Plague Doctor (Darkest Dungeon II)

"What is a physician if not a student of decay?"

The Plague Doctor is a Hero in Darkest Dungeon II.

Class Description

 * Back Rank
 * Blight
 * Blinds
 * Healer

Combat Skills
Note: The Plague Doctor will always start each run equipped with Noxious Blast,  Blinding Gas,  Incision,  Battlefield Medicine, and  Ounce of Prevention. All other skills must be unlocked through the Shrine of Reflection before they may be equipped.

Strategy
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The Plague Doctor is a reliable healer and supporter, capable of applying penalties to multiple enemies. Despite her role as a healer, the Plague Doctor can deal a surprisingly massive amount of damage, provided that she is paired with Heroes that can inflict DOTs. Due to her lack of defensive skills and low HP, the Plague Doctor is best placed on the back Ranks, where she can utilize most of her skills and avoid harm from the dangerous front Ranks.

- Offense: The Plague Doctor deals damage mainly through high amounts of DOT. While being somewhat reliant on DOT, she is among the few Heroes who can apply all DOT effects, and as such, can flexibly choose the most optimal effects against certain targets.


 * On the back Ranks, the Plague Doctor can use Dd2 ability noxiousblast.png Noxious Blast and Dd2 ability plaguegrenade.png Plague Grenade, which inflict solid Blight dd2.png Blight damage, to wear down the front-Rank and back-Rank targets with low Blight dd2.png Blight Resistance. In the Foetor region where high Blight dd2.png Blight Resistance is common, she can switch to a more supporting role and instead use Dd2 ability incision.png Incision, a very reliable attack with average physical damage and high Bleed dd2.png Bleed.


 * Huge-dot-on-general.png]]PD-on-general.pngDd2 ability causeofdeath.png Cause of Death is the Plague Doctor's most lethal skill, which turns most of the DOT accumulated on a target into instant physical damage. To make the most out of the skill, the Plague Doctor can be paired with heroes capable of applying DOT effects. ThePortraits-runaway.pngay's Dd2 ability firestarter.png Firestarter complements the Plague Doctor's high DOT by adding a Burn dd2.png Burn effect to her skills (especially Dd2 ability magnesiumrain.png Magnesium Rain which hits all targets). Dd2 ability firestarter.png Firestarter can also be combined with thePortraits-occultist.pngtist's Dd2 ability anamnesis.png Anamnesis to apply Burn dd2.png Burn and a decent amount of Bleed dd2.png Bleed on the entire enemy team. ThePortraits-occultist.pngtist's Dd2 ability malediction.png Malediction also goes very well with Dd2 ability causeofdeath.png Cause of Death as it forces targets to receive DOT effects whenever they are hit by a skill or an item. In addition, there are various items that can inflict DOT (Bear Trap, Caltrops, etc.) or reduce targets' Resistances (Toxic Ichor), making them more prone to DOT. Dd2 ability causeofdeath.png Cause of Death can decimate even the toughest enemies and bosses alike, as long as the Heroes' team can stack as much DOT on them as possible.

- Survivability: Apart from Ounce of Prevention, which helps the Plague Doctor and her allies withstand DOT attacks; the Plague Doctor does not have any skill to apply defensive Tokens on herself, such as  Dodge or  Block. Therefore, care should be taken when the Plague Doctor ends up in the front Ranks, where she is exposed to dangerous attacks from the front. In such cases, consider moving her to the back or have her protected by more durable allies (Man-at-Arms orLeper).

- Support: The Plague Doctor is one of the very few characters with the ability to heal allies and maintain team survival. Thus, she is considered a staple in various team set-ups, especially for inexperienced players. Besides healing, the Plague Doctor can be a fairly reliable supporter thanks to her Blind and  Strength Tokens.


 * PD-medicine.pngDd2 ability battlefieldmedicine.png Battlefield Medicine can be used to heal allies that are on low Icon HP dd2.png, Deathsdoor dd2.png Death's Door or are suffering from severe DOT effects. This skill, however, will not be reliable for drawn-out battles, especially boss battles, due to its limited use (3 for each battle). Compared to Dd2 ability battlefieldmedicine.png Battlefield Medicine, Dd2 ability indiscriminatescience.png Indiscriminate Science does not have a limit on use and offers a much greater healing potential at the expense of losing helpful Tokens. To get a solid heal, the skill should be used on heroes that hold or can apply a large number of Positive Tokens on themselves. For example, thePortraits-highwayman.pngayman and the Portraits-graverobber.pngrobber can gain up to 4 Positive Tokens by using Dd2 ability takeaim.png Take Aim (upgraded) and Dd2 ability absinthe.png Absinthe, respectively, which results in a massive heal of 50% Icon HP dd2.png. ThePortraits-manatarms.png-at-Arms' upgraded Dd2 ability retribution.png Retribution can provide an even greater amount of Tokens (up to 6), which will heal 70% of his Icon HP dd2.png. The upgraded version of Dd2 ability indiscriminatescience.png Indiscriminate Science additionally consumes Negative Tokens for an even greater heal. If upgraded, it can be very useful against Cherubs, Brain of Denial or any enemy that focuses on debuffing their targets with harmful Tokens.


