Shieldbreaker

"Shifting, swaying—she mesmerizes her prey before the final strike."

The Shieldbreaker is one of the playable Characters in Darkest Dungeon. She is exclusive to the Shieldbreaker DLC.

Class Description
"Hailing from the distant windswept dunes of the east, the Shieldbreaker arrives in the Hamlet! Deadly as a viper, her iron will has been forged in the heat of the blazing desert sun. Though outwardly demure, her emancipation from the barren wastes came at a price so terrible, it haunts her dreams even now... The Shieldbreaker is a powerful ally in the fight to reclaim the Estate and banish the evil that squats in the Darkest Dungeon. A highly-tactical hero with solid damage dealing capability, she truly excels when countering monsters with high protection and those who guard their allies. Her movement, speed, and targeted abilities make her a valuable ally for dismantling intractable monster groups. Though she possesses relatively low health, the Shieldbreaker maintains high survivability thanks to her Aegis Shield."

Combat Abilities
"A sandstorm of grace and fury, the Shieldbreaker dances through the ranks, delivering precision strikes of remarkable power. Sundering armor, breaking enemy formations, and leaving the taste of venom wherever she goes, the Shieldbreaker is a remorseless combatant."

- Guild

Note: New Shieldbreakers will always come with the Pierce skill.

Camping Skills
"Though quiet and demure while the fire blazes, the Shieldbreaker is haunted by nightmares of her past. These visions are so powerful that she must vanquish them in the dreamscape or awaken sluggish, tired, and stressed."

- Survivalist

The Shieldbreaker, along with the standard camping skills, has four unique camping abilities. However, nightmares of brutality long since past still haunt her, and to the tormented mind there is no difference between a threat real or imagined...

Nightmare Made Material
It is important to note that the Shieldbreaker has a flashback when camping where you will encounter Pliskins, Rattlers and Adders depending on the dungeon level. During which she receives 20 Horror for 6 rounds, so consider whether it would be wise to bring her along on quests longer than short. Laudanum cannot remove the horror dot placed on the Shieldbreaker. She cannot become virtuous during the flashback battle, and once she reaches death's door, the flashback counts as failed, and Shieldbreaker will be healed off death's door and receive a debuff for +33% stress and -5 accuracy for the rest of the quest, while the party suffers a +15% stress quest debuff.

These fights can be made much easier by putting the Shieldbreaker's stress before the battle as close to 0 as possible and using camping skills like Pep Talk and, for example, the Hellion's Revel or Crusader's Zealous Speech to lower the stress damage taken by the Shieldbreaker: if the Shieldbreaker can get to the battle with a -30% modifier to stress taken, the six rounds of horror will only deal 97 stress. Reducing it further, however, with several stress-taken-reducing skills or a stress heal like the Jester's Inspiring Tune (unusually useful as it also adds to her stress taken reduction) is wise, however, if using a stalling strategy, because although the snakes have no dedicated stress skills, crits still deal stress damage, and the Pliskin s' attacks have very high chances to crit while they remain stealthed.

The creatures must be defeated in a certain amount of time, but defeating the creatures will yield a great reward; Shieldbreaker will receive a quest buff of -33% stress and +3% crit while the rest of the party receiving a quest buff of -15% stress. The snakes may also drop an Aegis Scale, a Shieldbreaker trinket and pages of the Ancestor's Journal that tells the story of the Shieldbreaker. The journal entries will be available at the Ancestor's Memoirs whether or not you bring them back to the Hamlet, so there is no point in wasting inventory space on them.

The enemies fought will depend on how many previous encounters you have defeated; each encounter will only be fought a single time. Encounters 4 and 5 require a Veteran or Champion difficulty dungeon run. Encounters 6 and 7 require a Champion difficulty dungeon run. If no applicable encounter is available when camping, then the party will not be ambushed by snakes. (although you may be ambushed by other encounters like normal)

Once the seventh encounter is beaten, the Shieldbreaker will no longer receive flashbacks when camping.

These are the enemies fought for each encounter:

Spoilers These are the journal entries that detail the Shieldbreaker's story.

Equipment
"The Shieldbreaker wields a spear and buckler, affording her impressive offensive reach and a modicum of protection. Her dancer's garb is better suited to the stage than the dungeon; she must be quick to survive."

