You still need to learn the game on your own. These teams, although well designed and playtested, won't succeed if you'll play like a noob, and use them incorrectly. Read carefully abilities of your minions to get familiar which one is helpful in what scenario, and abilities of enemies by right clicking them. Also pay attention to enemies' stances.

To get familiar with Iratus: Lord of the Dead first read these guides:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2579096098
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2670135470
If you own Wrath of the Necromancer expansion also this:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2577310999

These are the minions available for new players, with slight exception for Mummy. If you wish to create own team you need to pick among them.

Skeleton
Versatile unit both for stress and physical damage teams. It has an attack which ignores armor, or another which strikes at least 2 times. Besides, it can give armor/resistance buff to other allies, and has limited stance breaking capability. Notable usage - stance to shield other minion, with item Legcuffs and due to Skeleton's feature it is interruptable.

Zombie
Another versatile unit, usable in physical, magical and stress damage teams. He has extremely useful feature - completely ignores enemy's armor/resistance, which mean the zombie most of the time deals full damage. All of his abilities are very good, and I've created teams which utilized his Bombardment, Buckshot, and Igniting Mixture skills - all were working well.

Bride of Iratus
Very good unit, although a bit fragile; should be kept at the 4th and 3rd position, out of harm's way. Her skill set offers one of the best ways to interrupt stances, very solid single-target physical attack which either stuns or deals very high damage, self-buff, and strong ultimate. Do not be fooled by her appearance, used correctly she is one of the most deadly starting minions.

Dark Knight
Dark Knight, contrary to his appearance, is rather sort of support/tank unit, and really good one. He can be built either as stress support thanks to his stance Futile Hopes, or physical damage dealer. Moreover, he cannot be critically hit, and his physical attacks gain power from increasing armor, thus making him a decent tank. And last, he can heal via his solid ultimate ability.

Banshee
Very nice unit for stress teams. She offers set of good stress abilities which weaken enemies' attack, move an enemy to a random position thus breaking stance, dispel buffs, or gain mana/wrath. Moreover, she is capable of buffing attack and dread for whole team, very useful against stress immune foes; this also makes great combo with Zombie's bombardment.

Wraith
Another very good stress damage unit. Wraith can be used as frontliner due to his very high evasion and blocks/wards amount, which he can regain using Survival skill. He can attack multiple enemies at once, or single one dealing heavy stress damage, has powerful ultimate, and can also deal magic damage. Sadly, he has the least options for upgrading stats among minions.

Werewolf
High physical damage dealer with very nice utility skills - can shred armor/resistance, or buff crits for allies, and some of its attacks always hit. Werewolf has great, though expensive ultimate which allows it to act twice per round. Be wary though that its regeneration in practice is not that great on its own, you'll need something else to make the wolfie survive.

Mummy
Although Mummy isn't available from the very beginning its unlock condition is so simple (level up a minion to 5th level) I consider it a starter unit. Mummy is another stress dealer, specializing in curses and offers some utility skills to dispel all debuffs from allies, or buffs from enemies. Mummy is also surprisingly tanky thanks to high health points, and 3 blocks/wards.

Reaper
One of the best minions, can be great physical, magical or stress damage dealer, with excellent capability to restore position after reshufflng, and good utility skills. Moreover, Reaper also can heal whole team when he kills an enemy, this also works for damage over time effects from items. His ultimate is also very powerful, although a little tricky to use.

Abomination
Great tank for stress teams, not only it can get up to 4 blocks and wards and high HP second only to Bone Golem, but it can regenerate 10%-15% of its life once it'll devour an enemy. Apart of devour/regenerate the rest of its skills are mediocre, but they'll do their job. Nevertheless, core use of Abomination is to support it with other minions so it can devour foes, and tank for the team.

Infested
Another stress unit. Although overall being quite good, Infested's skills are a bit poorly designed - Pestilent Rain always wins over Rancid Breath, and it also determines the best position for it - 3rd, which is heavily crowded for stress teams. He has very good physical attack which bypasses armor. His utility skills are just okayish, but nothing great,

These are some quick advices for new players

• Disable in options creation of the default, initial team.
  
• When starting a new game check 'save mode' option in bottom right corner.
  
• You can guarantee to get desired class item for a minion from Cultiistst, just move it into separate, empty squad, and go to them with that single minion.
  
• Don't miss to rebuild Obelisk and Library in graveyard. In fact, Obelisk should be rebuild up to lv2 as first building, then focus on Library. Then max Obelisk, max Library(you'll probably won't have needed minions yet), then if your minions use ultimate abilities Adobe of Wrath, if not Dead Lake, and also Excavation.
  
• Initial Iratus' talent point should be spent on Architecture Buff. After that, Relic Seeker for faster acquiring artifacts. Then usually it's good to aim for Advanced Ballistics, minions at the beginning of the game have issues with accuracy.
  
• Speaking about artifacts, they have somewhat limited pool, so it is possible to get absolutely every one. To do that, not only get Relic Seeker as early as possible, but also rebuild Dead Lake, and most importantly do not sacrifice unusable artifact for XP for Iratus till you'll get the ones you want.
  
• Don't waste Diggers' Souls to upgrade Mortuary and Arena. Accumulate them for later game, and spend them to upgrade quality of minions' parts.
  
• When traversing a floor always choose the longest route. Keep an eye on Ancient Coffins, Sacrificial Altars, Steles (exp for minions), Chests with artifacts, and the least important Cultists. If possible try to get as much as these objects as possible, Steles are the most important.
  
• Before you'll click Ancient Coffin always use quick save option, and load if you won't get the crucial item you're looking for. The same applies for Chests with artifacts.
  
• If you need to heal a minion after a fight don't use Mortuary, but Alchemy > Distillation instead. It is even worth to pick Iratus' talent which increases potency of distillation. Also know you can use brains, or items as fuel for Distillation and Calcination, you don't have to spend parts.
  
• Sacrifice at Sacrificial Altar either Bone Golem or Dark Knight to get medal granting XP for minions, or book granting XP for Iratus. Blood Phantasm is also good pick, as sacrificing him gives orb which grants artifact after fight.
  
• At the start of the game use Alchemy > Extraction to create basic items for 1-2 most important minions. Not too much, as you'll need parts to heal your team with Distillation.

Below are teams to choose from. They are grouped by tags related to damage type [physical, magical, and stess] and if they are for base game, or require DLC Wrath of the Necromancer.

To be maximally efficient It's recommended to stick with just one squad for whole run. You'll have to learn enemies and mechanics, so at least you can rely on your team is well designed, and will do its task.

This team is already described https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/807120/discussions/5/3151934575294190397/

The core of this team is Dark Knight with Jester's Visage item as a tank/singe target damage dealer, strengthened by Skeleton's Strength of Mediocrity. Zombie uses bombardment stance, and Bride stunning shot, stance-interrupting shot, or ultimate to hurt all enemies.

Abilities, in order of taking

• Bride of Iratus - Get Away of Him!, Adore Him, Lungpiercer, Flames of Passionate Love, Bloody Rose, Deadly Watch
  
• Zombie - Abyssal Bombardment, Grand Volley, Trench Loading(safer option) or Even More Powder, Plentiful Buckshot, Light Caliber, Fiery Explosive
  
• Skeleton - Strength of Mediocrity, Smite the Show-Offs, Forceful Lesson, Mystic Fortitude, Dismissive Bangler, Clumsy Strike
  
• Dark Knight - Death Comes for Everyone, Dashed Hopes, We Are Nothing, Stare into the Void, Dark Greed, Dark Offering

Items for minions, best options are listed first

• Bride of Iratus - Essence of Mind(highly recommended) + Lantern of Souls or Vampire Fangs
  
• Zombie - Mechanical Aim + Lantern of Souls or Vampire Fangs
  
• Skeleton - Lantern of Souls (very important) + Spider's Mandibles or Glutton's Tonge, Drop of Divinity, Ashes of the Burned Witch, Acid Glands.
  
• Dark Knight - Jester's Visage (crucial item, get it asap) + something for damage reduction like Drop of Divinity, Armored Plates, or simple Spiked Plates. Or something for offense like Glutton's Tongue, Sadist's Hand etc. HP recovering item, like Vampire Fangs/Lantern of Souls will also be fine, once other minions will get theirs.

Vigor-recovering items are still needed as enemies use AoE skills which damage everyone, not only the Dark Knight.

Important spells, in order of acquiring

• Dispel - you'll need this one to clear nasty debuffs and marks. It won't be much effective in removing buffs from enemies due to not destroying their wards, however Skeleton is able to punish heavily buffed foes.
  
• Hail of Teeth, optionally with Bone Spear - to remove blocks from enemies you wish to damage as fast as possible, usually by buffed Dark Knight during 1st turn.
  
• Fate - combines nicely with Bride's Lungpiercer ability guaranteeing stun an enemy.
  
• Infectious Lunacy - mainly used spell once researched, it's recommended to have Essence of Mind item on Bride to be able to cast it every fight, as well as 1-2 levels of Iratus Statue.
  
• Stoke the Flames - YOU WILL NEED IT on 6th floor, otherwise elite Monks will mess up your Dark Knight really badly.

Although these talents are not spells, do not neglect acquiring Overwhelming Ire and Dark Enlightement, these will help with using ultimate abilities of Dark Knight and Bride of Iratus. Then the rest does not really matters, you can rush for Rain of Gore, or research Finger of Death.Just avoid spells on the left side of Destruction tree, as these are blocked by wards.

