Dark Tempest Walkthrough

You start on an island in the north-east with a Mechanic, a Chief Engineer, one Mana Refinery and a fleet of 18 ships: 10 Iron Clads, 4 Stern Wheelers and 4 Submersibles. Veruna holds the rest of the sea with 138 units: a fortified mainland in the west, two walled platforms full of towers, a ring of Bastions round a small island in the south-east, and 39 Mer Warriors, all of them ordered to attack your buildings. You win only when every Verunan unit is destroyed.

Hold the island while the early raids come in, add a Navy Yard and more ships, then take the sea one fort at a time before you land on the mainland. Ten Mortars are the real danger: each one reaches 1,450, further than any ship you can build. The mission sets the same forces at every difficulty. It also runs a script of its own, which may add events that this guide does not list.

The Battlefield

Most of the map is open sea. Your island fills the north-east corner. The Verunan mainland covers the west up to about x 2400: a walled city in the north, a raised round fort in the middle, and cliffs to the south and west. Two walled platforms, A and B, stand in mid-sea. South of them, a smaller platform holds a Divine Lodestone, with 2 Bastions in the water nearby.

Map of Dark Tempest 1234567ABCDEFGHI
The planEnemy positionsYour unitsEnemy unitsNeutralHover a dot to see the unit and its orders. · Map 7,200 × 5,248 pixels · Scroll or pinch on the map to zoom; drag to move. Hover over a feature or a resource for its details.
  • 1Your island base, with 6 sacred sites.
  • 2Keep the fleet here at first. The Skiff and Harpoon Ship patrols run through this water from 10:00 and 15:00.
  • 3Shell the south-east island's north Bastion from here. It is 694 away: inside a Submersible's 750, outside the Bastion's 580.
  • 4The approach to platform B.
  • 5The approach to platform A.
  • 6Shell the Divine Lodestone platform from here, out of reach of its Bastions.
  • 7The landing beach on the south-east corner of the mainland.
  • APlatform A: a Mortar, 3 Bastions, 3 Guard Towers and 4 Lighthouses. A Flagship patrols round it with a Harpoon Ship and a Man of War.
  • BPlatform B: the same defences, with 3 Lighthouses. A Flagship patrols round it with 2 Men of War.
  • CThe south-east island: a Lodestone, 4 Bastions and 15 Mer Warriors, who leave at 5:00, 10:00 and 14:48.
  • D6 Harpoon Ships. At 15:00 they start to patrol your waters.
  • E6 Skiffs. At 10:00 they start the same patrol.
  • FA Transport Ship with 12 Mer Warriors aboard. At 50:00 it sails along the north edge and unloads at (4800, 160).
  • GA second Transport Ship with 12 Mer Warriors. At 50:00 it sails round to the east side and unloads at (6624, 2400).
  • HThe raised fort in the middle of the mainland: 3 Mortars, 3 Bastions, Guard Towers and a Lighthouse.
  • IThe Citadel. It waits until the Lighthouse at platform A's north-east corner is attacked.

The Veruna Timetable

Time What happens
From the start A Flagship patrols round platform A, guarded by a Harpoon Ship and a Man of War. Another patrols round platform B, guarded by 2 Men of War.
5:00 3 Mer Warriors leave the south-east island. Their orders end with attacks on every Mana Refinery, then every Mana Amplifier, and also hold steps the guide does not read.
10:00 5 more Mer Warriors follow. 6 Skiffs start to patrol between (6272, 2016) and (5104, 528), in front of your island. A Flagship at (2752, 4448) ends its wait; the guide does not read its next order. The first of Veruna's 5 Sea Forts, its shipyards, comes off its wait; the others follow every 10 minutes.
14:48 The last 7 Mer Warriors on the south-east island follow.
15:00 6 Harpoon Ships join the patrol.
50:00 Both Transport Ships sail, each with 12 Mer Warriors. These are ordered to attack your Navy Yards, then your Mana Amplifiers, Mana Refineries, Smithies and the Chief Engineer.
When attacked Three Lighthouses each hold a factory back. The one at (3840, 784) releases the Citadel at I, the one at (3840, 1824) the Enclave at (2048, 1568), and the one at (4352, 2320) the Enclave at (608, 3712). The data gives the factories no orders after that.

