Guides

Written by chapter, so you never read past where you are. Nothing below spoils a story beat, a boss identity or an ending. If a step needs a late-game item, we say so without saying why.

Ashfall Protocol

The first six hours without dying

['Seal the east airlock before you repair the greenhouse — the greenhouse can wait a day, the breach cannot.', 'Buy the oxygen recycler upgrade before any weapon. It pays for itself by hour five.', 'Keep one colonist off the roster as a spare. The game expects you to lose someone.', 'Storms telegraph two in-game hours ahead through the radio static. Learn that sound.']

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Newcomer
Most players lose their first colonist to the second storm. It is avoidable, and it costs you nothing but two hours of patience.Spoiler-free
Drift Kings: Meridian

Every hidden vault in Meridian

['Harbour Loop: hold the outside line through turn four and the wall opens at 180 km/h.', 'Sunken Interchange: only reachable in wet weather, which cycles every third event.', 'Ridge Spine: needs the tier-two differential, not the tier-two engine. Common mistake.']

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Some practice
Nine vaults, three of them reachable in your first hour with the starter car. Routes below are ordered by how much grip they demand.Spoiler-free
Hollow Signal

Reading the fog before it reads you

['Bird calls stop before the fog rolls, not during it.', 'Your compass drifts two degrees west inside a contested zone.', 'If the radio repeats a callsign, another squad is already extracting from your exit.']

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Demanding
Extraction timing is the whole game. Three tells give you roughly forty seconds of warning each.Spoiler-free
Vault of Nine Kings

Losing a captain on purpose

['Retreat before turn six to keep the province, after turn nine to keep the veteran.', 'A captured captain returns in chapter four with a trait you can choose.', 'Never spend renown before a siege you intend to lose.']

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Expert
The campaign branches wider after a defeat than a victory. This is how to lose in the direction you want.Spoiler-free

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