From Dust

Walkthrough for all the Challenges (now complete!)

Notes:
Thanks to oxitran for The Descent guide =D
Some people may have trouble with The Descent due to the speed required from Oxitran's guide, have a look at the alternative option by TrueWickedone =D
Also check the comments for other helpful information if you find our ways get you stuck.

Page 1

Fire!

Right at the start head right and scoop up as much water as you can head to the right side of the fire and dump the water so it slides down the hill and puts the fire out. Just keep grabbing more water if needed and put out any fires heading towards you.

Running in the Rain

Head across the side of the mountain and select the village at the end, quickly head back to the villagers and collect the water heading down the side of the mountain as they reach each groove. More villagers will spawn if you loose a couple in the water but you are limited to how many. Once you get 5 to the village the challenge ends. (its best to focus on a group of villagers close together, unless you need just one to get to the end.)

Bail out

Again head up the mountain straight ahead, select the water protection stone in the lake, then start sucking up the water and dumping it off the side (make sure not to accidentally send it towards the village).

The Big Wave

Straight away select the water protection stone, then just to the left find the dead trees, and suck up the dirt under them to make a path through to the other side, once there is a clear path, head to the right side village and suck up the water in between them, A giant tsunami will appear, and assuming that the villagers dont get stuck, they should arrive at each village around the 1:58 mark and end the challenge.

Canyoning

Right at the start you will be on top of a mountain, head down and scoop up some water and then head back up to the protection stone. Wait for the villager to get the knowledge and then dump all the water to wash him off the edge and down into the river. wait for the water to carry him closer to the town and then suck it all up so that he can walk over, share the power and end the challenge.

Pump it Up

Straight away start sucking up the dirt in between the points of the rock wall to make a groove, dump the dirt up the hill in a water pool and head back down and do the same on the next section, there are 4 sections you need to make grooves in all together, and by dumping the dirt in the water pools as you go around you will fill them up pretty quickly. Just watch as the fire reaches the bottom and do any changes that will make sure the paths are completely blocked with water and the challenge should end.

Xuenylom

Straight away head forward and suck up as much lava as you can, then head back and drop some a tiny tiny bit of lava on the village to start a fire and destroy it, then use the rest of the lava on the rock on the side of the village opposite the lava to make a small wall (you may have to go back and get more lava). now wait as the water comes down the hill, over the village and hopefully into the fire, putting it out and ending the challenge.

Page 2

Aquasplash

This one is fun, and also rather tricky. At the start rush forward and select the water protection stone. now zoom back to find the villager who is making the trip (take note of the grooves in the side of the mountain as you go). Follow him along, and as he reaches the mountain side water will start to splash down, just collect the water as he gets near each groove and dump it in the holes or off the side of the mountain. Then move on to the next groove. Once he reaches the stone, he will turn around and come back, simply repeat the process till he arrives at the village.

Waterfall

right at the start you will be looking at a mountain covered in dead trees, quickly head over to the sea and scoop up a heap of water, then rush it to the top of the hill to see a villager on his way with to the starting village with water protection. You can either dump some water ahead of him to wash away the plants, or you can dump some water on him and wash him down the hill. The second method is normally faster, occasionally the villager may stop half way down, just give him a blast with more water to speed him on his way. Remember to scoop up the water at the base of the hill to allow the villager to get out quicker. He will then trek across the ground to the village and end the level.

Guardian Angel

This level may seem suicidal, as you only have the power to move totems. So straight at the start you will be looking up a hill covered with dead trees, head up and right a bit to find another village with protection from lava. Select the white stone pillar to move the village, set the ghost pillar right above the dead trees on the dirt and wait for the villagers to move across. If done fast enough the village will be constructed as the lava comes down, forcing it off the side and saving the village at the bottom of the hill. If your not fast enough prepare to laugh as the lava burns a heap of villagers.

Explosions

Yay time to play with explosives again!, right at the start you will be looking up a hill, grab the explosive plant beside the village, zoom up the hill a bit, on the left side there should be an explosive plant (the last one on the left) then some rock wall and a place where it looks to be smaller then the rest of the wall. Place a few explosive plants on this part of the wall and one right in the middle of the channel. As the lava reaches it it will blast the explosive plants, and make a new channel off the side. You may need to use a few more explosive plants to make the channel deeper, and positioning may be hard to work out at first, so try it a few times.

Sacrifice

Right at the start grab some dirt from the sides of the island the village is on, and create a path along the lighter colored water to the second village. Send some villagers over and wait for them to take the village. Once they have taken the village, suck up all the dirt from the first village and dump it on the light colored water heading towards the water protection stone. Keep picking up dirt and making a path until the starting village is destroyed and the original path is gone. Send a villager to the stone, he should leave from the second village, once he reaches the end of the path to the stone, suck up the beginning of the path and dump it in front, continue this process till he can make it to the stone, don't worry about any other villagers that will scream for help. Once he has the power, using the same process, lead the villager back to the town. The challenge will end when he gives the protection to the village on the rock.

