Red Hook Studio's 2016 game Darkest Dungeon is a punishing dungeon RPG with gorgeous graphics, banging music, and a steep learning curve. Yes, there's a glossary in-game for you to peruse, and yes, there's a tutorial level that will chew you up and spit you out. It's a game of trial and error, mostly error--including figuring out how to use your heroes to their fullest potential.
But in such a harsh game, you'll be wanting a healer. Enter the Plague Doctor, a hero who prefers to linger in the back and dole out health and harm as she sees fit. She's not a front-liner by any stretch of the imagination, but used right, she can keep your team healthy while Blighting your foes into oblivion.
Combat Skills
The Plague Doctor prefers to hang in the back ranks, as most of her combat skills have her in the third or fourth slot. Having only one melee skill, Incision (which targets the front opponents and deals Bleed damage), she's just not suited well for physical combat. In fact, her moves are all either ranged or support. Plague Grenade, her starting skill, hits both back slots with strong Blight damage, while Noxious Blast hits an opponent in the front with Blight damage. There's also Blinding Gas, which hits both back slots with Stun; this can buy you an extra round, but the enemies in those slots will be temporarily resistant to further Stunning once they recover. She also has a second Stun move, Disorienting Blast, which has a chance to Stun an opponent, as well as potentially shuffling the opponent's team and clearing any corpses taking up space.
The Plague Doctor deals in healing as well, which reflects in her move Battlefield Healing. With it, she can heal another hero--or herself--on top of removing Blight and/or Bleed, two of the biggest damage-dealers in the game. This is especially crucial when a teammate is low on health, as Blight or Bleed while on or near Death's Door can kill a hero easily. She also has Emboldening Vapours, which can only be used twice per battle but gives a crucial boost to damage-dealing and Speed to a teammate who needs it. Used on the heavy-hitting team members, Emboldening Vapours can end a round that much more quickly.
Camping Skills
The Plague Doctor enjoys testing her medical skills on everyone, including herself, which shows in her four unique camping skills, two of which heal herself while the other two heal one of her teammates. Experimental Vapours heals a teammate for fifty percent of their HP and makes them more receptive to healing moves for the next four battles, which is great for long dungeons. Leeches is a weaker heal but also cures Blight and Disease. The Cure removes disease while also boosting Disease resistance for the next four battles, which is useful for places like the Warrens where disease runs rampant. Self-Medicate is also an impressive camping skill; not only does it restore HP, but it also reduces stress, cures Blight and Bleeding, and increases her Accuracy for the next four battles.
Like most heroes, the Plague Doctor has some shared camping skills as well. Wound Care is only worth picking over her specialized skills if a hero has Bleed damage; otherwise, it's functionally the same as Leeches. Encourage is a better pick, as it can help mitigate stress, and Pep Talk reduces the stress gained in the next four battles, which is always useful.
Equipment & Trinkets
The Plague Doctor's main gear is her knife and her toxins, while her light cloth robe emphasizes the distance she maintains from the front line. Like the Jester, she makes up for her light defensive stats with high Dodge and Speed stats, although she can't really be called a glass cannon. She's mostly a ranged fighter, so any quirks or trinkets that affect her melee stats can be equipped without really damaging her skill set, assuming you don't focus on Incision as a combat skill.
Her trinkets also reflect her medical research, being mostly herbs and vials. Diseased Herb boosts her already impressive Disease resist, but the Rotgut Censer is probably a pass due to trading HP for Accuracy. The Blasphemous Vial is also a pass, as it damages her stress. Witch's Vial, Bloody Herb and Poisoned Herb are trinkets to equip depending on her current combat setup, as they boost Stun, Bleed and Blight specifically, while the Bloody Herb boosts her Incision skill and makes her a more physical fighter. It's really the DLC trinkets of hers that you'll be after, as they boost both her ranged skills and her stats. Ashen Distillation from Colors of Madness boosts her Dodge significantly, while the Crimson Court trinkets have a set bonus on top of their individual bonuses.
Combat Strategies
The Plague Doctor is a must-have hero in your back ranks, where she should stay for the battle. She's not a combatant like the Hellion or Crusader who prefers the front row, so keep her in slot three or four and play to her strengths as a support character. Battlefield Medicine can be used to doctor up any hero who's starting to look a little drawn while Emboldening Vapours can give a quick boost to a hero. Despite only having two charges, Emboldening Vapors is best used in the first round or two of battle since the effects last the whole fight.
Remember, while her healing moves are nice, they don't make the bulk of her move pool. The lion's share of her moves inflict Blight, which is what you'll want to build around. Blight damage, like Bleed damage, stacks and ignores enemy Protection. Stacking Blight attacks (especially with Bleed attacks) can see a tough foe felled with ease. Since she can hit anywhere on the opponent's side through a combo of Plague Grenade and Noxious Blast, no enemy is safe. Her Stun moves, such as Disorienting Blast and Blinding Grenade, should definitely be considered as well. It's never a bad idea to buy a free turn by Stunning an enemy, whether they be a heavy-hitting Ghoul or a stress-causing Madman. Disorienting Blast clears corpses from the battlefield too, which is great when facing enemies such as the Hateful Virago, which can summon new enemies from old corpses.
The Plague Doctor's passion for Blight attacks means that places such as the Ruins and the Cove are perfect hunting grounds for her since these opponents have low Blight resistance to counter their high Bleed resistance. Conversely, toxic places such as the Warrens and the Weald are more resistant to her Blights, but her Stuns and supporting moves make her viable anywhere. Team her up with someone who can reduce the opponent's Blight resistance, such as the Grave Robber or the Antiquarian, to further increase her damage. The Grave Robber, in particular, has a move that deals extra damage to a Blighted foe, giving the two good synergy. The Plague Doctor also teams up well with heavy Bleeders such as the Jester and the Flagellant, as Bleed and Blight both stack and can stack together--crucial when facing foes with high Protection stats. The Plague Doctor can team up with anyone and go anywhere, making her one of the most versatile heroes on your roster.