How do i spawn the Elder?

[Mordy]

Finally got Zana's questline to a point she wants to fight the Elder but the problem is i can't get the bugger to take up enough real estate on the Atlas for him to actually spawn, as try as i might Shaper keeps outdoing him regardless how many Shaper influenced maps i clear.

Most hilariously, i took out a Shaper stronghold and it not only caused Elder to lose influence on the Atlas, but actually gave Shaper more real estate on the maps Elder previously held.

So how do i, reliably, run this stupid questline to it's conclusion before the league ends?

[The_Driver]

Originally posted by Mordy:

So how do i, reliably, run this stupid questline to it's conclusion before the league ends?

Who claimed there's a reliable way?

You can try to increase our chances by doing certain maps, but it's not really a guarantee...
- Try to expand the influenced area of the elder while building redundant routes, a map with no connection left will be removed once that single connection is blocked by the shaper, so having multiple ways to reach maps within you area is preferable (hint: clusters tend to work better than building "worms")
- Try to manage areas that are bottlenecks first, if bottlenecks are taken oven, a large portion of the area will collapse
- Try to save maps that are in danger from multiple areas, if an elder-influenced map is adjacent to 2 or more shaper-influenced maps, consider it a higher priority to switch out the influences on the adjacent maps - or consider going the different route and forgetting it
- Don't run non-influenced maps, the "turn" happens on them too, so they can negatively influence the outcome
- Be careful when doing Shaper strongholds, they count as map completion and hence will induce a "turn", but they'll not be elder influenced after doing the map, so they cost you a turn more to take over, consider skipping them if you don't need to pull the influence into that direction

A turn being the natural progression that happens that changes the influences a bit, but is not a must-change-event.

[Mordy]

Yeah, well.. guess it's all down to RNG then cos what really triggers me is when i specifically target Shaper maps, the Elder is losing ground.

No idea how i managed to get him to manifest earlier in the league, cos he sure isn't keen on making a repeat apperance.

Originally posted by The_Driver:

You can try to increase our chances by doing certain maps, but it's not really a guarantee...
- Try to expand the influenced area of the elder while building redundant routes, a map with no connection left will be removed once that single connection is blocked by the shaper, so having multiple ways to reach maps within you area is preferable (hint: clusters tend to work better than building "worms")
- Try to manage areas that are bottlenecks first, if bottlenecks are taken oven, a large portion of the area will collapse
- Try to save maps that are in danger from multiple areas, if an elder-influenced map is adjacent to 2 or more shaper-influenced maps, consider it a higher priority to switch out the influences on the adjacent maps - or consider going the different route and forgetting it
- Don't run non-influenced maps, the "turn" happens on them too, so they can negatively influence the outcome
- Be careful when doing Shaper strongholds, they count as map completion and hence will induce a "turn", but they'll not be elder influenced after doing the map, so they cost you a turn more to take over, consider skipping them if you don't need to pull the influence into that direction

A turn being the natural progression that happens that changes the influences a bit, but is not a must-change-event.

I'll try that, maybe it'll help enough so the Elder has get enough real estate going for the questline to progress.

...or not and i need to find +1 gimmicky challenge to complete, as if already isn't running out of the doable ones.

[Mordy]

This is stupid.

I clear Malformation of Shaper influence and Elder maaaaaybe moves there, meanwhile Shaper takes over Bazaar, Lair, Infested Valley and Academy.

I go clear him out of the Pit map and he not only retakes Malformation, but takes Lighthouse, Laboratory and Conservatory as well.

And i cleared out Bazaar earlier, along with three runs through Dig which he always retakes if i go run something else afterwards.

Game of whack-a-mole that never ends.

[TemjinGold]

Originally posted by Mordy:

This is stupid.

I clear Malformation of Shaper influence and Elder maaaaaybe moves there, meanwhile Shaper takes over Bazaar, Lair, Infested Valley and Academy.

I go clear him out of the Pit map and he not only retakes Malformation, but takes Lighthouse, Laboratory and Conservatory as well.

And i cleared out Bazaar earlier, along with three runs through Dig which he always retakes if i go run something else afterwards.

