Howdy folks. I’m DivineWrath. Some of you might remember me as the guy who wrote the TA 101 for GalCiv 2. Now, I’m writing up this guide for Elemental. Hopefully this will answer questions that might otherwise be asked a 100 times elsewhere.

Let me be clear. This guide’s only concern is to inform new players (or confused beta testers) as to how to get started when playing the game, and try to answer questions regarding basic game play. This guide will not cover advanced strategies, or try to examine game mechanics to determine the game works in fine detail.

If you have a question that isn't covered in this guide, feel free to post a reply (and I'll try to answer it if its on topic).

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QA (questions & answers)

Q: What is Elemental - War of Magic?

A: Elemental plays like a civilization game (most of you should know what I’m talking about), except it’s a fantasy game (instead of alternate history), and with magic. You, the sovereign, are the one of few people able to restore life to the land, and you get your own cool little chess piece on the map. You can move your sovereign around and do things like cast spells, and you can even fight in battles against your enemies. Depending on the victory conditions, you may need to do quests to find mighty artifacts, learn the spell of mastery, or even bash in the heads of your enemies till they stop moving.

But beware, there be Dragons.

Q: The game sounds cool and all, but where do I get it?

A: The game can be bought using Impulse, or at www.impulsedriven.com . Alternatively, you could buy a copy at your local game store.

Q: What should I do once I start playing?

A: First thing you probably need to do is, to found your kingdom (build your first settlement). Your sovereign can make the first settlement free of charge. Try to build it next to a fertile piece of land (it’s a special tile).

From there, you will want to build a school (to do research), build a market (to make money), and build a workshop (to make materials needed to build early structures, and train early units). From there, you should probably try to train a few scouts (to explore), build a few huts (to raise the city population limit, and have it level up), and build a farm or two (so you have the food to build the huts). The rest... well, you can decide that.

Q: Help! How do I build a farm (or use other special tiles)?

A: How you build farms has changed in the release version (for those of you who beta tested the game). You now must select the resource in the main map (outside of town construction), and select the option to build a farm on the fertile soil.

Q: How do I give my one of my champions the ability to cast spells?

A: There is a spell called “Imbue Champion”. You must research it before you can cast it. Depending on the spell books you have, you might not have the ability to research it. When you have learnt the spell, you may cast it on a champion to give it the ability to cast spell. When you do so, you will transfer some of your sovereign’s essence to the champion.

Q: Why did my sovereign lose essence?

A: There are a few things in the game that might cost your sovereign essence. Casting the spell “Imbue Champion” costs essence. If your sovereign falls in battle, it might spend some essence to try to escape (doesn’t always work depending on the circumstances). The game should warn you before you do something that will cost essence.

--Update: 2010_08_25--

Q: How do I do higher level quests, or explore high objects on the map?

A: You need a high “Notable Location Level” to explore such areas. Unfortunately, the techs you need to research in order to increase you level are not currently labeled. I suggest you research “Quests” in the adventure section, and research each tech unlocked in the line up. You should be able to increase you “Notable Location Level” from there.

Q: How do I buy new equipment for my sovereign (or champions)?

A: You can buy new equipment for you sovereign if the said unit is within your area of influence. To the bottom left of your screen, you should see a tab called actions. One of the icons should say something like “visit item shop”. From there, you can buy items for your sovereign.

Q: I got some cool stuff for my sovereign (or champion), but how do I equip it?

A: Select the sovereign. There on the UI, you should see a button with a sword and shield on it (it should be right next to the hit points, or HP). Once there, you should be able to select what equipment your sovereign will use. Please note that some items are sloted and therefore you are limited in the number of items you can use.

Q: How do I use caravans?

A: First you need the tech. Research “Trading” from the diplomacy section on the tech tree. From there, train a caravan. Once done, order it to move another settlement (either one you own, or one belonging to another civ). They also build roads roads along the trade route (which allows units to travel faster between the 2 points).

Q: How do I recruit NPCs?

A: Various NPCs can be recruited as your champions. To do so, you ussually need the money to “persuade them” to join your cause. Janusk (the early advisor you can recruit), is a rare exception as he probably hasn’t realized the other champions got paid.

Q: How do I build ships/docks?

A: Ship docks can only be built along the shore line. Most of the land mass near the shore line are cliffs, ill suited for docks. As such, you may need to look around for a beach or something. Once the dock is built, you can build ships the same way you would train another unit.
                                        
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Thats it for now. If any of you have any questions, feel free to post a reply, and I’ll try to find an answer for it in (unless I feel its off topic).