Balling out of Control: The Comprehensive Review of the Dung Beetle Knight Expansion (Patreon)

In the first generation of Kingdom Death expansions there is a trifecta of expansions that sit head and shoulders above the rest; these three expansions set the gold standard for their respective categories. The first is The Gorm, which is the best early game expansion and has the highest amount of content, it remains relevant expansion from lantern years 1 through to 20+ and fills in a lot of the gaps that the core game has for weapon types. The second one is The Sunstalker, which has set the bar for both big box expansions and late game quarries. The Sunstalker is an amazing quarry with absolutely no obvious design flaws, it is well themed, the gear is well designed and requires a sensible amount of effort to make.

The third member of this trinity is the Dung Beetle Knight (DBK), and while it is not as far reaching as the Gorm in design because it is a late game monster, it is not very far behind the Sunstalker in terms of quality, challenge and gear that is correctly gated. Just like the Gorm and the Sunstalker the DBK is a quarry that works well both as the main focus for multiple hunts over several years and as a ‘splashable expansion’ which is intended to only be hunted just a couple of times here and there. That is the very mark of a good quarry – but it is different from the Gorm and Sunstalker in that you do not splash it to get new weapons, you splash it to get additional defence and utility.

As always, spoilers will follow, lots and lots of spoilers. So if you want to avoid them, skip to the Why? Where? and Score? section of this review to get a spoiler free overview of this expansion.

With the little aphids out of the way it is time for us to draw our sword and ball and get into the action!

Who?
Dung Beetle Knights are something of a blameless creature in the world of Kingdom Death, originally they were simple scarab beetles, but their constant ingesting of the Phoenix’s rainbow poop sped up their evolution. When the Phoenixes moved to the Abyssal Woods to roost, the nascent beetles followed them. Once in the Abyssal Woods they were forced to evolve further in order to regain access to their preferred food source because it was now protected by the Flower Knights. Rapidly they grew in stature and intelligence, eventually emulating the guardians of the Abyssal Woods in size, appearance and nature.

Now the Dung Beetle Knights have become both an essential part of the world’s ecology and powerful beings in their own right. They are not just hulking power house creatures who push their dung balls across the landscape in search of more food (cleaning up refuse that would cause disease and infection if it was left). They have developed sentience, language and even a code of honor.

Hunting Dung Beetle Knights is akin to hunting Flower Knights, they are not like most of the other monsters in the setting, as they do not actively seek out survivors to attack. They are not truly predatory in nature and they also demonstrate an understanding of human concepts like remembering the dead, knightly virtues and even gardening.

If you don’t feel a little shame for hunting DBKs, you really should. SHAME, SHAME!

What?
The expansion contains a slight variation on the typical contents of a small box quarry. It has models for the monster, the dung ball terrain and just two survivors. My main complaint with the model section is that you do not get given enough plates, if you want to create survivors wearing DBK plates in addition to their existing armor (something that is very worthwhile), then you will need to cast some additional plates yourself. This is unfortunate, as is there being only 2 survivor models (with very static poses I might add) in the box. 

However the DBK itself has some issues, certain parts of it are very fragile and the pose is so static it is mannequin level.  It also has some very ugly flat areas, the wings are duplicates of each other and only one of them is designed to fit into the torso slot properly.  The feet can easily be mixed up the wrong way round (yeah they are a left and right).  However, the biggest offender are the antenna, these things do not have very many clear slots where they should fit (there are only 3 obvious places) and they are RIDICULOUSLY fragile.  There are a lot of models from the Kingdom Death range that fail to take into account structural integrity, the DBK is one of them.

The gear cards have a similar issue as you only get 2 copies of each item, which is just not enough, but this is a problem which is endemic throughout every part of the game. Mr Poots doesn’t think anyone would want to build 4 of a particular item, but he is incorrect. Big time.

