Age of Wonders: General Game Play FAQ 1.7 Started: 06/23/01 Copyright 2001 by AverMan Email: AverMan62@Hotmail.com | Warning | Anyone may reproduce this FAQ electronically, but don't sell it for money. If you want to use this FAQ for your website you must ask my permission, email me at AverMan62@Hotmail.com, and you must not modify it in any way and do it with this the Warning in it. Also specify that you want to use the Age of Wonders: General Game Play FAQ in your email. If you do use it and I find out, trust me I WILL, you'll be in some serious legal trouble!!! Thanks to all who cooperate. ^^ Age of Wonders is a trademark of Triumph Studios | Intro | This is the moment every Age of Wonders fan have been waiting for, the Age of Wonders FAQ for the overall game! I made this FAQ because allot of people requested me to do it after I made the Battle Tactics FAQ. So here it is the Age of Wonders FAQ! I tried to put as much detail to help as many people with the overall portion of the game. This includes the Campaign section, Scenario Walkthroughs, and other parts of the game. This FAQ should really be fully complete real soon. If anyone has any comments or suggestions on how I can make this walkthrough better please E-mail me at AverMan62@Hotmail.com. I really want to hear what people think of this FAQ so don't be afraid to speak up. Now lets get down to business. YEAH! ||| Updates ||| | 7/07/01 | - Minor Changes to the FAQ - Updated the "Game Strategies For All Races" section - Updated the "Structures" sections | 7/13/01 | - Updated The Cult of Storms Walkthrough - Updated the "Know Your Leader" section | 7/24/01 | - Minor changes to the whole FAQ - Updated Map Making Tips - Updated Diplomacy - Updated Know Your Leader - Updated Game Strategies For All Races Comments: Sorry for the delay but I've been away from my computer for a while. Anyway I added the Map Making Tips section and updated some of the older ones. I will soon be adding a list of locations that you can find this FAQ at. Thanks to all who asked to use this FAQ. Plus I might be adding the "Scenario Walkthrough" soon as well. | 8/10/01 | - Updated Map Making Tips - Added "The List" - Updated Game Strategies For All Races - Major Changes to the Whole FAQ - Updated Cheats - Updated Diplomacy - Updated Thanks, The List & The Warning! Comments: I've been adding The List to all of my FAQs to make it easier for people to find. You can always find the most updated versions of this FAQ at Gamefaqs.com. Anyway, I took a break from the hot summer heat and decided to put in some major work on all of my FAQs. All most every section has been a little revised or changed especially my Map Making Tips. I felt it was kind of weak so I asked for a litte help from an MSN community. Scroll down to my Map Making Tips section for more info. It's allot better now. | 9/16/01 | - Updated Cheats - Updated The List - Updated Game Strategies For All Races - Added Scenario Walkthroughs Comments: I finnaly got around to adding the Scenario Walkthroughs section. Along with that I updated the Cheats, The List, and Game Strategies For All Races sections. ||| Table of Contents ||| 1. The Story 2. Things to Know 3. People to Know 4. The Keepers Walkthrough 5. The Cult of Storms Walkthrough 6. Scenario Walkthroughs - Recently Added 7. Structures 8. Diplomacy - Recently Updated 9. Know Your Leader 10. Map Making Tips 11. Game Strategies For All Races - Recently Updated 12. Cheats - Recently Updated 13. Thanks, The List & The Warning! ||| 1. Story ||| Here is the story of Age of Wonders as quoted from the website Welcome to the Age of Wonders, once a time of magic and peace. An age swept into the ravaging gale of chaos by the arrival of a single, uninvited race: the Humans. The fragile balance that existed between the ancient races, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and others, has changed into a struggle for power and survival in the wake of the turmoil the Humans have brought to the land. ||| 2. Things to Know |||| This section is a brief description of things that you'll need to know just to play Age of Wonders. I'll soon go in depth with more of the information in this section in other sections. | Researching A Spell | When you first start any map, after reading the Background info, a book with spells to research comes up. The spells in the book are from the spheres of magic you choose from when you created your leader. As you research more and more spells, the stronger ones will then be available. It's best to research all spells in a sphere in order to get the most of it. | Managing Money | As your armies get bigger so does the cost to maintain all of them. In order to do so, you'll need to start making some money or gold. Chances are you'll start out with a few units, a town and maybe a farm/mine. Having as many farms, builder guilds, and mines are real important. Move fast to get these before your opponents do. | Managing Cities | Cities are a very important part in Age of Wonders. They help in strategic battles, provide units and income. Be sure to protect your cities with a good amount of units so enemies wont take them. Also protect them with walls as well especially stone ones. Be sure to find neutral town as well. Some may help you out while others you'll have to fight and then migrate their city. | Managing Units | Units are a vital part of playing any map of Age of Wonders. You should always be aware of where your units are and what you're planning to do with them. It isn't very wise to let units sit around because each unit has an upkeep. This is based on the type and level of unit. Also never have all of your units at one part of the map, leaving your cities defenseless. Enemies see this as opportunity to take down your empire. ||| 3. People to Know ||| These are all of the important people and groups you'll run into in the scenario part of Age of Wonders. Inoich - The Emperor of the Elven Kingdom until he was slain by the humans. He is the father to Meandor and Julia. Queen Elwyn - Inoich's second wife and the mother to Julia. The Keepers - A peaceful group, lead by Julia, which seeks only peace with the humans. Meandor - Son of Inoich and leader of the Cult of Storms. Cult of Storms - Created by Meandor, the Cult of Storms is a group that seeks revenge on all humans for their acts. Melenis - Meandor favorite wife ||| 4. The Keepers Walkthrough ||| | Overall Objectives | - Preserve harmony over the Earth and its inhabitants - Accept humans and their presence - Actively oppose the Cult of Storms - Avoid bloodshed and conflict when possible || Playing the as the Keepers || When you play as the Keepers, you play the good guy. Most of the missions involve finding people or places and protecting weaker races. When creating your leader is suggest picking one of the fairer races like the Elves. When customizing your leader in the beginning, build up your leaders stats. You'll have plenty of time to give you leader abilities and spells casting abilities later during the campaign. || Guide || Here is the guide for the maps in the Keepers campaign. Since most maps are straight forward, I felt a step-by-step walkthrough wasn't needed. Instead I listed things to