| “ | Come, come. Warm yourself by old Skult's fire. | ” |
| —Skult | ||
Not From Around Here is the twenty-fourth scenario of the Fall of the Trident campaign in Age of Mythology. The main objective is to escort Skult and the Folstag Flag Bearer safely across a pass infested with Giants.
Summary[]
Arkantos and the others are greeted by an old man going by the name of Skult. When asked if he had spotted a one-eyed giant (Gargarensis) nearby, the old man reveals that plenty of giants have come down the hills to join the local Norsemen tribes fighting one another. When Ajax suggests trying to recruit some of these tribes to fight alongside them, Skult recommends using the flag of his village to stop the Norsemen from fighting long enough to hear them out. He will also show them the way as long as they offer him protection from the Giants.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting age:
Classical Age - Starting resources: 50 gold, 50 favor
- Starting population limit: 50
- Starting units:
- Starting technologies and upgrades: Medium Infantry, Pickaxe, Husbandry, Hand Axe
- Starting god powers: Bolt, Healing Spring
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- On Easy, the player starts with Iron Mail, Iron Weapons, and Champion Infantry researched. The Canyon Giants send fewer units to attack the player's base and their final attack comes later.
- On Moderate, the player starts with Iron Mail, Bronze Weapons, and Heavy Infantry researched. The Giants attack the player's base more often.
- On Hard and Titan, the player does not start with any additional improvements researched, and there are more Giants in the pass leading to the Boulder Wall. The Giants' final attack comes earlier.
Objectives[]
- Protect Skult and his flag. Move Arkantos, Skult and the Folstag flag bearer along the dirt path to the flag.
(Be on your guard for Giants, destroy any Giant Temples you come across. Frost Giants have the ability to temporarily freeze even powerful units. The Folstag flag bearer has the ability to see far ahead with his large line-of-sight, he can be useful to see enemies before they see you.) - Build up a defensive base near the boulder wall and advance to the Heroic Age.
(The Giants are aware of your presence and will try to stop you. Build walls and a large force to protect your base. Advance to the Heroic Age and build Hill Forts to train siege units such as the Portable Ram. Loki grants your Hersirs the ability to randomly summon myth units as they battle.) - Build siege weapons and break through the boulder wall. Destroy the Giants' Temples to weaken their attacks.
(Siege weapons such as the portable ram can be trained from the Norse Hill Fort. Some myth units are excellent siege weapons as well, such as the Mountain Giant.) - Escape the Giant army. Move Skult, Arkantos, and the Folstag flag bearer to the flag at the north end of the pass.
(The Giants have massed an army that is beyond your ability to fight, you must flee to the north.)
Players[]
- Arkantos (Loki): The player starts in the south of the map with Arkantos, Ajax, Chiron, Amanra, Skult, the Folstag Flag Bearer, ten Hoplites and ten Throwing Axemen. They must make their way to a flagged area at the the north end of the map, but their path will be blocked by the Giants.
Neutral[]
- Skult (Loki): They initially possesses Skult and a Hill Fort. After the cutscene, Skult converts to the player's color and only his Hill Fort will remain under their control.
- Odin (Odin): Odin does not control any units or buildings on the map, but will cast Forest Fire on a stand of trees that block the player's path to the objective near the end of the scenario.
Enemies[]
- Canyon Giants (Loki): The Giants possess numerous Temples across the pass that produce Mountain Giants and Frost Giants.
Strategy[]
This guide is applied to hard difficulty. It is, of course, also applicable for the other grades of difficulty.
The four heroes should head north alone to defeat a Mountain Giant and Frost Giant waiting in ambush. There are three more Mountain Giants and another Frost Giant waiting ahead but as long as they progress slowly, so as to not attract the attention of too many giants at once, they can defeat them all on their own. A nearby Temple will be producing additional Mountain Giants. The heroes can continue to defeat those while the soldiers tear down the building. The Throwing Axemen must be protected from harm as only they can build the Town Center needed later in the scenario. Skult and the Folstag Flag Bearer are needed to fulfill the objectives. However, they are just like the regular campaign Heroes who regenerate and can be revived once knocked unconscious, plus they do have a decent amount of hit points, so using them to lure the Giants could be a good idea--- while the Giants attack them, the Heroes can attack the Giants without being harmed. Just remember not to allow them to stray too far, so in case they need to be rescued the player will not have to venture deep into the Giants' territory.
