Antiquarian

"She searches where others will not go, and sees what others will not see."

The Antiquarian is one of the playable Character Classes in Darkest Dungeon. The Antiquarian is by far the weakest class in the game, with relatively weak (if at least usable) attacks, leading to sub-par combat performance. As a supporting character she's surprisingly useful; she can heal party members, bolster their dodge rates, and perform nominal debuffing on enemies. Most notable, the Antiquarian is a highly useful mercantile hero who boasts a number of unique properties than can help a party earn gold on an adventure:
 * Firstly she increases the amount of gold you can carry in a stack from 1750 to 2500. Every subsequent Antiquarian will further increase it by another 750 (for a theoretical maximum of 4750 with a full Antiquarian party).
 * Secondly is that she causes unique loot to drop. These are Minor Antiques, which are worth 500 gold each and stack to 20, and Rare Antiques which are worth 1250 each and stack to 5. Antiques will only be looted if the Antiquarian interacts with the curio. Rare Antiques, being more expensive than their minor counterparts, are less likely to be dropped or looted. The exact ratio is 1:6

Combat Skills
"A scholar, researcher, and keen archaeologist, The Antiquarian is not well suited for combat. She is, however, an expert in self-preservation - by making herself scarce in a fight, or demanding an ally protect her, she ensures her survival. If direct combat is unavoidable, The Antiquarian can use her fulminating censer to heal and invigorate allies...and to toxify attackers."

- The Guild

Nervous Stab =

Festering Vapours =

Get Down! =

Flahs Powder =

Fortifying Vapours =

Invigorating Vapours =

Protect Me =

* 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).

Tactical Appraisal
The Antiquarian's low combat performance belies her utility on the battlefield. While her damage output is one of the lowest of any class, she makes up for it in other areas, and the Antiquarian is usable in several different roles depending on what skills she's given.

As a character who bolsters the amount of Gold you bring home, however, she's great for supporting early operations to finance your adventures, and her abilities are almost entirely centered around boosting the party's survivability. Throughout her career, her Fortifying Vapors ability is as strong as the Plague Doctor's Battlefield Medicine, though it lacks status recovery. This allows her to take some of the heat off a party, especially one whose members are otherwise self-healing, like the Leper, Abomination, or Hellion. Because her other effects focus on damage mitigation, she can actually help maintain a party by making it take notably less damage than it might otherwise.

Her other abilities play into her "Survival-Boosting" nature and are comparatively strong. Invigorating Vapors is a useful ability that boosts the entire party's dodge rate by 3; as it gets stronger it actually makes her more viable, because she can boost the natural dodge rates of your characters by that much more, and it stacks with itself, making it potentially possible of boosting the party's dodge rates by a significant degree. Get Down! gives an even larger boost that works extremely well against enemies that like to use Marks. Perhaps the most interesting ability she has is Protect Me, which has the dual benefit of not only reducing your available number of targets but of significantly boosting the defense of the Antiquarian's bodyguard. This can be extremely strong with characters who wouldn't ordinarily be able to guard someone, but will nonetheless enjoy the benefits of the massive PROT boost, such as the Leper, Hellion, or Crusader. Flashpowder is another useful ability that synergizes well with her ability to bolster party defense, its only real downside being that it's single-target only.

Her combat abilities are easy to overlook but are still nonetheless useful; Nervous Stab, though weak, can hit almost any target, and though both the damage and blight effect of Festering Vapors is weak, the effect can hit the whole battlefield and is still a useful effect for residual damage. The Antiquarian is one of the few characters whose combat abilities aren't too shaken up by row, allowing her to work from anywhere except the front.

Make no mistake, however: This character is all about boosting the amount of gold you bring home and defensive support - not out-and-out fighting. She's at her best when she helps a party minimize or avoid taking damage in the first place and mitigating that damage further thereafter. Use her correctly, and as a utility character she may surprise you with how effective she can be.