do, what to get, and things to look out for. Here is the format: | Map Name | Races on Map: Objectives: Walkthrough: | Goblin Rush | Races: Goblins, Halflings, Elves Objectives: Conquer the map Tips: Enchant your leader with Bless or some other beneficial spell so he has a better chance of fighting. It's best that he gains lots of experience now so he's real strong at the end. This map shouldn't take you a long time anyway but be sure to pick up some items in a cave/castle for your Leader. | Decisions | Now that you've freed the Halflings and saved Flowshire from the Goblin raids, you must now make a decision to save the United Cities: to take a subterranean path or to take the Trade Route. I suggest taking the Trade Route because the subterranean path is allot harder due to the many twists and turns underground. Either way you'll have 20 days to reach the designated city. Note: Be sure to choose your units with the most movement points. | Northern Trade Route | Races: Orcs, Halflings, Goblins, Dwarves Objectives: Get to Lunaris in 20 days or kill the Orc leader Tips: Just follow the road until you get to Lunaris. There is no time to waste and battle the Orcs or explore. If you took your fastest units, just follow the road, and you'll get there in no time. If you do decide to fight the orcs, find their leader and kill him before time is up. This is another way of beating this map. Fortunately you get a hero to help you along the way. Be sure to get him to join you before you leave this map. | Subterranean Path | Races: Orcs, Dwarves, Goblins, Halflings, Objectives: Get to Lunaris in 20 days or kill the Orc leader Tips: The exit you're looking for is to the east. Keep heading east and watch out for Orcs. If you manage to find the Orcish leader, take him out and you'll beat this map. | Between Game | Now that you've taken the path to the United Cities, it is time to save them. Be sure to take your hero with you and a few strong units. | United Cities | Races: Halflings, Frostling, Elves, Orcs Objectives: Get to the United Cities then conquer the map Tips: It is a must that you get to the United Cities. Without it, you'll probably lose. So just follow the path toward the north, watch out for Orcs, and you should be fine. With the United Cities to back you up and the other Elven leader, you should be able to beat this map easily. | More Decisions | This is where you get to pick between Dwarves and the Lizards as allies. I'll leave it up to you to pick which one you race you pick. Just keep in mind that dwarven units are perfect fighter while Lizards have the advantage of walking over water. Plus you get to pick two more magic spheres to pick from. If you picked the Dwarves, you're supposed to pick up the remains of the Dwarven Empire after the savage earthquake. If you picked the Lizards, you're trying to prove to the Keepers that they are better allies than the Dwarves. | Earthquake | Races: Orcs, Dwarves, Humans, Goblins, Orcs Objectives: Conquer Locations Delatar Tips: This map is really long and goes REALLY deep underground. The target you're supposed to conquer is Delatar, which is located on the surface. Be careful because there are lots of Orcs and Goblins running around underground. | Southern Marsh | Races: Frostlings, Lizards, Orcs, Dwarves, Undead Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: The good thing about being a neutral race is that you can ally with any one you want. Be sure to ally with the good & bad races because it's better to convert them to your side then battle them. | In Between Game | If you're with the Dwarves, you are now heading to a Mining Outpost to help the Dwarves get back on their feet. Unfortunately some Frostlings want the Mining Outpost as well. If you're with the Lizards then you're now heading to the Peninsula of Sobek. | Mining Out Post | Races: Dwarves, Frostlings, Goblins Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: This map should be kind of hard since you don't start off with a city and the Frostlings have already taken over half of the map. It's best to get to a level 4 city and build quick units. After you take over a good portion of the map, then you should worry about taking on the Frostlings. Just so you know, they're a many dwarves on the easternmost side of the map waiting for you to lead them to battle. | Peninsula of Sobek | Races: Humans, Lizards, Dwarves, Orcs, Undead, Halflings, Elves, Goblins Objective: Conquer the Map Tips: This map will be a bit challenging because the humans have a strong hold over the map. As well as the Dwarves and Orcs. Be sure to make peace with some of the races until you can take them out. | In Between Game / AWWWWW MAN | After beating the last map, bring your strongest units for the next one. It is filled with Goblins & Frostlings. Too bad for you because your out of the Keepers now. Your efforts with the Lizards caused this but don't worry; the Lizard will prove to be good allies soon. | Hall of Heroes | Races: Dwarves, Dark Elves, Goblins, Frostlings, Orcs Objectives: Find the Hall of Heroes Tips: This map is very, very hard. You are practically outnumbered by Dark Elves & Frostlings and not to mention that most of the neutral cities are filled with Goblins or Orcs. Finding the Hall of Heroes is twice as hard. You'll have to do lots of tunneling & exploring to find it. When you notice allot of Karag attacking you, you know you're close. | Serpent River | Races: Lizards, Undead, Orcs, Azracs, Halflings, Elves, Dwarves, Humans Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: This map is made for the Lizards. Everything is close to a river so dominating this map will take no time. Flood is a REALLY good spell to cast in times like this. | In Between Game | Just bring your strongest units with you for both the Dwarves and the Lizards. But if you with the Lizards your officially out of the Keepers. | The Safeland | Races: Orcs, Lizards, Dwarves, Frostlings, Elves, Humans Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: This map will take some time but it's not as hard as the last map. You'll have to deal with many hostile races but keep your head up. There are many good-neutral towns to get so don't worry. Try getting a good relation with Humans because they are all over this map. | Blackwater Lake | Races: Lizards, Dwarves, Orcs, Humans, Undead, Halflings, Goblins Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Try to use the water to your advantage and try to find all of the neutral cities before everyone else does. | OH NO! | Unfortunately, Meandor has brought back his father, Inoich, and now undead are plaguing the lands. This introduces the High Men. Here is where you get to either continue and ally with the Elves or join the High Men. If you're with the Lizards you have a choice of joining the Undead or High Men. | Invasion | Races: Undead, Elves, Halflings, High Men Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: The Undead are everywhere so be prepared for allot of battles. This map isn't that big so it really isn't that hard. Plus there are plenty of good aligned races to aid you. If you picked any life spheres, Turn Undead and Holy Champion will help you allot. Undead have turned a good