Party Guide: Building a Four-Person Expedition in Dungeon Settlers

A concrete early-game loadout that covers tank / healer / ranged DPS without burning iron on swords: 1× Shieldbearer (tank) with Shield Bash (15 Stamina) and tier-2 armor, 1× Herbalist (healer) that patches chip damage during pulls, and 2× Rangers (ranged DPS) with tier-1 bows and Piercing Shot for backline casters. On Floor 3 the same build shifts to chokepoint pulling with the Shieldbearer and stockpiled Antidotes against Venomous Crawlers' stacking poison — illustrating how role coverage adapts per encounter rather than swapping members out.

Parties are formed and edited at the Expedition Founding stage: open the Expedition Tent, inspect each candidate's portrait, ability stats, Major Traits and Sub Traits (sub-trait locks are separable in patch v0.4.19), and match equipment to the skill trees the Major Trait actually grants, not to a class label.

Because death is permanent, survivable parties are valued over risky ones. In practice: pause for incoming charge attacks, status effects, low-health members, summons and unfamiliar enemy patterns; stock food and expedition supplies before a run; do not push past Floor 3 without a stabilized food surplus and a stockpile of Antidotes; pull melee back from enemies with a flashing red health bar — most enemies deliver an AoE on death.