Queen's Hand

Overview
The Queen's Hand is a new perma-death mode specially crafted for the most experienced Viceroys. In this mode, players have only one Cycle to reforge the Adamantine Seal. Viceroys need to have completed the Adamantine Seal on Prestige 20 to unlock this game mode. The trial is accessible via the Profiles button in the main menu, and contains 3 slots. These profiles are entirely seperate from your Main Game Profiles.

These slots each have a unique seed map. Players can only reset the seed if they have won at least 4 settlements in that seed - so if they fail on the 3rd Settlement, they will not be able to reroll a seed upon resetting the profile slot.

If players abandon a settlement or fail to reforge the Seal in time, all unlocks are reverted and the whole meta progression resets. Those who emerge victorious will be awarded the title of Queen's Hand and will be granted a rare audience with the Scorched Queen herself.

Unlocked Upgrades:

 * QHBuildings.png All Buildings except Species Housing and Field Kitchen
 * QHCornerstones.png All Cornerstones
 * QHRaces.png All Species
 * QHConsumption.png Consumption Control
 * QHRainpunk.png Rainpunk
 * QHTrading.png Traderoutes,Trading and all Traders except Dullahan Warlander

= Upgrades Menu =

This game mode features a revamped Upgrade system, with Viceroys only being able to choose 25 Upgrades for the entire run. Two types of Upgrades exist, Re-Rollable and Fundamental. The Re-Rollable Upgrades will follow a tier-based system explained below. Each Fundamental Upgrade can only be upgraded once, meaning a Viceroy can for example, only choose "Blueprint Reroll" once, and "Cornerstone Pool Increase" twice.

= Fundamental Upgrades = These upgrades can only be bought once per choice of Upgrade. Costs scales upwards with each Upgrade you acquire.



= Re-rollable Upgrade Draw Pattern = The re-rollable picks will roll in the followig Tier pattern:

There are 4 Tiers:
 * Low
 * Medium
 * Intermediate
 * High

Intermediate Tier Upgrades are much the same as Medium Tier Upgrades, but only appear in later Rolls to make sure Upgrade options are relevant to the Viceroys' needs in late-game stages.

Re-rollable Upgrade Tiers
There are multiple Upgrades that can stack, for example the "+1 Embarkation" appears multiple times, as does "+5 Storage to all Buildings" etc. It is important to note that each Tier will have randomized picks within that Tier when they Roll.

= Lori Dialogue = Aunt Lori's dialogue changes when attempting the Queen's Hand. She becomes strangely hostile and melancolic during conversation. This could be because of her tragic history. Speak with her to find out more.

= Meeting the Queen = After reforging the Seal, Viceroys should visit the city and enter the Citadel to meet the Scorched Queen.

= Unique Achievement =

After meeting the Queen, Viceroys will achieve a new Steam Achievement and unique in-game decoration for their Home. This achievement can only be won by those who have ventured and proved their worth.

= Strategy = Viceroys are advised to follow the following guidelines when attmepting the Queen's Hand:
 * Map out settlements and caluclate the years you have for each settlement.
 * Treat reserve Embarkation Points sparingly, as you will always find yourself short.
 * Do not attempt to embark new settlements on the highest difficulty, look at difficulty vs rewards. Higher Prestige is not always worth it.
 * Be very cautious when attempting world events, not all world events will be achieveable with the years you have left.
 * There are 4 seals per map, when attempting to re-do a seed map, you do not have to follow the same path.
 * Don't give any traders arms or legs in a trade, you will need them when you meet the Queen.

= Queen's Hand Trials = On Dec 4th 2023, the Queen's Hand Trials were announced. Running from December 4 - 8 2023, this competition was created to showcase the release of Version 1.0 of Against the Storm. 13 Content creators entered the trials to see who could achieve becoming the Queen's Hand first.

Prizes included Steam Decks for the first 5 winners, if 5 winners could not be achieved, their Seal Fragments would be counted and a winner would be selected from the creator with the highest amount of fragments at the end of the competition.

The Queen's Hand Trials Announcement Video

= References = Thank you to Erbamat, Jhazrun and RonEmpire for the help in setting up this page, as well as Tel Hurin!