Sonorous Prophet killed this game for me

[Milkymalk]

Every time I start a run, it goes well until I have to face the Sonorous Prophet. It takes hours to get to him, and he just wipes my rank 2 party without any chance. He crushes a character from full health to death's door in one attack and follows up with an AoE. I can't even try around how to beat him because of how the game works.
This boss literally killed the game for me, because I can't be bothered to keep trying. I have no idea what I can do to make this work.

[GWOP-W×TCH]

When people say rank, they mean what position the hero is in 1-4, not their level. And it comes down to party composition and what works best for you. Some heroes can debuff his damage or accuracy, others can skip the pews to hit him, others can heal or mass heal your party out of Death's Door or boost your dodge before that.

If you're having issues just look up the wiki for strategies. If it takes you a long time to get to him, bosses are always furthest number of rooms away and right most (if there are more rooms on the same level).

https://darkestdungeon.fandom.com/wiki/Prophet


If the game isn't clicking the don't force yourself.

Other than that, you have two options: smash through the pews, or have heroes that can bypass them and hit his rank, stacking damage on him. Have healer if you need it or someone boosting your dodge like the Antiquarian, debuffs if you need it, and trinkets if you need them. Manage your stress and keep it down, etc.

[Milkymalk]

I like the game, it's just that it feels unfair that I need to play the game for hours - not that one dungeon, but just getting to the quest! - only to keep running against a wall and having to restart. I think it's ridiculous and bad design that I can't enter the quest with a party of level 3 characters because they don't see the challenge, and then my level 2 group gets wiped in two combat rounds after it breezes through the dungeon. I can't even reload and try again to see what went wrong.

Dodge is too inconsistent, depending on RNG just to survive a battle is the perfect method to lose hours and hours of progress without anything you can do about it. And I HAD a healer, but he decided this was the perfect time to heal for 0.

This isn't the first time. This was the exact reason why I had dropped the game years ago too.

I want to get past him, so I can keep playing the game. If I could, I would just patch him out.

[GWOP-W×TCH]

I get that it can be pretty annoying and this game doesn't respect people's time in exchange for nothing more than boosting their analytics.

You might have noticed already, but there's an RNG event that removes level gates from difficulties, so if you wanted to sit on the quest you might be able to bring in higher level heroes if you get it.

If things get too dicey, you can always hit the "escape" from combat button and pray it goes off the first or second time, then just abandon the quest and eat some stress. At least then you'll have some rewards instead of a party wipe and nothing.

If you're healing for 0, then I'm going to assume you brought an Occultist, and using them as a healer... is ill-advised. If you want a dedicated healer, you bring a Vestal. Despite your personal beliefs about dodge, it's actually pretty good, but requires knowledge about what it works against and what it doesn't, along with when and how to apply it.

The game is really just one giant knowledge check. To the developers the game wasn't the exploration or fights, but grinding to learn how it works. They don't respect people's time though... so I'd probably just glance at a wiki as you go, to respect your own.

I'm going to be honest. If you patched out the Prophet, it wouldn't get any better. Even if you brute forced through him, it's not going to get easier or less grindy after.

[florianemory]

When I face this boss, I always take characters who can all hit spot 4. Hellion in the front with Iron Swan, Plague doctor with plague grenade, crusader with holy lance and then healing, and a vestal with judgement, and to heal the entire team. I have also used the plague doctor along with a grave robber instead of crusader with Thrown dagger which gets a damage buff on blighted enemies, so they work well with the PD. Leper can also use Intimidate on the prophet to reduce damage, or Occ can reduce damage, but you still need a dedicated healer for this fight IMO, this is not the fight to chance using Occ as a main healer, you would be better with a crusader, at least they are consistent.

If you have the DLC for shieldbreaker, this fight can be a good use for aegis scales, and the shield breaker can hit rank 4, and use Serpent Sway to block physical damage.

