Terrain

The map in Endless Legend consists of hexagonal tiles of terrain. Tiles are a major source of FIDSI, especially food and industry. A city gathers from city tiles as well as adjacent non-city tiles, referred to as a city's exploitation. A tile has a base terrain type as well as a number of possible modifiers, including anomalies, features (like rivers and roads), and points of interest (like ruins and minor faction villages). A tile's base yield is determined its terrain type. This can be further augmented by a large number of modifiers, including City Improvements, Research, and Hero Skills.

Basic Terrain Types

Note that most factions cannot gather food on volcanic terrain. See the section below for more details.

Image	Name	Type						Volcanoforms Into
	Cold Forest	Forest	1	2			2	Scorched Wilds
	Crystal Forest	Forest		2		1	2	Scorched Wilds
	Enchanted Forest	Forest	1	1		1	2	Scorched Wilds
	Mountain Forest	Forest	1	1			2	Scorched Wilds
	Palm Trees	Forest	1	2			2	Scorched Wilds
	Savanna	Forest	1	1	1		2	Scorched Wilds
	Taiga	Forest	1	2			2	Scorched Wilds
	Temperate Forest	Forest	1	2			2	Scorched Wilds
	Wetland	Forest	2	1			2	Scorched Wilds
	Cold Grassland	Plains	2		1		1	Barren Soil
	Frozen Grass	Plains	2		1		1	Ash Drifts
	Grassland	Plains	3				1	Ash Drifts
	Hot Prairie	Plains	2		1		1	Barren Soil
	Prairie	Plains	2		1		1	Ash Drifts
	Red Soil	Plains	2			1	1	Lava Swirls
	Shrubland	Plains	1		1		1	Basalt Plains
	Tundra Grass	Plains	2		1		1	Barren Soil
	Dirt Field	Arid			2	1	1	Ash Drifts
	Dry Soil	Arid			1		1	Basalt Plains
	Sand Dunes	Arid			2		1	Ash Drifts
	Snow	Arid			1	1	1	Ash Drifts
	Snowy Field	Arid	1		1	1	1	Barren Soil
	Crystal Field	Rocks				3	1	Barren Soil
	Crystal Ice	Rocks				1	1	Lava Swirls
	Frozen Spikes	Rocks		1		2	1	Lava Swirls
	Mountain Rock	Rocks		1		2	1	(not yet tested)
	Red Rock	Rocks		1		2	1	Lava Swirls
	Rocky Field	Rocks		1		2	1	Lava Swirls
	Sandstone	Rocks		1	1	1	1	Basalt Plains
	Sandstone Swirls	Rocks		1		2	1	Lava Swirls
	Tundra Rocks	Rocks		1	1	1	1	Basalt Plains
	Ash Drifts	Volcanic	1	1	2		1	N/A
	Badlands	Volcanic	3	1		1	1	N/A
	Barren Soil	Volcanic	1	2	2		1	N/A
	Basalt Plains	Volcanic	1	2		2	1	N/A
	Lava Swirls	Volcanic	1	1		2	1	N/A
	Scorched Wilds	Volcanic	2	3			1	N/A
	Coastal Waters (volcanic)	Sea or Lake	1	1	2		1	N/A
	Ocean (volcanic)	Sea or Lake	1	1	1		1	N/A
	Inland Waters (volcanic)	Sea or Lake	1	1	2		1	N/A
	Coastal Waters	Sea or Lake	1		2		1	Coastal Waters (volcanic)
	Ocean	Sea or Lake	1		1		1	Ocean (volcanic)
	Inland Waters	Sea or Lake	1		2		1	Inland Waters (volcanic)
	Frozen Waters	Sea or Lake	1		2		1	N/A
	Coral Reef	Unproductive						N/A
	Drift Ice	Unproductive						N/A
	Ridge	Unproductive						Ridge on volcanic terrain (cosmetic change)
	WasteLand	Unproductive						N/A

Volcanic Terrain

Most factions cannot gather any Food from volcanic terrain, including added by City Improvements, governor skills, and so on. For the Kapaku the situation is reversed: they can only gather from volcanic terrain, but not regular terrain. Most factions also cannot regenerate Life on volcanic terrain, except when standing on city tiles. The Kapaku do not have this restriction, and their armies (both Kapaku and non-Kapaku units) regenerate normally on all terrain types.

