Chapter 3, Side Mission 1: Ice Grotto

Map 14 (Chapter 3, Side Mission 1) is a 7x16 medium-sized underground phased-deployment map in TinyGroove. Its S-rank can be achieved if completed in  < 35 days.

The mission requires several hidden relics from Chapter 3, Mission 1 and Mission 2 to be in the player's inventory to even make it past the eastern portion of the map. Also, this map is unlocked by completing side quests in either Map 12 or Map 13.

Mission Background
The Ice Grotto's rocky flooded cavern entryway requires that the player begin in the bottom right of the map and use boats to regularly deliver units to the cave to advance. The cave entrance is adversely impacted by tides and overgrowth of vines, making the player's advance aggravating. Furthermore, without both the Moontide Medallion (to mitigate the immobilizing effects of the tide), and the Sunshadow Medallion (to neutralize the vernal growth and healing of the vines), reaching the inner grotto is virtually impossible (which the game informs you of after a few turns). After reaching the gate separating the two chambers of the Grotto, the King(Tide) Fishers arch is needed to actually damage the gate to break through to the other side. The Ice Grotto is a side Mission in Chapter 3 that is central to the internal conflict in TinyGroove. As such, there are at least 5 cut scenes and several phases to this battle:

1) The first phase of this battle introduces a cyclical phased-deployment method to constantly provide a steady stream of troops for the player to use in the battle. TinyGroove also uses phased-deployment methods again in: ...So get used to it. It is unique in that no other custom maps or campaigns presently use this deployment dynamic in WarGroove. This map keeps it simple, while the later maps provide more options for the barges, balloons, or wagons to choose from to deliver their units. This map provides deployment options for the player to choose from (between soldiers, spearmen, and monks) by visiting the treasure chests on the map at the bottom-left and top-right of the cavern's entrance area.
 * Chapter 4, Side Mission 1,
 * Chapter 5, Mission 1, and
 * Chapter 6, Mission 1.

2) The second phase involves navigating the player's chosen units to the gate, hacking down vines and enemies along the way. This phase ends once the player breaks down the gate using the King(Tide)Fisher's Arch.

3) A cut scene plays and now the player must navigate Dark Mercia to the throne in the center of the Ice Grotto's inner Chamber. There are two ways to get there: Hint: the 2nd option is presented 3 days after the gate is opened (as your units search for other ways in), and it is easier/faster.
 * 1) Through the gate you just opened-- continuing to slice through vines, or
 * 2) Through a narrow cave pathway connecting the top-right side of the map to the top-left cave exit (easier).

While attempting to expediently navigate Dark Mercia through this map's cruel terrain and natural impediments, your Outlaws virtually mutiny and arrive at an ultimatum once it is revealed that you can't directly control this battle by using the barracks in the inner grotto. Use the Outlaws in the entryway to attack the enemy's water villages to weaken your Floran opponents. Each time you do this, the Floran Soldiers, Spearmen, and Amphibians are damaged for 10% per turn, stacking up to 50%. This is done by defeating each of the three water villages corresponding to each unit type in the entryway with those decorating the Barracks inside the inner grotto. Furthermore, during this phase, the other cave entrance in the south of the entryway can provide you a view of the battlefield (to help influence which enemy types to neutralize) until Dark Mercia can enter the Main Grotto and directly influence the battle. It is possible to lose the match if Mercia doesn't reach the center of the Inner Grotto in time, so be quick and keep attacking those Floran water villages in the entryway!

4) This phase is initiated once you reach the central Ice Grotto, as you now control the central Barracks and any allied units inside the grotto. This will help you affect the outcome of the battle slightly, but depending on how long it took you to get there, the enemy may have captured some of these structures already, and will likely have more units until you defeat their water villages enough times. Thus, reaching the red arrow at the center of the grotto quickly is a necessity.

5) You now need to escape with your lives! Return back either way through the cave in the top-left, or through the Gate you broke open to retreat (by standing on the red arrows). Once you reach there, the game will instruct you to make it back to the red arrows at the boat landing zone in the entryway cavern to end the map!

Helpful Hints
You can can start doing attacking water villages as soon as you can see them to begin racking up upgrades (before you break down the gate)! This is useful to know since it can give you a head start, but each time you defeat a water village, it spawns units for you and the Floran in the inner chamber, so it isn't particularly advantageous to stall opening the gate until you max out the villages, as you can actually lose the map if you wait too long.

The enemy controls mostly ports, so their Splashers will be their most common unit early on, however, the other Floran unit types are introduced along the map's edge each time that you defeat their water villages. If the player controls the barracks, units for the player will also spawn near the central corresponding barracks with each upgrade.

Each time you destroy a water village, the attacking unit "enters the cabin in the village" and the enemy spawns units of the corresponding type outside the village (removing your adjacent units-- unless it's Dark Mercia) to defend it. Knowing this, you can actually use the enemy's vines (they won't spawn units over top of their own vines or units) and Dark Mercia to attack the enemy water villages in the first cabin to prevent the enemy from spawning one or more of the retaliatory forces without losing as many of your own units in the process.

Finally, there is a relic hidden in the inner grotto that may be collected if you defeat the three Floran commanders after competing Phase 4 of the Ice Grotto.

All of this information was gleaned from the in-game spoilers unlocked in the Achievement Castle by completing at least 40% of the game and destroying the red gates comprising the 'Campaign Completion Counter'.

A17: To the Max!
Conditions: Elevate your Soldiers, Spearmen, and Merfolk to the Max Level (5) before completing the map.

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