There are six Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 clans - Brujha, Tremere, Banu Haqim, Ventrue, Lasombra, and Toreador. All with different abilities, so which one is best? Honestly? None of them really, as it all depends on what you want to do specifically. There are some broadly tanky, magicy, stealthy style power sets that will attract you depending on what you want to play.
There's some interesting interplays with abilities broadly grouped into sets depending on what they do, so Passives, Perks, Strikes, Affects, Relocate, and Taunts. In addition to that, powers are grouped by characteristics like mind control, speed, magic types, and so on. There's an interplay between classes and you'll eventually unlock the abilities to learn other classes' skills, so it's all a bit confusing at first glance.
I've been playing for a while now and worked out all the finer points of Bloodlines 2's classes and abilities, so let me explain everything I've learned to help you pick the best clan for you.
Bloodlines 2 Clan affinities
Bloodlines 2 clan affinities basically mean each clan has certain types of abilities they can use from other clans, at a reduced ability cost. These are represented by a little symbol and group certain powers together as follows:
- Celerity (lightning symbol) - Any ability that improves movement speed.
- Presence (star symbol) - Mind control built around confusion and persuasion.
- Potence (fist symbol) - Power attacks.
- Dominate (chain symbol) - Mind control that forces enemies to do things.
- Blood Sorcery (pentagram symbol) - Various magic abilities using blood.
- Obfuscate (diamond symbol) - Magic that hides you or enemies such as invisibility and silencing noise.
- Oblivion (portal symbol) - Magic that uses shadows to attack and trap enemies, or move around.
Each clan then has an affinity to these groups that reduces the cost of any ability they align with, like this:
- Brujha Clan Affinities: Celerity, Presence, Potence.
- Tremere Clan Affinities: Dominate, Blood Sorcery.
- Banu Haqim Clan Affinities: Celerity, Blood Sorcery, Obfuscate.
- Ventrue Clan Affinities: Dominate, Presence.
- Lasombra Clan Affinities: Dominate, Potence, Oblivion.
- Toreador Clan Affinities: Celerity, Presence.
Where that becomes more relevant is that, at a certain point in the game, you unlock the ability to access other clans' abilities. While they'll always cost more than your own clan skills, anything you have an affinity for will be cheaper than something you don't have an affinity for.
What's the best Bloodlines 2 clan?
What the best Bloodlines 2 clan is really depends on what you want to play. If you want to be a more action focused character and just hulk smash your way through problems then it's Brujha all the way. This clan comes with a range of direct attacks and a passive ability that increases melee damage when you feed.
For more magical action there's Tremere, which uses blood magic to explode enemies, boil their blood, or conjure up daggers you can throw. Or, Lasombra uses shadow magic to trap and isolate enemies.
Banu Haqim is a fairly pure stealth option, with a set of skills that are all about avoiding being seen or heard. The Ventrue clan on the other hand is kind of a trickster semi-stealth option with the ability to control and kill from a distance and subdue people - the bodies will probably set off an alarm, but you can clear rooms without ever being seen. This is the one I ultimately went with and it's currently my favorite.
If there is a weak option I'd probably say it's Toreadore - all they really have going for them is some enhanced movement.
Remember: once you reach a certain point in the story you can unlock any ability, albeit at an increased cost. So don't worry if you can't entirely decide - pick the clan that appeals the most to you, knowing you can cherry pick other clan abilities eventually.
Now, let's take a look at all Bloodlines 2's clan abilities.
Bloodlines 2 Brujha clan
Clan Affinities: Celerity, Presence, Potence
The Brujha clan in Bloodlines 2 are basically the melee option, focused on direct attacks:
- Passive: Brutality - After feeding strength of all melee attacks are increased.
- Strike: Lightening Strike - Target multiple enemies with a flurry of fast blows (Celerity).
- Relocate: Charge - Run forwards, grabbing the first enemy you hit and using them as a ram (Celerity).
- Affect: Taunt - Enrage an enemy to attack you, causing them to take more damage (Presence).