The Kapaku can volcanoform normal tiles into volcanic terrain. Once done, this cannot be reversed.

ELCP Changes

In ELCP the Food yield of all volcanic tiles is reduced by 1. Additionally, the Kapaku hero skill Heat of the Hearth has been modified to grant +2 for districts on volcanic terrain. Notably, this bypasses the normal terrain restrictions for gathering and is one of the only ways for non-Kapaku factions to gather food on volcanic tiles. In ELCP, Kapaku Geomancers also gain the ability to temporarily volcanoform the terrain around them at the beginning of every turn.

Modifiers

Innate Faction Bonuses

• The Wild Walkers faction gain +1 Industry on terrain with forests due to their "Living Towns" faction trait.
• The Broken Lords faction gain +1 Dust on terrain with Dust due to their "Dust Efficient" faction trait, and cannot see/gather/use Food due to their "Appetite for Dust" faction trait.
• The Necrophages faction lose -1 Food on terrain with Food due to their "Agriculturally Challenged" faction trait.
• The Vaulters faction gain +1 Science on terrain with Science due to their "Knack for Knowledge" faction trait.
• The Forgotten faction cannot see/gather/use Science due to their "Science Phobic" faction trait.
• The Morgawr faction gain +1 Industry and +1 Science on terrain with River, and +2 Industry and +2 Science on terrain with Sea or Lake due to their "Hydrophilic" faction trait.
• The Kapaku faction can only see/gather/use Food on Volcanic terrain due to their "Born of Ash" faction trait, while all other factions cannot see/gather/use Food on Volcanic terrain.

Technology

No More Ties Faction: Morgawr Obtained: Faction Quest Category: Science and Industry Type: Empire Focus: Industry		As the Morgawr grow more powerful, their mental strength and physical enhancements allow them to cut the ties that bind them to water.
Effects: +1 on ground tiles +1 on ground tiles +2 on ground tiles +1 on ground tiles.

City Improvements

Fish Farm Faction: All except Broken Lords Obtained: Era II Type: City Improvement Focus: Food	Costs: 250 5 2 per		Nets and cages by the shores of lakes and along reefs increase fish yields, raising Food production.
Effects: Need an exploited lake or sea tile to be built +3 on terrain with sea or lake during summer

Fertilizer Plant Faction: All except Broken Lords Obtained: Era IV Type: Improvement Focus: Food	Costs: 1200 15 10 7 per		Chemical and biological fertilizers, applied in industrial quantities to the soil, greatly increase Food production.
Effects: +3 on terrain with Food

Canal System Faction: All Obtained: Era II Type: City Improvement Focus: Industry	Costs: 250 2 per		The creation of a network for rapidly transporting goods gives an immediate Industry bonus to your City.
Effects: +1 on terrain with industry during summer

Lumber Mill Faction: All Obtained: Era II Type: City Improvement Focus: Industry	Costs: 250 5 2 per		Better machines for transforming bucked and limbed logs into cants and flitches increase the amount of Industry produced on forest tiles.
Effects: Need an exploited forest tile to be built +1 on terrain with forest

Automated Production Faction: All Obtained: Era IV Type: City Improvement Focus: Industry	Costs: 1200 5 15 7 per		Centralized stocks of raw materials, distribution centers, and co-located factories increase Industrial output.
Effects: +3 on terrain with Industry

Dust Filtration Faction: All Obtained: Era I Type: City Improvement Focus: Dust	Costs: 75		When ice melts and rivers and seas grow warmer in the summer season, a combination of magnetics and very fine filters can be used to harvest Dust directly from the waters.
Effects: Need an exploited lake or sea tile to be built +3 on terrain with sea or lake during summer

