Empires of the Undergrowth is a strategy game where you establish and develop your ant colony. You'll constantly be in search of food to sustain your ever-growing army, but that won't be your only concern. Hermit crabs, wolf spiders, and various other creatures will make your task even more challenging.
In the missions you play, you always start from scratch, but the improvements you make in the Formicarium are permanent. You strengthen your colony permanently with the loot you obtain after completing tasks. Formicarium Challenges are a challenging stage where scientists test the strength of your formicarium colony. In the second stage, surprises await you.
Preparation Phase
Adaptations
First, make sure you have unlocked the Wood Ants before starting the Formicarium Challenge. Once unlocked, select the Rapid Fire option. For the Wood Ants, unlock the Corrosive and Weakening abilities to transform them into a warrior group that shoots rapidly and poisons enemies.
For your Black Ants, assign the Meat Wall and Self Repair abilities so they can be more defensive in battle and heal when not engaged. If possible, you can also give your Queen abilities as extra precautions. However, prioritizing your warrior ants at this stage is more reasonable.
You can give some abilities to your Workers, but there is no urgent need to prioritize them at this moment.
Settlement Layout
By this stage, your population limit will be around 100. Remember that the r and more hexagonal your broodchambers are placed, the easier it will be to upgrade them due to the layout.
Place your Wood Ants and Black Ants in separate corners, forming two large hexagons. Don’t forget to upgrade the brood chambers, so your warrior ants can be more effective. With two separate large hexagons, you will be able to comfortably upgrade most of your ants to the third level.
Your goal should be to have a distribution of to 50 Black Ants and 50 Wood Ants. About 20 Worker Ants will suffice in the base.
Ensure you have made Food Storage. Running out of food in the middle of the Formicarium Challenge will lead your colony to inevitable defeat. Therefore, upgrade your Food Tiles as well. Having around 2,000 food stored and this capacity will ease your concerns about this challenge.
Remember, if you feel unprepared or inadequate, you can replay previous levels to strengthen yourself in terms of Jelly and Food.
How To Win The Second Formicarium Challenge
If you have plenty of food, a large population of ants and most of your ants are upgraded, the best strategy is to stay underground and hunt down the enemy waves as they approach the entrance door.
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Wave |
Enemy Units |
Strategy |
|---|---|---|
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First Wave |
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In this phase, all you need to do is place your massive ant army in front of the entrance and wait for the first wave to pass. Put your Black Ants tothe front, while placing Wood Ants behind the Black Ants. You'll easily overcome this wave in a few seconds. |
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Second Wave |
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These ranged ants are a bit more aggressive than the previous ones, but you can still overcome them using the same tactic. After this wave, some seeds will be added to the ground, but you have still around 2,000 food units, so you won't need to worry about it. |
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Third Wave |
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This time, the aggressive Wood Ants will double in number. But don't worry, your army will still be able to overcome them with minimal losses. |
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Fourth Wave |
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This wave will have 10 more Wood Ants than the previous one, but they won't cause any problems. Your Black Ants and Wood Ants will take care of them. After this wave, some seeds will be added to the ground, but you won't need to worry about gathering them. |
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Fifth Wave |
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In this phase, you have the option to either divide your Wood Ants and Black Ants into two separate groups or merge them into a single 60-unit group. Either way, you'll be able to overcome this wave with minimal losses in about 10 seconds. |
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Sixth Wave |
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Don't be intimidated by the large number of ants in this wave. The Gene-Thief Ants are very weak, with only 25 Health points, and you can easily eliminate them. You can either keep your groups separate or merge them. After this wave, some seeds will be added to the ground. |
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Final Wave |
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You've reached the final wave. There will be a continuous wave flow of three ant types, but they won't be as intense as the previous ones. After a while, a Giant Tiger Beetle will invade you. If you're still fighting in the underground, you'll easily defeat it. Later, three Giant Tiger Beetles will come, but you'll quickly eliminate them too. After a minute-long wave of three colony types, 10 Wolf Spiders will quickly infiltrate your colony. Make sure to gather all your units around the Ant Queen before they arrive. |
What Are The Rewards Of The Second Formicarium Challenge?
After defeating the Wolf Spiders, you will gain a large amount of Food, Jelly, and Territory. Additionally, you will be able to increase your population to 129. Furthermore, a new menu will appear on the left side, allowing you to test the strength of your colony by adding some insects. Here is the list of creatures you can summon:
- Formica Ereptor (Worker Ants)
- Formica Fusca (Black Ants)
- Formica Rufa (Wood Ants)
- Devil's Coach Horse (Larva) (Small)
- Devil's Coach Horse (Large)
- Beach Tiger Beetle
- Small Hermit Crab
- Small Beach Wolf Spider