- Mastery: Earthshock - Hit the ground and cause enemies to fly into the air and take damage (Potence).
- Perk: Spark of Range - Killing an enemy will active Clan passive without feeding.
Bloodlines 2 Tremere clan
Clan Affinities: Dominate, Blood Sorcery
The Tremere clan in Bloodlines 2 are another attack class with a focus on blood powered magic:
- Passive: Corrosive Touch - When you feed on an enemy the body dissolves away.
- Strike: Blood Curse - Curse an enemy and the next time they take damage they'll swell and explode. The larger the enemies the longer the curse takes (Blood Sorcery).
- Relocate: Recall - Mark a position you can return to at will (Blood Sorcery).
- Affect: Cauldron of Blood - Boil an enemies blood so that their screams will draw others (Blood Sorcery).
- Mastery: Blood Salvo - Create a set of blood daggers you can throw with telekinesis (Blood Sorcery).
- Perk: Blood of Potency - Feeding will recharge one pip of a random ability.
Bloodlines 2 Banu Haqim clan
Clan Affinities: Celerity, Blood Sorcery, Obfuscate.
The Banu Haqim clan in Bloodlines 2 are a pure stealth class with abilities that focus on remaining unseen and unheard:
- Passive: Silence of Death - Feeding makes all your action silent for a brief period.
- Strike: Bladed Hand - Instantly behead weaker opponents (Blood Sorcery).
- Relocate: Split Second - Slow time around you (Celerity).
- Affect: Mute - Silence an enemy completely so cries or weapons can't be heard by anyone else (Obfuscate).
- Mastery: Unseen Aura - Become invisible, although you still make noise (Obfuscate).
- Perk: Unseen Passage - Sprint in a crouched position.
Bloodlines 2 Ventrue clan
Clan Affinities: Dominate, Presence.
The Ventrue clan in Bloodlines 2 have skills that let then control and kill from a distance:
- Passive: Flesh of Marble - After feeding your skin hardens briefly to protect you from damage.
- Strike: Terminal Decree - Cause a human enemy to kill themselves. Vampires are staggered and disarmed instead (Dominate).
- Relocate: Possession - Possess an enemy so that you can control them, walk around and make them attack someone else (Dominate).
- Affect: Cloud Memory - Make a target forget you were there and return them to a calm state (Dominate).
- Mastery: Mass Manipulation - Subdue all enemies in view. Ventrue and affect abilities will then apply to all subdued enemies (Dominate).
- Perk: Resilience - Get more health from feeding.
Bloodlines 2 Lasombra clan
Clan Affinities: Dominate, Potence, Oblivion.
The Lasombra clan in Bloodlines 2 use shadows to move, attack, and trap enemies:
- Passive: Shadow Cloak - Feeding on an enemy cloaks you in shadow, making it harder to see you.
- Strike: Arms of Ahriman - Send out a thin beam of shadow that will trap enemies until they're damaged (Oblivion).
- Relocate: Shadow Step - Travel from your shadow to the shadow of a targeted enemy (Oblivion).
- Affect: Glimpse of Oblivion - Scare an enemy so they run away (Dominate).
- Mastery: Enter Oblivion - Cast a shadow in front of you and then enter a dimension where only you and anyone hit by the shadow exists (Oblivion).
- Perk: Stygian Shroud - Prevents you from being attacked while feeding.
Bloodlines 2 Toreador clan
Clan Affinities: Celerity, Presence.
The Toreador clan in Bloodlines 2 have some enhanced moment and the ability to control enemies:
- Passive: Cat's Grace - Move faster after feeding.
- Strike: Entrancing Kiss - Kiss an enemy to turn them into an ally that will fight for you (Presence).
- Relocate: Blink - Effectively a teleport to a targeted location (Celerity).
- Affect: Beckon - Put an enemy in a trance and make them walk to where they last saw you (Presence).
- Mastery: Blurred Momentum - Improved Dodging (Celerity) .
- Perk: Fleetness: Relocate abilities recharge over time.
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