Warning: This guide was prepared for game version number 21142 (it is the last version before introduction of "The Color of Madness" DLC) and now can be outdated. I will try to update it soon.

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This is a party setup I've found which is can be used in many Champion level dungeons on Darkest game mode. Its whole idea is to have four highly protected party members. Leper and Crusader have their own protection skills (Withstand and Bulwark of Faith), Man-at-Arms is protecting Vestal (by using Defender on her) and that skill gives also protection to him. If you put these heroes in your party slots the game displays "The Wall" above them, hence the name.

rank 1: Leper
- Combat Skills: Chop / Withstand / Purge / Intimidate
- Camping Skills: Encourage / Bloody Shroud / Reflection / Quarantine
- Trinkets: Ancestor's Signet Ring / Sun Ring

rank 2: Crusader
- Combat Skills: Smite / Holy Lance / Bulwark of Faith / Inspiring Cry
- Camping Skills: Encourage / Stand Tall / Zealous Speech / Zealous Vigil
- Trinkets: Tough Ring / Sun Ring

rank 3: Man-at-Arms
- Combat Skills: Defender / Retribution / Rampart / Bolster
- Camping Skills: Encourage / Tactics / Instruction / Weapons Practice
- Trinkets: Barristan's Head / Rampart Shield

rank 4: Vestal
- Combat Skills: Judgement / Dazzling Light / Divine Grace / Divine Comfort
- Camping Skills: Encourage / Bless / Chant / Pray
- Trinkets: Ancestor's Scroll / Ancestor's Pistol

Skills and trinkets can be tailored to needs but general tactics always remains the same: for harder fights use Withstand, Bulwark of Faith and Defender on first turn, then "just kill" the enemies. Other worth noting skills:

- Intimidate: vs heavy hitters and protected enemies
- Purge: vs Bone Bearers and Hateful Viragos
- Inspiring Cry: stress recovery
- Rampart: stuns and moves enemies, allows use of Holy Lance and can bring enemies to Chop / Smite range.

"The Wall" will not kill fast in most cases but when used right it can survive more than the other parties I've played. It's also good for some of the bosses (I've killed Necromancer Lord and Swine God with no bigger problems). Here is some "interesting" video of this party in action. Have fun! :)

I'm running this setup since "a few weeks" and my opinion is quite different. I've tried many other party setups and, yes, The Wall is not the fastest one but it is the safest one so far for me. Yes, you are "wasting" first turn to set up buffs but if these protections are already up then you are getting ~50% damage less so you are getting (in total) one turn of enemy damage during two first turns = one turn is fully "dodged". In later turns your situation vs damage is even better.

It's probably quite good, when you are still a little underequipped for the dungeon you're visiting, as it minimizes the risk of losing a hero due to some bad dice rolls. When my party is properly equipped however, I rarely need any kind of protection buff. I rather make sure no one gets afflicted because this usually is what can make an otherwise easy run go sideways ;)

Stress was not a problem during my runs with The Wall party. :)

I've killed another boss with The Wall - this time it was Gibbering Prophet (and all his Pews).

I think this team will be able to handle most bosses, but be wary of the two bosses in the Weald.
They are most probably the toughest opponents The Wall might face. (outside of the Darkest Dungeon of course)

I know. The Hag is like The Prophet but there is one "small" difference - you can't really permanently destroy the Cauldron (just like it was possible with Pews) - that's bad thing for The Wall setup. The Cannon looks easier, but with no possibility to reliable kill enemy in rank 3 or 4, The Wall setup won't be the easiest to use here.

To make the matter even worse, I would not be surprised if the cauldron damage ignore protection… I don’t know how efficient the high protection of this team will be in absorbing the very high damage of the cannon, but the difficulty to reliably kill in rank 3-4 will absolutely make this fight a true challenge ;)

I do not think that Cauldron damage alone would be any problem as The Wall is able to destroy rank 1 and 2 pretty fast. The bigger problem is inability to move Hag to front rows (just like in case of Prophet) and that would make whole fight long enough to the phase where Cauldron's damage will actually start to matter.

I realized that the Crusader, Man-at-Arms and Vestal can all hit rank 3-4 if you give them the right abilities, so just switching the Leper for something like a Hellion might be enough to make this fight more manageable without altering the team synergy too much.

While she doesn’t have access to high protection (unless you chose the right trinkets), her Adrenaline Rush should help survivability a lot in this area full of blight and bleed.

4th rank: Crusader's Holy Lance is a tricky skill to use, Man-at-Arm's Bellow is mostly debuff not damage, Vestal will be more focused on healing than on damage.

You still have Crush (damage) and Rampart (stun) to hit the 3rd rank with Man-at-Arms. And Retribution + Defender to trigger Riposte with half your team.

I was talking about rank 4.
During normal fights not reaching rank 4 is ok as The Wall will kill ranks 1/2 fast enough and then kill 3/4.
During boss fights it's quite a different matter - if I can bring boss to rank 1/2 then it's ok, if I can't it's really bad.

For the Weald I've dropped The Wall and used The Hunting Hounds of Hell. :)