There are other problems in the expansion as well, in that there are a lot of typos and inconsistencies in the text,  if I am honest the DBK is probably the expansion that has the most issues. There is an AI card that is missing a whole portion of its text, the settlement location calls one armor piece an ‘Elastic Harness’ while the gear card is called ‘Rubber Bone Harness’ and the legendary “Tom” who comes in the expansion was unplayable (more on him later) until Josh (after a lot of prodding from me) got the correct information on this monster from Zach B.

Overall the physical standard of this expansion is a bit behind the rest, but this is made up for by the content.

How?
How does a giant, armor plated powerhouse who wields a plated blade and a round pile of poop work in a campaign? In truth, it works very well, very well indeed. This is an expansion with a lot of positive things and very few issues, so without any further waiting let us crack open this big old ball and get straight to the gooey centre.

First up, as always, come those great things that remind you of rainbows and butterflies in fight.

Rolling Armor
Rolling Armor is one of my three favorite sets in the game (alongside Rawhide and Cyclopian), it is a unique set of armor because it does not have any specific locations, the set’s gear pieces are not technically armor as such, they are just pieces of gear which tie together to create an armor set. This has a lot of implications that you only realize after thinking about it for a while.

This is not an easy set to complete, it requires mastery of the Agriculture system and normally multiple runs at DBKs, plus it usually claims the life of a survivor when you make the Rubber Bone Harness. But once it is complete you have one of the best gear sets to ‘splash’ parts of armor sets into. There are some armor sets which have immensely powerful single pieces but you might not want to wear the entire armor set. Good examples of this include the Rawhide Headband, the Phoenix Placart and sections of the Green Armor set.

If that wasn’t enough, this set has immense tanking power, providing 5 armor to all locations pre-calcification and a staggering 9 armor to all locations once calcified. Additionally the individual parts of the set are all exceptional and I will expand a little on a few of these below.

Rainbow Wing Belt
If you want to use Lantern gear, but you are fed up of the Early Iron drawback this is the item for you, it allows you to reroll any ones when attacking once per attack. That means each dice now has a 1% chance of rolling a 1. This item pairs amazingly well with the Lantern Glaive, which is a top tier spear/axe when you have the Rainbow Wing Belt. It also has a beautiful set of affinities and is easy to make.

Century Greaves/Calcified Greaves and Century Shoulder Pads/Calcified Shoulder Pads
These items are intensely splashable, they can be used to bolster just about any armor set and make it able to be used in the late game, especially when calcified. In addition the ripple pattern ability on the shoulder pads gives you a 10% chance of avoiding a single hit when attacked and the Greaves can turn that into a 20% chance. They are also not armor, so they can be worn by Leyline Walkers and Acanthus Doctors (for example). These are one of those amazing items that let you build weird, hybrid sets and still have decent protections.

Digging Claws/Calcified Digging Claws
It is arguable that the Calcified version of this weapon is among the top 5 non-rare weapons in the game. It has literally almost everything you could ever want from a weapon. It is low speed, high accuracy, high strength and when calcified it has Sharp. In addition it is a non-frail pickaxe that gives you a reroll when Mineral Gathering. Katar Mastery is one of the three best offensive weapon masteries in the game and this Katar is of such a high caliber that it should be a serious contender for any late game build. The only negative I can find in this weapon is that it does not have deadly.

Trash Crown
I do not see enough people writing about this item, which makes me suspect that it hasn’t hit many people’s radar. This item is a little tricky to master, but once you have the trick mastered it can be invaluable. I am pretty sure that this item is going to become a center piece of some key powerhouse strategies.

What the Trash Crown does is it reveals the top 4 cards of the HL deck and discards three of them, putting the remaining one back on top of the deck. You cannot discard the Trap Card and that, I feel, is the reason people have dismissed this piece of head gear.