portion of the land to wasteland so when you get an Earth Elemental, be sure to turn the land to beautiful grassland. ^^ | Gabriel's Last Stand | Races: Undead, High Men, Goblins Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: If you picked any life spheres, Turn Undead and Holy Champion will help you allot. Plus the High Men have the ability to fight Undead so this map shouldn't be too hard. | The Skull | Races: Undead, Dark Elves, Humans, Dwarves, Frostlings Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Whoa! Skull Mountain really looks like a skull. Anyway this map isn't hard. You should be able to beat this map easily. | Back to School / Between Game | After defeating the Undead, it's time to learn a little something. One of your dwarven friends has heard of a Wizard College that will teach you a spell that will solve all problems. So you decide to go check it out. Again just bring your best units. | Wizard College | Races: Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, Dark Elves Objectives: Find the Wizard College Tips: This is a really easy map. It allows you to gain a little more experience, items, and spells. So just keep heading north and don't forget about that spell. | Unicorn Valley | Races: Goblins, High Men, Elves, Goblins, Dwarves Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Watch out for the Altars of Life and the Altars of Lightning that the Elves control. Also beware of the many, many unicorns wandering around. They will attack you as soon as they see you. | Old Schools | Races: Humans, Azracs, High Men, Undead, Frostlings, Dark Elves, and Lizards Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: There are many races to react with but it will be worth it when you get to the wizard towers. By the way, this is well-constructed map. | In Between Game | Now that you've gained a few spells and figured out it was Melenis who lured you to the Wizard College, you can now move on the bigger things. | Upon the Rock of Sacrifice | Races: Undead, Dark Elves, Humans, Lizards, Elves, Dwarves Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: You'll find many good aligned towns and units scattered around the map, so look around. There are lots of human settlements so try to get them to join your side. Tranquility might help. | Garrison Supply | Races: Frostlings, Undead, Dark Elves, High Men, Orcs, Goblins Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Try to defeat the Frostling leader before he has time to get stronger. He is directly east of the starting location. The Dark Elves & the Undead will be another story. The Dark Elves have a very strong hold over the map so it might take a while to beat this map. | Opposition | Races: Dark Elves, Undead, High Men, Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, Humans Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: This map will be a little bit challenging since most of the races hate you. Try to make peace with the Dark Elves and maybe an alliance. | In Between Game | You're almost to the final battle. After this you will move onto the greatest battle in Age of Wonders. Be sure to bring your strongest units with you. | Isle of Last Goodbyes | Races: Lizards, Dark Elves, Elves, Halflings Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Find friendly cities fast before the Dark Elves take them over. | Pass of Grief - High Men | Races: High Men, Undead, Humans, Dwarves Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: You can easily beat this if you get all of the wandering humans to your side and rebuild their cities. This will take time but, with the resources they gave you in the beginning, this should be no problem. Dealing with the Undead though is another problem. The leader has put poison clouds and such to make getting to him harder. Healing Showers and Remedy will be the most effective spells to help you. | Pass of Grief - Undead | Races: High Men, Undead, Humans, Dwarves Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: In this version, the High Men have allot more control over this map then you do. Plus they have human allies so this map will be a real challenge. | End Game | This is the last map before the game is over. Bring the strongest of units with you. | Valley of Wonders - Elves | Races: Every race in the game is here except Azracs, Frostlings, and Lizards. Objectives: Conquer the WHOLE MAP Tips: This will be the toughest of all maps to beat. Take your time & don't spread your armies too thin. Make sure your character or Julia doesn't die or it's game over. Good Luck!! | Valley of Change - High Men | Races: Every race in the game is here except Azracs, Frostlings, and Lizards unless you brought some. Objectives: Conquer the WHOLE MAP Tips: This will be the toughest of all maps to beat. Take your time & don't spread your armies too thin. Make sure your character or Gabriel doesn't die or it's game over. This map won't be as hard because you are allied to the humans. | Valley of Wonders - Undead | Races: Every race in the game is here except Azracs, Frostlings, and Lizards. Objectives: Conquer the WHOLE MAP Tips: This will be the toughest of all maps to beat. Take your time & don't spread your armies too thin. Make sure your character or Inoich doesn't die or it's game over. Be sure to use the Blood Shrine near you to your advantage. Good Luck!! I really like this ending. ^^ ||| 5. Cult of Storms Walkthrough ||| | Overall Objectives | - Rid the world of both Humans and Keeper - Rebuild the Elven Court in the Valley of Storms - Resurrect the greatest Elven Lord, Inoich - Restore order under their own law and power || Walkthrough || Playing the bad guy isn't that bad. You get to put down revolts and go toe-to-toe with traitors and good guys. I suggest you customize your leader and wait to give him abilities during the campaign. Give him the Unholy Champion ability as soon as you can. | Prelude to War | Races: Elves, Goblins Objectives: Assassinate Queen Elywn Tips: Try to find the queen before she can get any stronger and you should be able to beat he easily. If you think you could use more assistance there is a 4-Hex city on the northeastern part of the map. | Between Game | Be sure to take your assassins or the Goblin Beetle to the next mission. Also be sure to take the Northern Trade Route, it's easier. | Northern Trade Route | Races: Halflings, Goblins Objectives: Conquer Lunaris or defeat the Halfing leader Tips: Get to Lunaris within 20 days isn't the hard part; it's conquering it. To get their just follow the road. Find the hero on this map to help you out. If you beat the Halfing leader, you'll save yourself sometime. He is located at the northeastern part of the map. | Subterranean Path | Races: Orc, Goblins, Dwarves Objectives: Conquer the Map or defeat the Dwarven leader Tips: Make peace with the Orcs and have them make war with the Dwarves. Then either find and defeat the Dwarven leader or get to Lunaris. | In Between Game | Be sure to bring your strongest units to the next map. | United Cities | Races: Goblins, Orcs, Elves, Halflings, Frostlings Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Use your alliance with the Orc to you advantage because you in for a long battle