Stratos Mission 4 Mission Title: Elmekia, the newly adopted homeworld of the wizard Shakti Objective 1:Defeat Acheron Objective 2: Deliver 24 souls to the beacon (optional) Mission Attributes: +2 to Stratos, -1 to Persephone, -1 to James, -1 to Pyro, -1 to Charnel New Units: Storm giant New Spells: Chain lightning Stratos sends you to Elmekia to defend the land and the goddess Persephone. You're introduced to Shakti, a Persephone wizard sent to help in your battle against Acheron. Stratos also informs you of an optional objective - bring 24 souls to the beacon for additional help. These souls will come straight out of your blue soul reserve; think hard before delivering a soul, because you might need that extra unit for defense. As the mission opens, Shakti offers you a choice. She can either go on the attack ("to battle") or defend in the map's central choke point ("hold the center"). Deliver souls to Stratos' beacon to receive a worthy unit award. Thankfully, you also have powerful new units and spells to assist you. You're offered Stratos' strong, melee unit, the storm giant. Casting the lightning spell increases the storm giant's power and effectiveness. Support the storm giant with air and ranged units, however, because it's highly vulnerable to air assault. Chain lightning is an impressive spell that can damage multiple units in a single blast. It's especially effective in clearing groups of low-level enemy units. Send Shakti to battle, which will give you time to clear low-level units and gather souls for Stratos. Even though the objective is optional, Stratos will offer several high-level air units if you can deliver 24 souls to him - with these in hand, you can easily overrun Acheron's defenses. Alternatively, you can use these souls for your own units (storm giants, ranged and air support, etc). Explore the landscape and construct manaliths to increase your mana intake. Shakti will produce her own manaliths, so you'll have to find exposed fountains to erect your own manaliths. Follow Shakti through some of her battles and assist her. Convert red souls for your own use, either for units or to deliver back to Stratos. When you have excess souls, simply walk up against the beacon, and you will automatically deliver the soul to Stratos. Remember, you need to deliver 24 (which can include your initial count) to receive the free high-level units. During the mission, Marduk appears (as he does during each campaign). Even though you don't learn much about Marduk here, you'll learn during the rest of the single-player campaign. Continue to assist Shakti in the battles against Acheron. Convert souls and make new units (or deliver them to Stratos). Acheron won't go down lightly. He puts up a tough fight at his manaliths and his altar. Combine your attacks with Shakti (using ample amounts of chain lightning). Push Acheron back to his altar (simply follow his manahoars if Acheron's banished in battle) and destroy neighboring manaliths. Replace manaliths with your own to keep mana intake high. With Shakti by your side (and, if you delivered 24 souls, the assistance of high-level units), defeat Acheron's remaining units and cast the desecrate spell on the altar. Banish Acheron one last time to complete the mission in victory.   « Previous Page Stratos Missions (cont.) »