- Blacksmith

Each Hero has Trinkets unique to them that only they can equip. The Shieldbreaker has seven; 1 common, 2 uncommon, 1 rare, 1 very rare and 2 trinkets of Shieldbreaker rarity, that act similar to Crimson Court trinket sets. Her normal trinkets are all different items and accessories that she once owned, and her set trinkets are her dismembered hand and the knife that severed it.

Unlike other heroes, her normal trinkets cannot be found randomly. They can only be obtained by defeating the snakes within her nightmares.


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The Color of Madness DLC added new trinkets with a new rarity, Crystaline. Each hero has their own unique crystaline trinket which can be bought from Jeweler inside the Nomad Wagon with Crystal Shards found within the Farmstead.
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District Bonus
The Crimson Court DLC adds Districts to the Hamlet, some of which confer passive benefits to heroes.


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Customization
As for every hero, the Shieldbreaker has four different colour palettes to choose from: yellow and green, purple and pink, black and gold, and blue and teal.

Barks
Battle =

Landing a Critical Hit
Flashback =
 * You fell out of step!
 * What an easy target!
 * I am beyond compare!
 * Try to keep up!
 * And you thought yourself impervious!
 * As predictable as the sunrise!
 * A snake's neck is always exposed!
 * No defense can handle attacks from all directions!
 * Your weakness shines like a lantern in the night!
 * Dancing and fighting — there is no difference.

Entering Flashback
Fearful =
 * N-no! It begins again!
 * T-the snakes! The snakes are everywhere!
 * The desert - it pulls me back!
 * A-again, the same terrible dream...
 * I-it can't be - get back you filthy vipers!

Becoming Fearful

 * ...am...am I still lying delirious in the desert?!
 * I will not be claimed by the Vizier!
 * N-no! I will not be delivered to the palace!
 * Please...no more!
 * Keep the crowd away from the stage!

Stressing Party

 * One misstep and I will find myself in chains again!
 * N-no! No more snakes!
 * My heart skips all over, sweat makes my weapon slick...
 * Perhaps if I offered myself to the palace they would not kill me.
 * Perhaps my escape was a perversion of destiny. Does Fate itself hunt me?!

Switching Position to the Back

 * We must fly! Peril draws near!
 * Fah!
 * What horrors!
 * G-get back!
 * N-not me!
 * We are overwhelmed!

Passing Turn

 * Death has transfixed me in her pale gaze...
 * This place has me trapped in terror!
 * Fear is a riddle my mind cannot solve.
 * I see our skulls piled on some obscene altar.
 * No song, no dance.

Camping Stress

 * Evil hides in every shadow.
 * Did anyone hear screaming just now?
 * I think we are missing someone.

Getting Hit by Enemy

 * My heart is being cowed into silence!
 * I must dance when I should run!

Enemy Missed Self

 * Death toys with me!
 * Terror grows with each blow avoided!

Party Member Attack Misses

 * Oh gods! I will be next!
 * Fate issues her warning!

Party Member Hit

 * I cannot survive alone!
 * Who will protect me now?!

Enemy Missed Party Member

 * It might have missed you but will certainly hit me!
 * No fiend makes the same mistake twice!

Refuses to Move

 * Some sands were not meant to be trodden!
 * The winds of death howl!

Refuses to Perform Camping Skill
Paranoid =
 * Don't sneak up on me like that!
 * But if you are mistaken, I could die!
 * No, I have heard the rumours!

Becoming Paranoid

 * The Vizier's spies are everywhere!
 * I should have never trusted your camaraderie!
 * Fah! I had a feeling a snake was among us!
 * Treachery! You are all his agents!
 * What is he paying you to kidnap me?!

Stressing Party

 * I can feel the Vizier's hand upon my shoulder!
 * Are those eyes glaring at my back?
 * One of you is a royal agent, seeking to reclaim his property!
 * My escape came too easily! This is a trap!
 * How much is the bounty on my head you greedy sods?!

Switching Position to the Back

 * Vipers prefer to strike from behind!
 * Better I keep you all in my sight!
 * Is there no wall for my back?

Passing Turn

 * Another trick, I presume?
 * Trust is a currency a slave spends carefully.
 * How convenient.
 * Only a fool sticks their hand in a viper's nest.
 * What transparent guile!