Compared to some of the other fights, this one is really not that bad and is a good way to learn what works and what doesn't. There is never a need to start over, you just get new recruits off the stagecoach and move on. No point in losing all the hamlet progress or trinkets found. I find a lot of satisfaction when I overcome obstacles in this game, and sometimes you will lose characters, but it is all part of the game :)

[Skinny Pete]

Or just spam Intimidate on him with Leper over and over so his attack does practically nothing.

[Milkymalk]

Thank you for trying so hard to help me, but I think I am done with the game.

I tried another run, and before trying to do the Prophet I wanted to get one last quest in with Vestal, Grave Robber, Crusader and Hellion, to get Grave Robber and Hellion to level 2. About 2/3 through the 2-camps-quest, the Collector appears and endlessly hides behind his summons while healing as fast as I can hit him. I don't know what the odds are, but I encountered him three times today.

I usually use a Vestal, but Occultist worked VERY well as a healer. He heals more on average, can pull and attack from position 3, together with a Jester in position 4 they kept my team at full health and 0 stress, so I had no reason to change my composition at that point.

AFAIK there is both a time limit and a death limit in this game, so just getting new recruits over and over will probably kill my whole campaign in the end when I have put even more time into it. Also the quests ramp up in difficulty and I will not be able to do anything with new recruits at some point.

I tried the Shield Breaker, but surprise, she gets unannounced extra battles during camping and takes lots of stress before the battle just ends because she is on death's door(?).

If at least Ironman Mode was optional, then I could try around with difficult battles and compositions.

[Milkymalk]

Originally posted by Skinny Pete:

Or just spam Intimidate on him with Leper over and over so his attack does practically nothing.

I did not get a single Leper on the stage coach during my 6 hours of playing today, and only one Jester.

[aidanfilson25]

Originally posted by Milkymalk:

AFAIK there is both a time limit and a death limit in this game, so just getting new recruits over and over will probably kill my whole campaign in the end when I have put even more time into it. Also the quests ramp up in difficulty and I will not be able to do anything with new recruits at some point.

There's only a time/death limit on Stygian/Bloodmoon difficulty, there is no lose condition on any other difficulty

second is also false, apprentice difficulty missions are always available and exactly as difficult as at the start of the game, same with veteran and champion

[RopeDrink]

I want to get past him, so I can keep playing the game. If I could, I would just patch him out.

All zone bosses are completely optional. The only requirement to beat Darkest Dungeon in Radiant/Darkest is to beat the four preset Darkest Dungeon missions (top of embark screen).

Every boss in the game is about learning (and countering) a gimmick, and once you know how, they are neutered by that hindsight for all eternity, because no boss deviates from their preset mechanics and stats, not even in Endless Mode, not even if you go from Radiant to Darkest to Stygian. They will always do the same thing, always have their assigned stats, and you will always know how to beat them.

In terms of Prophet, you can abuse any combo of DoTs, DMG debuffs, Guard, and Riposte.

Nothing is forcing you to take on a standard zone boss, and there is no timer or death-count outside of Stygian/Bloodmoon, so lacking X or Y hero is not an excuse, nor should your dying to a Prophet stop you from continuing to progress.

You can keep bashing your head against the wall for eternity until you stumble on the solution, or ask for help, or read a guide -- but no matter what you decide, you never 'need' to kill a Prophet. The only reason you have to actually kill zone bosses is their unique trinket for beating their Champion variant, many of which aren't that good.

As for Collector's, they are the easiest boss in the game, akin to a glorified trash pack. Just like every other boss and mini-boss, certain things work well against them, and life is always easier when you know what to expect and prepare in advance.

You are always at risk of Collectors when filling your inventory, just like you're always at risk of Corridor Shamblers in pitch black, or TTFTStars when you willingly enter a region they are roaming, or Fanatics (CC), or Shield Breaker camping encounters (3 in Apprentice, 2 in Veteran, 2 in Champion), so it pays to learn and prepare for such things -- just like it pays to understand normal boss gimmicks.

