On an endless road, during a ceaseless fight, who will you trust to have your back?

Welcome to the Farmstead - a place where a blazing, malevolent comet of indistinct shape and hue has crashed into the earth, spewing forth indescribable horrors in endless, ravenous waves.

The threat warrants investigation. The question is, which of your brave heroes should accompany you on the journey? Before we crack on with that subject, here are a few pointers and tips for the lead-up to the endless harvest.

Don't Die During the Introduction

While it is true that any heroes slain during the Endless Harvest will return after a while, those killed during the apprentice or veteran tutorial missions will not! They are merely introduction quests, so treat them like you would any standard dungeon. If a hero gets killed on the path to unlocking the mode itself, they are gone for good.

Pre-Endless Shard Farming

Keep your eyes open for The Thing from the Stars - an optional roaming boss. Should you best one in combat, you can acquire several shards depending on the dungeon's difficulty, ranging from 15, 20, and 25. If lucky, you may receive Unique or Ancestral trinkets, Memories (used to unlock specific Districts), and possibly Prismatic Quirks.

It's a fantastic method of purchasing strong trinkets early on, such as the Abomination's Broken Key for a measly 30 shards, helping you power up various heroes before entering the harvest.

Shard Mercenaries

Depending on your campaign progress, it's possible to unlock endless mode long before your roster is fully fleshed out, and you might feel tempted to try it immediately.

If so, players can avail of Shard Mercenaries - a stop-gap, allowing you to experiment or explore the harvest without using your standard roster. They are max-level heroes who can only venture into the Endless Harvest and typically sport a mixture of positive and negative quirks.

However, Shard Mercenaries will take a sum of the crystals you earn after the dust has settled. For best results (and profits), players should utilise standard min-maxed Champion heroes of their own.

Virtue Fishing

Lastly, serious attempts often utilise a strategy called Virtue Fishing. The goal is to have the entire team become virtuous, causing them to frequently heal, stress heal, or buff each other throughout the run, adding to the squad's longevity.

To do so, players need to bring virtue trinkets, such as the Hero's Ring. Once a hero is nearing 100 stress, equip them with the virtue trinkets at the next opportunity. If RNG favours you, that hero will become virtuous (rather than afflicted) on reaching 100 stress, and then you repeat the process using the next high-stress hero, constantly rotating the trinkets between them.

Considering the strategy is RNG based, even with the virtue trinkets, it is done best by teams capable of resetting stress to 0 if it fails, as that removes their affliction and allows you to try again. If all heroes become virtuous, don't forget to replace the virtue trinkets with their normal ones.

Now, without further ado, let's talk compositions!

#1 - | VES » JES » HWM » FLA |

It is only a matter of time before you notice the prevalence of Vestal and Jester, a combination often referred to as JESTAL. In tandem, they provide the most potent healing and stress relief in the game.

As a result, you will find them as the backbone of most endless comps. If you intend to fish for virtues, Jester is the best for pushing heroes back to 0 stress if it fails – wiping the affliction. They are a reliable duo, complimented by the presence of a Flagellant - a hero who can assist the Vestal and Jester with their healing and stress-relieving tasks whilst pumping out the best bleeds in the game.

Finally, our trusty Highwayman serves as a flex pick. Whether stacking bleeds with the Flagellant, reshuffling the team, dishing out passive damage with Duellist Advance (riposte), or sniping problematic back liners - his work is never done.

After ramping up Battle Ballad buffs and using bleeds as a primary damage source, this squad will leave very few corpses, which means fewer Crystalline Aberrations spawning in your path. Thanks to Battle Ballad and their above-average speed, they are sure to win most initiative (speed) rolls and dish out the pain before enemies can react.

This composition has everything you need to complete the Ashes to Ashes (300 kill) achievement, even without Virtue Fishing. Their only legitimate test is the first phase of the Sleeper fight, which requires good rank-4 projection. While not as potent in that regard, the team has more than enough sustain to endure the first-phase slog and to persevere against the much more dangerous second phase.

Once you have beaten the Sleeper, this comp can make short work of most standard bosses in the endless rotation. Depending on your preferences, you may wish to swap specific skills in or out for bosses and trash packs.

It is up to you if you wish to fish for virtues. However, keep in mind that the Flagellant cannot become virtuous. He can only become Rapturous - which is a unique hero-specific affliction.

VES-JES-HWM-FLA gunning for the Ashes to Ashes achievement.

#2 - | VES » JES » SHB » SHB |

Another commonly suggested team.

Making use of the JESTAL sustain battery once again, and thanks to the presence of two Shieldbreakers, this team is designed to smash the Miller and Sleeper into oblivion.

Due to their fantastic range and high speed, our hyper-buffed Shieldbreakers will pick apart trash packs from all angles using their PROT-ignoring Pierce attacks, constantly pushing to the front. Conversely, players can swap various skills to suit their preferences.

Given the presence of stealth-loving enemies, Expose is a solid choice, and while some may like the idea of double-gunning with Impale (AoE), others may opt for Serpent Sway for more defensive options.

Meanwhile, Puncture is useful for displacing position-reliant enemies, not to mention being usable from rank 4 (if the team gets shuffled), helping Shieldbreakers get back into place without manual movement. Due to breaking Guard, it will also help you to counter the Miller.

If all you care about is reaching the Sleeper and putting it to bed with extreme prejudice, then this comp will see it done. As always, those who wish to push further can consider fishing for virtues to pack even more performance into the package.

