Sealed Forest Tips and Strategies

The Sealed Forest is the final biome required to complete a Blightstorm Cycle; think of it as a boss mission. It’s much harder than regular settlements and features unique mechanics.

Seals appear on the edges of the World Map. First, spend the cycle years building settlements, collecting Seal Fragments, and moving toward the Seal. Once your time is up, you must be within embark range to start the final mission.

• Hostility: Rises with each tree cut, not from Woodcutters.
• Beacon Tower: A unique building that provides temporary buffs for a season.
• Plagues: Devastating negative effects that occur during the Storm Season.
• Unique Victory Condition: Win by completing Sealed Orders instead of filling the Reputation bar.

Hostility is the biggest challenge in the Sealed Forest biome. Cutting down too many trees too quickly raises it to dangerous levels. New players might not notice the threat at first - during the Drizzle and Clearance seasons, each level of Hostility only reduces Resolve by 2 points, which seems minor. But once the Storm Season begins and Resolve drops below 0, it’s hard to stop villagers from leaving.

Here’s how to manage Hostility effectively:

Prioritize cutting Overgrown Abyssal Trees - they require 20 chops to fell and raise Hostility 10 times slower than regular Abyssal Trees.

You can still cut some regular trees when opening glades or clearing space near the Ancient Hearth and Main Warehouse.

Limit logging and avoid using Wood as freely as in other biomes. Try to use these fuel alternatives:

• Sea Marrow is a reliable early-game option. It drops as a secondary resource from trees or may appear in Glade nodes if you’re lucky.
• Oil is even better if you unlock a blueprint that produces it. Its ingredients are widely available, and later, you can sacrifice excess Oil at the Hearth for a production boost.
• Coal doesn’t spawn naturally, but if you find a Rainpunk Drill in a Small Glade and invest Tools or Parts, you’ll gain access to a steady Coal supply from mining.

Avoid crafting Planks in the Crude Workstation - it’s highly inefficient. Aim to unlock a Lumber Mill, or at least a Carpenter or Workshop. If none are available, buy Planks from traders using profits earned through trade routes.

Some Cornerstones reduce Hostility under specific conditions. Here are the most notable ones:

• Protected Trade: -15 Hostility for every 30 Amber traded. This includes both Trade Routes and buying goods directly from a Trader. (Note: it doesn’t count purchases of Cornerstones or Perks.) If you put some effort into trading, this Cornerstone eventually eliminates the Hostility problem entirely.
• Baptism of Fire: -10 Hostility for every 3 Blightrot Cysts burned. A strong pick if you're planning to power your settlement with Rain Engines and have enough fuel for Purging Fire.
• Silent Looting: -15 Hostility per opened Abandoned Cache. Very effective on this map, since one of the Sealed Orders requires opening four caches.

• Monastery: Highly effective during the Storm Season. Assigning three workers gives -100 Hostility. No service goods are required for the effect.
• Temple: Requires a steady fuel supply for Sacrificing, so it’s not useful early on but worth unlocking once you have excess fuel.
• Additional Hearths: Each Hearth reduces Hostility by -30. If you can afford the fuel upkeep, building one or two is a solid long-term move.

If you don’t have strong Cornerstones or Blueprints, consider slowing Hostility buildup:

• Cut fewer regular Abyssal Trees, as mentioned above in Selective Woodcutting.
• Avoid accepting too many newcomers - each villager increases Hostility by 6.
• Limit Glade openings - each Glade adds 30 Hostility (15 for Small Glades).

The Beacon Tower lets you call in powerful aid from the Citadel. These abilities are versatile and can help in various situations:

• Instant supplies when low on food
• Boosted production speed
• Faster trade routes
• Slower villager departure timer
• Reduced Hostility
• Faster Glade Event completion

The abilities are limited in number, so use them wisely. If things go off track, emergency support like instant Supplies or Resolve protection can save your village.

Plagues are what make the Final Mission more difficult and unpredictable. Unlike Forest Mysteries, which only activate at certain Hostility levels and may have conditions, Plagues cannot be avoided - so your best option is to prepare for them.

The first three Plagues are always the same:

• The first one slows down production.
• The second increases food consumption and the time villagers spend resting.
• The third punishes poor Hostility management - if you've been careless, you’ll suffer heavy losses during an extended Storm, with no option to Sacrifice resources.

All Plagues after the third are random. That’s why it’s important to reach the Seal structure by the fourth year - it reveals the next upcoming Plague in advance, giving you time to prepare.

The Ancient Seal is the key to winning the game. Finding it isn’t too difficult - every opened Glade contains Guidance Stones that point toward it. The Seal is never adjacent to your starting Glade; there will always be at least one Glade in between.

Since you already know what the first three Plagues will be, there’s no need to rush toward the Seal. It’s often better to first stabilize your settlement by securing a steady source of food and fuel.

Another reason to delay uncovering the Seal is that Guidance Stones won’t appear in new Glades after it’s revealed. Until then, they serve as a source of Stone, which can be useful later for opening Caches.

There are four quests to complete, each consisting of a fixed set of Seal Orders. These Orders are always the same, so you can plan your strategy ahead of time.

This is the approach I used to successfully reforge most of my Seals:

Some species excel in this mission:

• Beavers - Their bonuses to Woodcutting and Plank production help offset the wood limitations on this map.
• Humans - Thanks to the abundance of Fertile Soil, farms are a very efficient food source here, and Humans are the best farmers. A Plantation or any other farm is a highly recommended Embarkation bonus. The Human Firekeeper’s 25% reduction to Queen's Impatience gain is also helpful if your settlement falls behind schedule.

Of course, these species aren’t required to win — any combination can work well depending on your strategy and preferences.

The Sealed Forest is a challenging mission. You may not always get lucky with Blueprints or Cornerstones - so don’t hesitate to rely on Beacon Tower aid and the Forsaken Altar - they’re there for a reason. Most importantly, don’t rush. Take your time and think through your decisions. Focus on stability first, adapt to unpredictability, and you will weather the Storm.