for the United Cities. Try to make peace with the Frostling and when your threw with the Elves and Halflings, you should be able to take them out easily. | In Between Game | Here you get two more spheres and you'll have two choices: join the Lizards or continue the path with Meandor and join the Orcs. Keep in mind that the Orcs are excellent fighters known for their brute strength while the Lizards have an advantage over the water. | Uniting the Clans | Races: Orcs, Halflings, Dwarves, Azracs Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: There are many Goblin/Orc cities waiting to join you so find them fast. Also try to take out the Halfling leader first since he is the closest and weakest. Be sure to migrate the level 4 cities to orcs. This will help you in this and the next map. | Southern Marsh | Races: Frostlings, Lizards, Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: The good thing about being a neutral race is that you can ally with two sides instead of just one. Be sure to ally with the neutral & bad races because it's better to convert them to your side then battle them. | In Between Game | For the next mission, bring your strongest orc units. | Goblin Revolt | Races: Orcs, Goblins, Dwarves, Halflings Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: You'll be going against the Goblins but when you defeat the Goblin leader, the Goblin cities will join you. He is located in the center of the map. Once you take care of him then you should focus on the Halfingns and the Dwarves. | Peninsula of Sobek | Races: Humans, Lizards, Dwarves, Orcs Objective: Conquer the Map Tips: This map will be a bit challenging because the humans have a strong hold over the map. As well as the Dwarves and Orcs. Be sure to make peace with the Orc until you can take them out. If you don't have one already, you'll get a hero at the beginning of round 1. | In Between Game | You should have a few Orc Warlords or a Red Dragon by now. These will help out in the next map. Be sure to take plenty of strong Lizard units with you to the next map. | Ashen Steppe | Races: Humans, Orcs, Azracs Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: This map is pretty small. Most of the cities are clustered together so taking them over will be no problem. Beating the humans will be no problem but the Azracs will provide a little problem. | Serpent River | Races: Lizards, Undead, Orcs, Azracs, Halflings, Elves, Dwarves, Humans Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: This map is made for the Lizards. Everything is close to a river so dominating this map will take no time. Flood is a REALLY good spell to cast in times like this. | Facing A Legend | In the next map you'll be facing Bromac, a dwarven legend. He is pretty strong but don't worry. Your leader should be about level 10-13 and you should have some level 3/4 units with gold experience. | Facing a Legend | Races: Lizards, Humans, Orcs, Dwarves Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: You'll have to cross to a river in order to get to Bromac or you can take the fast underground route. Watch out for the Lizards though if you decide to the river. First you should take over the Human cities toward the north and, when your ready, cross the river and find a city to take over. | Blackwater Lake | Races: Lizards, Dwarves, Orcs, Humans Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Try to use the water to your advantage and try to find all of the neutral cities before everyone else does. | Immortality / Desicions | After defeating Bromac, you'll face two decisions: Join the Undead or join the Dark Elves. Keep in mind the Undead have many immunities and regenerate every turn. The Dark Elves have a variety of units and high resistances. You'll also get to pick two more spheres to worship. After freeing all of the Lizards land, you'll have to make two choices: Join the Undead or the Highmen and pick two new spheres. | From the Depths of Earth | Races: Dark Elves, Undead, Elves Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: As you move up on the map, you'll face different enemies. When you reach the caverns level you'll face the Undead. When you reach the surface you'll face the Elves. When you get to the caverns, don't leave until you've beaten the Undead. It'll be easier to deal with one leader at a time. Be sure to produce the Dark Elves strongest units. | The Skull | Races: Dark Elves, Undead Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Whoa! Skull Mountain really looks like a skull. Anyway this map isn't hard. You should be able to beat this map easily. | Gabriel's Last Stand | Races: Undead, High Men Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: If you picked any life spheres (which I doubt), Turn Undead and Holy Champion will help you allot. Plus the High Men have the natural ability to fight Undead so this map shouldn't be too hard. | In Between Game | I hope you produced the Dark Elves strongest units because you'll need them. Now that you've experienced the Undead/High Men units, bring the strongest ones to the next map. | Noble Treachery | Races: Azracs, Dark Elves, Frostlings, Lizards Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: You'll have to move fast to defeat your opponents. You'll be fighting a battle against three opponents on three sides. Move quick to take out at least one leader and you'll be fine. | Old Schools | Races: Humans, Azracs, High Men, Undead, Frostlings, Dark Elves, and Lizards Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: There are many races to react with but it will be worth it when you get to the wizard towers in the middle of the map. By the way, this is well-constructed map. | Unicorn Valley | Races: High Men, Elves Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Watch out for the Altars of Life and the Altars of Lightning that the Elves control. Also beware of the many, many unicorns wandering around. They will attack you as soon as they see you. | In Between Game | You're almost down with the campaign and the maps only get harder. | Inioch Touch | Races: Undead, High Men, Dark Elves Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: This map will be hard since you'll have no city to start off from. You can try to make peace with the Undead until your empire is big enough. Toward the north, there are some Dark Elf settlements. Try to get to the before the Undead or Highmen get them. | Opposition | Races: Human, Dark Elves, High Men, Elves, Undead Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: There are allot of Undead cities underground so start looking. You'll be facing allot of hostile races in this map. Just take them on one at a time and you'll be fine. | Garrison Supply | Races: Frostlings, Undead, Dark Elves, High Men, Orcs, Goblins Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Try to defeat the Frostling leader before he has time to get stronger. He is directly east of the starting location. The Dark Elves & the Undead will be another story. The Dark Elves have a very strong hold over the map so it might take a while to beat this map. | In Between Game | Bring your strongest units to the next map. | The Storm | Races: Dwarves, Elves, Dark