Random Action

 * You would order me to my death!
 * My rhythm keeps me safe from you.
 * I prefer avoiding danger.
 * The Vizier's agents must be kept on their toes!
 * I am not about to start trusting you now!
 * I do this to stay free!

Camping Stress

 * A fire will only give us away.
 * Keep quiet - they are all around!
 * I'd feel safer if you were all dead.

Damaging Party Member

 * You drove me to this!
 * Tell the Vizier I send my regards!

Refuses to Retreat

 * Safety is an illusion in this snake pit.
 * Cowardice is cause for a whipping!

Getting Hit by Enemy

 * I will not be made a slave again!
 * This reeks of conspiracy!

Enemy Missed Self

 * The Vizier's agents must be kept on their toes!
 * One of a thousand conspiracies that threaten me!

Party Member Hit

 * Ah, the conspirators turn upon their own, as expected.
 * Like the lowly hyena, they attack their own kind.

Enemy Missed Party Member

 * The scorpion and the snake work together, it seems.
 * From one performer to another: try harder.

Refuses to Move

 * I will not dance to your sinister tune!
 * More falsehoods!

Refuses to Use Item

 * Your plotting grows tedious!
 * A means to disable me!

Refuses to Get Healed

 * Clumsy hands can't catch me.
 * With a poignard clasped behind you?
 * I know venom when I see it!

Refuses to Get Buffed

 * I anticipated that attempt!
 * A peasant's curse! How dare you!
 * Suddenly so forthcoming!

Refuses to Perform Camping Skill

 * Anything to finally be rid of me, eh?
 * Have to keep a low profile.
 * As a slave, I learned to distinguish who is ill-disposed.

Refuses to be Target of Camping Skill

 * What deceit!
 * An outrageous act of betrayal!
 * More of the Vizier's trickery.

Refuses to Eat when Camping
Masochistic =
 * Take it away — I don't know where that's been!
 * It's poisoned. Dump it out on the ground.

Becoming Masochistic

 * As I cleaved my hand from my wrist, I drowned in transcendent joy and freedom!
 * Each wound quickens the dance!
 * Blood flows and passion boils!
 * Never seek to escape pain, it is the root note of life's song!
 * Let them slake their bloodlust upon me!

Stressing Party

 * I seek the bloody edge of the dance, the twilight between control and ecstasy!
 * Life blossoms upon realizing that pain can become pleasure!
 * Silk is worn best soaked in blood!
 * Grist for glory's mill!
 * Each wound, a lover's kiss!

Switching Position to the Front

 * A true dancer becomes one with the flame!
 * Wounds make me sing true!
 * I am drawn to the fight like the moth to the lantern!
 * The fight is pointless if wounds frighten you!
 * Drench me in blood!

Random Action

 * So far I have only lost a pittance of blood!
 * The fury of my dance must take me to the very edge!
 * Who knows? I may yet lose my other hand!
 * Some slaves crave the lash!
 * Pain is taking control!
 * More! I must have more!

Camping Stress

 * I prefer a thicker thread for stitches.
 * Please rub salt in the wounds on my back.
 * Anyone up for a game of pinfinger?

Marking Self

 * Fury! Unto me!
 * I hack, I gouge, I sunder!

Damaging Self

 * Can you smell my blood now, fiends?
 * You missed a spot!

Refuses to Retreat

 * Why settle for a stream of blood? I demand a river!
 * The oasis can only be found in the burning wastes!

Getting Hit by Enemy

 * Take my other hand if you dare!
 * Again! Let us dance!

Enemy Missed Self

 * What sore disappointment!
 * Just cut me already!

Party Member Hit

 * It saddens me you do not appreciate the sweet song of the blade.
 * No drum stirs the feet like the rhythm of spurting blood!

Refuses to Move

 * The arrows rain thickest here!
 * I am right where they want me to be!

Refuses to Use Item

 * I thrive on pain. It's the way of my order.
 * Let me endure it a bit first. It rejuvenates my soul.

Refuses to Get Healed

 * A good bleed-out is healthy!
 * Lovely thought, but I am more than fine!
 * If you find me unconscious, then by all means... let me enjoy it.

Refuses to Get Buffed

 * Any advantage will end the fight too soon!
 * No harm in a few more cuts.
 * The frenzy is just beginning!

