Curse of the Court
- ↳ Modules
- Hunger of the Beast Clan
- Secrets of the Coven
- Curse of the Court
| “ | Infestation and infection! Hatched from the stagnant, brackish waters of the coast, a supernatural contagion is swarming inland. A hateful malediction borne upon whining wings, dripping from chittering mandibles...a blood fever unparalled in its potency. A Crimson Curse. | „ |
Curse of the Court is the third module for the 
Kingdoms mode of Darkest Dungeon II, featuring vampiric courtiers returning from 
The Crimson Court of Darkest Dungeon.
The Crimson Curse
Returning from the first game’s DLC, the Crimson Curse is a special 
Disease exclusive to the Curse of the Court module. The curse may be contracted from a number of different sources, including combat, consuming blood-related items, or proximity to another infected hero. While infected with the Crimson Curse, a hero may not contract any other disease.
The curse has four stages, Passive, Craving, Wasting, and Bloodlust, each with different effects. Heroes are initially in the Passive state when first infected, and will progress to Craving, then Wasting, after a number of days. Wasting heroes can consume blood-related items to return to Passive; Passive or Craving heroes that consume the blood will instead go into Bloodlust. Unlike in the first game, Wasting heroes no longer die if they are not fed blood.
Removing the Curse requires the Cure, obtained in the provision for 16 
at Inns with the Sterile Storage upgrade in the Physician branch, or at the penultimate quest step.
Curse Stages
| Name | Effects | Next Stage | When fed Blood |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passive | M-madness...in my veins! +1 |
Craving in 2 days | Bloodlust |
| Craving | The blood! I must have the blood! +2 |
Wasting in 3 days | Bloodlust |
| Wasting | It feels as though sand pushes through my veins...! -2 |
- | Passive |
| Bloodlust | THE BLOOD MAKES ME WHOLE! +4 Chance to act out in combat and attack an ally. This is similar to the standard act-out attack, but will also inflict +1 |
Passive in 1 day | - |
Sources
Enemies
- Swarm: Stressful Buzzing (5%)
- Supplicant: Hematemesis (5%)
- Esquire / Banquet: The Thirst (5%)
Inn and Combat items
- The Blood
- The Wine
- Bloodsucker Blood
- Creature Blood (Infected)
- Human Blood (Infected)
- Eldritch Blood (Infected)
Miscellaneous
- Delivering the Odoriferous Blood Sample (Always targets Rank 1 Hero)
- Stationing at Crimson Contagion Adjacent Inn (5%)
- Bloodlust Act-out (5%)
- Stationing at Inn with Crimson Curse Hero (5%)
Quest Guide
The main quest involves eradicating the titular Crimson Curse as well as defeating its source. During the quest the Crimson Contagion will spread throughout the kingdom, affecting combat encounters and reducing the benefit of resting at inns while buffing camps.
Fuel Requisition
| “ | Scour the countryside for fuel oil of any kind! Hoarders, hospitals, and refugees - all decent folk must contribute!
|
„ |
| ~ Fuel Requisition item description |
Reaching the first Inn in The Valley will award the Fuel Requisition Stagecoach item. From now until the Escalation 2 quest step, road fights will always be scouted and replaced with a combination of Cocoons and Swarms. With the Fuel Requisition equipped, arriving at The Hoarder, Field Hospital, and Assistance Encounter will award 2 or 4 Fuel Oils.
Fuel Oil
| “ | Deliver to inns to formulate a weaponized accelerant.
|
„ |
| ~ Fuel requisition Item description |
Arriving at an inn will convert two Fuel Oils into one Accelerant.
Accelerant
| “ | Venture underground and return with your findings on the burgeoning cocoons there. Heave these fire bombs over the infernal hives to burn them out on your path into the depths!
|
„ |
| ~ Accelerant item description |
The Accelerant is a combat item that targets the entire enemy team, inflicting 
3 against Bloodsucker enemies or 1 otherwise. Cocoons are instantly removed without spawning a Swarm in its place.
Killing a Cocoon in The Sluice or The Catacombs this way will reward the next quest item, the Odoriferous Blood Sample.
Odoriferous Blood Sample
| “ | Must be delivered to an inn for study. Rich, velvet red...an intoxicating aroma...
|
„ |
| ~ Odoriferous Blood Sample item description |
Delivering the Odoriferous Blood Sample to an inn will cause the Crimson Contagion to spawn in a random location. The Public Health Notice will be rewarded, and the hero in rank 1 will contract the Crimson Curse.
