-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PS3 and XBOX360 - From Dust, Challenge Mode Guide FAQ compiled by Dustin Wood (aka Ahlyis) Created 9-28-11 Last modified 02-29-12 Version: 1.10 This FAQ may be freely distributed provided it is kept wholly intact. It may not be sold for profit or added to anything which is not freely available and/or accessible. All updates will be sent only to www.gamefaqs.com, so look there for the latest version. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction [INTR] II. Conventions used in this FAQ [CONV] III. The Challenge levels 1) Fire! [FIRE] 2) Running in the rain [RUNR] 3) Bail Out [BAIL] 4) The Big Wave [WAVE] 5) Canyoning [CNYN] 6) Pump it up [PUMP] 7) Xuenylom [XUEN] 8) Aquasplash [AQUA] 9) Waterfall [WFLL] 10) Guardian Angel [GRDN] 11) Explosions [EXPL] 12) Sacrifice [SACR] 13) Gospel [GSPL] 14) Hell [HELL] 15) Fluids [FLDS] 16) Collapse [CLPS] 17) Epic Tsunamis [EPIC] 18) Ditch [DTCH] 19) Countdown [CTDN] 20) Migration [MIGR] 21) Nitro [NITR] 22) Quicksand [QKSD] 23) Atlantis [ATLA] 24) Irony [IRNY] 25) Drill [DRLL] 26) Sunken Secret [SUNK] 27) Trees of Water [TREE] 28) Deadly Crossing [DEAD] 29) Wagons of Fire [WAGN] 30) The Descent [DESC] IV. Version info. [VERS] V. Credits and Contact Info [CRDT] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction [INTR] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is specific to the Challenge mode levels. If you need help with the main game, there are other FAQs at GameFAQs which should be able to help you. Furthermore, I'm not interested in just teaching you how to complete the levels. This Guide is about how to complete each level quickly. As quickly as I know how to. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. Conventions used in this FAQ [CONV] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Each level will be broken into 5 sections: Objectives, The Black, Main, Tips, and My Scores. Additionally, there are a few terms I use which deserve some explanation, such as "Quick Dump". Objectives: Simple. This just lists what you have to accomplish on the level. The Black: This refers to the time between when the level finishes loading and when the level's start screen appears. The level is loading while the circular pulse is active in the lower right corner. Once the level is done loading, the screen goes black for about 2 seconds before the level's start screen appears. Those 2 seconds are actually time when you can perform actions. The Black section of the level outlines what actions you should take during this brief period. Main: This contains the instructions for completing the level, other than anything you do during the black period. Tips: This will outline various events or circumstances to watch for that aren't outlined in Main. My Scores: This will list my best score for the level on both the PS3 and the XBOX360 versions. The scores listed here are quite possibly outdated, but they were accurate when I last updated this FAQ. Quick Dump: When I instruct you to "Quick Dump", I'm talking about dropping the entire load you are carrying instantly via pulling the left trigger while already holding the right trigger. Speed: Hold down Square. Super Speed: Hold down Square while zoomed out as well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. The Challenge levels -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Fire! [FIRE] Objectives: Put out the fire. The Black: Zoom out and super speed left briefly before shifting straight up. Start picking up water as well. The objectgive is to get over to the water as quickly as possible, then head towards the fire. Main: Super speed towards the fire, grabbing a little more water before heading inland. Head to the top and drop water along the way to put out the main fire. Save a little bit of water to drop on the second bit of fire. Tips: There's a third piece of fire around the back, but just ignore it. It will run out of fuel on it's own. My Scores: PS3 - 00:02.95 (9th) 360 - 00:02.95 (54th) 2) Running in the rain [RUNR] Objectives: Get the villagers to the Totem to build a village. The Black: Zoom out and super speed straight up. Main: Click the totem as quickly as possible to start the villagers towards the totem. Escort the villagers, grabbing water to clear their path. Ignore the last water trough as the villagers can get past it on their own. So stop once you reach it and let the level finish. Tips: If you want the "best" times, ignore the last 2 troughs and just keep restarting until you get a run where at least 5 villagers make it across the last two troughs on their own. My times came from only grabbing one load from the third trough and letting the rest of the water go. It took a LOT of restarts before I