Darkest Dungeon 2: Best Crusader Skills

Dismas the Highwayman and Reynauld the Crusader were fan favorites from the very beginning of the original Darkest Dungeon. They are together in the prologue, and there is an achievement if the two make it all the way to the end of a campaign. Fans were sad to think that the Crusader, a powerful and versatile class, would be left out of the sequel.

Updated July 8, 2024 by Matthew Weideman: Fans rejoiced when Red Hook announced The Binding Blade, the first DLC for the sequel, Darkest Dungeon 2. Reynauld is back as the Crusader, along with a never-before-seen character class called the Duelist. In his default Path, Wanderer, many of the Crusader's skills are universally useful, while some rely on specific conditions.

11 Rallying Cry

The Crusader Removes Debuffs From Allies

Granting positive tokens and removing negative tokens are two new ways that tank characters can help their party in Darkest Dungeon 2. Skills that only remove specific tokens are situational and reactive, since they can only be used if an enemy manages to inflict one on a party member.

Weakened tokens can cripple a party's damage output, and dazed characters always go last in the round. These negative tokens can spell doom for the expedition, so removing them with Rallying Cry is very helpful. Although its situational and reactive nature means that it may make sense to find other ways around these impediments to keep the Crusader equipped with more proactive skills.

10 Radiance

The Crusader Regenerates Some Health

Applying health regeneration is a great way to counteract bleed, blight, and burn without using up a combat item or spending a dedicated healer's turn. Radiance is helpful in that way, although it is not enough to keep the Crusader alive against certain encounter types that rely on DOT.

Radiance does more than health regeneration. The description states that it also buffs Crusader's chance to burn enemies with his ranged skills. However, since the Crusader only has two ranged skills — Holy Lance and Zealous Accusation — this second trait is less useful than it might seem.

9 Stunning Blow

The Crusader Deals Light Damage With Stun Potential

When a character is Stunned, they do not take their next turn. This can be very frustrating when it's a party member that's stunned, but extremely satisfying when it's an enemy. Having more turns than the enemy helps players win a fight quickly and without as many casualties.

However, unlike its predecessor in the original Darkest Dungeon, Stunning Blow in Darkest Dungeon 2 can only Stun if the target has a combo token. Since it takes a turn to set up this combo (and prevents another character from using one of their combo skills), it is not as efficient a skill as it used to be.

8 Inspiring Cry

The Crusader Reduces An Ally's Stress

Characters can gain Stress in many ways including from enemy skills and missing attacks. When they reach 10 stress, they either become resolute or have a meltdown. Meltdowns should be avoided at all costs and so some characters, like the Jester, specialize in Stress healing. Party compositions without a dedicated Stress healer at least need to have some characters with Stress healing skills.

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Inspiring Cry helps the Crusader fit this role. It is a situational skill that can save a party from Meltdowns and, as such, should not be equipped until later in an expedition when the party is already Stressed out.

7 Tenacity

The Crusader Helps Protect An Ally

While other tanks like the Leper have multiple skills that taunt enemies in order to keep the party safe, the Crusader's tank focus is on mitigating damage.

Tenacity is a great tank skill because the base version cuts the damage from two attacks in half. This can easily prevent over a dozen damage and keep an ally alive. The upgraded version is even better since it also protects both an ally and the Crusader.

6 Holy Lance

The Crusader Lunges From The Back Ranks

Many of the Crusader's skills require him to be in the front two ranks of the party line. Holy Lance is one of the ranged skills he has and actually requires him to be in the back two ranks. Since it moves him forward, it can only reliably be used repeatedly if other characters use skills that would move him back to the back ranks.

With the right party composition, Holy Lance is a powerful attack between the damage, burn, and high crit chance. It is even more potent if the Crusader has used Radiance, but the need for other skills and party members to set it up can make Holy Lance a less than ideal skill to rely on.

5 Bulwark Of Faith

The Crusader Makes Himself A Target

Bulwark of Faith is a great skill that helps the Crusader tank similarly to the Man At Arms. Like his other tanking skills, it gives the Crusader Block tokens to cut damage that he takes in half. It also adds health regeneration, which further mitigates any damage he takes.

To top it all off, Bulwark of Faith is the Crusader's only Taunt skill. He is guaranteed to take the next two attacks, and those attacks will be all but negated because of the Block tokens and health regeneration.

4 Zealous Accusation

The Crusader Hits Both Front Enemies And Prepares To Combo

Zealous Accusation is a solid skill that sets up the enemy to take massive damage. The direct damage it deals is minimal, but adding Burn and giving targets Combo tokens is a great way to both whittle away the enemy's health and set up allies to deal massive damage.

Another way it sets up the party is by potentially getting rid of front rank enemy Block tokens. Using Zealous Accusation to get rid of them means that enemies will only negate 1 or 2 damage at most, so this skill can minimize enemy buffs while setting the party up to finish them off.

3 Smite

The Crusader Hits Front Rank Enemies For Solid Damage

When enemies are close to death or the party is doing well, it can be more efficient to focus on damage rather than setting up combos or using support skills. Smite allows the Crusader to do just that by dealing a good amount of damage to either front rank enemy.

Since Smite also deals increased damage against enemies with Combo tokens, it can also be used as a finishing move after the Crusader or an ally sets up a combo.

2 Reap

The Crusader Hits And Debuffs Both Front Ranks

Reap is another great offensive skill in the Crusader's arsenal. He attacks both front rank enemies for much better damage than Zealous Accusation and also reduces any healing they receive for several turns. This can be used in encounters like Oblivion's Rampart, where enemies often heal each other.

It is also a good way to finish one low-HP enemy while also dealing damage to another. Rather than using an entire turn to kill an enemy who is almost dead, the Crusader can wipe them out while making progress on another. And since he can heal himself with the upgraded version of the skill, Reap also keeps the Crusader from needing a healer's help to stay alive.