When is it Best to Finish Courtyard?

[D00m]

TLDR at the end

So I've just started playing the DLC for the first time and I've got to say that I'm finding the Crimson Curse to be more of a blessing than a detriment when managed correctly. Bloodlust buff is simply huge on damage dealers. Not to mention that disease immunity on your whole roster has a nice ring to it.

I've read somewhere that once you beat the final Courtyard boss, the curse is removed. Is that the case only for the party members who beat the boss or your whole roster? I'm guessing the former as you also supposedly get the option to treat the curse in the Sanitarium.

I'm thinking I'd actually like to keep Crimson Curse on my damage dealers until the very end of my playthrough especially the Darkest Dungeon and the Farmstead's endless mode. What do you guys think of this approach, is it the right way to go? Or maybe you even think that it's worth keeping the curse on all classes besides damage dealers, after all that +7 DODGE, +3 SPEED for 3 rounds for an occasional tough fight is not too shabby either, right? Were I to finish the Courtyard and lose the ability to get my heroes infected, I'd like to know what is the likelihood of spreading the curse within a treatment facility.

FYI: I don't find blood availability to be an issue even though I have yet to build Sanguine Vintners (still saving up those busts). I've started the courtyard quite early, but have gone in only once thus far and I'm sitting at a healthy supply of over 20 blood vials with only a few heroes cursed.

TLDR: Crimson Curse seems to make the game easier rather than harder. Should I aim to keep the curse on my heroes throughout my whole playthough? If so, should I delay finishing the Courtyard? What is the probability of spreading the curse within a building for once I no longer have the means to get new heroes infected?

[Skinny Pete]

You can still get infected after finishing the Countess, but infestation never gets as high as it used to and the Curse can be cured at the Sanitarium (although not with camping skills).

There is no particular reason to bother curing the Curse before finishing all the DD levels unless you really want to or if some critical member of your team has the Curse and you don't want them to have it. It can be somewhat inconvenient in DD2, for instance, if your guy without the trinket is refusing guards, or if your designated guard is doing random stuff, or if your PD in DD3 is doing random stuff instead of [thing you want him to do].

Otherwise, I found it no problem at all to have infected heroes in the DD levels unless they had some very specific thing I needed them to do and that specific hero was infected. Specifically in DD2 I had a Cursed Flagellant who kept refusing guards, and eventually got Rapturous and continued to do so, but then he just massively critted the last miniboss repeatedly until it bled to death. So no biggie.

But that's the main issue with Curse and DD levels, other than the relatively minor issue that you burn an inventory slot on Blood when you really need all the supplies you can bring.

[Laplace93]

When you beat the Countess your whole roster is cured, like when you beat the Baron and the Viscount, but after her there's another boss fight so you can return to the courtyard and infect who you want as much as you like, even if the infestetion is gone you can still get it, so don't worry, you can beat the countess whenever you wish, as for the chances to spread it... I don't know, sorry, you'll have to see the wiki.

[D00m]

Thank for the replies guys, very helpful indeed, I think now I know all I need to. Now I just need to actually remember to bring blood into dungeons when taking cursed heroes :).Just had my first death of this run due to a hero progressing from craving at the start of the quest through wasting and finally to death. No biggie though, he was on top of the dismissal list anyhow and it's not like I'm hunting for the no-deaths achievement (I assume they included one lol). I guess it would have been nice if they provided an option to be notified when embarking with cursed party members as I would have hated to have lost a hero with a desirable quirk (not that I would have, after all there is no shame in retreating to fight another day :)

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by D00m:

Thank for the replies guys, very helpful indeed, I think now I know all I need to. Now I just need to actually remember to bring blood into dungeons when taking cursed heroes :).Just had my first death of this run due to a hero progressing from craving at the start of the quest through wasting and finally to death. No biggie though, he was on top of the dismissal list anyhow and it's not like I'm hunting for the no-deaths achievement (I assume they included one lol). I guess it would have been nice if they provided an option to be notified when embarking with cursed party members as I would have hated to have lost a hero with a desirable quirk (not that I would have, after all there is no shame in retreating to fight another day :)

Never leave a wasting hero in the Hamlet without Blood. The death check is only at the end of the next mission, though, so you can always go on a mission for Blood and so long as there is some in your inventory at the end of the mission, he'll live.

Do NOT bring a wasting hero on a mission without blood unless you have the Rat Carcass trinkets, because he can die at any moment. Leave him but make sure to bring Blood back.

If you do have the Rat Carcass, pair it with the Mantra of Fasting and the wasting hero will be semi-useful while still wasting. I believe putting the trinket on a hero back in the Hamlet will also save him if you return without Blood.

[D00m]

Originally posted by Skinny Pete:

Never leave a wasting hero in the Hamlet without Blood. The death check is only at the end of the next mission, though, so you can always go on a mission for Blood and so long as there is some in your inventory at the end of the mission, he'll live.

Do NOT bring a wasting hero on a mission without blood unless you have the Rat Carcass trinkets, because he can die at any moment. Leave him but make sure to bring Blood back.

Thanks, was aware of the need to provide the resting heroes with blood, but great that you mentioned it, in case I wasn't.

Didn't actually bring a wasting hero, but a craving one, but it was a medium length dungeon and he progressed to wasting and then to death. Still, my bad and not like it was intended, I just completely forgot about the blood.

