The Stronghold

Master The Stronghold in The Wandering Village with our comprehensive guide. Learn enemy tactics, item locations, and boss strategies to survive this challenging area.

Before heading into this area, consider taking stock of your inventory. As the name implies, this area is full of enemies. As such, you will need ammo and possibly some healing items. If you're short on anything, consider visiting the Duke and/or crafting some before moving on.

Once you're ready, head up the stone steps of the structure. Once you get inside, head up the slope and stand on the small wooden bridge. You will hear a roar and in the distance, 2 torch-wielding Lycans will appear. You can snipe them if you like, or when the get closer to you, you can take them out with the Handgun or Shotgun, if you have more ammo to spare.

You should be able to lure out a few more by progressing forward and heading back up here if you want to snipe them. From the bridge, if you drop down on the left, there's a Herb here and to the right of the bridge there's bags of flour you can use as cover if you prefer to take the Lycans on up close. On the piece of metal, right beside the Flour is some Metal Scrap.

As you begin to ascend the slope, you will encounter 2 archer type enemies who shoot flaming arrows. Another Lycan will drop down and try to get up close. Take cover behind the large boulder in the "fork" of the hill, kill the grounded Lycan and snipe the archers. There's a Crate further up the hill that contains some Sniper ammo.

Just a little further up, on the right is another Crate with some Lei. Approach the ruins.

Note: It's worth noting that while Ethan can be hurt via explosive barrels and the explosions from Pipebombs, he cannot - at the time of this writing - be harmed by Mine's he's laid down, or by Grenade Launcher's explosive rounds. If you find yourself surrounded, consider dropping a mine or shooting at your feet with Explosive Rounds.

Head just inside, note the red, explosive barrel here and grab the mine and smash the Crates for some Lei and Rusted Scrap.

Climb up the ledge on the right and proceed on the path around the corner. As you progress, you will encounter a wave of Lycans rushing at you - very similar to the beginning of the Village, though now you're better armed. Drop a mine at your feet and use the pillar here to take cover from the 2 archers. Shoot the red barrel on the ground to clear out the other Lycans and take your time to snipe the archers. Be careful of the archers as they can not only cause you a great deal of damage, but they can also slow you down, or interrupt you mid-attack, etc. the mine should also cover your from the stairs if any made it up. Loot the bodies and continue upward.

At the top, turn right and you will see an explosive red barrel. Also to the right is a Cratewith some Explosive ammo inside and some Handgun ammo right behind it. There's another Crate with some Explosive ammo on the left side of the area. Place some mines on the long stairs on the left side. Grab the Sniper ammo from the ledge at the top of the stairs. At the top is a lever. Once you pull this, several Lycans will enter and try to ambush you. Shoot the barrels as they run by and any that reach the stairs will be hit by your mines. You can snipe or shoot the rest down with whatever weapon has the most ammo.

Once they are gone, quickly run down the stairs, head to the opposite side of the area and climb the ladder. Place a mine behind you up here. A second wave will appear. Now aim your gun at the ladder and as they climb up, shoot them in the face. If any get up and around behind you, the mine will have you covered. Once they all gone, pull the other lever up here. Loot the bodies, as many of the have healing components.

Now that the gate is slowly lowering, we can head back down and through the gate. Head up to the large tower that is the Stronghold. Open the large door. Look right and you will find a Cratethat contains some Handgun ammo. Inside the tipped over barrel is inside some Rusted Scrap. The other Crate contains some Handgun ammo and you can grab the pipebomb on the barrel next to the Typewriter, which you should use to save.

If you're facing the Typewriter, look right and where you see the large gap in the stone stairs, look to the right of the gap and wait a moment for a shining object. Shoot it down for some Vivianite.

As you climb the stone steps and enter the large opening, Ethan will mention that this place is the Lycan's den.

As soon as you move forward, the Lycans will appear. Thankfully there's explosive barrels in here to be used to clear them out. There will pretty much be endless waves of Lycans in this fist area. You can drop down and on the lower level there's some explosive barrels, with some Pipebombs, Shotgun ammo, and healing components. Many of the fallen Lycans also drop healing materials too. The goal here is to run to the top and take the Zipline across to the next area.

Once you do, more Lycans will appear, this time with an Armoured variant among them. Use your Pipebombs, Mines, Explosive Rounds and they will all be dead, or if the big armoured one is still alive, a few headshots with the shotgun, magnum or sniper rifle will end the battle.

Enter the door up here and you will be safe. There's a large suit of armor on the left side. It has some Magnum ammo and some Gunpowder as well.

Craft whatever weapons/ammo you like, then head down the stairwell. On the way down, collect the Metal Scrap on the right and at the bottom, smash the Crate for some for some Sniper ammo. At the bottom there's a door on the left, but to the right is a Goat of Warding. Slash it with your Knife.

Head through the door and shimmy through the crack. On the other side, grab the First Aid Med on the right, the left has the Officer's Diary (File) and some Explosive and Sniper ammo. There's also a Typewriter to save your game. Head down the path and get ready for a Boss Fightwith Urias.