Captain

The Captain is an enemy in Darkest Dungeon II.

Description
The Captain is a Fisherfolk monster found only in The Shroud.

Once the leader of one of the many crews along the coast, the Captain now rules over the monstrosities of the Shroud and leads them to battle. Despite his left arm consumed by a cluster of starfish and so engulfed by barnacles, his ferocious hook rallies his men and tear the flesh with great ease. These days more than before, the Captain is the sole master onboard after his god...

The Captain is a backline support enemy that can provide massive buffs not only to itself, but its entire party with All Hands on Deck. Beyond this, it has two different attacks with its hook, both of which deal moderate damage and have different synergies with.

Strategy
The Captain's mere presence on the battlefield fundamentally changes how a battle plays out, no matter which other enemies are grouped with it. The Captain will always use All Hands on Deck as its first action in every battle, and the two positive tokens this skill provides to the entire party make any enemy, whether it's an imposing Docker or a lowly Bosun, a serious threat. A full round of all four enemies acting with these tokens can often prove difficult or impossible to recover from, particularly if one or more of the enemies gained, allowing them to act before your heroes in the next round.

Because of how greatly this skill affects the battle in the enemy's favor, it is extremely highly recommended to prevent the Captain from using it in the first round of combat (or at all, preferably). Killing the Captain in a single round is infeasible for all but the most deadly efficient team compositions, as the Captain has a respectable health pool, and is difficult to reach initially with most damaging skills. Attempting to neutralize All Hands on Deck by applying to the Captain will be completely ineffectual, as All Hands on Deck is an ally-targeting skill that needs no chance to hit. Additionally, it's unlikely that you will be able to set up the necessary to apply to the Captain in a single round (although the Bounty Hunter can manage it by using the No Mercy skill).

As such, the most reliable and feasible option for preventing All Hands on Deck is movement, specifically, moving the Captain out of Rank 4, as that is the only position where All Hands on Deck can be used, and is also always where the Captain will be placed in every enemy team composition. The Occultist's Daemon's Pull skill, the Jester's Echoing March, or even the Bounty Hunter's Come Hither, are all perfect for this purpose. Alternatively, the Leper's Purge skill, by knocking the enemy in Rank 1 all the way to Rank 4, can indirectly shove the Captain out of that position as well. It should be noted that moving the Captain into Ranks 2 or 3 allows it to use Coral Grief, its second damaging skill, in addition to Keelhaul, but this is still far preferable to allowing it to use All Hands on Deck.

Above all else, it is critical to prevent the Captain from using All Hands on Deck in some way or, failing that, at the very least try to kill or neutralize one other enemy, as three enemies hitting into your party with two positive tokens is still a great deal more manageable than four.

Once moved out of the correct position to use All Hands on Deck, or if it has simply already used the skill, the Captain is still far from an insignificant threat. Not only do its two hook attacks deal significant damage, but they have a relatively high chance to CRIT, which not only increases the damage of these attacks from "moderate" to "severe" (particularly if the Captain is Ordained), but also makes the various negative effects both attacks apply to your heroes far more likely to stick.

These negative effects range from a chance to apply, which applies when the target moves (whether they're moving themselves or some other hero is moving around them), as well as a debuff that increases the amount of received on Keelhaul, and adebuff and a high chance of  on Coral Grief.

The buff the Captain applies to itself with Coral Grief can prolong its own life by discouraging heroes from attacking it, potentially allowing it to survive long enough to exhaust the 2 round cooldown of All Hands on Deck, allowing it to use this exceptionally powerful skill for a second time. The bleed the Captain applies when hit also stacks with the +1 debuff applied by Keelhaul, meaning that a hero with this debuff who attacks the Captain will potentially be applying a 2 damage to themself. This +1 received debuff also synergizes particularly well with a Fish Monger enemy if there are any present, as the Fish Monger has its own buff that increases the  it deals with every attack.