Top 10 Tips to Survive in Hell
For those that don't know...
Solium Infernum will be available on Steam February 22 @ 12pm PST!
Tip 1: Know Thy Regency (Turn Order)
The order in which turns resolve in Solium Infernum is determined by the “Regent”. As Regent, your turn is up first! This means that if you’re vying for a particularly tricksy play, or are marching around the map, you’ll act before the other players this round. After your first order has concluded, everyone will take their first order clockwise from the Regent. It is the Archfiends who plan their turns with Regency in mind who will reign supreme in Hell.
Tip 2: Play the Board, Before the Board Plays You
Places of Power (known as PoPs) are important locations around Hell that can grant you certain benefits. You need only conquer and acquire them!
One of the benefits of PoPs is a passive buff to your Prestige. In the Trial of the Throne (which can decide the winner of the game), this will help you immensely in breaking ahead of the pack. Quickly acquiring Prestige also means you'll be able to acquire Ranks faster, or utilise specific diplomatic actions against your fellow Archfiends.
Some Places of Power also give you other benefits, like Resistance to certain Rituals and improved Tribute Quality, among many other things... Safe to say: your opponents will likely claim these PoPs if you don’t, so don't forget to play the field!
Tip 3: Heal Thyself
In the conquest of Hell, things are likely to get a little… Bloody. Any Legion or Titan that has lost health points (HP) can be healed. Your Stronghold (your base), as well as any Places of Power (PoPs) acquired will give a passive healing bonus by parking in an adjacent canton. Some benefits in Solium Infernum will increase your rate of healing, too! Meaning that you can get back into the action faster.
Tip 4: Money Rules The World
Earning currency in Solium Infernum comes in the form of “tribute” offered up by your underlings. Your Tribute Quality determines how good the coins you acquire are. Enough tribute opens you up to do particularly wicked things like purchase at the Bazaar, play an Event Card or upgrade your Powers! Tribute really can be the gateway to a successful conquest (this style of play is dubbed “Economy”).
An additional hot tip, the effectiveness of Seek Tribute is altered by how early in your turn you put the Order. If you put it in your first Order Slot, it will return with maximum tribute dollars -- every Order Slot after the first will degrade the quality of the coins that return to you.
Tip 5: Beware of the Dogpile
Winning the Seat of Hell is all about opportunism. At any point, the game might tip on its axis, and the house of cards could come tumbling down. Sometimes a successful game of Solium Infernum is achieved by creeping in the shadows and waiting until the game’s frontrunners expose a flank you might drive a dagger into!
You can use Diplomatic Actions to force your opponents into tight binds. Use your Insult and Demand actions for a quick Prestige-win when you know your opponent simply cannot risk entering into a Vendetta with you. But beware: Insult and Demand have different repercussions, and you never know what your opponent might be hiding.
Tip 6: The Art of War (Stratagems and Support)
Stratagems are an exclusive benefit to the Wrath branch of the Power Tree. With these secret cards, you can give a temporary, one-off bonus to your Legions in a battle. Up against Astaroth’s meaty, melee heavy legion? Dump a clutch bonus to your Ranged attribute to eradicate them before they can even reach you in the field.
Alternatively, if you find yourself in need of some bigger buffs, you can park another Legion adjacent to your own and add half of their stats to your combatting Legions!
Tip 7: Praetor Combat: Gladiator-Style
Praetor Duelling is a wonderful way to earn some Prestige if your military is on the backfoot. By purchasing a Praetor from the Bazaar, you can send them to reconcile your Vendettas in a gladiatorial arena against another Praetor. You are given a subset of Moves this Praetor could use to destroy their opponent in hellish glory! You can even give a little bit of extra tribute as a bribe to the judge to make sure your Praetor wins.
Remember: Skulls beat Orbs beats Snake beats Skulls.
Tip 8: Prophecy Sees All
Using Prophecy in Solium Infernum is a wonderful way to participate in the meta-currency of the game: information. By using Rituals, you can cast Dark Augury to spy on the Powers of your fellow Archfiends, can cast dark hexes to perturb your rivals and can see through false intentions: whether that be thieves attempting to break into your Vault, liars attempting to forge False Orders or the infinite other deceitful acts of Hell.
Tip 9: Manuscripts are Dark Horses
At first glance, Manuscripts do not seem like much at all. They are fragments of larger tomes that need to be collected and combined to have any effect. In the early game, sacrificing precious Order Slots to Search for Manuscripts is a hard bargain – there’s much else to focus on! However, those with the long-game in mind know the true value of the Manuscripts, especially the Machines. These Machines can grind all other Archfiend’s Powers down to their base levels, a particularly brutal blow to deliver in the final few turns of a Solium Infernum match, and a delicious ace to keep up your sleeve, so long as you can find all the pieces.
Tip 10: Watch for the Power Behind the Throne
Not everything – and everyone – is always what it seems. In Solium Infernum, there is the obvious path to victory with the Trial of the Throne, decided by who has the most Prestige by the Conclave at the end of the match. Then, there are more subtle paths to victory… These are known as Manipulation Victories and are relics that can be equipped at game start.
The Crown of the Kingmaker requires you to choose an Archfiend as a puppet. If the Conclave elects your puppet to the Throne, you win instead.
Power Behind the Throne requires you to pledge yourself to another Archfiend as a Blood Vassal. If the Conclave elects your Blood Lord to the Throne, you win instead.
These tips should set you on your path for infernal domination, but if anyone asks… You didn’t hear it from us!
In the mean time...
See you (very soon) in Hell,
Ty
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If you've made it this far, thanks for following along. I intend to share more posts like this, detailing the development process as it unfolds and exploring the unique challenges the privilege of re-imagining a cult classic like Solium Infernum for new (and old!) audiences holds.
For now, you can join the League of Geeks Discord community for all the infernal news and discussion.
P.S. You can support us and our re-imagining of Vic's "diamond in the dark" by Wishlisting Solium Infernum on Steam, if you haven't already. Wishlisting tells the all-great Steam algorithm that people like what they’re seeing and gets us in front of more eyes.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1893810/Solium_Infernum/