I'm here once again with another build for a character from a franchise that I can't believe I didn't think of drawing from before. Fortunately, I have friends with good taste that are there to remind me of a whole slew of awesome characters to build. Darkest Dungeon is an awesome and infuriating game with a bevy of interesting characters that have lots of fun skills and abilities to make builds around. My buddy that reminded me of this had a particular character he wanted to see from it, which really helped narrow down all the options I had.
With that, let's get into the build for the Houndmaster, hailing from Darkest Dungeon!
HOUNDMASTER
CHARACTER William ‘Houndmaster’
SOURCE Darkest Dungeon
GOAL The Houndmaster hails from the game Darkest Dungeon, a gothic rogue-like RPG, where they tend to serve as a support-like character. Once a lawman accompanied by a faithful hound, he uncovered a heinous crime perpetrated by his fellow policemen, and left that line of work to join in the exploration of the Ancestor’s estate. While a Houndmaster can only be equipped with four abilities, they can acquire a greater amount. Hound’s Rush deals extra damage against marked creatures and inflicts bleed, Hound’s Harry hits multiple targets and inflicts bleed, Target Whistle reduces a creature’s protection and marks them, Blackjack deals damage and inflicts stun, Cry Havoc reduces the stress of your allies, Guard Dog increases an ally’s ability to dodge for a brief time, and Lick Wounds heals the Houndmaster. The Houndmaster also has some unique camping skills that he can perform while resting in the dungeon such as Hound’s Watch to reduce the chance of being surprised, Therapy Dog to reduce stress among the party, Man’s Best Friend to reduce the Houndmaster’s stress by a greater amount, and Release the Hound to increase the chance of scouting.
LEVEL 1 We start by going over our ABCs – ancestry, background, and class. The Houndmaster is clearly human with skilled heritage to grant him access to a greater number of skills. We’ll take Survival as our trained skill from this heritage so that Houndmaster can better track down criminals. Our two free boosts will go to Strength, since the Houndmaster wields a club, and Wisdom to be better at detecting things. For our ancestry feat, we’ll take Natural Ambition, which will grant us an extra class feat when we get to that point.
For our background, we’ll take the detective background to reflect the Houndmaster’s past as an investigator. The first boost will again be to Wisdom, and we’ll take the second boost to Strength. We become automatically trained in Society and Underworld Lore. We also receive Streetwise as a skill feat, allowing us to Gather Information with our Society skill, keeping our ear to the streets.
Finally, we’ll take ranger as our class and select precision for our hunter’s edge since we won’t be using a lot of attacks. Part of my reasoning for taking ranger is, in addition to the animal companion, it grants us Hunt Prey, which we can use to ‘mark’ targets as per Target Whistle. Our class boost will go to Strength and then we’ll apply our four boosts to Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma (Str 16, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 12). As a ranger, we would be automatically trained in Nature and Survival but since we received Survival from our heritage, we’ll become trained in Diplomacy instead. We will then also become trained in Acrobatics, Athletics, Intimidation, Medicine, and Occultism. The Animal Companion class feat nets us a wolf as a young animal companion to be our hound while Heal Companion, which we receive from our Natural Ambition, gives us a warden spell to heal up our faithful hound, like Lick Wounds.
LEVEL 2 The Houndmaster used to track down criminals and since he often had to do so expediently, Experienced Tracker will be our first skill feat, allowing us to move at full speed while we Track at a penalty. Magic Hide gives us another warden spell that bolsters the AC of our wolf, helping give us the effect of Guard Ally.
Gear: everburning torch
LEVEL 3 We’ll put this skill increase to Society to reach expert proficiency in it, making it easier for the Houndmaster to identify human threats and learn about criminal going-ons with his Streetwise. The Thorough Search feat allows the Houndmaster to take his time to examine something to gain a bonus on his Perception check, like a detective looking through a crime scene.
Gear: +1 morningstar, predictable silver piece, everburning torch
LEVEL 4 I like Forensic Acumen for its flavor of the Houndmaster examining bodies and doing detective work. For our class feat, Scout’s Warning replicates the Hound’s Watch skill to give us a chance to get the jump on our enemies. It also means that we can be using exploration activities other than Scout, such as Track, to grant this initiative bonus to our allies.
Gear: tracker’s goggles, +1 morningstar, belt of good health, everburning torch
LEVEL 5 This set of ability boosts will go to Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom (Str 18, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 12). This increased Intelligence means we become trained in another skill and learn a new language. For the former, we’ll take Religion due to the Houndmaster’s adventures in the Ancestor’s Estate and the horrors he’s encountered there. Thanks to our heritage, we automatically achieve expert proficiency in Survival and then still get a skill increase, which we’ll plug into Medicine to become expert in that as well. The Cooperative Nature ancestry feat doesn’t have a direct correlation to the character, but feels appropriate for a character designed around being something of a support.
