In Darkest Dungeon 2, The Foetor is a farmland area filled with rotted crops and flesh. The people, or rather the creatures that were once people, are filled with a ravenous hunger for anything they can find. This Darkest Dungeon 2 Foetor guide will help you understand the mechanics of the enemies and how to prepare to take on this region!
Enemies:
The Foetor has a large enemy variety that is decently bulky. Some enemies in the foetor have shared skills called “Feeding Time” and “Inhuman Appetites.” “Feeding Time” will target a food source unit in their formation and give the user regen, speed, and an extra action. It also inflicts one stress to a random hero. “Inhuman Appetites” targets a corpse in their unit formation and heals the user. It also cures damage over time effects and gives a Corpulent token which is used for powerful attacks. These powerful attacks will be bolded for each enemy that utilizes them. “Inhuman Appetites” also inflicts one stress to a random hero.
Livestock:
Livestock are an extremely common enemy in The Foetor, and you will encounter them in most fights. They are a low health food source unit that have a surprising amount of damage potential. Due to these factors, trying to kill Livestock as fast as possible is a good strategy. Otherwise other enemies can utilize them as a food source and become very threatening. For attacks, Livestock are able to act and be dangerous in almost every rank. In the first rank, Livestock can use “Invasive Species.” This does moderate damage, inflicts stress, and removes a positive token from the target. This is the most dangerous attack that Livestock has access to, so take out Livestock in the front rank. Otherwise, in the front two ranks Livestock can use “Beast of Burden.” This targets a back rank hero, deals low damage and tries to pull them forward one rank. Livestock can also use “Headbutt” which deals slightly more damage than “Beast of Burden,” targets front rank units and pushes one rank instead of pulling. In the back two ranks Livestock will always use “Battering Ram.” It is similar to “Headbutt” except it moves the Livestock to the front rank and tries to daze the target. A very important factor for Livestock is that they get buffs if there are certain enemies on the enemy team. For each Butcher, Livestock deals 50% more damage. For each Maid, Livestock gains 2 speed and a 20% bonus to all resistances.
Black Phillip:
Black Phillip is essentially a Livestock with more health and a unique ability replacing “Beast of Burden.” Throughout my entire time playing, I’ve actually never encountered this unique ability of Black Phillip, but checking the Darkest Dungeon 2 Fandom it is apparently called “King of All.” It says that it deals moderate damage, steals two positive tokens, inflicts stress, attempts to push the target to the back rank, and can only be used on a target with combo. Either way, I recommend focusing down Black Phillip like any other Livestock since their damage can be surprising when paired with Butchers.
Maid:
Maids are a low health back rank unit that can buff its allies. Their main attack in the back two ranks is “Larval Slop” which deals low damage but attempts to apply a hefty blight on the target. Maids can also use the support ability “Tend the Flock” which targets a Livestock or Black Phillip and gives it one block and two riposte tokens. Riposte on Livestock can be very annoying since it can cause disease. However, when there are no Livestock present and the Maid is in the front two ranks, it uses “Backsplash” which does extremely low damage and moves the Maid back one rank. Maids also have an ability that I haven’t seen before and that I can’t find through research, but I have an idea on what it might be. Although Black Phillip’s “King of All” ability requires combo to use (according to the Darkest Dungeon 2 Fandom), no other Foetor unit has the ability to apply combo. I think that this other attack/ability of Maids is something that applies combo to a hero in your rank, which Black Phillip will then use “King of All” to attack. However, this is just speculation. Regardless, having Maids in the front two ranks without Livestock is the ideal situation, so focusing Livestock and pulling Maids forward is the best way to neutralize them.
Butcher:
Butchers are a medium health enemy that can both deal damage and support allies. Their main attacks are “Carve” and “Meat Hook.” “Carve” is used from the front two ranks and can target the front two ranks of your party. It deals low damage but attempts to apply a moderate amount of bleed damage. Butchers use “Meat Hook” from the middle two ranks and targets the back two ranks of your party. This deals very low damage but attempts to pull the target forward one rank and apply a vulnerable token. When in the fourth rank, Butchers are forced to use “Hack” which does very low damage like “Meat Hook” and moves the Butcher forward one rank. The support ability of Butchers is “Vile Feast,” which targets a Livestock or Black Phillip on the enemy team and heals all enemies for 10% of their maximum health. I find Butchers to be low priority since they take a while to kill and don’t have very dangerous attacks. Honestly their main threat is that they give a 50% damage boost to Livestock in their formation, but it’s far more important to focus the Livestock versus the Butcher to remove the buff. I recommend leaving Butchers to be the last enemy killed unless there is a maid that is forced to use “Backsplash.”
