Age of Darkness is a brutal RTS experience that will have players fending off massive hordes of night creatures. Failure is part of the game, but learning from mistakes can be hard if you’re not quite sure what went wrong in the first place.
As a game that’s much like They Are Billions, it’ll take a lot of experimentation before you can get your first win in Age of Darkness. If you’re looking to find success as soon as possible, here are a few tips and tricks to help you survive even the biggest of Death Nights.
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Explore, Expand, Defend
The general gameplay loop of Age of Darkness revolves around these three actions, and it’s a cycle that repeats itself until you ultimately win (or lose). Explore the map for resources and buildable land, expand your base to reach these resources, and once the Nightmares come barreling down on you, gather your warriors and fight to the last. Almost every game of Age of Darkness revolves around these three tenets, and so will the rest of the tips in this guide.
Find and Secure Resources
The very first thing players should do at the start of the game is to explore their surroundings. Leave a soldier or two to defend your Keep, then have everyone else go out and find stuff. Keep an eye out for the following, and plan your town layout accordingly:
- Stone deposits
- Fertile land
- Choke points
Build Outposts
The good thing about Age of Darkness is your buildings don’t have to be connected to a power grid linked to your main base. This means that in times of absolute necessity, you can build a base dedicated to harvesting specific resources. If there are no Stone deposits near your base, you can build a Quarry over one that’s far away without having to worry about building limitations. Don’t forget to post a few guards there, and if a Death Night horde is expected to head its way, dismantle everything and send any soldiers back home. Rebuild it once dawn breaks.
On a related note, Nightmares can spawn in areas that you’ve previously explored as long as they’re within the fog of war. Try to keep your territory lit up as much as possible.
Layer Your Walls
Walls are great for keeping stray Nightmares from entering your territory, but during Death Nights, a single layer of defense won’t be enough. Thankfully, you can build multiple layers of walls next to each other. Take care not to overdo it, as you still need to kill Nightmares for Death Nights to end, and you won’t be able to do that if your ranged attackers can’t reach the enemy.
Build Scratching Posts
A scratching post is basically a disconnected chunk of walls meant to distract enemies during Death Nights. They can soften the blow on your main defensive wall by diverting some Nightmares away, all while giving your ranged units more time to shoot. You can do this simply by building a line of walls that extends out from your main line. Scratching posts can be used as traps once you unlock the Ignite ability from the Wood Workshop.
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Level Up Your Hero
Your hero is a very strong unit in terms of raw stats, but what truly defines them are their skills. Edwin, for example, gets a Flame Shield ability that protects him while harming enemies. All heroes have powerful skills like these, which is why you should be sending them to fight as often as possible. Each hero and faction offers different playstyles, so experiment and find the ones you enjoy using most.
Spend Your Resources
Saving up for an upgrade is important, but if you’re letting resources stagnate in storage, you’re going to miss out on a lot of potential power. Apart from building structures, training units, and unlocking upgrades, you can spend excess resources via Trading Bazaars. Here, you can sell unwanted resources and purchase ones that you’re more in need of.
Adjust Unit Targeting Priorities
To relieve some of the stress of micromanaging units during combat, you can change their targeting priorities by pressing F or clicking on the button left of the Repair All button in the unit actions window. Set single-target units like Archers to target strong enemies first, and set melee units to target the closest ones.
Take Your Time
This game doesn’t require you to be fast. You can pause the game at anytime by pressing the space bar or the relevant button on the upper-right side of the screen. The next Death Night is always approaching, so if you need to plan for your next step, hit the Pause button and think things through first.
Real-Time Strategy
Survival
- Released
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January 15, 2025
- Developer(s)
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PlaySide Studios
- Publisher(s)
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PlaySide Studios
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 4
- How Long To Beat
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9 hours
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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Playable
- Early Access Release
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October 7, 2021
- PC Release Date
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January 15, 2025