 * Dd2 ability ounceofprevention.png Ounce of Prevention is an essential part of the Plague Doctor's skillset because of the team-wide Dd2 token stress.png Stress heal it provides. As Dd2 token stress.png Stress is a very common and serious threat against any team, Dd2 ability ounceofprevention.png Ounce of Prevention should be prioritized for upgrade in the early game. The DOT-Resistance Dd2 token buff.png Buffs provided by the skill can be very helpful against DOT users, such as Pillager Hatchetman.


 * The Plague Doctor can leave Dd2 token blind.png Blind Tokens on two back-Rank enemies at the same time via Dd2 ability blindinggas.png Blinding Gas to help reduce damage intake for her team or apply Dd2 token strength.png Strength Tokens on allies with considerable damage output (Portraits-highwayman.pngayman,Portraits-leper.png, etc.) via Dd2 ability emboldeningvapours.png Emboldening Vapours. Dd2 ability disorientingblast.pngDisorienting Blast can displace a back-Rank target, bring it to a more vulnerable position, and Dd2 token daze.png Daze it so that other Heroes can gain the upper hand. Dd2 ability blindinggas.png Blinding Gas and Dd2 ability disorientingblast.png Disorienting Blast can be upgraded and combined to apply Dd2 token stun.png Stun effects.


 * Using Dd2 ability magnesiumrain.png Magnesium Rain, the Plague Doctor can quickly clear corpses, allowing her team to quickly deal with out-of-reach threats.

Shrine of Reflection
The Plague Doctor gains access to 6 abilities over 5 chapters through accessing memories in the Shrine of Reflection.

Chapter One: The Good Student
"The jeers, the whispers... they pushed me deep into my studies."
 * Unlocks dd2 ability emboldeningvapours.png Emboldening Vapours

- The Plague Doctor

"Brilliant and bold, her unconventional theories created nothing short of a scandal in her fourth year. The mocking whispers and scornful glares of her peers and professors had an ironically invigorated effect upon her 'extracurricular experiments.' The mysteries of the human body - of life and death itself - hovered just above her scalpel's reach... If only she could acquire a corpse of sufficient freshness."

- The Academic

Chapter Two: Head of the Class
"I was the smartest, but wisdom was not on the syllabus."
 * Objective: Disprove The Professor
 * Unlocks dd2 ability plaguegrenade.png Plague Grenade

- The Plague Doctor

"Her professor was a relic, hacking and wheezing his way through a hopelessly conventional curriculum!"

- The Academic

"She delighted in the combative debate, and, behind her bookish glasses, reveled in their outrage and confusion."

- The Academic

Chapter Three: Extra Credit
"Ostracized, I had to prove myself, no matter the cost."
 * Unlocks dd2 ability indiscriminatescience.png Indiscriminate Science

- The Plague Doctor

"By the second semester, her research was at a critical point. And regular supply raids of the University laboratories had become necessary. During one such expedition, she stumbled upon her professor, awkwardly slumped over his podium, a bloody kerchief on the floor. Here, then, was her ideal cadaver, her long-awaited opportunity. And she would not waste it."

- The Academic

Chapter Four: Failing Grade
"I could not say if it was madness, revenge, or naked ambition."
 * Objective: Stabilize The Patient
 * Unlocks dd2 ability causeofdeath.png Cause of Death

- The Plague Doctor

"Success! Vindication. The human machine, restored to action!"

- The Academic

"The shrieking was horrible, but the silence that followed... was even worse."

- The Academic

Chapter Five: Do No Harm
"Those screams will never leave me."
 * Unlocks dd2 ability disorientingblast.png Disorienting Blast and dd2 ability magnesiumrain.png Magnesium Rain

- The Plague Doctor

"Disposal of the body was a procedural affair, a carboy of acid would dissolve the thing, and no evidence would remain. In the weeks that followed, however, she found herself unable to focus, instead sitting motionless at her desk, paralyzed by the ceaseless wailing that reverberated in her mind."

- The Academic

Trivia

 * The Plague Doctor is one of eight Heroes returning from Darkest Dungeon, and one of the first nine Heroes to be available in the sequel.
 * The Plague Doctor is the only class able to apply all 3 status effects (Bleed, Blight, and Burn) by themselves.
 * The Plague Doctor's comic in Darkest Dungeon and her memories in Darkest Dungeon II reveal that she used to be a university student in pursuit of fobbidden knowledge and ended up dismembering her professor's cadaver, then assembled his body to reanimate him. Her backstory somewhat resembles that of Victor Frankenstein from the popular Gothic-style novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelly. Similar to the Plague Doctor, Victor is also a gifted university student who is obssessed with understanding the nature of life and death. He eventually discovers a technique that allows him to revive dead matters; then attempts to craft a hideous, towering Creature from various body parts.