DLC for first timer?

[^4JB^7L^1ZR]

Noticed they are on sale and there are two free DLCs, what would you recommend for a new player? Have failed miserably my first play and started a second.

[Narrowmind]

The most important thing to know is don't start over. That's the worst thing you can do. As for the dlc, when you add them on doesn't really matter. They are a minor nuisance. Just don't go to the courtyard until mid to late game, or don't activate it from the title menu at all. You can still use the characters and the rest of the content.

[^4JB^7L^1ZR]

Originally posted by Ratlegion:

The most important thing to know is don't start over. That's the worst thing you can do. As for the dlc, when you add them on doesn't really matter. They are a minor nuisance. Just don't go to the courtyard until mid to late game, or don't activate it from the title menu at all. You can still use the characters and the rest of the content.

What would your strategy by if you start to lack money and firepower and need to recoup?

[RopeDrink]

In terms of clawing back from a bad scenario:

You essentially have infinite heroes to play with, and you will always get the profit from a dungeon so long as at least one makes it out - even if you retreat.

So, you can hire fresh meat, be stingy with their provisions, push as deep into the dungeon as you can, and then simply leave if you think it's getting too hairy. In some cases, you may even win. Either way, you can retire the heroes rather than worrying about their negative state and start over until you've built a nest-egg to work with for a proper run.

Additionally, you can sell any and all trinkets you aren't using, and I recommend learning which one's to keep and which one's should be considered free gold. Even if a trinket looks really bad, common versions are essentially over 1k gold, so stick them on empty heroes or in spare slots during your run.

On that note, it pays to understand how to stack (and use) your provisions and loot. For example, keeping a trinket instead of that one lone topaz when your inventory is full will turn more profit, a full stack of X gem will be more valuable than a single Y gem or trinket, some provisions aren't as useful in X zone compared to Y zone, and so forth. In short, knowing how to organize your inventory and maximize the profit.

The most efficient runs not only turn great profits, but also cost nothing when you return. A really good team will walk in and out of a dungeon with as close to max-health and no-stress as possible, saving you from wasting gold on Respite facilities. Funnily enough, this is part "taking well-greased teams", but also "spending money to make money". For example, you should always keep at least one key for secret rooms when you can, or provisions to remove quirks (eg. Medicinal Herbs in the Cove).

Lastly, don't upgrade heroes willy-nilly. First, head to the Embark screen and choose where you want to go. Then, place the heroes you wish to take in the embark screen. Now, your team will be marked at the top of the roster, and you can focus all upgrades on them. Do NOT throw gold down the drain by upgrading people at random, because this can easily leave you gold-starved before a mission and/or upgrade heroes you don't even intend to use that week.

In short, be smart with your money, and it'll save itself.

There are plenty of other tips, but ultimately, if you're just trying to claw back from a bad start, there's nothing wrong with a few suicide-runs to turn a profit, so long as you make it out with at least one hero.

-----

In terms of the DLC:

All of it is worthwhile, but assuming you're enjoying the base experience, then I strongly recommend doing a vanilla run with Crimson Court's main campaign disabled. first. Of all the DLC, Crimson Court is essentially an expansion pack that adds additional layers and challenges which are best tackled with a bit of experience. Otherwise, you risk making the already turbulent early-game even more troublesome, and doing the first mission will cause a snowball effect that can be nightmarish for a new player.

Conversely, I would avoid activating the DLC mid-way through a save, because it is designed to be played right from the very beginning of a new run.

As for the other DLC - especially those that are free - you can activate and enable them any time you like. The only ones which will affect you are the Shield Breaker (if you camp with a Shield Breaker in your team, you will encounter DLC-exclusive content), and the Colour Of Magic (endless mode), which requires you to do some optional missions first -- but those can be avoided until you feel ready.

[Narrowmind]

Originally posted by ^4JB^7L^1ZR:

Originally posted by Ratlegion:

The most important thing to know is don't start over. That's the worst thing you can do. As for the dlc, when you add them on doesn't really matter. They are a minor nuisance. Just don't go to the courtyard until mid to late game, or don't activate it from the title menu at all. You can still use the characters and the rest of the content.

What would your strategy by if you start to lack money and firepower and need to recoup?

Yes, the idea is to throw away characters that are too broken to fix. You don't need to take care of everyone, but slowly, your town will get better and better, making the game easier and easier.

[Yes, I have a Mic.]

Glad you asked, allow me to sing the praises of "The Color of Madness" dlc.

So there are two initial missions where your heroes can die like any other mission. First one is wave after wave of enemies and requires resolve level 1. Not too taxing. Second is resolve level 3 and has a boss called "The Miller" at the end of it. He can be an issue, I recommend one vestal, one jester and two shieldbreakers for that.

Now heres where the magic happens; once you've done that you unlock "Endless Harvest" and its what it sounds like. Wave after wave in a resolve level 6 mission. Don't worry if you don't have the resolve level, you can get "shard mercenaries". Resolve level 6 adventurers who will only do this mission and don't take up any slots. After the second wave you will get your first boss, miller again. Second boss on wave three, "The Sleeper". Hes a tough one, has two forms. Form one summons nasty stuff you should ignore. You will want the same party composition as before to hit the back rows. Second form is trickier, intense damage to health and sanity that hits everyone. You will definitely want laudanum, holy water and antivenom. Odds are you will enter deaths door, thats only a problem if you are unable to heal or someone at deaths door is blighted. I always like to end the thing with a nice finale from the jester.
After that the bosses are randomized.


Why would you want to do any of this? Oh I am so glad you asked;
- Shards.
You are rewarded them. They are used as currency for special trinkets, used for items that refresh once per battle skills (think bolster or revenge) at the cost of sanity/virtue mission long debuffs or can be traded for heirlooms. Imagine six bolsters in a row that bring your dodge to 100 for the rest of a boss battle. Why not try it against that miller in the second mission?

- Money.
Retreat after the first boss and you will get around 12k with shards and crests.
Second boss will get you around 20k with additional shards and crests.
Third boss will get you 40k with even *more* shards and crests.
You may retreat at any point.

- Trinkets.
Curio and boss deaths will grant you trinkets with a chance to get ancestral.

- Deathless.
Any heroes who die in endless harvest (*not* the first two missions) will be gone for a week and then return with "refracted". It is a unique affliction then can be removed same as any other. If you retreat before completing the wave they died in, the trinkets are lost and you will have to fight the shireker for them. This is the same as any other lost trinket.

- Beyond space and time.
Time works differently in the farmstead. That means when you enter endless harvest, time will not progress. Only have a hundred weeks to conquer the darkest dungeon? No problem. Send in that resolve 5 you want to level up, kill the miller and get some extra coin on the side.
It will look like your weeks have progressed but should you send a team to any mission after you'll notice the number of weeks has stayed the same. You have essentially done multiple missions in that week.

TL;DR VERSION.
Color of Madness gives you the means to gain a great deal of money, crests, trinkets and practice with different team compositions all while not using up any time or even risking death. Infact you can use shard mercs if you don't have capable ones of your own.
It also gives you "shards", the means to turn any base game boss into a complete joke.

[Narrowmind]

Sweet rundown. I almost never do Com, but now I have a reason to. Thank you.