DarkSwitch is a vertical city-builder with a heavy focus on keeping the fear level of your settlers in check. You’ll have to make some tough decisions as you fight against the fog that wants to swallow the whole world and bring about new horrors from its depths.
For more information on the game, please visit its official website here.
Chapter 4 is one of the longest chapters in the game, and the difficulty spike here is very intense. It is recommended to manually save the game periodically, so you can reload the save if the fear level gets too high.
Table of contents
Preparing For The Shroud
As the chapter begins, the doctor informs Valfidis that the next Shroudsurge will begin in three days. Valfidis considers the idea of a second Luminaris.
You’ll then have to build 10 Bolt Throwers in defense. You might’ve already researched the upgrade in the Engineerium, so you’ll have to set up a total of 10 Fortified Watchtowers and equip them with the Bolt Thrower. It is a time-limited quest that you’ll have to complete before Day 41.
After building the Bolt Throwers, just focus on automating the production of resources until the next quest drops. You should also cover the entire settlement under Light Spires paired with reflectors.
If you’ve researched the Skywalker Illumination technology, you might be able to destroy an approaching Sorago Skywalker. However, due to the fog’s density, you might have to take the hit. The approaching skywalker will damage your buildings and your settlers on Day 41.
Now, if you have the resources, upgrade the Council Townhall and the Engineerium to their maximum levels if you haven’t done so already.
You’ll also have to watch the world map periodically to make sure the remnants of the Sorago Fleet aren’t moving towards Elaran. Use your combat skywalkers to intercept them before they reach the settlement to avoid losses.
Preserving Buildings
On Day 41, Doctor Neammos will tell you about a compound that can be used to coat a building. It renders the building unusable for the time being, but the building will be completely protected by the shroud. You’ll then have to research this technology from the Engineerium.
The next step of the quest asks you to establish an outpost in the Forest of Silence region. You can send a cargo skywalker to the outpost point in the region. This will remove the cargo skywalker from your arsenal, but the outpost will become allied to you.
The next few days are challenging as you may be attacked by monsters. If you open the world map, you’ll see many packs of enemies near Elaran. You’ll have to repeatedly check if any packs are near.
Send your combat skywalkers to intercept these packs, or you’ll have to fight against these monsters inside the settlement, which can be dangerous.
Fighting The Shroudsurge
On the night of Day 42, the shroudsurge will finally attack Elaran. A strange quest will pop up where you have to assign 8 rangers to a Cooking House or a Tavern and let them remain there for a total of 12 hours.
Just pick any Tavern or Cooking house and assign the rangers to it after taking out the craftsmen. You should also keep an eye on any side quests, which are represented by a glowing building.
These side quests let you tone down fear, allowing your settlement to survive and increase its efficiency. On Day 43, an event called Exorcising The Fog will occur.
Some settlers have decided to show up in front of the Council Hall, asking you to burn some corrupted houses. I picked the option to simply dismantle the houses, and that caused the fear to drop.
Rebuilding Elaran
On the morning of Day 44, the shroudsurge will finally cease. You’ll have to rebuild the damaged buildings and also research the technology for a second Luminaris.
Make sure you have at least one Combat Skywalker at full health available at all times from here onwards to face off against any nearby enemy packs on the world map.
Once you’ve researched the second Luminaris and rebuilt most of the broken buildings, click on the Luminaris on the tree trunk and select the development option.
Here, you’ll find the option to upgrade to build the second Luminaris. However, once the construction is complete, Doctor Neammos will tell you that the attempt to build a second Luminaris was a failure. Valdifis thinks more about it and comes up with the idea that they might need a prism.
Dark Switch
On Day 45, Valfidis assigns Captain Ginoa to search for a device called the Dark Switch. However, Valfidis also wants a backup plan, in case the Captain fails. Here, you’ll have to make a choice.
The device is supposedly somewhere near the Luminarchy Great Tree, and you can choose to convince the locals to share their maps with you. You can also choose to search yourself. The last option lets you attack one of the outposts of the Luminarchy and steal the data.
I picked the option to convince the locals. If you do the same, you’ll have to approach the Sorago Outpost in the Wastes Gate region. Send an exploration skywalker to the region.
Later on Day 45, you’ll receive the fifth letter from Sorago’s archon, Eklara. The letter confirms the approach of peace from Sorago’s side.
Delegation From Sorago
A lone Skywalker from Sorago will arrive in Elaran on the same day. They’re willing to let you get your hands on the plans for a prism for a peace treaty.
Your skywalker should’ve made contact with the outpost in the Wastes Gate. They want you to provide them with resources and clear the hazardous site in the Gray Wastes region, which is next to Wastes Gate.
The required resources are 120 units of Solar and 200 units of metal. Once you send a skywalker delivering these resources, you should focus on clearing the hazardous site. The hazardous site is a node called Clear The Area in Gray Wastes, next to a gigantic tree on the world map.
Once your combat skywalker reaches the hazardous site, you’ll have a few options to select. Pick any of the options, and that will get the job done.
In the meantime, the Sorago Diplomat may present Sorago’s terms for the peace treaty. They want you to shine the Luminaris on their settlement all the time, and they’re willing to break the treaty and attack Elaran if the light ceases for a total of three days.
I accepted the terms as they were favorable for Elaran, and Sorago became an ally.
Locating The Past
The outpost will provide you with coordinates after both of the conditions have been met. You’ll have to wait a while for the coordinates to be decrypted before investigating the location in the Star Lake region.
The decryption happens fairly quickly. You’ll then have to investigate the node called Next Step in the Star Lake region on the world map.