Development of minion's stats
It's recommended to max Skeleton's initiative (it'll have 8), and set the Knight's initiative to 7 so in most cases Skeleton will act 1st, and be able to cast Mediocrity on Knight before he'll attack. For Zombie max it too. After that ensure every unit has around 110%-120% accuracy, then for specific minions focus on:

• Bride of Iratus - upgrade twice life and attack, then get block and ward. After that work on her offensive potential(attack and luck) if you got Lantern of Souls/Vampire Fangs, if not put more points in life and evasion.
  
• Zombie - armor as he can't increase HP, attack and luck(alternate between these), resistance
  
• Skeleton - armor, resistance and life have priority, then attack and luck.
  
• Dark Knight - armor, resistance and life. Once maxed increase his attack and luck

Recommended Artifacts

• Ring - Bracers of Madness, or Ring of Decay, or Symbol of Fortune
  
• Necklace - Fortune Magnet or Golden Rose
  
• Armor - Unstable Armor,or against some bosses Enchanted Clothing, Rib Cage Armor, or Pharaoh Mask. Spirit Chainmail till you get bonus HP for everyone
  
• Weapon - Destruction Maul, or Tempered Blade, or Grappling Hook. Spirit Spear until you'll charge all minions.

How to use the team

• Bride of Iratus - she either uses Lungpiercer to stun one enemy(with Fate spell in need to stun someone), or Bloody Rose as strong AoE attack/mean to remove block from all foes. As 1st action it's nice to use Adore Him buff, this one can be stacked when facing highly armored enemies. Besides that she has Get Away of Him! for interrupting stances and pushing enemies back.
  
• Zombie - he uses Abyssal Bombardment usually, and Grand Volley if you want to finish off severely wounded enemy. If you took Trench Loading it can be used rather to get 1 block/ward than buffing Zombie's damage.
  
• Skeleton - mainly it buffs the Dark Knight using Strength of Mediocrity. Other usages are shielding other minions with Astonishing Fortitude, punishing enemies with many buffs or removing 2 blocks via Smite the Show-Offs, or pushing back an enemy which is dangerous on 1st position like Demolition Expert or Heavy Firethrower. When facing highly armored foes Skeleton uses Clumsy Strike.
  
• Dark Knight - he attacks using sword swing Death Comes For Everyone, if wounded heals via his wrath ability. Unfeeling Aggression helps to return to the 1st position after reshuflling.

1st action should be buffing the Knight by Skeleton's Embrace Mediocrity; if the Knight rolls higher initiative in the round it's fine to put him into wait. Then put Zombie into Bombardment stance, and use Bride's Think of Him buff. Thanks to Jester's Visage enemies will in majority attack highly armored Dark Knight, and deal none to minimal damage to him. Use Hail of Teeth/Bone Spear to clear some blocks for next turn. Knight attacks someone without blocks, or removes one.

Next turn Skeleton again buffs Dark Knight. As it turned out during my playtest twice buff is usually enough for the Knight to kill any unit within two attacks, at least up to half of 4th floor. Zombie's bombardment triggers damaging enemies and removing blocks, and Bride uses Bloody Rose to damage all enemies, or in some cases Lungpiercer or Get Away for Him!.

Be wary though there are some enemies capable of removing or bypassing armor and resistance! Against such enemies have Dispel spell ready, don't neglect to increase Dark Knight's life, or use Skeleton's Mystic Fortitude to shield the knight.

This team uses Zombies' Whistling Buckshot, backed up by Even More Powder/Trench Loading and Werewolf's Ancient Curse to clear fast 3 most dangerous or annoying enemies. Originally it consists of Bride, Head Hunter, Zombie, Zombie, however the hunter is not available as starting minion, and as his role was to remove 1 block from everyone he can be replaced by other minion capable of doing similar stuff - the Werewolf has dual attack which can be made used twice in a round, and nice utility skills. It also can regenerate HP thanks to his feature.

Abilities, in order of taking

• Bride of Iratus - Get Away of Him!, Lungpiercer, Adore Him, Flames of Passionate Love, Bloody Rose, Deadly Watch
  
• Werewolf - Stymie, Furious Swing, Tear to Pieces, Ancient Curse, Sudden Ambush, Full Moon
  
• Zombies - Whistling Buckshot, Grand Volley, Even More Powder or Trench Loading, Shock Charges(offensive option) or Abyssal Bombardment(more cautious option), Fiery Explosive, Light Caliber

Items for minions, best options are listed first

• Bride of Iratus - Essence of Mind + Lantern of Souls or Vampire Fangs
  
• Werewolf - Legcuffs + Glutton's Tongue, Drop of Divinity, Second Brain, Sadist's Hand or Spider Mandibles
  
• Zombies - Mechanical Aim/Glutton's Tongue/Drop of Divinity + Lantern of Souls(lantern is very important, especially for build using Even More Powder)

Development of minion's stats
Werewolf should have 11 initiative, that ensures it will always act first so it can remove blocks, or use Ancient Curse before everyone other action.
Zombies should have maxed initiative(8), that way they shoot before Bride(she has 6) leaving severely wounded leftover enemies whose she finishes using Bloody Rose.
Then focus on:

• Bride of Iratus - get block and ward, and then put points into luck, attack, life. Once these parameters are a bit developed you can add some evasion now and then.
  
• Werewolf - getting 1st block and ward is recommended, then attack and luck. Once your wolf will consistently hit backliners with Stymie for over half of their HP you can start gathering points for next blocks/wards. Meanwhile increase its armor up to around 8-10.
  
• Zombies - armor as they can't increase life, then alternate between attack and luck. When upgrading these stats will be expensive put few points in resistance.

Ultimately you need around 140%-150% accuracy(remember you need to include compensation for -13 accuracy from ring Symbol of Fortune), maxed mentioned stat, and don't waste points for evasion for anyone except Bride of Iratus.

Important spells, in order of acquiring

• Dispel - needed as fast as possible to remove debuffs from our minions; Zombies have no ward, so they catch all the nasty stuff(marks, armor shredding etc) easily.
  
• Hail of Teeth/Bone Spear - a crucial spell (Hail) to remove 2 blocks from an enemy, opening him/her for incoming physical attacks.
  
• Fate - usually cast on Bride of Iratus to guarantee stun for her Lungpiercer ability
  
• Infectious Lunacy - strong whole team damage buff, it becomes more and more powerful as your run progresses.
  
• Finger of Death - it has two main applications - either remove more than 2 blocks, or by combining it with Werewolf's Stymie attack to immediately kill a selected enemy as your first action in fight.
  
• Soul Leech - a prerequisite for Rain of Gore, used when you have to break a stance of an enemy by moving him/her.
  
• Rain of Gore - against bosses, mostly for the debuff it applies. Actually, I used it only against Four Heroes.

Recommended Artifacts

• Ring - Symbol of Fortune, or Bracers of Madness, or Ring of Decay.
  
• Necklace - Fortune Magnet, eventually Golden Rose.
  
• Armor - Unstable Armor(defensive option) or Robes of Potence(offensive option, thanks to it Zombies can reach 100% critical chance). Spirit Chainmail till you get the buff for everyone.
  
• Weapon - Tempered Blade, or Destruction Maul. Spirit Spear for the bonus.

How to use the team
Usually it goes such way:
- Cast either Hail of Teeth to remove 2 blocks, or in case there is an enemy already opened for Werewolf's attack Infectious Lunacy. In rare occurrences you might wait with cast for Bride's action to use Fate on her. In even rarer occasions you'll cast Finger of Death.
- Werewolf either attacks a backliner using Stymie, or a frontliner using Furious Swing.
- Zombies buffs themselves by Even More Powder/Trench Loading. You can also make a trick to guarantee both Zombies will crit next turn - just cast Fate on the 1st one which used his buff, and next turn on other one, before he'll shot. Fate buff will carry to next turn.
- Bride of Iratus uses Blood Rose to wound everyone/remove a block from all. Sometimes she need to use Lungpiercer combined with Fate to stun someone, a trick useful against foes capable of pushing Zombies off their position, like Cavalier or Fallen Knight. In middle game (upper half or 2nd floor - lower half of 4th floor) sometimes there is time to use buff Adore Him for the next turn.

The main goal for the 1st turn is to prepare enemies for incoming nuke from Zombies by stripping blocks off them, and wound as many of them as possible.

- Next turn cast a spell appropriate to situation (Hail of Teeth, Bone Spear, Dispel, Infectious Lunacy, Haste etc).
- Werewolf uses Ancient Curse in majority of cases. If there is some enemy which absolutely needs to go use either Stymie or Furious Swing; sometimes, against Ronins mostly, you'll need to use Sudden Ambush.
- Zombies shoot with Whistling Buckshot. That deals massive damage to three foes, killing them outright, or leaving on low life.
- Bride of Iratus either clears survivors with Bloody Rose, or uses Lungpiercer. Sometimes she need to break a stance with Get Away of Him!.

This team has 2 variations, depending what abilities you took for Zombies - more offensive (Even More Powder and Shock Charges) which sometimes needs to adjust tactic when facing stunning/pushing away foes, or more safe (Trench Loading and Abyssal Bombardment) which makes the Zombies more durable thanks to getting blocks and wards, and able to use bombardment stance effectively at the cost of lower damage. These variations also use different armors - more defensive Unstable Armor to provide block and ward for important 1st turn for all minions, more offensive Robes of Potence which allows Zombies reach 100% critical chit chance.
During my playtest however I used Unstable Armor with offensive setup for Zombies.

