{can the community} Give a new player some answers to shards and seals?

[That Fish Guy]

I finished my first cycle yesterday, I kinda made a spiral around the home base because it was my first time through the game and I thought I'd be on the same map forever. Ended the game with no shards, and about 4 tiles from the central citadel (my trade times were excellent upon reflection). It said I didn't have enough shards to do the final event. That's fair, I'm learning as I go. Next game (current game, I just started my third city) I have a few questions:

1) The 2 green things are the seals, but it also seems to trace a line around the map between the two seals, do I need to make it to either sigil of the seal, or is it enough to make it to the circle encompassing the base.

2) Once I'm there will I be hanging out until I've use all my years/cities, or will I be able to proceed through it and at the end the further I've gone (I've seen other lines past the first) the more difficult the final map will be?

3) I was given a supply box at the end of the last city, could get +4 embarkation points, bonus move distance, or 5 seal shards. I took the seal shards because it's my mission to break down the seal, and I assume the two are related, but all I know is "extra seal shards will be sold back at the end of the cycle". How many are used per what measurement? I assume the 5 I got this time will be more than enough for my first run, but what are they going to be used for, and how will I know when I have enough for my goal?

4) what is the currency return for seal shards? I assume it's something that will help me progress up the tech tree, maybe machine parts?

Loving the game, just one more glade ->just one more season->just one more city->just one more cycle.... Fml it's 4 a.m.

Thanks for the help community!

[el Darkness]

You need to be close to the seal when the cycle ends, otherwise you will not be able to reforge it (2 or 3 tiles I think). On the plus side, you can take however long you like on your last settlement. Then you need to settle next to the seal to attempt to reforge it, again no rush here, your only time limit is Impatience (and Hostility), not years.

Cirlces around the city are called difficulty rings, when you cross one, the minimal difficulty you can play have increased by one (you can always go back). It is wise to use all your years before attempting to reforge the seal, but if you cannot gain a significant benefit with your remaining years, you can attempt to reforge the seal earlier.

Supply box or rather Queens Resupply if I remember correctly are rewards for establishing a settlement next to negative modifier, rewards are always the same. For closest seal you only need 4 shards, the harder the seal (further away) the more shards you will need. All remaining shards will be sold at the end of cycle, so you can amass them, but usually if you are sure that you will have enough (it is hard not to get 4 shards) other rewards will be better.

I think all of the meta currencies can be earned but I do not know the rates.

Long live the queen!

[dhitch89]

1) The lines around the map denote "minimum difficulty level". Ie around the citadel you can play at whatever difficulty you feel like, whereas passing the first line bumps the minimum difficulty from Settler to Pioneer, the next line has minimum Veteran up from Pioneer, etc etc.

2) By definition, you don't want to arrive at a seal right away, because - unless you choose to do it then and end the cycle early - you're supposed to embark on a seal from your last settlement. If you arrived midway and went another direction for the rest of that time, you might find yourself too far away to do it for that cycle, as a result.

3) Generally yeah, it's better to take the seal shards other than the other two, at least imo. They are used for seal events - needing a minimum of x number just to enter, in addition to your last settlement being within striking distance of the seal itself - but also for giving you resources at the end of a cycle.

3(a)/4) I don't recall if there is an exact ratio, but IIRC from my last cycle's end on a relatively new game, I had 5 seal shards which translated to 17 Food/6 Machinery/6 Artifacts given. And yeah, all three are resources you spend on citadel upgrades, which each one denoting what/how many you need.

[kory]

Originally posted by That Fish Guy:

3) I was given a supply box at the end of the last city, could get +4 embarkation points, bonus move distance, or 5 seal shards. I took the seal shards because it's my mission to break down the seal, and I assume the two are related, but all I know is "extra seal shards will be sold back at the end of the cycle". How many are used per what measurement? I assume the 5 I got this time will be more than enough for my first run, but what are they going to be used for, and how will I know when I have enough for my goal?

4) what is the currency return for seal shards? I assume it's something that will help me progress up the tech tree, maybe machine parts?

Typically you "want" to take the extra embarkation points, as they can make your runs easier, especially the seal runs. However, if you are not going to end with enough fragments to meet the number you need for the seal, then the extra fragments are clearly good. extra fragments at the end exchange for citadel resources, but the exchange isnt all that good I think, so I typically do't focus it.

[That Fish Guy]

Okay, thanks so much for the replies, they definitely covered all the questions asked. One bonus question, how can one know how many shards it takes to open a seal? iirc I selected the bronze seal and it's tool tip did not mention how many shards were required, but I haven't looked at it again recently so I could be mistaken.

[dhitch89]

Originally posted by That Fish Guy:

Okay, thanks so much for the replies, they definitely covered all the questions asked. One bonus question, how can one know how many shards it takes to open a seal? iirc I selected the bronze seal and it's tool tip did not mention how many shards were required, but I haven't looked at it again recently so I could be mistaken.

Hover over it again, and you should see:
1) A description about seals in general
2) Requirements (minimum difficulty, plus # of seal fragments)
3) Reward (+X% Citadel resources)
4) Consequence (permanent +X years to Cycle duration)