Refuses to Perform Camping Skill

 * Maybe come back with a hot brand!
 * Pain — a thousand needles!
 * I want things to get worse... hehe.

Refuses to be Target of Camping Skill

 * Pass the salt — I need it for my wounds!
 * Experience pain to the fullest! You only live once!
 * The rhythm of suffering is sublime!

Refuses to Eat when Camping
Abusive =
 * I have bled once for my freedom — I will do so again!
 * My wounds quicken my steps.

Becoming Abusive

 * You are as graceful as elephants! Quick as camels!
 * You've no rhythm, no grace!
 * Your skills are as coarse as the cloth you wear!
 * You are the sand in my boot!
 * You would not last a day in the open desert!

Stressing Party

 * I expect you oafs will trip and fall on your own blades!
 * I need more worthy dance partners!
 * The other slave dancers had more fight in them!
 * May the desert take you all!
 * No rhythm, no poise! I give up on you all!
 * You have the grace of a drunken mule!

Random Action

 * I do this because it irritates you.
 * You oafs are going to get me killed!
 * None of you are my betters!
 * You call that a plan?
 * Donkeys! Swine! Make way for something beautiful!

Camping Stress

 * How does one burn the stew every single time?
 * Does no one bathe in your culture?
 * There would be no need to camp if you had any skill in combat.

Damaging Party Member

 * Fools only listen to the lessons from the lash!
 * Wake up, cur!

Party Member Attack Hits

 * Well at least you hit it, I suppose.
 * Imprecise, off-balance, no rhythm. A wound nonetheless.

Party Member Attack Misses

 * Just stirring the hornet's nest for us all....
 * I can't help you if you can't help yourself.

Party Member Hit

 * The vultures circle above you!
 * Jackals devour the straggling camel first.

Refuses to Move

 * Your song is well out of tune!
 * I lead the dance, not you!

Refuses to Perform Camping Skill

 * These wretches don't deserve it.
 * Among these creatures, I am truly a diamond in the rough.
 * Competence is the rarest treasure, it would seem.

Refuses to be Target of Camping Skill
Selfish =
 * Soil me not with your filthy ministrations.
 * Waste of resources, if you ask me.
 * Keep your hands to yourself, cretin.

Becoming Selfish

 * Witness me and weep, for I am perfection.
 * Should not the ornament be ornamented?
 * You are as useless as my envenomed hand!
 * Keep me from harm, I will lead us to victory!
 * I will dance the story of my victories!
 * Give me what I'm owed!

Stressing Party

 * I will accept 2 gold for each wound I inflict.
 * Shower me with your coins, your adulation!
 * Throw your roses upon my stage!
 * I still haven't decided if you are worthy of my company.
 * It will be my name upon the marquee!

Switching Position to the Front

 * Your dance lacks rhythm, step aside!
 * I will take care of this, again!
 * The crowd cheers for me!
 * Shine the light upon me, and marvel!
 * Maybe next time, peasant.

Switching Position to the Back

 * If I die, we all die!
 * A moment to regain my step.
 * Death holds no appeal at the moment.
 * You would do the same in my place!
 * Pawns to the fore!

Passing Turn

 * I will dance where I please.
 * That would put me off my rhythm.
 * I am conserving energy for when it will matter.
 * From here their weaknesses are the most apparent.
 * I am already preoccupied.

Random Action

 * I thought I had explained my plan?
 * Of course I know better!
 * Just follow my lead!
 * Rhythm can't be explained, only expressed.
 * You seem out of ideas.

Camping Stress

 * I needed the water for my boots.
 * My pack carries more weight than you lot.
 * I'm sure you can cover the watch shifts without me.

Getting Hit by Enemy

 * This is preposterous! Where is my party?!
 * How dare you lay a hand on a royal dancer?!

Party Member Attack Hits

 * I would have looked much better doing that.
 * I had already claimed that kill!

Party Member Attack Misses

 * Once again, I will do all the work.
 * Are you sure you're holding it the right way?

Refuses to Perform Camping Skill
Hopeless =
 * I am trying to rest.
 * I was sleeping.
 * Let me be, I've done enough.

Becoming Hopeless

 * My steps stumble, my tongue trips, victory is theirs for certain.
 * My hope, spilled like water from a canteen...
 * Perhaps the adder's venom has sickened my mind...?