Gear: +1 striking morningstar, tracker’s goggles, pendant of the occult, belt of good health, everburning torch, predictable silver piece
LEVEL 6 While Lick Wounds only applies to self-healing, Battle Medicine expands the Houndmaster’s ability to heal to others instead. We will of course be taking Mature Animal Companion to buff up our hound, which includes it getting a single action even if we don’t Command it.
Gear: +1 studded leather armor, +1 striking morningstar, healer’s gloves, tracker’s goggles, belt of good health, wondrous figurine (onyx dog)
LEVEL 7 Since we are now able to increase skills to master proficiency, we’ll be doing that with Survival to become better at tracking. Somewhat opposite to Thorough Search, we’ll also take Expeditious Search so that we can search areas more quickly when time is tight.
Gear: lion’s shield, +1 studded leather armor, goggles of night, +1 striking morningstar, tracker’s goggles, pendant of the occult
LEVEL 8 While I don’t really consider this a great skill feat, it is nice that it affects everybody, No Cause For Alarm helps mimic Cry Havoc and Therapy Dog, which reduce the party’s stress – or frightened condition in this case. Fitting the Houndmaster’s role as a support, Warden’s Boon allows the Houndmaster to grant an ally the bonus from his Hunter’s Edge for a turn, taking advantage of him ‘marking’ targets as some other classes do.
Gear: boots of bounding, lion’s shield, clandestine cloak, +1 studded leather armor, +1 striking morningstar, tracker’s goggles
LEVEL 9 This is another skill increase that we’ll put to Society so that we can achieve master proficiency and become better at identifying monsters that hide behind human faces. For our ancestry feat, we’ll grab Multitalented, which grants us a multiclass archetype feat. We’ll take the Investigator Dedication for that, which doesn’t do much to replicate his in-game abilities but does reflect his background. It can also help us solving cases with the unique actions it grants us.
Gear: +1 resilient studded leather armor, boots of bounding, wounding weapon rune, lion’s shield, goggles of night, +1 striking morningstar
LEVEL 10 This time around, we’ll plug our ability boosts into Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma (Str 19, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 14). Again, we get another skill and language. For the former, we’ll become trained in Thievery as one of the Houndmaster’s trinkets is a whistle that increases the chance to disarm traps though that might be better replicated through a chime of opening or similar item. Stealth is also a very good option to take here even if it doesn’t particularly fit the character so if you don’t like the Thievery idea, I’d go that route. With the Continual Recovery skill feat, we can Treat Wounds more frequently which is mostly just handy if not a good fit for the character. We get another feat to boost our dear wolf in the form of Incredible Companion though I’m not sure which is the best fit for our hound. Personally, I’d probably go nimble, but if you feel like savage is a better fit, go for it.
Gear: force shield, +1 resilient studded leather armor, collar of inconspicuous, wounding weapon rune, clandestine cloak, +1 striking morningstar
LEVEL 11 We’ll take another skill increase to Medicine, adding it to the list of skills that we have master proficiency in. Toughness is just a good general feat and since our HP is lagging behind somewhat for our level, especially since we want to be in melee, it’s a good time to grab it.
Gear: +2 striking morningstar, force shield, greater tracker’s goggles, +1 resilient studded leather armor, wounding weapon rune, boots of bounding
LEVEL 12 With the Advanced First Aid skill feat, we can now use Administer First Aid to remove the sickened and frightened conditions, further reflecting the Houndmaster’s Cry Havoc or Therapy Dog. Side by Side really just makes us better at fighting alongside our animal companion, making it so that we can ‘flank’ a creature by being adjacent to each other and threatening it. This doesn’t reflect a specific ability but does demonstrate how closely together the man and beast work together.
Gear: +2 resilient studded leather armor, +2 striking morningstar, greater clandestine cloak, force shield, collar of inconspicuousness, thundering weapon rune
LEVEL 13 This skill increase will push Diplomacy up to master proficiency, making it easier to use No Cause For Alarm when we need to. Cooperative Soul builds from Cooperative Nature and follows that same line of thinking of becoming better at helping our allies.
Gear: +2 greater striking morningstar, +2 resilient studded leather armor, greater goggles of night, greater clandestine cloak, force shield, greater tracker’s goggle
LEVEL 14 While Planar Survival might seem like an odd fit for the Houndmaster, I envision it as him learning to survive in the unwelcoming and even bizarre locales he delves into upon the Ancestor’s estate. Warden’s Guidance sort of further replicates Target Whistle though I think this feat is way too high a level for what it does, which is that as long as we are observing our hunted prey, all our allies get a success on Seeking it.