In early game, till you get Lantern of Souls for your Zombies you need to use Distillation practically after every fight, so it might be useful to take Iratus talent which increases its potency. After acquiring these items the team works very smoothly. For other talents get Overwhelming Ire and Dark Enlightment rather sooner than later, as it'll allow you to use Bloody Rose or Full Moon practically every time when needed.

This team uses new minions introduced in the expansion, Reapers, to heal allies when they kill an enemy(with a trick provided by Ashes of the Burned Witch), and also to recover mana from their scythe attacks. Werewolf and Bride of Iratus can hit enemies out of Reapers' scythes reach, and provide utility to remove multiple blocks, shred armor, stun etc.

Abilities, in order of taking

• Bride of Iratus - Get Away of Him!, Lungpiercer, Adore Him, Flames of Passionate Love, Bloody Rose, Deadly Watch
  
• Werewolf - Stymie, Furious Swing, Tear to Pieces, Ancient Curse, Sudden Ambush, Full Moon
  
• Reapers - Energy Wave, Dessicate, Soul Dissection, Agony of Fire, Scythe of Life, Endless Power

Items for minions, best options are listed first

• Bride of Iratus - Serpent Skull + Spider Mandibles, Glutton's Tongue, Drop of Divinity, Second Brain, Funeral Coin
  
• Werewolf - Burning Blood + Glutton's Tongue, Drop of Divinity, Sadist's Hand
  
• Reapers - Ashes of the Burned Witch(very important item) + Glutton's Tongue, Drop of Divinity, Second Brain, Funeral Coin, Sadist's Hand

Development of minion's stats
You need to set initiative values for Werewolf 13, Reapers 10 to guarantee desired action order Werewolf > Reapers > Bride of Iratus.
At the beginning of the run ensure your minions have ~120% accuracy for first floor, ~130% for second. Ultimately you'll need around 140% accuracy, and don't forget to compensate loss from ring Symbol of Fortune once you'll equip it.
For the defense, get up to 2 blocks and wards for everyone possible, and a bit of life(1-3 increases). Then focus on attack and luck, as it turned out this team deals so much damage that enemies are in most cases killed before they manage to wound our minions.

Important spells, in order of acquiring

• Dispel - useful to remove debuffs from your minions, buffs from enemies, or ward.
  
• Hail of Teeth/Bone Spear - a crucial spell (Hail) to remove 2 blocks from an enemy, usually used to expose him/her for Werewolf's Stymie.
  
• Fate - usually cast on Bride of Iratus to guarantee stun for her Lungpiercer ability
  
• Infectious Lunacy - strong whole team damage buff, it becomes more and more powerful as your run progresses.
  
• Finger of Death - it creates great combo with Reaper's Scythe of Life combo, allowing you to always kill one, selected enemy in 1st turn. Works nicely with Werewolf's Stymie too.
  
• Soul Leech - will help against Ronins in stance.
  
• Blood Curse - nice against bosses whose cannot dispel debuffs, as it lasts for whole fight.

Recommended Artifacts

• Ring - Symbol of Fortune definitively. Ring of Decay is also fine option, same for Bracers of Madness. Till you get your wrath generation up and running Spiked Rings or Ring of Overlord might be helpful.
  
• Necklace - Fortune Magnet is the best. Other good option is Golden Rose,
  
• Armor - Either Unstable Armor or Robes of Potence. Ofc, grap the bonuses from Spirit Mail once you'll find it.
  
• Weapon - Destruction Maul is recommended, other good weapon is Tempered Blade.

Potions
The team does not need to use potions much. However, just for safety and convenience it's recommended to have:

• 2-3 Cleansing Potion
  
• 1 Acidic Potion
  
• 2-3 Ancient Vampire Blood

created from common parts.

Against Four Heroes it's recommended to have

• 2-3 Recovery Potions created from better parts so they restore at least 40% vigor.
  
• 2-3 Ancient Vampire Blood also created from better parts.
  
• 0-1 Dead Leprechaun Potion crated from common or better parts, to use it on Bride.

How to use the team
Although the team is tagged as physical it's more of mixed physical/magical damage, as Reapers have one of the best AoE attacks in the game - Energy Wave. In early and middle game probably you'll use this ability for most cases, and Soul Dissection only to recover mana.

Anyway, as 1 action in round check if Werewolf can attack someone with Stymie, unless on the 1st or 2nd position there is an enemy you definitely want to kill. Then, before the attack, cast spell according to the situation, usually Infectious Lunacy, or something which exposes the enemy, like Hail of Teeth, Finger of Death, or Sorrow.
Then two Reapers act. Accordingly to situation use Energy Wave (foes have no wards), Soul Dissection, or Scythe of Life.
Bride of Iratus usually uses Blood Rose to wound every enemy, and to remove one block, preparing them for next round. Sometimes it is needed to break stance using Get Away of Him!, for my playtest it was against Gunners. Usually there is no time to cast Adore Him buff, I used it mostly on 1st and 2nd floor against golems to overcome their armor.

The team is brutally effective, since around half of 2nd floor it rolfstomped everything, and playing it is so enjoyable I'll finish the whole run.

This magic damage team uses great combination between Banshee's Deafening Wail (+14 attack and dread for allies for next action) and Zombies' Shock Charges stance which states 'doesn't spend action' - the result is lasting buff as long as they use no other ability than bombardment stance.


Abilities, in order of taking

• Backline Zombies - Shock Charges, Trench Loading, Fiery Explosive, Accurate Volley, Light Caliber, Plentiful Buckshot
  
• Banshee - Deafening Wail, Desolate Scream, Absorb Wrath, Crescendo, Shattering Howl, Nooo!!!(the left one)
  
• Frontline Zombie - Fiery Explosive, Trench Loading, Accurate Volley, Shock Charges, Light Caliber, Plentiful Buckshot

Items for minions, best options are listed first

• Backline Zombies - Lantern of Souls or Vampire Fangs + one Essence of Mind, other Burning Blood
  
• Banshee - Mechanical Eye(crucial item) + Lantern of Souls
  
• Frontline Zombie - Mechanical Aim or Drop of Divinity + Lantern of Souls(should get the lantern 1st among other zombies, due to mechanics of Fiery Explosive Vampire Fangs works poorly with that ability)

Development of minion's stats
Zombies starts with very poor accuracy, only 91%, so 1st you need to raise it to 100%.
Then initiative should be 7(max) for backline Zombies, and 6 for the front one. Then you need upgrade their armor, once reaching around 6 points start to increase their attack and luck. Resistance should be developed after these, and leftover points, if any, put into evasion.

For Banshee focus first on defense - evasion up to ~40%, block and ward, and 1-2 upgrades in life. Then you can think to increase her attack; its not a high priority, as Banshee role in the team is rather support than damage dealing. When you got few upgrades in attack focus on maxing block and ward, after that alternate between attack, life and evasion. Lastly max her luck, and leftover points should be used on armor and resistance(2:1 ratio).

Important spells, in order of acquiring
Dispel - not only it removes buffs and debuffs, but also removes 1 ward from all enemies.
Bone Obelisk - very important spell to deal with enemies in stance, or those which can move our minions thus breaking Zombies' bombardment.
Infectious Lunacy - another key spell, this one plus Banshee's Deafening Wail causes your zombie bombardiers wipe out all enemy team within 2 turns.
Finger of Death - great spell to instantly remove all wards, blocks and buffs, also severely wounding the enemy.
Stoke the Flames - good defensive option, I found it useful against retaliating enemies.
Blood Curse - useful against bosses, or enemies which can preform an unpleasant critical attack.

Other useful talents are Drums of War, Cursed Doll and Mocking Slap(you'll get these on the way to Bone Obelisk)

Recommended Artifacts

• Ring - Braces of Madness are mandatory, otherwise our minions are too slow to act before enemies.
  
• Necklace - Fortune Magnet.
  
• Armor - Unstable Armor is the best option, the team needs one, just one turn to prepare attack undisturbed. Unstable Armor allows that. Ofc, Spirit Mail for its bonus.
  
• Weapon - Destruction Maul, as it's very important to remove ward from enemies, opening them to Bone Obelisk or other spell. Spirit Spear to charge up all minions.

How to use the team
In usual case you play 1st turn like:

• Backline Zombies use Shock Charges stance
  
• Banshee uses Deafening Wail
  
• Cast a spell suitable for the situation, mostly it is Infectious Lunacy
  
• Frontline Zombie uses Fiery Explosives to set someone on fire, or remove wards from 1-2 enemies, exposing them to bombardment next turn. Ignition the ability causes is really strong, especially if you managed to use Deafening Wail buff before. In some situations, ex. enemies without wards and immune to ignition it's better to use just pistol shot instead.

Next turns:

• Shock Charges bombardment triggers, killing 1-2 enemies, or severely wounding them, and replenishing mana and wrath thanks to items on Zombies. Put the Zombies into stance again, sometimes use pistol shot to finish off a survivor.
  
• Cast a spell; in many fights however I found no need to cast anything, after first bombardment barrage the encounter has been already decided. If anything, you can use Rites of Carnage, or Mocking Slap as relatively cheap spells after 1st Zombie shot Shock Charges, but before the other one will.
  
• Banshee uses ultimate Shattering Howl to freeze enemies on 1st and 2nd position
  
• Frontline Zombie continues to setting leftover enemies on fire, or executing them with pistol.