Stressing Party

 * I'm nothing more than a dancer, a slave. A wasted life.
 * Freedom, feh. Just another illusion.
 * Life is slavery.
 * My heart's rhythm falters!
 * I am just a slave pretending to be free.

Switching Position to the Front

 * Remand me to the troupe once more.
 * I will draw their attention so you might survive.
 * What do you care?
 * It is not much of a sacrifice but perhaps enough for you to live.
 * I face death in the hopes that I will want to live.

Switching Position to the Back

 * My clumsy steps will no longer interfere.
 * I hoped I could be more useful, I was mistaken.
 * I shall be lashed for such a poor performance.
 * I will get us all killed.
 * Spare me your pity, a slave deserves none.

Passing Turn

 * More pity...
 * I grow tired of your false encouragement.
 * I have no steps left to dance.
 * The song escapes me.
 * No flame, no desire.
 * It's a lost cause, like me.

Random Action

 * May the cruel fates guide me where they will.
 * Apathy is a strange mistress.
 * The sand — an eternal prison.
 * I-I made another misstep. Typical.
 * I am nothing.

Camping Stress

 * The flame's dance fails to lift my heart.
 * Not in the mood to chat right now.
 * I think I will retire early.

Marking Self

 * Let's end this dance.
 * I have lost all rhythm.

Damaging Self

 * I didn't think it would be this easy.
 * Alas, still alive.

Refuses to Retreat

 * I was just starting to feel like myself.
 * We need to die here.

Refuses to Use Item

 * Better to pour your water out over the hot sands.
 * Let this place kill me.

Refuses to Get Healed

 * There can be no respite.
 * Not yet, I don't want to feel alive.
 * Leave me, this is your final warning!

Refuses to Get Buffed

 * Just run me through instead.
 * No one to save here.
 * Leave me to my darkness.

Refuses to Perform Camping Skill

 * Why even bother?
 * Giving up. Giving in. It's all the same.
 * Can't you see? We're finished.

Refuses to be Target of Camping Skill

 * We are undone. This is the end.
 * Not me. No point.
 * I would let the fire die and weep in the dark.

Refuses to Eat when Camping
Irrational =
 * How can you eat this?
 * My performance was unworthy. Let me starve.

Becoming Irrational

 * I thought this a mirage, but now know it is true!
 * Moon and sun, cooling and heating the sand together beyond the black pyramids.
 * All gods will someday die in the sands of time!
 * My legs are snakes, my eyes are spears!
 * Come and dance and sing with me! The feast will last until the next moon!

Stressing Party

 * I put vipers in your bedrolls! Hahaha...
 * 1, 2, 3, glide, 1, 2, 3, dip, 1, 2, 3...
 * I have seen across great vistas beyond time...beyond space...
 * The colour cast from the comet is indescribable!
 * The feast was delicious, my compliments to the Viscount!

Switching Position to the Front

 * Sssssss — I am the snake!
 * I meant to move backward! hee hee
 * I did not move, you did!
 * What strange rugs that move on their own...
 * Quicksand!

Switching Position to the Back

 * In time with the drummer!
 * One. Two. Three. Four.
 * My dance is finished, I must retire.
 * Excuse me, I am looking for something...
 * I meant to move forward! hee hee

Passing Turn

 * Hush, the hummingbird draws near!
 * When the clock ticks, yes.
 * Snakes still flow in my blood.
 * Now that I am Vizier...
 * You're drooling again!

Random Action

 * That will be perfect for my collection!
 * Oh my! The planets move so quickly!
 * When hens become roosters then kings will be pigs!
 * It is difficult to stay alight on a flaming wick!
 * Lotions and unguents for sale!

Camping Stress

 * Stay out of my bedroll, worms!
 * I apologize but I do not know the language of the sea.
 * As your grandmother, I must insist you finish your food!

Marking Self

 * To the scorpions my kingdom!
 * The scroll holds every jest the universe has to offer!

Damaging Party Member

 * I am the thunder that flees the lightning!
 * An errant camel! A tearful son!

Damaging Self

 * I'm in the desert once more — the limb must come off!
 * This is something that came to me in a dream!

Refuses to Retreat

 * I forgot to bolt the gate!
 * And can you imagine frozen water fell from the sky?

Getting Hit by Enemy

 * To release birds in the morning light, a cage must be opened!
 * The stream meanders but screams as it wanders.

