Cataclismo Guide: Getting started, protecting your Citadel and other tips

Tips for getting started in Cataclismo

The first tip we have to give you for Cataclismo is to play at least the first four single-player campaign missions before you dive into either Skirmish or Endless mode. Those will teach you the absolute basics. Beyond that, here are some tips for getting started, focused mostly on the game’s city building missions.

• Protect your Citadel. If the Citadel falls, it’s game over. Even one rogue horror can do a lot of damage, so keep checking its energy bar and if it’s falling something needs to be done.
• Pay attention to your units’ preferred attack heights, and build/allocate accordingly. For example, build a low wall in front of your strong wall for your lobbers to stand on.
• Make sure your units aren’t putting themselves in danger. We forgot to build part of a staircase and so our resource gatherers were actually exiting the front door when they could have just walked up inside the base.
• During an attack, make sure units aren’t sitting idle and direct them as appropriate. It’s possible to have archers on one part of a wall ignoring monsters attacking a perpendicular part of the wall. Also, experiment with each unit’s attack modes.
• Remember to build housing on a regular basis. Unlike some games where you build houses for your existing population, in Cataclismo you build houses to add citizens to your city.
• Put your Oxygen Generators on large buildings that allow it, such as barracks, or on the tops of your sturdier defence walls. You’ll still have to build a staircase or similar for access, but it’ll save you building time and resources.
• Build walls anywhere the horrors could approach from. You might have the ruin of a wall at the ‘front’ of your base but that doesn’t mean they’ll always attack from that direction. You want to be as secure as possible from all directions.
• Remember to check the wilds for salvage. All you need is one single unit, of any type, and the moment you reach salvage it gets added to your pool, whether that unit makes it back alive or not.
• Use your barracks to both produce and strengthen units. You’ll see that second option, improving their bows etc, right next to the unit production buttons.

How to build the last bridge in the first tutorial mission

Cataclismo isn’t exactly a puzzle game but the final section of the first tutorial mission might have you scratching your head. Here’s how to build a bridge that’ll get you across that last gap in Cataclismo’s tutorial mission.

Place two rectangular stone blocks, one partly dangling over the river. Build a wood half-arch so it’s touching the other side. Then, build a staircase against the half arch and one on the other side. You can see how we did it in the above picture.

How to build strong walls

To build strong walls in Cataclismo, you want to build them high, wide and at least two blocks deep. You should also always use stone. It’s tempting to pile stone on top of stone on top of stone but make sure you’re building deep as well. The taller they are, the stronger they’ll be.

It also helps to have multiple exits, a staircase at either side of a wall, so you can manually evacuate units if it’s all going to hell. Why? Because typically when a block falls and a unit is standing on it, they’ll take fatal damage. So to build strong walls you want to balance height and depth.

How to repair walls in Cataclismo

So what happens if the horde of horrors damage your walls? You can’t repair them mid-fight, but the good news is that when the horrors are gone any block that is damaged but not destroyed will be automatically repaired to full strength. Any blocks that have been destroyed will still be gone but you can replace those manually by putting new blocks in.

How to unlock new buildings

To unlock new buildings within a level you’ll have to raise your city’s prestige. You can click on the number at the middle left of the screen (it’ll start at 1) to find out what you need to do. For example, to hit Prestige 2 you’ll have to earn 50 points and build a barracks. You then have to click on the prestige button again, it doesn’t happen automatically.

In Campaign Mode you can also gain upgrades through the icon on the top left hand corner of the screen, which tend to relate to units, eg upgrades for Iris. Those will stick with you throughout the campaign.

Can you build mazes to confuse enemies in Cataclismo?

There’s nothing to stop you building mazes but they won’t work. We tried our best to break the AI, building criss-cross patterns, mazes and so on. But the horrors will just gnaw away at any block that’s between them and the Citadel.

How to save your game in Cataclismo

You could be forgiven for thinking there is no way to manually save your game in Cataclismo, because there’s nothing on the main menu. But you can: it’s just a bit tricky to find. If you look at the top of the screen, you’ll see some icons to the left of the compass.

Those icons are Create Manual Time Anchor (Save) and Return to a Previous Time Anchor (Load). The game also autosaves, but you can save manually with the first of those options.

Is Cataclismo like Minecraft or Lego?

Cataclismo does have Minecraft and Lego-like elements. You have to mine resources and some of those resources, stone for example, can be used to build barriers to stop the enemies getting in. You can build your entire wall block-by-block if that’s what you want. Though unlike Minecraft, even the low level enemies can destroy your blocks.

How long is Cataclismo and how many missions does it have?

Cataclismo has eleven single-player campaign missions, including a side-mission or two. Those missions will probably take you between six and eight hours to complete, though it’ll depend on the difficulty. Since this is a Steam Early Access game, more missions may be added later.

Does Cataclismo have a sandbox or skirmish mode?

Cataclismo has Campaign Mode, Endless Mode and Skirmish Mode. Campaign mode does what it says on the tin. Skirmish Mode lets you build from scratch, protecting your citadel against hordes, as in the campaign mode, without the story elements.

Finally, Endless Mode pits you against infinite waves of horrors, without the benefit of starting with Iris.; it’s the toughest mode by far. You could think of them both as Sandbox Modes, but you’re still going to have to face horrors. There’s no mode where you can build a city in peace.