D'arce
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Warning! Spoilers ahead!
Proceed at your own risk! |
"I'm here to protect a special someone. I won't let anyone stand in my way!"
- D'arce when asked about her purpose.
D'arce Cataliss is a playable character and a potential party member in Fear & Hunger. A knight with pure and righteous ways of the warrior, she has being trained in combat since childhood and excels in close combat with different weaponry.
Lore
"The trusted knight of the propheticed one. She seems awfully dim standing next to the blinding shimmer of the one... But it might be wrong to misjudge her potential..."
- The New Gods when asked about D'arce.
Born with the soul of domination that makes people around her bend to her will, D'arce is a natural leader, but often ends up blind to self-criticism. Her birth sign and wealthy noble background from the Kingdom of Rondon already marked her for greatness, and she further cemented her worth by becoming a gifted holy knight of Alll-mer and a valuable asset to her kingdom, much like her ancestors. Despite the harsh training that squirehood demanded, D'arce persevered and proved herself to be a formidable warrior, regardless of her noble origins.
However, as she grew older, her devotion to Rondon began to falter when she realized that the kingdom's pursuit of power was benefiting only the elite and nobility. As a result, she made the difficult decision to leave the army. Seeking a new purpose, D'arce would come to know the Knights of the Midnight Sun, a band of mercenaries led by Le'garde, who shared her disdain for Rondon's actions. D'arce observed that Le'garde's leadership success came from his visionary outlook of a united kingdom achieved through non-violent means. His ability to connect with the common people, having originated from humble beginnings himself, made him a natural leader that people could relate to. Recognizing D'arce's potential, Le'garde warmly convinced her to join the band, almost seducing her with his persuasive words. It was during her time with the group that she fell deeply in love with Le'garde, despite only being seen as a valuable subordinate by him.
The Knights of the Midnight Sun would eventually grow and attract the attention of Rondon: initially, as warriors available for hire, but eventually as a force to be dealt with for being a possible threat to their reign. D'arce keenly observed that Le'garde's personal development mirrored the growth of his army. He became reclusive, dedicating his time to ancient texts and the occult. His fixation on relics and artifacts eventually drove him to invade Oldegård in search of the Cube of the Depths. D'arce couldn't fully comprehend the reasoning behind this expanding campaign, as it seemed to have the potential to negatively impact their reputation.
Her observations would end up being proven to be correct, as Le'garde's willingness to employ violence and kill those who opposed him in his pursuit of the relic provided Rondon with the justification it needed to turn public opinion against Le'garde and have him arrested. Despite being a skilled fighter, capable of leading both defensive and offensive maneuvers, D'arce was unable to prevent the Knights of Midnight Sun from being defeated by Rondon's forces. Nevertheless, she managed to escape with her life. She then attempted to rescue her captain Le'garde once she heard that he was being held in the dungeons of fear and hunger.
If not chosen as the main character, D'arce will find herself captured and attacked by the Cavedwellers after preaching to them the greatness of Alll-mer to no effect and stepping in after witnessing one of their primitive rituals. The specifics of what she endured remain undisclosed, but it is heavily implied that she suffers deeply traumatic consequences.
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Warning! Speculation ahead!
Information below is hinted on, but wasn't directly confirmed in-game. |
It is evident from the events in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina that Le'garde managed to survive the dungeons and ultimately achieved divinity in attaining the form of the Yellow King. It is theorized that D'arce may have canonically assisted in rescuing him from his imprisonment or may even have ressurected him as portrayed in her character-specific ending. However, there is presently no available information regarding D'arce's fate afterwards, and her ultimate role remains uncertain.
Appearance
D'arce is a young woman in her early twenties. She has a "doll-like" face with a pale complexion, bright orange hair, and light blue eyes. For clothing, she wears a simple medieval armor designed especially for female knights.
Personality
D'arce's love for Le'garde runs deep, and she firmly believes in his connection to the prophecies. Her unwavering devotion to her captain is evident in her fearless charge into the perilous Dungeons of Fear and Hunger to save him. She is even prepared to take upon herself the task of achieving his ultimate goal of unifying the warring lands if she were to find him dead in the dungeons.
D'arce displays a somewhat contradictory outlook on life, as the unjust accumulation of wealth and power among the privileged in Rondon was one of the reasons for her to cut her ties with the kingdom and become a mercenary. But this resolve does not always translate into empathy for the commonfolk. She can be standoffish and look down on others, labeling them as lowly commoners.
