Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Endless Legend 2

Here is our Endless Legend 2 beginner’s guide.

Endless Legend 2 is a 4X, turn-based strategy game inspired by the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3 and the Civilization series. However, if you’ve ever played a 4X strategy game, don’t assume the same strategies will work here. Set on the planet Saiadha, you will conquer multiple territories, expand your base, and make your faction the strongest. If you’re interested, please check out the game’s Steam page right here.

---

---

The 4X Strategy | The Base

If you haven’t played any 4X Strategy before, fret not; I have you covered. 4X is an abbreviation for: Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate. That’s the basic rule of Endless Legend 2 and any game that consists of numerous factions.

While exploring Saiadha, you will come across multiple big areas called Territories, which divide the entire map. Additionally, you will manage your resources and interact with other factions and towns to gain their trust. It’s a basic but tedious concept that takes time to learn.

There’s a crucial, fifth aspect of the game that goes unnoticed until it is too late: Adapt. Saiadha is ever-changing, and if you fail to adapt to its weather and Tidefall events, you will eventually succumb to them.

Weather changes, especially Monsoon, can create new opportunities, and Tidefall will reveal territories that were initially inaccessible; Tidefall has three scripted events.

For the first few games, I would recommend learning the game. Go through multiple trials and errors until you finally have the gist of it instead of obsessing over winning every battle.

It’s a strategy game, and going head-on into a battle without a plan will cost you dearly.

Choosing a Faction

In Endless Legend 2, choosing your faction is the most important (initial) step. Unlike the Civilization series, where every faction has similar qualities, EL 2’s factions are pretty distinct from each other.

Every faction has different properties compared to others, and choosing one depends on how you want to play the game. Here are the factions:

• Tahuk
• Aspects
• Kin of Sheredyn
• Necrophage
• Last Lords
• The Sandshapers
• Order of Zelevas
• Mangrove of Harmony

But what should you choose? If you’re just starting, then go for a faction that doesn’t force you to rethink 4X fundamentals. For that, Kin of Sheredyn is your best bet to learn the conventional expansion, cities, and battles of this genre.

One common mistake I’ve seen in beginners is that they tend to lean towards a faction with a badass description. It doesn’t work like that. Try to capitalize on what the faction specializes in, e.g., Warfare, Diplomacy, and economy.

FIDSI – A Personal, Efficient Acronym

Everything in Endless Legend 2 relies on FIDSI, an acronym I use to make it easy to remember. Basically, FIDSI represents the major economic outputs of your empire:

• F – Food
• I – Industry
• D – Dust
• S – Science
• I – Influence

Food

In any 4X game, your cities will accumulate population over time. And to sustain it, food is a top priority to keep their morale up; they will remain happy. It drives additional city growth, providing more economic output. More food means faster population growth, more workers, and more FIDSI.

As much as money is important for your economy, if you don’t have enough workers, then you’re “cooked.”

Industry

With food, your population will become efficient in creating industry for your city. Basically, Industry in FIDSI includes buildings, infrastructure, military units, and anything that requires a workforce to operate. As you expand into the later territories, you will be able to generate more food, science, and dust.

While food is important to grow your city, industry is an aspect that defends your infrastructure and citizens from bandit raids and other attacks.

Dust

And here’s the fruit of your labor: Dust. Dust is the currency that you can spend to buy things instead of producing them normally that requires a lot of hard work.

However, accumulating Dust in itself is a tedious task. If you want to produce military troops faster, you can spend Dust to accelerate the task only when the relevant mechanics allow it.

Additionally, Dust is useful on a diplomatic level. During the tutorial, you will learn to negotiate with other clan members in the territories.

You can either chat with them and complete their quest to earn their trust, clash with them, or give them Dust. It’s a resource that lets you solve problems without using external force.

Science

Science in Endless Legend 2 is your research currency, allowing you to progress your empire’s technology system. Spending Science will give you access to newer capabilities and improvements for your city. You can capitalize on it to unlock new tools. Using them in battles will lead you to a perfect victory, but don’t overextend yourself.

If you have brains but no brawn, you will still lose.

Influence

The most important and hard-to-understand aspect of Endless Legend 2 is influence. The more influence you have, the more political power your city wields. With it, you can expand your city, efficiently commit to diplomacy actions, establish camps, and interact with minor factions around the world.

Even if you have all the aforementioned economic powers, without influence you will not be able to control the territory. So, make sure to keep working towards influence by talking to other factions and expanding your territory, and watch the ball roll.

This is your silver spoon.

Turns – Explained

The easiest method to understand the concept of Turns in a 4X game is to think of it like a board game. During your turn, you can move your troops, provide construction orders, research technologies, explore the world, and so on. Every turn, your troops will receive a certain amount of stamina to move around the map.

Once you have done everything you want to, you can end the turn and wait for the next situation to unfold. The other factions will take their turn, which allows the game to process various events and resource production. It all goes back and forth.

So, if you’re just starting, you might be wondering, “How should I use my Turns?” Every turn matters. In the first 30 Turns, I would recommend exploring your territory and connecting with other factions while forming an economic base. Before anything, you should make your city economically powerful, then focus on the military troops.