Gospel

Right at the start of this level, zoom up the mountain and select the water protection stone in the bottom of the lake. Now wait for the villager to climb his way up, as he reaches the lakeside, use jellify water and start scooping up the water to make a path to the stone, then dump it anywhere out of the way, (the best path seems to bend around the right side of the rock tower in center of the lake). The villager should be able to walk down and get the stone and come back before the water returns to normal.

Hell

Right at the start, zoom forward and up the hill towards the fire, as you head towards it, head slightly to the left, at the very end of the hill on the left hand side should be a rock pool with water (its the only rock pool on the map with water in it, so dont bother about the others). Grab as much water as you can, and dump it on the "ridge" of the mountain so that water flows either side down the hill and puts out the fire. You may need to grab some more water from either the pool or where the water ends up at the bottom, but keep flooding the fire till its all out. (once you have done the first "flood" you will find the fire will tend to keep burning, but lower down the hill, just drop the water on top of the fire rather then all teh way up the top, it saves time.)

Page 3

Fluids

first off head around to the left of the village to see a water protection stone way off in the distance. select it to get a village moving, and make a quick bridge out of dirt to the island. Make sure to grab alot of dirt then head back to the village, just behind the village is a few "levels" with a water pool at the top most. Now just spend the rest of the game picking up dirt and redirecting the water so that it can take the longest path away from the village, just block any sections in between the "levels" so that it forces the water to take a long way around. Make sure to also put lots of dirt at the walls behind the village to give it that last bit of defense. If all goes well the villager should finally arrive back as the water is starting to fill the last ditch near the village.

Collapse

Right at the start press RB (global view makes you move faster) then go to the nearest volcano and suck up some lava. wait for the first collapse to begin then make a thin line of lava along the highest and shortest path (go from the villagers towards the village as it collapses in that direction), once your path is down select the village and wait for them to walk towards it.

Epic Tsunamis

At the start use RB for global view, and use infinite Earth and Amplify and start dumping earth under both towns, (global mode is a bit twitchy to use, but makes it easier as you can move faster) when you run out of time on the powers, start tearing down the mountains around you and dump the dirt on the villages (try to keep them at even levels, and use the dirt on the village that is the lowest), keep using the powers to raise the level of the villages and keep them out of the water. There will be 2 tsunamis and then you will have to wait for the timer to end before the challenge will be complete.

Ditch

This one is a bit tricky, at the start you can see a fire off in the distance, two water plants on the hills and a bunch of explosive plants everywhere. Start off by pulling up any explosive plants in between the village and the water plants, and create a "line" of explosive plants from one water plant to the other. Try to get as many plants in the line to make the trench deep. Then line up any of the plants infront at 90 degrees to the line facing towards the fire. this will create a fuse, so that when the fire hits the plants it will set them all off and fill the ditch with water, stopping the fire when it arrives at the ditch.

Countdown

This level is actually pretty easy. Straight away use the two powers, infinite earth and amplify, then dump as much dirt as you can under both villages. Its best to keep switching between them so that the mountains you make under them remain roughly the same. When the powers run out, wait for them to recharge and keep on dumping the dirt.

Migration

Select the village and put it down in the middle of all the dirt on the other side of the mountain. Now use Amplify and start sucking up all the dirt piles randomly located around the village, make a path along the side of the mountain from the village to the new location by dumping the dirt in the water beside the village. (assuming there are no path finding errors with the villagers) Wait for the villagers to move to the new location and start dumping dirt under the new village. Once the Volcano timer runs out start pulling down the walls of the "dirt bowl" that the new village is in, and let the water surround the village. Use dirt to stop the fire from spreading if any lava gets to close. Challenge ends when the countdown timer reaches 0:00

Nitro

Right at the start switch to global view (RB) and start grabbing explosive plants, make a line going across the ridge of the pool closest to the village, back through the dead trees (if you space them right they will cause a chain reaction). If done right, the fire will set of the explosives causing the pool to flood the village and protect it from the fire. The placing of the plants are key, to far apart and they will set off to late or not at all. To close and you will cause a hole that will most likely fill before the water spreads. The best bet is to make a single line evenly spaced. It may take a few tries as you will need to see how it works first before it can be completed. (Dont bother with the other pool. it will take out the fire but there is a second part of Trees behind the village that will stay burning.)


Page 4

Quicksand

As the level is loading, pull back on the Left stick and mash the Right Bumper), if it works, you should start off in Global view and much closer to a volcano then if you started normally. Start sucking up lava right away NOTE: dont go for the full amount unless you did the trick, you wont have time otherwise, rush back over to the village and put down a small path of lava on the side you started on (you should see the ground starting to give way on this side anyways). Try to get it as close to the village as possible with out starting a fire. Drag the lava around and then go grab some more from the other volcano. Do the same again on this side. Keep grabbing more lava and making small walls around the village. use the little plan below to see the best way to go about it

Go in this order
1- west side wall (closest to starting position)
2- East side wall (opposite side to starting position)
3- South wall
4- North wall

Fill in any gaps in the wall so that the water doesn't flood the village.
Challenge will end when the countdown timer expires.

