kolotok
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The Diablo or Dark Man map
In general, another Chinese map has been completed. /topic/at/1034979/
I would be grateful to Marlo_Stanfield if he could provide a link to the original source for downloading the map (I want to know the more precise name and see how others have played it, especially the beginning and timing).
This map reminds me of a couple of maps by Woxin; they share similar principles with an open world and waves of enemy heroes, about which I've already made a few reviews.
The map was finished on day 11, week 4, day 3. It’s clearly very long, but nevertheless. I think that according to the author's idea, it should be completed in 4-6 months, but this requires playing at a very fast pace throughout the game, planning strategies, etc. I only managed the first 4 weeks :)
Here are the main points regarding the map:
1) The first 3-4 weeks must be played VERY quickly. Previously, I wrote about completing up to day 137. And you also need to play the 4th week very quickly. Otherwise, much will not be accomplished, and the computer will defeat you sooner or later. This is key to further development. Enemy heroes appear at the beginning of the second month, and before these sad events, many things need to be done. If you are interested, look a few pages back in this thread; I described in detail what needs to be done.
2) After killing Brokhild in the city of Midshir (west of the underground map) and opening the blue tent, make this city your residence, fortify yourself from the sea along the perimeter so that no one arrives by boat. And against those who know how to walk on water, summon boats and place a couple of heroes so that no one gets to our island and takes the blue tent; this blocks enemy development. This is our safe point on the map and the starting point for expansion. A screenshot is attached.
3) You don't have to wait for anything on the map. Sorash and Brokhild should be killed as soon as possible, even if you lose all birds and crystal creatures in your army; they won’t be needed later. I didn't succeed, but maybe you can: abandon everything and rush immediately to the enemy lands and take free troops there through quests, but you must do this before day 311, which is not easy. Nevertheless, in this case, everything will go easier afterward. I couldn't manage it.
Immediately, literally from the beginning of the second month, you can send Craig and Zidar across the map to visit stat-boosting locations, capture resource bonuses, complete quests, etc. Simply accumulating strength will not work: the computer has much more, and it controls the castles with aggression alone.
3) From the 2nd to the 6th month, you need to develop Zidar and Craig, who know magic well, get Dragon Town portal, and gather 7 creatures from external dwellings to obtain the Earth Magic book for Craig, i.e., the second town portal. The sooner you do this, the better. Almost all troops and stats for Craig are obtained through scouts, by killing enemies, so it is advisable to familiarize yourself with what we will receive for each head and move in that direction. And capturing castles for resources is also very important, especially archdevils, bears, and wizards – they are the basis of our army. Later, we take phoenixes and azure dragons, but this is an expensive undertaking. Gorgons, cyclops, archers, grand elves were almost useless in the game. Imps are only useful for Hitran and in the first half of the game. Therefore, you can safely sell them all and buy azure dragons instead.
It is desirable to kill Loenis (to get the 2nd boots of levitation and access to the castle with a tavern), Mullich (to get the clone spell), release griffins, and develop them - Kiryk and Kaitlin as quickly as possible. With resurrection-type heroes like Orrin and Kiryk, you can give archers, and they will travel around the map and capture unguarded castles, then hide in nooks that exist in some places. In short, the end of this stage is obtaining the Earth Magic book for Craig; after that, everything will be easier.
4) From the 6th month onwards, finish completing quests for stats and armies, gradually defeat enemy enemies, and gain control over the map. Craig is definitely our main hero. Starting from the 6th month, I had more or less normal battles, and I switched from defense to attack. It is very desirable not to immediately kill several heroes of the same faction; otherwise, they will be released from prisons simultaneously and consolidate their forces on someone. Here, choose: either kill weak ones right away and then accumulate strength against one mega boss (but then we have control over the map), or fight against several weaker bosses (but control over the map is lost). I went with the first option, and the game was prolonged. Against the mega-bosses of the map – Gundul, Ellezar, Tazar, Moandar, Tant, Solmyr, etc., I fought from the 10th to the 11th month.
A feature of the map is that there is no magic in the castles, and computers only use what is prescribed for them, usually from 4 to 8-10 spells, which both makes battles easier (for example, defending or attacking a castle) and complicates them (the computer does not waste time on trivial things but casts speed and prayer immediately, and it is not easy to defeat such an opponent in an open field). Also, many have amulets of blindness and immunity to mind magic, which also complicates matters.
On the map, I found a "safe point" where you can hide archdevils
(in my opinion, 91-23-0 in the snows) and where only single-hex units have access, but I never used it :)
Difficult battles were with Ellezar (depleting his mana when he has 4900), Xyron (many troops), etc. The main tactic in battles: Craig attacks with prayer using all forces and eliminates all enemy ranged attackers in the first round, loses almost everyone except archdevils, applies anti-magic to them, hides behind a forcefield, and gradually defeats everyone else.