Dust Transmuter Faction: All Obtained: Era III Type: Unique Building Focus: Dust	Costs: 1200 10		A marvel of magic and alchemy, this glowing edifice is magically linked to pylons throughout the city. By exciting existing Dust in the ground, baser elements can, over time, transmute into Dust.
Effects: +10 on terrain with Dust Can only be built once in your empire

Dust Revitalizer Faction: All Obtained: Era V Type: City Improvement Focus: Dust	Costs: 2000 30 5		New methods and alchemies for extracting Dust are particularly useful where it has already been found, as Dust that is supposedly dormant can be infused with power.
Effects: +5 on terrain with Dust

Geomic Labs Faction: All except Forgotten Obtained: Era I Type: City Improvement Focus: Science	Costs: 75 1 per		This new science, based on the study of the natural rock formations of Auriga, brings a wealth of new knowledge to the city.
Effects: +2 on terrain with science

Verda's Temple Faction: Ardent Mages Obtained: Faction Quest Type: City Improvement Focus: Science	Costs: 400 -2 per		The subtleties of Dust are numerous and easy to overlook. Only through its methodical study will its secrets be discovered. This temple, replete with terrifying contraptions, will aid that endeavor.
Effects: +2 on terrain with science Limited to one copy in your empire

Large-Scale Aquatic Center Faction: All except Forgotten Obtained: Era III Type: City Improvement Focus: Science	Costs: 600 10 4 per		A dedicated facility investigating all things aquatic from lake fish to seabed flora confers an immediate Science bonus for every non-river water tile.
Effects: +3 on terrain with sea or lake +2 per on city

Imperial Funding Faction: All except Forgotten Obtained: Era IV Type: City Improvement Focus: Science	Costs: 1200 25 5 7 per		By judiciously doling out money to private concerns or universities, the Empire can speed research in promising new sciences.
Effects: +5 on terrain with Science

Hero Skills

• Wild Walkers
  • Woodland Forager: +1 on terrain with forest.

• Broken Lords
  • Dust Diviner: +1/1/1 on terrain with Dust per level.

• Forgotten
  • Arboreal Dust Dowser: +1/2/2 on terrain with forest.

• Kapaku
  • Volcanology: +1 on Volcanic terrain at first level, +1 on Volcanic terrain at second level.

Anomalies

Anomalies are unique terrain features that appear semi-randomly across the land of Auriga. Many of these strange features are remnants of the many experiments performed by the Endless during their time on Auriga.

The bonuses provided by anomalies is in addition to the base FIDSI output of the tile they are on, making them very valuable for city development, especially during a city's founding. One should ideally place a city on as many anomalies as they can (within reason) when founding a new city to reap the benefits of boosted FIDSI and Approval.

Many anomalies have restrictions on what types of regions and tiles they can appear on. For example, Ice Sculptures only appear in Arctic regions, while the Life Tree only appears on forest tiles.

