This guide avoids unverified claims about exact resource placements, map seeds, or fixed wave timings because these can vary by mission, difficulty, update, or custom-map settings.
Fast answer
The answer before the background
Treat every battlefield as a route-planning problem rather than a flat building space. First mark your Town Hall, nearby resource clusters, enemy approaches, and natural barriers. Expand toward the safest resource pocket, clear hostile camps that threaten your roads, and leave a reserve route for retreat. Campaign maps are fixed and story-driven; Endless Mode maps are specialized survival layouts; custom maps can alter terrain, objectives, factions, and attack rules through the editor.
Verified structure
How the map types differ
The game currently separates its battlefields into several useful categories. The Story Campaign contains handcrafted missions connected by a campaign map. The developer has described the campaign as a set of missions with multiple faction branches, and later updates added a mission list that lets you switch between available branches without reloading an earlier save.
Endless Mode is built around named survival scenarios rather than one universal battlefield. Official updates have added maps such as Gorge of Perdition and Trident. Other named maps have also been changed or retired; for example, They Are Legion was removed after a corpse-system rework made its design obsolete. Do not assume an older guide or save lists the same Endless Mode selection as a current installation.
Custom maps are accessed through the Map Editor area. The editor can create terrain manually or through random generation, set horde rules, define objectives, and publish or download scenarios through Steam Workshop. This makes custom maps more variable than campaign missions: two maps with similar terrain can play very differently if their objectives or spawn triggers differ.
- Campaign: handcrafted layouts, objectives, story branches, and named missions such as Ambush, The Rebel's Thorny Path, and The Fleet of the Resistance.
- Endless Mode: purpose-built survival maps, including named scenarios added by later updates.
- Custom maps: player-created layouts whose terrain, objectives, factions, and attacks depend on editor settings.
| Mode | What is fixed | What can vary |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Mission layout, story context, and major objectives | Branch choice, difficulty, optional goals, and some available technologies |
| Endless Mode | Scenario identity and core survival design | Difficulty, player strategy, and the current version's available map list |
| Custom Maps | The creator's published scenario | Terrain, size, objectives, spawn rules, faction setup, and editor parameters |
A map name found in an older video or save may no longer be available. Check the current in-game list before planning around a specific Endless Mode scenario.
Practical method
A route-planning process that works
Pause early and read the whole visible area before placing permanent defenses. The important question is not simply where to build walls, but which corridors enemies can use to reach the Town Hall and which corridors your workers and armies need to use to expand.
Start by connecting the Town Hall to the nearest dependable resource pockets with the shortest practical worker routes. Avoid building a wide perimeter before you know where attacks arrive. A compact first base gives workers fewer dangerous crossings and lets you concentrate towers, gates, and reinforcements on one or two approaches.
Next, identify the first hostile camp or enemy structure that controls the route you want. Clear it only when the army can return safely. If a camp sits beside a narrow pass, removing it can turn a dangerous approach into a useful defensive corridor. If it sits beyond several enemy groups, mark it as a later objective instead of sending a small force into an unrecoverable fight.
After the first expansion, deliberately choose a front. Fortify the route that gives the enemy the easiest access to your core, then use scouts or mobile troops to check the opposite side. Keep one interior road open between production buildings, the Town Hall, and the threatened wall. Roads that are technically open but blocked by buildings or unfinished defenses are not reliable emergency routes.
Only widen the perimeter after your economy can support the extra wall length and garrison. More map control is valuable, but every new corner creates another place that needs repairs, troops, and attention.
- Mark attack directions before placing a large wall line.
- Secure resources in compact stages instead of spreading workers across the whole map.
- Clear camps that threaten your chosen route, not merely the nearest camp.
- Keep a central reserve path for reinforcements and retreat.
- Expand after the first stable defense, not before it.
| Map feature | Best first response | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Narrow pass | Hold it with a short fortified line and ranged support | Building too far forward and losing the fallback position |
| Open side | Use scouting, temporary defenses, and mobile troops | Assuming an empty visible area will remain safe |
| Resource pocket | Connect it with a short worker route and protect the approach | Claiming several distant pockets before the base is stable |
| Enemy camp | Observe its position and clear it when the army can return | Attacking it early because it is visible |
The safest route depends on the mission objective. An attack mission may reward a fast corridor through the map, while a survival mission usually rewards a compact base and controlled clearing.
Named areas
What the important names usually tell you
Mission names are often better route-planning labels than geographic names. For example, Ambush signals a mission built around a specific defensive lesson, while The Rebel's Thorny Path is associated with moving a small force toward a destination rather than developing a normal settlement. The Fleet of the Resistance and How do we get to the Cutthroat Castle? likewise indicate that movement, access, or a target route matters more than simply covering every tile.
