I haven’t been to the Iscariot estate grounds in a while, and I say that now’s a good time to visit. But will the experience itself be a good time? Let’s find out.

Where we last left off, a bunch of super bandits tried to raid the hamlet and killed a bunch of the champion level heroes. So, we’re kinda just recovering right now.

The mid-level battles for the prophet and pirate crew that the Ancestor killed for no reason were available, but unfortunately, I was not in the state to do them. There weren’t enough mid-level adventurers to field a journey – unless I had Durandal the Antiquarian take up a slot, which is an obvious no for me. I couldn’t go do a rookie mission either because Pipin the Shieldbreaker was still going through hell poisoning and I didn’t have enough to field a basic mission.

Champion level mission it is.

It was time for Reynauld the Crusader to lead another crusade into the Cove, which would give a pretty handy trinket. Peis the Bounty Hunter followed along with Couci the Plague Doctor – the sole survivor of the bandit raid. Mantel the Occultist tagged in the back, for healing and moral support.

The mission started out okay… until the crew ran into its first encounter with the Squiffy Ghost, a funny little guy with a fiddle. This guy is a dedicated stress enemy that plays bad music to ratchet up stress and inflict horror, while having moves that lets them shuffle around the enemy formation in an annoying evolution from past stress units.

I did not bring the anti-horror item, so Reynauld’s stress went up to shit. After the battle, the team went back to exploring. Reynauld tried to disarm a trap for a little stress relief but he fucking failed, making his stress go up higher and…

Oh! That’s good!

What was less good is the horrible crab monsters, which I completely forgot about. If you don’t remember, these guys have a powerful attack that pushes front line fighters to the back while stunning them, along with a crab pinch that gives, uhhhh 10 bleed, which is a third of most characters’ health. Unfortunately, I did not remember this and I straight up forgot to bring bandages on the mission.

Couci ended up bleeding onto Death’s Door, which made her stress out into being Fearful. Thankfully, the battle closed out before she bled to death, so I decided to finally camp out. We got her bandaged up, did a little stress relief… and yeah, everything’s all good!

The adventures continued on. While Reynauld said inspirational stuff before his turns, Couci was doomposting to everyone and bringing the vibes down. Peis nearly teetered toward death from a more mundane bleed, but everything seemed fine.

Until the team ran into another crab team. Now, besides the presence of the crab, the world decided to spit in my face with the most absurd chances. Mantel tried to heal someone and it not only did 0 but also bled them, the enemies kept dodging attacks – including that giant crab somehow – and Peis and Couci’s attempts to stun the annoying backline kept failing.

And so, despite my best efforts, Mantel got beaten to death’s door and got death blowed.

Huh? Don’t see Couci in that picture? Well, she got crabbed and wound up bleeding to death just before this.

Reynauld and Peis managed to stand firm and finished out the fight. However, as they were halfway through a long mission with half the team – including the healer – gone, they had no fucking chance. And so, they wound up heading home with the trinkets of their dead comrades and whatever treasure they managed to get.

Well, Couci doesn’t have to deal with survivor’s guilt anymore, at least.

Let’s not worry about it!! There’s now room to bring more rookie heroes on board to do something real nice and easy!! Gotta look on the Mr. Brightside of things…

Vattevi – you know what, fuck it, all the names in this team are too long, I’m shortening them. Vats the Jester returns from the previous part to mentor a fresh new team, especially since Pipin the Shieldbreaker is still addicted to praying and Boteler the Vestal’s almost graduated out of helping them. Joining Vats is Ozzy the Flagellant, Ponty the Man-At-Arms and Boteler. An Occultist renamed Tree was set to the sidelines to replace Boteler’s role as the novice healer after she graduates.

It was off to The Warrens for these clowns, since Vats had a better scouting chance there. And you know what? Everything went perfectly fine. Ponty ended up getting “lower your max HP” disease but that could easily be dealt with.

What’s less easier to deal with is that that Shrieker demon bird is back and has stolen a bunch of trinkets. Which ones? I dunno, it doesn’t tell you. But… in case it was something really good, I really felt that I should do something about this. A Champion level mission has to go well at some point… right…?

Cairon the Leper led from the front, since Reynauld was too busy getting a bad quirk checked out. Peis partnered up with him, along with Fritz the Houndmaster – both to act as a tertiary attacker and to mark the Shrieker. Taillebois – the last elite Occultist – was made to go on the mission. May god have mercy on his soul.

Around the first time the Shrieker appeared (though I didn’t fight it), I was told to not buy any resources. Which is a good call, because the game just throws you into fighting this funny little guy and their nest of corpses. The fight’s also playing that sick music that played during the invasion of brigands, which is cool but also very ominous.

So, this jerk hits hard and their dodge stat is A Lot, so maybe bringing someone inaccurate like Cairon was a very bad idea. As for that nest, uhhh, I’m not sure what it does besides taking up space, though that’s actually is a big deal since the Shrieker can switch positions with it as a shield.

Taillebois got on Death’s Door for a bit. I got scared because I realized that I should have gotten bandages, but he managed to heal himself off of that. Then Fritz got on Death’s Door. Alright, we just gotta…

WHOOPS FRITZ AND HIS DOG IS DEAD

The Shrieker left the battle with one last group attack, as a good bye, leaving a dead body and everybody else stressed to shit. …At least it left behind the trinkets, though! And really, what matters more: the lives of people or precious product? Really makes you think…

Along with this terrible after battle report, I also got an achievement notification. Hell yeah, it’s a full in-game year and everyone’s still being hassled by horrible eldritch monsters and roving criminal organizations.

Things have definitely changed since when I first started playing. I was kinda lousy when I first started and now, I’m pretty okay except when it’s a Champion-level mission, in which case I’m just constantly getting my ass kicked. But you know, I got better from building experience, and I can only grow to learn how to deal with Champion stuff better from every unnecessary death.

I kinda got bummed out, so this is where this installment of my Darkest Dungeon adventures ends. When things continue, it’ll be in two weeks. I’m aiming to make this a bi-weekly thing that alternates with other stuff I’m writing for the site, so there’s always at least something to read. Hopefully, it’s a schedule that will work for me. And hopefully, I’ll do a Champion mission where everything turns out alright.