| “ | The final showdown between Arkantos and Gargarensis occurs at the Temple of Poseidon in Atlantis. | ” |
| —Campaign description | ||
A Place in My Dreams is the thirty-second and final scenario of the Fall of the Trident campaign in Age of Mythology. The main objective is to earn Zeus’ blessing and defeat the Living Poseidon Statue guarding the last gate to Tartarus.
Summary
As Gargarensis’ soldiers fight their way to Poseidon’s Temple, the Cyclops himself walks up to a statue of the sea God and pleads Kronos for assistance. The statue of Poseidon comes to life and with a strike on its trident, reveals one more Hades Gate located directly beneath Atlantis. Meanwhile, Arkantos, Ajax and Amanra free Krios and Kastor who were being held hostage and explain to them the situation. The Atlantean admiral orders his comrades to help evacuate the island as he prepares to face his greatest foe alone.
Objectives
- Advance to the Mythic Age and construct a Wonder. Zeus will then reward you with his blessing.
- Use the Blessing of Zeus god power on Arkantos, then defeat the Living Statue of Poseidon that guards Gargarensis.
Players
- Arkantos (Zeus) – Begins in the Heroic Age with Arkantos, seven Hoplites, five Toxotes, three Villagers, one Kataskopos, a Town Center, a Temple and some Towers. Is also immediately granted some Myth Units by the allies.
Enemies
- Gargarensis (Poseidon) – Gargarensis is out of reach as he is trying to pry open the Hades Gate but the Living Poseidon Statue is standing guard along with many other soldiers occupying a large portion of Atlantis’ city. This player will regularly send large armies from his forwarded bases to attack Arkantos and his allies.
Allies
- Lothbrok’s Clan (Loki) – Occupies a small camp to the west with a Healing Spring and grants Arkantos a Mountain Giant and Frost Giant four times in his fight. Gargarensis will destroy them around twenty minutes in the scenario.
- Abydos Vanguard (Ra) – Occupies a small camp and grants Arkantos four Anubites four times and one Son of Osiris in his fight. Gargarensis will destroy them around twenty five minutes in the scenario.
Neutral
- Atlantis (Poseidon) - Found only if the player explores the eastern parts of the island, this player consists of just a few decorative civilian structures, irrelevant to gameplay
- Atlantis (Poseidon) - Consists of just two Temples of the Gods that serve decorative purposes.
Strategy
This guide is applied to hard difficulty. It is, of course, also applicable for the other grades of difficulty.
Players must immediately begin Villager production to get a strong economic income. Some Villagers can gather Wood from the forest in the rear, both to keep them safe from attacks and to create a clearance large enough to accommodate the Wonder. There is also a large Gold Mine near there for Villagers to mine from safely. There is no safe hunt in this area so after consuming the Berry Bushes, player will have to resort to farming if they want the Goats to fatten up. Finally, some Villagers can be tasked to pray at the Temple to earn Favor necessary to train Myth Units.
One Village should construct a long wall starting from the cliff shielding Abydos' Vanguard and stretching all the way to Lothbrok’s Clan without sealing the area completely. This will force enemies to walk the long way around as Lothbrok takes the bulk of the attack. The allies will eventually be destroyed anyway so there is no use in protecting them aside from their Temples where they will spawn units to join Arkantos. The player’s army can always stand guard in Lothbrok’s Clan’s camp to fight the enemies while being healed by the Healing Spring. Gargarensis will send a variety of soldiers with superior upgrades as well as Myth Units, including Nemean Lions, Cyclopes and Colossi. Therefore, training Greek heroes to assist Arkantos in defeating them is highly recommended. Hydras will prove to be highly useful in this scenario as they will grow more heads when fighting and can be healed to make the most of this ability. Gargarensis himself will train Greek heroes that will be devastating against Myth Units. To counter these and the occasional archers, players should build a Stable to train Hippikons and Prodromos, simply because they cost more Gold than Food, the latter of which takes longer to accumulate on this map. Cavalry will also prove useful later on as Gargarensis will start sending Petroboli to destroy the player’s buildings. Players should not hesitate to use their God Powers prior to the construction of the Wonder as they will all disappear once the first objective is achieved. The Bolt God Power should be saved for an enemy Hero that the Cavalry cannot reach quickly enough. The Son of Osiris granted by Abydos' Vanguard will be extremely useful for the first objective thanks to his high attack and healing ability. If he is killed, he will respawn as long as Abydos’ Vanguard still stands, but only once.
Once the player has reached a stable defensive position, they can focus on researching technologies and building a Market. Olympic Parentage will be useful to strengthen Arkantos and other heroes while any economic upgrade will increase the resource income. Once it is possible to advance to the Mythic Age, Hephaestus should be worshiped to get the Plenty God Power and Forge of Olympus technology. These will help the player save resources needed to afford their Wonder while still being able to strengthen their army. Only a handful of Villagers should work on the Wonder as the player will need to continue playing on the defensive until its completion. If necessary, Towers or Fortresses can be built to strengthen defenses. Twenty minutes in the game, Gargarensis will cast Earthquake onto Lothbrok’s camp which will destroy all of his buildings. The same will happen to Abydos’ Vanguard five minutes after, so it is best to avoid building anything within their camps.
Once the Wonder is completed, players will be granted the Blessing of Zeus God Power which should be cast on Arkantos right away. This will transform him into a demi-god and a one-man army. Players are now free to send him alone to defeat every building and unit standing in the way of the Living Poseidon Statue. In his current form, Arkantos regenerates quickly but can still be killed if overwhelmed so it is best watch his health carefully as he is the only one who can defeat the Living Poseidon Statue. Once the statue begins receiving considerable damage, many Myth Units will begin to spawn from the Hades Gate to defend it. Extra cautious players are free to assemble a massive army to assist the Atlantean admiral in his fight. It is not necessary to destroy all of Gargarensis’ buildings or units (but it is highly rewarding after all this work). Just as long as the Living Statue of Poseidon is destroyed, players will be rewarded with victory.
Additional Tips
- Players can claim Lothbrok’s and Abydos’ Settlements after their camps are destroyed if needed.
- Each time a player destroys one of Gargarensis’ Temples, they will be granted one use of a Meteor God Power.
Closing Cinematic
While fighting the Living Poseidon Statue, Arkantos succeeds in impaling it in the head with his spear. Gargarensis can only watch as once more his plan fails. The statue crumbles and drops its trident which impales Gargarensis, killing him instantly. As Arkantos looks down on his fallen foe, the entire island of Atlantis finally collapses and begins sinking into the ocean, much to the dismay of the campaign heroes sailing away. Although Amanra reassures them that the citizens of Atlantis are rescued, Ajax can only wonder what was the fate of the Atlantean admiral. Arkantos is seen dead on a beach but is quickly revived by Athena and ascended to godhood.
Trivia
- This is one of three scenarios of the Fall of the Trident that are set in Atlantis, the others being Omens and Welcome Back.
- It is revealed that Lothbrok’s Clan from Union have accompanied Arkantos to Atlantis all the way from the Norselands.
- The Hades Gate seen in the opening cinematic reappears in War of the Titans, which happens to be the final scenario of The New Atlantis campaign.
- It is actually possible to win this scenario without building a Wonder. Advance through Hephaestus, and build a Temple near the Living Poseidon statue. From there, train huge numbers of Gold Colossi. Make sure to replace the Colossi which are eliminated by the statue.
- In doing so, it will require the player lots of Gold and Favor and it will be ideal for the player to secure a trade route and have lots of Villagers gather Favor from the Temple. This would be harder and tedious though, compared to just fulfilling the objective