Individual Mission Help Guide for The Wasted Land

If you’ve got stuck on an individual mission, then below are level-by-level hints to help you (and humanity) prevail!  However – SPOILER ALERT – to discuss each level, bits of plot and the like will be revealed…

•  Mission 1 (The Battle of Pudding Lane) – You have the advantage here in both access to cover and the use of Medical Stations, so use it!  Group your units around the upper-middle Medical Station and put one out in front in the outer trench, so that the waves of soldiers and cultists will see him first and so move to kill him.  This means they tend to move through the gas as they come in from the west and take damage from it.  Hold this position, swapping the unit out front as he gets damaged until all the enemy are killed.  Use Sapper Brown’s artillery and rifle fire against groupings and armoured units.  Then once they are all dead and no more enemy units are arriving, as a group, move your team down to the south of the trenches and head east moving from crater to crater to stay in cover.  It is only Hill who needs to get to the last objective, so you can keep the rest of the team in cover (in the trench before the mud) keeping the enemy busy.  Then run him over the mud to the last objective.  Team Management: Once the level is completed, make sure you stock up on medical kits from the Quartermaster.  It also helps, going forward, to have a couple of units with full Chemical Protection (99%) skills and gas masks.  Note that it is good to get armor for units, but the stronger the armor, the most the AP cost (e.g. see the ‘Human Tank’ tactic here).  There is also more information on the skills and stats in the Character Upgrade screen here.

Pudding Lane - hold the Medical Station to give your forces the advantage!

• Mission 2 (The Raid) – Group your people around the initial Medical Station and kill all the units there except the Cultist Officer (who is Objective 1) as this will lull them into a false sense of security.  Then move all but one Investigator (not Brightmeer, he needs to go up) to the north and take the Medical Station by objective 2 – but don’t complete it yet.  Then kill the Cultist Officer (Objective 1) and keep in cover while you kill any who come next.  Now move to complete Objective 2 with Brightmeer and again keep hold of the Medical Station and trenches and clear the cultists who arrive next.  Once the coast is clear, move Brightmeer down, supported by the unit who completed Objective 1 and head for the exit.  The danger here is with any isolated unit who gets hit and goes unconscious, so the unit you leave to deal with Objective 1, should remain close to the southern most Medical Station and when you move Brightmeer, make sure there are no direct threats to him.  Team Management: See the advice from Mission 1 (above).

The Raid - This is a rotated 180 camera view of the starting view.

• Mission 3 (A Handful of Dust) – Get into the trench to use the cover and shoot first two turns then shoot/knife and move…  If you spell the messages out backwards you get a clue for later…

• Mission 4 (The Many Voices) – Initially equip Sapper Brown with his gas mask at the start and move him past the Medical Station but still in the trenches.  Keep him the most forward of your units and he’ll draw the enemy cultists down through the gas.  Use him and Captain Hill to deal with the Iron Cultist, moving them back to the Medical Station if need be.  Once all the cultists are done you can move the other units around up through the western trenches, dealing with Reanimates as you go.  Once the time comes to cross the bridge, use the same tactic with the gas – move everyone back down south.  Get Brown (supported by Hill, because he’ll take a lot of fire) to move to the bridge to draw the next wave of cultists to him then retreat to the Medical Station, and hold this position while you kill the cultists.  Once clear you can make for the church.  Once in the church, position Green and another supporting Investigator on the upper First Aid post to east of church.  Put the other units in the church behind Green and in position to protect Brightmeer.  Then when the waves of Reanimates come, use Green and his support to draw them off and kill them (again)  and when the upper waves are weakened he can support those in the church.  Again use Brown’s artillery strikes to get groups of Reanimates wherever possible.  Use Emma Gold to help with Sanity for the units in the church, for Green and his support if they go Manic they can heal each other, if Paralysed then being on the Medical Station keeps them safe.  Team Management: See the advice from Mission 1 (above).  You can also buy magic now, which is very helpful as the game progresses, so worth spending some XP on the Cthulhu Mythos skills of Brightmeer.