Image	Name						Lore	Artwork
	Azotic Exotics	4			2		A fecund stench emanates from these weird plants, the earth around them a fertile compost. Crops planted here show astonishing growth.
	Black Dust			4	2		A form of naturally-occurring deposit, these springs of gold and black provide a source of never-ending fuel.
	Black Earth	6					The ancient, loamy soil of this region is rich in bacteria and nutrients. Farming will be unusually productive here.
	Botanical Garden	4			4	10	Grids of neatly-rowed plant species slice this ground, the positions of the many varieties seemingly sown very deliberately by an invisible hand.
	Caldera Lake		2	4			Hot enough to cause Dust to sparkle, but cool enough not to scald, Caldera Lakes are a feature of volcanic terrain that permit significant hauls of Dust to be panned while also providing a small source of natural heat.
	Chromatic Land	2		2	2		Fields of dizzying colour blanket the ground here. Closer inspection reveals edible multi-hued flowers, glittering with Dust.
	Clay		4	2			Under the influence of fire, the congealed mud of this area is found to harden into sparkling ceramics.
	Crystal Flowers			2	4		The delicate fronds of these glacial plants wax and wane with the sun, inspiring the study of heat. When crushed, small quantities of Dust are released.
	Dragon Tree	2	2	2	2	10	Gnarled roots and blackened trunks end in flame-tipped branches. Their uses are legion. Farmers gather their ashes, builders fell their timber, and fire-mages climb them to learn their secrets.
	Earthspine			4	4	10	Local dwellers refer to these white shards as the Leviathan's Spine. Adventurous folk often scale these columns to gather the unusual crystals embedded in the rock.
	Earth Tower		4		4	10	Struts of rock form a pyramidal structure, the stone easily sculptable. Draftsmen will enjoy working with this material.
	Escaped Specimens	2		4			Hardy beasts roam the area, valued not only for their meat, but for their tough bones and thick pelts.
	Fumarole		6				The legend goes that Fumaroles were created by a god of smelting and forging, such is the industrial benefit of this feature of volcanic terrain. An awe-inspiring, if dangerous, spectacle for those who work in close proximity.
	Geothermal Pit		2		4		These geologically active sites are noisy, warm, and a good source of energy.
	Geysers		4		2		Superheated steam blasts skywards then cascades to the ground. These wonders turn your philosophers' minds to the workings of the subterranean world; your builders' to its exploitation.
	Golden Tree		2	8		20	Wind-blown spores of Dust seem to be drawn to this magnificent tree, whereupon they knit themselves into the slender branches.
	Hidden Springs	4		2			Channels of fresh water crisscross the landscape, providing ideal farming grounds and invigorating drinking sources.
	Ice Sculptures				6		The sonic properties of these cathedrals of vaulting ice is remarkable; sounds are swallowed or amplified depending on your location. The science of acoustics is born.
	Igloo Larvae	4	2				A strange breed of worm grows an igloo-like shell around itself, then abandons it to grow another. These become huts for living, storage, and emergency shelter in cold climates.
	Lava Chimneys			4	2		A rare feature of volcanic terrain, Lava Chimneys lack the explosive power of their Fumarole cousins, but are geological attractors for large quantities of Dust making them a sought-after treasure.
	Lava Geyser		2		4		A scientific boon, this feature of volcanic terrain offers geology-minded folk a great insight into the ebbs and flows of the subterranean realm, together with a sporadic if explosive source of industrial power.
	Life Tree	6			2	10	The canopy of this enormous tree houses a cornucopia of life that is equally welcome in the lab or on the table.
	Massive Tree	4	2				An abomination of a tree, the trunk is a grotesque medley of a hundred differing barks and the canopy reveals a dozen types of foliage. Timber and fruit will certainly be plentiful.
	Meteor Fields		4		2		Ice-covered debris from the skies of Auriga, many strange treasures lie within these rocks.
	Mineral Rich		6				Vast splinters of mineral-encrusted stone thrust from the rocky ground. Some of these inorganics are sure to have useful industrial applications.
	Moss Pearls	2			4		A beguiling hum accompanies the phosphorescent light of these strange plants, and visitors who eat the delicious fruits claim to have inspirational visions.
	Mutant Marsh			2	4		Fetid gases bubble up amongst a profusion of riotous plantlife. Who knows what strange elixirs might come from such a morass?
	Mychordia	2			6	10	The gaping maws of these leathery growths are reminiscent of benthic horrors, yet seductive music emanates from their mouths and their flesh makes a pungent bread.
	Northern Loam	6					A result of geothermal warming and crust movement, these spots of rich soil in cold environments are a boon to farmers.
	Oasis	6		2		10	A wondrous sight for parched travellers in hot deserts, these oases are no mirage. Animals bathe languidly in the murky shallows, making for easy hunting.
	Ruby Cactus Fields		2	4			A hot climate plant whose hard red fruits can be used by craftsmen or sold as jewelry.
	Rumbling Stones		4	2			In this place of constant geological turmoil, footing is dangerous but mining is profitable.
	Salt Desert	2		4			The preservative properties of salt are well known. This site improves the longevity of foodstocks, and provides a valuable trade commodity.
	Spiral Rock Peel		6		2	10	Strange underground landmass movements creates these bizarre rock peelings. Their shape and exposed nature makes them easy to gather.
	Stasis Pillar			2	6	10	The skin prickles close to this eye-defying wonder, and no birds fly in its vicinity. Natural philosophers travel for leagues to analyze its properties.
	Steel Stalks		6	2		10	A blacksmith's delight, these unusual plants draw heavy metals into bulbous pods ripe for plucking.
	Steppe Soil	6	2			10	Tangled grasses grow thick and wild here, creating an ideal grazing pasture and a strong material for ropemakers.
	Weaver Worms		2	6		10	Giant silkworms furrow these ice sheets, leaving behind great roads of magical thread. As well as being incredibly strong, the silks can be woven into fabulous fabrics.
	Wizard Stone		2		6	10	The centrepiece of this stone arch resembles a huge flaming eye. Lustrous objects flex and jolt in its proximity, a portent of strange magics.

