The Butcher's Circus

"“Buy the ticket, take the ride.”"

- Hunter S. Thompson

The Butcher's Circus is the fourth DLC for Darkest Dungeon. It was released for PC on May 28 2020. Among other features, it will add a Player vs Player (PvP) mode to Darkest Dungeon.

The Hamlet may have fallen on hard times, but the creak of wagons and blare of abused trumpets signals a change in fortune for the bold and meek alike: the Circus is in town!

A weathered and bloodstained pavilion tent beckons, the Twins flank the flap, and a rheumy-eyed Barker announces:

"The Butcher demands a show!"

Features
The list of features that were announced include:
 * New Hamlet Location: Butcher's Circus
 * Engage in no-holds-barred PvP combat with teams of 4 heroes (without risking your Campaign heroes)
 * Climb the ranks to show off your command of heroes and ability to weather misfortune and violence
 * Unlock banner components and use your creativity to assemble your own duelist heraldry
 * Strategize with new gladiatorial trinkets that can mean all the difference in pitched battles against other heroes
 * A gleefully warped musical theme by Stuart Chatwood, Narrator quips by the esteemed Wayne June, and all new gripping sound FX by Power Up Audio
 * This DLC will be free, as sourced by the creative director of Red Hook Studios

Introducing The Butcher's Circus!
The following is a summary of an official blog post regarding the DLC


 * The Butcher's Circus will have separate skills, class balances and mechanical changes that are separate from the main campaign


 * There will be no in-game purchases
 * The DLC will be made available on Steam and Windows, with Mac and Linux support after. Other platforms TBD. The reception of the DLC will also determine platform support
 * No modded characters can be used
 * The DLC will require the base game, and the Flagellant and Shieldbreaker can only be used by players with their respective DLC
 * Anti-cheat will be implemented, and the EULA agreement for the game will be updated
 * An internet connection will be required
 * Bots will be available to be played against, but will still require an internet connection
 * Hero corpses will not be implemented into the main campaign
 * The Butcher's Circus DLC did not delay the development of the sequel, as a separate team was hired for development

Heroes in The Butcher's Circus
Parties will be limited to one of each hero class. The following heroes will be available in The Circus's party selection screen:


 * Abomination (Butcher's Circus)
 * Antiquarian (Butcher's Circus)
 * Arbalest (Butcher's Circus)
 * Bounty Hunter (Butcher's Circus)
 * Crusader (Butcher's Circus)
 * Grave Robber (Butcher's Circus)
 * Hellion (Butcher's Circus)
 * Highwayman (Butcher's Circus)
 * Houndmaster (Butcher's Circus)
 * Jester (Butcher's Circus)
 * Leper (Butcher's Circus)
 * Man-at-Arms (Butcher's Circus)
 * Occultist (Butcher's Circus)
 * Plague Doctor (Butcher's Circus)
 * Vestal (Butcher's Circus)

Heroes that will require DLC to unlock them:


 * Flagellant (Butcher's Circus)
 * Musketeer (Butcher's Circus)
 * Shieldbreaker (Butcher's Circus)

Trivia

 * On April 1 2020 Red Hook shared a post hinting this DLC, but was instead framed as an April fool's day gag . It was officially announced the next day.