Elves, Highmen, Halflings Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: Again we find ourselves outnumbered. This time it's even worse since you can't even offer peace until you're strong enough. Don't worry stay above ground and you'll find a few friendly races. Take over the Dwarves empire first because they are the weakest. They are located toward the east. Be sure to protect your cities because your opponents will swarm you quick. | Pass of Grief - Undead | Races: High Men, Undead Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: There are many human cities to get so build quick units so you can get to them before the High Men do. | Pass of Grief - High Men | Races: High Men, Undead Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: There are many razed human cities and many wandering human units so convert them and don't forget to bring some builders. Just follow the wasteland to find the leader. | In Between Game | The final battle is here so bring only the strongest units. | Valley of Wonders - Dark Elf | Races: Dark Elves, High Men, Elves, Undead, Humans Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: This will be a hard map but nothing harder than you already played. The humans have a strangle hold on the map. Try to take them out last but don't let them get too strong. | Valley of Wonders - Undead| Races: Dark Elves, High Men, Elves, Undead, Humans Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: This map is huge and filled with hostile races. You'll have slight advantage in battles if you have any Reapers. Just be wary about the High Men since they are built to fight Undead. They are located to the north. | Valley of Opportunity - High Men| Races: Dark Elves, High Men, Elves, Undead, Humans Objectives: Conquer the Map Tips: You'll have a clear advantage when coming into this fight because of the humans. Try to take out the Undead first since High Men can beat them easily. ||| 6. Scenario Walkthroughs ||| In this section, I gave my opinion on the many scenarios and some strategies you should use on each of them. Here is the format: Name Size/Number of Cities/Number of Players Races: ----- Strategies: After the Fall XL / 80 / 12 Races: All of them Strategies: This map is pretty evened throughout the all of the race but a few races have advantages. The Lizards have the greatest advantage because there is water all over the whole map. A flood spell should be enough to give them total domination. Humans also have an advantage because, on the southeastern part of the map, there is a huge human settlement. If you can get to there before anyone else, you will have a big advantage. The only race I would think you would have a problem beating this map with is the Undead. When I played it with the Undead, I found that most of the cities were either good or neutral. Barondir Bay M / 23 / 4 Races: Humans, Azracs, Lizardmen, Frostlings Strategies: This is another possible map for the Lizardmen to dominate. They start out in the middle of the map so access to other races is very easy. Plus it makes it harder for them to get to you. For the Humans, you'll have to rely on the flying Galleon to get your units from place to place. This is the safest method. The Frostlings should use their drakes and the Frost Queens to take over the waters. The Azracs are just going to have to struggle. Since all of the races are on different island, be sure to conquer all cities on your island before engaging enemies. Blood Isle M / 15 / 4 Races: Humans, Azracs, Goblins, Dwarves Strategies: This fairly small map is fair for all races. The only advantages I see are that the Humans and Azracs can ally and take over the map. Since there is no underground, the Goblins and Dwarves are at a disadvantage. Cold Fusion M / 21 / 2 Races: High Men & Undead Strategies: Cold Fusion is a simple map: Destroy the enemy. The only thing that could be a problem is the many neutral Frostlings. With the High Men being pure good, the Undead being pure evil, it is almost impossible to win them over. Use the arenas to train your units and heroes and use the items you get from the ruins to help you out. Diplomacy with Dragons L / 24 / 4 Races: Orcs, Lizard Men, Frostlings, Elves Strategies: For this map, you should see what you could find in the blackened area where the dragons are. Be aware because they will attack without warning. Bring some ballista's and other ranged attackers to take them out. When you decide to go after the other races, just use the tactics you're used to using. First Conflict L / 34 / 4 Races: Orcs, Elves, Haflings, Goblins Strategies: In this map, you should try to ally with the other race of your alignment. I always say this because it's one less race to worry about. Also you might want to take out the Syrons guarding the Altar of Death to increase your control of the area. Heartwood Forest L / 44 / 4 Races: Orcs, Goblins, Elves, Halflings Strategies: This is one of my favorite maps because the effects used. There is a fire that rages for many days cutting off the Elves from the Haflings. If you play as the Orcs or Goblins, you should take advantage of this. The only thing that you should be aware of is the serpents that travel the sea. Honeyvale Falls M / 22 / 4 Races: Frostlings, Halflings, Undead, Orcs Strategies: This map has Frostlings written all over it. Since about 50% of the map is snow, units with snow concealment can benefit from this greatly. For the other races, just try to use your usual tactics. Icedale L / 41 / 4 Races: Humans, Frostlings, Dwarves, Undead Strategies: This map is filled with unfriendly units. When exploring the area be sure to take at least 4 or 5 units. There is a small area guarded by Syrons, be sure you really want to go there. Igor's Folly L / 23 / 2 Races: Orcs, Dwarves Strategies: For the Orcs, this map won't be that hard. This is because you can easily get the Undead to join your cause. For the Dwarves, it will be a little harder. Since the Undead and the Orcs are unfriendly, you will have to rely on your cities to pump out many dwarves for your cause. You should check the caverns for treasures to help you. Kin Slayers M / 24 / 4 Races: Elves, Dark Elves Strategies: This map is, for me, the most fun when played by the Dark Elves. The chance to play as the unexpected race and to take over the above world. You should use the fog to conceal your units and the underground passages to launch surprise attacks. For the Elves, you're going to have to contend with the above world enemies early on. Be aware of the Lizards and Humans because they will have control of powerful altars early in the game. Love Thy Neighbor L / 23 / 4 Races: Dark Elves, Undead, Orcs, Goblins Strategies: This map is filled with all the evil races, which makes for good fun. There are a lot of level 4 cities but they are filled with HighMen. Get as many of them as you can. If you feel like it, make allies a race, and then stab them in the back. This is one of the dirty tactics you can use to show your love for you neighbor. ^^ Mine All Mine S / 16 / 3 Races: Dark Elves, Orcs Strategies: This small map is really fun. It isn't as small as you think because it stretches to the caverns, where you'll find the Dwarves. The