finally got it to work. As long as 4 villagers make it across, let it play out. The last three villagers will try to get across on their own and on a rare occasion one of them will actually make it. My Scores: PS3 - 00:48.60 (2nd) 360 - 00:49.07 (5th) 3) Bail Out [BAIL] Objectives: Bring the Repel Water power back to the village before the Tsunami hits. The Black: Zoom out and super speed up and a little left for less than a second. Draw up as much water as you can. Main: Quick dump the water from the basin over the side. I prefer to dump where the waterfall is. Speed back to the totem and click on it to call the villager. Continue to grab and quick dump the water out of the bowl. Counting the partial load from the Black, dump 4 loads and draw in a 5th. Then just wait. Tips: You don't have to get all of the water. You can leave a small pool in the basin. If you're having trouble controlling the breath, don't zoom out. You lose a little time, but it is much easier to control. My Scores: PS3 - 00:11.79 (1st) 360 - 00:12.04 (6th) 4) The Big Wave [WAVE] Objectives: Retrieve the Repel Water power and spread it to all 3 villages. The Black: Start by pressing calling the villager. The breath starts over the stone. Then speed upward and switch to overhead view. Main: Grab a load of dirt by taking a strip along the water's edge of the prickly plants. If you take it from near the edge instead of the middle, you can leave bare ground behind which the plants won't grow back over. Use that load of dirt to build the path across the water barrier to the second village. Tips: It can be done with a single grabbing of dirt, but you need to be accurate both with the straightness of your line and where you begin to grab from. My Scores: PS3 - 00:05.43 (3rd) 360 - 00:05.20 (5th) 5) Canyoning [CNYN] Objectives: Bring the Repel Water power back to the village before the Tsunami hits. The Black: Nothing. Main: Grab a load of water and wait just behind the repel water stone. As soon as the kite turns blue (at about the 8 second mark), quick dump the whole load to wash him over the cliff. Do nothing else! He "should" swim out on his own and get to the village in time, though on occasion he'll have trouble. When that happens, just start over and try again. Tips: Not much to this one. Just experiment with how early you can dump and still have him get the repel water before you wash him away. You can also try dumping from other spots to buy some time, but there's not much time to be gained no matter how you do it. You should be within 2 seconds of the top times. My Scores: PS3 - 00:25.92 (2nd) 360 - 00:25.91 (2nd) 6) Pump it up [PUMP] Objectives: Protect the village until all fire is out. The Black: Move left and start grabbing dirt. After a half a second, switch to moving upwards. There's a slight rise near the upper left edge of the village and you want to grab dirt from there to let water settle there easier. Main: Finish grabbing a full load of dirt and quick dump it into the basin straight up from the village. Speed to grab a second and third load and quick dump each in the same basin. Wait now and watch the water slowly work it's way around the entire village before the fire gets there. Tips: Accuracy counts. Try to make sure your drops are completely in the basin, not on the edge. My times came with only 2 loads of dirt instead of 3. My Scores: PS3 - 00:06.07 (3rd) 360 - 00:05.44 (12th) 7) Xuenylom [XUEN] Objectives: Stop the fire from reaching the peninsula. The Black: Speed up and just barely left. Main: Grab some lava, but it doesn't need the be anything more than a sliver. Speed back to the lone village and drop the lava on it. Let it burn! That will keep them from stopping up the water. The water will put out the fire that is threatening the 3 villages on the peninsula. Tips: Zooming out and speeding along is how you get the best times, but it is very tricky to manage to grab some lava while speeding that way. Also, ignore your eyes. You can actually have enough lava to start a fire without being able to see that you have ANY lava at all. My Scores: PS3 - 00:01.42 (6th) 360 - 00:01.58 (18th) 8) Aquasplash [AQUA] Objectives: Bring the Repel Water power back to the village before the Tsunami hits. The Black: Zoom out and Super Speed straight up. Stop just before the Black ends and press to call the villager. This takes practice and luck to get the timing just right. Main: Super speed into the basin and start bailing water as fast as you can. Quick dump it over the back side and grab more. Repeat without pausing until about the 15 second mark on the tsunami timer, then just stop and wait to see if you finish the level or not. Tips: You can't bail faster than the water appears. The idea is to drain as much as