Also, you have tactical options for special cases:

• By building Abode of Wrath, and taking Overwhelming Ire, or proper consumable, you can use Banshee's Sharreting Howl in 1st turn; this is crucial against enemies like Cavalarymen, whose can throw Zombies off their stances.
  
• Combining Banshee and frontline Zombie you can remove up to 2 wards, exposing an enemy to Bone Obelisk.
  
• All Zombies in case of need can use Trench Loading defensively to get 1 block and ward. This is also useful to skip a turn, ex. if you want to deal a killing blow with a different minion to get Spirit Mail/Spear bonuses.
  
• Banshee's Desolate Scream can break stances by moving the enemy, also it can dispel buffs.

Magic damage team which uses Energy Wave of Reapers to harm and with Ashes of the Burned Witch ignite all enemies, Zombie's bombardment to deal heavy blows, and Banshee's Deafening Wail to buff damage of the team.
Designing this squad so far was for me the most challenging task, as none of the starting minions capable of dealing magic damage fits well to two Reapers.

Abilities, in order of taking

• Zombie - Shock Charges, Trench Loading, Accurate Volley, Fiery Explosive, Light Caliber, Plentiful Buckshot
  
• Banshee - Deafening Wail, Desolate Scream, Accelerando, Nooo!!!(left one), Morbid Howl, Absorb Wrath
  
• Reapers - Energy Wave, Dessicate, Reap the Maelstrom, Soul Dissection, Scythe of Life, Agony of Fire

Items for minions, best options are listed first

• Zombie - Mechanical Aim, Drop of Divinity, Glutton's Tongue, or Spider Mandibles + Essence of Mind(important item).
  
• Banshee - Lantern of Souls/Second Slipper(important item) + Martyr's Rags(very useful, however it starts to drop since around 3rd floor; anyway, it is highly recommended) or Jester's Visage.
  
• Reapers - Ashes of the Burned Witch/Glutton's Tongue/Drop of Divinity/Spider Mandibles/Second Brain/Funeral Coin/Sadist's Hand; a combination of two of these.

Development of minion's stats
Zombie and Reapers have to reach 110%-120% accuracy as 1st goal, Banshee not really yet. Then important stats are:
Zombie - armor, initiative, attack, luck
Banshee - evasion up to ~45%, then block and ward, then 1-2 life upgrades, then up evasion again especially if you have Jester's Visage/Martyr's Rags, then get her up to ~130% accuracy, max block and ward, evasion and life. After then start to increase her attack.
Reapers - raise their initiative to 10-12, then 1x armor, 2x attack, then block and ward. Upgrade their attack, life, armor and resistance, once high enough start to raising luck.

Important spells, in order of acquiring

• Dispel - to clear nasty debuffs from our minion, and also to remove one ward from all enemies. And buffs from them if they don't have ward.
  
• Hail of Teeth - mostly to expose an enemy for scythe attack of Reaper
  
• Infectious Lunacy - mainly used spell, along Banshee's Deafening Wail buff it greatly increases offense of minions.
  
• Finger of Death - mostly used as combo with Reapers' ultimate attack.
  
• Bone Obelisk - to shut down an enemy for a turn, also to interrupt his/her stance.

Recommended Artifacts

• Ring - Symbol of Fortune, eventually Braces of Madness. However, once you'll acquire keep the Shackles of War.
  
• Necklace - Fortune Magnet, Golden Rose
  
• Armor - Unstable Armor, Robes of Potence, Spirit Mail till you complete bonus
  
• Weapon - Destruction Maul, Tempered Blade, Spirit Spear for acquiring damage buff

Potions
Potions recommended to always have available:

• 2 Ancient Vampire Blood, used when Zombie is wounded
  
• 2 Cleansing Potion, when you don't want to waste spell cast to ex. remove stun
  
• 2 Essence of Horror, created and used only when you need to score kill with Banshee using stress damage.

created from common parts.

Against Four Heroes it's recommended to have

• 2-3 Recovery Potions created from better parts so they restore at least 40% vigor.
  
• 2-3 Ancient Vampire Blood also created from better parts.
  
• 0-1 Bad Luck Mixture, to use on Mage as he won't be able to dispel it.

How to use the team
Reapers use Energy Wave as main attack; with Ashes of Burned Witch it causes accumulating ignitions also. They have tactical option to interrupt stances and remove buffs - Desiccate, however only the Reaper on 2nd position can use the ability. Scythe of Life is a mean to heal wounded Reaper, also combines very nicely with Finger of Death spell allowing to kill chosen enemy in 1st turn. Reap the Maelstrom is used to provide support for Banshee to score kill.

Zombie uses Shock Charges mortar bombardment, which combines greatly with Banshee's Deafening Wail, granting permanent +14 attack bonus. Other that that he uses Accurate Volley, usually to finish off someone. Trench Loading is a mean to provide block and ward if needed, I've never used it offensively. Ultimate has very rare applications, as magic damage team we leave blocks intact; however, sometimes it allows to kill a foe without block. More often it helps to move Zombie one position back after shuffling.
Zombie, even though creating some dissonance with Reapers when it comes to healing from kills, is important team member because he ignores resistance, so he is capable of killing enemies which Reapers can barely scratch.

Banshee is a support minion - she can remove ward from all enemies, break stances even of someone on 4th position, but her most useful trait is granting +14 attack buff for Reapers and Zombie. In late game finally her damage is high enough to consider her as a damage dealer, however she is still inferior to other minions; still sometimes is beneficial to use her offensively, as her Morbid Howl has 25% stun chance.
Built around high evasion, maxed blocks and wards, and with appropriate items she also serves as a shield for Zombie, preventing damaging him, or interruptions of his stance, and she herself doesn't take damage because she either evades the hit, or has good amount of blocks/wards. Even when harmed she is healed by items.
Getting Spirit Mail/Spear bonus for Banshee is quite hard task, as at the time these artifacts shows up (3rd-4th floors) there are plenty of enemies with high resistance, which she is incapable of wounding. So, you need to change tactic to deal stress damage:

• Equip Shackles of War to prevent inspirations and escapes.
  
• Try to leave alive only least dangerous enemies.
  
• To skip turn with Reapers use Reap the Maelstrom, this will restore mana and increase iratus spellpower.
  
• Zombie to skip his turns uses Trench Loading.
  
• Cast Sorrow spell if sanity of the enemy is greater than 0.
  
• On Banshee cast Amok spell, and if you have it you can use Essence of Horror potion.
  
• Use Desolate Scream on the enemy till he/she dies to heart attack.

Of course, if possible leave alive enemies without resistance for her to finish, but that won't be so easy as I seen.

Healing
That's important topic, as because until very late game most kills are scored by Zombie, therefore Reapers won't heal the team. I tried various ways, and the working one is:

• Banshee needs Lantern of Souls or her class Second Slipper, and an item to protect the Zombie(Martyr Rags or Jester's Visage), as well as developed evasion, blocks and wards.
  
• Always carry 1-2 Ancient Vampire Blood potions to give it to the Zombie in emergency.
  
• Reapers, when need to heal themselves, use their Scythe of Life ultimate. Eventually they also use the vampiric potion.

Anyway, the usual usage of the team is to cast Infectious Lunacy, then hit all with Reapers' Energy Wave. Zombie uses Shock Charges, and Banshee buffs them by Deafening Wail. Next turn you might cast Rites of Carnage, and continue usage of the mentioned abilities. By the end of turn 3 usually the fight is over.

The team is built around Dark Knight's stance No Tomorrow, and Skeleton's Unnerving Fortitude to give the knight protection by redirecting attacks to itself. Skeleton is immune to debuffs so it won't be stunned, and thanks to Legcuffs item it cannot be moved. This combination makes its stance Unnerving Fortitude uninterruptible, and thus the stance of Dark Knight. However, few enemies, like Fallen Knight, are still capable to overcome this combo, so you'll need to adjust positions of minions for some fights.

Abilities, in order of taking

• Banshee - Crescendo, Deafening Wail, Paraiyzng Scream, Absorb Terror, Morbid Howl, NOOO!!!(right one)
  
• Wraith - Ghostly Inferno, Wind of Oblivion, Death Grasp, Survival, Echoing Terror, Spectral Fog
  
• Skeleton - Unnerving Fortitude, Smite The Show-Offs, Forceful Lesson, Strength of Mediocrity, Creepy Clank, Clumsy Strike
  
• Dark Knight - No Tomorrow, Death Comes For Everyone, Face The Faceless, Dark Cleaning, Dark Greed, All Is Dust

Items for minions, best options are listed first

• Banshee - Lantern of Souls/Second Slipper + Mechanical Eye for better utility, or something offensive like Crow Paw/Glutton's Tongue/Drop of Divinity/Spider Mandibles
  
• Wraith - Phantom Clothes + Essence of Mind(highly recommended)
  
• Skeleton - Lantern of Souls + Legcuffs(crucial item, get it 1st)
  
• Dark Knight - Vampire Fangs/Lantern of Souls + Crow Paw/Drop of Divinity/Glutton's Tongue/Second Brain/Spider Mandibles

Development of minion's stats
Final initiative has to be like Dark Knight 11, Wraith 8
As usual increase accuracy up to 110%-120% for all minions in early game, except Banshee if you're going to equip her with Mechanical Eye; in late game this stat should reach 140%-150%.
Stats to focus on:

• Banshee - a bit of evasion(2-3 points), 1-2 dread upgrades, then get block and ward for her. After that increase her life once, then again evasion up to ~45%, then final block and ward. Then invest alternating between evasion, dread, life till you max these stats; once done increase luck. Leftover points should be put in armor and resistance. For Banshee without Mechanical Eye item you also need to max accuracy.
  
