Antiquarian (Butcher's Circus)

The Antiquarian is a playable class in Darkest Dungeon. In the Butcher's Circus, she becomes a support character that specializes in Blight, Stress, and healing.

Combat Skills
(All buffs and debuffs last for 3 rounds unless otherwise specified.)

* Forcing a Guard on an Ally will cause them to forfeit any other guards they were previously doing. Meaning for instance, that the Man-at-Arms' and the Houndmaster's guards cannot be simultaneously applied to the Antiquarian's guard (buffs stack however).

Using an Antiquarian
Since the Circus is pure combat, her functions have been changed drastically. She can't help you find more rewards, but her combat capability has improved.

Festering Vapours is the strongest attack for the Antiquarian. Party-wide Stress is invaluable, and it can be used to stack Blight. Expect to see nearly any Antiquarian spam this attack when they're not supporting the party. Rejuvenating Vapours is not as strong as other healing abilities, but because it applies a Restoration buff instead of a direct heal, it can be used to keep heroes out of Death's Door when they're being targeted repeatedly. DoTs can counter this healing, however. Protect Me! is the Antiquarian's last resort if she finds herself being targeted, and can be used well with a Flagellant to direct hits towards him. Take Cover can counter any attempts to shuffle her out of position or can be used in response to marks. Her former staple Invigorating Vapours is not as valuable here since most combatants will have increased accuracy across the board to offset its bonus. Flashpowder is for the Stress-focused Antiquarian, and allows her to push a target into Affliction or Heart attack without provoking a Riposte.

The Antiquarian is not a good healer on her own, so you have to compensate with other units that can actively heal, in case someone falls to Death's Door after taking their turn with restoration active. Frontline healers like the Crusader or Flagellant can work to keep anyone - even the Antiquarian herself - alive. The Arbalest, Musketeer or Vestal can also supply emergency healing but you run the risk of a very crowded backline.

For trinkets, take those that improve her overall survivability. The Rotting Trophy, Bloodstained Gambeson, and Gladiator's Helmet are good early selections until her exclusive Trinkets are unlocked. The Black Diamond Mirror and Tears of the Lost work together to improve her overall longevity in battle and are staples once acquired. The Ghoul Claw is for the more aggressive builds that take advantage of Nervous Stab and can work well for Stress-focused parties, and the Impossible Glyph is to augment Flashpowder and its ACC debuff to let the Antiquarian inflict Stress without provoking Riposte.

Fighting an Antiquarian
The Antiquarian may have been improved for this setting, but she's still mostly a support unit, and is not as strong as the combat specialists. The fact that she can force Guards or Stealth herself makes her difficult to kill, but she's not too lethal as her area Blight and area Stress will need some time to accumulate. You can afford to ignore her for most part and take down the rest of the party. Once she gets dragged out of the back as corpses vanish, she loses access to her healing skill and becomes a lot more vulnerable.

Her Restoration effect is her only means of healing, but at 3HP a turn it can be easily offset by DoTs. Spread area Bleeds and Blights of your own so that anyone at Death's Door will need a turn of proactive healing to be spared from Deathblows. Because Restoration only applies when the character takes their turn, you can focus your fire on enemy units that have already acted so that the Restoration cannot save them from Death's Door.

Because a lot of players are likely to have Festering Vapours as her only attack skill, setting up Ripostes will make the Antiquarian hesitant to attack or she would risk killing herself.

DLC Exclusive Trinkets

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