• Mission 5 (Burying The Dead) – This is the first underground mission, so you won’t be able to use artillery requests.  Keep as a group and move down and west towards the first objective.  Move into the room where the objective is and kill any enemy units inside.  Use this as a strong point.  Put your stronger units around the exit of this small room and force the enemy to come at you in single file so you can attack them with more than one Investigator.  Complete the first objective and stay around that room until the enemy units are all dead.  Then you’ll need to split the team into two groups of three; whoever has gas masks, send them to the eastern objective (normally Brown & Hill) in the gas and send those without to the northern most objective (normally Gold).  With the eastern objective, place a unit or two on the Medical Station and hold this as a strong point.  Don’t place any unit on the objective point until both are ready as you’ll lose the use of them until that point.  Once the objective is completed, move all the Investigators, fighting as you go, down to join the Medical Station just below the gas.  Use this to heal all the units before you move forward.  Not all the units need to go through the gas, but if you don’t have enough gas masks there is a trick you can use to help (see ‘Swap it!’ in the general tactics guide). Move down through the gas, and hold at the bottom.  Force the Leng Spiders to move you, shooting them at a distance before they can get to you.  Move up towards the exit as a group killing the spiders as you go.  Team Management: See the advice from Mission 1 (above).  Also it is helpful to have a second Investigator who can use Psychoanalysis, so spend some XP building another unit up as well as Emma Gold and buy them a Psychoanalysis Book from the Quartermaster.  It is worth buying lots of First Aid Kits and two or three Vitality Jabs (as the next mission is timed, there is a clue in the end mission dialogue).  Also Health of Rlyeh is a very helpful spell as it enables healing at a distance, so it is recommended.

• Mission 6 (Death By Gas) – Now you’ll be facing Flying Polyps and Dark Young plus time is against you, so each turn counts!  From the start, move gas mask enabled units south to trigger, then engage the Flying Polyps and lure the cultists into the gas.  Move the rest of the team around the back of the building you start next to and through the mud.  Concentrate fire where possible on the Flying Polyps or they will pin you down.  Reassemble your team in the trench and keep shooting until the Flying Polyps and any cultists are dead.  Move forward as a group down to the house at the bottom and then bring your units just around the corner to the east so they can shoot at the approaching Dark Young.  Hold this position and shoot all the enemy, concentrating on the Dark Young until they are all dead, then try to move forward and take the crater before the mud and hold that until the cultists guarding the bridge and the Flying Polyps are dead.  Then move over the mud and take the Medical Station to your east.  Heal your units here, but don’t take too long.  Move them up over the bridge, round to the east and up to the trench.  This is a good spot to weather the Reanimate/Dark Young onslaught from.  If you can’t get to here, then keep your team just around the corner of the building but over the bridge, so the enemy are coming at you more in single file.  Then move up to the Medical Station and keep the key units (Brown and Hill) moving forward wherever possible (but not too isolated they can get healed).  If time is short just run them towards the exit and use the other units to keep the enemy busy.  Vitality Jabs, if you have them, are good for making a run to the exit.  Team Management: See the advice from Mission 1 (above).  Also in the Quartermaster the Elephant Gun is now available.  It’s a great rifle replacement for the Lee Enfield if you can afford it.  Again, it is helpful to have a second Investigator who can use Psychoanalysis, so spend some XP building another unit up as well as Emma Gold and buy them a Psychoanalysis Book from the Quartermaster.  It is also worth buying lots of First Aid Kits and two or three Vitality Jabs (as the next mission is timed, there is a clue in the end mission dialogue).  Also Health of Rlyeh is a very helpful spell as it enables healing at a distance, so it is recommended.

• Mission 7 (The Fire Speaks) – This mission is a long fight around to the church.  In general use the tactics of keeping as a group and using the cover.  Hold your position initially and kill the units near the Medical Station shooting the Dark Young before they can close in.  Then move up and use the Medical Station to heal your units.  Once ready to move, go up where the Dark Young emerged from and move from crater to crater until you are the upper one before the mud and hold here until the waves of Reanimates are dead.  Also try to kill the Iron Cultists in the trench before you move on.  Then move your gas enabled units into the gas and shoot at any units you see.  They will also draw in some of the cultists and Leng Spiders into the gas to damage them.  Move the rest of the team up north around the barbed wire and into the trenches.  Move to the end of the trenches, keep the cover on your side.  Then move into the trenches and follow them around to the entrance of the ruined church.  Stay in the trenches to kill off the waves of Reanimates.  Once done move into the church.  This next objective will mean Brightmeer is busy so if he has spells, weapons or equipment you need, now is the time to swap them out to others.  Once Brightmeer starts his work to complete the objective, you can cluster your team around the Medical Station and force the enemy to come into the church – this is good if you don’t have good ranged weapons or spells and/or First Aid Kits are low.  If you have a unit other than Brightmeer who can use magic and they have Health of Rlyeh, then you can put a couple of units in the trenches to the south of the church and draw the enemy there and keep healing them from afar.  Team Management: The same advice for the end of Missions 1 and 5 applies here too.  Also if you’ve not yet got one unit with a Hotchkiss and a good Heavy Weapons skill, it is an investment in money and XP that is well worth it!  And the Trench Knife is a good buy for any unit with good Martial Arts skills.

