Harvest Child



"Born to a corpulent, half-eaten mother, the child is a ravenous avatar of degeneracy!"

- The Academic

The Harvest Child is the Plague Eater boss, found at the Harvest House in The Foetor.

Description
The pride and joy of the farmers and nobles alike, crowned with laurels and sitting in a cornucopia, the Harvest Child is the symbol of the morbid fertility plaguing the fields of the Foetor. This grotesque messiah stays in the biggest property of the farms, pampered by everyone and exposing rancid meat for anyone wishing to behold this twisted gift from beneath the earth. There is no form of innocence within this oversized newborn, consumed by a never-ending hunger just like his protectors.

It is unclear if the Harvest Child was a normal infant before the corruption of the Foetor or if its birth heralded the Foetor's fall.

Combat Skills
The fight against the Harvest Child revolves around the Harvest Child moving itself forward into the frontline in order to utilize "Maws of Life", a strong multi-target attack, while the Putrid meat targets rank 1 and 2, and the Fetid meat targets rank 3 and 4, applying, a unique negative token capable of disorienting the player party. The Harvest Child's attacks "Sapid Drippings" and "Tantalizing Tidbit" do minor damage while applying either or  respectively. These attacks also move the Harvest Child Forward 1, moving it closer to the front rank. While at the front of its' party, the Harvest Child will use "Maws of Life", a powerful multi-hitting attack which applies and returns it to the back ranks.

Harvest Hunger
Harvest Hunger is a unique token inflicted by the Fetid Meat and Putrid Meat, with the Fetid Meat occupying rank 1 and the Putrid Meat occupying rank 2 at the start of combat. These enemies apply the tokens with their attacks. Unlike other debuffs, is cleared after only one turn has passed.

Notes:

Harvest Hunger cannot be applied if there are less than three heroes alive.

Strategy & Advice
The Harvest Child is a respectable challenge, capable of destabilizing teams which aren't prepared for the applied by its minions. If planning to fight the Harvest Child before embarking from the inn, it is recommended to use the "Apples and Cheese" Inn item, as it provides a +5% resistance buff, as well as items which buff and  resistance. It is also advantageous to bring combat items capable of clearing or, like "Anti-Venom" or "Medicinal Herbs". Trinkets with buffs to resistance should also be considered, but not taken in lieu of significantly more powerful trinkets.

Fetid & Putrid Meat
At the beginning of combat, there is a Fetid Meat and Putrid Meat in the enemy team alongside the Harvest Child.

When attacking, the Meats apply. A hero with will be moved forward 1 rank, and then if they are in rank 1, be forced to use instead of their usual skills. This can result in both your team being displaced, potentially interfering with the use of moves that require the user to be positioned in a specific location, and heroes being unable to perform their regular actions.

However, the Meats also make it harder for the Harvest Child to reach the frontline, lowering the frequency of the Child using "Maws of Life", a highly damaging skill. It is for this reason, alongside the generally high health of the Meats, that it is not recommended to attempt to kill them, and is instead often superior to mitigate the effects of rather than to destroy the source.

By using tools like Leper's "Bash", it is possible to apply to the Meats, allowing you to prevent the Harvest Child from reaching rank 1 to use "Maws of Life". This can also be accomplished through usage of the "Fisherman's net" combat item. the Meats and the Child also have low resistance, meaning that the player can use skills in order to move them in order to prevent the Child from reaching rank 1.

Combating Harvest Hunger
Controlling is a large part of the Harvest Child fight. can be resisted, which means that buffs to resistance should be considered. Leper's "Reflection" provides a 20% resistance buff when mastered, enabling him to more frequently resist. Additionally, Plague Doctor's "Indiscriminate Science" (when upgraded), alongside the holy water combat item, can clear from the target, although "Indiscriminate Science" requires a hero to be below its healing threshold and holy water is limited by the quantity the player brings to the fight.

There are few ways to combat Harvest Hunger beyond resistance, the most prominent method being the use of  tokens. Using strategically, for instance, 'ing your hero who is in rank 1, allows you to prevent a hero in rank 2 with  from being pulled into rank 1 and being forced to use. Heroes who are capable of this include Leper through "Bash", Hellion with "Toe to Toe" and Man At Arms' "Hold the Line". "Toe to Toe" and "Hold the Line" move the user forward before applying. This means that if an ally has been moved into rank 1 by, they will be moved back into rank 2, with the user of the 'ing skill taking rank 1. Additionally, if the player has fought the Dreaming General and obtains and equips The General's Dream trophy, every character will be provided with permanent at the start of combat.

Skills that move either the user or allies, like Jester's "Battle Ballad" or Grave Robber's "Shadow Fade", can be used to rearrange your party order to prevent heroes with from entering rank 1 and losing their turn, as well as for recovering from disarrangement occurred by  moving party members.

General Advice
A lot of the damage sustained during this fight will likely be from and, so it is recommended to bring some method of healing these afflictions, such as Plague Doctor's "Battlefield Medicine". Additionally, and  resistance buffs can be highly advantageous in mitigating damage taken.

As a Lair boss, the Harvest Child is unable to be Ordained or receive a Battle modifier, although as the player is required to go through two fights before reaching the Harvest Child, they may be unprepared for the boss fight if they had exceptionally difficult combats beforehand. Decide if your party is in a fit state to fight the Harvest Child carefully before advancing on from the second wave to initiate the boss fight.

The Harvest Child is a fight which can easily spiral out of control should the player be unable to mitigate or control enemy positioning, but by employing the counter strategies located in this guide, can be simplified immensely.

Loot
In addition to loot from the previous two battles in the lair, the Harvest Child has an array of drops.

Trivia

 * The Harvest Child can occasionally be heard crying while traveling through the Foetor. The Narrator even hints at this when the party enters the lair.
 * Maws of Life is a reference to the Flesh's similar attack from the first game.