Camping Skills
"A researcher never rests! The Antiquarian surveys the campsite, obtaining supply items and even trinkets that the party may have overlooked. Her peculiar utterances and strange powders have been known to put minds at ease, and strengthen corporeal hardiness."

- Survivalist

On Trinket Scrounge
* The trinket produced will be randomly taken from the trinket pool, however Ancestral trinkets and other Unique trinkets (i.e. from the Madman or Collector) cannot be found. The trinket will most likely be of common rarity. Exact percentages are: These rates are not affected by the level of the antiquarian nor the difficulty of the dungeon. Longer dungeons simply grant more camping opportunities, and the heroes don't have to complete the dungeon to keep the scrounged trinket (they just need the inventory space for it). Given the sale prices of trinkets, each camp opportunity should net an overall average of 1245 gold per antiquarian. A "backyard camping" team of 4 antiquarians who enter a dungeon, use all their firewood to scrounge, and then abandon the mission will make mild to moderate amounts of relatively risk & stress free cash, assuming they sell all the trinkets (and survive a couple battles). The main penalties to abandoning medium and long dungeons are advancing the week, and taking some stress (which they will reduce with the next backyard camping "adventure"). (minus the cost of food for each camp)
 * (very) Common : 10/25
 * Common : 7/25
 * Uncommon : 5/25
 * Rare : 2/25
 * Very rare : 1/25
 * Medium Dungeon: ~5,000 gold
 * Long Dungeon: ~10,000 gold
 * Darkest Dungeon: ~20,000 gold (though abandoning these missions has other costs)

If you can survive the battles to reach the first room, and any nighttime attacks, then this may be a good way to gather lots of random trinkets in search of the ones you want, selling the rest for relatively easy cash (as you don't need to fight many battles). However, simply completing missions may be better, for leveling up heroes and collecting heirlooms, etc.

Equipment
"The Antiquarian wears no armor to speak of, instead relying on the power of the innumerable ancient charms and relics she has collected in her travels. Her eye for rarities is enhanced by the unsettling properties of her censer's vapours, which can offer some utility to the party in...problematic encounters."

- The Blacksmith

Each Hero has trinkets unique to them that only they can equip. The Antiquarian has seven; 2 uncommon, 2 Crimson Court and 1 common, rare and very rare. Unlike other heroes whose trinkets are only one or two different types of items, her trinkets all different sorts of curios and artifacts, befitting for her status as a collector.


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District Bonus
The Crimson Court DLC adds Districts to the Hamlet, some of which confer passive buffs to heroes.


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Customisation
As for every hero, the Antiquarian has four different colour palettes to choose from: red, purple, pink, and orange.

Barks
Critical Hit =

Landing a Critical Hit
Fearful =
 * Exquisite!
 * Sublime!
 * My eyes find all weakness!
 * By my hand, fall!
 * My will is without equal!
 * Dishonorable cur!
 * Die and wither!

Becoming Fearful

 * Drop the gold! Drop the supplies!  Drop everything...and RUN!
 * Cursed censer! IT exudes his essence and corrupts this expedition!
 * What a nightmarish fate - to be lost and forgotten like ancient relics!
 * I...I would give all my gold to be gone from here!
 * Flee! I will forfeit my cut but we must flee!

Stressing Party

 * I can feel his hand in all of this!
 * He is breaking from his prison, he comes for me!
 * None of us can hide from our pasts...

Switching Position to the Back

 * No! No! NO!
 * Bravery! Foolish notion!
 * E-excuse me...I must...check on something...

Passing Turn

 * I...I don't know what to do next!
 * What will become of me if I do?! Or if I don't?!
 * Arms and legs numb, gaze unseeing...

Camping Stress
Paranoid =
 * The censer rattles! He seeks to escape...
 * Never cross a sorcerer. You'll never sleep again.
 * I hear the desecrating drums of foul ceremony!

Becoming Paranoid

 * My master's influence transcends his prison!
 * The relics are mine! Mine, I tell you!
 * Keep away! Stay where I can see you!
 * Keep your knives in sight! You won't get me!
 * Do you seek my gold? Come and get it!