• Mission 8 (Chess With The Dead) – Another underground mission, so Artillery Requests are again not available.  For this you need to turn off each machine to stop more Reanimates being made.  Move your stronger close combat (i.e. good Martial Arts skills) Investigators forward in front of the first objective square, then move Brightmeer up to switch it off (this takes 2 turns) and move another Investigator in behind him to protect him from any Reanimates that spawn in while it is being disabled.  Once done, repeat for the next machine.  Then head round the corner for the third machine.  Here, before you advance, try to take out the Iron Cultists, as they can cause problems.  Then advance as before but watch for enemy units appearing from the  top of the level too.  As you move in for the 4th machine, you can also move a couple of Investigators up to the Medical Station and use this as a strong point to draw the enemy away from Brightmeer.  Once the 4th machine is shut down, go back to the Medical Station and heal everyone and make sure Sanity is restored before you proceed to the next objective (the papers).  Once you complete this objective it will be a close fight with the enemy coming in from the east, so if need be, position stronger units out front and weaker units behind them.  Don’t move any unit to the existing objective until all are safe.  Hint! Before you exit the mission, use Psychoanalysis on Hill as it makes the next level easier.  Team Management: The same advice for the end of Missions 1 and 5 applies here too.  The Lewis Gun is now available; a great weapon for Investigators with a good Heavy Weapons skill.  The Trench Knife is a good buy for any unit with good Martial Arts skills.  It is also worth buying a couple of Large Vitality Jabs as the next mission is timed (there is a clue in the end mission dialogue).

• Mission 9 (The Dream Land) – If Hill’s Sanity (SAN) is low, then keep moving away from enemy units and avoid either attacking or being attacked (as both cost SAN) unless you go manic.  If Hill’s Sanity is ok, then use the cover of a crater and focus your attacks on the larger Leng Spiders (who can paralyse).  If you spell the messages out backwards you get a clue for later…

• Mission 10 (The Warning Thunder) – Time is not with you on this mission and each turn counts.  Remember that only the key units named need to get to the exit zone.  Move into one of the craters south of the start position and use these as cover while you kill the Iron Cultists and Dark Young.  Once this has been done, move, using cover where possible as a group to the south-west to take the bottom (middle-south) Medical Station.  Use this as a strong point and kill the Flying Polyps that protect it. Then move your team around to the adjacent Medical Station just to the west and hold that position.  Then use the non-key units to keep the enemy busy while you rush Brightmeer, Gold and Hill to the exit point along the south of the map and around the barbed wire.  Team Management: The same advice for the end of Missions 1 and 5 applies here too.  The Lancaster Pistol also becomes available, which is a great pistol for those with a good Handgun skill.

• Mission 11 (Not Dead But Dreaming) – This is a tough fight.  You need to concentrate fire on the Leng Spider and the Flying Polyps so that Brightmeer can be freed from their paralysing attacks.  Use Investigators with machine guns and/or rifles for this while units with good Martial Arts skills and weapons protect you from the advancing Reanimates and Cthulhoids.  Once the bulk of the enemy units have been killed, you can advance north.  However it is a fight each step of the way, so don’t let any units get too isolated unless you can support them.  Try to take the first Medical Station as you approach it and use as a strong point.  Hold here until you’ve killed as many units as you can and until the Dark Young and Cthulhoids who appear are dead.  Move on from here and try to take the next Medical Station along.  When the larger Leng Spiders (who use magic) spawn, focus your attacks on them as they cause a lot of damage.  Then move to the Medical Station to the south of the summoning site.  From here kill Kaul and the other cultists, then heal all your Investigators and restore Sanity (SAN) before you move on.  Leave Hill and Gold near this Medical Station and move Brightmeer and any other units towards the summoning site and the objective.  Once Brightmeer completes it the Star Spawn will appear.  It is big and does a lot of damage in close, so move Brightmeer away from it as soon as possible and move other units (except Hill and Gold) in to intercept it.  Use the other units to keep it busy and concentrate your attacks on it.  It has a lot of armor, so weapons like Elephant Guns and some magic like Bane of Nyogth help a lot here.  Keep attacking it as much as possible until it is dead.

Feel free to share your ideas and tactics via the comments.  Also see our general tactics guide and the game’s information page.