A Dance with Death: Shieldbreaker Thoughts

The Shieldbreaker; a standalone DLC character begins our dive into the 'Darkest Dungeon' DLCs. I purchased her about a week ago and I've already levelled up a couple of them, all with cool curated names like Raze, Fyre, Dezire and... Sandy. LOL yes I was going with a mostly desert theme but I could not resist the Fire and Desire one (I'M RICK JAMES BITCH). Design-wise she is very well done and potential waifu material up there with the rest of the female cast. Not surprising since she was a dancer in her previous life. Her one hand is also an interesting design choice and fits very well with her backstory.

Overall, she is a very interesting character mechanic-wise and lore wise. As mentioned she brought along her backstory which you unlock in journal entries after fighting specific snake enemies also included with the DLC in a special dream sequence battle. This is also the only way you can gain her character specific trinkets which was pretty cool as well being this is the only character that does it this way. They also drop 'Aegis Scales' which plays into her block mechanic but more on that later.

Skills-wise, she has a AOE blight attack that can hit everyone on a enemy team, by-pass stealth as well deal extra damage to mark enemies so she can synergize with people who use those skills. However she is also a 'dancer' character to in more ways then one. All her attacks move her forward or backwards in your teams formation so you got to plan for that when adding her into your teams comps.

Her main claim to fame through is her ability to 'Block' and also destroy 'Blocks' hence Shieldbreaker. Her own skill 'Serpent Sway' puts her at the front but at the same time, also guards her from any attack for 2 blocks is kind of a amazing skill on paper but I've rarely use when it mattered the most which is disappointing. I would love to tank a massive damaging hit from a giant with it but I don't think I've been able to pull it off yet. I think another reason why other then bad timing is her other skills are just too useful. Normally she already hits hard on enemies with strong protect. Nothing beats one-shoting Sea Maggots in the Cove with their 75% PROT ratings but with the right set up, trinkets and placement, she also can hit very hard on regular enemies too. With 'Darkest Dungeon' favoring offense over defense I think that might be the main reason I do not do her 'Serpent Sway' much. Funny enough, she is isn't the only one with a block skill because Shieldbreaker also brings with her a new finite consumable in 'Aegis Scales' which gives any character a chance to block any blows but just like not find the right time to use it I've rarely use 'Aegis Scales' to do what it was intended to do aka tank a massive hit and all my bosses are dead now so I can't even use it in boss battles where I believe it would shine. Maybe when I start my second campaign which I intend on doing once I get my next DLC.

Speaking of, I've been low-key waiting on a price drop or a sale before I committed to buying more DLC but I think I might just bite the bullet and get the Color of Madness DLC. I've just started some new games (more on those at the end) so I think if I do not commit to the DLC soon my playthrough will slow down and I won't get the full experience from 'Darkest Dungeon' like I want too. I already see me not playing it as much since I've fully levelled a couple Shieldbreakers and got a feel for her and now I keep getting the same quests in my extended first campaign. I'm ready for something new I believe. Overall, the Shieldbreaker brought some fresh blood to my existing campaign but I think she will truly shine when I start my new campaign.

Up next: Lies of P! Guacamelee and I've got 4 terrabytes of hard-drive space I need to occupy.

AV