ENDLESS Legend: Complete Strategy Guide

A complete guide to Amplitude's fantasy 4X ENDLESS Legend: the FIDSI economy, cities and regions, winter, heroes and unit design, the tactical battle system, every playable faction including the DLC ones, victory conditions, and an opening plan that works for new players.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final Steam build (last patched with the November 2023 Intel launch-crash hotfix). The sequel ENDLESS Legend 2 left Early Access on 17 September 2026; this guide is for the original. Check the linked sources if something differs.

Series status: ENDLESS Legend (2014) is complete and no longer receiving content. Amplitude became independent from SEGA in November 2024, and ENDLESS Legend 2 entered Early Access on 22 September 2025 before its full launch on 17 September 2026 (also on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S). The original remains a great standalone game and was given away free on Steam in May 2024, so many players own it.

Quick Start

• One city per region. Auriga is split into regions and each can hold only one city. Choose where to settle carefully; regions with rivers, strategic resources and luxuries are worth the walk.
• Expand, then build tall. Settle a few cities early, then grow them with districts. Each new city increases empire-wide expansion disapproval, so do not over-expand before you can keep Approval up.
• Explore aggressively in the first turns. Ruins give items, Dust and quest progress. Early scouting also finds the best city sites and nearby minor factions.
• Assimilate minor factions. Pacify villages (by quest, Dust bribe or force) and then assimilate the faction to unlock its units and a permanent empire bonus.
• Prepare for winter. Winters reduce output and make movement harder, and they tend to get longer as the game goes on. Stock food and do not start a far-away war right before winter.
• Heroes are your force multipliers. Put a hero on every main army and one as governor in your best city.
• Design your units. The Military screen lets you create unit designs with better weapons and armour using strategic resources. Upgrade designs as you unlock gear.
• Use the Empire Plan. Influence buys periodic empire-wide bonuses. Pick ones that match your victory plan.

The Economy: FIDSI

Resource | What it does | Main sources

Food | Grows population | Farmland tiles, food districts and buildings

Industry | Builds units, buildings and districts | Forests, hills, industry buildings

Dust | Currency: buys out production, pays upkeep, trades on the market, recruits heroes | Dust tiles, luxuries, trade, buildings

Science | Research | Science buildings and population

Influence | Diplomacy, assimilation, Empire Plan, and some faction actions | Influence buildings and population

Population: each city's population can be assigned to work Food, Industry, Dust, Science or Influence. Rebalancing workers is the fastest way to respond to a crisis (for example, shifting to Food before winter or to Industry before a war).

Strategic resources: Titanium and Glassteel (early), Adamantian and Palladian (mid), Mithrite and Hyperium (late) are used for unit gear and some buildings. Build extractors on deposits once you have the right technology.

Luxury resources: used to activate empire-wide boosters. They are also valuable trade goods on the Marketplace.

Cities, Districts and Approval

• Districts extend your city onto nearby tiles and exploit those tiles. Place them so they share borders with other districts; clustered districts improve, and exploiting good tiles is how you grow output.
• Approval is your empire's happiness. High Approval gives bonuses; low Approval gives penalties. More cities raise expansion disapproval, so balance growth with Approval buildings, luxuries and Empire Plan choices.
• Pillars project area bonuses (for example to Food or Industry) and can be placed within your territory.
• Watchtowers and extractors extend vision and harvest strategic or luxury deposits.

Research

Technologies are grouped into eras, and unlocking the next era requires researching enough technologies in the current one. You do not need every tech; prioritise:

• Economy and growth technologies for your faction's strength.
• Strategic resource extraction for your army gear.
• Military equipment tiers when you plan to fight.
• Market access for trading and buying heroes and units.

Heroes and Units

Heroes can lead armies or govern cities, gaining experience and skill points that feed skill trees. Army heroes boost units in battle; governors boost city output. Equip heroes with the best gear you can make; gear designs use strategic resources.

Units come from your faction and assimilated minor factions. The Military screen lets you customise each unit type's weapons, armour and accessories. Mixing ranged, melee and support units in one army is almost always stronger than a single type.

Tactical Battles

Battles play out on the map terrain around the fight:

• Deployment: place your units before the battle begins, taking high ground and chokepoints.
• Simultaneous turns: you give each unit orders (target, move, defend), and both sides resolve at the same time. Anticipate where the enemy will move rather than reacting to where it stands.
• Terrain matters: elevation gives ranged units advantages, and obstacles block movement and line of sight.
• Reinforcements: armies adjacent to the battle can feed in units.
• Auto-resolve is fine for lopsided fights; play out close ones manually, because smart positioning often wins battles auto-resolve would lose.