Stressing Party

 * One who has served a sorcerer knows evil lurks everywhere.
 * Which of you covets my purse?!
 * What you call suspicion, I call being observant!

Switching Position to the Back

 * I will not remain here to be stabbed in the back!
 * I would keep you all before me, snakes!
 * Traitors never dare attack the front!

Passing Turn

 * My censer rattles to warn me...
 * I am not looking to die with a knife in the back.
 * Foul viper! I would live a bit longer!

Random Action

 * Unpredictability delays the knife in the back!
 * If they can read my thoughts then I will cease thinking.
 * They covet my wealth!

Camping Stress
Masochistic =
 * Conspiracy breeds in sidelong glances around the fire...
 * I will only sleep with my back to a wall!
 * I can take every watch for I will not lie near you vipers.

Becoming Masochistic

 * My eyes are opened to new pleasures!
 * Let my skin weep blood!
 * Bathe me gore and battle!
 * Only the sufferer appreciates the beauty of the whip...
 * Break me on your wheel, glorious and terrible Fortune!

Stressing Party

 * Wounds and gashes thrill me beyond reason!
 * Gold is lovely but this pain in sublime!
 * Have you ever swooned in the heat of battle?

Switching Position to the Front

 * Please! I would lead the charge!
 * There is no shame in seeking pain!
 * Agony, I come!

Random Action

 * I swoon from bloodlust!
 * My mind is seduced! I surrender myself to my darkest desires...
 * Is battle not the sweetest dance of them all?

Camping Stress
Abusive =
 * Please heat the stitching hook in the fire.
 * Sleep is a pointless state where all pain is forgotten.
 * Who wants to play pinfinger?

Becoming Abusive

 * Illiterate bumpkins - feh!
 * If only I could sell your skins, that I might profit marginally from having met you.
 * I wish I could truly express the misery you all cause me!
 * We stand to perish because of you dullards!
 * You are the roots of this tree of woe!

Stressing Party

 * I told you not to disturb the relics!
 * Your bumbling will leave us with nothing!
 * You jeopardize your shares, dolts!

Random Action

 * What do I care of what you want, dolt?
 * Does the lion do what the sheep demands of it?
 * What a presumptuous degenerate!

Camping Stress
Selfish =
 * It amazes me how you dullards can even manage to breathe!
 * Perhaps you should marinade yourselves for those who will devour you on the morrow.
 * I wonder if those as confused as you have a soul...

Becoming Selfish

 * Your envy is obvious! And stay out of my way!
 * Whatever I find belongs to me - whatever you find...belongs to me!
 * My expertise confers me the largest share!
 * I deserve better than this!
 * More...more! I must find more!

Stressing Party

 * I am not here to get my hands dirty!
 * You need me to count the gold, go swing that sword.
 * I find the artifacts, you kill the fiends.

Switching Position to the Front

 * I won't let any of you take more than your worth!
 * What is that? I must have it!
 * I'll do anything for a bigger share!

Switching Position to the Back

 * I must take inventory of my spoils...
 * Trust me, I have a plan.
 * I can command more effectively from here!

Passing Turn

 * Hah! A fool's recourse!
 * I have devised a far more clever course of action.
 * I would rather live to right another day, yes?

Random Action

 * My fate takes precedence!
 * I am no simple minion!
 * I'm far too important!

Camping Stress
Hopeless =
 * Come! Play one more round to win your share back!
 * Of course I drank all the wine, I deserve it!
 * No, I can't go on watch, I must have my rest.

Becoming Hopeless

 * I brought this down upon us all!
 * There is nothing that can be done!
 * When precious pottery cracks, there is naught to be done!
 * A lifetime spent chasing relics of the past...and now I am their kin.
 * My ambitions crash down around me!

Stressing Party

 * Will I be victim of my own ambitions?
 * Gold, silver, relics...shiny dross to lure this fool of certain death.
 * Hope, it seems, is not for sale.