• Wraith - increase initiative ensuring he won't outrun Dark Knight, then 1 point in evasion and dread, after get 1 block and ward, then 1-2 dread upgrades. The main goal for Wraith is to max blocks and wards, this with his Phantom Clothes makes it practically untouchable, and in meantime increase dread now and then. The final steps are maxing dread and luck.
  
• Skeleton - initiative should be maxed 1st to be faster than most of enemies, then armor, life, and resistance are the most important stats for Skeleton at the beginning. After maxing these increase its dread and luck, and put any spare points in evasion.
  
• Dark Knight - increase initiative to always move 1st; keep an eye to have it greater than Wraith's by at least 3 to guarantee that. Then alternate between armor, resistance and life, and put a point in dread now and then. Once defense is maxed its time to max dread then luck, and once every important stat is maxed put points in evasion.

Important spells, in order of acquiring

• Amok - you'll get it on the way to Advanced Ballistic anyway. Very useful spell in early game, later replaced by Infectious Lunacy.
  
• Dispel - deals both with buffs and debuffs, and removes ward from all foes.
  
• Infectious Lunacy - raises power of our all our minions greatly, sadly not for Skeleton.
  
• Blood Curse - very good spell against certain types of enemies, like bosses unable to dispel it, or someone with high crit chance. Lasts infinitely.
  
• Bone Obelisk - it's nice to have an option to disable non-boss enemy for a turn.
  
• Hail of Teeth - although Skeleton is good at removing blocks it moves after Dark Knight, so its nice to have a mean to expose an foe to Dark Knight's attack.
  
• Finger of Death - usually used to get rid off 2+ wards from a troublesome enemy.
  
• Battle Eternal - if things somehow will go really bad this spell might be a savior.
  
• Stoke the Flames - very good against armor/resistance bypassing enemies.

Recommended Artifacts

• Ring - Shackles of War, so enemies won't ever inspire or flee
  
• Necklace - Fortune Magnet, Maddening Amulet
  
• Armor - Unstable Armor, Archmage's Robes, or Robes of Potence, and ofc Spirit Mail
  
• Weapon - Destruction Maul or Grappling Hook. If you know ahead the fight will be against stress immune foes Tempered Blade might be helpful. Spirit Spear for bonus.

How to use the team
In very early game, until Dark Knight will get No Tomorrow ability, you have to use life-damaging skills, then you'll make a transition to stress team.

Playing the team is quite straightforward - Skeleton uses Unnerving Fortitude on Dark Knight, Dark Knight uses stance No Tomorrow, Wraith and Banshee use AoE attacks whose apply debuffs which trigger Knight's attack. In more detail:

• Knight thanks to highest initiative goes 1st, and goes into the stance No Tomorrow.
  
• Cast a spell suitable in situation, usually Infectious Lunacy, or Amok on the knight(negative luck is overcome by his feature) in early game.
  
• Usually then goes the Skeleton, it covers the knight with Mystic Fortitude. It will retaliate with stress damage every time it is attacked.
  
• Wraith uses Ghostly Inferno mostly to leave a curse on up to 3 enemies, or upgraded ultimate to damage all foes. This triggers Dark Knight's stance.
  
• Banshee in most cases uses Crescendo to damage sanity and debuff all enemies, and this trigger the knight. Note though Crescendo debuff does not stack, so sometimes you need to wait with her.

You have such tactical options:

• Banshee can break stances using ultimate, or Paralyzing Scream. Paralyzing Scream, combined with Wraith's ultimate Echoing Terror, also can handle highly evasive enemies, especially if you got Mechanical Eye. Deafening Wail helps against stress immune foes.
  
• Wraith can also break stances by moving enemies by Echoing Terror or Wind of Oblivion; the latter can also push away enemies like Demolition Experts , Firehrowers etc. Echoing Terror is also good at recovering mana if Wraith has Essence of Mind.
  
• Skeleton also can interrupt stances and push away enemies using Forceful Lesson, sadly only those on 1st and 2nd position. Besides it can boost ally's armor, resistance and attack, usually used on Dark Knight as this ability makes a nice combo with Death Comes For Everyone. It is also capable of dealing with highly armored enemies using Clumsy Strike, and remove at least 2 blocks by attacking with Smithe The Show-Offs. Lastly, its ultimate hits all enemies with solid stress damage, causing insanity/inspiration immediately.
  
• Dark Knight, if not in stance, can hit hard single opponent with Face the Faceless, recover HP by using Dark Greed, or restore some mana and wrath with Dark Cleaning, in addition removing debuffs from himself. He has an option to go to 1st position using All Is Dust, useful after reshuffling.

How to fight stress resilient enemies
Once all enemies possible to be killed by stress damage are dealt with, it's time to kill the rest. This team has minions with abilities perfectly suited for the task - Wraith Death Grasp lowers resistance very much, Skeleton's Clumsy Strike ignores armor and Smite Of Show-Offs removes multiple Blocks, Dark Knight's Death Comes For Everyone ability damage is boosted by his armor and resistance, and also can be pumped even higher with Strength of Mediocrity; on top of that Banshee's Deafening Wail grants +14 attack to all allies.
Considering all the above there is absolutely no problem with such kind of enemies.

Due to mechanics of stress damage many small hits once enemy's sanity is lowered to zero kill more reliably than few big hits - and this team uses that mechanics by accumulating curses on enemies. Curses count as debuffs, so Dark Knight with his No Tomorrow stance fits perfectly, helping to lower sanity of foes low enough, so triggers of curses kill them.

Abilities, in order of taking

• Banshee - Crescendo, Paralyzing Scream, Deafening Wail, Absorb Terror, Morbid Howl, NOOO!!! (the one which gives block and ward)
  
• Wraith - Ghostly Inferno, Wind of Oblivion, Death Grasp, Survival, Echoing Terror, Spectral Fog
  
• Mummy - Vengeance Beam, Unavoidable Curse, Absorb Power, Agile Grasp, Eternity of Torment, Powerful Horror
  
• Knight - No Tomorrow, Face The Faceless, Death Comes For Everyone, Dark Cleaning, Dark Greed, All Is Dust

Items for minions, best options are listed first

• Banshee - Lantern of Souls/Second Slipper + Crow Paw(highly recommended)/Glutton's Tongue/Drop of Divinity/Spider Mandibles/Second Brain. Or Mechanical Eye.
  
• Wraith - Phantom Clothes + Mind Essence - using his ultimate attack he recovers practically all of the mana used to cast Infectious Lunacy, and these robes give him a 100% dodge chance, also he has 4 blocks and wards so he doesn't need life recovery.
  
• Mummy - Lantern of Souls/Cursed Bandages/Vampire Fangs + Crow Paw(highly recommended), Glutton's Tongue, Drop of Divinity, Second Brain.
  
• Knight - Vampire Fangs/Lantern of Souls + Legcuffs. Legcuffs are mandatory, we don't want enemies moving him.

Development of minion's stats
The acton order should be like Dark Knight > other minions to make the team work. To do so, you need to set initiative for the knight at least 3 higher than the next biggest initiative. Currently I have Dark Knight 9, Wraith and Banshee 6, Mummy 5, but ultimately it'll be like DK 11, Wraith 8, Banshee 6, Mummy 5.
Next accuracy 110%-120%, with Advanced Ballistic talent should carry you to 3rd floor. Ultimately, you want that stat to be ~140%-150%. Then:

• Banshee - evasion up to ~40%, then get 1st block and ward. Then 1-2 life upgrades, then increase her dread a bit, then focus on getting final block and ward. After that, alternate between dread and evasion, once one of these stats is maxed alternate between leftover stat and luck.
  
• Wraith - evasion around 2 times, then 2 times dread. In general you want to max his blocks and wards, especially once you'll get Phantom Clothes for him, which happens on 1st encounter of Cultists. Then max dread, luck, and leftover points might be put in evasion.
  
• Mummy - put a point in life, dread, and luck, then get another block and ward. After that 2 upgrades for dread, then get another block and ward, you can also focus on getting final block and ward. Then you want to max dread, luck, life, and any leftover points should be put in evasion.
  
• Dark Knight - armor, life and resistance should be prioritized at the beginning. At around 12-15 armor and 10-13 resistance you can invest 1-3 points in dread, then go back to maxing defensive stats. Luck should be taken last, and leftover points put into evasion.

Important spells, in order of acquiring

• Amok - very nice spell for early game to be cast on Dark Knight and Banshee.
  
• Dispel - though Mummy can remove debuffs, or buffs after upgrade, this spell is still superior, as it allows you to use the Mummy for attacking, and also deals both with buffs and debuffs.
  
• Infectious Lunacy - in general curses have very low percentage of minion's dread stat, this spell helps significantly to increase that amount.
  
• Hail of Teeth - both Mummy and Dark Knight attack only once, thus removing only one block. This spell helps to get rid off it.
  
• Blood Curse - very good spell against certain types of enemies, like bosses unable to dispel it, or someone with high crit chance. Lasts infinitely.
  
• Bone Obelisk - it's nice to have an option to disable non-boss enemy for a turn.
  
• Finger of Death - mostly to deal with highly warded enemies; although this team removes globally 3 wards per turn, so its rather rarely needed. Also, mana recovery provided by Wraith is not that high, which makes usage of this spell a bit harder.
  
