Against the Storm Guide: How Reputation, Impatience and Hostility Work
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Short answer: In Against the Storm you win a settlement by filling the blue Reputation bar and lose if the red Queen’s Impatience bar reaches 14. Reputation comes mainly from orders (1 point each), from species whose Resolve is above their Reputation threshold, and from glade events. Every Reputation point also takes 1 point off Impatience. Hostility is the forest’s anger: it rises with time, opened glades, villagers and woodcutters, and it lowers Resolve and makes the Storm worse.
The two bars that decide a settlement
| Bar | What happens when it fills | What fills it |
|---|---|---|
| Reputation (blue) | You win the settlement | Orders, high Resolve, glade events, caches sent to the Citadel |
| Queen’s Impatience (red) | You lose the settlement at 14 points | Time, villagers leaving or dying, attacking traders |
You also lose if every villager leaves or dies. On Prestige difficulties you need 18 Reputation to win; the lower difficulties need fewer. In the Sealed Forest biome a full Reputation bar does not win on its own.
How to earn Reputation
- Orders. Each completed order gives 1 Reputation. They are the easiest points early on, so start on them in the first year.
- Resolve. Every species has a Reputation threshold, the blue mark on its Resolve meter. While a species’ Resolve is above it, that species slowly generates Reputation, and more villagers of that species means faster gains. The threshold rises as the game goes on, so you need more food, housing and services over time.
- Glade events. Some events and some choices give Reputation. Dangerous and Forbidden glades pay more than small ones.
- Abandoned caches. Sending a found cache back to the Citadel costs tools and gives Reputation.
Orders alone are rarely enough. Plan for a late push where you keep your villagers’ Resolve above the threshold with complex food, clothing and services.
How Queen’s Impatience works
- Impatience grows on its own every minute.
- Each villager who leaves or dies adds to it, and so does attacking a trader.
- Each Reputation point you earn removes 1 Impatience point (less on the highest Prestige levels).
- A Human firekeeper at the Hearth slows Impatience growth by 25%.
- At 14 points the settlement is lost.
Impatience also has an upside: each full Impatience point lowers Hostility by 15. A settlement that is running late is a little calmer in the forest.
What raises Hostility
| Source | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Each year that passes | Hostility always creeps up over a long game |
| Each glade you open | Dangerous and Forbidden glades add more than small ones |
| Each villager | Bigger settlements anger the forest more |
| Each active woodcutter | The biggest source you can switch on and off |
Higher Hostility levels lower the Resolve of all your villagers and unlock stronger negative Forest Mysteries during the Storm season. The exact points per source depend on your difficulty.
How to lower Hostility
- Take woodcutters off before and during the Storm. This is the quickest way to drop a level.
- Build more Hearths. They lower Hostility and also cut the walk for villagers on break.
- Do not open glades just before the Storm. Open them in Drizzle or Clearance, when you have time to deal with what is inside.
- Remember that a higher Impatience bar lowers Hostility, and so do villagers who leave or die.
Seasons and when the danger comes
Each year has three seasons: Drizzle (sowing, positive Forest Mysteries), Clearance (harvest) and the Storm, when Hostility-driven negative effects hit. From Prestige 2 the Storm lasts twice as long. Farms sow in Drizzle and harvest in Clearance, so do not plant in Clearance.
Checklist for your first settlements
- Start orders in year one and build a Trading Post early.
- Get complex food going early to keep Resolve up.
- Read a Dangerous glade’s event and timer before you open it.
- Pull woodcutters off before every Storm.
- Use a Human firekeeper if Impatience is your problem.
- Save complex food, clothing and services for the final push to the Reputation threshold.
More Against the Storm
For what players and critics think of the game, read our Against the Storm review. Everything we have on the game is on the Against the Storm page.
Sources
- Against the Storm Official Wiki (Hooded Horse): Reputation, Impatience, Hostility, Seasons, Beginner’s Guide, Difficulty
- Benedict Jacka: Against the Storm strategy guide
- Casual Game Guides: managing Hostility, Resolve and Impatience
- Gameplay.tips: Against the Storm Reputation points guide
- NAGuide: Against the Storm guide
- Destructoid: Against the Storm beginner tips
Last checked against sources: 11 November 2026.
