Path of Exile

Path of Exile is the first scenario in the Yodit campaign in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms.

In this scenario Yodit, with help of her loyal bodyguard Samuel has to escape the clutches of her nephew Gidajan, who framed her for theft, via one of three possible escape routes.

Enemy

 * Gidajan (Ethiopians) has several forified military camps in the region, which produce a full array of Feudal Age Units.
 * Fort in the Mountains (Ethiopians) blocks the pass to the mountain. They produce Men-at-Arms, Spearmen and Skirmishers.
 * Fort by the River (Saracens) blocks the river escape route. The have Archers, Scout Cavalry and Eastern Swordsmen at their disposal.
 * Fort in the Forest(Ethiopians) blocks the passage into the open plains, the third escape route. In contrast to the other two forts, it is not walled, but instead cluttered with Sea Towers.

Ally

 * Aksum (Ethiopians) are the few locals still loyal to Yodit. They consist of a small village, which is later taken over by the player, a total of 10 Shotel Warriors who will join Yodit if either she or Samuel approach them, a siege engineer, who will sell two Battering Rams for a tribute of 500 gold and a sailor who will sell a Transport Ship for 500 gold.

Strategies/Tactics
The scenario starts with only Yodit and her trusted bodyguard Samuel outside a secret tunnel out of Aksum. When moving south Samuel soon spots a few enemy guards, which he can kill by himself if the Shotel Warrior of them is focussed first. West of the guards, two loyal Shotel Warriors can be found. With the guards eliminated Samuel mentions a nearby village whose inhabitants are staunch supporters of Yodit.

The player should note though that as soon as the village is approached and thus taken over, all enemies start producing units and Gidajan starts attacking, so it might be better to first scout the map to collect all 10 Shotel Warriors and find resources and enemy camps. While Yodit can't fight she is pretty fast, has a good line of sight and also regenerates health.

When the village is reached, the goal of the scenario is revealed: Yodit has to reach one of the marked escape points, each of which is protected by an enemy fort.

The easy way
The probably easiest but somewhat cheesy way to win this scenario is as follows: Yodit should be used to find all 10 loyal Shotel Warriors, all of which are located fairly near the river. In the meantime Samuel can raze Gidajan's camp in the south of the map by abusing the minimum range of the towers and retreating and healing when low on health. Northeast of this camp is an Aksum sailor located who offers a Transport Ship with a capacity of 10 for a sum of 500 gold, which is paid by clicking his Dock.

Once all of the Shotel Warriors are gathered, Yodit can take over the village. The player should then immediately send Yodit, Samuel and 8 Shotel Warriors to the Dock and all Villagers (with optionally a few more queued in the Town Center) south across the river and then west to the gold mines to gather the 500 gold for the Transport Ship as quickly as possible.

With the gold paid and the ship taken over Yodit and her guard can be ferried northwest over the lake to the Fort in the Forrest. Samuel and the Shotel Warriors should be unloaded first so they draw all fire while Yodit can sneak past all towers and soldiers to the northwest into the plains from where she can escape. A few Lions additionally prowl the way, but Yodit can easily outrun them. When Yodit reaches the flag, the scenario is won.