Crimson Court and Colour of Madness areas

[Falesz]

Hey all, I'm new to the game. When should these areas be started? I ventured into both starting missions with lvl 0-1 teams and found it much harder than the other regions. Also, they started affecting other regions, like the infestation from the court. Should I just steer clear of those areas as best as I can until I have a strong team to deal with them? What do I do about the infestation from the courtyard?
Also, with these 2 new storylines, is it still viable to complete the game with all caretaker goals and storylines finished in the expected 80-90-100 turns?

[PalmTree]

Crimson Court is significantly harder than anything else in the game. There's a reason it asks if it's your first time playing when you enable it.

Color of Madness actually isn't too bad. Wait till you have a squad of level guys with full upgrades and a decent party comp for them and you should be alright, just make sure you have enough supplies for the mission.

[SecondsLost]

I don't think completing all the caretaker and storyline goals under the stygian/bloodmoon timer is a reasonable goal, especially after you thrown in the Crimson Court goals. Some of these goals do nothing to help you complete the Darkest Dungeon missions. The game doesn't wipe after you finish it, you can go in after finishing the DD and complete those goals if you want.

The districts from CoM can make the game much easier and I'd wait until I have a few level twos before diving into the first crimson court.

Edit: The infestation only goes back down after you slay one of the Crimson Court bosses, these missions are "Epic" meaning they will take several weeks to complete, but you can start back in the same part of the Dungeon as when you left. I'd definitely wait to try this until you have a team as leveled up as they can be for the mission (Lv 4 for the first one) as the mini-bosses, and some of the regular enemies can be quite difficult.

[Falesz]

Thanks for the answers guys!

[RopeDrink]

Seeing as you are new the game - which I assume means you haven't completed the core game yet and have lots of valuable lessons to learn - then I'd recommend you avoid doing the first Crimson Court mission until you have multiple heroes at level 2, preferably just before they are about to hit level 3. Due to how Crimson Court works (and how likely it is for learning players to want to take a slower pace), doing this will make the transition a lot smoother/safer, and means you'll be looting some spare blood along the way to get a headstart.

Without going into too much detail, Crimson Court is the only aspect of Darkest Dungeon (aside from Stygian Difficulty) where you are basically put on a timer (which starts once the first mission has been complete - you can avoid activating it simply by leaving that mission for later).

Once you've done the first Court Mission you will open up your Hamlet to infection. As this rises, more and more Court-specific mobs will invade other regions, making a higher risk of heroes getting infected. The more that get infected, the more blood (consumable) you need to feed them -- and with a largely infected roster, the longer you delay until the next boss causes things to eventually get more desperate, resource wise.

In short, it's a snowball effect that will often force you to do things outside of your comfort-pace if you take too long.

Like everything in Darkest Dungeon, it's easy once you know how - but 'knowing how' is a long road full of lessons that are a lot harder to learn if you can't do things in your own time and on your own terms. Veterans would have no issue opening up the area pretty quickly because most know how to handle it, as well as avoid infection a lot easier than someone who is still getting to grips with the game. If you have opened it already then don't fret, just be mindful and make a conscious effort to prepare for the next Court Boss before things get out of hand.

Either way, take it in your stride and have fun -- and if things go pear-shaped, don't hesitate to ask questions, or make a fresh new save so you can utilize any knowledge gained.

CoM DLC, on the other hand, can be activated immediately with no repurcussions whatsoever.

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by RopeDrink:

CoM DLC, on the other hand, can be activated immediately with no repurcussions whatsoever.

The addition of a new miniboss is a slight repercussion, although a trivial and easily avoidable one. It can be mildly annoying if you lack a party that can deal with that particular boss easily and yet you want to do a specific mission in that one area.

Still, you can easily use that boss to farm for comet shards and buy some of the better crystal trinkets, which are conveniently enough usually pretty cheap.