Hello, everyone! I decided for my recent attempt at the Candledark Holiday, I would throw myself for a few risks. Essentially, a gameplay challenge! Be warned, spoilers are ahead!
So, I decided to make the game a little harder for myself by a series of achievements/requirements. I decided on:
1. No completely walling off the settlement (or leaving only one funneled entrance). The settlement had to be a little more risky, more naturally town-like. Which led to my second requirement:
2. Construct at least four houses before Candledark Eve. There should be an actual town when the skeletal forces arrive! Each house needs to be at least large enough to hold two beds, which should be in the structures before the attack. I stuck to normal rectangular/square houses to avoid using them too blatantly as a wall around the fort.
3. Limit the number of fences/gates you can use. For my playthrough, I gave myself only 16, which I would have to use creatively to defend or reroute enemies.
4. Create one unit of every profession. I would recommend only one farmer, to limit the amount of farming you can do. I actually played without creating a footman in my game, thinking it would be harder, but I think it’s actually easier to keep normal workers alive than the death-defying soldiers we get.
5. Suffer no casualties! See everyone off to the end. Everyone gets candy!
This was all I tried this time, but I later realized some flaws, as you’ll see. So, let’s begin! Welcome to Uhra!
First off, the best carpenter name I have ever gotten so far in a game of Stonehearth: Chopper Baub (Bob). He was actually a first day migrant! Well, that’s good. Hope you like working with pumpkins and the arcane, Baub.
My strategy involved keeping the farms in the center of the town, with the houses scattered around it. Some wild berries and silkweed allow some food and cloth without distracting the farmer from her critical task of pumpkin-growing obsession.
This was the only side I could completely block with fences. The other three had openings where enemies could come through.
So, we start fortifying the exposed sides of the town. Having a second carpenter join was considerably helpful with creating more wards. All four houses have been completed on time!
(ahem) So, for those of you that saw my first attempt I posted…I think Irving’s endless quest for badassery has taken an unexpected twist. He wasn’t attacking Uhra or anything, so…apparently, he became so badass he conquered DEATH! Good for him. Too bad I doubt his peaceful intentions with that caption, though…
So, is this where the skeletons get all their helmets? How come I can’t ever seem to find these things?
So needless to say, the obvious solution to our little burrower problem was to build a floor on top of them! …Didn’t really work. I have to give the workers credit for getting it completed while being completely freaked out and continuous running away.
Eventually, we won! For some reason, there was a lot more reloading this time around to free/re-agro the skeletons. No one died, but I think I know why.
I built WAY TOO MANY WARDS. Seriously, I made upwards of thirty or so. Looking back, I feel I should have put a limit to how many wards I could have, then be forced to move them around. Maybe ten or so? With that sort of number, You’d likely need at least one soldier to fight back. Keeping them alive, however, would be the real trick.
So, in celebration of the end of Candledark (and the beginning of Halloween), I attempted to make a celebratory Holiday Monument.
It did not go well.
Happy Candledark! I’m interested to see what sorts of spin you can put on the Candledark Holiday to give it a little challenging twist. Best of luck, and see you next time!