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Map Title: Dejavu Dreality
Author: Jani Aarnio and Aeris Quamarine
Downloaded: from the maps4heroes map catalog
Another map with two authors listed. And one of them is Aeris again. This time, the map is quite different from what Aeris has accustomed us to in his other XL-sized works. Dejavu Dreality is very unique, starting with the image on the minimap (some microorganisms under a microscope) and ending with the gameplay. At the same time, the game itself is similar to a psychedelic trip, which is related to Qin the Supreme, although the maps are different. But in both cases, strange things happen by heroic standards.
This time, it won't be possible to quickly complete the map in terms of game time. There is only one hero (I took Luna, but her special ability wasn't needed), there are no taverns at all, and at the start, the player is offered several options to choose from. For example, a scroll with teleportation or a prayer. The nearest town is much easier to capture with peasants using teleportation, but then it will be more difficult to get the prayer. There is also a quest to hand over the King of the Undead's cloak, but it seems like a trap. Without the cloak, it is extremely difficult to complete this map in the later stages of the game (although there are options).
Most of the castles here are random. Only one type of creature level is built in them, and these creatures are given out in huge quantities at once. For example, my first castle generated as a Dungeon. Accordingly, I had to play with 9000 troglodytes. Almost immediately, I free the second hero from the dungeon. This is Lord Haart, level 3732, with poor skills and reset primary stats, but with necromancy. He is needed, of course, to earn money, and in the later stages of the game, he can farm liches (I didn't use this).
At the exit of the starting area of the map, there is a garrison guarded by a total of 8000 different golems. In theory, it can be broken through with any level 1 creatures, but it is easier to do with some, and more difficult with others. Next, we go to the water. An interesting feature of the map: almost the entire underground level (and we start in the underground) is water with small islands, and almost all the land on the map is territory with penalizing terrain (mainly swamp). At the same time, logistics, pathfinding, and navigation are banned on the map (!), which is why events in Dejavu Dreality unfold very slowly. After going to the water, we take two more castles, and the red orb will be useful in battles. Here we get units of levels 6 and 3. In my case, cyclops and orcs appeared, so I had to develop the hero through ranged attacks. Among the artifacts that can randomly appear on the map, there are all 4 elemental orbs and the amulet of courage, so our hero will not be afraid of low morale.
After getting units of levels 1, 3, and 6, we pass through the zone with the Conflux. A grail should be placed in it. After studying magic, we find that there are not enough spells in the spellbook. At the same time, some magic can be learned on the map by defeating enemies who possess it (prayer, frenzy, clone, forgetfulness), but eagle eye is not needed. However, a number of spells are banned on this map, and the list is very curious: slow, haste, blind, heal, dispel, quicksand, force field, antimagic. The berserk scroll can be obtained only at the very end, when it will be useless.
After the Conflux, we go out into the open sea. Here we will be met by four red heroes, and at the beginning, we will have to avoid encounters with them. They move much faster than us, but our advantage is the Admiral's hat. We gradually explore the entire underground, capture castles, gather the power of the dragon father, gain stats, and defeat enemy heroes in varying degrees of cunning battles. The snowy zone in the center of the map is useful; there, azure and angel creatures with archangels join us. In the comments on maps4heroes, people wrote that one of the red heroes, namely Sir Mule, killed the enemy quest hero, which made the map unplayable, but I did not encounter such problems. Sir Mule gathered the main army on himself, ran near the hero Elk, but did not attack him. Regarding battles: there were a couple of difficult ones. Without ranged troops, there would be huge problems with defeating heroes with 2000 + 2000 cavalry and champions, as well as 2000 + 2000 black knights and knights of terror (there is no quicksand, and slow only comes from the cursed armor, with which our hero has ridiculous stats). The most difficult hero in the underground turned out to be Aeris with legions of pegasus. I defeated him with magog thanks to the selection of units that he bought in the refugee camp.
After gathering power and defeating the hero William, we go to the land level of the map. Here we are waiting for a huge swampy area with two Necropolises, which are patrolled by Kirr, Gunnar, and Dessa. After dealing with them, we defeat a number of heroes who are calmly standing in this area. Artifacts for morale and luck drop from them. They are required to pass 7 guardians, who block our way to the next zone. The problem is that one of the artifacts (glyph of gallantry) is not on the map at all, so you can only go further by defeating the garrison in the center of the map, which is guarded by 9999 azure dragons, supported by other creatures. This is where the King of the Undead's cloak will come in handy. In the events before the Lotus castle, you can fight legions of ghosts and farm a good number of skeletons. Plus, battles with enemy heroes. As a result, Luna defeated the garrison, having 163 thousand skeletons, attack in secondary skills, and stats of 80. After the battle, about 140 thousand skeletons remained.
Then we pass through the central zone and go to the sand. We visit the black tent. We continue to farm skeletons. In the finale, we are waiting for battles with five interesting heroes. The first is Mefala, level 108, with the power of the dragon father and a sniper bow. She was extremely difficult to defeat, even with 300 thousand skeletons (!). Then we are waiting for high-level Tants with resurrection, Xyron with inferno, Astral with hypnosis, and Adele with blessing. In these battles, without legions of skeletons (or liches), there is nothing to catch. Although there is a quest with the possibility of handing over 300 azure creatures in exchange for 9999 fairy dragons, but collecting such a number of azure creatures takes a very long time, and skeletons defeat the garrison with azure creatures no less effectively. The final boss, Dr. Unknown, has no troops. We attack, and immediately win. I finished the game on 7.2.7.
One thing remains unclear to me: the digging of the grail on this map. The digging point is in the water, and I didn't come up with a way to get to the water in that zone.