• Battle Eternal - emergency healing in dire need.

Recommended Artifacts

• Ring - Shackles of War to prevent inspirations
  
• Necklace - War Drums(our minions are slow, and it's good to apply curses before enemies' action), Fortune Magnet(against bosses, especially in combination with Spider Web consumable), Golden Rose, Maddening Amulet
  
• Armor - Unstable Armor or Archmage's Robes(both are best in slot, armor is more defensive, robes helps with offense), Robes of Potence, and ofc Spirit Mail
  
• Weapon - Destruction Maul or Grappling Hook. If you know ahead the fight will be against stress immune foes Tempered Blade might be helpful. Spirit Spear for bonus.

How to use the team

Simple tactics for the team is like:

• Knight goes 1st, and uses No Tomorrow stance.
  
• Cast a spell, usually Infectious Lunacy; although sometimes other ones(Dispel/Slake the Darkness to clear ward from all enemies, Bone Obelisk to stun, Death Finger to wound) are more suitable.
  
• Other minions use AoE attacks which apply debuffs and trigger the knight's stance.

More advanced, which requires upgraded Adobe of Wrath and Blood Magic talent, is:

• Dark Knight uses No Tommorow stance.
  
• Cast Infectious Lunacy.
  
• Wraith uses Ghastly Inferno trying to hit as many enemies without wards as possible.
  
• Mummy uses Vengeance Beam, Banshee Soprano - the goal is to raise wrath up to 100 to trigger Blood Magic. That's all for 1st turn. Next turn:
  
• Dark Knight ofc stance.
  
• Cast Infectious Lunacy again. This spell stacks, and more importantly this 2nd one will be severely stronger thanks to Blood Magic increasing Iratus' spellpower, Now minions will hit like trucks.
  
• Wraith uses ultimate Echoing Terror, thanks to dual Infectious Lunacy buff and Essence of Mind item it'll restore practically all mana.
  
• Then Mummy and Banshee do the usual actions.

There are also some additional tactical options:

• Banshee can interrupt stances using ultimate, or Paralyzing Scream if there are more than one enemy. Also she helps against stress resilient enemies by buffing the team with Deafening Wail.
  
• Wraith also can break stances by moving (Wind of Oblivion and Echoing Terror). He can also destroy traps by overriding them with his Spectral Fog, although that's not possible to use on his position. Survival is used mostly to swap place with Mummy, but it, along with Spectral Fog, also can be helpful to recover after reshuffling.
  
• Mummy's greatest tactical trick is to dispel buffs from enemies even if they have wards intact. You also can do a trick to heal it by casting Rites of Carnage spell, which also bypasses ward, then use its Absorb Power.
  
• Dark Knight if needed can heal 35 HP using Dark Greed, or restore 12 mana and 6 wrath, but these possibilities are seldom used.

How to fight stress resilient enemies
As usual, kill enemies which you can kill using stress damage, then use Wraith's Survival, or spell Forward, to swap place with Mummy - on 3rd position now it can use its Agile Grasp, and Wraith attacks with Death Grasp next turn. Dark Knight uses Death Comes For Everyone, and because of investment in armor this attack hits quite hard; other skill he uses is Dark Greed, especially when he needs to recover life. Banshee buffs the team with Deafening Wail, it's worth to wait with her to ensure the next turn all other allies will get that +14 attack bonus. Sometimes its helpful to remove 2 blocks using Hail of Teeth spell.

Stress team which uses Dark Knight's stance No Tomorrow to scare any enemy who has been debuffed + Smoke Bomb of Zombies which is great stress debuff. Banshee can deal stress damage + debuff too, also she helps with interrupting stances, and against stress-immune foes.
This team is the hardest to play among stress teams for base game.

Abilities, in order of taking

• Banshee - Paralyzing Scream, Deafening Wail, Crescendo, NOOO!!!(right one), Morbid Howl, Absorb Terror
  
• Dark Knight - No Tomorrow, Death Comes For Everyone, Stare Into The Void, Dark Cleaning, Ravenous Abyss, All Is Dust
  
• Zombies - Smoke Bomb, Trench Loading, Accurate Volley, Shock Charges, Hexball, Whistling Buckshot

Items for minions, best options are listed first

• Banshee - Lantern of Souls or Second Slipper + Crow Paw, Glutton's Tongue, Second Brain, Spider Mandibles, Drop of Divinity.
  
• Dark Knight - Vampire Fangs or Lantern of Souls + Essence of Mind(works extremely well, highly recommended). Crow Paw and Spider Mandibles also work very well with his stance.
  
• Zombies - Lantern of Souls + Mechanical Aim, Drop of Divinity, or Glutton's Tongue.

Development of minion's stats
Max initiative for Dark Knight and Zombies, then ensure all minions have at least 100% accuracy, 110% + Advanced Ballistic will be enough for 1st floor; ultimately aim for ~140%-150% accuracy at the end of game. Then:

• Banshee - increase her life once, then invest in evasion to around 40%; after that save points for 1st block and ward. Then invest in dread, and in around upper half of 2nd floor/lower half of 3rd floor get her final block and ward. Then start to increase evasion, dread, life and luck till maxed. Leftover points put into armor and resistance, 2:1 ratio.
  
• Dark Knight - increase armor, resistance and life a bit, then invest in dread, then again defense. Luck should be maxed last.
  
• Zombies - armor is very important for them as they can't increase health - get around 6-8 points early. Dread and luck are needed for offensive, invest in ratio like 2:1, or 3:1 in these. Lastly, after maxing these stats, invest in resistance, and leftover points put into evasion.

Important spells, in order of acquiring

• Amok - in early game.
  
• Dispel - as usual should be 1st pick; removing wards, debuffs and buffs makes it one of the best spells available.
  
• Bone Obelisk - after acquiring Dispel rush for this spell. It is very helpful to have it available before 3rd floor, there you'll face annoying Rogues who pull Dark Knight to 1st position. Obelisk can shut down them, and also counts as a debuff, thus triggers No Tomorrow stance.
  
• Infectious Lunacy - best spell to boost your minions.
  
• Blood Curse - very useful spell, especially against bosses who can't dispel debuffs.
  
• Finger of Death - used mostly to get rid off multiple wards and blocks; Dark Knight with Essence of Mind restores mana so well you can cast this spell each turn if you want. On the way to the Finger of Death you'll also unlock four other useful spells - Whip, extremely useful to move Zombies to the front, Sorrow, cheap spell which deal stress damage, and can be used to remove single ward, and Fate useful especially to cast on Dark Knight just before his All Is Dust attack, and Slake With Darkness, which is mainly uses as mass ward removal + extra stress damage for the enemies without ward already.
  
• Battle Eternal - just an emergency option if somehow things will go really bad. As stress team we don't damage health so in most cases enemies won't benefit from this spell, while our minions will. For more experienced players Battle Eternal might be replacement for healing items for minions.
  
• Stoke The Flames - our minions, except Banshee, don't have blocks and wards so this spell can be useful against some hard hitting enemies.

Recommended Artifacts

• Ring - Shackles of War to prevent inspirations; it is mandatory.
  
• Necklace - Fortune Magnet, Golden Rose, Maddening Amulet, War Drums
  
• Armor - Unstable Armor, and ofc Spirit Mail for bonus
  
• Weapon - Destruction Maul or Grappling Hook. If you know ahead the fight will be against stress immune foes Tempered Blade might be helpful. Spirit Spear for bonus.

How to use the team
Sadly, until Dark Knight and Zombies will level up to 3rd level you have to play as vigor damaging team. Order minions like Banshee, Zombie, Zombie, Dark Knight, use backliner Zombie's bombardment stance, frontliner Zombie Igniting Mixture or Volley, the knight Heartless Slash. Banshee either Soprano to give all enemies -6 attack, or Scream to break stances. After acquiring the required abilities (No Tomorrow and Smoke Bomb) you can do the transition to stress team.

The tactics for this team in general is very simple:

• Dark Knight moves 1st, and uses No Tomorrow stance. In rare situations, like facing enemies immune to debuffs like Wardens he uses Stare Into The Void.
  
• Then you cast usually Infectious Lunacy, or other spell suitable in given circumstances.
  
• Zombies throw Smoke Bombs debuffing enemies and dealing stress damage, which triggers the Dark Knight's attack. Rarely Hexball to deal heavy stress hit to a single enemy.
  
• Banshee uses Crescendo to attack all enemies, or Paralyzing Scream to deal heavy damage to single target. Both abilities trigger the Dark Knight's No Tomorrow, but be vary that the debuff from Crescendo doesn't stack! If an enemy has one already it won't be debuffed again, therefore the Dark Knight won't be triggered. Her ultimate allows to interrupt stances assuming the enemy does not have wards left.

This team works pretty well, although sometimes it's a bit tricky to ex. protect Dark Knight's stance - against some enemies like Champions you'll need to swap positions of Banshee and Knight, some will require to be stunned by Bone Obelisk.

How to fight stress resilient enemies
1st kill all enemies susceptible to stress damage the usual way, then Dark Knight uses All Is Dust to move to 1st position(you may cast Fate on him to guarantee critical hit), and from there he strikes with Death Comes For Everyone.
Zombies either shoot their pistol with Accurate Volley, if there are 2 or more enemies I was using Shock Charges bombardment for the backliner one.
Banshee uses Deafening Wail to grant +14 attack for next action of allies.
This way golems/wurms/gargoyles are easily dismantled.

