and moves that have a high critical-hit rate. The table below details all of the Highwayman’s abilities.

Some of the Highwayman’s abilities are unlocked by visiting Shrines of Reflection.

Point Blank Shot is gained upon his first visit to a Shrine and completing the battle within.
Open Vein is gained upon his second visit to a Shrine.
Highway Robbery is gained upon his third visit to a Shrine.
Grapeshot Blast is gained upon his fourth visit to a Shrine and completing its battle.
Double Tap and Double Cross are gained from the fifth Shrine visit.

Many of the Highwayman’s abilities deal with various tokens – think of these as status effects, both positive and negative. Understanding how they work is important to formulating a strategy for the Highwayman.

Dodge tokens simply grant a 50 percent chance to evade the next attack entirely. The tokens are consumed whether the owner successfully dodges or not.
Riposte is a counter-attack stance. If the Highwayman is attacked while having Riposte tokens, he will immediately strike back.
Deathblow Resistance is the chance that a hero or enemy survives a hit whilst at death’s door.

Looking at the Highwayman’s loadout, he definitely excels in the middle ranks of the party. He has two moves that help out with this – Duelist’s Advance and Point Blank Shot can both be used to return him to his proper position should the party get shuffled about.

While he has access to Bleed, he is certainly not suitable to be a primary source of it. Open Vein is handy to have if you have a whole party composition built around Bleed, however. Thanks to this, the Highwayman makes a good ally for the Jester and the Plague Doctor.

Take Aim is a tempting move to equip thanks to the consistent Crit tokens. However, if you manage to nab some great trinkets that improve his critical hit rate and upgrade his better skills you probably won’t actually need it that much.

Highwayman Shrine Battles

The Highwayman has two Shrine of Reflection battles that grant him skills – one on the first Shrine visit and one on the fourth. These encounters detail his career as a roadside robber.

First Shrine Visit: Freedom

Darkest Dungeon 2 How To Make An Overpowered Highwayman

While four against one seems tough, this battle is actually quite easy. The guards here have very low health and can be taken out swiftly with a combination of Lunging Cuff and Knee Strike.

When a guard has a Sound the Alarm token, use Stone Missile to remove it before you get pushed back. Knee Strike them all to death and you’ll obtain your first extra ability.

Fourth Shrine Visit: Highway Robbery

Darkest Dungeon 2 How To Make An Overpowered Highwayman

This battle is quite the puzzle boss fight. This time, you’re up against a coach that will keep making reinforcements for you to fight.

The trick to this battle is keeping the pressure upon the coach by targeting it with attacks but taking out the guards every now and then to give yourself some breathing room. If they manage to push you back, you’ll take some Stress damage and that’s not good.

Once the coach is defeated, you can mop up and receive your prize.

Highwayman Tips

Thanks to not really needing any party support and being able to move through the ranks quite well on his own, you can make the Highwayman work well in most any party composition. Here are some tips on making the most of him.

Wicked Slice and Double Tap are both finishers used for countering pesky enemies with Deathblow Resistance. Since they both fill the same niche, only keep one of them equipped at a time.
- Wicked Slice is better at confirming kills than Double Tap, but relies on critical hits to do a lot of damage.
- Double Tap has a very nice damage bonus against weakened enemies but bypasses less Deathblow Resistance and has only a 5 percent crit rate.
Highway Robbery isn’t fantastic, to begin with, but its upgraded version rocks. Use it to steal two positive tokens from enemies, turning the momentum in your favor with just one ability use.
While Grapeshot Blast is a tempting pick as it deals damage to two ranks at once, it is quite a weak skill. However, if your party is pretty good at Marking enemies consistently, its upgraded version becomes very attractive thanks to its added effect of granting Riposte tokens.

Wicked Slice is better at confirming kills than Double Tap, but relies on critical hits to do a lot of damage.
Double Tap has a very nice damage bonus against weakened enemies but bypasses less Deathblow Resistance and has only a 5 percent crit rate.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/darkest-dungeon-2-best-highwayman-build/

Archives

Categories