only thing I didn't like about it is when I got one mine, the Orcs or Dwarves took another one back. Mountain Clash S / 13 / 2 Races: Halflings, Goblins Strategies: This is a straightforward map. You will have to plan out your moves very carefully. Try to take as many towns as you can before the enemy can. Oracle's Eye XL / 72 / 12 Races: All of them Strategies: This is another one of my favorite maps. I found that it is easier to play this map as a good race other than an evil one. As soon as possible, you should take control of all the Altars. Each of them can be targeted at the home of a leader. This map took me days to beat due to the size and the things to explore. Reedfin Canal L / 34 / 4 Races: Humans, Azracs, Elves, Orcs Strategies: With this map, you can use the full building potential of the shipyard. In order to even beat this map your going to need a very powerful navy. Build Galleons and Dragon Ships is a must in this one. If you want to take a different approach, you can take the underground. It has many cities to conquer so give it a try. Reign of Chaos L / 36 / 6 Races: Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Dark Elves, Orcs, Goblins Strategies: Good vs. Evil in this map. It's best if you ally with the races of your relations and focus on the other three races. Be aware that the underground passages are filled with independents. It is also filled with lots of goodies though. Rise of the South L / 43 / 6 Races: Humans, Elves, Orcs, Azracs, Dwarves, Goblins Strategies: This map is best played as the Azracs for role-playing purposes. This map is made for the Azracs to rise up and take the land that the want. As I played, I found that the Humans expand and build up their empires quickly. It's best to forge an alliance with them and convince them to fight your enemies. Toward the underground, there are lots of treasures but lots of undead to get in your way. River of Life L / 37 / 8 Races: Humans, Azracs, Elves, Halflings, Dwarves, Dark Elves, Orcs, Goblins Strategies: In this map, a winding river goes straight down the middle of the map. Whichever race you pick, taking control of the few level four cities is crucial. With these cities you can pump out units very quickly. If worse comes to worse and you have the water spheres, flood the whole map. This should cause lots of mayhem and chaos. Rocky Hollow L / 27 / 5 Races: Dark Elves, Humans, Frostlings, Orcs Strategies: Use the fact that all four races start at the four corners of this map to your advantage. Conquer the surrounding area until you meet up with other races. Hold your ground; move in when your ready, and this map should be no problem. Thinreed Lake L / 27 / 4 Races: Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Dark Elves Strategies: You should team up with the other race of your alignment to make this a little easier. If you haven't noticed, most of the independent towns are belong to the humans. Thy to build up many armies to take these towns. Also you should use the Blood Shrine/Healing Pools to your advantage. Toadstool Vale M / 18 / 4 Races: Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, Halflings Strategies: For the Orcs and Goblins, this map will be a tough one. There are many Elven and Halfling units wandering the area. There are also Elves and Halfling cities for the Dwarves and Halflings to take advantage of. Don't forget to check the underground for lots of treasures. ||| 7. Structures ||| This section describes all of the structures in Age of Wonders including types of cities to Wizard Towers. Most of them are in some type of category but the ones that don't are listed first. | Wizard Towers | - Can give you new spells that you can't research at a price - They can also gives you spells that you can't cast or don't want | Monster Lair | - You have no control over these but when you enter them only 8 units can come. The reason for entering on of these is to get the items inside and most of the time it's worth it. - Other variations of these are Castle ruins and Ziggurats | Dungeons | - These are the same as Monster Lairs but instead of gaining items you get units. | Teleporter | - These teleport units from one teleporter to another. - Sometimes a teleporter will take you to places at random so be careful. | Reflecting Pool | - Allow you to see the area around other reflecting pools. | Tower | - These allow you to see more of the surrounding area than your normal units can. - Very good if you want to see enemies from far away. || Income Producing || These structures give you gold or mana every turn. They are very valuable so keep a close eye on these structures. | Mine | - Gives you 10 gold every turn - Try to have as many of these as possible | Farms | - Produces 10 gold every turn - If they are located in a wasteland they will produce nothing | Builder Guilds | - Produces 12 gold - Constructs special very useful machines | Power Nodes | - Try to have as many of these as possible to give you lots and lots of mana without any requirements. - Gives you 10 mana every turn - Are very useful in casting spells || Unit Effecting || These structures effect your units when passed over. Each structure has some kind of benefit but the only lasts so long. The Spring of Life and Blood Shrine are good examples of these. The Arena can train your units but it will cost allot to do so. | Blood Shrine | - Gives units attack and damage bonuses - This only lasts three days. | Arena | - Trains any unit up to a gold badge for a price. | Magic Sanctuary | - Protects units from overland spells | Spring of Life | - Heals all units that pass through and gives them ability bonuses. This only lasts three days. | Altars | These structures are very powerful and very useful to anyone who controls it. Each of them cause damage on a global scale. The Altar of Life, the Altar of Ice, and the Altar of Death are the most powerful because of their wider range for damage. They also change the type of land after they are fired. The Altar of Pestilence makes a cloud of poison, which is only so effective. The Altar of Fire and the Altar of Ice have don't cover many hexes but they are still very effective. You should always get control of any of these Altars. If worse comes to worse, raze them so enemies won't get control of them. All Altars have the same firing time usually 10 or so turns. After you fire it once, you'll have to wait for it to recharge. Here are the types of Altars. | Altar of Life | - Shoots a blast of holy energy at a certain area. | Altar of Death | - Shoots a blast of death energy at a certain area. | Altar of Pestilence | - Creates a cloud of poison at a certain area. | Altar of Fire | - Shoots a blast of fire energy at a certain area. | Altar of Lightning | - Shoots lightning at a certain area. | Altar of Ice| - Shoots a blast of ice energy at a certain area. || Special Nodes || These nodes are very different from the regular node. These node only produce mana if you have control the certain sphere. On special occasions these nodes will produce a unit for whoever controls the nodes. These events are when a Mastery is cast. Example: If someone casts life mastery, then a Golden Dragon will appear at the node under the control