Occultist

The Occultist is one of the playable Character Classes in Darkest Dungeon.

Description
"Knowledge - the poison of man. Since time began, it has been the folly of men such as the Ancestor. Many have sought it out, but those who discover the truth of this world's secrets have found the revelations too much to bear. The Occultist, however, has utilized that same knowledge to further his understanding of the eldritch. His pursuits in antediluvian apprehension have left his body fragile and weak, but it has made his mind sharp and his capabilities most versatile. From the back, he can channel his baleful energy to strike those hiding in the shadows or pull them forward, removing all filth from his presence. With his curses, he can expel a foe's strength or open them up for devastation. His eldritch powers can rend the souls of even the most foul of beasts leaving them motionless, but at the cost of calling the ever-looming shadows closer. While mostly destructive, the Occultist can also use his profane powers to reconstruct flesh and heal wounds. This technique is powerful, but unpredictable as it may restore a man to perfect health or tear apart their flesh. At camp, he practices rituals and rites that can empower his allies and even bring them back from the brink of death, but many of these eccentric practices can leave both the Occultist and his companions troubled. The gate to hell is open, and this man will seal it away with the very power it gave him."

Combat Skills
"A lifetime of scholarly inquest into ancient and forbidden lore has opened the Occultist's mind to the powers of the void. Debilitating curses and maddeningly impossible support skills are his specialty. The void, however, is an unpredictable power, and consequently skills' effectiveness can vary dramatically, and usually come at a cost of light, or stress. -Guild"

Camping Skills
"At rest, the Occultist will attempt communion with the dark and impossible forces of the void in an effort to strengthen himself and the party. Such efforts are frequently taxing, however, exacting a toll in darkness and stress. - Survivalist"

Tactical Analysis:
The Occultist has a flexible playstyle that allow him to fulfil multiple roles. Wyrd Reconstruction is a powerful heal, exceeded only by the reliability of the Vestal. It can restore over 30 points of damage in a single use, or might heal 0 AND cause bleeding on your ally. As such, it's advisable not to rely on it at clutch moments, and to keep a Plague Doctor (or other bleed removing heroes such as the Grave Robber or Hellion) handy to resolve this quickly. It is however worth noting that Wyrd Reconstruction on higher levels has a higher chance to bleed and causes higher damage/round. This means that keeping the skill on a low level might be a viable choice, especially when using Trinkets to counteract the lower healing power.
 * Primary Healer
 * Debuffs / Stuns / Movement
 * Damage, primarily against backline enemies and Eldritch

The Occultist has an array of stuns, movement and debuffs available to him. You can mark targets for the likes of the Arbalest and Bounty Hunter to take advantage of, and reduce the damage output of single foes very effectively. You can also pull backline troops out of position, ruining enemy formations.

While lacking the outright damage of other heroes, the occultist does have a high % crit, and can sometimes surprise you by hitting hard. He's particularly effective against backline troops, and gets strong bonuses against Eldritch enemies. This makes him extremely handy in the Cove as part of a Plague Doctor/Occultist combo.

Equipment
"Scholarly robes, better suited to the library than the harsh realities of adventuring, are all the Occultist has brought with him. His rituals and chants require deft movements of hand and finger, so better he be unencumbered that he may channel the power of his morbid fetish: the polished skull of a dead man. -Blacksmith"

Customization
As for every hero, the Occultist has four different colour palettes to choose from: beige, black, violet and green.

Trivia

 * The "eldritch language" the occultist often speaks during fights is R'lyehian, one of the languages spoken in H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Some can be translated but most seems to be made up by the devs. There is a partial translation here.


 * He is a reference of the Lovecraft's character Abdul Alhazred also known as "the mad arab", phantomatic writer of the Necronomicon. In fact "Alhazred" can be one of the Occultist's pregenerated names.
 * He is the only hero to have both a combat skill to clear corpses and a camping skill to prevent the nighttime ambush.
 * Given his "final" bark and some of the lines he uses when being on Death's Door/afflicted, it can be assumed he has made a pact with some eldritch entity in order to gain his dark powers.


 * If you take him to the last fight of the game, it becomes clear the one he made the deal with is also the last boss of the game.

Barks
"So uncivilized."

- Occultist

"Another fool for the fire!"

- Occultist

"Uneducated savage!"

- Occultist

"Best complete this procedure. The blood...it riles me."

- Occultist

"Anatomy is hardly my specialty, I'll admit."

- Occultist

"Why should we fret? We'll all be worms soon enough."

- Occultist

"I know a rite for this. It will calm you."

- Occultist

"I am now glad I attended a liberal arts university."

- Occultist

"Behold! The unquenchable fire of the stars!"

- Occultist

"The civilized mind can o'erperch any abyss!"

- Occultist on becoming Stalwart.

"One quieted mind can defeat all the world's ills."

- Occultist on becoming Focused.

"Ah-the Serenity of total mental Concentration."

- Occultist on becoming Focused.

"Fell energy courses through me..."

- Occultist on healing his stress thanks to being Stalwart.

"My wondering mind commands a different tactic. Sorry."

- Occultist

"YOU CANNOT EVEN CONTROL YOUR OWN THOUGHTS, MORTAL!"

- "Occultist"

"Good. The younger folk should indeed do most of the work"

- Occultist

"Fascinating. Let me through a little, lovely."

- Occultist moving forward when afflicted.

"I cannot wield the dark arts endlessly. I must rest"

- Occultist

"This was not the deal we struck!"

- Occultist on Death's Door.

"Finally, the face of my tormentor. Come, then."

- Occultist on being the one chosen to be sacrificied to the Heart of Darkness.