Another quest will pop up on Day 46, which asks you to stock the resources for the Prism Skywalker. You’ll have to reserve 80 units of Crystalline, which is an upgraded form of Solar, and 100 units of gas. After reserving the resources, you’ll have to wait for the bird from Sorago to arrive.
Your exploration skywalker will encounter the wreck of a Luminarchy Skywalker on their way to the Next Step node. Here, you’ll find the remains of Captain Ginoa’s father, who was tasked by Valfidis to look for the Dark Switch.
Another Outpost
Next, you’ll have to negotiate with the Sorago Outpost in the Prophets’ Edge region. Once your exploration outpost arrives in the region, send it to contact the outpost.
The outpost here puts forward two conditions. You have to get rid of the nearby monster pack, and you have to investigate the trouble spot in the region for the locals.
The monster pack nearby is large, composed of 16 monsters. You can send one or two of your combat skywalkers to get rid of it.
For the trouble spot, a new green point of interest will show up on Prophets’ Edge after you’ve contacted the local outpost there. This node is called Dangerous Place, and you’ll have to send an exploration Skywalker here.
After you’ve completed both of the requests, you’ll get another set of coordinates to explore, but we’ll come to it later.
Upgrading The Luminaris
While you’re searching for the Dark Switch in the world map, you’ll have to always pay attention to your settlement because it might be attacked at any moment.
The nights of Days 47 and 48 are quite challenging. However, the birds with blueprints for the prism will arrive on the morning of Day 48.
You’ll then have to research the Second Luminaris technology from the Engineerium tree. The node is called Complete The Second Luminaris and can be found under the Defense category.
Once you’ve completed the research, click on the Luminaris on the trunk and upgrade it. Once the second Luminaris is complete, you’ll have to use it on Sorago.
Protecting Sorago With The Luminaris
Open the world map and go to the Gray Wastes region. You’ll find a red node here called Route To Sorago. If you click on it, you’ll see a button that says Glow Over Sorago.
Press the button and your Luminaris will shine a laser on Sorago. Note that while the glow is active on Sorago, the Luminaris will be unusable on your local settlement.
If you want to use the Luminaris, you’ll have to disable the glow from Sorago, and if you let go of it for three consecutive days, Sorago will be destroyed. So, make sure you activate the glow on Sorago after using the Luminaris on your settlement.
Furthermore, you can also avoid most monster attacks by intercepting them via combat skywalkers in the world map. After you shine the glow on Sorago, you’ll receive a letter from Sorago’s envoy, which is just them being grateful to you.
Short Peace
After everything is sorted with Sorago, they’ll periodically send some settlers to Elaran. You can choose to accept them or decline them depending on your needs.
It should be Day 50 now. Later on Day 50, Ginoa will depart on an undisclosed mission. On Day 54, Eklara will write once more from Sorago. This time, she tells Valfidis that their son has passed away.
Ginoa will also return on Day 54, but this time, she has come after investigating the site where Ginao’s father was found, and she knows Valfidis ordered her father to search for the Dark Switch, which led to his death. She wants to confront Valfidis, but he has locked himself in seclusion after the news of his son’s death.
On Day 55, Ginoa and Doctor Neammos will finally be able to talk to Valfidis. They’ll talk about how the shroud works in cycles, destroying civilizations so new ones could arise.
Tessen’s Legacy
Later on Day 55, Doctor Neammos finally learns about Etnarch Tessen’s Apparatus, and he’s amazed by it. Even though Tessen’s experiment with the Apparatus was a failure, according to Neammos, he was on the right track.
Neammos now wants to power up the Apparatus. You’ll need to reserve 50 units of Solar and Gas. Open the Engineerium’s research tree and research the Awakening of the Seed.
You have to focus on your defense against the shroud by setting up Reflectors and Light Spires around the settlement during these days. Furthermore, keep checking the world map for any nearby enemy packs.
From Day 58, another shroudsurge will begin, and this one is even more intense than the previous ones.
Surviving The Shroudsurge
On Day 58, once the shroudsurge takes hold, Valfidis will ask to empty the warehouses as the resources have been slipping away. He asks to fill all of them with rations instead.
Now, you have to assign rations as the main resource in at least 8 warehouses for a total of 10 hours. This is a limited quest that lasts around 13 minutes, so you have to be quick with selecting all the warehouses.
You can also pause the time and interact with the warehouses. The resources won’t immediately disappear if the storage limit falls shorter than the current amount. Don’t forget to set the warehouses to the proper resource again after the quest is complete.
Towards the end of Day 58, Doctor Neammos will unleash the Apparatus, blasting away the shroud before it fully consumes Elaran.
However, unlike Tessen’s explosion, this one was controlled and didn’t destroy the settlement at all. After the explosion, Chapter 4 will come to an end.
Even though the Apparatus didn’t damage any buildings, the shroud sure did, and you’ll have to repair everything and start again before the shroud strikes once again.
This concludes the walkthrough for Chapter 4 of DarkSwitch.
For more walkthroughs, please visit the game’s main hub here. You can also check out the following pages:
- Into Indie Games Homepage
- Gecko Gods Complete Walkthrough Hub
- Replaced Complete Walkthrough
- Road To Vostok – Walkthrough And Guides Hub
- All Will Fall – Walkthrough And Guides Hub
Fahad Suleman is an avid fan of fighting games who spends most of his time writing walkthroughs and reviews for cozy indie titles or mashing around in Tekken. If he’s not writing or playing any games, you’ll often find him watching historical videos on YouTube for hours.