Because this team is the hardest to play among stress teams for base game I've designed these alternative versions. Sometimes there is an issue to keep the Dark Knight in stance, as enemies pull/push him of his nominal position; same for Zombies, whose can preform stress attacks only from position 1 and 2, and don't have an ability to move forward on their own. So, for inexperienced players these little altered versions might be easier to play:

• Instead of Essence of Mind give the knight Legcuffs item. Essence should be given to Banshee instead of offensive item(keep the lantern/slipper). The tradeoff here is much worse mana recovery, and also inability to move Dark Knight to 1st position, from where he can attack stress resilient foes using strong Death Comes For Everyone attack.
  
• Swap positions of Banshee and Dark Knight, and give the Banshee Martyr's Rags item, or Jester's Visage. Also you need to focus more on her defensive stats like evasion, block and ward. This is better option because Dark Knight keeps Essence of Mind and ability to move to 1st position, however he can't use Stare Into The Void attack. Sadly, acquiring Martyr's Rags is not that simple, this item starts to drop since 3rd floor if I recall; however, Jester's Visage can be get even on 1st floor.

This team is build around healing provided by Reapers. To ensure killing blows from them Crow Paw items are equipped, because curse kills are counted toward the minion who applied it. Other minions use powerful, high base damage stress attacks to lower sanity of enemies to zero, so during next action of an enemy curses trigger and kill him/her.
Works very well, it's one of the best among teams from this guide.

Abilities, in order of taking

• Banshee - Crescendo, Deafening Wail, Desolate Scream, Nooo!!!(left one), Morbid Howl, Absorb Terror
  
• Wraith - Necrotic Squall, Ghostly Inferno, Survival, Death Grasp, Echoing Terror, Spectral Fog
  
• Reapers - Spectral Flow, Desiccate, Soul Dissection, Agony of Terror, Scythe of Life, Endless Power

Items for minions, best options are listed first

• Banshee - Glutton's Tongue/Drop of Divinity/Second Brain/Sadists Hand(weakest among them); a combination of two of these, though 2nd Brain + Tongue seems to be the strongest. Alternatively you can give her Mechanical Eye, and skip any investment in accuracy.
  
• Wraith - Second Brain/Glutton's Tongue/Drop of Divinity + Essence of Mind(very important item)
  
• Reapers - Crow Paw(crucial item, get it asap) + Glutton's Tongue/Drop of Divinity/Second Brain/Spider Mandibles

Life recovery items are not needed because Reapers provide healing on kill, and also you'll have Battle Eternal for emergency situations.

Development of minion's stats
Initiative Reapers 14, Wraith 8. Just increase it one step per floor, so on 1st floor Reapers 10 Wraith 6, and so on. Just keep an eye Reapers have the stat greater at least by 3 than Wraith.
Accuracy as usual, aim for 110%-120% + Advanced Ballistic bonus early game, ultimately this stat should be raised to ~140%-150%.
Then for minions:

• Banshee - evasion up to ~40%, increase life once, then focus on getting 1st block and ward. After that few investments in dread, then life again once, then evasion up to ~50%, then max blocks/wards, evasion, life and dread. Luck should be increased at the very end, to prevent kill stealing from Reapers due to critical hits mechanic.
  
• Wraith - dread 1-2 times, then evasion 2-3 times, then block and ward, then dread once, and evasion around 2 times. Next 2nd block and ward, then dread, evasion, and final block and ward. Luck, the same as for Banshee, should be increased after maxing all other mentioned stats.
  
• Reapers - getting 1st armor upgrade is very helpful, same as 1st life upgrade. Then increase dread once, and focus on getting 1st block and ward. Next resistance upgrade, 2nd armor upgrade, and final block and ward. After that alternate between dredge, armor, life, resistance and luck. Leftover points put into evasion.

Important spells, in order of acquiring

• Dispel - a nice mean to deal with nasty debuffs on our minions, dangerous buff on foes, as well as removing wards.
  
• Hail of Teeth - this team has no physical attacker capable of removing multiple blocks in one move, so this spell is so high on the list.
  
• Infectious Lunacy - a main spell used for the team, it boosts not only base damage, but also the curses from Crow Paw item.
  
• Blood Curse - very good against bosses and some elites. If also might serve as a mean to acquire a Vampire if used on attempting to flee enemy.
  
• Finger of Death - very strong, though situational spell. Allows instant 1st turn kill when combined with Reaper's Scythe of Life, assuming Iratus' spellpower is high enough. Also requires well developed Adobe of Wrath, and talents whose lower wrath cost of skills.

Besides the spells, important Iratus' talents to pick rather earlier than later are Drums of War and Frenzied Howling; these might require somewhat developed Adobe of Wrath though.

Recommended Artifacts

• Ring - Shackles of War, as usual for stress-based team.
  
• Necklace - Golden Rose, Maddening Amulet, against bosses Fortune Magnet.
  
• Armor - Unstable Armor, Robes of Potence, Archmage's Robes, and Spirit Mail till completion of the bonus
  
• Weapon - Glass Dagger, Destruction Maul, Tempered Blade against stress immune enemies, Spirit Spear for bonus

Potions
This team during my playtest didn't need any potions, however I'd recommend these:

• 2-3 Cleansing Potions, created from common parts are nice especially early game, before acquiring Dispel, to remove dangerous marks cast by Doomsayer of Executioner.
  
• 1-2 Ancient Vampire Bloods, created from common parts, just as an emergency. As it turned out during my playtests of various teams these are helpful against Mek Bros boss.
  
• 1-2 Essences of Wrath, created from common parts, are for later game, if you want to use Finger of Death + Scythe of Life combo.

Against Four Heroes/Grand Magister it's nice to have:

• 2-3 Recovery Potions created from better parts so they restore at least 40% vigor.
  
• 2-3 Ancient Vampire Blood, also created from better parts.
  
• 0-1 Bad Luck Mixture, to use on Mage. Devastating especially when combined with Blood Curse, because he can't dispel debuffs placed on him.

How to use the team
Playing the team is very simple - Reapers, buffed with Infectious Lunacy, use Spectral Flow to attack all enemies. This removes wards, or leaves curses on them. Next Wraith uses his powerful, single-target ability Necrotic Squall to bring sanity down to zero, or Echoing Terror to attack everyone. Banshee either Desolate Scream to bring sanity of chosen foe close to 0, or attacks all with Crescendo. The goal of the 1st turn is to leave enemies at 0 sanity, ready to be killed by curse triggers, and thus enable healing provided by Reapers.

The team is designed to benefit from mechanics of stress damage - if you hit an enemy with just 1 sanity with even 1000 stress damage he/she won't die immediately. Instead, from now on each next consecutive stress damage hit will test a chance to trigger heart attack - and you know what, that's exactly what curses from Crow Paw do ;] That's why this is a crucial item.

Tactical options available are breaking stances by Reaper's Dessicate, Wraith's Echoing Terror, and Banshee's Desolate Scream or Morbid Howl - in short, no enemy stance will last if you choose so.
Other option is moving foes off their desired positions by Banshee's Desolate Scream and Wraith's Echoing Terror.
Recovery after reshuffling is also extremely easy, Banshee can use Absorb Terror to move to nominal 4th position, and Reapers can move 2 forward with Soul Dissection. Wraith also can move 1 forward or backward with Survival/Spectral Fog.
And of course, good old Finger of Death + Reaper's Scythe of Life combo.

How to fight stress resilient enemies
After dealing with stress prone foes use Hail of Teeth/Finger of Death to clear blocks. Next Reapers attack with Soul Dissection, or Scythe of Life when the enemy has <50% life, and Wraith with Death Grasp. Banshee meanwhile casts Deafening Wail to provide +14 attack buff. Simple, easy and effective, as you'll deal both magical and physical damage so you'll overcome armor/resistance; the latter is also nullified by Wraith, making his next attacks stronger.

The whole idea the team is build around is being able to devour an enemy by Abomination each turn, starting from beginning of fight - and satiated Abomination can take hits for the team, and don't care due to very high regeneration. Works really well, but requires some investment in wrath generation.
This squad is very good for minion unlocking - it debuffs enemies so you'll get 250 debuffs for Lost Soul, it is stress team so it'll trigger insanity 80 times required for Shade, and lastly it uses wrath ability extensively required for Blood Phantasm, although it'll take some time to accumulate 7500 spent wrath; however, after 3-4 floors it should be finished.

Recommended Artifacts

• Ring - On Cakewalk difficulty Ring of Terror, Symbol of Fortune, Ring of Darkness, Bracers of Madness; until your wrath generation is decent you might want to wear Spiked Rings, or Ring of the Overlord. On More Pain Shackles of War to prevent inspirations.
  
• Necklace - Fortune Magnet, Golden Rose, or Maddening Amulet. If you need some wrath at the beginning of fight Iron Heart.
  
• Armor - Unstable Armor, Robes of Potence, Archmage's Robes, and Spirit Mail till completion of the bonus.
  
• Weapon - At the very beginning, where your wrath generation is not good yet Bloody Horn, then replace it with Destruction Maul as the team does not remove wards fast, or Glass Dagger/Grappling Hook. Tempered Blade against stress immune enemies if you know that ahead, Spirit Spear for bonus.