Here’s a detailed list of how you should manage your turns—you don’t have to rely on it completely, as your world depends on your play style; it’s just a general order:

Turns 1 – 10

• Explore the world.
• Identify territories and build your capital.
• Interact with minor factions in the area and pacify them.
• Establish your economic foundation.
• Develop Food and Industry.
• Construct useful Infrastructure.

Turns 11 – 20

• Maintain a military.
• Explore more.
• Expand into more territories

Turns 21 – 30

• Look for minor and powerful factions.
• Research technologies and invest in Science.
• Form more cities to keep the population thriving
• Pay attention to the other major factions

The Importance of Minor Factions

While exploring the world, you will come across Minor Factions. They are enemies that can be dealt with in multiple ways.

You can either bribe them with dust, attack their villages, or pacify them by completing their quest. The easiest and safest way to deal with a minor faction is to pacify them with a quest. Why? You can pacify the faction and receive rewards for the quest; it’s a win-win situation.

Doing so will allow you to learn about diplomacy in Endless Legend 2. If you start a war with a faction significantly stronger than yours, then your city will bear the consequences of your actions.

If a war goes on for long enough, it will eventually decrease the morale (Approval) of your population, creating internal problems.

Eliminating their villages also works. However, if you either bribe or pacify them, the faction will provide you with multiple economic resources. Inspect the faction before making your decision. If they’re not good with their resources, then I’ll leave it up to you.

Be merciful, for God’s sake.

Monsoon – Explained

Monsoon changes the environmental conditions, bringing storms and temporary opportunities to the world. Think of it as an incentive to explore the activities and curiosities that become relevant in Saiadha.

Unlike Tidefall, Monsoon doesn’t really affect the map’s terrain.

Before Monsoon arrives, you will receive a notification on the screen. Look around your empire to understand the changes, then act on them to capitalize on the special opportunities.

However, if you’re in the middle of an important, time-sensitive objective, don’t abandon it even if something interesting pops up near your empire during Monsoon.

To put it in simpler words, always keep an eye out for Monsoon in Endless Legend 2. Strategize for the opportunities when it begins, and don’t get greedy! If something feels unattainable, then step back and wait until you have enough resources.

Tidefall – Explained

Tidefall is what makes the map ever-evolving. It is an event in which the oceans recede and reveal Saiadha’s submerged territories, which can be controlled.

Some of these areas are unavailable early in the game, but as you progress and witness Tidefall, you can explore them freely.

The important thing here is that Tidefall can eventually change the strategic situation. For example, there’s a massive gap between you and another faction. And to reach them, you must go around the entire area first.

If you’re lucky enough, Tidefall could open a land route between your city and faction. So, don’t rely on a single strategy, as you will see multiple Tidefalls in your run; the map is ever-changing.

Here’s the key takeaway: Don’t try to change your empire just because of Tidefall. Instead, take a breather and look around the map to find new opportunities and threats that may have appeared from the ocean.

Keeping your plans flexible with the map’s changes is the key to becoming the strongest there ever is in the game.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

As we’ve discussed all the important things that will help you in your Endless Legend 2 run, here’s the last thing that you should learn: a handful of mistakes to avoid.

Assuming this is your first time playing a 4X game, this list will help you. Here are the common mistakes and why you must avoid them:

• Don’t expand too quickly – expanding into other territories isn’t free.
• Ignoring Industry – if you have dust but don’t invest it in building anything, your city is technically useless.
• Ignoring Food – low food means lower population, which results in a lower economic output.
• Building unnecessary military units – having multiple military units worth more than your economy won’t help you.
• Building no military units – a deliberate invitation to your doom, as you won’t be able to defend yourself if enemies attack you.
• Killing all minor factions – some minor factions have long-term bonuses. Make sure to inspect them first.
• Fighting futile wars – every war comes with War Fatigue. The longer a war goes on, the worse fatigue gets.
• Ignoring Tidefall – the map will change, and not planning accordingly will cost you dearly.
• Forgetting Victory Condition – having an enormous empire and forgetting the victory condition will end in a loss.

Key Takeaways

So, to sum up everything in this ultimate guide, here’s a cheat sheet to help you:

New game (starting your journey)	Explore and establish your economy
Weak economy	Maintain Food and Industry
Low population	More Food will help
Building things	Industry
Falling behind in technology	Science
Executing diplomatic and territorial actions	Influence
Buying stuff	Dust
Strong neighbor	Military and diplomacy
Useful minor faction	Pacify or bribe
Long war	Be mindful of War Fatigue
New Land	Re-evaluate your expansion
Multiple Cities	Make them specialize in individual aspects
Struggling to research	Solve the biggest problem in your path
Struggling to build something	Plan a city’s specialization
What comes next	Look out for the victory conditions

And here, our Endless Legend 2 ultimate guide ends. This is everything you need to give yourself a head start and conquer Saiadha efficiently.

---

If you’re looking for more walkthroughs, please check the links below:

• Into Indie Games Homepage
• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Walkthrough Hub
• Tiny Eden: Guides, Tips And Walkthrough
• Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault – Guides And Walkthrough Hub
• Cosmic Fear Walkthrough Hub