Factions

Base game (eight factions)

Faction | Identity | Beginner notes

Vaulters | Sturdy, defensive faction that can teleport armies between its cities | Excellent first faction; forgiving and strong

Wild Walkers | Forest-dwelling faction with strong ranged units | Great for exploration and flexible play

Broken Lords | Dust-powered knights; their economy runs on Dust rather than Food | Different growth model; keep Dust flowing

Necrophages | Aggressive insect swarm built around constant war | Very limited diplomacy; expand by conquest

Ardent Mages | Spellcasters with battle spells and strong Pillar play | Rewarding once you learn their spells

Drakken | Diplomacy-focused dragon faction | Good for peaceful and diplomatic play

Roving Clans | Merchant nomads who cannot declare war and can move their cities | Economic victory specialists; excel at the Marketplace

Cultists of the Eternal End | A single-city faction that converts minor factions' villages | Unique; play around one super-capital

DLC factions

DLC | Released | Faction and key features

Shadows | 2 September 2015 | The Forgotten and the espionage system: hero infiltration, theft, sabotage, poisoning governors, camouflaged and stealth units, and pillaging villages, extractors and watchtowers

Shifters | 7 April 2016 | The Allayi, who are friendly and defensive in summer but aggressive in winter; plus a winter overhaul with frozen terrain, Pearls of Auriga and the Altar of Auriga

Tempest | 14 October 2016 | The Morgawr, a hive mind built for ocean control and mind manipulation; plus naval warfare, sea fortresses with the Fomorian minor faction, and the Hungering Maw

Inferno | 2 August 2018 | The Kapaku, who thrive on volcanic tiles and can use Lavaformation to turn terrain volcanic; plus Dust Eclipses and volcanic terrain

Symbiosis | 24 January 2019 | The Mykara, who overgrow points of interest to fuel their economy and can turn conquered cities into ghost towns; plus the tameable colossal Urkans

Other DLC: Guardians (29 April 2015) adds five elemental Guardian units (Gios, Neros, Fotios, Atmos, Skoros), Legendary Deeds, Global Events and once-per-era Legendary Buildings. The Lost Tales and Echoes of Auriga (both 19 November 2015) and Monstrous Tales (6 May 2021) add quest and story content. Forgotten Love (2 March 2017) is a free add-on, and Forges of Creation is a free update.

What the DLC changes in practice

• Guardians: each Guardian is a single, very powerful unit with a role. Gios deals area damage with earthquakes and can repair city fortifications; Neros destroys watchtowers and extractors and hits harder the further its Tsunami charge travels; Fotios extends vision and burns enemies over time; Atmos can teleport within vision range and grows stronger with every kill; Skoros can fully heal an allied army and mind-control enemies. Gemstone items power them up. Legendary Buildings are limited to one per player per era, so grabbing them early denies rivals.
• Shadows: once espionage is on, protect your best cities with counterespionage and keep an eye out for camouflaged units. Heroes with Scope accessories are your spies. Pillaging lets you hit converted villages, extractors and watchtowers without a full siege.
• Shifters: winter becomes a real terrain event, with frozen tiles changing where armies can go. Pearls of Auriga are collectibles you spend at the Altar of Auriga for blessings and on pearl-crafted gear such as the Cuirass of the Snows. The Allayi bring three season-dependent units: the Seeker, Skyfin and Monk.
• Tempest: the oceans become a front. Expect weather (clouds, rain and storms), Arcane structures at sea that supply strategic resources, Fomorian sea fortresses to capture, and the Hungering Maw as a roaming sea monster. If you play on water-heavy maps, a navy is no longer optional.
• Inferno: volcanic terrain and active volcanoes appear on the map, and Dust Eclipses hand out temporary bonuses across the world. The Kapaku are the faction that profits most from both.
• Symbiosis: Urkans are colossal beasts that sit in neutral territory and can be tamed through combat or negotiation, granting unique abilities to whoever controls them. The Mykara do not settle new cities in the usual way; they overgrow points of interest and turn conquered enemy settlements into resource-generating ghost towns that grant bonus traits over time.

