Fish Monger

The Fish Monger is an enemy found in Darkest Dungeon II.

Description
The Fish Monger is a Fisherfolk monster found only in The Shroud.

The Fish Monger is a backline centric units, focused on applying stress through Critical Hits and bleed damage. She appears as older women afflicted with the same skin condition and barnacle crusting that the rest of the Fisherfolk experience. Notable is the amount of knives she has as well as the large eyeball in a fluid sac on top of her head with tentacles crawling down her body.

Strategy
Fish Mongers are backline fighters, first and foremost. They have 2 actions a turn, and though their direct damage isn't great, their consistent Crit attacks make up for that, as well as applying stacks of Bleed and negative tokens to debilitate your heroes. Their most unique ability is Whetstone, allowing them to gain Crit Tokens and Dodge for self-protection. This is generally what they start fights with, before going into Flense or Debone, which with their second action, they can do both in one round, gaining the edge for their team.

They are generally weak health-wise, so bursting down is more than possible. The dodge from Whetstone, that they will likely use early, will help protect them, but with enough firepower they tend to not last. Pulling them or pushing the other enemies is helpful, however due to the double action and having a natural back 1 attack, it can tend to fall flat compared to the other Fisherfolk getting moved. Forms of Bleed removal are effective against Fish mongers, due to that being their primary source of damage, as well as minor stress heals such as Raucous Revelry or Bolster to prevent their consistent Crit attacks and usage of Debone from getting to your heroes.

It's generally good to deal with Fish Mongers early, as their effects can be more detrimental in the long term of the fight than some other targets. They regularly spawn in the back lines, never naturally occurring in the front 2 ranks and having other units take those ranks.