Darkest Dungeonconsists of a series of areas for players to test their mettle in, ranging from the gothic to the gore-filled. No other area personifiesDarkest Dungeon’s Lovecraftian roots more, however, than the Cove. For any reader familiar with “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” the Cove should seem a familiar sight, much likeBloodborne’s Fishing Hamlet ofthe same inspiration.
Deep within, players can expect plenty of bleed, plenty of PROT, and yet another location where Plague Doctor’s useful. Some things never change, it seems. While all heroes inDarkest Dungeonhave a role to play, these are the best choices for players to use while fighting through the Cove.
7Plague Doctor
While the Cove’s denizens have high PROT, their blight resist is extremely low, with only the most threatening of enemies having above 30%. Some of the more common, but still threatening, enemies like the Pelagic Grouper also boast a mighty 10% stun resist. Considering this, and some annoying sources of bleed to cure, Plague Doctor is a perfect choice. Blight and stun the backlines, blight and stun the frontlines, cure allies, buff the DPS: it’s well-established by now that Plague Doctor is one of the most versatile heroes in the game.
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However, Plague Doctor has one of the lowest bleed resists in the game, second only to Leper. It’s advised to keep her in position 4 to keep her out of range of Uca Major’s Arterial Pinch, which is the Cove’s main threat bleed-wise, unless players get lucky withthe Clotter quirkto raise her bleed resist.
6Jester
The bright side to bleed not doing well in Cove is that Jester can save on two skill slots. Inspiring Tune and Battle Ballad are natural mainstays, and players can freely choose between Solo and Finale for big damage or Dirk Stab’s Guard bypass. There’s always the option to still take bleed for enemies that are weak to it, but Jester’s turns can be more valuable than middling DoT that’s outclassed by Plague Doctor’s blight.
Jester has similar issues to Occultist with low stun and move resistance, but keeping him in the backlines can prevent this. Alternatively, Jester is one of the few heroes that can move 3 slots forwards and backwards, leaving him free tolaugh in the faceof move resist and reposition as he pleases.
5Occultist
Outside the Darkest Dungeon andthe Weald, Occultist doesn’t get much use of his bonus damage to Eldritch. If for nothing but principle, it’s good to have him along in the Cove. His damage is respectable with a high crit modifier on Sacrificial Stab, though his main utility comes from his…well, utility. He has access to a stun, though it consumes torchlight on use, as well as a pull that clears corpses, and his notoriously luck-based heal.
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While safe from Uca Major’s Arterial Pinch, Occultist does have very weak move and stun resist, leaving him vulnerable to its other attack, Tidal Slam. Due to this, Occultist is best played in position 3, though this does prevent him from using his stun, Hands from the Abyss. Despite this, playing him in position 2 is still viable.
4Grave Robber
Grave Robber is something of a budget Shieldbreaker, being a “dancer” that frequently repositions and stacks blight where possible. Toxin Trickery can cure and buff an ally once per battle, but her appeal is what helps anywhere withhigh bleed resist: access to blight, blight resist debuffs, and bonus damage against blighted targets. She has great synergy with blight dealers like Plague Doctor, can pierce armor with Pick to the Face, and operates happily in any position she ends up in.
Her camping skills are middling, much like her resistances save for blight, but her general versatility still makes her a strong pick for the Cove. For early runs, it’s recommended to find Sickening Satchel as soon as possible to capitalize on her damage against blighted targets.
3Crusader
One common pattern with heroes that perform well in the Cove is squishiness. Heroes like Jester and Grave Robber survive with dodge chance, but a tank never hurts. Leper has 10% bleed resist, Man-at-Arms lacks offense, butCrusader is versatile. Healer? Done. Tank? Done. Damage? There’s some Unholy here and there, plus his damage is solid even without the damage boost. His Bulwark of Faith also saves on torches and has a self-mark, which doesn’t end on a stun unlike guarding.
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His camping skills are also great, offering great stress relief, preventing nighttime ambush, and even removing mortality debuffs. He’s also a great target for buffs from heroes like Jester, Plague Doctor, and Grave Robber. As a whole, Crusader is a jack-of-all-trades, yet he rarely feels lacking in anything he provides.
2Antiquarian
Despite the memes, Antiquarianis pretty good, especially in the Cove. Players still need to ensure Antiquarian has another hero to hide behind, especially with her low resistances, but she has valuable buffs for her team as well as some all-important blight and blight resist debuffs. She can reposition with Get Down!, buff the entire party’s dodge, remove stealth, and even force an ally to guard her.
Antiquarian has some unusual but potent camping skills as well, being able to “find” supplies and trinkets, buff an ally’s resistances, or buff her own stress resist by 50%. All of these skills cost no higher than 2 time, for some reason. And as if that wasn’t enough, she can also increase the amount of gold in an inventory stack by 750, and she occasionally finds antiques to sell. For what she lacks in combat, players will find in utility, dodge, and lots of money.
1Honorable Mention: Shieldbreaker
So, a good hero for the Cove should have good resistances, access to blight, and a way to deal with high PROT. Well, what better choice than Shieldbreaker? Owners of the Shieldbreaker DLC have 50% stun and move resist, 30% for bleed, and a swathe of useful skills to make use of. Pierce ignores PROT and hits anywhere on the enemy side, Puncture can reposition stress dealers and ignore guard, Adder’s Kiss and Captivate both have decent blight, and she even has a stealth-removing debuff for good measure.
A useful bonus with Shieldbreaker is that she deals with repositions very well, bringing immobile heroes back into position while synergizing with mobile ones. She also has some great camping skills like better blight chance for Plague Doctor, tankiness for herself, or armor piercing for everyone to make one ofDarkest Dungeon’smost difficult areasa little less bothersome.