Anomaly Modifiers

As with basic terrain, there are a handful of City Improvements and Hero Skills provide bonuses to the output of terrain with anomalies.

City Improvements

Cryometric Monitors Faction: All except Forgotten Obtained: Era III Type: City Improvement Focus: Science	Costs: 1200 15 8 per		Recent scientific improvements allow careful and accurate measurement of temperature fluctuations. Studying this data leads to improved ability to predict the arrival of the next Dark Season.
Effects: -40% Margin of error for season predictability on empire +15 on terrain with anomaly Limited to one copy in your empire

Hero Skills

• Ardent Mages: Scientific Literacy (+2/3/3 on terrain with anomaly)
• Roving Clans: Traveling Salesman (+2/3/3 on terrain with anomaly)

Additional Terrain Features

Rivers

Rivers provide +1 Food to whatever tile they pass through. There are number of mechanics that can greatly improve the FIDSI output of tiles with rivers. A river always flows to a sea or lake, which one can find by following the river's direction. Note that the last tile of the river, where it intersects the sea or lake, is also considered a river tile, so it can get multiple bonuses from the Morgawr's Hydrophilic trait, or from both the Dust Dredger as well as Dust Filtration.

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City Improvements

Dust Dredger Faction: All Obtained: Era I Type: City Improvement Focus: Dust	Costs: 75		Sifting with sophisticated nets in wells, rivers and floodplains helps isolate this precious magical resource, increasing city Dust production.
Effects: Need an exploited river tile to be built +2 on terrain with river during Summer

Irrigation Networks Faction: All except Broken Lords Obtained: Era II Type: City Improvement Focus: Food	Costs: 250 5 2 per		Modern materials and machines allow the creation of vast networks of irrigation, making arable land more productive and rendering dry land arable.
Effects: Need an exploited river tile to be built +3 on terrain with river during summer

Hydromatic Laboratory Faction: All except Forgotten Obtained: Era III Type: City Improvement Focus: Science	Costs: 400 10 4 per		New laboratories can be built that take advantage of a river's current. These provide power for experiments as well as a wealth of information about the river itself.
Effects: +3 on terrain with river

Ice Works Faction: All Obtained: 2nd Winter Type: City Improvement Focus: Industry	Costs: 300 10		Far from being wastelands, frozen lakes and rivers provide fish, furs, ice, and other useful products during winter.
Effects: Need an exploited River, Lake or Sea Tile to be built +10 on terrain with River during Winter +10 on terrain with Sea or Lake during Winter season with ice shelf

Hero Skills

• Broken Lords: Aquatic Dust (+1/2/2 Dust on terrain with river)
• Drakken: Irrigation Expert (+1/2/2 Food on terrain with river)

Faction Traits

• Morgawr: Hydrophilic (+1 Industry and +1 Science on terrain with river). Additionally the Mastermind and Morgawr Heroes have much reduced movement cost on river tiles.

Lava Flows

Lava flows provide +1 Industry on the tiles they pass through. Units that walk over lava flows lose 25% of their maximum Life, and units that end their turn on a lava flow in battle lose 10% of their maximum Life. Kapaku units do not experience this due to the Inner Fire capacity, and the Daemon also doesn't due to the Flamewalker capacity. The Flamewalker capacity can be given to other units by equipping them with the Flamewalkers.

