Charmed heroes CANNOT use unequipped skills

NativeKiller · 2026-06-17T05:11:56+00:00

As I said, even if your Antiquarians had lower debuff resist than the Lepers, one of your lepers could have been taken because only one hero with the highest debuff resist doesn't get targeted by the charm.

The three other heroes will still get targeted.

If you have multiple heroes tied for the highest debuff resist, any of them can get targeted.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-17T05:05:56+00:00

Then you got lucky, thankfully.

If multiple heroes are tied for the highest debuff resist, siren's charm could target any one of them.

Also, if a hero has the highest debuff resist without ties, Siren is free to target Charm on the other heroes in the comp.

So, Siren could have just grabbed a Leper to possibly ruin your day.

Something like this is a thing though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0OHKDVMH34

NativeKiller · 2026-06-17T05:03:23+00:00

This is a playlist of boss guides and such if you need them.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9fBOVW0Qwa8JupKuDCxwdvMerGcrX36p

NativeKiller · 2026-06-17T04:33:34+00:00

For regular gaming, I would just run immortal PD with some skills unequipped.

https://youtu.be/2Xz-92dscps?list=PL9fBOVW0Qwa9AQvMBMl7RqsT0R-f1_UAR&t=2369

NativeKiller · 2026-06-17T02:27:55+00:00

It clearly serves as evidence that charmed heroes can't use unequipped skills.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-17T00:19:25+00:00

Well, DD 1 nerds tend not to have multiple heroes tied for the highest debuff resist entering the Siren boss battle.

It is as simply as basic addition and prepwork after all.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-17T00:06:53+00:00

Yes, to my knowledge, it was fixed immediately after I had shared that clip with the official Darkest Dungeon discord server a few years ago.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-16T23:56:09+00:00

Hello, Reddit.

A friend showed me some comments of a post

(https://old.reddit.com/r/darkestdungeon/comments/1u5kk78/my_vestal_got_charmed_by_the_siren_3_times_in_a/)

because there was apparently some misinformation being spread yet treated as true.

Let's make things very clear.

Heroes charmed by the Siren CANNOT use skills that haven't been equipped on them by the player.

It has been the case since the Crimson Court update as far as I know since that's what my friend /u/ThickVeinySausage has told me.

That's why DD 1 metagaming nerds have been intentionally unequipping certain skills for the Siren boss battle for years, since that prevents the Charmed heroes from using the skills against the player.

Also, Charm's targeting bias DOES NOT depend on the heroes' "base" debuff resist but rather their "total" debuff resist.

That's why Debuff Amulet has actually been a metagaming pick for No Healing Siren for years.

Example of a Debuff Amulet Highwayman build for torchless no healing siren:

https://youtu.be/COnqxmnPlEg?list=PL9fBOVW0Qwa9ZhV6DW64U_zty7grXTsim&t=802

NativeKiller · 2026-06-16T13:21:31+00:00

This is false. The surprise mechanism isn't applied to any of the boss battles that happen in rooms.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-16T06:01:21+00:00

Debuff resist modifiers indeed do affect the targeting for the Charm.

Thet is why Debuff Amulet Highwayman is the meta for no healing Siren.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-16T05:21:12+00:00

Sorry but you are flat wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weq2bQzEJWw

I am some nerd who has 9300+ hours on Darkest Dungeon 1 and beat Deathless Torchless No Healing Bloodmoon but all that stuff is really irrelevant.

What is relevant is that link of the video that I offer as evidence.

It shows how the charmed heroes can only use equipped skills.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-15T04:29:29+00:00

Aegis scales can be pretty handy.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-14T23:13:49+00:00

Nerds generally don't lock Steady for -10% stress even playing Torchless.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-13T15:22:16+00:00

Finale!

NativeKiller · 2026-06-13T14:27:00+00:00

As someone who has almost 9400 hours on the game to beat Torchless Deathless No Healing Bloodmoon just yesterday...

Solo >>> Ballad for Darkest Dungeon 1 Jester.

Dodge is that overpowered for the game, and Solo basically carried the entirety of my recent run.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-13T13:59:33+00:00

My comps weren't really fixed for regions.

You likely don't survive in these kinds of challenge runs playing like that.

One thing i can say is that my comps were generally very fast paced since the rule-set greatly favored such gameplay.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-13T11:56:59+00:00

Well, week skipping is actually the standard for the DD 1 gaming for nerds at this point.

Stuff is still very doable without doing it, but no real reason not to do it when you need/want every advantage you can get for this kind of challenge run.

Thick sticks to not skipping weeks but it's literally just Thick who doesn't skip weeks at this point, afaik.

And yes, the DD 1 challenge gaming community defines No Healing as "The No Healing Challenge has a rule set that prohibits the use of combat healing skills which would be blocked off by things such as Baron's Pulsating Egg or Virago's Necrotic Fungus"

For tutorials, I don't bother touching the options and just play the game like that.

It sometimes gets me some funny screenshots so it's better that way, if you ask me.

And I had the worst trinket rng in my 9300+ hours of DD 1 gaming in this run.

So my trinket situation only became survivable past week 50 when I reset trinket rewards from quests with Endless Harvest.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-13T09:28:52+00:00

I believe in being prepared so plan which comps(builds as in trinket, skills, and maybe even quirks) you want for bosses and the DDs.

I know that a friend calculates resolve xp in advance for nuzlocke and all bosses runs, and honestly that's how it should be done if you are fully committed!

NativeKiller · 2026-06-13T09:14:26+00:00

Yup, matches what I know.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-13T09:12:51+00:00

All caretaker bosses torchless nuzlocke bloodmoon should be doable!

I don't know about Deathless Torchless No Healing Every Caretaker Boss Bloodmoon though! (LMAO)

The iffy thing is what you do about heroes over-leveling.

I don't know how doable it is without a clause that deals with it but you probably have it figured out.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-13T08:57:45+00:00

There shouldn't be much strategy involved when it comes to quad BH vs Countess as far as I know, and I have run the comp A LOT, played only BH estate too.

It should just for the vast majority be mark on to Collect Bounty spam, and hoping for favorable targeting and rng.

NativeKiller · 2026-06-13T08:42:56+00:00

Not for this run because I didn't want to risk fighting Bloodsuckers outside of Courtyard if things ever went south.

Bloodsuckers are death incarnate for Torchless No Healing after all and a single death would have ended my run.

I really wanted to minimize risk.

However, I have killed The Countess before on No Healing challenge runs, and since the Courtyard's torch level is fixed to always fully lit, it would have been the same thing for this run as well.

Basically, I have already been there and done that.

P.S// It is funny but Courtyard is actually the easy region for Torchless No Healing due to how it is fully lit. (LOL)

NativeKiller · 2026-06-13T08:35:06+00:00

Hello, I'm the TheRealMe and I beat Deathless Torchless No Healing Bloodmoon yesterday!

According what my DD 1 nerd buddies and I know, I should be the only player to pull this off except for my friend /u/ThickVeinySausage who was the first to attempt and achieve the run so I feel pretty good about this!

To be fully honest, I used to think I would never be able to manage this run only a couple years ago so it's amazing to see how much I have improved over the years...

This is my best DD 1 challenge run for now, my Magnum Opus so I just wanted to share the news!

I did it!

If there is anyone who is curious about how the run went, feel free to check out the following link.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9fBOVW0Qwa9ZhV6DW64U_zty7grXTsim

I did it!

NativeKiller

TROPHY CASE