Age of Wonders 4 Story Realms: Campaign Order & Tips

A comfortable opening realm can give way to a world where every empire is already at war. Age of Wonders 4 story realms take you through that shift with scripted events, predefined opponents, and special victory objectives. Learn each scenario’s rules before starting, because the strategy that carried your last empire can run into very different conditions in the next chapter.

How Story Realms Work

Story realms follow the return of the Godir and the events of the Fourth Age of Wonders. Their customized geography and predefined faction setups give each scenario a specific shape, while scripted events introduce objectives beyond ordinary empire expansion.

Complete chapters in sequence to unlock the next realm in that storyline. Finished scenarios become available for replay under the Completed tab.

Several restrictions matter when planning a run:

• Realm configurations are fixed. You cannot rebuild a story scenario’s traits as you would a custom realm.
• Faction selection has restrictions. Certain Library rulers are reserved for scenario roles, and factions with prophecy society traits are blocked.
• Score Victory is disabled. Plan around the scenario’s available victory objectives.
• Cosmic Happenings and Ogre shops are disabled.
• Pantheon hero recruitment events are disabled. Build your plans around the heroes available within the scenario.

Completing story realms unlocks additional premade factions in the Library. Eligible AI-controlled rulers also ascend to your Pantheon if they are not already present, with exceptions.

Story Realms Versus Challenge Realms

A named opponent or a special quest does not automatically make a map part of the campaign. Challenge realms combine predefined traits, while custom realms let you choose those traits yourself. Unknown realms conceal their traits and reveal them during play.

The three competing Voss rulers are a useful example: Pretender Kings is a realm trait, so defeating or allying with those rulers does not represent progress through the story campaign.

Realm tier and difficulty setting also describe different things. Challenge realms are grouped into tiers, while the difficulty setting controls factors such as AI strength and world hostility. Read the actual traits and objectives before judging a scenario by its tier.

Official page: Age of Wonders 4 (paradoxinteractive.com)

Fields of Rebirth and Rise of the Godir

Image: www.paradoxinteractive.com

Fields of Rebirth is the initiation realm. Its Harmonious Lands trait removes high-tier infestation spawners, giving you room to learn without that particular threat.

The base-game storyline, Rise of the Godir, follows this order:

1. Valley of Wonders
2. Enchanted Archipelago
3. Crimson Caldera
4. The Eternal Court
5. Grexolis

Treat Fields of Rebirth as the introductory scenario rather than the first numbered chapter.

Valley of Wonders and Enchanted Archipelago

Valley of Wonders begins the numbered campaign. Its Ancient Ruins trait makes city ruins common, while Uninhabitable Underground reduces the underground’s size and places every empire aboveground regardless of adaptation traits.

Plan your opening around that surface start. Do not choose underground adaptation expecting it to relocate your starting empire beneath the map.

Enchanted Archipelago follows Valley of Wonders. Complete it to continue the storyline toward Crimson Caldera.

Crimson Caldera

Crimson Caldera changes both the map and diplomatic conditions:

Realm trait	Effect
Caldera	Lava occupies the center of the map, with mountains around the edge.
Eternal Battleground	Every empire and free city is at war with every other empire and free city.

Prepare for hostile contact from the beginning. Keep forces available to defend your territory while expanding, and account for the lava-filled center when planning your advance.

The universal war condition deserves particular attention: a strategy built around peaceful relations with neighboring free cities runs directly into this scenario’s rules.

The Eternal Court and Grexolis

The Eternal Court comes after Crimson Caldera, followed by Grexolis, the final base-game story realm.

Grexolis layers several restrictions together:

• Fractured World: Astral Rifts are the only infestation type.
• Forbidden Domain: Every unit is affected by Condemned.
• Holy Protectors: Roaming wildlife receives Celestial Enchantments.
• Custodian’s Dogma: Free cities are rare and cannot be negotiated with.

Read the Condemned status and enemy enchantments before choosing your attacks. Assess roaming armies by their active effects as well as their unit types.

Remove free-city diplomacy from your expansion plan here. Custodian’s Dogma blocks negotiation, so diplomatic investment cannot solve that part of the map.

Ashes from the Past: Empires & Ashes

The Empires & Ashes storyline contains two chapters:

Image: Steam / Triumph Studios

1. Freed Lands of Manuhari
2. Sehiran Oasis

Their terrain and inhabitants create sharply different conditions.

Freed Lands of Manuhari

Lost Jungle makes tropical terrain, forests, and rivers common. Arctic, desert, and desolate provinces are rare.

Birds of Paradise adds another defining feature: Avian Free Cities, Great Bird Nests, and bird units are common.

The major strategic complication is Warden of Manuhari. A Progenitor Golem protects the realm and launches attacks against enemies of the native Krazura.