The Plan

Hold the Island (0:00 to 15:00)

  1. Have the Mechanic build Mana Refineries on the 5 free sites at 1, then a Navy Yard on the south-west shore. The Chief Engineer builds a Smithy for more Mechanics, and later an Academy for the landing army.
  2. Ring the Refineries with Gatling Crossbows, in case a Mer Warrior slips past the fleet.
  3. Keep the fleet at 2 and meet each Mer Warrior group as it arrives. A Mer Warrior has 3,284 hit points, and three shots from an Iron Clad's big cannon (1,288 each) kill one.
  4. From 10:00 the Skiffs, and from 15:00 the Harpoon Ships, patrol straight through 2. A Harpoon Ship reaches 710, more than an Iron Clad, but less than a Submersible (750). Let the Submersibles open fire, then send the Iron Clads in.

Take the South-East Island

  1. Once the last Mer Warriors are dead, take the Submersibles to 3 and shell the north Bastion. It has 17,975 hit points, about 29 shells. More Submersibles from the Navy Yard speed this up.
  2. Move round the island and do the same to the other 3 Bastions, then destroy the Lodestone. An Iron Clad can carry a Mechanic over to build a Refinery on its 1.5 site.

Clear the Platforms

  1. At 4, sink platform B's Flagship and its 2 Men of War first. A Man of War reaches 800, so the Iron Clads must close in on them.
  2. Next, kill the Mortar in the centre. It has only 2,050 hit points: rush it with Iron Clads, and two hits from the big cannon finish it. Pull back, then let the Submersibles take the Bastions and Guard Towers from 600 to 750 away.
  3. Take platform A from 5 in the same way. Its Lighthouses and B's north-east one release factories on the mainland when attacked (see the timetable), so expect more Verunan units from then on.
  4. Both Transport Ships wait under the cover of mainland Mortars, so catch them after they sail at 50:00: the one from F runs along the north edge, and the one from G comes up the east side. Keep a few ships at home for any Mer Warriors that land.

Land on the Mainland

  1. From 6, shell the Divine Lodestone platform. Its 2 Bastions are 800 and 1,200 away from that spot.
  2. Clear the coast round 7 from the sea: the Mortars at (2160, 4048) and (2320, 2864), the Guard Tower at (2256, 3296), the Bastion at (2256, 3056) and the Lighthouse at (2240, 4144).
  3. Carry Shock Troopers, Beast Riders and Mechanics to 7 in Stern Wheelers and Iron Clads. Have the Mechanics build Prismatic Mirrors as you advance: a Mirror reaches 1,478, a little more than a Mortar.
  4. Work through the city to the fort at H and the Citadel at I. Every unit counts, including the Lodestones, the 5 Sea Forts, and the 2 Bastions off the north coast at (768, 272) and (1792, 784).

Which Units Beat Theirs

Veruna unit Its threat Your answer
Mortar 1,587 damage every 5 seconds, range 1,450; 2,050 hit points Iron Clads rush it. On land, Prismatic Mirrors.
Bastion Cannon, 1,150 damage, range 580; 17,975 hit points Submersibles from 600 to 750 away
Guard Tower Two bows, 200 damage each, range 480; 4,200 hit points Submersibles or Stern Wheelers
Lighthouse Flame Beam, 125 damage, range 480; 10,302 hit points Submersibles
Harpoon Ship 1,089 damage every 3 seconds, range 710; 5,254 hit points Submersibles, then Iron Clads
Man of War Cannon, 1,332 damage, range 800; 7,630 hit points Iron Clads at close range
Mer Warrior Trident, 810 damage every 2 seconds, range 300; crosses water Iron Clads, Gatling Crossbows
Flagship Bows, 413 damage, range 450; 6,112 hit points Stern Wheelers or Submersibles

Mana

The map has 14 sacred sites, and the 6 on your island are the only free ones. Your Mana Refinery stands on one rated 1.5; the other five are rated 1.5, 1.5, 1.5, 2.0 and 1.0. A Mana Refinery makes 10 mana a second times the site's rating, so Refineries on all six give 90 a second. A Mana Amplifier makes twice as much but costs 9,352, so add Amplifiers once the island is safe.

The other 8 sites hold Verunan Lodestones and Divine Lodestones: one on the south-east island, one on the southern platform and six on the mainland. Destroying them frees sites and cuts Veruna's income.

Traps

  • A Mortar out-ranges every ship you have. Never park the fleet within 1,450 of one.
  • Three Lighthouses release a factory when they are attacked: (3840, 784) the Citadel, (3840, 1824) and (4352, 2320) an Enclave each.
  • The 15 Mer Warriors from the south-east island go for your Mana Refineries first. The 24 that sail at 50:00 go for your Navy Yards first.
  • A Bastion cannot fire at anything within 180 of it. An Iron Clad that close is safe from that Bastion, but not from its neighbours.
  • Without the Mechanic and the Chief Engineer you cannot build. Keep them on the island.

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