I'll be completely honest: figuring out the cool ascension stuff is the sort of thing I enjoy doing on my own via the hints. Decoding the obscure references on cards and figuring out what the descriptive text means in terms of game mechanics -- well, that's just CultSim, isn't it? Been there, done that, wrote a guidebook for the core Apostle legacies to help folks with it.

The thing that I find frustrating and difficult isn't that, it's the basic gameplay loop of travel and warzones. Am I supposed to be doing things in the Ruined Country? I found a shrine, which seemed great for getting rid of one of the Chains, but then I can't leave. If I restart and twiddle my thumbs until I get to the warzone, by the time I've achieved objectives I have very little in the way of provisions and strife is high, so leaving is difficult.

I feel like I must be missing something about how the resource management and priorities of actually fighting WW2 work, so I think some basic advice about the core gameplay loop would be nice in addition to the "here's what the cryptic hints mean" stuff you have here.

You can and should do things in the Ruined Country, but you should usually not do those things until you have the resources and firepower to fight most Otherworldly Enemies.

Specifically to the case of finding a shrine in the Ruined Country: yes, going there and using it will lock you down in the Ruined Country due to Bloodlust. However, Bloodlust can be dispelled by slotting it in when launching an attack against Enemies, gradually decreasing it until it hits zero; or by simply waiting out the timer on it in the case you should be stuck without Provisions while under the effects of Bloodlust. You can also scout out additional enemies to fight by slotting Bloodlust into the Scouting Verb, but you'll find stronger Enemies if you do this in the Ruined Country or really any Warzone that is at 4 Strife or higher (also searching for trouble this way can sometimes injure you.)

Core gameplay loop is basically mostly the same as Obdurant otherwise: reach a Warzone, kill high-priority or threatening enemies that can be trouble if they show up to interfere with Objectives (Officers, Artillery, Fruitful Dead, Skaptodons, etc), try your best to accomplish the Main Objective. In short, you have to make an economy of who you decide to kill.

Specific to Proterant, Bloodlust forces you to kill more Enemies, which can strain your resources - raiding Farms when they appear or seizing supplies from the locals with Infantry or Volunteer Militia can often be a necessary thing to do, especially in the early game when resources are tight and Bloodlust is most difficult to deal with. Even so, sometimes you just get unlucky/you die. That may very well happen.

Ah; I didn't play Obdurant, so this is new to me. Thank you for the detailed response. My main challenge is Provisions; I never seem to have enough to do anything, and the only way I've found to get more (shaking down the locals) seems to just make things worse for me by locking down the Edge I need to fight the Nazis.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by waiting out the timer; Bloodlust doesn't decay. If it's supposed to, then, uh, bug report? proterant_framework_elements.json doesn't have a lifetime on bloodlust.

You wont be able to do everything at once, especially early game. Either you accept the fact you will have to momentarily scale back on attacking Enemies because you're putting Allies/Memories/Tools/etc into a Shakedown operation, or you gather more men by doing Rescue Ally side objectives or by calling reinforcements (trick, dismissing local Allies can be useful in lowering your Force Size, allowing you to call Allies who will actually follow you out of the Warzone). The name of the game is to learn where to dedicate your limited resources and learn how to roll with losses, particularly the really nasty ones.

Bloodlust should have a timer on it, 2400 if I remember right. Pushed an update on both Proterant and on Obdurant just to be safe; please resubscribe to both mods and ensure Proterant is above Obdurant.

Got it, thanks again! The context is helpful. The local dismissal -> reinforcement trick is particularly clever.

I had them in the correct load order, but unsubscribing and resubscribing and checking the json has cleared it up. Appreciated! Will give it another shot.

For the Master Skills, it requires 8 edge and 8 other. But maxed lore only gives 14 edge , 7 others. So how are you supposed to solve those? Just use shrines to crack them? Strongest influences and memories only reach 6 so not possible to solve with memories. Maybe should add more slots like in the big iron eater battle in obdurant?

how can i get the Contemplation regarding Continental? I don't get anything after i meet her on the battle.Unlike the same situation in another mod, where i get contemplation of warmaker after i meet him.

Both of above issues for @Sepulchurz and @wypnyy sound like Roost issues; please ensure you are subscribed to the most up to date version of the Roost by unsubbing and resubbing to that mod.

Your mod order, from highest to lowest, should be:
- Ghirbi
- Roost
- Proterant
- Obdurant

Please also ensure you are using the most up-to-date versions of these mods by unsubbing/resubbing to these if you are encountering issues. Also please ensure you are playing on the Gate of Horn beta branch for the mod. If you are still experiencing issues after this, let me know.

First of all, I love the mod and the battle for the General's gift is amazing. If there is one thing I dont like then it would be the fact that at one point you have to stand alone and the only way to do that is to send all your allies away. For your soldiers and creation's that is not much of an issue but it feel a bit bad to send away the friends and comrades you have worked so hard to earn the trust of and level them up. Wish there was a way to send those people ahead to the next city like there is in exile.

Originally posted by Malo:

First of all, I love the mod and the battle for the General's gift is amazing. If there is one thing I dont like then it would be the fact that at one point you have to stand alone and the only way to do that is to send all your allies away. For your soldiers and creation's that is not much of an issue but it feel a bit bad to send away the friends and comrades you have worked so hard to earn the trust of and level them up. Wish there was a way to send those people ahead to the next city like there is in exile.

This, I got cowardice ending ;-; I didn't want to throw away my friends.

quick question in regards to the war zones. Is it like exile that if you pull it from the map and you don't go there is it gone forever?

Originally posted by inago:

quick question in regards to the war zones. Is it like exile that if you pull it from the map and you don't go there is it gone forever?

yup

I've managed to do everything, but Rome still only allows me to place 3 provisions, and it's giving me the Empty Victory ending... Description in spoilers below:
I have The Flame of the Interior, Echidna's Assistance, 14 resolutions (do you need exactly 11? Did I mess this up?), the Instrument of Surrender, max Edge lore, and all 3 Construction lore (Dadgah, Adaran, and Behram). I have 0 chains and 0 debilitations. Any ideas? The only thing I can think of is that I'm in the Lonely Places Between. Is it possible the game is recognizing the Iron-Eater's wounds as debilitations?

Is the Memory: A union of enmities a failure card? I never fought the Continental, I just sent the Warmaker at her somehow and got the card. Does this mean I'm locked out of the ascension?]

Originally posted by Zeetoois:

I've managed to do everything, but Rome still only allows me to place 3 provisions, and it's giving me the Empty Victory ending... Description in spoilers below:
I have The Flame of the Interior, Echidna's Assistance, 14 resolutions (do you need exactly 11? Did I mess this up?), the Instrument of Surrender, max Edge lore, and all 3 Construction lore (Dadgah, Adaran, and Behram). I have 0 chains and 0 debilitations. Any ideas? The only thing I can think of is that I'm in the Lonely Places Between. Is it possible the game is recognizing the Iron-Eater's wounds as debilitations?

There are two Rome cards. You might need to search again for the second Rome card.