Her conflicting personality is also evident in her meek and hesitant behavior during most of her time in the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger, despite having a Domination soul. However, if she faces betrayal from Le'garde, she will reveal the traits of her soul type by embracing the darkness and choosing to survive, never wanting to be a damsel in distress again. This tendency towards asserting dominance becomes even more pronounced if she ascends as a new god. In her introspective moments, she acknowledges that her submissiveness has persisted for long enough. Deep down, she yearns for power over others, demonstrating her strong alignment with the Domination soul.
Gameplay traits
| Stat | Starting Value |
|---|---|
| Attack | 30 |
| Defense | 16 |
| M.Attack | 16 |
| M.Defense | 16 |
| Agility | 10 |
| Luck | 32 |
- Can choose between different initial equipment sets during her Character History Intro (if chosen as the main character).
- Has x3 Torch and x2 Lucky coin in inventory (if chosen as the main character).
- Has the Domination soul, which unlocks the Domination skill tree in the Hexen Table.
- Can use all weapons but the Dagger and the Skeletal arm.
- Has no Equipment/Armor restrictions.
- Can be chosen to form Marriages, but will refuse to form a Marriage (Fusion).
- Cannot be sacrificed at ritual circles.
Character History
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If one wants to start a run with arguably the best starting skills and equipment, the choices that must be made are as follows:
- Don't skip the intro.
- "Quickly stepped aside and dodged it"
- "Break ties with your family and run away"
- "Spearhead the coming assault"
- "Rush straight after him"
D'arce has access to some of the best starting combat skills and equipment among the playable characters. While Defence stance can be useful, as it prevents limb loss, it can easily be replaced by Arm guards (since few enemies can cut your legs).[2]
As a party member
If recruited, D'arce will have Fast attack and Defence stance skills learned. She will join with Long sword, Eagle crest shield and Plate mail equipped. She is a very good tank and damage dealer, due to having both Fast attack and Defence stance while also starting with one of the best shields in the game. She is undoubtedly one of the most useful party members in the game.[3]
Recruitable human characters with 50 or less Mind points may attempt to leave the party in certain locations, forcing the protagonist to either leave them behind and recover their sanity through items or convince them to resume the journey without defecting. D'arce, in particular, has special interactions with Cahara, Ragnvaldr, and Le'garde, as the three of them will prevent her from leaving: Cahara and Ragnvaldr do so once, whereas Le'garde consistently prevents her departure. The same works the other way around for Cahara and Le'garde, as she will do the same for them once both when their Mind points are low.
Special event - Killing Le'garde
If Ragnvaldr is the protagonist and manages to find Le'garde alive in the catacombs, the player will have the option to kill him by breaking his neck, which will culminate in a fight to the death with D'arce if she is in the party at the moment. Although the player may convince her to stop the fight through Talk, she will leave the party forever.
Special event - Ragnvaldr & Le'garde's brawl
Approaching the entrance of the dim present Ma'habre with both Le'garde and Ragnvaldr as recruited allies will trigger a fight between them at the gates, which Ragnvaldr will win without player intervention. Letting Le'garde die will enrage D'arce if she is also present, forcing the player to pick between killing the two knights or killing Ragnvaldr. This entire scenario can be avoided by simply entering Ma'habre in the bright past.
Location and recruiting
To recruit D'arce, the player must first choose to not play as her and play the game either on "Fear & Hunger" or "Terror & Starvation" difficulty. Once both requirements are fulfilled, D'arce will be at the Cavedweller village; when visiting the area, the player will find her being attacked by one of the locals and will have the choice of either saving her by killing her aggressor or ignoring her. If the player chooses to save her, all the other Cavedwellers will become hostile afterwards. While D'arce will be killed by the Cavedweller if the player does not help her, the scene is only triggered when the player sees her being attacked, meaning that the player can just avoid the area where she can be found if they don't feel like recruiting her yet. It is also worth noting that the area where she can be found will always be on the left side of the village, right at the entrance next to a Yellow mage.[4]
As saving D'arce will automatically make all Cavedwellers hostile towards you, it is recommended to save her after acquiring the Cube of the Depths or the Stone crown.
If saved, D'arce will join the player if offered the chance; she will ask the party to assist her in finding Le'garde, and will cry tears of joy if reunited with him. If the player refuses to let Le'garde join the party or there is no room for him, D'arce will stay behind with him until both of them can be recruited.