Atlantis

Pick up the totem and wait a few seconds for the new island to appear, put the totem on the top and then press RB to zoom over to the giant dirt island suck up some dirt and drop it to make a bridge for your villagers. While they are walking over, you can drop some more dirt on the other side of the island going in the exact same direction to save some time for the next island to appear. keep picking up the totem and moving it to the next island as it appears, after the 2nd island of the appearing islands turns up, make a path heading straight for the big dirt island at 90 degrees to the previous paths you have made. one more island will appear, move the totem, and then when its time to move it again, place the totem on the big dirt island (close to the water bridge saves time) and the challenge will end as the village is built.

Irony
As soon as the map starts, you will see some un-passable trees, zoom straight ahead and over the rock wall to find a pool of lava, Grab the full amount of lava and drop a tiny bit on the trees to burn them, then drop a small amount in both water pools on either side of where the trees are. Make sure to refill your lava ball.

Now as the villagers are crossing your paths the volcano will erupt (around the time the villagers meet in the middle) and cause a lava flow and tsunami. This will also break your bridges. So first fix the bridge to the town that requires the lava protection (the villager with the red umbrella will be heading that way) then quickly fix the bridge to the other town so the water villager can keep going.

both Villagers should arrive before either the lava flow or tsunami arrives at either town around 1:58 on the countdown clock.

Drill

Start sucking up dirt under the village and dump it on a path to the water protection stone in the water, select the stone then continue dumping dirt. Your villager should be at the stone when the tsunami turns up, so use Engulf all and start sucking the tsunami. It wont stop it, but it will slow it down as it has to fill in the water that your removing. If all goes well the villager should return to the village ages before the tsunami even gets near the island.

Sunken Secret

Note: Select the water protection stone straight away! its in the river near the waterfall and explosive plants. Now There are two ways to do this challenge, either you make a path with vegetation to connect the fire plants with the explosive plants on the cliff, or you can simply grab dirt from anywhere around the map and dump it under the water protector stone in the river. either way, make sure you create a bridge from the island to the stone and youll have no problems, dont be afraid to take the dirt from under and around the village itself as it doesnt need it anyway lol.

Tree of Water

Use Amplify and pick up the dirt at the bottom of the mountain behind the village to make a channel, drop the dirt either under the village, or make a wall between the two hills beside the village. Also drop some dirt at bottom of the mountain at the far end of where you are building a channel. Keep the water away from the village, but after the first wave a fire will come down the hill and try to reach the village. if the channel has enough water the fire shouldnt make it past that, but you may also pick up dirt and use it to put out sections of the fire that get past.

Deadly Crossing

Grab some lava from the right side of the starting point and start extending the rock bridge towards the village, dont stretch it to far though as you need to allow the water to still get around. Select the village and get the villagers to start moving across the bridge. Once they reach the end, use the explosive tree and a bit of lava to blow up the other end of the bridge.

Use the dirt and lava to finish the bridge and let the villagers take the totem.

If any fall in the water they will most likely be washed towards the totem part of the island, so use some dirt to make some waves and push them onto the land.

Page 5

Wagons of Fire

Press RB for Global view, zoom forward scoop up some water and drop it on the water plants on the island straight ahead (it should have a fire on it soon) make sure that all the water plants pop. Wait for the fire to reach the top of the hill that the plants were on and Jellify the water. Make a path between the two islands so that plants will grow and the fire can spread to the next island.

As soon as the fire is across, Unjellify the water by pressing Up again and wait for the fire to reach the top of the next section of water plants. When the fire is just about to go over and set of the next lot of water plants, Jellify the water again, scoop out the water between the village island and the island the fire is currently on to make another path, wait for the fire to spread across, and Unjellify, put out any fires spreading away from the explosives. Send in a villager and wait for him to return to the village. He should get there either as the volcano is forming, or a few seconds after depending on how soon after the explosive trees made a path.

The Descent (Thanks to oxitran )

to complete the descent its really quite easy.
start by moving your base up on the hill next the water stone. then while your villagers are moving the base tell your other villagers to go to the water and fire stones and to also capture the village next to the fire stone.
when you finish capturing the second village immediately start taking the third.
the tricky past is the next bit let the shamman go to the third base the long way around the mountain and they should be safe and should just make it.
you may need to build paths for the shamman when they are going to the second and third base if water gets to close to them.

The Descent alternative option by TrueWickedone

I tried it like oxitran had said my first 2 times and just fell short. water always hit my protectors carrying spell to final city so I learned to use infinite earth as well. Move city up near repel water, then send men to repel water and lava orbs. Once your city is moved send men to get the second and each time earth pops you also want to be using it to build up the mountain between village 2 and 3. if you do this right, by the time your second city is built and you send men to the third, they will run right up the hill instead of around the spiral path to the top. If you get this done, then your 2 water and fire protectors will easily climb up in time to finish safely.