How to Unlock the Bounty Hunter in Darkest Dungeon 2

Among the eight unlockable characters in Darkest dungeon 2, one stands out clearly among the bunch: the Bounty Hunter. While he’s unlocked by the same means as his peers, he works completely differently when it comes to actually adding him to your party and using him in combat. Figuring out how to unlock the Bounty Hunter in Darkest Dungeon 2, and then actually making use of him once you do, is one of the more cryptic challenges the game has to offer. Thankfully, our handy guide is here to help you through the hiring process.

How to hire the Bounty Hunter in Darkest Dungeon 2

Unlocking the Bounty Hunter

As with every other unlockable character in Darkest Dungeon 2, the Bounty Hunter can be unlocked at the Altar of Hope, via the Living City sub-section. You can reach the Altar by finishing a run, be it in victory or defeat, but you’ll only be able to access the Living City if you’re playing a standard run and not the tutorial.

Once at the Altar, head to the Living City tab, and scroll all the way down to the bottom to find the Bounty Hunter. He’s slightly cheaper to unlock than the other characters, requiring five candles instead of the usual eight, but this is balanced out by the fact that you don’t get direct access to him once you do.

Hiring the Bounty Hunter in a run

Once you’ve unlocked the Bounty Hunter, you’ll notice that he doesn’t appear as an option the next time you’re choosing your party at the Crossroads, and he never will in the future, either. Rather than adding him to your party normally, you instead need to hire the Bounty Hunter at an Inn during a run.

This isn’t always possible, so if you want to try this elusive character out, keep a keen eye on the back wall of each Inn you rest at. If you see a poster hanging there, showing a helmet with an axe and a hook crossed underneath it, then you have the chance to hire the Bounty Hunter. Click on the poster, and you’ll be presented with the terms of the contract: the Bounty Hunter will join your party, replacing one of your other four party members, for one region, in exchange for four candles. This payment is made at the end of your run, so don’t worry if you haven’t amassed four candles yet when you encounter the poster.

Once the above is done, you’ll have access to the Bounty Hunter until you reach the end of the next region you enter. His skills come pre-mastered, which makes him especially powerful early on, and they’re unlocked via the Altar of Hope rather than Hero Shrines, as is the case for other characters. His skills focus on disrupting and debuffing the enemy, applying combo tokens and other ailments so the rest of your party can finish them off. He also packs a solid melee attack in Collect Bounty, which lets him get some damage in himself when need be.

And that’s that! You now know how to unlock, and actually use, the Bounty Hunter in Darkest Dungeon 2. The enemies you’ll encounter on your various runs are much more useful to you dead than alive, and this powerful hero will help you leave them that way with startling efficiency.