Battle
| Body Part | HP | Blunt | Slashing | Piercing | Fire | Otherworldly | Ev. Rate | Magic Ev. | Resistances |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | 20 | 100% | 100% | 115% | 100% | 100% | 80% | 40% | None |
| Torso | 1610 | None | None | Blindness | |||||
| Right arm | 300 | 80% | None | ||||||
| Left arm | 300 | None | |||||||
| Right leg | 20 | None | None | ||||||
| Left leg | 20 | None | None |
Strategy
As one of the few recruitable party members in the game, it is recommended to simply avoid fighting her or just let her join your party. She also takes 115% damage from the Piercing damage type, making it the preferable damage type when fighting her.
D'arce has a high dodge rate, which makes her very difficult to hit. Her sword arm can use the move Leg sweep, an attack that will hit all party members and has a risk of cutting their legs. To prevent limb loss, the Salmonsnake soul or the Leg guards are recommended as avoiding any damage in this fight is unlikely.
The most effective way to defeat her is to just target her legs and then aim for her head, while tanking the attacks from her arms.
Item drops
Once dead, D'arce will drop a Plate mail, a Long sword, a Eagle crest shield, one Blue vial and x20 Silver coin, making her the enemy with the most amount of item drops among the recruitable party members. The player can also use a Soul stone on her body to gain her Domination soul, unlocking the Domination skill tree at the Hexen table.
It is worth noting that taking D'arce's soul will not allow the player to skip Francóis' boss fight.
Dialogue
See D'arce's dialogue.
Interactions
| Action | Result | Flavour text |
|---|---|---|
| Search | (Plate mail, Long sword, Eagle crest shield, Blue vial and 20x Silver coins) | “You take knight's Plate mail, Long sword and her Eagle crest shield. In addition you find Blue vial and 20 Silver coins!” |
| Leave | Success | Nothing |
| Using a Soul stone | (Domination soul) | “The Soul stone changed it's appearance. The stone is radiating faint blue light.” |
Dungeon Nights
D'arce appears in the secret dating sim mode, Dungeon Nights, as a playable character and potential love interest. In this mode, D'arce takes the role of a young student who has a crush on her fellow classmate Le'garde.
If the player chooses not to play as D'arce, they will be able to go to the prom with her if they manage to raise her relationship meter to a total of five "hearts". To succeed in D'arce's Route, do the following:
- 1 Day
- Find a Claymore.
- Buy it at the Armor shop for 30 silver coins.
- Or go to the Ancient city and find the sword there.
- Buy a Plate mail at the Armor shop for 15 silver.
- Find a Claymore.
- 2 Day
- Give Le'garde the Claymore and Plate mail.
- Go on a date with Le'garde.
- Talk to D'arce and tell her that you and Le'garde are just friends.
- 3 Day
- Go and get a Withered rose on 1 level.
- Give her the Withered rose.
- Go on date.
- 4 Day
- Ask her to be your date (if everything was done correctly, she should say yes).
Trivia
- D'arce's character originates from creator Miro Haverinen's idea of designing a Bushido Blade style fighting game years ago - the same game would have included Cahara and the Old Knight.
- D'arce's design draws inspiration from Joan of Arc's appearance, particularly from her depiction in the movie "The Messenger" (1999).
- Despite the similarity between her name and Joan of Arc's French name, Jeanne d'Arc, Haverinen has stated that his decision to choose the name was primarily because it sounded French.
- When asked to perform a Marriage, she will reveal that she is actually a virgin.
- Before the game's development began, early concept art of D'arce portrayed her surrounded by female ghost-like creatures in suggestive poses, leading to unconfirmed interpretation that she was originally to be depicted as a lesbian.
- Haverinen has alluded to this early concept art, acknowledging that he hasn't yet found an appropriate context within the game to thoroughly explore this possibility. It ultimately surfaces in the Dungeon Nights mode, where D'arce suggests that her romantic interest in men might be limited solely to Le'garde.
- In her New God form, D'arce appears to wear an organic armor that greatly resembles Francóis'. The fact that both characters have a Domination soul might explain that similarity.
Gallery
D'arce's page in the "Book of memories"
Old concept art for D'arce or a prototype of the final character.
D'arce in the demo version of the game.
D'arce resurrecting Le'garde.
References
- ↑ Flip side - Basement Flipside's graveyard: "Here lies Knight 1566-1590"
- ↑ Fear & Hunger Guide: Intro and Best Choices https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y_jsxzIqzE&list=LL&index=2&t=15s&ab_channel=Frapollo94
- ↑ Fear and Hunger Party Members Tier List https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHNUMhOF6Rg&ab_channel=All-bonesJones
- ↑ Fear & Hunger Cave Dweller Village https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkIa0IIWdcE&ab_channel=Frapollo94