Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first DLC, Prophecies of Ash, is coming to Xbox Series X|S on April 23. In this builder game set in a world inspired by ancient Rome, players build cities, manage production chains and trade routes, forge diplomatic ties with other governors or wage war for supremacy.

With Prophecies of Ash, the first of Year 1’s three DLC, the province of Latium is expanded with new islands and the continental island of Cinis – the largest island in the history of Anno games. New content also includes a new deity, Vulcan, and a new resource, obsidian, which is tied to two new production chains. Aside from vast stretches of land waiting for you to the build the city of your dreams, however, there is also the old volcano looming in the distance…

Volcanic eruptions are one of the core elements of the DLC. At certain intervals, the volcano will erupt and players will have to deal with its different phases and the issues and advantages tied to them: from tremors damaging buildings, fiery rocks falling from the sky, and ash covering all the islands to a bloom phase when the fertilized soil boosts the productivity of farms.

Now, how do you, as a player, best deal with these challenges? Read on for several tips directly from the dev team:

Tip 1 – Set up your experience

Before the volcano even starts grumbling, you can tweak the settings for the volcano gameplay a bit: decide how strong the initial tremors should be, if falling rocks contain any obsidian, and if you prefer a tutorial guiding you through the new content. This way, you can tune some of the upcoming challenge to your personal preferences.

In the same screen, you can also familiarize yourself briefly with the main aspects of Prophecies of Ash.

Tip 2 – Fire Stations

When rocks and fire are raining from the sky during the eruption, it doesn’t hurt to have some fire stations on your island to limit some of the fire damage.

You can also use boons from deities to your advantage; with enough fervour to either Neptune or Vulcan, you can unlock their shrines, which will increase fire safety in the area.

The biggest lesson here is, however: there is no fighting nature. The volcano’s eruption and the volcanic winter phase will damage and destroy parts of your cities and disrupt your economy. While you can’t prevent that, you can prepare for it.

Tip 3 – Stockpile resources

More than the limited destruction, the production debuffs to mines, farms and fisheries will be your biggest enemy. Luckily, you can prepare.

At the core, you will want to make sure to have full warehouses of the essential needs of your population. These stockpiles will come in handy during the volcanic winter phase. Upgrade your trading post and build depots to store more goods.

Additionally, make use of specialists as well as the bonuses of devoting yourself to the different deities to increase overall production:

• Vulcan helps with production of mining goods
• Ceres with production of farming goods
• Neptune with production of fishing goods

Tip 4 – Mine precious obsidian

The volcano doesn’t just leave destruction in its wake: after every eruption, the obsidian deposits in pits and quarries refill and can be exploited if you have the necessary technology researched.

Obsidian is used in two new production chains providing additional bonuses to your population, which makes you more resilient to the debuffs of the volcano phases.

Additionally, you can trade obsidian for new specialists at the harbour of the trader Caecilia. These specialists provide allow the production of farming, mining and fishing goods that otherwise wouldn’t be available on an island. This increases your flexibility and allows to produce more of every needed good in order to fill your warehouses.

Tip 5 – Maximize the Bloom Phase buff

After every eruption, the volcanic ash fertilizes the land, increasing its soil level, and provides a productivity buff to all agricultural buildings. In fact, this bonus increases with every endured eruption – up to 50 percent!

This means that you get stronger and more productive with every eruption through the increased soil level, as well as the obsidian you can use for various purposes outlined above.

Tip 6 – Putting the volcano to sleep (disabling the mechanic)

If this all sounds too disruptive, because you just want the biggest city ever on the continental island of Cinis: don’t worry, we got you!

Via the settings mentioned in Tip 1, you can also completely disable volcanic eruptions. No more rocks destroying your precious temples and markets; no more ash blanketing everything and messing with your farms.

Do note, though, that obsidian deposits do not refill this way, meaning you will have to do without the new production chains and the new specialists.

Well, governors, with these tips you should be well-prepared to face the moods of the volcano and weather its eruption phases: stockpile resources and make the most out of the new mechanics and those fires will soon only be a distant memory.

Anno 117: Pax Romana Prophecies of Ash releases on April 23 on Xbox Series X|S. It will be available for individual purchase, or is included with Anno 117: Pax Romana’s Gold Edition or Season Pass. You can also play Prophecies of Ash with a Ubisoft+ Premium subscription.