Seasons and Winter

Winter is the signature threat of Auriga. The key rules to plan around:

• Winters come back regularly and get harsher. The game's own premise is that each winter is worse than the last, so the first winter is a warm-up, not the benchmark.
• Output and movement suffer. Plan builds so that big projects finish before winter, and keep food positive so cities do not starve.
• Armies in the field are vulnerable. A campaign that is half-finished when winter hits will stall. Bring armies home or finish the siege before the season turns.
• With Shifters installed, the revamped winter adds frozen terrain, which can change where armies are able to move. Scout your borders again once the freeze sets in.
• Summer is for expansion and war. Settle new cities, push sieges and chase ruins while movement is cheap.

Victory Conditions

ENDLESS Legend offers multiple victory types, and you can enable or disable them in the game setup:

Victory | Rough idea | Good factions

Supremacy | Conquer the other empires' capitals | Necrophages, Broken Lords

Expansion | Control a large share of the world | Vaulters, Wild Walkers

Economic | Amass a large Dust total | Roving Clans

Scientific | Win the research race to the end of the tech tree | Vaulters, Ardent Mages

Wonder | Complete the victory Wonder | Strong builders

Diplomatic | Win through diplomacy | Drakken

Quest | Complete your faction's main quest line | Any

Score | Have the highest score when the turn limit is reached | Any

Tip: The faction quest is a good default goal for new players; it teaches the faction's story and hands out strong rewards along the way.

A Solid Opening

• Turn 1: found your capital immediately unless the start tile is clearly bad.
• Early production: get a scout or explore with your starting army, then queue a Settler.
• Exploration: hit nearby ruins, find minor faction villages, and look for regions with a good mix of Food and Industry.
• First research: prioritise the technologies that raise Food and Industry and let you build districts efficiently.
• Second and third cities: settle regions with strategic resources or luxuries, and keep them close together for defence.
• Minor factions: pacify and assimilate the nearest one with useful units.
• Before the first winter: shift some population to Food and avoid long marches.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Over-expanding. Too many cities too early wrecks Approval and stalls growth.
• Ignoring winter. Food shortages and movement penalties in winter can wreck an unprepared empire.
• Leaving armies without heroes. A hero-led army is dramatically stronger.
• Never updating unit designs. Your units stay weak if you do not add new gear.
• Auto-resolving every battle. Manual battles let you use terrain and win fights you would otherwise lose.
• Neglecting Influence. It drives assimilation, diplomacy and the Empire Plan.

Advanced Tips

• Pick city sites for districts, not just the centre tile. The best capitals have rich tiles around them for clustered districts.
• Use the Marketplace. Sell surplus strategic resources and luxuries, and buy heroes or resources when you are short.
• Plan around your faction's quirk. Vaulters should build a teleport network; Roving Clans should dominate trade; the Cultists should maximise their one city and conversions.
• Time wars with seasons. Attack in summer and defend in winter, unless you are the Allayi.
• Stack boosters before big pushes. Luxury boosters before a war or wonder can swing the outcome.

FAQ

Is ENDLESS Legend still worth playing now that ENDLESS Legend 2 is out? Yes. It is a complete game with eight base factions plus five DLC factions, and many players already own it from the May 2024 free giveaway (claimable 16-23 May 2024). The two games are separate purchases, and saves do not carry over.

Do I need the DLC? No. The base game is complete. DLC adds factions and systems, so buy the ones whose features appeal to you (see the DLC section above). They are often heavily discounted in Steam sales.

Which faction is best for beginners? The Vaulters are the most forgiving. The Wild Walkers are also easy to learn.

Which DLC should I buy first? Shifters and Tempest are the most mechanically significant: Shifters overhauls winter and Tempest adds naval warfare. Shadows adds espionage.

Does the game crash at launch on Windows 11 with Intel CPUs? A November 2023 hotfix addressed launch crashes on certain Intel chips, especially on Windows 11. Make sure the game is updated.

Does it have multiplayer? Yes, multiplayer is supported, and the store lists online PvP for the DLC.

How long is a game? Game length depends heavily on map size, number of empires and game speed; a small, fast game is the best way to learn.

Sources

• Steam store page: ENDLESS Legend
• Steam DLC list for ENDLESS Legend
• ENDLESS Legend - Shadows
• ENDLESS Legend - Guardians
• ENDLESS Legend - Shifters
• ENDLESS Legend - Tempest
• ENDLESS Legend - Inferno
• ENDLESS Legend - Symbiosis
• Steam news: ENDLESS Legend announcements
• Wikipedia: Endless Legend 2
• Wikipedia: Endless Legend