Lady:
Ladies are very dangerous units that have medium health and deathblow resistance. They are dangerous in any rank and have access to “Feeding Time” and “Inhuman Appetites.” This makes it so they have exceptional survivability if a corpse or Livestock is present. When in the first rank, a Lady will use “Mulch” which targets the front two ranks of your party, does low damage, inflicts stress, and has a chance to inflict a disease. When outside of the first rank, a Lady can use “Mother’s Embrace” which deals very low damage to the two middle ranks of your party and attempts to pull them forward one rank. In the back two ranks a Lady has access to “Be Our Guest.” This attack targets the back two ranks of your party. It does low damage like “Mother’s Embrace” but has a chance to inflict stress and apply a moderate blight. With a Corpulent token, a Lady will use “Bilious Wail.” This attack targets all heroes, deals very low damage, inflicts stress, and attempts to apply a moderate blight. Since Ladies can cause lots of stress damage in a fight, they are a high priority target. However, I still like focusing on Livestock first since they are easier to kill. Just clear the corpse before a Lady has the chance to consume it, heal, and gain a Corpulent token. I recommend trying to blind Ladies since they have lots of area of effect skills.
Lord:
A Lord is a high health two-rank wide unit with deathblow resistance. Lords also have access to “Inhuman Appetites” and “Feeding Time.” Lords can be very hard to kill so I normally leave them until later to kill, similar to Butchers, but Lords are a slightly higher priority. When in one of the front three ranks a Lord can use “Backhand.” This attack targets a hero in the front two ranks, does moderate damage, and attempts to push the target back two ranks. When in one of the back two ranks a Lord can use “Baneful Breath.” This attack targets every hero, deals low damage, but can apply a weaken token, stress, and disease. Due to the disease and stress, “Baneful Breath” is far more annoying than “Backhand.” Due to this, I usually try to keep Lords in the front rank. When another enemy is alive alongside a Lord, the Lord can use “Tongue Lashing” which targets the enemy. This ability moves the target forward one rank and gives it a strength token. This ability is extremely weak and essentially wastes the Lord’s turn, so having an enemy alive alongside the lord isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I still like killing other enemies like Maids and Livestock first because they have a higher damage output. With a Corpulent token, a Lord will use “Bilious Cannon,” which targets any hero. This attack does high damage, applies lots of stress, and attempts to apply a large blight and stun. This is a very dangerous attack due to the damage, stress, and stun, so trying to clear any corpse before a Lord can consume it is key. Blinds work very well on Lords since they only act once per turn. Overall, getting a lord to the front rank and killing off enemies and their corpses mostly neutralizes a Lord since it’s then forced to use “Backhand.”
Dinner Cart:
Dinner Carts are another very high health two-rank wide unit with deathblow resistance. They have access to “Inhuman Appetites” but not “Feeding Time.” Dinner Carts use “Sickly Sweet” when in one of the back two ranks. This attack targets any hero, deals moderate damage, and attempts to apply a taunt, blind, and a chance for a disease. This is their main attack and can be extremely annoying due to the taunt. When in the front ranks, Dinner Carts can use “Excoriate” which targets a hero in the front two ranks. This attack deals moderate damage, attempts to apply a moderate bleed, and moves the Dinner Cart back one rank. In any rank, Dinner Carts can use “Regurgitate” which has the potential to be extremely dangerous. This attack targets the front two ranks of your party. It deals low damage, applies stress, moves the Dinner Cart to the back rank, and creates a Putrid Meat enemy. Other enemies can use “Inhuman Appetites” on this Putrid Meat including the dinner cart itself. However, only Ladies and the Dinner Cart itself can utilize this since with a Lord, there isn’t any space for a Putrid Meat to be created. With a Corpulent token, a Dinner Cart can use “Bilious Mortar.” This attack targets any hero, deals moderate damage, applies stress, and attempts to apply a moderate blight and chance for disease. This attack is a weaker version of a Lord’s “Bilious Cannon,” but it is still dangerous due to the stress and disease chance. I normally kill other enemies before the Dinner Cart due to the massive amount of health a Dinner Cart has. Similar to Lords, blind skills are very useful since Dinner Carts only act once a turn. I prefer getting Dinner Carts in the front rank where they are forced to use “Excoriate” and “Regurgitate.” I then focus on killing the Putrid Meat if it uses “Regurgitate.”
Preparation
To prepare for the Foetor, there are many things to look out for. Bleed and blight resistance/curing items are nice, and stress healing skills and items are also great. Disease resistance is also great to have due to the amount of enemies that can apply diseases. Skills or items that apply blinds are also useful to deal with Ladies, Lords, and Dinner Carts. Rather than area of effect skills, I prefer single-target high damage abilities to swiftly take out Livestock and Maids. Most enemies are resistant to blight but weak to bleed. However, I don’t like taking much damage-over-time skills since “Inhuman Appetites” cures those effects. The Foetor has a guaranteed Creature Den, more Academic Caches and Assistance Encounters, and less Field Hospitals and Oases. For more location info, check out our Darkest Dungeon 2 Location Guide!
The Foetor has bulky enemies, but controlling their position and knowing what enemy to target makes fights much easier. There is a lot of opportunity for loot due to the guaranteed Creature Den and higher likelihood of Academic Caches. The downside is that disease is also prominent throughout the region which can be annoying to remove. We hope this Darkest Dungeon 2 Foetor Guide was helpful, and good luck proceeding through The Foetor!
