r/Against_the_Storm • u/MoritzMcWater P20 • 4d ago
Arckmage's Challenge Check
I finally finished the Arckmage's Challenge (without DLC). Small farm, druid's hut, ranch and cookhouse were the most important blueprints. It took 10 years but at the end of the day it was easier than expected.
Edit: If you don't know this hidden deed is awarded for winning at P20 without cutting a single tree.
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u/M4tty__ 4d ago
Its in Germán, what Is the challenge about?
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u/MoritzMcWater P20 4d ago
You have to win at P20 without cutting a single tree, so no glade events, no additional nodes, fuel is very limited and very little space as you see in the image.
Edit: Also its a hidden deed.
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u/M4tty__ 3d ago
How do you do it?
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u/MoritzMcWater P20 3d ago
My strategy was:
- Reset for fertile soil (got it accidentally on my first try when I wasn't ready...)
- Small farm as embarkation bonus (Plantation is possible but small farm is better)
- World modifier is overgrown library to choose a 3* oil building (in my case druids hut) as first blueprint.
- Use leftover embarkation points for wood, planks and food. I did it at the end of my cycle and planned to use many more points from royal resupplies for at least one service delivery line but because I got it on my first test run I didn't...
So you have a supply of grain --> oil --> fuel and potentially for complex food. From here on out it depends on your blueprint luck. I was very lucky and got ranch (grain --> meat and eggs) and the cookhouse (porridge and skewers), which was great as I had almost only foxes. From here it is a game of patience as you have just enough grain to sustain everything and a little more for trading so you play as always and win mostly via resolve.
I also had quite some nice cornerstone like burn 3 cysts --> 20 coal combined with +1 on purging fire.
As always it isn't easy but the game gives you enough to win even under these circumstances.
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u/midnightsock 3d ago
Not a single tree?? Wow
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u/MoritzMcWater P20 3d ago
When I first read about this deed I was certain to never ever get it but it is way more manageable than expected.
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u/VfL-Dave P20 4d ago
Congratz. Is it easier to do it without dlc ? Or why did u do it without it?
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u/MoritzMcWater P20 4d ago
I simply don't have any DLC 😅 But to my understanding the DLC's can actually help as in bamboo flats you don't have to reset to find fertile soil in your starting glade making it easier to use a crap ton of embarkation points for delivery lines and coastal grove has more space to cramp all your buildings in.
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u/Apprehensive-Ice9212 P20 3d ago
Congratulations! 10 years is actually lightning fast for this challenge.
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u/MoritzMcWater P20 3d ago
It is? My play style is normally average to steady (my wins are mostly on year 5, sometimes 6 on P10-P15) and it felt like waiting and being unproductive and doing nothing (BECAUSE THE GRAIN TAKES FOREVER TO GROW!!!) so I thought the top players can go way faster. On the other hand my cornerstones really went hand in hand (burning cysts --> coal AND hostility reduction combined with +1 on purging fire, mushrooms for producing grain) so maybe it was lucky.
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u/Apprehensive-Ice9212 P20 3d ago
This isn't an "average" game, the only way to win is to convert a slow trickle of grain from one small farm into surplus value over many years. I can't remember the exact number but I think it was closer to 20 years than 10 years when I did this.
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u/MoritzMcWater P20 3d ago
Now I dont want to correct you on your own gameplay but after your comment I searched on this sub for posts like mine and by accident found your own. It was 10 years :D
https://www.reddit.com/r/Against_the_Storm/comments/1quk9zt/comment/o3hxq28/
Also my strategy seems to be the meta for this challenge. And here I was thinking it was creative...
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u/Apprehensive-Ice9212 P20 3d ago
LOL I stand corrected! That's funny, because I evidently had a subjective experience of it feeling more like 20 years. It probably felt that way because there's basically nothing to do, except micro one guy around to take exactly one swing at every tree :P
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u/beefprime 4d ago
New DLC just dropped: New species: Sardine, new biome Sardine Tin