Gear: medusa’s scream, +2 greater striking morningstar, aeon stone (pink rhomboid), +2 resilient studded leather armor, greater clandestine cloak, daredevil boots
LEVEL 15 With another array of ability boosts, we’ll be applying them to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma (Str 20, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 16). At fifteenth level, you can start increasing skills to legendary proficiency, which is exactly what we’ll do with Survival. For our general feat, we’ll pick up Shield Block. Again, this isn’t a feat that is a particularly good fit for the character but the design of him, wielding a one-handed weapon, means we can take advantage of a shield to help mitigate damage and hits here and there.
Gear: +2 greater resilient studded leather armor, medusa’s scream, boots of speed, +2 greater striking morningstar, greater goggles of night, bag of holding (type III)
LEVEL 16 The Legendary Guide skill feat increases the party’s overland travel speed and fits with the Houndmaster’s general function in Darkest Dungeon in supporting his allies. We receive yet another feat to bolster our animal companion in the form of Specialized Companion, which we’ll use to make our wolf a tracker so that it’s even better at tracking down criminals and worse.
Gear: reforging shield, +2 greater resilient studded leather armor, greater boots of bounding, bag of holding (type IV), +2 greater striking morningstar, aeon stone (pink rhomboid)
LEVEL 17 We’ll take another skill increase to Society so that we now have legendary proficiency in it. Stubborn Persistence might not seem like much, but I like the idea of it for the Houndmaster staying resolute when stressed.
Gear: +3 greater striking morningstar, reforging shield, greater thundering weapon rune, +2 greater resilient studded leather armor, boots of speed, bag of holding (type IV)
LEVEL 18 Following along the lines of Advanced First Aid, we can pick up Paragon Battle Medicine for our skill feat so that we can remove certain condition. We’ll take Masterful Companion so that the hound gains the greater benefits of our hunter’s edge, further increasing its effectiveness in combat as it does seem to be the more combative of the pair within Darkest Dungeon.
Gear: belt of giant strength, +3 greater striking morningstar, greater medusa’s scream, greater thundering weapon rune, +2 greater resilient studded leather armor, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19 We’ll take this last skill increase to Medicine to achieve legendary proficiency in it. With True Perception, we become more likely to grant the benefits of Warden’s Guidance to our allies since it makes it harder for creatures to hide from us.
Gear: +3 greater resilient studded leather armor, belt of giant strength, greater daredevil boots, +3 greater striking morningstar, reforging shield, greater thundering weapon rune
LEVEL 20 Our final array of ability boosts will go to Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma (Str 20, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 18). With this increase to Intelligence, I’d become trained in Stealth but if you did so back at level 10, might as well pick up Thievery here. Since we got Medicine all the way up to legendary proficiency, we might as well take Legendary Medic, which lets us remove diseases or even graver conditions. In particular, being able to remove the doomed condition feels very close to reducing stress to me. Since none of the 20th-level feats are particularly good fits for the Houndmaster, we end up reaching back to pick up Double Prey, allowing the Houndmaster and his wolf to either go after different targets or make it so that even less creatures can hide from our allies with Warden’s Guidance.
Gears: +3 major striking morningstar, +3 greater resilient studded leather armor, indestructible shield, belt of giant strength, speed weapon rune, greater talisman cord
CONCLUSION With that, our Houndmaster is complete! Well equipped to support his allies, he also excels at tracking down foes and can mark them, setting them up to be taken down by his allies or faithful hound. We weren’t really able to get the exact effects of Hound’s Rush or Hound’s Harry though our precision edge does copy at least part of the former. However, handwraps of mighty blows on the wolf with a wounding weapon property rune does help with that idea. We couldn’t really capture Guard Dog either, but we managed to capture just about every other skill – including the camping ones!
This was a fun one to do and I will definitely be doing some more characters from Darkest Dungeon in the future - there's a lot of skills and abilities to try to work with and many of them have flavorful if somewhat vague backgrounds. But lemme know what you think! Does this build work? Does it represent the character? What would you change about it? Is it something you’d like to play? What other characters would you like to see for Full Build Friday.
If you feel so inclined, join the blog’s Discord server, follow us on Twitter, or watch some guys beat up the monsters I design on my Twitch, where I try to stream but rarely do.
As a side note, I am leaving behind gunslinger and inventor at least until they receive a proper release. Once they do, I have plenty of builds I want to do for them and might even revisit the two that I did (Graves and Iron Man).
Have a Fantastic Friday!
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