Farmhouse Finale

The Farmhouse Finale is the fifth and final chapter of the fourth and final campaign, Blood Harvest.

Survivors must reach and defend a farm area (containing several barns, a large cornfield area, and a central farmhouse) from the Infected while waiting for military rescue in the form of an Stryker APC. Rescue is triggered via a radio located within the farmhouse, and once called takes 10 minutes to arrive.

Caution: This is the only finale without a mounted minigun.

During this time, survivors must consolidate their defences and be prepared to fight a constant stream of common Infected, as well as multiple Tanks and other Special Infected. There are fewer gas cans an explosives then other finales, although oxygen tanks can often be found in the house. Once the rescue vehicle arrives, the survivors must board it from the open hatch in the back, after which the vehicle is shown driving off, with the horde in pursuit, before the screen fades and credits roll.

Tactic 1
Equip with 2 auto shotguns, 1 hunting rifle, and whatever other weapon someone wants. Go up the stairs and have a shotgunner man the stairs and one man the forward hallway. Have the any-weapon-survivor man the back door (the left door when walking up the stairs) while rifleman makes sure no one gets taken by Special Infected. Make sure everyone is in a tight group. The stair-shotgunner should be in front of the stairs while the hallway-shotgunner and anyman are back to back. The rifleman stays close to all three and possible melees when the Survivors get overwhelmed.

When a Tank attacks. Scatter into the separate rooms, keeping in pairs (so Boss Infected can't pick anyone off) and keep whittling the Tank down using the Tactics described on the Tank page. Repeat until the rescue vehicle makes a complete circle around the house. It will only stop after circling the house.

Tactic 2
After calling for rescue, run out of the house to the right. There should be a barn. Climb the ladder to get to the rooftop area. Conveniently, ammo is usually stored up there. Fight off the horde by staying in the corners. When the tank comes, it's very likely to come up the stairs. If so, it's very easy for all of you to unload on him. This Tactic also works very well with Versus mode.

Tactic 3
Most often shown in the preview videos of Blood Harvest, this option is similar to the above barn, but in the opposite direction. You should find a long shed with one ground level entrance. There is sometimes a propane tank near this shed. The advantage of this position is that it funnels most of the infected through the ground level, although a few use a hole in the roof. This will make combating the infected fairly easy, and auto shotguns are perfect for this location. The main problem is when the tank arrives; you don't have much space to get around him and can take a lot of damage trying. The other drawback is that the shed is farther then both the house and the barn from the rescue vehicle, putting the survivors at greater risk during the escape. Try to escape the shed when the horde starts to noticeably decrease in intensity, and fight the tank in the open. Return to the barn for the second wave, then fight the second tank in the open, staying near the barn. The APC should arrive directly adjacent to the barn.

Tactic 4
Get 2 shotguns and 2 assault rifles. Stock up on items and go upstairs. Go to the middle room that looks like a kids room. Get one shotgunner at the doorway and the other at the window. Have an assault rifle man on each entry door. If the Tank comes by the outside, leave the room and scatter into the other 2 rooms. Everyone should be shooting him. Once he dies, get ready for another wave and hold out like before. When the second Tank comes. Jump down the window. You'll probably get around 15 damage. Fight the tank outside and killing him will be easy. The APC should come soon so throw one pipe bomb and RUN to the vehicle. After 5 seconds of running, if you have another, throw another pipe bomb. If you don't a Molotov does second best. Get into the vehicle and turn around. Shoot every zombie. If you were stopped by a Tank, attempt to kill him. With at least 3 people firing at him he should fall rather quickly.

If one guy is pulled out by a smoker, the assault rifle man should melee him immediately. If you can't, the assault rifleman should stay up in the top and shoot the smoker before the shotgunner reaches the smoker. Cover him while he gets against the wall. The 2 at the other door should head back downstairs and help him get back into the room. the assault riflemen should be able to take care of the other zombies.

Tactic 5
Get your weapons, medkits, and prepare. But don't radio the rescue just yet! Go to the area with the haystack piles and climb up them. There should be a fence to your left; climb over it. If you see the metal bars then your in the right spot. Now look to the left and jump then crouch. You should be in between the bars. It takes a while to get use to but practice. Once everyone is up, one fast person should call for rescue then get back fast and get on the bars. If done right infected shouldn't get you except for smokers; watch out for them! When a tank comes, he can't get to you but watch for the concrete he throws. Get off immediately if he does this and kill him normally. If this happens get back up there on the bars. If you can't just go to barn or house and use tactics 1, 2, or 3.

Tactic 6
Get two guys manning Auto-Shotguns and two guys with Assault Rifles or more Auto-Shotguns. Have the two with the shotguns go to the windows in the room where you call for help, and shoot any infected that try to get through. Have the other two go into the hallway just outside this room and shoot any infected that come through the front/back doors, or come down the stairs. The only flaw to this plan is that there is a wall in the room which is breakable. If this happens, retreat to a different area and use one of the other tactics. HOWEVER, when a tank comes, GO OUTSIDE. If you are caught inside, you will be killed very easily, and the Tank might be tempted to break the wall, compromising your position.

Tactic 7
Utilize the closet strategy inside the house. This involves backing into a corner and having some of your players melee spam while the others shoot any infected that appear. This is easiest is the radio area or bathroom, but is regarded as pointless and cheap by a majority of the player community, as it takes the challenge out of the finale. To counter this strategy in versus, camp the room they are using to closet and ambush the survivors when they make a run for the rescue vehicle. Alternately, camp the barn next to where the APC arrives.

Tips for Expert Mode
Generally, in the regular difficulties this level can easily be beaten by staying inside the kids room or either of the closets or the bathroom, but in Expert mode, this strategy does not work well as the tank usually arrives while you are still killing zombies, killing everyone before you have a chance to leave the room.

The two best methods for beating the end of this level on expert are either the closet in the back of the house (which is less safe for the reasons stated below), or the best method for beating this level is to camp in the barn. Neither strategy's work well if you are playing with bots, it is highly advised and nearly impossible to beat the end of this campaign with bots. This campaign is also said to be the hardest level to beat in expert, as there are not many good places to camp and escape from before the tank comes.

Using the closet on expert If you are a fan of the closet strategy and are playing on expert, the best closet to use is the closet in the upstairs room in the back of the house (has white walls and a closet, to your right walking out of the kids room). You can usually get lucky and exit this room before the tank comes.

Using the barn on expert The barn strategy, although the scariest and trickiest, works the best with 4 players on expert (if you have any bots your team, you will not be able to use this strategy at all). It is very important that most of the fire power is geared towards the big hole in the barn, and that at least one person watches the ladder.

The reason why the barn is the safest is because it is difficult for the tank to reach or climb into the barn, thus, giving the players time to leave the barn to safely outrun the tank,the common infected usually have to climb up to get to the survivors giving them more time to shoot them,there is an ammo stash and (if you're lucky) sometimes molotov cocktails on the table.

Trivia

 * The VAB APC in the rescue says "TK-421" to the right of the door. This is a reference to the one of the stormtroopers that Han Solo and Luke Skywalker incapacitate in Star Wars Episode IV:A New Hope.


 * In earlier development stages, the escape vehicle was a minigun-armed M-35 flatbed truck. The model for the truck can still be seen in game at Dead Air's Runway Finale.