The Vaulters
[postad]The Vaulters are an interesting faction that turns winter into an advantage. They worship strategic resources that allow them to boost their income and teleport their military units between any friendly city.
During winter they gain 200% of their strategic resource income, at a time where other factions receive nothing! If that was not enough they also own technology that allows them to negate negative food effects of winter.
Holy resource
The Vaulters are all about holy resources. Normally the strategic resources in Endless Legend (Titanium, Glasssteel, Adamantium, etc) are primarily used to purchase weaponry. However the Vaulters turn them into Boosters and let them fuel unit teleportation. Now the interesting thing here is that you determine which resources are holy! In fact you get to declare it every 20 turns.
Declaring a holy resource
On the top left of the screen you will gather the 6 strategic resources; Titanium, Glasssteel, Adamantium, Palladian, Mithrite and Hyperium. To activate a boost simply click on one of them.
Note: The amount of resources required depends on the number of regions that are under player control.
The best holy resource booster
Obviously selecting the best holy resource will depend on the state of your game. Sometimes you will not have enough of the resource you need, other times you have a sudden need for dust (upgrading armies) or production (producing armies). So it is wise to know the impact of each resource so you can make an informed decision.
- Titanium : +20% Science
- Glassteel : +20% Dust
- Adamantian : +20% Industry
- Palladian : +20% Food
- Mithrite : +15% Industry, +15% Dust
- Hyperium : +15% Food, +15% Science
Personally I would recommend starting with a science booster. In the early game you usually have little gold per turn income. A percentage based boost will yield very little effect. For example your empire on turn 90 has 10 dust per turn and 90 science per turn. At that time a 20% science booster will result in much bigger gains (+2 vs +18). The 2 dust per turn is a bit insignificant. Additionally more dust will usually follow from new buildings (Empire mint, etc) when you research more quickly. Later in the game, when you have 200+ dust per turn, it will become harder to make the right decision.
Teleportation
Teleportation does not consume holy resources. However it does require that you have declared a holy resource.
To teleport a unit it must have at least one movement point AND it must be inside one of your cities or districts (burrows). If you meet both conditions the teleport unit action will let you instantly transfer the army to any of your cities. Teleporting will spend all remaining movement points, meaning you have to wait until next turn before you can move again. However they will defend your city (!).
Winter is coming!
Keep in mind that normally NO strategic resources are gained during Winter. However the Holy resource will produce at 200% during winter time!!! So whereas other factions slow down during winter the Vaulters thrive.
Unique city improvement from unique technologies
As with all factions the Vaulters have a few unique technologies. Most of them consist of buildings that require an x amount of your holy resource to construct. In a regular game this will be 20 for all buildings. Like most factions there are also 2 unique military units; the Dawn Officer and the Titan.
Deep Generator
The deep generator can be constructed in any city and provides a flat 10% food, industry dust and science bonus. Definitely recommended!
Winter Shelters
This city improvement provides a winter immune protection on food reduction. In English this means that where other races have to slow their growth during Winter the Vaulters can continue growing. Early winters “only” cost -1 food per tile making it a bit trivial. At the same time the upkeep cost is only 1 dust per turn and 250 production is quite affordable.
Let’s put this into perspective. On a size 19 city with 133 food per turn during winter constructing Winter Shelters will improve food output to 156. Let’s say winter takes 15 turns then you will have gained an additional 345 food. Even at a population size of 19 this improvement reduced the time to grow from 4 to 3 turns, so it can be quite significant.
Strength of the Vault
This city improvement provides a massive city fortification bonus. Only useful when you are afraid of another player invading you. Recommended for playing defensively (turtling) but not so much you are dominating the map or have vastly superior technology and armies. After all you can teleport your armies.
Endless Recycling
This city improvement provides a nice technology boost to level 2 cities and districts. Definitely a must to keep up that science advantage.
Unique traits
Knack for knowledge
+1 science on terrain with science
Veins of Auriga
+1 resource on strategic resource deposits
Holy resource
Provides the ability to select a holy resource (as discussed earlier). When selected it provides:
- A booster (as discussed before)
- Teleportation between cities
- 200% holy resource income during winter
- -50% expansion disapproval
Recommended strategy
The Vaulters are awesome at owning massive empires. For starters they receive a 50% reduction in expansion disapproval meaning you can own a few more cities then your competition without suffering from unhappiness. Additionally their teleporting armies allow them to immediately warp in and defend any city under Vaulter control. A single powerful army can be used to defend dozens of sectors.
From that massive empire there are two obvious ways to win. The first is to utilize the Vaulters science bonuses and try to score a science victory by researching 5 of the 6 final techs. Another viable option is to conquer the entire world (remember -50% expansion disapproval and you should have an amazing economy). I would not aim for a dust victory since other factions are more suited
Questions?
I hope you enjoyed this guide. If you have any questions, tips or other suggestions please post them in the comments.