So how do you utilise it? Well I’m afraid it’s not that simple, you do need to beat a level 3 Phoenix in the process as the other parts of the puzzle are the Cat’s Eye Circlet (White Lion)/Wisdom Potion (Gorm)/Apostle Crown (PotSun/Sunstalker Hunt Event) and the Crest Crown (Plumery). Let us use the Cat’s Eye Circlet/Trash Crown/Crest Crown as an example:

You use the Cat’s Eye Circlet and Trash Crown to filter through the deck, discarding all hit locations you do not want, for example you could ditch everything that doesn’t give resources on critical hits, and then when you are ready you can reset the deck by reshuffling it with the Crest Crown. As a back up to this plan you can also use a Trapper (Spear + Blue Charm + Cyclopian Armor, or just a Spear) and they can reset the deck at a slight risk to themselves.

Doing this with a lot of patience you can fine tune any monsters and neuter a lot of the risk involved in attacking them, it just requires patience and good tanking. Also the Trash Crown is amazing vs. the King’s Man. No dancing for you matey.

I like it so much that I will generally make 2-3 Zanbatos and calcify them in the hope of getting a Trash Crown instead of one of them. In fact the only drawback of the crown is that it takes up the head location but is not an accessory. Fortunately the Rolling Armor set does not care about that one jot.

Subterranean Agriculture and Calcification
Subterranean Agriculture is awesome, it’s one of the few multi-year processes you can engage with in the settlement phase. It can feel a little daunting to understand at first, but it is worth every moment you spend with it and once you get to grips with how it works you'll be tempted to farm every year.

Calcification is another part of this process and it is very cool. It is how you upgrade your armor plates, Zanbato, Regeneration Blade and it is also how you get your hands on the the Trash Crown.

I just wish I could calcify stuff like the Bone Axe, Bone Darts, Skull Helm and similar. It would have been neat to turn some of that early game trash into new things, especially the Bone Darts. Throwing weapons need some love Pootsman!

Rolling Stone Training
You get this when the DBK event turns up and it is an exceptional innovation with only a moderate downside. Anything that gives you access to Momentum and Carapace of Will is a good thing in my book.

Momentum and Carapace of Will
Both of these fighting arts are things of beauty, one of them is designed around standing still and tanking, while the other is about moving as fast as you can and dealing damage. They add tactical depth to the game and can really define your roll in a hunt party. So good, so beautiful.

Calcified Zanbato
I hear Zanbatos are pretty cool, but they break a lot. Lets fix that for you by sticking it in the ground and then digging it up a few years later, now it is durable, hard hitting and as black as my soul. Nice. This is a wonderful piece of integration with the core game and a nice reward for Grand Weapon users. It’s not the best grand weapon in the game, but it is very good for the cost paid and will carry you a long way.

DBK Errant Badge
This is a pretty solid item, 1 armor in all locations plus a tactics card is nothing to sneeze at. There isn’t much more to say, it costs just 1 organ and 1 bone so there is no excuse for not having it if you have the gear slots.

Hidden Crimson Jewel
You’re probably not going to see this one very often, it’s hard to get, very hard. But it is insane in power as it provides one reroll of a D10 per game phase! On top of that it has 4 red affinities, which just demonstrates my point as to why the Dragon King’s power gems suck. Sure they should not be as powerful as the Hidden Crimson Jewel is, but could they at least learn a little something from the affinity example this gear sets?

Seasoned Monster Meat
This is probably the most mundane piece of gear in the expansion and even it has a lot of positive stuff going for it. It acts as a very useful affinity connector and survival backup to draw from, certain monsters are very prone to draining your survival reserves away. This can give you a quick recharge and a new lease of life, plus some solid affinities and a strength token. It’s not top tier, but it has uses.

Regenerating Blade/Juggernaut Blade
The signature weapon of the DBK comes on a double sided calcification card, however this is rather different from the other calcified pieces of gear because it changes purpose entirely when it is calcified. The non-calcified version; which you get from a certain critical hit vs. any level of DBK, is an affinity connector that can be used to replace a lost limb. It has a very rare pairing of affinities with a blue left and a green right, making it potentially useful for awkward grids that need puzzle pieces completed and don’t mind spending the slot to do so. The replacing of a lost limb is also very potent, because this is one of the few ways you can do that in this game.