Game of whack-a-mole that never ends. :cozypoesad:

Focus on maps with Shaper influence that are currently adjacent to Elder influence. The idea is to expand existing Elder areas, not try to build new ones from scratch.

[Rikkore]

Once the elder influence spawns you want it to spread. So just do maps/shaper influenced maps near it to spread the influence. Make sure you dont do these elderbinfluenced one till your elder spawns. It's quite easy

[Mordy]

Originally posted by TemjinGold:

Originally posted by Mordy:

This is stupid.

I clear Malformation of Shaper influence and Elder maaaaaybe moves there, meanwhile Shaper takes over Bazaar, Lair, Infested Valley and Academy.

I go clear him out of the Pit map and he not only retakes Malformation, but takes Lighthouse, Laboratory and Conservatory as well.

And i cleared out Bazaar earlier, along with three runs through Dig which he always retakes if i go run something else afterwards.

Game of whack-a-mole that never ends.

Focus on maps with Shaper influence that are currently adjacent to Elder influence. The idea is to expand existing Elder areas, not try to build new ones from scratch.

What do you think i been doing?

I clear Shaper out from one end that's blocking the Elder and he just takes a map from the other end, meaning i end up making no progress cos it's just back and forth with him swapping maps with the Elder and retaking maps i just cleared.

Originally posted by Rikkore:

Once the elder influence spawns you want it to spread. So just do maps/shaper influenced maps near it to spread the influence. Make sure you dont do these elderbinfluenced one till your elder spawns. It's quite easy

Yeah, i'm trying but it's not going anywhere, literally.. running nothing but Shaper maps so i guess Elder just gone senile cos he isn't doing his thing at all.

[TemjinGold]

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. Let's try an illustration:

A---B---C---D---E

Let's say D and E are currently Elder influenced and B and C are Shaper influenced (all 5 of these are connected in a line). Don't run C. Run B instead because when you complete it, B and C both will gain Elder influence. Don't run A because the influence won't build over in one go.

[Mordy]

Welp.

Finally got the bugger to spawn with the minimum influence required, killed his guardians,then Shaper's guardians, then Shaper and... now i am supposed to do it all over again, but this time with a twist of needing to lure the Elder to the center of the Atlas from the bottom right corner he occupies at the moment!

Yeah, my run ends here and it's a shame, the story is not half bad but like most everything else (in this game) it's squirreled away behind so many hoops and obstacles that only tiny fraction of the playerbase will ever see it through fully.

[TemjinGold]

Originally posted by Mordy:

Welp.

Finally got the bugger to spawn with the minimum influence required, killed his guardians,then Shaper's guardians, then Shaper and... now i am supposed to do it all over again, but this time with a twist of needing to lure the Elder to the center of the Atlas from the bottom right corner he occupies at the moment!

Yeah, my run ends here and it's a shame, the story is not half bad but like most everything else (in this game) it's squirreled away behind so many hoops and obstacles that only tiny fraction of the playerbase will ever see it through fully.

If you are interested in trying, this is the easiest way I've found:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_EFpLce8x0

[Mordy]

Well, i did it.

Followed what the video said about managing the Elder, something i wish i'd known earlier as it'd avoided lot of frustration, fought some guardians, fought the uber Elder, died far too many times because i am stupid and it took me too long to realize i was fighting both of them at the same time, but in the end, with my last portal i killed the sliced the Elder into ribbons!

He even dropped the good stuff, at least i think it's the good stuff, Starforge Voidforge and Watcher's Eye, two uniques never had before so that's a nice bounty for me to take home.

Oh and i finished Zana's questline, so that's nice too, i think.

[TemjinGold]

Originally posted by Mordy:

Well, i did it.

Followed what the video said about managing the Elder, something i wish i'd known earlier as it'd avoided lot of frustration, fought some guardians, fought the uber Elder, died far too many times because i am stupid and it took me too long to realize i was fighting both of them at the same time, but in the end, with my last portal i killed the sliced the Elder into ribbons!

He even dropped the good stuff, at least i think it's the good stuff, Starforge Voidforge and Watcher's Eye, two uniques never had before so that's a nice bounty for me to take home.

Oh and i finished Zana's questline, so that's nice too, i think. :ghlol:

Congrats!