The campaign also includes named locations and environments that recur in the story. Abberlore is a major campaign target, and Rusted Wastelands is a named surrounding used by the game. Other mission names, including Beetle Pass, Heffalump Country, and The Long Walk, are useful reminders that passes, long approaches, and hostile traversal routes may define the scenario.
For Endless Mode, read the map title as a warning about its intended shape. Trident is presented by the developer as a map with room for development and Sarranga troops. Gorge of Perdition is a separate Endless Mode layout. These descriptions are more dependable than assuming that a named map follows the same opening pattern as another scenario.
Do not treat a named area as proof of a fixed resource arrangement. The available evidence confirms the scenario names and broad design context, but not a universal tile-by-tile resource chart for every difficulty and update.
- Use mission names to anticipate whether movement, defense, siege, or exploration is central.
- Treat passes and long approaches as route problems before treating them as expansion opportunities.
- Use the in-game minimap and current objectives to confirm the actual battlefield.
- Do not rely on an old screenshot for exact resource or spawn positions.
Community mission lists are useful for collecting names, but they can be incomplete or outdated. Official update notes are stronger evidence for current Endless Mode maps and editor behavior.
Custom content
Map Editor, custom maps, and map size
The Map Editor is the flexible option when you want to test a particular route. The developer's editor announcement confirms that terrain can be changed manually or generated randomly, while horde settings and mission objectives can also be configured. Later updates expanded object properties, editor decorations, playable factions, and objective triggers.
A practical editor tutorial starts with a small test map. Place the Town Hall, create one clear attack lane, add a single objective, and run the scenario before adding multiple factions or repeating waves. This isolates pathing and win-condition problems. Then add a second route and test whether enemies choose the intended approach. Finally, add resource pressure, defensive structures, and secondary objectives.
There is no verified universal map-size table that applies to every official and Workshop scenario. A larger canvas does not automatically produce a better map: it can lengthen worker travel, delay reinforcements, and make unexplored attack routes harder to monitor. For a survival map, start with enough room for production and one expansion pocket. For an exploration or attack map, use distance to create pacing, but provide landmarks or objectives so players know why they are traveling.
When downloading a custom scenario, inspect its objective text and creator notes before starting. A map may look like an Endless Mode battlefield while actually using a defend, attack, survive, or prosperity objective. The editor's rules, not the terrain alone, determine the experience.
- Prototype the route before decorating the map.
- Test objectives and wave triggers separately.
- Use map size to control pacing, not just visual scale.
- Read Workshop descriptions and objective text before committing to a long run.
The game supports generated terrain in the editor and random generation has been described for new games, but there is no verified public seed catalogue or guarantee that a seed behaves identically across updates. Record the game version with any seed you share.
Quick reference
A five-minute pre-expansion checklist
Before committing to a new area, ask five questions: Where will the next attack come from? Which resource route is shortest? Can the army clear the first threat and return? Where is the fallback wall? Can workers reach the new buildings without crossing the battle line? If two answers are unclear, scout or pause expansion.
Once the route is chosen, place only the infrastructure needed to support it. Secure the resource pocket, establish a defensive anchor, and keep production close enough to reinforce the threatened side. After the next attack, reassess the minimap rather than following the original plan blindly. Enemy buildings, opened paths, and cleared camps can change which side is now the real front.
- Scout.
- Secure.
- Clear.
- Fortify.
- Reassess.
A good route is one your workers can use safely, your army can reinforce quickly, and your defenses can hold without covering every edge of the map.
FAQ
Common questions
Are campaign maps randomly generated?
No. The campaign is presented as a handcrafted set of missions connected by a story map. Random generation is associated with other game or editor features, so do not expect campaign missions to reshuffle like a standard generated map.
Can custom maps be played from the game menu?
Yes. The developer states that both locally created and downloaded custom maps can be played by opening Map Editor under the Custom Maps tab.
Can a custom map be played as Endless Mode?
The verified information confirms that custom maps can define their own objectives and horde settings, but it does not establish that every custom map can be converted into an official Endless Mode scenario. Check the map's configured objective and description.
What is the best map size for a first custom map?
Use a compact layout with one main attack lane and one optional expansion route. There is no verified universal size recommendation, and the correct scale depends on worker travel, objective distance, resources, and wave timing.
What happened to They Are Legion?
An official update reported that the Endless Mode map They Are Legion and the Served up for Dead challenge became obsolete after the corpse-system changes, so they were removed and related saves became unavailable.
Sources
What we checked
Official listings establish current availability and product facts. Community pages are used for mechanics and build history, then labeled separately.
- OfficialOfficial Steam store page: game modes and Map Editor
- OfficialOfficial developer announcement: Map Editor and Workshop integration
- OfficialOfficial Steam update: campaign map navigation and Endless Mode map changes
- OfficialOfficial Steam update: Gorge of Perdition and Map Editor fixes
- OfficialOfficial Steam news: Tacticon Update and Trident
- CommunityCommunity mission reference: campaign mission names