Darklings - Introductory Faction Strategy - Terra Mystica

[@michellecsr]

Awesome video! Thank you! Sharing with my friends. 😊

[@Marky-by4zv]

Subscribed with just the title

[@gustavosimoesbraga]

Thanks for all these videos. Great to learn especially the weaker factions who tend to be underbid.

[@kuzikman]

Thanks for the series, its been great to get to know basic game factions I havent played yet. Any plans for future videos? Like any other “basic” stuff around TM, F&I factions or merchants expansion guide?

[@mrfickles]

Hey! Thanks for your comment. I'll likely continue making strategy videos if there's interest. Feel free to ping me with ideas and strategy questions for future videos. Probably a mix of basic strategy, advanced strategy, game analyses (e.g., I recorded myself analyzing an auction for one of my games), and new dimensions (for example, Lava factions). I'm not sure yet which of these directions would be most valuable to viewers.

[@kuzikman]

Glad to hear there's hope. :D Game analyses and faction auction sound interesting. Since You've already done all the basic factions I'd personally appreciate F&I factions, but I get that they aren't played as much as the basic ones, thus some other strategy videos might be more valuable. I have watched some of your older videos and think I did learn something about the game strategy as a whole not just one faction. Just yesterday ended up with acolytes which I've never seen played and still ended up destroying my friends. Point being I've leveled up my game as a whole. Also I would appreciate a quick video of some starting positions on other maps then the original, but that's "nothing" compared to potential videos previously mentioned in this thread. Anyway, looking forward for any future videos. :)

[@SirKarlosG]

How do you take the worker power action on round 1? I am in a game and almost possible to go for that perfect start although I can't see how I can take that action.

[@mrfickles]

Hi Karlos. Thanks for your Q. I don't want to advise on ongoing games, but the general principle is that (1) you should be upgrading near others and getting power from their upgrading and building next to you, (2) get power from going up the cult with priest and/or your first favor, and (3) be willing to burn down to 4 power kernels as Darklings (they don't need the double dig power action, so four kernels is enough throughout the game). After your game is over, if you share the game link, I can give feedback on your situation more specifically. Good luck!

[@lorenzobolis5166]

I really dislike Dw rush with Darklings: ok you have space and 7w round 2, and then...? I feel you'll end up converting cubes to coins and feel bad about it, cos you can't turn cubes into spades as every other Dw rushing faction would do.

[@mrfickles]

Thanks for your comment! For any of the niche lines, the circumstances in which they are best are somewhat rare. But top players are able to identify those situations and then navigate pulling it off. You're right that not being able to hard dig (3worker dig) going forward as Darklings is a factor. And more importantly, priest production is incredibly valuable to them, so it is borderline-silly to forgo that. However, if you see a track of dwelling scoring, trading house scoring, temple scoring, ... that's a case where dwelling rush could situationally be strongest, for example. It's a lot harder to pull off the niche lines though and easier for things to fall flat. That said, you usually shouldn't be converting workers to coins round 2 in Darklings dwelling rush games -- 7 starting coins leftover, hunt coin scroll, and get coin power action r1 or 2. It also let's you secure key territory quickly which could be a factor in some games too. Hope that helps!