[D00m]

Btw, I got my answer in the form of Red Hook's punishment for those trying to abuse the curse like I was intending to. I've just met their "corrective measure" aka The Fanatic and it wasn't pretty with two of my heroes getting on Death's Door during the fight. The heroes being level 0, 1, 1 & 1 respectively sure didn't help lol.

Given that a 4 person cursed party has a 75% of attracting The Fanatic and that the fight is essentially a race with no option for recovery while being unscoutable and also that he doesn't drop any particularly great loot and would imo require a proper composition to guarantee getting through safely, I sadly conclude that I will no longer be spreading the curse, quite to the contrary, I'm gonna farm The Fanatic for the cures, prevent the bloodsuckers from cursing any new heroes and quarantine in treatment.

On the plus side as I'm sitting on over 60 blood vials, I guess I no longer need to build Sanguine Vintners.

Come to think of it, I just realized that maybe it's worth having the curse on one adventurer per party (in most cases obviously a damage dealer). It just seems like so much work to spread it to the guys you want infected though while also containing any spread beyond that group and it being busy work at that. I'm not sure I can be bothered for +1/+2 speed or +4 speed and 25% damage.... though I guess it is better than any quirk out there for some characters.

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by D00m:

Btw, I got my answer in the form of Red Hook's punishment for those trying to abuse the curse like I was intending to. I've just met their "corrective measure" aka The Fanatic and it wasn't pretty with two of my heroes getting on Death's Door during the fight. The heroes being level 0, 1, 1 & 1 respectively sure didn't help lol.

The good thing is if you defeat the Fanatic, you don't have to fight him at that level again until the next cycle (after killing a boss).

I don't think killing him at Apprentice gets rid of the Veteran/Champion versions, and have fought the Fanatic more than once in one cycle.

The only advantage to fighting Champion Fanatic is being able to use high infection levels without any further penalties (other than the usual Curse-related ones). Otherwise his drops are pathetic and useless (you can cure a hero just to have him catch the Curse again the very next mission).

[D00m]

Originally posted by Skinny Pete:

The good thing is if you defeat the Fanatic, you don't have to fight him at that level again until the next cycle (after killing a boss).

I don't think killing him at Apprentice gets rid of the Veteran/Champion versions, and have fought the Fanatic more than once in one cycle.

Do you mean that if I ran into the Fanatic in an Apprentice level dungeon, then for as long as I don't beat an apprentice level boss afterward, I will not be able to run into him in all Apprentice level dungeons? That would be splendid as I have beaten all Apprentice level bosses already, so that would effectively mean no more of the Fanatic in Apprentice level dungeons.

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by D00m:

Originally posted by Skinny Pete:

The good thing is if you defeat the Fanatic, you don't have to fight him at that level again until the next cycle (after killing a boss).

I don't think killing him at Apprentice gets rid of the Veteran/Champion versions, and have fought the Fanatic more than once in one cycle.

Do you mean that if I ran into the Fanatic in an Apprentice level dungeon, then for as long as I don't beat an apprentice level boss afterward, I will not be able to run into him in all Apprentice level dungeons? That would be splendid as I have beaten all Apprentice level bosses already, so that would effectively mean no more of the Fanatic in Apprentice level dungeons.

The "boss" in question is the Crimson Court boss. Killing that boss resets the counter. Not other bosses. Also you can't get the Fanatic in a boss level. In any Fanatic level, it checks whether there's a Fanatic waiting for you, and shows you a starting screen with his face on it.

Boss levels preempt that, though, and only show you the starting screen and play the audio for that boss. So you can always take as many infected heroes as you like to fight bosses.

If you can time it right and get four Bloodthirst heroes in the boss fight, you can cut through them like butter.

[D00m]

Originally posted by Skinny Pete:

The "boss" in question is the Crimson Court boss. Killing that boss resets the counter. Not other bosses.

Thanks for explaining. Just to make sure I get it right, if I have yet to defeat the Baron which is a Veteran level mission and I have already defeated the Fanatic in an Apprentice level mission, does that mean that until I kill the Baron there is no risk of running into the Fanatic in Apprentice Level missions? That would be amazing as I'm still looking to do a bunch of those to get all the heroes I'm planning to keep up to level 3 and ready for Veteran dungeons. I'd really hate to loose someone with a good quirk to the Fanatic, but I guess since I'll get the loading screen, I can always just retreat if it comes to that.

As a side note, building the bank early and prioritizing scouting trinkets really paid off, I have so much gold that I've even upgraded the wagon all the way and buy some trinkets quite regularly. Having taken Antiquarian for a medium size Veteran level boss dungeon, I've got to say that imo you make more money with a secret room than from having an Antiquarian, after all it's not like I'm gonna make space for gold & gems ahead of heirlooms.

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by D00m:

Thanks for explaining. Just to make sure I get it right, if I have yet to defeat the Baron which is a Veteran level mission and I have already defeated the Fanatic in an Apprentice level mission, does that mean that until I kill the Baron there is no risk of running into the Fanatic in Apprentice Level missions?

I believe that to be the case, although whether because of faulty recollection or not, the mechanics of it have sometimes. . .surprised me. I could swear I beat the Champion version only to encounter the Veteran later in the same cycle but I couldn't prove it.