of the nodes owner. | Life Nodes | - Gives you 20 mana every turn only if you control the life spheres | Earth Nodes | - Gives you 20 mana every turn only if you control the earth spheres. | Air Nodes | - Give you 20 mana every turn only if you control the air spheres. | Fire Nodes | - Gives you 20 mana every turn only if you control the fire spheres. | Earth Nodes | - Gives you 20 mana every turn only if you control the water spheres. || Cities || These are the varying types of cities. From the small 1-Hex cities to the huge 4-Hex cities each city produces a different income depending on the race & size of the city. Example: A Dwarven 3-Hex City produces an income of 41 gold while and Undead 3-Hex City produces and income of 33 gold. So when migrating cities pick the race that will provide you with the most income. | 1-Hex City | These are the smallest of towns that only take up 1-Hex on the global map. They don't produce a fair amount of income but most produce more than any farm or mine can. - Can only produce level one units - Can't be upgraded | 2-Hex City | These cities take up two hexes on the global map. - Can only produce level one and two units - Can be upgraded once - Produces level one units faster | 3-Hex City | - Can only produce level one, two, and three units - Can be upgraded up to two times - Produces level one faster | 4-Hex City | - Can produce all levels of units - Can be upgraded up to three times ||| 8. Diplomacy ||| Diplomacy very vital to beating multiplayer and even solo campaigns and scenarios. Making the right allies and enemies determines how and who you fight. In this section describes ways of dealing with the many races of Age of Wonders. | Race Alignments | Knowing the alignments of each race is important when making peace or war. Good races naturally hate Evil races and vice versa. Neutral races on the other hand can make war and peace with whomever they want. These are the alignments of each race. Pure Evil - Undead Evil - Orcs, Goblins, Dark Elves Neutrals - Frostlings, Lizards, Azracs True Neutral - Humans Good - Elves, Halflings, Dwarves Pure Good - High Men Note: It's easier for good races to make peace with other good races. It's the same for the evil and neutral races as well. | Race Statuses | There are different statuses whenever you deal with other races. Here is the list of them. Peace - Two players decided to not to attack each other but not work together. War - Two players have decided to attack each other. No Contact - When you haven't made any contact with another race. This is the starting condition for all races. Unknown - Two characters have met but haven't made any diplomatic actions. Alliance - To characters have made an alliance. Allies can fight battles together, fight battles together, and, if it is enabled, win maps together. | Reacting With Other Races | When you are trying to win over or destroy a race there are many action you can take. These options are available when you make contact to the other race. Here is a list of them. Offer Peace - Makes peace with the other race. If they accept the peace offer, you cannot attack them and they can't attack you. Always try to make peace during the beginning of the game so you have a better chance of increasing the size of you empire. Proposing Alliance - This offers an alliance with another race. You can only propose an alliance when you are at peace with the target race. If they accept, you now can see what they can see on the map and it will be the same for them. You should always try this when you're at peace with a race. It is very helpful. Break Alliance - This breaks the alliance you've made with the other race. Be sure you really want to do this before doing it. After you break the alliance you go back to peace status. Break Alliance with Other Player - You ask the player if they will break an alliance with the other race they are allied to. Declare War - This declares war on the target race. You can now attack them but they can also attack you. Make sure you can handle fighting the race you declare war on. Declare War on Another Player - You ask the player to declare war on another race. Threaten to Attack - Threatening to attack someone is an attempt to get them to support you. You can only use this when at peace or have an alliance with another player. Make Tribute - Gives mana/gold to target race. You usually do this to make a race like you better. Sometimes these can be declined. ||| 9. Know Your Leader ||| Creating your leader for any campaign or scenario is very important. If you pump up your leaders/hero stats and not spells and abilities, you'll have a strong leader/hero that can't really do anything else. But spells and abilities are just as important. Plus the race you pick plays a role. Here are a few tips in creating and managing yet leader. Train - In order to get your leader/hero stronger, you'll need to fight battles to gain experience. Pick battles that you know you'll win without suffering to much damage. Use spells with other side effects to help you out. Example: Chain Lightning has a chance of stunning a unit causing it to skip a turn. Be Aware - You should also be aware of which race your leader is. Some races get different abilities and starting stats then others do. Example: Humans leaders get no abilities or immunities while Azrac leaders have a lower defense and fire protection. Get an Item - If you want to focus on giving you leader/hero abilities, I suggest getting him/her a few items first. Crypts and Castle Ruins are the best place to get some good items. A good item gives your leader/hero abilities and boost stats. Enough is Enough - When should you stop boosting your leader/hero's abilities and stats? You should really stop when your movement is about 41 or so and attack, damage and defense at 10. Items will really help you achieve this. ||| 10. Map Making Tips ||| One of the best features in Age of Wonders is the map editor. I was very impressed when I first started using it because they layout and how everything is so easy to use. It is the best editor I had the pleasure to use. Here are some tips on making maps gotten from an AOW MSN Map Making Community. Is Map Making Complicated?? Honestly? It is and it isn't. Like anything else that involves creativity, it takes a touch of inspiration and a lot of hard work. But let me tell you that once you get your map out there and it plays good, you will feel like you're on top of the world. It isn't complicated because the editor is in fact, pretty easy to use and understand. It's also easier if you are very familiar with the game, so you know what different objects and units can do and affect the game. There are a few things that needs thinking about... | Detail | Use all the tools and graphics that the editor has. Those trees, those flowers, those rocks, those cracks (in the underground levels). Does the map reflect what's happening in the world you created? | Balance | Does each side have a equal chance of winning? Resources, accessibility to cities, nodes, starting units, are just some of the things that can affect balance. | Playability | Is this map fun? Does it make someone just want to keep on going to see what you've