Tips for Beginners in Dark Ages: The Last Stand

Age of Darkness: The Last Stand The ultimate test of your defensive RTS skills. With only the resources of a few scattered villages, you'll have to hold your own against wave after wave of thousands of nightmares. Game strategy can be a challenge even for veterans, so good gameplay habits are essential for victory.

If you're just starting to defend Erodar, these tips will help keep your torches burning and your walls standing. The rest, of course, when night falls and the swarm approaches, depends on you.

Play the first campaign

Survival in Age of Darkness is the main game mode, but it's a very good idea Play at least the first two acts of the campaign Before diving. It may seem a bit slow, but it's a good introduction to combat and the economy, and helps you understand what your army can and can't do.

The climax of Act 2 puts you in charge of defending Norfolk against the game's first true nightmare swarm. Once you survive that mission, you're probably in good enough shape to attempt survival.

Use hotkeys

This is true of any RTS, and Age of Darkness is no different; Hot keys save lives. Using hot keys lets you issue orders and build structures much faster than clicking menu buttons, and the time saved adds up significantly during a run.

This is especially important Assign a number to the units in each defense position So you can easily cycle between them, and Press B to go directly to the build menu Instead of clicking on your Keep. Mastering just these two techniques will help you win more games.

Place the range units behind the wall

Often, you should send your melee units to boldly sally through the gates and fight the swarm before they breach the walls, but Ranged units like Archers and Hunters Must stay inside. They can set walls on fire, so there's no reason to put them in harm's way when they can damage the defense.

Ideally, your ranged units will have a tower to shoot at, eg Grants them a bonus to Armor Shred Plus extra security, but realistically there won't be enough garrison space for all of them.

Always keep units in training

Your army will suffer heavy casualties when the Nightmares arrive. You need to have a steady supply of reinforcements to keep going, Usually from several training halls. If you think you have a sufficient army, you must queue more in anticipation of loss; After all, each soldier takes some time to train, and each training hall can only recruit one soldier at a time.

In the same symbol, Each key strategic point should have its own training hall(s).. If an outpost is about to be overwhelmed, they usually can't wait to move soldiers from another part of the map as long as there are at least a few local guards who can hold the line.

Keep roads between checkpoints lit

A surprise guaranteed to trip new players The fog of deathWhich drops down when the major Nightmare Swarms attack. Any areas of the map that are not lit by torches Covered in green mistwhich will instantly kill any troops caught in it.

It is important that you Prepare for the death fog ahead of time By building and maintaining light sources on the road. Otherwise, you Will not be able to move troops around the map as neededleading to isolated outposts falling one by one.

Spread your defense

As tempting as it may be to build a large army and fortify your Keep, this will eventually lead to the collapse of your economy as the outlying villages fall into nightmares. Instead, you need it Prioritize spots on the map that should not fall And make sure they have adequate immunity.

This is one of the game's main challenges, so expect tough decisions to be made – should you pull your Sentinels back so they can keep their earned XP to use, or sacrifice them to extract more iron from the mines. Overrun again? Whatever you choose, remember that it is It is very difficult to reclaim an unsecured position that you have lost Rather than defending and repairing the same place over and over again.

Build Troop XP

From the beginning of the race, whether you are in survival or campaign, you must be Finding enemies for your troops to fight Before the swarms appear. Heroes and basic soldiers are the same Become more powerful after leveling upSo if you can train an elite corps to defend your villages you'll be in pretty good shape.

Nightmares that roam the night are stronger, but grant more XP upon slaying.

It's also good to scout the map for choke points, resources, and anything else you might be able to use in your defense when the time comes.

Villagers are available for emergencies

With nightmares all around, it makes sense that every villager wants to do something to contribute to the defense. Collect resources, research, or fight. However, it can be the opposite Actually pays some idle villagers at any given time.

Villagers without work Can be appointed immediatelyEliminating the need to build any extra habitats if you need something like a ballista tower or a new group of soldiers right away. Houses don't take that long to build compared to other structures in the game, but when your village count is the only thing standing between you and an important piece of technology, that construction meter will feel endless.