However, it is the flip side of this gear card that will get most people excited. The Juggernaut Blade is the second best non-rare Grand Weapon in the game (after the Sunstalker’s amazing Skleaver, which is only bested by the rare Perfect Slayer) and it is one of only 2 one handed grand weapons available right now (Rib Blade is the other one).

The Old Master aka “Tom”
I love everything about Tom’s story line (with the exception of some issues which I have mentioned in the relevant section below), it’s a wonderfully well written and sad tale that gives you some insight into the psychology of the Dung Beetle Knights, it’s part of the reason why I think they are amongst the ‘good guys’ of the setting and I would love to see their part in the world expanded in a future kickstarter. 

I will not spoil too much about this, you should go and beat a DBK with Storytelling innovated and enjoy what happens. Just don’t, DON’T do the last thing in the story, it’s optional and it will end badly for you. See the issues section below for more details. I’m trying not to spoiler too much here as it is one of my favorite stories in the game, better than even Percival’s. Poor Tom, his is the worst kind of fate.

However these things are going to make you feel like you are stuck on the inside of that dung ball and left spinning around

Burrow – Level 3+ DBKs
You just do not get any warning about how much of a power spike there is between the level 2 and level 3 DBKs. If you are not a member of the ‘slow but steady, cancel reactions, cat’s eye circlet’ community then you should never go near a level 3+ DBK as it will just completely wreck you. They require judicious use of slow weapons supported by the following items in some combination – the Cat’s Eye Circlet, the Wisdom potion, the Trash Crown and the Crest Crown (btw those 4 items are the holy quadrology of monster control items right there). It’s quite an achievement to beat them and it can be done, but most of the time it will take 2+ hours to get through the fight and you absolutely cannot let someone be impatient and hit it with 3+ speed. They will quite often die, horribly.

I do not think this is a problem per say, it was an interesting puzzle to crack (the answer was to always discard/shuffle away the Century Carapace hit location cards in combination with reaction cancelling and high strength slow weapons) but this is not for the faint of heart or the portion of the community who likes to roll lots of dice when they attack.

You have been warned.

Typos and Omissions
I’ve mentioned them above in the “What?” section, there are too many errors in this expansion which should have been caught. It’s a shame.

The Old Master
Even Poor old Tom doesn’t dodge these problems, he was released in an almost unplayable state because he is missing an entire AI card and even if you play without it he acts really weird during the showdown because he doesn’t have Separation Anxiety. This means he teleports the ball back to himself a lot and it just feels wrong to experience that. I would have preferred it if Tom had been designed to fight without the Dung Ball at all, it would have made him very interesting and unique when compared to the normal DBKs. 

It also doesn’t help that he is currently close to unbeatable, easily the hardest monster in the game by a long, long distance. I think we will have to wait until the Generation 2 expansions come out before he is beaten by anyone other than the luckiest and most patient of players. I’ve beaten him with the 5 AI card version of his deck and it required some real dedication, patience and a lot of evasion.

Here is the correct version of TOM's AI cards and traits.

All of this written, there is not much wrong with this expansion at all. I can see why Poots is so proud of it.

Why?
Why Not? Seriously, just get this darn expansion – stop dithering; it’s a must have for any campaign because of how splashable it is and how good it is at fixing weaknesses in various other builds. My only problems are that I want more content, more calcification and less typos.

I <3 HBK.

Where?
Everywhere I can possibly put it. I can’t get enough of these guys and their mustachioed phoenix impersonating dung balls. If it wasn’t for the Sunstalker this would be my number one expansion.

Score?
Nine and a half Survivors stuck inside in one Dung Ball, being sent rolling across the landscape for all eternity.