Viscount

"The feasting and revelry would last for weeks at a time. Great stone tables were set with such an abundance of rare delicacies that we would stuff ourselves until the exotic became mundane. When the lavish spread began to spoil, a ravenous gourmand gleefully proposed that we sample from the fetid pile of composting refuse ! The notion was dismissed as decidedly unhealthy. But days later, he was found cackling madly atop a heap of rancid comestibles, licking his fingers in delight."

- The Ancestor.

The Viscount is the Bloodsucker boss fought in the The Courtyard during the "Served Cold" (LVL 5 Epic) quest.

Reaching the Boss
Equipment needed is typical for the Courtyard. Bring torches to clear mist and use on nests, shovels to clear blockages and dig up potted plants, food to sustain your party, bandages aplenty both for bleed and bone piles, and a stack of The Blood to feed your Vampiric party.

As always you will be facing massive amounts of Bloodsuckers, roaming beasts and undead and the Crimson Curse for every hero you bring will become a Vampire, if they aren't already.

Unlike the previous area which was more of a gauntlet with three separate areas, this quest takes the form of a maze with a single, long winding route twisting and turning with many other side paths looping in back on themselves, and often disorienting the unwary or careless.

To begin with, move to the right to the first room. Once there, head straight up and keep following the path up through the many combat encounters as it curves to the right.

Continue moving forwards, not deviating from this path until you find the blue key. At this point, you techically have two options. heading back the way you came to unlock the blue gate is something the cautious might try, but in truth the massive stress build makes it unwise. The safest route (oddly enough) is to push onwards to the right, then heading down at the threeway junction (you might want to take a slight detour to the left in order to unlock the blue gate, as the blue key is a quest item and can't be discarded.)

Continue to head downwards until the path branches to the right and left. Going right is a waste of time without the yellow key, as you will need it to progress, so head left.

Moving left keep to the bottom, heading down whenever possible to eventually discover the yellow key. Once this is done, head back the way you came until you are back at the three way junction, this time heading right. This time keep heading up past the yellow gate and to another three way junction with paths heading to the right and left. Head right keeping to the left hand wall until you find the red key, once this is done, go back the way you came heading up whenever possible, to open the red key.

The room immediately after the red lock contains the Viscount.

A map of the area can be found here.

Fighting The Viscount
The fight consists of the Viscount himself plus three bodies which occupy the other ranks.

The Viscount as his first action will always eat one of the bodies, healing, buffing, and/or debuffing himself. Eating the biggest body will use 2 of his actions, and has a 3-turn cooldown, while eating the smallest body will use 1 of his actions.

Because of this, the player should focus on killing the bodies first, so that the Viscount, unable to buff himself, will be weaker. However, with 3 actions, high damage potential and a riposte ability, the boss can quickly bring the heroes to low health while they are still killing the bodies. In this case, Vestal can be a good choice to manage the Viscount's damage.

Another strategy can be to burst the Viscount down and try to kill him quickly, doing more damage to him than he heals. Using high-damage heroes, such as Hellion, Leper, Abomination or Jester with Finale, especially buffed by Plague Doctor's Emboldening Vapours, can end the fight in a matter of 1-2 rounds, given the boss' low health and lack of protection.

When the Viscount eats any of the bodies that have bleed or blight, it will transfer onto the Viscount, making killing two of the bodies and injecting the last with lots of bleed and blight damage another viable, though risky way of killing him.

With 3 attacks per turn and most attack targeting multiple positions, bleed and stress will be the biggest problem. Increase bleed resistance through trinkets and holy water. Bring heroes that can stress heal.

One viable Riposte party for Bloodmoon Viscount is Vestal / Man-at-Arms / Highwayman / Highwayman. Man-at-Arms's Weapons Practice and Tactics are essential. After the fight starts, Highwayman should develop Riposte by killing the bodies and then use Tracking Shot, while the Man-at-Arms uses Bolster, Retribution and then Guard Vestal. Vestal should mainly focus on healing and thus healing trinkets are recommended. In this way, your damage is mainly from your own Riposte without triggering the boss's and by the time you clear all 3 bodies, the boss is almost dead.

Preferred Heroes

 * Flagellant - Multipurpose frontliner for the fight. Can inflict Bleed on the bodies at the back to afflict the Viscount with those ailments when he eats.
 * Jester - A lot of the Viscount's own attacks also induce Stress. Keep it off the party.
 * Man-at-Arms, Highwayman - Set up Riposte to punish the Viscount without triggering his own Riposte.
 * Plague Doctor - Can inflict high Bleeds and Blights to the bodies, which will transfer to the Viscount when he eats.

Reasonable Choices

 * Leper - Heavy-hitting singular strikes gives you maximum damage for minimal Riposte triggers. Mind his low Bleed resistance.
 * Abomination - Transform for powerful single strikes. You can also inflict Blight on the middle two bodies while untransformed. Mind his mounting Stress.

Discouraged Heroes

 * Arbalest/Musketeer - The Viscount resides at the front of the enemy formation where their shots can't reach him.

Bloodbags
Bloodbags are fleshy cocoon-like sacks that hang from the ceiling of the Viscount’s Banquet Hall, and within them are the still living and half-eaten "guests" that were invited by the Viscount to join him for dinner.

All Areas

 * Supplicant
 * Sycophant
 * Gatekeeper
 * Chevalier

The Courtyard

 * Manservant
 * Esquire
 * Courtesan

Bosses

 * Crocodilian
 * Baron


 * Countess
 * Garden Guardian

Map
Map of the area

Trivia

 * Unlike the Baron and the Countess, the Viscount is the only central boss that lacks a "the thirst" attack, preferring to feed from his hanging bodies than from heroes.
 * In contrast to the Emaciated Body and Body, which appear to be normal humans, the Bloodstuffed Body appears to be one of the Viscount's fellow Bloodsuckers (an Esquire, judging by the wig and general placement of the limbs along with his shoes).
 * The Viscount is voiced by Youtuber/Streamer Baertaffy, who is also the voice of the Fanatic and the Baron.