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Additionally, the Lava Works city improvement further increases the FIDSI output from Lava flow tiles.

Cliffs

Cliffs separate terrain tiles with substantial differences in height and block the movement of armies. However, if all units in the army have the Fly capacity, they can pass over cliffs freely.

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Roads

Roads are automatically generated between cities in adjacent regions upon building the Right of Way city improvement unlocked by researching Imperial Highways. Paved roads are generated within the region of a city that has built Right of Way, while unpaved roads are generated in a region with a city that has not built Right of Way, but is adjacent to one that has.

Paved Roads in friendly and allied tiles reduce movement to 0.5, and can be further reduced by researching Endless Mechanisms. In order for Trade Routes to form between cities on land, there must be a continuous path of paved roads between the two cities.

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Points of Interest

Points of Interest are various terrain features that can be interacted with or built on top of. Points of interest include ruins, resource deposits, minor faction villages, and watchtower foundations.

Foundations

“

Some ancient architect laid a foundation here that has stood the test of time. Given its location and the quality of the work, it is an ideal place to build a Watchtower.

„

Foundations are revealed upon reaching Era II, and there are usually 2 to 4 within a region. Watchtowers (Watchtower, Lookout Towers, Remotuscope Factory) and Defensive Towers (Tower of Truth, Tower of Fidelity) can be built on these foundations.

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Ruins

Ruins are spread throughout the map. They are ancient structures left by the Endless that, when searched, have a chance to produce a reward that depends on the type of ruin, and a Hero that searches ruins will receive a reward of 8 XP. Additionally, searching a Sunken Ruin will consume the remaining Movement of the army.

Exploring ruins will have one of the following effects:

• 20%: Quest
• 60%: Instant reward

• Temple Ruins Droplist
• Unspoiled Ruins Droplist
• Sunken Ruins Droplist

• 20%: Nothing

The Search Party Technology and Indiana Bones Skills each reduce the chance of getting nothing by 10% and increase the chance to get a Quest or Reward by 5%.

The Drakken gain +2 Science and +3 Influence on terrain with Ruins due to their "Endless Excavation" faction trait.

The Allayi receive a small amount of Pearls on a successful Ruins search due to their "Pearl Sensitive" faction trait.

The Kapaku gain +2 Science on terrain with Ruins and receive an amount of Science on a successful Ruins search due to their "Endless Fascination" faction trait. Additionally, the Kapaku receive the Aurigan Archive and Inner Peace technologies for completing the last two chapters of their faction quest, which provide +8 Science and +15 Influence on terrain with Ruins respectively.

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  Temple Ruins
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  Temple Ruins
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  Unspoiled Ruins
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  Unspoiled Ruins
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  Sunken Ruins
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  Sunken Ruins

Resources

Terrain tiles with Strategic Resources provide +1 Science and terrain tiles with Luxury Resources provide +1 Dust. Such tiles (and therefore effects) are only revealed upon reaching the appropriate Era for the resource. Additionally, building the Advanced Quarry in a city provides an additional +50 Industry on terrain with Strategic Resource.

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  Glassteel
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  Palladian
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  Moonleaf
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  Titan Bones

Villages

Main article: Minor Factions

Every region contains 1 to 3 Minor Faction Villages, all of the same type of Minor Faction, with an Empire's starting region always only having 1 village. Villages start out neutral, and will over time produce roaming armies that will attack units and pillage buildings. These villages can be pacified either by attacking and defeating the village, bribing them with a sum of Dust , or completing a quest for them. Note that the last two options require the Language Square technology to do, and completing a pacification quest will pacify all villages in a region, making it more effective for regions with multiple villages. Once a village is pacified, it will no longer produce roaming armies, and if there is a city in that region, then the owner of the city will gain 1 per pacified village (though this doesn't count towards the city's total population), as well as the ability to assimilate the minor faction for a passive bonus and the ability to make that faction's units.

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