How to unlock all Duelist skills in Darkest Dungeon 2

While some characters are easy to use, Duelist is very specific because of the way she uses her stances. You must unlock all Duelist skills in Darkest Dungeon 2 to reach her potential.

All Duelist Shrine battles and reflections - All skill unlocks

Chapter One: Academie Duello (The Boot)

To obtain Duelist's first skill in Darkest Dungeon 2, you must visit a Hero Shrine. By choosing Sahar, she'll start her journey through memory lane. Chapter 1: Academie Duello is easy; you only need to listen to the story about the life of a young sword student. After watching the storyline, you'll get The Boot ability. It's similar to Crusader's ability Stunning Blow.

Duelist's The Boot skill knocks back the enemy by three positions, which is useful when fighting against strong enemies in the first position. An ability for special situations, whether you want it or not, really depends on your team composition.

• Positions: 1, 2, 3.
• To use The Boot, you must choose Aggressive Stance.
• 3-6 damage (upgraded).
• 15% Critical damage (upgraded).

Chapter Two: After Hours (Again)

When you reach your second Hero Shrine with Duelist, you'll need to damage the dummy three times. This is more of a Duelist stances tutorial than some tough challenge, so focus on token descriptions under the dummy. By switching between a Defensive and an Aggressive Stance, you'll be able to complete this combat confession. Upon completion, you'll receive the Again skill.

The Again skill sacrifices your Stance so your ally can use cooldown abilities sooner. It may be useless or change the tide of battle.

• Positions: 1, 2, 3, 4.
• Removes all Stance tokens (Self). When upgraded, there's a 50% chance for that to happen.
• Clears target's skill cooldowns.

Related: Affinity System Guide – Darkest Dungeon 2

Chapter Three: Insatiable (Flèche)

Chapter Three: Insatiable is another story confession where you must listen to the story to get another Duelist ability in DD2. After a sad story about perfection, you'll be rewarded with the Flèche skill.

The Flèche skill goes hand in hand with Preparation. You'll use this one-two punch often, especially against bosses, as it can deal huge damage thanks to 30% bonus damage combined with many buffs.

• Positions: 2, 3, 4
• Switches to Aggressive Stance
• 7-10 (upgraded).
• 15% Critical damage (upgraded).
• Additional 30% damage
• Moves forward by three ranks
• The skill removes all Dodge tokens if Defensive Stance isn't activated when upgraded

Chapter Four: A Taste of Victory (Meditation)

Chapter 4 is the hardest Duelist reflection in Darkest Dungeon 2, as you must defeat Duelist's Mentor. It requires strategizing as you must switch between Aggressive and Defensive stances. Use the Disengage ability often, and don't rush. Mentor can deal severe damage, so make sure to balance between healing, obtaining Block tokens, and dealing damage. It will take a while, but if you're careful, you should win this battle and receive the Meditation skill.

Meditation allows Duelist to become a tank. By using it, you'll make enemies attack her, hoping Dodge tokens will do the job.

• Positions: 1, 2, 3, 4.
• Activates Defensive Stance.
• x3 Dodge tokens.
• x2 Taunt tokens if Duelist was in Defensive Stance when using Mediation.
• x2 Riposte tokens if Duelist was in Aggressive Stance before using Mediation.

Related: Darkest Dungeon 2 Beginner Tips

Chapter Five: The Perfection (Ruthless Instruction)

After defeating Duelist's Mentor in the previous Hero reflection, there's not much to do in Chapter Five: The Perfection. You'll learn how her story ends and receive two skills: Coup de Grace and Ruthless Instruction.

Ruthless Instruction is yet another buff skill that I found most helpful for Leper. This way, you can combine his Taunt skills with Dodge and Blind. As you know, Leper has a knack for missing as he's often blind. But with this buff, he'll also have no problem hitting enemies while dodging them.

• Requires either Stance (when upgraded)
• Target gets x2 Dodge tokens or, when upgraded, ignores Blind tokens for three turns when in Aggressive Stance.

Meanwhile, I found Coup de Grace most useful as a finishing move because of the Execution that ignores the Death Door token. Now that it's no longer a thing of luck when enemies die, you can execute them efficiently.

• Requires Defensive Stance
• 6 damage (upgraded).
• 10% Critical damage (upgraded).
• Ignores Block and Weak tokens
• Execution 2 (upgraded)

For more information on Darkest Dungeon 2, check out Darkest Dungeon 2 Best Team Comps on Pro Game Guides.