Brave or foolhardy heroes in Darkest Dungeon 2 can attempt to defeat the Harvest Child. This horrifying boss can pull your plans apart by tempting your party with a cursed feast. While it deals decent damage, the Harvest Child's true danger lies in its ability to rob you of turns.
Luckily, the boss has weaknesses that can be exploited, allowing clever players to neutralize the dangers it poses. If you're hungry for a win against the mightiest of the Plague Eaters, this guide has all the information you need to defeat it.
Where To Find The Harvest Child
The Harvest Child appears in the Foetor region, at the end of the Harvest House Lair. The first two floors of the house are infested with Plague Eaters, so be ready to clear corpses, inflict Bleed, and take heavy hits as you make your way to the attic where the boss awaits.
Before progressing to the third and final floor, take a moment to assess your party's condition. If anyone is dead or on the brink of a Meltdown, or if you're running low on combat items, it might be worth taking your loot and leaving. If you think you're in a strong enough position to fight the boss, though, there are potent rewards if you emerge victoriously.
Harvest Hunger
The boss itself takes up two positions in battle, with the other two occupied by its secret weapons; Putrid Meat and Fetid Meat. The meat will draw heroes to the front of your lineup, inflicting status effects and eventually forcing them to gorge themselves, taking both Stress and damage. To prevent this, destroy both plates of meat as soon as you can. Despite having different names, the Putrid Meat and Fetid Meat are functionally identical, and will both tempt your heroes with one of two Aromas based on where the hero is currently positioned.
Meat Aromas
|
Aroma |
Target Positions |
Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
Mouthwatering Aroma |
Front (1 and 2) |
|
|
Tempting Aroma |
Back (3 and 4) |
|
If a hero with Harvest Hunger is in the frontmost position of your party, they will be locked out of using their Skills on their next turn. Instead, they are forced to Feed The Hunger, which damages the Putrid Meat or Fetid Meat but causes the hero to gain 1 Stress and lose fifteen percent of their maximum hit points. Once a hero has used Feed The Hunger, their Harvest Hunger is removed until an Aroma inflicts it on them again.
One useful trick for preventing the Harvest Hunger from taking over is to equip Trinkets that resist forced movement. You can also use Skills like the Hellion's Toe To Toe or the Man-At-Arms' Hold The Line to Immobilize themselves, keeping them in front so that a hungry teammate can't reach the meat. Of course, this means that if your frontline hero becomes affected they'll have to chow down on their next turn.
How To Defeat The Harvest Child
The Harvest Child is surprisingly mobile despite its size and will bounce back and forth within the enemy lineup frequently. You'll need a combination of ranged and melee attacks to target the meat plates if you hope to destroy them quickly. Many of the boss's attacks inflict persistent damage effects, so being able to resist or remove Bleed and Blight is critical for winning this fight.
Speaking of Bleed, the Plague Eaters are especially susceptible to this condition and the Harvest Child is no exception. The Hellion, Jester, and Highwayman all can pile on stacks of Bleed to the boss, and if you're comfortable putting your Plague Doctor in the third position (as opposed to her usual fourth) she can use Incision when she isn't patching up her comrades.
Harvest Child Attacks
|
Attack |
Effect |
|---|---|
|
Maws Of Life |
|
|
Sapid Drippings |
|
|
Tantalizing Tidbit |
|
Until the meat is destroyed and the Harvest Child can no longer change positions, you can use its current location to make an educated guess about its next move. For example, if the Harvest Child is at the front of the enemy lineup, it will likely use Maws of Life on its next turn as this will allow it to move to the back. Being ready with the Plague Doctor's Ounce of Prevention in situations like this can help resist the worst of the status effects the boss can inflict.
Once the meat piles are destroyed, hit the Harvest Child with everything you've got. Ideally, it will already be weakened from several turns of Bleed - you'll just need to keep your heroes healthy and finish it off.