you can while setting up waves that ripple across the surface. This causes the water to fall over the spillways in bursts instead of a steady stream. The villager can get past the bursts on his own and shouldn't ever call for help. You can push it towards stopping at the 20 second mark, but you'll need to be closer to the 25 second mark if you want the top times. My Scores: PS3 - 01:00.61 (1st) 360 - 00:58.15 (4th) 9) Waterfall [WFLL] Objectives: Get the shaman to the lower village. The Black: Pull down and start grabbing water. Main: Finish getting a full load, then head up the hill to where the shaman is. As soon as he passes the edge of the village, dump the whole load on his head. This takes a LOT of trying over and over, but you want to have him get washed all the way through the prickly plants. He'll find his own way past the pool of water you created. Tips: Try to center directly over him. You need him to change directions in his attempt to swim out. If you drop to one side or the other, he'll most likely get out on one side and not get washed all the way down. It can be hard to see him, so center yourself based on the vapor trail outlining his path. My Scores: PS3 - 00:15.94 (8th) 360 - 00:18.93 (22nd) 10) Guardian Angel [GRDN] Objectives: Survive until the lower village gains fire protection. The Black: Hold up, right and speed. Main: If you were aimed correctly, you should be right over the upper village. Grab it and speed left. Drop it in the sand as quickly as you can, then just wait. Tips: This one is all about the black. Getting the breath perfectly over the upper village is key to the best times. My Scores: PS3 - 00:00.20 (2nd) 360 - 00:00.23 (7th) 11) Explosions [EXPL] Objectives: Survive until the village gains fire protection. The Black: Speed up and right while also trying to grab a plant. Main: Speed up the chute and plant your tree on the left side of the chute at the high end of the cleft just a little below the lava. If placed right, the tree will open up the side and most if not all of the lava will flow out the side instead of down towards the village. Tips: Make sure you find an angle that will grab a tree in the black. Experiment until you find one that works for you. Zoom out AFTER you grab a tree to shave a little more time. My Scores: PS3 - 00:01.30 (2nd) 360 - 00:01.27 (2nd) 12) Sacrifice [SACR] Objectives: Bring repel water back to a village. The Black: Grab as much dirt from the center of the village as you can. Main: Drop the dirt in a steady stream towards the second totem. Call the men to the second totem. Grab a full load from the back side of the village and complete the path to the second totem. If you fail to lay down a complete path here, start over. Grab dirt from the first village and lay down the path to the repel water totem. Don't drop dirt in small bursts. Drop it in steady streams. Overhead view works much better for seeing where you're aiming on this level. Grab dirt from the first village until only three huts remain, then grab from the path you made to the second totem. As soon as the second village is started, grab dirt from the remaining parts of the first village, sinking it entirely. Once you lay down that load, click on the repel water totem. If necessary, get a final load of dirt from the base of the second village. Tips: Hold still while grabbing dirt. You can grab dirt from below sea level if you are sitting still. Make sure you click on the repel water totem AFTER you sink the first village, not before. You don't have to wait for the second village to be fully formed. As soon as the 5/5 disappears from above it, you can sink the first village. Optimally, you'll sink the first village, finish the path and be waiting at the repel water stone for the second village to be complete. Click on the repel water totem and you're done. My Scores: PS3 - 00:54.37 (1st) 360 - 00:53.31 (2nd) 13) Gospel [GSPL] Objectives: Bring repel water back to the village before the tsunami hits. The Black: Speed up, but let off speed just before the black ends. Main: Click on the repel water totem then Jellify water and begin clearing a path just to the left of the rock sticking out of the water. Quick drop the water you collect just to the side. Don't waste time taking it far away. As soon as the path is clear, stop. Don't drop that last bit of water. Save that little bit of time. Tips: Jellified water isn't stable. It creeps. Put a little extra effort into cleaning out the area near the totem as that is where the creep tends to foul up the run most often. I prefer overhead view, though you can use whichever works best for you. Just don't zoom out unless you are a god with the controls. My Scores: PS3 - 00:20.78 (1st) 360 - 00:21.24 (6th) 14) Hell [HELL] Objectives: Put out the fire. The Black: Zoom out and super speed up and just a hair left. Main: Super speed to the last basin, which has the water in it. Grab some water and douse the flames below the basin with a quick drop. Grab the rest of the water and lay it down in a stream to douse the rest of the flames. Don't pull the right trigger fully. There's no need to drop the water that quickly. Tips: I find that zooming back in once I reach the water makes this level much easier. I'm sacrificing a little time in favor of making the controls a lot more manageable. Be sure that your first drop catches the fire on the back side of the basin as well as the fire below the basin. My Scores: PS3 - 00:06.89 (7th) 360 - 00:07.45 (35th) 15) Fluids [FLDS] Objectives: Bring repel water back to the village. The Black: Zoom out and super speed up. Main: Get to the repel water totem and call a villager. Zoom in and grab a full load of dirt. Lay down the path between the islands in one smooth pass. Activate Amplify the Breath and speed back towards the village, grabbing a full load of dirt along the way. Lay down your load in one stream to form a wall from the wall between where the water will spill out and the path back for the villager to the village totem. Tips: Don't worry if you're only really protecting 2 huts instead of 3. You'll lose one or two huts when the water first comes, but they will regrow in better position before the big flood comes and you lose the other huts. My Scores: PS3 - 00:09.46 (1st) 360 - 00:09.76 (1st) 16) Collapse [CLPS] Objectives: Build a village at the totem. The Black: Zoom out and speed up-right. Stop moving after a very short time and start collecting lava. Main: Gather a bit more lava, then super speed back to where the villagers are. Super speed straight to the totem, pulling the right trigger just enough to lay down a thin stream of lava. Drop any excess lava to the side of the totem, then click the totem to call the villagers. Tips: The first 7 villagers will run onto the sand and eventually drown, but eventually the remaining 5 will take the path to the totem. Ideally you run out of lava as you complete the path. If not, then make sure you don't drop the excess in a lump near the totem or you will have to wait for it to cool before you can call the villagers. My Scores: PS3 - 00:07.89 (1st) 360 - 00:08.87 (2nd) 17) Epic Tsunamis [EPIC] Objectives: Survive until time expires. The Black: Activate both Amplify the Breath (d-pad down) and Infinite Earth (d-pad left). Start dropping dirt as you pull back-right. Main: Zoom out and build up the three huts on the back right, then super speed to the other village and build up three huts there. Tips: Don't worry about turning the powers off. Just stop once you have the villages raised and wait for the time to expire. My Scores: PS3 - 00:07.96 (2nd) 360 - 00:08.54 (3rd) 18) Ditch [DTCH] Objectives: Put out the fire. The Black: Move left and zoom out. Try to grab the tree to the left of the village. Main: Drop that tree on the left side, a little in from the water tree and a little back towards the village. Grab a tree from the forward middle and drop it in the back middle. Grab a final tree from the right of the village and drop it just to the left and towards the village of the right side water tree. Tips: There's a video on youtube that shows how to do it with 4 trees. Just skip one of the 2 middle trees. It may take a few tries, but it does work. My Scores: PS3 - 00:08.01 (2nd) 360 - 00:08.02 (16th) 19) Countdown [CTDN] Objectives: Survive until time expires. The Black: Activate Infinite Earth and Amplify the Breath. Move slightly forward and start dumping. Zoom out. Main: Same as Epic Tsunamis, only this time the villages are much closer to each other. Just build up 3 huts each and stop. Tips: Nothing more to say here that wasn't said for Epic Tsunamis. My Scores: PS3 - 00:05.52 (2nd) 360 - 00:06.52 (4th) 20) Migration [MIGR] Objectives: Survive until time expires. The Black: Switch to overhead view. Main: Grab the totem and speed it to the far side of the dirt bowl. Activate Amplify the Breath and start grabbing dirt from the bowl. Quick dump it on the village between the totem and the water on the dirt bowl side. Grab another load of dirt and quick dump it in the water, just on the edge of the village. Grab another load and dump it in the water between the village and the dirt bowl. Grab a final load and spread it over the water to complete the path to the dirt bowl. Tips: The villagers will cry and complain. Ignore them. As the dirt settles a path will become available and they will eventually go. If it takes too long, the water will become a problem. Sometimes the villagers will fight past the water eventually, but