How To Win Survival Mode in Age Of Darkness Final Stand

Master Survival Mode in Age Of Darkness: Final Stand with our expert tips and strategies.

This guide provides comprehensive information about surviving the challenging survival mode in "Dark Ages: The Final Battle," focusing on the enemy waves and final battle.

Enemy Waves and the Day/Night Cycle:

The survival mode features a day-night cycle, punctuated by "Nights of Death." During the day, nightmares are weaker, making it easier to explore and expand. At night, elite nightmares appear, and small groups may attack your structures. Nightmare creatures generally avoid light, so lampstands can protect buildings.

"Nights of Death" occur when a dark crystal shatters, spawning a large group of nightmares that attack your fortress. There are five such nights, each tied to a specific crystal. These nights end only when all attacking nightmares are defeated (wandering nightmares outside the immediate attack zone don't count, but they will respawn after the night of death ends in areas covered by the fog of death).

Predicting and Preparing for Nights of Death:

The order in which the dark crystals break is random and initially hidden. However, the morning before a Night of Death, you'll receive a warning indicating which crystal is about to break. This gives you a limited five minutes (in-game time) to prepare. During this time, prioritize these tasks:

Timing of Crystal Shattering:

The first dark crystal shatters at sunset on the fourth day. After that, a crystal breaks roughly every six nights. This means the final battle will occur on day 28, unless you choose to destroy crystals early (see below).

Crystal Scout Blessings: These blessings provide a day's notice of which crystal will break and the nightmare group's path.

Destroying Crystals Early:

You can send an expedition (usually led by your hero) to explore the map's edges. You might encounter an unbroken dark crystal. Destroying it triggers a Night of Death within five minutes. This gives you control over the attack's origin, allowing for more focused defense preparation. Destroying a crystal also grants a large amount of Dark Essence, used for Advanced Upgrades in the skill tree. You can find small amounts of Dark Essence at naturally broken crystal sites, but the amount is usually not worth the risk.

Since all crystals will eventually break, leaving them intact only delays the inevitable. Controlling the timing and location of attacks is often a better strategy.

The Final Battle:

After the fifth Night of Death, a ten-minute timer starts. When it reaches zero, the final battle begins. Massive nightmare groups will spawn from all previous dark crystal locations simultaneously, converging on your fortress along the previously established routes. This is the ultimate test of your defenses.

Your key advantage is knowing the routes the five nightmare groups will take. After each Night of Death, analyze your defenses and strengthen them along these routes. Thicker walls, more towers, and additional bottlenecks all help slow down and reduce the overwhelming numbers.

Build fortifications around your fortress as well, and upgrade your fortress to the highest level if you haven't already. At least one nightmare group will likely breach your outer defenses.

Victory is achieved by destroying all attacking nightmare creatures before they destroy your fortress.

Important Buildings for Late-Game Defense:

• Siege Factory: Before the third Night of Death, build a Siege Factory to produce "refusal" units, which are effective against "crusher" enemies.

• Large Blower Tower: By the fourth Night of Death, research and build Large Blower Towers at critical bottlenecks. These towers can automatically clear smaller enemies ("creepers") within their range, freeing your other defenders to focus on the larger threats. Protecting these towers is crucial.