Author: Jani Aarnio and Aeris Quamarine
Downloaded: from the maps4heroes map catalog
Another map with two authors listed. And one of them is Aeris again. This time, the map is quite different from what Aeris has accustomed us to in his other XL-sized works. Dejavu Dreality is very unique, starting with the image on the minimap (some microorganisms under a microscope) and ending with the gameplay. At the same time, the game itself is similar to a psychedelic trip, which is related to Qin the Supreme, although the maps are different. But in both cases, strange things happen by heroic standards.
This time, it won't be possible to quickly complete the map in terms of game time. There is only one hero (I took Luna, but her special ability wasn't needed), there are no taverns at all, and at the start, the player is offered several options to choose from. For example, a scroll with teleportation or a prayer. The nearest town is much easier to capture with peasants using teleportation, but then it will be more difficult to get the prayer. There is also a quest to hand over the King of the Undead's cloak, but it seems like a trap. Without the cloak, it is extremely difficult to complete this map in the later stages of the game (although there are options).
Most of the castles here are random. Only one type of creature level is built in them, and these creatures are given out in huge quantities at once. For example, my first castle generated as a Dungeon. Accordingly, I had to play with 9000 troglodytes. Almost immediately, I free the second hero from the dungeon. This is Lord Haart, level 3732, with poor skills and reset primary stats, but with necromancy. He is needed, of course, to earn money, and in the later stages of the game, he can farm liches (I didn't use this).
At the exit of the starting area of the map, there is a garrison guarded by a total of 8000 different golems. In theory, it can be broken through with any level 1 creatures, but it is easier to do with some, and more difficult with others. Next, we go to the water. An interesting feature of the map: almost the entire underground level (and we start in the underground) is water with small islands, and almost all the land on the map is territory with penalizing terrain (mainly swamp). At the same time, logistics, pathfinding, and navigation are banned on the map (!), which is why events in Dejavu Dreality unfold very slowly. After going to the water, we take two more castles, and the red orb will be useful in battles. Here we get units of levels 6 and 3. In my case, cyclops and orcs appeared, so I had to develop the hero through ranged attacks. Among the artifacts that can randomly appear on the map, there are all 4 elemental orbs and the amulet of courage, so our hero will not be afraid of low morale.
After getting units of levels 1, 3, and 6, we pass through the zone with the Conflux. A grail should be placed in it. After studying magic, we find that there are not enough spells in the spellbook. At the same time, some magic can be learned on the map by defeating enemies who possess it (prayer, frenzy, clone, forgetfulness), but eagle eye is not needed. However, a number of spells are banned on this map, and the list is very curious: slow, haste, blind, heal, dispel, quicksand, force field, antimagic. The berserk scroll can be obtained only at the very end, when it will be useless.
After the Conflux, we go out into the open sea. Here we will be met by four red heroes, and at the beginning, we will have to avoid encounters with them. They move much faster than us, but our advantage is the Admiral's hat. We gradually explore the entire underground, capture castles, gather the power of the dragon father, gain stats, and defeat enemy heroes in varying degrees of cunning battles. The snowy zone in the center of the map is useful; there, azure and angel creatures with archangels join us. In the comments on maps4heroes, people wrote that one of the red heroes, namely Sir Mule, killed the enemy quest hero, which made the map unplayable, but I did not encounter such problems. Sir Mule gathered the main army on himself, ran near the hero Elk, but did not attack him. Regarding battles: there were a couple of difficult ones. Without ranged troops, there would be huge problems with defeating heroes with 2000 + 2000 cavalry and champions, as well as 2000 + 2000 black knights and knights of terror (there is no quicksand, and slow only comes from the cursed armor, with which our hero has ridiculous stats). The most difficult hero in the underground turned out to be Aeris with legions of pegasus. I defeated him with magog thanks to the selection of units that he bought in the refugee camp.
After gathering power and defeating the hero William, we go to the land level of the map. Here we are waiting for a huge swampy area with two Necropolises, which are patrolled by Kirr, Gunnar, and Dessa. After dealing with them, we defeat a number of heroes who are calmly standing in this area. Artifacts for morale and luck drop from them. They are required to pass 7 guardians, who block our way to the next zone. The problem is that one of the artifacts (glyph of gallantry) is not on the map at all, so you can only go further by defeating the garrison in the center of the map, which is guarded by 9999 azure dragons, supported by other creatures. This is where the King of the Undead's cloak will come in handy. In the events before the Lotus castle, you can fight legions of ghosts and farm a good number of skeletons. Plus, battles with enemy heroes. As a result, Luna defeated the garrison, having 163 thousand skeletons, attack in secondary skills, and stats of 80. After the battle, about 140 thousand skeletons remained.
Then we pass through the central zone and go to the sand. We visit the black tent. We continue to farm skeletons. In the finale, we are waiting for battles with five interesting heroes. The first is Mefala, level 108, with the power of the dragon father and a sniper bow. She was extremely difficult to defeat, even with 300 thousand skeletons (!). Then we are waiting for high-level Tants with resurrection, Xyron with inferno, Astral with hypnosis, and Adele with blessing. In these battles, without legions of skeletons (or liches), there is nothing to catch. Although there is a quest with the possibility of handing over 300 azure creatures in exchange for 9999 fairy dragons, but collecting such a number of azure creatures takes a very long time, and skeletons defeat the garrison with azure creatures no less effectively. The final boss, Dr. Unknown, has no troops. We attack, and immediately win. I finished the game on 7.2.7.
One thing remains unclear to me: the digging of the grail on this map. The digging point is in the water, and I didn't come up with a way to get to the water in that zone.