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by Milkymalk:

Originally posted by Skinny Pete:

Or just spam Intimidate on him with Leper over and over so his attack does practically nothing.

I did not get a single Leper on the stage coach during my 6 hours of playing today, and only one Jester.

So wait to do the quest. It's not going anywhere. I don't like Jester for Prophet because he can be squished with one shot so easily. Better to have someone to guard the one who is going to be hit. It literally lights up the character to warn you in advance so you can move them out of the way or guard them.

[Nakos]

Originally posted by Skinny Pete:

Or just spam Intimidate on him with Leper over and over so his attack does practically nothing.

... while blasting him to death with an Arbalest.

[Alex Darkcrowne]

Originally posted by Milkymalk:

Thank you for trying so hard to help me, but I think I am done with the game.

I tried another run, and before trying to do the Prophet I wanted to get one last quest in with Vestal, Grave Robber, Crusader and Hellion, to get Grave Robber and Hellion to level 2. About 2/3 through the 2-camps-quest, the Collector appears and endlessly hides behind his summons while healing as fast as I can hit him. I don't know what the odds are, but I encountered him three times today.

I usually use a Vestal, but Occultist worked VERY well as a healer. He heals more on average, can pull and attack from position 3, together with a Jester in position 4 they kept my team at full health and 0 stress, so I had no reason to change my composition at that point.

AFAIK there is both a time limit and a death limit in this game, so just getting new recruits over and over will probably kill my whole campaign in the end when I have put even more time into it. Also the quests ramp up in difficulty and I will not be able to do anything with new recruits at some point.

I tried the Shield Breaker, but surprise, she gets unannounced extra battles during camping and takes lots of stress before the battle just ends because she is on death's door(?).

If at least Ironman Mode was optional, then I could try around with difficult battles and compositions.

Time an Death limit is only on the hardest difficulty.

You brought an Occultist, who hard counters Prophet with his Hex (-DMG). On the other hand, you made the common rookie mistake of not putting OCC in the front, where he really shines.

If you have Hellion, then you should have no problem nailing Collector. He dies, the summons goes.

All you're complaining about are common issues for people learning to play the game.

[Munchies]

Ohhh man. I just fought that guy.

He can be blight-ed and stunned. I think he managed to bring down the roof on me only once in the whole battle. He was allways stunned with blight to down his health and Reynold was hitting the first two wooden things every time he could. Once they were down he had less than quarter health and within reach for even more stun and blight and damage.

Good luck.

I have to beat the Necromancer now and on the first try I couldnt even get to him ....

[Milkymalk]

I gave it one last try and week 13 with 3 dead I now finally beat him. The team was Plague Doctor, Houndmaster, Highwayman and Hellion, I ignored the pews and went straight to his face with all I got. Part of why it was so easy this time is that his first double-roof collapse missed and the second one was a single hit on my Highwayman who was at full health. I imagine if the first one had hit and the second one had targeted the same position, this had ended differently.

What I hate about this game is that you can't just build a good team and have a chance at every boss. You have to KNOW what awaits you and specifically build against that. The battles are just rotes, the actual game is learning what you need and putting together a team. Which is not bad per se, but it means that you get wiped a few times before you actually have a chance, which equals a lot of "wasted" time and repeating the same stuff over and over to get there again.

I saw a streamer do a deathless run on Darkest difficulty and I don't get how that was possible, as sometimes the game just dows not give you the classes you need (still waiting for a Jester) and even rare trinkets have massive downsides.

[aidanfilson25]

because more or less no class in the game is required for anything and none of them are bad, ie you can just as easily deal with stress using bonfires in medium/long dungeons as with a jester

also most of the good high level trinkets downsides are negligable ie higher stress gain is easily dealt with by nuking/stunning stress dealers before they do anything