Enemy Missed Self

 * A pigment for the eyes and another for the lips.
 * Do you think I'd make a good mother?

Party Member Attack Hits

 * It is not noon yet, strike not the bell!
 * I told you no one can smite a spirit!

Party Member Attack Misses

 * I was once just a small grain of sand in a massive hourglass.
 * Birds fly inside out under water, over sea.

Party Member Hit

 * Excuse me, I am trying to peruse your wares!
 * As you wish m'lord. Another dance, then.

Enemy Missed Party Member

 * The dunes are an ocean - we are underwater!
 * I have broken a hundred hearts, and I feel nothing.

Refuses to Move

 * A djinn cannot lie twice. But it can lie three times.
 * Sand is the ash fallen from the sun itself.
 * My chains have returned, but where is my hand?

Refuses to Use Item

 * My top is stoppered, in case you hadn't noticed.
 * Speak up! I can't hear you!

Refuses to Get Healed

 * An alley with no entrance welcomes the batrachians.
 * The spheres burn the ether faster than anticipated.
 * Not tonight. I'm exhausted!

Refuses to Get Buffed

 * I am already too strong, the gods will soon take notice.
 * That is not horse food. I am a horse.
 * Is existence subject to time and space?

Refuses to Perform Camping Skill

 * Ssssss...ssssss...I sssspeak their language!
 * I sailed upon a sea of dunes, under a moon of cheese!
 * No water in the well — down, down, down to hell!

Refuses to Eat when Camping
Stalwart =
 * I eat only what the guard gives me.
 * And choke on the sand once more?! I think not!

Becoming Stalwart

 * Hope swirls around me like the Sirocco!
 * Plant your feet with conviction!
 * Evade, beguile, but give no ground!
 * To be hopeless is to be fooled by one's self!
 * As long as we can strike one last blow, victory is certain!

Reducing Own Stress
Courageous =
 * The dance has just begun!
 * My body and mind are one!

Becoming Courageous

 * The wind sings with our weapons!
 * Victory is just beyond the dune!
 * Tomorrow is for healing! Today, for glory!
 * We will dance as long as our hearts beat!
 * All dance begins with a single step, all songs with a single word.

Stress Healing Party
Focused =
 * If you can count your wounds then you can stand and fight!
 * There is one more dance left in our bones!

Becoming Focused

 * Let the eye follow the spear tip and the heart will rise on its own.
 * Follow my lead.
 * Discipline and focus — these are the tools of a master!
 * Evil desires its own destruction!
 * Rekindle your fire!

Buffing Party Member
Powerful =
 * Bring rhythm back into your steps!
 * Unsteady breath makes for unsteady movement!

Becoming Powerful

 * When we dance as one, the sum is beyond its parts!
 * Let us move in terrible synchronicity!
 * Show these cretins to the door!
 * Power is not about strength, but about timing.
 * Push off these salacious vermin!

Buffing Party
Vigorous =
 * I am the desert in all its fury!
 * Control your breathing!

Becoming Vigorous

 * They hesitate and stumble! Rush them!
 * Let visions of victory and glory kindle your heart's fire!
 * I am lithe, envigorated, envenomed!
 * I am the Sirocco, my fury renders all to dust and ashes!
 * Evil fears what it cannot contain!

Self Healing
Final_Boss(spoiler) = "Another nightmare. A fitting audience for my last dance."
 * Let us increase the tempo of our assault!
 * My heart pounds to forgotten rhythms!

- The Shieldbreaker

Trivia

 * In her original promotional artwork, her right hand is missing. However, in-game, it is her left hand that is gone.
 * The name of her final armor, "Sirocco", is the name given to hurricane-force winds in the Mediterranean that build up over the Sahara desert.
 * The name of her final weapon, "Adder's Fang", refers to the attack of one of the snakes encountered in her nightmares, the Adder.
 * The Shieldbreaker's default name is Amani, which means "Aspiration" in Arabic.
 * No backer heroes exist within this class, because backer heroes are Kickstarter users suggestions before the original game was released; the other three heroes with no backers are the Antiquarian, the Musketeer and the Flagellant.
 * The Shieldbreaker's color of trinket, the Spectral Speartip, is the only Shieldbreaker specific trinket that is not obtained from a nightmare.