not always. Start over and dump your dirt better! ;) My Scores: PS3 - 00:17.42 (2nd) 360 - 00:18.86 (6th) 21) Nitro [NITR] Objectives: Put out the fire. The Black: Speed forward and slightly right. Grab a tree and zoom out. Main: Drop the tree on the group of 3 palms near the lava. Super speed back and grab a second tree. Drop it next to the first. Wait after the first explosion, a tree should grow back in time to explode again and extinguish the flames. Tips: There's a lot of luck involved here, but it shouldn't take too many tries before this will work. You can try with just 1 tree, but I haven't ever gotten it to work with a single tree. My Scores: PS3 - 00:02.48 (1st) 360 - 00:02.66 (7th) 22) Quicksand [QKSD] Objectives: Survive until time expires. The Black: Zoom out and super speed briefly up and slightly right. Start grabbing lava. Main: Grab a bit more lava and then Super speed around the village and greenery, laying down a thin stream of lava. Draw a completely enclosing loop of lava. Tips: Same idea as Collapse only this time the village is already built. My Scores: PS3 - 00:06.19 (5th) 360 - 00:06.74 (5th) 23) Atlantis [ATLA] Objectives: Survive until time expires. The Black: Zoom out and super speed up-right. Main: Super speed to the main island and grab a full load of dirt. Rotate the camera while getting that first load. Speed back to the first island and quick dump your load on the edge between the two islands. Use super speed to go back and forth grabbing loads from the main island and dumping them between the two small islands. After about the 6th drop, grab the totem and move it to the middle of the second island. Continue grabbing loads and dumping them until about 17 seconds remain. Grab the totem on the first island again and move it as far onto the dirt you've been dumping as you can. Stop and wait for the end. Tips: The idea is to build an extension of the second island so that half the village will be on the island, but the other half will be solidly on the dirt you dumped. You quick dump the first load instead of laying a path simply to save time. It's not worth trying to lay a path down since your extension will also cover most of the area where a path needs to go anyway. My Scores: PS3 - 00:47.13 (2nd) 360 - 00:43.08 (4th) 24) Irony [IRNY] Objectives: Get both powers to both villages. The Black: Speed up-left. Start grabbing lava. Main: Grab a full load of lava, then drop a dot on the plants to burn them away. Drop most of the rest of the load to form a path for the fire power (red kite) across the water. Build the path as close to the lava source as possible. If you build it far enough over, the earthquake that happens at the 20 second mark won't destroy the path. Grab more lava and do the same for the water power. Tips: You need to build the path far far over to the side, but it can be done such that no repairs are needed after the earthquake hits. My Scores: PS3 - 00:12.32 (1st) 360 - 00:12.45 (1st) 25) Drill [DRLL] Objectives: Bring repel water to the village. The Black: Grab a load of dirt. Main: Lay down a path from the village to the far end where the repel water totem is submerged. After the second load of dirt, you should have the path built and have started dumping to raise the totem. Call the villager at this time. Drop more loads of dirt to raise the repel water up and form a path to it. Tips: The whole level can be completed with just 5 loads of dirt. Based on the top times, it looks like it can be done with 4. That or they're using some other tactic. You can quick dump two of the loads in the water, then use the final load to fill in the gaps. My Scores: PS3 - 00:23.93 (1st) 360 - 00:23.77 (7th) 26) Sunken Secret [SUNK] Objectives: Bring repel water to the village. The Black: Activate Amplify the breath and grab a load of dirt. Main: Finish the load, then turn off Amplify. Build a path from the village to the basin. Activate Amplify the Breath again and grab a full load of dirt from the village. Quick dump it on the repel water totem, then click on the totem to call a villager. Grab a full load of dirt from the other side of the basin and quick dump it next to the repel water totem to start the path. Grab a final load just as the Amplify power expires and use it to finish the path. Tips: The quick dump on the totem is crucial. The water is going to erode your work, so you need to drop that load perfectly. You can shore up your work with the final load if you have any left after finishing the path. My Scores: PS3 - 00:25.22 (2nd) 360 - 00:25.40 (9th) 27) Trees of Water [TREE] Objectives: Put out the fire. The Black: Zoom out and super speed up. Main: Super speed over to either end of the fire and activate Amplify the Breath. Scoop up and drop down