got in store for them? | Single/Multiplayer maps | Balance is a particularly important issue when making maps designed to be played by a few people. The AI isn't perfect, so some CMMs give the AI more advantage by setting them to Emperor or King levels, or by giving it higher starting level or stronger starting units. There are a few more tricks used to make the AI more challenging. | Story | Not everyone thinks that having a story is important - but a good story helps the player understand what's happening and why he's fighting. Even though the story only appears at the beginning of the game, if the map "works" well, the story can tell itself. The epic unfolds during the gameplay. (of course, there are some story enhancing tricks...) Well, there isn't any more than these. Nobody can tell you EXACTLY how to place the cities, the resources, the units - there's more than one way to make a really good map and everyone's got their own style. As long as the map is fun and playable, you've got your goal. Here's the MOST IMPORTANT PART!!! | PLAYTESTING | You'll never know if it all works until you actually play the map you've made (and that's where you're going to learn stuff). So PLAYTEST, PLAYTEST, PLAYTEST!!! (This can never be emphasized enough). || Want More?? || There are plenty of AOW map-making tips and tools at their site. Here is the site: http://communities.msn.at/AoWCustomMapMakersResourceSite&naventryid=129 It is very good sites so don't forget to visit it. It has everything you need to make a map. ||| 11. Game Strategies For All Races ||| This is list of tips and strategies you can use for all races and for scenarios. You don't have to play each game like how I described though. | Beginning Game Strategies | Expand - At the beginning of the game, you should use all available units to explore your surroundings. Try to use units with the most movement points. This helps you find valuable mines and farms plus an ally or two. Try to expand until you meet up with another race. You don't have to declare war if you don't want to. Just keep expanding until you can't and try not to make too many units because gold is kind of tight in the beginning of the game. Convert - During your expansion, you'll meet up with many different races. If you notice that many of the towns are occupied by a single race, try taking over a few, fortify and upgrade them, and the rest are sure to follow you but for a price. When doing this try getting the level one cities first. By then the race relation should be good enough for them to follow you. This works best when a good/bad race is trying to win over a neutral race and when a neutral race is trying to win over a good or bad. Researching - In the begining of the game, you'll only have a few spells. Usually the most useless ones. Consider at lease one enhancement spells then when your finished with that spells, research an attack spell. To research spells faster, you should put enough mana into it so that your mana income is +1. Once you've researched the spells you wanted, you can set all your mana to spells. Here is a list of spells you should research. Life - Bless, Solar Flare, Holy Champion, Divine Storm, Gold Dragon Death - Dark Gift, Black Spider, Seath Ray, Unholy Champion, Animate Dead, Terror, Black Dragon Air - Chain Lightning, Vaporize, Wind of Fury, Air Elemental Earth - Stone Skin, Entangle, Gold Rush, Stoning, Earth Elemental Fire - Flame Arrow, Call Flames, Fire Halo, Fire Ball, Sacrificial Flame, Warmonger Water - Healing Water, Ice Shards, Frost Beam, Great Hail, Flood | Mid-Game Strategies | Control - By now you either have a fairly big empire or a very small one. You also should have run into a few heroes as well. If you empire is pretty big than start producing those level 3 and 4 units. Also keep a few groups 8 of units laying around just in case enemies try take over. Try to make peace when possible because you don't want to have allot of hostile races to fight at one time. If you are losing then find a 3 or 4-Hex city and take control of it. Produce as many units as you can and attack neighboring races until you built up a big enough empire. Explore - You probably have some extra units and are looking for ways to make your leader stronger. Exploring ruins are your best bet. If you're worried about what's inside a ruin just send a unit you don't really care about to check it out. I may seem cruel but at least you know what your up against! | Finishing the Game | Finishing Up - This is the hard part of the game. How do I know when it's close to the end of the game? When most of the other leaders are dead and your leader and your heroes have become allot stronger. Unfortunately they other leaders have become stronger too. In order to take them out bring groups of mostly level 3 and 4 units to the battle in which you fight the leader. Use spells that have other effects as well like Holy Bolt or Entangle on the enemy leader. ||| 12. Cheats ||| This is how the legendary beatrix cheat works. First find the shortcut you use to play Age of Wonders. For windows users, right click on the icon you use to get into Age of Wonders, then click properties. Click on the shortcut tab and behind the target command line, right after the "...\aow.exe", type in "beatrix". This is how mine looks: "C:\...\...\Age of Wonders\AoW.exe" beatrix. Be sure to leave a space between beatrix and the command line. Now open Age of Wonders with the shortcut you just edited and press Control-Alt-C at the same time and you should here a sound if you did it right. After that type in any of the following codes: Gold - Gives 1000 gold Mana - Gives 1000 mana Win - Beats the level your on Lose - Loses the map your on Fog - Turns fog on/off Explore - Makes you see the whole map Freemove - Lets you move around without losing any movement points Spells - Gives you all spells Research - Gives you the ability to research all spells Note: Please cheat responsibly. If you use these cheat too much then the game will not be a challenge or any fun. Just remember, I warned you. ^^ ||| 13. Thanks, The List & The Warning! ||| Thank you to everyone who reads or uses this FAQ. Thanks to everyone who asks to use this FAQ. Big thanks to the AOW Community that provide the map making tips ^^ http://communities.msn.at/AoWCustomMapMakersResourceSite&naventryid=129 Big thanks to Neoseeker.com for keeping my FAQ updated!! | The List | These sites are where you can find this FAQ. Updated versions of this FAQ can always be found at Gamefaqs.com Cheat Code Central - http://www.cheatcc.com Age of Wonder Heaven - http://aow.heavengames.com www.code5.de gameguru.box.sk cheatplanet.com www.a2zweblinks.com | Warning | Anyone may reproduce this FAQ electronically, but don't sell it for money. If you want to use this FAQ for your website you must ask my permission, email me at AverMan62@Hotmail.com, and you must not modify it in any way and do it with this the Warning in it. Also specify that you want to use the Age of Wonders: General Game Play FAQ in your email. If you do use it and I find out, trust me I WILL, you'll be in some serious legal trouble!!! Thanks to all who cooperate. ^^ Age of Wonders is a trademark of Triumph Studios