Switching Position to the Front

 * Why fight the push of blind ambition?
 * To those I have betrayed, I offer myself in penance.
 * At least in confronting death so do I find undeserved nobility.

Switching Position to the Back

 * Courage, for a finite instant, rekindled my cowardice.
 * A coward perhaps, but gravedirt smothers all courage.
 * I believe in nothing.

Passing Turn

 * Nothing I do will change the outcome, anyway.
 * Death will find me no matter what.
 * No mortal can defy the tangled skein.

Random Action

 * Why should I care?
 * Every step leads me to the blackest pit.
 * My soul is forfeit, my will is shattered.

Camping Stress
Irrational =
 * Nightmares when I sleep and nightmares when I wake...
 * This is the tragic sum of mu decisions.
 * My heart is pierced by the thorns of failure.

Becoming Irrational

 * My shoes are filled with the ocean!
 * ...it must be at least 10,000 years old, or maybe not? Who can say?
 * Such finery abounds in this place! Let us live here for our remaining days!
 * What is this beautiful place?
 * What smells so delicious?

Stressing Party

 * Cuckoo! Cuckoo! It is half past never!
 * Open my skull and gaze upon the civilization therein!
 * Coffee invigorates badgers yet lulls the lion.

Switching Position to the Front

 * What a lovely trail of breadcrumbs!
 * Out of the way! The last ham is for me!
 * Is that from the Huang dynasty? I must be sure...

Switching Position to the Back

 * A parade that runs backwards! What fun!
 * The sun wills it! The mind is compelled!
 * The floor is covered in gold! Gold!

Passing Turn

 * Imagine, all the abacuses in the world connected!
 * Just a moment, I'm reflecting on my greatest finds...
 * Excuse my foolishness but I forgot my legs today...

Random Action

 * The King's Gardens are a marvel aren't they darling?
 * This market is a tad crowded...
 * This is best impression of a precious vase...

Camping Stress
Stalwart =
 * There are creatures whose only cry is to speak your name!
 * The void is the source of all cities.
 * Ware the fire newts! Their tridents burn as they pierce!

Becoming Stalwart

 * We can finish this expedition!
 * It is all downhill from here!
 * Persist! Transcend!
 * There is no profit without struggle!
 * Straighten your backs! We continue!

Stress Healing Self
Courageous =
 * I am renewed!
 * Vindicated!

Becoming Courageous

 * Her serves me now, and I have his power!
 * I tremble with ancient powers! We press harder!
 * Gold will rain down upon us!

Stress Healing Party
Focused =
 * The sweet smell of profit!
 * Where there is adversity, so too opportunity!

Becoming Focused

 * Do not fear these cowards!
 * Fate flies the flag of our victory!

Buffing Party Member
Powerful =
 * I picked up a few tricks from my old master...
 * Be calm, still your minds.

Becoming Powerful

 * I will tear victory from the maw of doom!
 * Woe to those who get in my way!

Buffing Party
Vigorous =
 * Stir! Rise and stir your resolve!
 * ...and thus they will crumble, like ancient stone.

Becoming Vigorous

 * My will is brilliant and terrible!
 * Roll up your sleeves! Profit requires toil!

Self Healing
Final_Boss(spoilers) = "So I'm the final antique, yet there will be nothing around to collect..."
 * These wounds weren't as bad as I thought.
 * A few stitches and I'm back in it!

- Antiquarian

Trivia

 * The Antiquarian was previously known as the Merchant during development.
 * The Antiquarian was inspired by the Silk Road as voted by Kickstarter backers.
 * The beta patch that introduced the Antiquarian coincided with International Women's Day on March 8th, 2016.
 * The predetermined name of the Antiquarian is Katharine, Who or what it references is currently unknown. It is possible this name was chosen because of its semantic provenance from the greek goddess Hekate, patron of crossroads, entrance-ways, magic, witchcraft and knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants.