Two years after release, Darkest Dungeon's first expansion was given to fans, revealing a stretch of land tainted by the cosmos. With it came new trinkets, quirks, bosses, and a constant fight for survival in the Endless Harvest. Players must come prepared when facing these new threats, and knowing who to bring in their assault against the refracted horrors is vital.
This list is primarily focused on parties for the Endless Harvest mission, but players looking to unlock it by defeating The Miller should also find this list helpful. The Miller is guaranteed to appear with every Endless Harvest, after all, so a good party must be ready for him.
6 Highwayman
While strong on his own, Highwayman is a great choice for many Farmstead parties. His Crimson Court set almost guarantees he becomes virtuous, saving Jester time. He can riposte while guarded, leading to deadly combos with Man-at-Arms. His synergies continue with Jester, benefiting massively from Jester's camping skills and Battle Ballad, given he needs high speed to set up his riposte before anyone else. When looking for a reliable damage-dealer, players need look no further than Highwayman.
Combined with improved crit chance from Jester and/or Man-at-Arms, Highwayman can decimate anything in position 1 with Point Blank Shot, and his Duelist's Advance and Wicked Slice will almost always crit. This makes for easy stress healing, fewer corpses to worry about, and the trivialization of frontline-reliant bosses
5 Jester
On a similar note to Vestal, Jester is the most consistent stress healer in the game. The Farmstead is always at 100 torchlight, so his Bright Tambourine trinket can be used without worry. Combine that with his Crystalline trinket, Dirge For The Devoured, and stress won't be an issue, leaving Jester to focus on boosting his team with Battle Ballad. Afflictions are removed when a hero hits 0 stress, so players can also try to make a hero virtuous, then resetting their stress and trying again on a failure. When done right, players can enjoy a full team of virtuous heroes.
Players should keep in mind, however, that all use-limited moves like Finale do not refresh upon clearing a wave. They only refresh on killing a boss, so moves like Dirk Stab and Harvest are recommended for picking off enemies, then switching to Finale and potentially Solo before each boss.
4 Crusader
Can't decide on whether to bring damage, a tank, or a support? Bring a Crusader. Even outside the Ruins, it's hard to find a better jack-of-all-trades. He has strong synergy with Shieldbreaker and other mobile champions, using Holy Lance to destroy the backlines. He can struggle to stay in position sometimes, but most mobile heroes are faster than him, moving him into position while dishing out damage themselves.
His Crimson Court set works great in the Farmstead, slowing him down for said repositioning while making him unbelievably tanky. His Inspiring Cry is also beefed up on top of 15% stress, making him very difficult to become afflicted. Combine with this Bulwark of Faith, Crusader becomes an amazing tank able to support his team and smite their enemies.
3 Vestal
The Farmstead values consistency above all else, and that's where Vestal shines. As the Farmstead relies on strength in numbers, being able to evenly spread out healing is a great help, especially as it's difficult to keep everyone healthy after 100 kills or so. If possible, players are encouraged to use a Vestal with the Hippocratic quirk to improve healing skills. Having allies with Spiritual, a quirk released with Colors of Madness, is also recommended for more healing from her.
Occultist also works well as the team's main healer, but his healing can be inconsistent, as well as his stun only working in the frontlines. Vestal also gets access to a de-stealth with Illumination, which is far more desirable than the Occultist's corpse clear which removes potential healing with Seeds of Madness.
2 Man-At-Arms
Man-at-Arms specializes in keeping his allies alive, and what better place for that than an endless onslaught of enemies? He has a great guard that boosts his PROT, as well as a versatile kit with stuns, buffs, debuffs, and a riposte, to name a few. He works especially well with Vestal, as most damage against him, be it DoT or regular attacks, can usually be healed with a single Divine Comfort.
Command is highly recommended when using Man-at-Arms with a Jester. When combined with Battle Ballad, it provides everything that a team needs. Bellow works effectively the same as Command, but it relies on marks (which don't do well in the Farmstead) and is at the mercy of debuff resistance.
1 Shieldbreaker
Flagellant was made for the Courtyard, making it almost required to bring him along for any Crimson Court missions. While the Shieldbreaker was released a year before Colors of Madness, she certainly feels the same. One of the main reasons blight and bleed are so important in Darkest Dungeon is that they ignore PROT – something Shieldbreaker can do by default. She also has high dodge to avoid stress attacks, high crit to stress heal, and access to blight if needed. It's hard not to recommend Shieldbreaker for the Endless Harvest.
Similarly, she's extremely useful for The Miller, as she can prevent him from being guarded by the enemies he summons. He also has PROT and low blight resist. As does the second Farmstead boss. And the third. Shieldbreaker was released a year before Colors of Madness, but she was made for it. It's a conspiracy.
Darkest Dungeon is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.