By Fiene
A month has passed since Chapter 25 “The Purpose of Life” arrived in your cities, and if you’re anything like us, you’ve been completely absorbed by everything it has to offer. Between navigating Vallorion’s philosophy, juggling expiring buildings, and figuring out the best strategy for your Finity Gear production, there has been no shortage of things to think about!
We thought this was the perfect moment to look back at what makes this chapter so special and share some tips that might help you navigate its challenges.
🌱 Growing Through Every Stage of Life
The settlement design of Chapter 25 works differently from anything we’ve done before, and we’re genuinely curious how your experience with it is unfolding.
Three special buildings form the heart of your settlement, each representing a different stage of life: the Kids’ Playground, the Adults’ Seminary and the Elders’ Lyceum.
What makes them so unique is that they expire. Do you upgrade before it runs out? Which building earns your precious resources first? And what do you get when you finally let one go?
Each upgrade also unlocks completely different production options, so the building you place is very different by the time you’ve upgraded it twice. And then there’s the element that shapes your whole settlement: These buildings shrink with every upgrade.
The loop at the heart of it all
Most of you will have worked this out by now, because there’s no way past it: Wisdom of Life comes only from selling a life-stage building at its highest level (3). Nothing else produces it, and a good number of technologies won’t unlock without it.
The challenge was never when to sell. It’s getting a building all the way to that final level in the first place. That’s a significant challenge, and it’s the one we’re most curious to hear about.
⚙️ Finity Gear and the Engine It Feeds
Finity Gear is the chapter’s new resource: magical accessories produced in your Armories once you’ve given them the Orcish Forge upgrade.
Mechanically there’s nothing new to learn. It decays over time, exactly as Discovered Resources have done ever since Mana arrived in Chapter 9, so steady production beats a big stockpile. The one wrinkle is that your Armory makes Orcs and Finity Gear out of the same building, which is why you will now need at least two of them to produce sufficient amounts for a steady progress.
What it’s for is the interesting part. Gear plus your citizens’ accumulated Experience goes into Vallorion’s Throne and comes back out as Wisdom, and Wisdom is what unlocks the technologies. The chain runs from Growth and Maturity in your life-stage buildings, through the Experience of Kids, Adults and Elders, all the way to Wisdom of Youth, Wisdom of Adults and Wisdom of Age.
🧭 Nine Chapter 25 Tips
1. Upgrade Vallorion’s Throne as early as you can
This is the single biggest lever in the chapter, and it isn’t close. Every level of the Throne both adds a production slot and shortens the production cycle. The two compound, so the difference between a low-level Throne and a fully upgraded one is dramatic over the length of a chapter.
2. Use the shorter productions when you can
The short cycles produce considerably more per hour than the long ones, and (this is the part that surprises people) they don’t cost more per unit produced. If you’re only logging in once or twice a day, the long cycles are absolutely the right call. But if you’re already in the game, every long production you set is quietly costing you progress.
3. Expiring costs you production, not the building
This is the one that causes the most anxiety, and it needn’t. When a life-stage building expires it stops unfinished productions, but it doesn’t disappear and it doesn’t lose a single point of value: finished productions can still be collected, and the sale reward stays exactly the same, Wisdom of Life included. An expired building is never wasted, it’s only idle. So while it is certainly more efficient to line the resources up before the clock runs out to avoid losing space and a day to an idle building, it remains your last resort to upgrade a building even after it expired.
4. Think twice before selling a life-stage building before its final level
Selling early refunds some of what you put in, and it’s tempting when you’re short. Think twice. Only the highest level yields Wisdom of Life, and that’s the resource some new technologies require.
5. Once it is at its final level, there’s no rush to sell
The sale value doesn’t decay, so a maxed building is worth exactly as much next week as it is today. Let it keep making Experience while it still can, and sell when your research actually calls for the Wisdom of Life.
6. Plan your layout around the shrinking, not the growing
Yes, the Throne gets bigger as you upgrade it. But every life-stage building gets smaller, every time, and that’s what makes city planning genuinely tricky this time. Tiles keep opening up in awkward places. Our advice: leave your reclaimed space in one connected strip rather than scattered pockets, and you’ll always have somewhere to put the next thing. Build too tight and you’ll spend the chapter shuffling buildings around.
7. Run at least two Armories
Here’s the catch that makes this matter: your Armory produces Orcs and Finity Gear from the same building, so with only one of them you are permanently choosing between the two. Meanwhile Finity Gear gates every single Wisdom production in the Throne, so the moment the Gear runs dry your Throne sits idle no matter how many slots you’ve unlocked. Finity Gear decays too, so keep it moving rather than hoarding it.
8. Plan your Nox and Mana supply rather than hoarding it
Chapter 25 leans hard on both. The chapter’s own culture buildings help: the standard one produces Mana, and the premium versions produce Nox and Divine Seeds. Beyond those, Nox comes from your Trader and from certain other Culture Buildings. And do bear in mind that Mana, Nox, Divine Seeds and Canned Goods all decay, so a big stockpile quietly leaks away while you’re not looking. Steady production beats a full warehouse.
9. Prioritize your Ancient Wonder for how you actually play
The Blossom Temple suits players who spend time in the Spire, and rewards diplomatic runs as well as battles. The Altar suits players who want Unurium flowing and their Nox holding its value. Neither is a wrong answer, but the one that matches your habits will do far more for you than the one that looks best on paper.
You will naturally find strategies shared by experienced players within our community that incorporate these tips and more. Consider these merely a starting point to help you discover the best approach for your own playstyle. Feel free to use them as you see fit!
💬 We Want to Hear From You!
Chapter 25 introduces a philosophy to Elvenar centered on a simple but enduring idea: that growth is always possible, regardless of where you are in your journey. We hope that idea resonates as you build, produce, and explore everything this chapter has to offer.
Now it’s your turn. Head over to Discord and tell us: how are you finding the expiring settlement buildings so far? Is Finity Gear making your life easier or more complicated? Did you plan your city around the shrinking buildings, or did they catch you out? Do you sell level 2 settlement buildings often before upgrading them to level 3? And most importantly: do you trust Vallorion?
We’re reading every post, and your feedback shapes what comes next. 💬
If you’re still progressing through earlier chapters, let us know what excites you most about Chapter 25’s mechanics compared to the chapter you’re in right now!
In case you missed our YouTube Video, you can watch it here:
With gratitude and a little Wisdom of Life,
Your Elvenar Team 🌿
Bryfft