Upon arriving at a clearing further ahead, the heroes will find that the Giants have rolled boulders to block their path. Arkantos suggests training siege weapons to break through. The player will then receive 1,000 gold, 1,000 food, and 500 wood, and should immediately task the Throwing Axemen to building a Town Center and cast the Healing Spring nearby to heal their current army. More Giants will arrive to interrupt the construction but the heroes and Hoplites can stall them. Meanwhile, Skult and the Folstag Flag Bearer should remain behind the Town Center by the cliffs and away from the fighting. When the Town Center is complete, a Temple and some Longhouses can be built to train Hersirs, which will be needed to fight the recurring giant attacks, as well as an Armory to upgrade heroes and to advance to the next age. Building Houses may be necessary to boost the player's limited population cap. Meanwhile, Gatherers can be trained to build up the economy, primarily focusing on food and gold. One Hero can scout to the east where additional Pigs will be found in an enclosure. Breaking down the stone fence will make it possible to bring them to the Town Center. Wood can also be gathered should the player wish to build Hill Forts to train Portable Rams, but there is an alternative.
When advancing to the Heroic Age, the player should worship Njord to get access to Mountain Giants of their own as they will do massive damage to the boulders with their pummel special attack. The player will earn a lot of Favor from all the fighting in this scenario anyway so they will be easier to train than Portable Rams. Hersirs will even be able to summon their own Myth Units if they fight long enough, though the player can dispose of anything that isn't good against buildings. If the player wishes to slow down the attacks of the Canyon Giants, they can have the heroes and a Mountain Giants search the passes for additional Temples and destroy them all, starting with the one closest to the Town Center. An army of Hersirs can stay behind to protect the base from unexpected attack.
Once the player has enough Mountain Giants, they should task them all in attacking the boulder wall alongside Arkantos, whose moral boost will strengthen them. When one of the boulders has 30% of its HP left, an army of Frost and Mountain Giants will spawn from the west, east and south edges of the map and advance towards the player's base. Even so, they move slowly, providing the player enough time to break through the wall. Once through, Arkantos, Skult, the Folstag Flag Bearer, and the army of heroes should immediately move forward along the path. The Town Center can simply be abandoned as the Giants will cast Earthquake upon it anyway.
The heroes should easily defeat the Giants encountered in the pass ahead. Soon, the player will arrive at a frozen river blocked by a forest of pine trees and may appear to be caught in a dead end. However, Odin will soon cast Forest Fire to burn down the trees and once a path has been cleared, the units can simply proceed to the flag. As long as Arkantos, Skult, and the Folstag Flag Bearer make it to the flag, the player will be rewarded with victory.
Additional tips[]
- The player may also train Einherjar who, like Arkantos, can boost the morale of units but also deal crush damage of their own and can speed up the destruction of the boulder.
- The player should focus all attack on only one of the three boulder walls as destroying both is not worth the time. When one boulder is cleared, the other two wall segments should collapse as well, providing enough space for the player's units to pass through.
- The Bolt god power should be saved for a Mountain Giant who can quickly destroy one of the player's building if left unchecked.
- After clearing the Temples in the pass prior to attacking the boulders, the player may build walls in all three passes to further slow down the advance of the Giant army.
Loophole[]
The player may choose not to trigger the objective to build up forces and advance to the Heroic Age by preventing any units from exploring the boulder wall, since there are not enough resources yet. In doing so, the player will not be able to immediately build the Town Center. Instead the player has to assign the heroes, together with the other initial units, to seek out the Temples in the passes and destroy them all on their own. This will make it easier to prevent the attacks for the rest of scenario, as the Temples will not yet be triggered into training additional Giants.
Trivia[]
- The fact that Arkantos worships Loki in this scenario foreshadows the revelation in the upcoming scenario, Union.
- Upon starting to research Heroic Age (regardless of the minor god chosen), the next objective will be unlocked after a minute (which is the actual research time for the Heroic Age), even if the age advance has been halted for any reason (e.g. player suddenly decides to select the other minor god, or Town Center has been destroyed while age advance is in progress)
- There is a lone Goat in this scenario (located on the east side of the map)
Gallery[]