dirt as you move along the fire to put it out. Tips: Practice makes perfect. Get used to switching from grabbing to dropping smoothly so there are no breaks in your defense. My Scores: PS3 - 00:04.73 (3rd) 360 - 00:04.80 (15th) 28) Deadly Crossing [DEAD] Objectives: Create a village before time expires. The Black: Speed right and slightly back. Main: Grab a full load of lava and zoom out. Quick drop the load on the water source, then grab another load of lava. Form a wall to keep in the water and create much of a path to the totem. Finish the wall with one more load of lava. Click on the totem to call the villagers. Grab a load of dirt and use it to build a safe path just outside the wall you built. Tips: Nailing the water source is very tricky as it is not easily visible. It is easiest to locate by looking at where the water is flowing away from. Hover the breath over it and you can find out exactly where the source is. Spend some time just quick dropping lava, then check to see if the water surrounding the source calms down. Learn where that spot is and practice hitting it on the first try. Attack the rest of the level once you've got that down. My Scores: PS3 - 00:40.96 (2nd) 360 - 00:42.10 (8th) 29) Wagons of Fire [WAGN] Objectives: Get fire protection to the village before the volcano destroys it. The Black: Hold left and slightly back. Switch to overhead view. Main: Click on the fire totem. Grab a full load of water. When the villager reaches the wall, jellify water and drop it on him. Grab a second load and drop it on him as well. Turn off Jellify water once he has swum over the wall. Grab any water inside the basin, then get a full load from the sea. Wait for the villager to head back to the village with the power of fire. Jellify water and drop two loads on him again. Turn off jellify when he's over the wall. Wait for the end. Tips: The villager tries to swim to the closest "shore". Make sure you drop more water behind where you want him to go than in front. Also, you can often save some time by turning off jellify early on the way out. If you piled water high enough, it will wash him over the wall as it collapses. My Scores: PS3 - 00:56.86 (1st) 360 - 00:55.24 (8th) 30) The Descent [DESC] Objectives: Populate all three villages and get both fire and water powers to all three. The Black: Activate Infinite Earth and start dropping a direct path from the first village to the second totem and the fire power totem. Main: Continue dropping the path. Cancel Infinite Earth at 10 seconds on its timer. Drop the rest of the load as you speed to the second totem and click it. Speed to the Fire and then Water totems and click them. Speed to the first totem and click to relocate it. Move it just up the path, not far at all. Speed to the second totem and activate Infinite Earth. Fill in the ditch just past the totem. Add some extra dirt, then speed to the first totem and drop the rest of the dirt to give the villagers enough time to finish relocating it. Wait for the village to come up fully, then immediately grab it and relocate it past the second totem. Head to the third totem and look back at the second totem. As soon as the 5/5 above the second totem disappears, click on the third totem. Sit back and hope the villagers don't get moronic with their pathfinding. Tips: Laying down the path to the second totem quickly and then clicking the second totem quickly is the key to good times on this level. There's margin for error on the other tasks, but you can't click on the third totem and be done until the villagers finish populating the second. If the villagers aren't taking your shortcut to the second totem, start over and build the path again. You can still finish the level if they take the longer route, but your time will take about a 7 to 10 second hit. My Scores: PS3 - 00:57.59 (5th) 360 - 00:59.48 (9th) Overall scores (all challenges): PS3 - 09:56.09 (1st) 360 - 09:59.19 (3rd) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. Version info. [VERS] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.00 - 10-04-11 - Initial version including all 30 challenges. 1.01 - 10-13-11 - Score update for both versions. Major improvements to my 360 scores, but improvements to the PS3 scores as well. 1.10 - 02-29-12 - Score improvements on both versions. Reworked the strategy for a few levels. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. Credits and Contact Info [CRDT] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can send email to me at: Ahlyishotmailcom Thanks to CJayC and GameFAQs for providing the opportunity to share this info with fellow gamers. Thanks to David 0wns. His videos on YouTube were helpful in pointing out several tactics which I applied to my own runs on many levels.