Baron

"They would arrive in teeming hordes, adorned in powdered wigs and pretension - seeking to slake their thirst on wine and indecency. As intoxication invariably took hold, innocuous frivolities would escalate to ever more disturbing diversions. Orchestrating the hideous affair was a hunchedbacked fiend who seemed to delight in proportion to the suffering he caused. I could have stopped him, I suppose, but I was a slave to my own appetite, and restraint would have rendered me a hypocrite."

- The Ancestor.

The Baron is the first boss fought in The Courtyard. Found at the end of a maze-like and sprawling garden he is a bloated abomination, a heaping mass of bloated flesh with what remains of his human form perched atop.

Reaching the Boss
The greatest challenge faced by the party, oddly enough, is not the boss himself, but the dungeon he resides in. It is a truly massive dungeon with nearly a hundred rooms and many locked gates requiring special keys looted elsewhere inside the dungeon and guarded by powerful foes. The dungeon itself can be split into four distinct areas, with the Baron residing in the final area.

The first area is fairly straightforward, appearing as a somewhat straight path with a few side rooms. Keep moving to the right whenever possible to reach the second area. Beware of Bloodsuckers and traps, but there are no unusual challenges.

The second area is more difficult, taking the form of a circle with the central path cutting through. In the centre is a locked door requiring a red key found elsewhere. To progress either move up to find the key or head down and loop around to the right to bypass the locked door entirely.

The third area is a central hub with a locked door, two wings above and below, is much more difficult, and requires multiple keys. Travel up to the top wing to find the first key, then head down again to the bottom wing to find the second, then unlock the central door to progress to the final area.

The final area takes the form of extremely difficult multiple looping circles with the final boss in the middle behind a locked door. Head up to find the key to the Baron, then take the central path around to unlock the door leading to the Baron.

Fighting The Baron Himself
The Baron is a disgusting abomination, but is actually a very weak combatant relying on his massive health pool and his gimmick for survival. Upon entering the room he will be standing there with four Insect Pods behind him. Once the battle begins he will immediately use the ability "The First Act" to hide among four pods. The pods themselves prevent healing, but are easily ruptured with a single attack. The main threat here is that each pod contains a Sycophant which will immediately attack the party. It is wise to pop each pod one at a time to reduce the danger to the party.

Once the Baron has been found he will attack with three actions per round. Despite his intimidating appearance he is extremely weak with only three attacks, none of which do any serious damage. One he is brought down to three fourths health he will use the ability "The Second Act" to once again hide inside Insect Pods. This is the same trick as last time, but with more dangerous enemies hiding inside the pods.

Rupture the pods until he is found, and the battle begins again. He will use more dangerous attacks more often, but his weakness betrays him. One he is brought down to half health he will activate "The Third Act" and yet again retreat into Insect Pods, this time containing the most powerful Bloodsuckers.

Once he is revealed the Baron will attack with his most powerful abilities until he is dead, but this is a minimal threat as even his party wide attack "Crowd Pleaser" isn't capable of doing more than eight damage per hero.