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The “Eldritch Realms” expansion forAge of Wonders 4comes with two story realms.The first realm, “Tharru’Cath,“covers the escape of a Godir from the realms corrupted by the Umbral Abyss. The second is “Arcalot,” which covers the invasion of Athla by Urrath and Lithyl Nightweaver.
Much like the last story mission of the main campaign, “Arcalot” is a tough scenario that pits a group of factions against an overpowered enemy who likes to cheat. However,“Arcalot” is harder than “Grexolis"thanks to the extra enemies who can show up, the conditional allies, and a timer that’s always counting down.
Allies and Enemies
When you first start “Arcalot,” you can choose one of several boons to start with. They include:
For this choice, Umbral Flesh is easily your best option. Umbral Flesh gets rid of all the penalties that Gloom provinces impose, and turns them into benefits. Activating this spell will make navigating the Gloom-covered areas of the map much easier. You normally get access to this spell by bargaining with an Umbral Dwelling, but all the dwellings in Arcalot are automatically and permanently hostile. This initial boon is the only way you may get access to the spell during the scenario.
Like other scenarios, “Arcalot” has a randomized layout. However, the general directions are always the same. Your faction starts out on the south edge of the map, and the main enemy faction, the Chosen of Urrath led by Lithyl Nightweaver, is near the north edge of the map. The other factions also start out in predictable areas:
As a pair of Covenant members, Alfred and Meandor are in a permanent alliance with each other. Serena is part of the Shad’rai, the Covenant’s main enemy, but the traditional enemies have set their differences aside thanks to the Umbral invasion. O’neron is present to fight Urrath, but is primarily an ally to the Covenant.
Players are free to choose their friends and enemies during this scenario. Every time you meet a new faction, you get three dialog options:one gives you +300 Relations with the faction, one gives you -300 Relations, and one leaves the relationship neutral. This includes the two Covenant members, O’neron, Serena as the Shad’rai representative, and Sumuskira, a draconic ruler who joins the Covenant alliance once you find either her or Merlin.
For their parts, Merlin and Lithyl are permanent allies to each other, and are permanently at war with everyone else. Defeating them both is the only goal of the scenario, and so there’s no reason to antagonize or fight the other five factions. You have the opportunity to do so, unlike with your allies in “Grexolis,” but you shouldn’t attack them unless you really want the extra challenge.
Arcalotalso features plenty of Free Citiesand Umbral Dwellings. The Free Cities all have the Gloom Strider major race transformation, but you can vassalize and incorporate them like normal. On the other hand, all the Umbral Dwellings are allies of Lithyl, and will declare war the moment you make contact.
Finally, at around turn 20, Lithyl will cast a spell on Serena that converts her and her people into Gloom Striders. This forces her to switch to Lithyl’s side, which is a problem since her territory is between you and the other enemies. Lithyl tries the same spell again on Alfred on turn 30 or so, but Alfred resists and blasts Lithyl for good measure.
Main Quests and Side Quests
After you meet the Covenant members and O’neron, Meandor will give you the time limit of main quest, and O’neron will give you a side quest you don’t have to complete. According to them, Lithyl is working on a Nightweaver Ritual that will infect the entire realm with Umbral energy, and you have 15 turns to stop her. However, you may add one extra turn to this limit by destroying six of Lithyl’s Thralls.
Something to note is that the Thralls counted by the quest have nothing to do withthe Thrall resource you get to use as an Eldritch Sovereign. As the quest’s text explains, every enemy unit with the Gloom Strider or Umbral Flesh race transformation counts as a Thrall. This may include your own units, which means that losing a battle or two will at least slow down the timer. The quest will constantly keep track of how many turns you have left, how many Thrall units you’ve killed, and how many Thrall units other Godir have killed.
As the game continues, you’ll learn about other ways you can add time to the clock.
The Dreamwood Oak
First, you’re able to visit the Dreamwood Oak, which is a gold Ancient Wonder in the middle of Sumuskira’s territory.Don’t try to explore or claim the Dreamwood Oakwhile Sumuskira controls it. Doing so will cause your faction to declare war on the dragon. Instead, use the unique “Enter the Dreamwood Oak” option that appears on the Oak’s status menu. This will give you a menu of options you can use to delay Lithyl’s ritual.
You can only visit the Oak once per turn, and you can only choose each option once. Entering the Oak five times will give you nothing.
However, Sumuskira and Merlin will fight each other throughout the course of the scenario, and they’re so far away that it’s hard to help the dragon out. Sumuskira has a good chance of defeating Merlin one-on-one, but if Merlin gains control of the Oak, he’ll cut your current turns remaining in half.
Shadow to Shadow
Several turns into the game, Sundren of House Inioch will show up and offer to join your faction. If you accept her help, you’ll get a level 9 hero with some powerful equipment, and you’ll get another way to delay the timer:
Destroyed Umbral Dwellings also become the provincesyou can use to build Sanctuary Outposts, giving you a way to add more Magic Materials and Ancient Wonders to your empire. Sundren also gives you the special Umbral Rift spell, which creates a new Umbral Rift that connects the Surface layer to the Umbral layer in the same location. The starting Umbral Rifts normally connect to random locations in the Umbral Abyss, so this spell acts as a kind of shortcut that can get you straight to an Umbral Dwelling and straight back out.
The Flame of Revelation
When you first encounter O’neron, you’re able to accept a side quest where you agree to learn more about the Gloomwatch. The quest will point to an Umbral Rift to the west of your starting location. On the other side, you’ll encounter a small spiral island with five Soothing Shrines. Visit each shrine to learn about the history of the Gloomwatch, and fight the enemies in this area to learn powerful spells like Demonic Onslaught and Summon Living Fog.
Once you visit the final Soothing Shrine, the game will give you free access to the Tome of the Cleansing Flame, a tier-three “Eldritch Realms” DLC Tome full of magic designed specifically to fight Umbral Abyss enemies.You can also choose another tier-three Tomeif the Cleansing Flame doesn’t suit your faction build, or you can turn down both options to get some Good alignment points.