Before turning against the Krazura, prepare for the golem’s response. Treat that decision as a military commitment rather than an isolated dispute with a local faction.

Sehiran Oasis

Sehiran Oasis replaces the jungle setting with the Oasis trait:

• Desert provinces are common.
• Arctic, highland, and temperate provinces are absent.
• Forest and wetland features are rare.

Review the new terrain before reusing your Manuhari approach. Plan around the desert landscape instead of expecting the same abundance of forests and rivers.

Shadows and Torches: Eldritch Realms

The Eldritch Realms story progresses through:

Image: Steam / Triumph Studios

1. Tharru'Cath
2. Arcalot

Tharru'Cath

No Starting City means you arrive with your starting army and no Throne City. Uninhabitable Underground also reduces the underground and forces empires to start aboveground.

Protect that starting force and follow the opening objectives before committing to optional battles. With no established Throne City at arrival, your opening situation differs substantially from a conventional empire start.

Arcalot

Arcalot’s Harbinger’s Hive trait ties every Umbral Dwelling to the Harbinger through Eldritch Pacts. Enemies of the Harbinger cannot maintain peaceful relations with those dwellings.

Account for the dwellings when planning a war against the Harbinger. Do not approach them expecting a separate peaceful relationship to remain available while you oppose their patron.

Divine Intervention and Blood and Courtship

Archon Prophecy adds the Divine Intervention storyline:

1. Rings of Emnora
2. Cliffs of Sordünn

Thrones of Blood adds the separate Blood and Courtship story realm, Rued Drevanya.

Rings of Emnora

Two traits shape Rings of Emnora:

Realm trait	Effect
Rings of Fate	The map consists of fragmented rings without natural connections.
Ward of the Archons	Non-ruler Celestial units receive Immortal Ward, and routed Celestial units are never lost.

Inspect connections between the rings before committing an army to a destination. Geographic proximity alone does not provide a natural route.

Read Immortal Ward when assessing Celestial opponents. Account for the distinction between routing those units and permanently removing them.

Cliffs of Sordünn

Coastal Invasion places your starting position on a smaller island off the coast. Ruins of Myrrida adds Myrridan landmarks and natural regions.

The larger threat comes from Umbral Stronghold:

• The Umbral Abyss map layer is present.
• Increased numbers of Umbral infestations and dwellings spread into the surface and underground.
• Those incursions spread Gloom.
• Units in Gloom terrain suffer Umbral Malady.

Inspect Gloom along your intended route before moving an army through it. Consider both the coastal starting position and the Umbral layer when deciding where to expand.

Rued Drevanya

Select Rued Drevanya under Blood and Courtship to play the Thrones of Blood story scenario. Keep that storyline separate from Divine Intervention when choosing which campaign to continue.

Circles of Power: Secrets of the Archmages

Secrets of the Archmages adds three story realms centered on returning Wizard Kings:

• Burrow Downs
• Azh'Ruun Pit
• Evermore

Each introduces a distinct problem: an occupied realm, an unstable infernal order, or a shattered world hiding old magical secrets.

Burrow Downs

Burrow Downs begins without a Throne City. Its Burrowed Realm trait makes hills common and mountain features rare. Free cities exist only underground, and both free-city and marauder races use animalistic forms.

Your mission involves rescuing a storyteller and weakening the Mist Walkers’ hold on the realm. Their disciples draw power from the changing seasons.

Use these conditions to guide your opening:

1. Protect the army you arrive with while pursuing the initial objectives.
2. Explore underground when seeking free cities; they do not appear on the surface here.
3. Inspect seasonal effects before fighting the occupation’s disciples.

The changing seasons are part of the opposition’s strength, so reassess those enemies as conditions shift.

Azh'Ruun Pit

Azh'Ruun Pit combines hostile terrain with unusual recruitment costs.

Lava Drenched Realm makes Ashlands, chasms, and lava abundant. Sand is scarce, and ice is absent.

Expendable Legions changes city recruitment:

Unit tier	Recruitment cost change	Additional effect
Tier 1	Decreased by 50%	Units gain Expendable.
Tier 3 and higher	Increased by 50%	—

Compare recruitment costs before committing to an army centered on higher-tier units. Consider the cheaper Tier 1 troops, and read Expendable before deciding how to use them.

The story presents a conflict between preserving a forbidden circle’s order and breaking its chains to release an ancient prisoner. Follow those objectives closely when choosing which side to support.

Evermore

Evermore brings you under Merlin’s tutelage in a shattered realm containing hidden lore and Shrouded Isles.

Its Devastated Pangea trait makes temperate provinces rare, hostile climates common, and ruins and ruined wonders common. Free cities are absent.

Search the realm’s old locations for the forgotten lore tied to the central mystery. Build your expansion plans around a world without free cities, and investigate the Shrouded Isles as you pursue the secrets left behind by the Wizard Kings.