 |
This article is about the scenario in Age of Mythology. For the building, see Well of Urd. |
| “ | Odin the All-Father will guide our spears! Prepare to siege! | ” |
| —Reginleif | ||
The Well of Urd is the twenty-seventh scenario of the Fall of the Trident campaign in Age of Mythology. The objective is to reach the Well of Urd as quickly as possible, in order to descend to Niflheim and prevent Gargarensis from accessing a gate to Tartarus.
Summary[]
Ajax, Amanra, Arkantos, Chiron, Reginleif, and some troops from the Norse clans they united in Union, finally reach the gate to Niflheim. A Huskarl reports to Reginleif about the time Gargarensis' army reached the surrounding land, which was a few days before the Heroes reached it themselves.
Gargarensis has already reached the gate, which is no other than the Well of Urd. He has heavily walled the area, thus blocking access. The heroes must reach the Well as quickly as possible, lest Ragnarok occurs.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting age:
Classical Age - Starting resources: 1,000 food, 1,000 wood, 1,250 gold
- Starting population limit: 165
- Starting units:
- Starting god powers: Great Hunt, Forest Fire
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- On Easy, Gargarensis begins with fewer units and towers.
- On Hard, Gargarensis begins with additional Berserks and Throwing Axemen. A small group of Einheri and Throwing Axemen will also attack the player's base from the west less than half a minute into the scenario.
- On Titan, Gargarensis begins with additional Berserks and Einherjar in his base.
Objectives[]
- Build an army and destroy the gate to the Well of Urd.
(Attack Gargarensis aggressively, before he has a chance to build up even more defenses. Expect a stiff defense of the gate itself.). - Defeat all of the myth units defending the Well of Urd.
(Remember your Heroes, Hersirs and Jarls are all strong against myth units.).
Players[]
Player[]
- Arkantos ( Odin): The player begins in a small settlement with the heroes, a good-sized force of Huskarls and cavalry, as well as an Ox Cart and several Gatherers. They have access to all the main resources nearby, and have several Farms already built, as well as Tents providing population space. They must make use of these conditions to build up their forces quickly and assault Gargarensis' base before he has time to advance and build up his defenses.
Enemies[]
- Gargarensis ( Loki): Gargarensis has set up a defensive perimeter and has walled off all passages that lead to the Well of Urd. There are two Town Centers, some Hill Forts, four Longhouses and many Watch Towers guarding the base. His forces consist mainly of Berserks, Throwing Axemen, Raiding Cavalry, and Einheri, and will also train Portable Rams. He begins in the Archaic Age, which is a considerable advantage for the player, who begins in the Classical Age.
Neutral[]
- Neutral ( Odin): This player consists solely of two statues of Odin, and the Well of Urd itself.
Strategy[]
This guide is applied to hard difficulty. It is, of course, also applicable for the other grades of difficulty.
Immediately as the scenario begins, prepare for an assault from the west, while also sending Gatherers to gather nearby resources. The enemy's first assault will consist of Throwing Axemen and rogue Einheri. Destroy them as quickly as possible, and wall off the southwestern passage. The second will begin at a passage in the northwestern section of the player's base. Wall it off too, as the second assault is more relentless, consisting of groups of Raiding Cavalry and Berserks. Stop this assault and then advance to the Heroic Age as quickly as possible. Build walls in the third passage, train some forces and wait. As Gargarensis usually chooses Heimdall, he will cast Undermine on the walls, thus crushing them.
After one or two more attacks from the north are stopped, build a Hill Fort. The Undermine has been wasted to the walls instead of severely weakening the Fort. As soon as Mythic Age is reached and the player's economy has been stabilized, prepare an assault consisting of Raiding Cavalry, siege units (see tips) and Throwing Axemen. If the player has chosen Baldr, they should also cast Ragnarok. Swiftly bring down the defenses at the fourth passage, and kill the guarding Einherjar. Then, charge straight to the gate blocking access to the Well, and crush it. As soon as it goes down, four Fire Giants will appear, and at the same time, a massive enemy army will head to defend the Well. Ignore them, kill the Giants and the scenario will complete.
Additional tips[]
- Don't even bother training myth units, focus on human units instead, and on myth technologies that will improve them.
- Choose Skadi over Njord; while the Ring Giver technology may guarantee enormously strong Jarls, they won't be needed, and the Walking Woods power is essentially useless in this scenario.
- Skadi, on the other hand, provides the very useful Frost god power and Winter Harvest, that can be abused to stop enemies dead in their tracks, and to exploit the 8 starting Farms, respectively.
- Wall three out of four passages to make the enemy's assaults straightforward, and stave them off more easily, while you boom to research as many technologies as possible.
- Both Huskarls and Portable Rams in the Mythic Age should do fine (especially since Odin boosts their HP), but still: choose Baldr, research Dwarven Auger and Sons of Sleipnir (to beat Throwing Axemen), and when on the offensive, cast Ragnarok and end the game.
- As with other Norse scenarios, don't bother researching the shield upgrades; most foes you face inflict hack damage.
- This is the only campaign scenario in the original game where the player plays as Odin.
- In Retold, Union has been changed where the player now worships Odin instead of Thor.
Outro cinematic[]
 |
This page contains spoilers to the plot(s) of Age of Mythology. |
After they breach Gargarensis' base, the heroes approach the Well of Urd. They are skeptical, but Reginleif assures them it's safe and indeed guides to Niflheim. Ajax sarcastically tells Chiron to go first, "so that in case he falls to his death they won't follow". An annoyed Amanra decides to go first, saying that she will "wait for them at the bottom, when they've decided who goes first".
The heroes are once again stalked by Brokk and Eitri, who also have a cart with a giant hammer head alongside them. This will turn out to be the hammer head for Thor's future hammer.
Gallery[]
Video[]