Abilities, in order of taking

• Wraiths - Necrotic Squall, Ghostly Inferno, Death Grasp, Survival, Panic Blast, Spectral Fog
  
• Banshee - Deafening Wail, Crescendo, Paralyzing Scream, Absorb Terror, Morbid Howl, NOOO!!!(right one)
  
• Abomination - Dread Roar, Gut, Unrestrained Hunger, Protect, Break and Decimate, War March

Items for minions, best options are listed first

• Wraiths - Phantom Clothes + front one Essence of Mind(very important item, Necrotic Squall restores mana really well), back one Burning Blood(crucial item, get it asap; without it the team won't work)
  
• Banshee - Lantern of Souls() + Glutton's Tongue/Drop of Divinity/Second Brain/Sadists Hand. Or if you want to make her reliable stance breaker Mechanical Eye; actually, that was the item I had during my test run
  
• Abomination - in very early game Pound of Flesh, later, when you'll upgrade Abomination's life, blocks and ward you can replace it with Glutton's Tongue/Drop of Divinity/Second Brain, or Lantern of Souls for super extra safety(I had Glutton's Tongue). 2nd item should be Jester's Visage - it is crucial to make the minion tanker, get it immediately after acquiring Burning Blood.

Development of minion's stats
Initiative Wraiths 10, Abomination 7. It is very important to set it like this as fast as possible to make gameplay flow fluent.
Accuracy 110%-120% + Advanced Ballistic bonus early game, ultimately this stat should be raised to ~140%-150%.
Then for minions:

• Wraiths - 3rd block and ward will make them really tanky, especially once you'll get their class Phantom Clothes. Then increase dread, and some evasion. Luck should be maxed last.
  
• Banshee - evasion up to 35% first, then 1-2 upgrades for life, 1st block and ward, and she should be fine in early game. Then increase a bit dread and luck, then switch again to life, blocks/wards and evasion. Any points left put into armor/resistance.
  
• Abomination - life is important, then dread, then blocks and wards, then luck.

Important spells, in order of acquiring

• Dispel - it'd recommended to have it before meeting Executioners and Doomsayers in middle of 1st floor to remove their dangerous marks. Also you can remove a ward from all enemies with this spell.
  
• Infectious Lunacy - a main spell used for the team, amplifies greatly these high base stress attacks like Necrotic Squall and Break and Decimate.
  
• Blood Curse - very good against bosses and some elites. If also might serve as a mean to acquire a Vampire if used on attempting to flee enemy.
  
• Finger of Death - powerful spell, can make an enemy on 4th position, where Wraiths can't reach, devourable in 1st turn in later game. Or just severely wounds someone, and removes all blocks and wards.
  
• Battle Eternal - great spell for stress team, our minions are healed, and enemies are unaffected because the team deals stress not vigor damage.

Potions
In early game (or rather until you'll decently develop Adobe of Wrath) it's good to carry:

• 1-2 Essence of Wrath, crafted from common parts, in case you need more wrath to devour someone.
  
• 1-2 Fear Vial, crafted from common parts, just to ensure an enemy sanity is lowered enough to be devoured by Abomination.
  
• 1-2 Cleansing Potion, created from common parts, it's good to have them before acquiring Dispel to remove dangerous marks cast by Doomsayer or Executioner. Once you'll research Dispel replaced by...
  
• 1-2 Potion of Denial. Its greatest feature is it ignores ward.

Against Four Heroes/Grand Magister it's nice to have:

• 2 Recovery Potions created from better parts so they restore at least 40% vigor.
  
• 2 Ancient Vampire Blood, with at least 20% potency.
  
• 1 Bad Luck Mixture with 35%+ potency, to use on Mage in 2nd turn. Devastating especially when combined with Blood Curse, because he can't dispel debuffs placed on him.
  
• 1 Daze Potion, with greatest potency available, to use on Mage in 1st turn.

How to use the team
Wraiths use powerful single-target attack Necrotic Squall which lowers enemy's sanity to threshold he/she can be finished by Abomination's ultimate attack Break and Decimate; it also restores big amount wrath and mana thanks to base damage Necrotic Squall deals, and spell Infectious Lunacy which should be cast in first turn. Thanks to properly set initiative Wraiths go before Abomination, preparing an enemy and wrath for its feast. In case you are a bit low on wrath or damage you can use wait function, or potions Essence of Wrath or Fear Vial.
Then Banshee usually uses Crescendo to remove ward from everyone, or Paralyzing Scream to lower evasion/move someone to more convenient position for you, or interrupts stance.
Thanks to that order of action, and equipped items you'll kill at least one enemy per turn strengthening Abomination which will take all the beating and just don't care about.

Tactical options available are:

• breaking stances via Banshee's Paralyzing Scream or Morbid Howl, or Wraiths' Panic Blast.
  
• in later game(once you'll have dread stat well developed) you can use the Wraith's who has Burning Blood ultimate for practically free against 3-4 targets, as it will restore spent wrath back, sometimes even more.
  
• Moving by these mentioned above skills, plus Abomination's Dread Roar, can also be used to throw the enemies off their starting positions.
  
• Necrotic Squall also removes buffs, and lowers enemy's initiative to 0 - use that to your advantage.
  
• Wraiths can override enemy trap by their own Spectral Fog, actually I've used that trick few times against Taskmasters and Inquisitors. I also used the fog sometimes to increase Banshee's evasion in middle game, when she didn't had this stat developed well yet, and she lost blocks/wards.
  
• And the last trick is Finger of Death + Abomination's Break and Decimate - this is especially useful against foe on 4th position, where Necrotic Squall can't aim.

Playing the team was so fun I've finished whole run on More Pain with it. You were right in comments tristn9 asking me to reconsider the possibility of creating it, it cuts like hot knife through butter.

How to fight stress resilient enemies
Kill all foes you can with stress damage first. Then use Banshee's Absorb Terror to move her to 4th position, and Wraiths to 2nd and 3rd - that'll allow them to use Death Grasp. The Grasp not only deals magical damage, but also lowers resistance by 24, and that effect stacks. Abomination meantime uses Gut, even if it doesn't deal damage due to the enemy's armor it still can stun him/her; also in early game, if you moved Abomination on 2nd position you can buff its attack using Unrestrained Hunger skill. That's not all, Abomination has other trick - Protect which deals 100% attack damage, instead of 3x35% attack for Gut, which sometimes allows to pierce through armor. Gut on the other hand is great for removing blocks.
Next turn Banshee uses Deafening Wail to add +14 attack to her allies, and Wraiths and Abomination attack the enemy. Simple and effective.

Wrath generation
It is crucial for this team to work, by that I mean having enough wrath each turn so Abomination can devour an enemy, it needs separate paragraph.

• Key for that is Burning Blood item, given to one of Wraiths. This, along with Adobe of Wrath, will be main engine for your wrath generation.
  
• As it turned out it was enough to play without stuttering even with Adobe of Wrath upgraded just to level 2. However, in time you'll unlock Lost Soul and Blood Phantasm, so use them to upgrade the building to max, will definitely increase comfort of game flow.
  
• Another key factor is artifacts - Bloody Horn, Spiked Rings and a bit less Iron Heart. Especially first two will carry you through the game. Savescum before opening a chest to get one of them asap.
  
• Next is trick to know about - minion's attack hit generates 2 wrath per target affected, so Banshee using Crescendo generates 8 wrath, front Wraith which hits 3 enemies with Ghostly Inferno 6 wrath. This was important in early and mid game (up to bottom half of 3rd floor, more or less).
  
• Also take early, mainly after picking Advanced Ballistic, Iratus's talent Overwhelming Ire - cost reduction of ultimate abilities is immensely helpful.
  
• Other important talent for wrath, although it can wait a bit, is Dark Enlightenment. It's good to have it, however it has lower priority than other important spells and talents.
  
• Don't hesitate to use wait option to ex. remove wards first with Banshee, opening enemies to Ghostly Inferno. Or delay Abomination's turn after Banshee will lower sanity even more, or generate that last 2-8 needed points of wrath.
  
• As an emergency you have potions Essence of Wrath and Fear Vial. However, if everything is set up right you should not need them.

All the above combined practically guarantees you will always have enough wrath for Abomination's ultimate attack.

These two teams, as it turned out, are not suitable for beginners because they require fully upgraded Adobe of Wrath to work. Well, theoretically you can equip 2+ Essences of Wrath, and give 2 minions Burning Blood to generate wrath, but playing them this way feels clumsy and stuttering.

Although during my playtest they worked well, especially the one with Infested, that's why I decided to left them in the guide. In general you want to use high damage stress attacks to lower sanity of an enemy to the threshold he/she can be devoured by Abomination's ultimate attack. Abomination also equips Jester's Visage, which makes it a durable tank for the team.

10.11.2023 update - at it turned out team Wraith, Wraith, Banshee, Abomination can be make working for a beginner. I'll see how about the other one, though I have doubts it can be possible.

I tried my best to put myself into freshie's boots writing this guide, however, having over 600h of experience playing Iratus it's definitely possible I overlooked something important for a newcomer. Having all minions unlocked, and thus being able to fully upgrade buildings like Obelisk, Library, Adobe of Wrath, Dead Lake, Iratus' Statue might also influenced my play tests, though it should not be that much, as it is mere a factor of quantity (a bit more exp for Iratus etc.).

So feel free to comment, and ask for more thorough explanation if something is not clear, or missing. Also you may mention other teams nice for the beginning I haven't thought of.

And if you've found the guide helpful - don't hesitate to fav'd and rate it. Also comment which team you used, and what was your playing experience with,