VES-JES-SHB-SHB with over a 1000 kills.

#3 - | VES » JES » LEP » SHB |

Players who aren't keen on stacking heroes can do so by replacing one Shieldbreaker with a Leper instead. It's not quite as specialized, and a lot of range gets sacrificed in the process, but it's still a solid squad with enough brute force to bully the opposition via AoE and raw burst damage.

Once battle commences, have the Leper pop Withstand at the earliest convenience. After the Jester has finished buffing the team with Battle Ballad, the Leper can have fun casually deleting enemies with his trusty Chop and Hew attacks.

Thanks to Intimidate, Expose, and numerous AoE options (such as Hew, Impale, and Harvest), stealth-loving enemies won't remain hidden (or alive) for long. Due to the Shieldbreaker almost always pushing herself into the first rank, it is best not to equip Purge, as that requires the Leper to be there instead.

If you want even more buffs, you might consider swapping Intimidate or Hew for Revenge, though the combination of great damage trinkets (and Ballad) is more than sufficient for trash fights. In addition, both Withstand and Revenge are one-use-per-battle, leaving the Leper very little to press or consider if you take both.

Solemnity is great for self-healing and stress relief, but considering the presence of JESTAL, it's overkill for a PROT-buffed Leper, though still worth considering in some circumstances.

All that aside, the comp as a whole plays similarly to the previous teams. Good decisions and focus fire will make short work of trash, and you have more than enough tools to dismantle bosses.

VES-JES-LEP-SHB pushing for 9600+ kills.

#4 - | ANT » HM » MAA » OCC |

And now for something completely different. Players sick of the JESTAL sustain battery can have fun with this broad range of playstyles - mixing dodge-buffs, mark synergy, guarding, stuns, and off-kilter sustain into a weird and wonderful blend.

With an Antiquarian in your team, you'll receive a passive 15% bonus to your shard profits, not to mention her stackable dodge buff (Invigorating Vapours), which you should weave in at every given opportunity. Meanwhile, her heal (Fortifying Vapours) also provides her target with a stackable damage-over-time resistance buff. A small but welcome bonus.

While her damage won't rock the planet, she can still pepper the farthest rank with her blight (Festering Vapours), which also strips blight resistance from the target, making it easier to stack the more you use it. If she finds herself shuffled forward for any reason, Get Down gives her the means to dive back into safety and reshuffle the team - along with a few handy buffs.

Meanwhile, the Man-At-Arms can opt for Command and Guard to buff and protect the team. With a Houndmaster also present, players can decide which style of guarding they prefer and stick to one of the two, leaving the other hero free to increase their aggressive options.

If you prefer more stuns and mobility in your endless sandwich, particularly during the early game, consider slotting in Rampart. Lastly, Crush is always worthwhile, helping you hit the third rank.

The Houndmaster and Occultist can collaborate as a mini mark-squad, weaving them in between their heals and stress relief. Depending on your preference, the Houndmaster can choose between his vicious AoE (Hound's Harry) or replacing the Man-At-Arms as a dedicated Guard.

Topping it all off, the Occultist serves as your dedicated stun bot, healer, and mark/debuff dispenser. Primarily, he'll be slapping foes with Sacrificial Stab and Hands from the Abyss, assisting the team as necessary.

Due to the sporadic and meme-worthy nature of Wyrd Reconstruction, players will need to be more pre-emptive (compared to the previous Vestal teams). When desperate, the Antiquarian can assist with healing in a pinch.

ANT-HM-MAA-OCC fishing for 10,000 farmstead kills.

#5 - | ANT » ANT » ANT » ANT |

And last but not least, we've got the Antiques Roadshow - giving you the chance to decide between nonsensical fun, pure profit, or a proper push. Possibly all three at once, if you're lucky. Due to the lower potencies and reliance on buff-stacking, it's a slow, methodical, and rewarding process.

Similar to standard content, Antiquarians provide a passive bonus to profits, and you can ramp it up further with trinkets such as the Crystal Pendant (+15%) and the Cluster Pendant (+25%). However, at +15% stress each, and Antiquarians having no inherent stress relief, you'd be wise to avoid this strategy during serious attempts. For those, consider fishing for Virtues instead.

Whatever you decide, success will hinge on ramping up dodge buffs via Invigorating Vapours. In general, you would aim to have two buff-spamming healer Antiquarians hiding in the back ranks, whilst two aggressive Antiquarians - typically with Nervous Stab, Flashpower, Festering Vapours, and Protect Me - sit up front.

Depending on your preference, you can swap one of the two Flashpowders (de-stealth/debuff) for an additional Get Down for some extra mobility and defence.

Aggressively, Festering can be used from any rank and can reach every position. It also applies a blight-resistance debuff, assuming the debuff portion is successfully applied. As a result, it stacks very well with itself, so the more there are, the merrier.

ANT-ANT-ANT-ANT pushing for 1080+ kills.

Whether it's shard generation, achievement hunting, or pushing for a thousand (or more) waves, there is something for everyone. Have fun trying them out, and don't forget to reconsider your selection of skills for each trash section and upcoming boss fight.

There's nothing worse than entering a fresh wave or boss fight with the wrong buttons.

Happy hunting, friend!

You may also be interested in:

• Darkest Dungeon Best Team Compositions
• Darkest Dungeon Endless Harvest Teams
• Darkest Dungeon Best Quirks That Are Excellent
• Darkest Dungeon Worst Quirks That Are Real Bad
• Darkest Dungeon Best Stress Relief That Are Excellent