Crimson Contagion
| “ | Damnation! A hero is overwhelmed by the seductive scent of the blood sample. Unable to resist, they consume the blood, gaining the Crimson Curse and fueling the spread of the contagion!
|
„ |
| ~ Odoriferous Blood Sample delivery travelogue entry |
The Crimson Contagion is a modifier that affects a region as well adjacent inns and camps. Every day the Contagion will spread to adjacent regions, once or twice, until the entire kingdom is infected. Road debris are cosmetically replaced with inert cocoons, and non-Bloodsucker enemies have a chance to spawn with a Crimson Contagion token, granting stat buffs and debuffs similar to the states of the Crimson Curse.
Effects
- Combat Start: Crimson Contagion (85%). Chances of each state are as follows:
- Wasting (5%), Craving (25%), Passive (40%), Bloodlust (15%)
- Bosses, Minibosses, Bloodsuckers, Spiked Barricades, and Weapon Racks cannot gain the token.
An Inn or Camp adjacent to at least one affected region will gain the following effects:
- Stationed Heroes at Adjacent Inns: -10% Fatigue Healing, Add Crimson Curse (5%)
- Stationed Heroes at Adjacent Camps: Remove 1 Negative Quirk (25%),
- Arriving at Adjacent Camps: Heal
20%, -20% 
Fatigue, -2 
These modifiers do not stack if multiple adjacent regions are infected.
Public Health Notice
| “ | Healers on the front lines of plague-stricken regions must be consulted; their findings collected.
|
„ |
| ~ Public Health notice item description |
With this stagecoach item equipped, Field Hospitals will always spawn in a region and be scouted. In Escalation 2, arriving at a Field Hospital in an infected region will reward one of four Research Notes.
Research Notes
| “ | ...it is suspected that the study of uninfected fauna should shed some light on the limitations of the illness...
|
„ |
| ~ Morgue Registry Item description |
| “ | The resilient rubbery flesh of cosmic entities may hold the key to our own inoculation.
|
„ |
| ~ Symptoms Observation Notes Item description |
| “ | As of this writing, all children under my care seem mercifully unaffected by the contagion...
|
„ |
| ~ Infection Statistics Item description |
| “ | In conclusion, there can be no substitute for the study of infected blood, taken directly from the monsters themselves.
|
„ |
| ~ Transmission Rate Report Item description |
Deliver the four research notes to an inn to reward a Cobbled Research Journal.
Cobbled Research Journal
| “ | All the experts agree - samples must be collected and analyzed if we are to discover an inoculant. Secure an appropriate implement from the ghoulish doctor, that we may begin our bloody research.
|
„ |
| ~ Cobbled Research Journal Item description |
With the Cobbled Research Journal, defeat the Chirurgeon to gain a Bloodworn Syringe.
Bloodworn Syringe
| “ | Delicate enough for children, strong enough to pierce feral hide, eldritch flesh, and chitinous abdomens.
|
„ |
| ~ Bloodworn Syringe Item description |
The Bloodworn Syringe is a reusable combat item that allows one to collect blood samples from enemies in regions with the Crimson Contagion.
Blood Samples
| “ | Deliver to an inn with three other required Blood samples.
|
„ |
| ~ Shared Item description |
The next quest step requires travelling to regions with the Crimson Contagion and gathering blood samples from creatures or humans that are resilient to the curse (as specified by the research notes above) in order to create a cure. Four blood samples are required:
- Resilient Human Blood may be collected from certain Assistance Encounters. Assistance Encounters will always be scouted during this quest step.
- Resilient Creature Blood may be collected in a Creature Den by using the Bloodworn Syringe on an uninfected enemy.
- Resilient Cosmic Blood may be collected by using the Bloodworn Syringe on an uninfected Cosmic enemy.
- Bloodsucker Blood Extract may be collected by using the Bloodworn Syringe on a Bloodsucker enemy. (This is a quest item that should not be confused with the similarly named Bloodsucker Blood, which is a consumable combat/inn item.)
During Escalation 3, deliver all four samples to an inn to receive the Purifier.
Using the Bloodworn Syringe on an infected enemy will instead produce an Infected Blood combat/inn item, which may be consumed like other blood-related items.
The Purifier
| “ | Drive to infected inns to cleanse all adjacent regions.
|
„ |
| ~ The Purifier item description |
The Purifier is a stagecoach item that, upon arriving at an inn or camp, will remove the Crimson Contagion from all adjacent regions. Doing this will also create one unit of the Cure, a combat/inn item which removes the Crimson Curse from a hero. After being removed, the Crimson Contagion will not re-infect a region. All regions must be purified to complete this quest step.
Archduke
Purifying all regions will reveal the Hive, accessed through The Shroud region. Enter the Hive and defeat the Archduke in order to complete the campaign.