Duchess

The **Duchess** is a playable modded Character Class in Darkest Dungeon created by SPurple.

## Class Description

> The Duchess is a powerful monster, exiled from the Crimson Court, who seeks aid from the Hamlet to usurp the Court's nobility and allow her to take her rightful place as Queen of the Court. To that end, she'll fight alongside your heroes as a brilliant swordswoman, or a ferocious monster. The choice is yours.
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## Combat Skills

> The Duchess is unwilling to elaborate on the origins of her affliction, but seems to more readily embrace its effects more than others. While in human form she is a peerless fencer, her real power comes when her body falters and she transforms into a great beast, recklessly charging headlong into her enemies, driven by insatiable hunger. She seems unfazed by this transformation, and in fact gains comfort from it, leading to the terrible implication that the Duchess may no longer consider her human body her true form.
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## Camping Skills

> The Duchess' lavish heritage is self-evident in her time at camp, where she demands the finest comforts one could manage. She is not entirely without use, however, as her unique affliction affords herself a certain value in replenishing dwindling stock of valuable Blood.
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Aside from the shared camping skills Encourage, Wound Care, and Pep Talk, the Duchess possesses four unique camping skills:

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## Equipment

> The Duchess' black blade is an heirloom weapon of great heft and masterful construction; with it, she cleaves a swathe through her enemies, hewing limbs and severing arteries. Her tattered dress, though aged and ostensibly impractical, is padded and reinforced with heavy iron plates. It is a testament to her enormous strength that she is capable of wielding such equipment with graceful ease.
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Unlike other games, equipment upgrades in Darkest Dungeon are linear, all bought at the Blacksmith.

## Class Trinkets

All the Duchess' Trinkets have the Crimson Court Rarity unless otherwise stated.

* Riposte: +15 ACC
* Riposte: -20% DMG if Beast mode
* Riposte: +4% CRIT if Beast mode
* +30% Stun Resist if in mode Human
* -30 ACC if in mode Beast

* +10% PROT if has Crimson Curse
* -15% **Stress** Dealt if has Crimson Curse
* +20% Healing Received if The Blood in Inventory
* Friendly Skill: Other Enemies: Transfer Restoration

* +5% CRT if target's HP below 50%
* +5% CRT if target's HP below 25%
* +20% **Stress**
* +4% CRIT vs Bloodsuckers
* +30% Debuff Skill Chance in the Courtyard

The Color of Madness DLC added trinkets with a new rarity, Crystalline. Each hero has their own unique crystalline trinket which can be bought from Jeweler inside the Nomad Wagon with Crystal Shards found within the Farmstead.

* -75% Healing Received

## District Bonus

The Crimson Court DLC adds Districts to the Hamlet, some of which confer passive benefits to heroes.
The gold cost of most Districts in Radiant mode is significantly reduced. The price in Radiant mode is shown in parentheses.

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* +25% Resolve XP
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## Trivia

* The Duchess is based on a leech and an iron maiden.
* A Duchess is either a woman holding the rank of a Duke (a nobleman of the highest hereditary rank), or the wife or widow of a Duke.
* A scrapped mock-up of the Duchess' backstory comic depicts the Duchess' relationship with the Countess. The first row shows the Duchess as a child practicing fencing while a child Countess is being led away by a handler; the second shows a young adult Duchess secluded on a balcony while the adolescent Countess is surrounded by a group of people; the third shows the Duchess being infected by Blood sent to her in an invitation; the last frame shows a standoff between the Duchess and the Countess.
* There are four unused human form attack animations that were originally made for the Duchess class: one resembling Thirst for Power but in human form; one where the Duchess flips rocks towards her enemies with her sword; one where she points her sword at an enemy; and one where she slams the handle of her sword onto an enemy. There is also an unused Virtue sprite, which cannot be seen in game as the Duchess can only obtain the Ravenous affliction. All those animations were recycled in the fan-made Human Duchess mod.
* There exists an unused sprite for a curio which was meant to appear in quests while adventuring with at least one Duchess in the player's party. While the idea was scrapped due to the difficulty of implementing such a feature, the sprites were recycled as the Knave.
* The Duchess' three trinket sets are meant to represent her past (Bent Blade and Cracked Fencing Helm), her present (Letter of Contrition and Tainted Vintage), and her future (Basket of Heads and Deed to the Court).
* The Duchess' canon name is Constance.
	+ Constance is a name of Latin origin, meaning "steadfastness".
	+ Despite this, the Human Duchess mod's Head trinket refers to the Duchess as "Elizabeth".