Head Hunter

Head Hunter

Head Hunter

Mode : Singleplayer

Players : 4

Stone Heads : 3

Vault of Knowledges : 0

Alliances : N/A

Difficulty : Diabolical

Head Hunter is the 18th level in Populous The Beginning, where the player faces all the 3 tribes. It is the third of the 4 vertical planets. It is widely considered one of the hardest levels on the campaign.

Starting Speech

"The Dakini are the mightiest of the three tribes we must face. I fear that if they are not stopped they will unleash a terrible magic upon us." <html5media height="720" width="1280">https://ts.popre.net/files/mp3s/Level%2018%20-%20Introduction.mp3</html5media>

Setting

Blue shares a very large island with the Dakini who have a large, fully developed base from the start. The Matak and Chumara are on their own smaller islands which both have Stone Heads containing the Volcano spell. Fog of War covers this world. The Dakini base lies southeast of the player's base, the Matak island lies west of blue's base, and the Chumara island lies southwest. A Stone Head containing the Armageddon spell is present between blue's base and the Dakini base, but the Dakini heavily defend it from the start with Guard Towers and patrolling units.

Enemy tribes: Dakini, Chumara, Matak

Worship Objects:

Item	Shots	Spell/Effect	Follower Count
Stone Head	1	Armageddon	6
Stone Head	1	Volcano	6
Stone Head	1	Volcano	6

Strategy

Convert some wildmen and build a Guard Tower some distance east of your Reincarnation Site so that you can quickly start building buildings around it. Use the space around your Reincarnation Site as well to get a few huts constructed. You will need to get warriors and preachers quickly to counter any early enemy attacks and expand your base carefully since the wood supply is limited. It may be best to avoid using the peninsula across of the river that lies east of your base despite the high wood supply there because the Dakini regularly patrol it and sometimes choose to attack from that direction. Have your Shaman stay in a Guard Tower and build a few extra Guard Towers around your base and staff them with preachers and firewarriors for defense. As time goes on keep training more units. You should get a Balloon Hut up at some point as well since your Shaman will prove even more useful riding around in a balloon. Do not go anywhere near the Dakini until you are ready to attack.

The enemy tribes will all regularly attack you by boat. However, they will also attack by land. The Matak and Chumara manage this by casting Landbridge west of your Reincarnation Site and south of your base respectively from their islands. The Matak and Chumara also head to attack the Dakini occasionally.

After some time, the Dakini will begin worshipping the Armageddon Stone Head. Unlike the level Middle Ground, they will not be interrupted by the other tribes, so it will be up to you to stop them from getting the spell. To prepare for their attempt to steal the spell, you should eliminate the Guard Towers protecting them early on by sending your Shaman to cast Tornado on them from a balloon (make sure to eliminate any nearby firewarriors first though). You then have two options. You can build a large base and train all your followers into warriors and firewarriors and delay the Dakini from getting the spell until you're ready or you can focus on stealing the spell for yourself and using it whenever you are ready. Stealing the spell can be challenging due to the strong Dakini protection. When the Dakini start worshipping, send invisible followers to begin praying and keep the Dakini troops from worshipping the Stone Head themselves using your spells. Swamp is useful here but it will not slow them down for long.

Alternative Strategy (easier)

Convert a few wildmen and build a few huts to gain some mana, then charge Landbridge as soon as you can. Meanwhile, build a temple and train 4-5 preachers.

As quickly as you can, take a group of preachers and braves with your Shaman and landbridge across to the island west of your Reincarnation Site. It should be fairly easy to finish off the Matak who are settled there. Build a Firewarrior Training Hut and a Balloon Hut on the Matak base and expand on their island to charge your spells. While working on this, train a force of about 10 warriors and preachers or so while continuing to charge Landbridge until you have a second use of it and worship the Stone Head on your new island.

Landbridge to the Chumara island to the southeast. You will need to be right at the edge of your island as close as possible to the Chumara island to accomplish this. Have your Landbridge spell selected and click on the closest possible spot where it allows you to cast the spell to pull this off. Carefully rush towards the Chumara base and cast Volcano in a decent spot. After the lava stops flowing send your small army to finish the job and pray at the Stone Head on the Chumara island.

Continue developing your base and make sure to keep some trained units around for defense. The Dakini will not attack you very often while you're on the Matak island but they can attack, so be prepared for them. When your population is quite high, train everyone into warriors and firewarriors and let the Dakini steal the Armageddon spell. Keep killing their worshippers if it looks like they will get it before you are ready. Also, before they manage to finish praying at the Stone Head use your second Volcano and a few other powerful spells on their base to lower their population. By the time they cast the spell, they should have no chance and will provide you with an easy victory.