Astral Islands

Learn the ins and outs of Astral Islands in Songs of Conquest. Get expert tips on exploration, strategy, and making the most of your towns and settlements.

Alright, let's dive into the Astral Islands! This guide is all about helping you get a solid grip on the game's fundamentals, especially if you're just starting out. We'll cover the basics of gameplay, get you familiar with the different factions, and sprinkle in some handy tips for tackling the official campaigns.

Keep in mind, this guide is focused on PvE play. If you're looking to jump into competitive multiplayer, that's a whole different ballgame with its own strategies and meta.

Gameplay Basics

General Tips

Movement, Explore!

Seriously, explore everything! You want to be constantly searching for resources to boost your economy and capturing buildings to get more income and expand your vision on the map. If you're not looting, your opponent definitely will be. To make this process smoother, try to increase your Movement stat and get a secondary Wielder. This lets your main Wielder focus on battles while your secondary can handle the looting, making you way more efficient each turn.

Pro Tip: Hit that ALT key constantly! It's your best friend for showing you everything you can interact with on the map. It's not just for interactables, either – it can reveal items hidden behind environmental objects, so use it often!

Make a Strategy

Before you go charging in, decide on a plan. What units are you aiming to recruit? What research do you want to prioritize? Focusing on a few key units means cheaper research and faster reinforcements, but it also makes you less flexible and limits the variety of spells you can cast. Don't be afraid to experiment during the first few maps of most campaigns, as they're usually a bit more forgiving. This is your chance to figure out what tactics and units you enjoy and to build a solid plan for the tougher final maps.

Make Use of Your Build Slots

Understanding how to use your town's building slots is crucial for managing your resources and army. Here's the breakdown:

• Towns get: 7 small building slots, 3 medium building slots, and 2 large building slots.
• Large Settlements get: 3 small building slots, 2 medium building slots, and 1 large building slot.
• Small Settlements get: 2 small building slots and 1 medium building slot.

If you find yourself with free building slots, consider your current situation:

• If you're short on rare resources, think about building multiple Markets (you can build up to 5). Markets improve trade prices, which is essential for unlocking your highest-tier units, making upgrades cheaper, and speeding up your overall progress.
• If you're struggling to reinforce your armies, focus on one unit type and use Rally Points to bring in reinforcements quickly.
• If an enemy is on the move and approaching your territory, build a Tower. They only take one turn to construct and are incredibly powerful for taking down dangerous units like Cheluns or Necromancers. Even if you can't wipe out their entire army, damaging them can significantly soften them up for a future battle.

Artifacts

You'll stumble upon a lot of Artifacts as you explore the campaign maps. Some will be beneficial, while others might not seem so great at first. Even if you pick up a seemingly