Crimson Curse



The Crimson Curse is a persistent status effect, much like a disease (but can't be cured by camping skill Leeches and Snuff Box), that gives a hero unique conditions. It is only found in the Crimson Court DLC.

The Curse is automatically removed from all heroes in your roster after slaying a Courtyard Boss. An option to cure it through the Sanitarium becomes avaliable later on.

It's important to note that after completing the first Courtyard quest, subsequent runs require an Invitation to gain entry: as the Crimson Curse's Infestation grows, Bloodsuckers begin to spawn in every other location. When the Infestation reaches its peak, these random spawns will have a Gatekeeper carrying an Invitation.

Defeating said Gatekeeper will always grant the player one Invitation, but from the second round of combat the monster can use "Elusive Exit" to escape, denying the player the Invitation drop.

All States
Be wary, for the curse can spread while you're away from the Hamlet, and while in a dungeon, you may come across those who wish to end the curse by any means necessary.

Those who are cursed are immune to all Diseases, and all diseases they had before are cured.

Heroes that stay in the Hamlet will have the curse state progress by 30 rounds.This means that exploring for any amount of rounds during the expedition (even no rounds at all) will progress the curse like exploring for 30 rounds.

Passive
The Crimson Curse is in its Passive state when first contracted, and returns to it when the thirst is slaked. While in this state, heroes' stats change as follows:

If you give a hero The Blood while their curse is in Passive state, they gain +7 DODGE and +3 SPD for 3 rounds.

Craving
Like hunger activations, eventually the cursed hero will get hungry, and enter a state known as Craving. At this point, their condition gets worse:

Hereafter, you can either ignore their craving and deal with their urges or give them The Blood, sending them into Bloodlust. If you ignore them for too long, however, they will become Wasting.

Wasting
As the voracious thirst for The Blood becomes crippling starvation, the hero starts Wasting away, bloodflies stalking their every move. Compared to Craving status they lose the SPD bonus and replace it with SPD penalty and, with an additional penalty to Deathblow Resistance: Past this point, if the hero does not receive The Blood until their next blood check, they will die.

If a Wasting hero is indeed given The Blood, the Crimson Curse will return to its Passive state.

Heroes left in the Hamlet while Wasting will automatically consume one vial of The Blood from your Provisions instead of dying. If no vials of The Blood are left when the mission is finished, the hero perishes as normal.

Bloodlust
If a Craving hero is given The Blood, they enter an euphoric state of mind called Bloodlust, revealing the true hidden power of the Crimson Curse. Their stats change as follows:

If you give a hero The Blood while their curse is in Bloodlust state, they will receive massive (35-40) Stress Damage, but gain +50% DMG and +4 SPD for 3 rounds.

After a while, the Bloodlust will fade, returning the curse to its Passive state.

Below is a table showing what statuses each hero class inflicts on other heroes during Bloodlust

Removing the curse
Defeating Courtyard bosses will remove the Crimson Curse from all infected heroes in your roster. Note that this won't prevent future contagion when exchanging blows with Bloodsuckers.

The Fanatic will chase any infected hero. If killed, he will drop The Cure, which can remove the Crimson Curse. The Cure can only be used during a mission, so save it for after you have completed your quest if you want your character to have the best chance of avoiding re-infection via random encounters.

Upon completing the quest "A Bewitching Predator" (kill 1 Countess), an event called "Of curse and Countess" will trigger. The event removes the Crimson Curse from all affected heroes and enables active removal (like any normal disease) through the Sanitarium.

Attacks that can cause Crimson Curse
Enemies or Curios that inflict random Diseases does not count as Crimson Curse adders.

Advice

 * When a cursed hero is in the last stages of the curse (Craving or Wasting, see above), he can deal stress damage to a hero which interact with any Curio. Thus, to prevent any stress damage, it's better to use this cursed hero to interact with these curios.
 * Furthermore, as they are immune to any Disease, the risk of being affected to a negative consequence with curios is therefore attenuated.
 * Don't waste your Blood, you can wait before you give it to a Craving hero since it can last 31-46 rounds. It's better to use it just before a fight, for example.
 * It isn't important to focus on fully stress recovering a cursed hero in Bloodlust stage (unless the quest is almost completed): there is a chance that they stress heal themselves, and they will do it even if they are at 0 stress.
 * Be careful with ranged Heroes in Bloodlust stage, because they can go forward during a fight and they may upset your strategy.