There are only two mana doublers on the map, near the end of the game.
I used Hitran on the map only twice: against Mutare Drake (many dragons and ranged attackers - killed by burning titans and fairy dragons and then attacked), and Tazar (with stats 99/99 and ability, he cannot be killed at all), whom I lured under the castle and then Zidar tricked him a couple of times with Armageddon's Blade.
A few screenshots with the final bosses.
By the way, an interesting fact: there was 1 or 2 battles in which the autobattle won with large losses, but when replaying manually, I couldn’t win at all! :) I had to postpone the battle for 1-2 weeks.
In general, this map is very difficult and requires a detailed plan for the game; otherwise, we will simply be defeated. I really liked the map and can confidently give it a 10 out of 10. This is exactly what I expected from a Chinese map – dynamics, food for thought, an open world.
In general, another Chinese map has been completed. /topic/at/1034979/
I would be grateful to Marlo_Stanfield if he could provide a link to the original source for downloading the map (I want to know the more precise name and see how others have played it, especially the beginning and timing).
This map reminds me of a couple of maps by Woxin; they share similar principles with an open world and waves of enemy heroes, about which I've already made a few reviews.
The map was finished on day 11, week 4, day 3. It’s clearly very long, but nevertheless. I think that according to the author's idea, it should be completed in 4-6 months, but this requires playing at a very fast pace throughout the game, planning strategies, etc. I only managed the first 4 weeks :)
Here are the main points regarding the map:
1) The first 3-4 weeks must be played VERY quickly. Previously, I wrote about completing up to day 137. And you also need to play the 4th week very quickly. Otherwise, much will not be accomplished, and the computer will defeat you sooner or later. This is key to further development. Enemy heroes appear at the beginning of the second month, and before these sad events, many things need to be done. If you are interested, look a few pages back in this thread; I described in detail what needs to be done.
2) After killing Brokhild in the city of Midshir (west of the underground map) and opening the blue tent, make this city your residence, fortify yourself from the sea along the perimeter so that no one arrives by boat. And against those who know how to walk on water, summon boats and place a couple of heroes so that no one gets to our island and takes the blue tent; this blocks enemy development. This is our safe point on the map and the starting point for expansion. A screenshot is attached.
3) You don't have to wait for anything on the map. Sorash and Brokhild should be killed as soon as possible, even if you lose all birds and crystal creatures in your army; they won’t be needed later. I didn't succeed, but maybe you can: abandon everything and rush immediately to the enemy lands and take free troops there through quests, but you must do this before day 311, which is not easy. Nevertheless, in this case, everything will go easier afterward. I couldn't manage it.
Immediately, literally from the beginning of the second month, you can send Craig and Zidar across the map to visit stat-boosting locations, capture resource bonuses, complete quests, etc. Simply accumulating strength will not work: the computer has much more, and it controls the castles with aggression alone.
3) From the 2nd to the 6th month, you need to develop Zidar and Craig, who know magic well, get Dragon Town portal, and gather 7 creatures from external dwellings to obtain the Earth Magic book for Craig, i.e., the second town portal. The sooner you do this, the better. Almost all troops and stats for Craig are obtained through scouts, by killing enemies, so it is advisable to familiarize yourself with what we will receive for each head and move in that direction. And capturing castles for resources is also very important, especially archdevils, bears, and wizards – they are the basis of our army. Later, we take phoenixes and azure dragons, but this is an expensive undertaking. Gorgons, cyclops, archers, grand elves were almost useless in the game. Imps are only useful for Hitran and in the first half of the game. Therefore, you can safely sell them all and buy azure dragons instead.
It is desirable to kill Loenis (to get the 2nd boots of levitation and access to the castle with a tavern), Mullich (to get the clone spell), release griffins, and develop them - Kiryk and Kaitlin as quickly as possible. With resurrection-type heroes like Orrin and Kiryk, you can give archers, and they will travel around the map and capture unguarded castles, then hide in nooks that exist in some places. In short, the end of this stage is obtaining the Earth Magic book for Craig; after that, everything will be easier.
4) From the 6th month onwards, finish completing quests for stats and armies, gradually defeat enemy enemies, and gain control over the map. Craig is definitely our main hero. Starting from the 6th month, I had more or less normal battles, and I switched from defense to attack. It is very desirable not to immediately kill several heroes of the same faction; otherwise, they will be released from prisons simultaneously and consolidate their forces on someone. Here, choose: either kill weak ones right away and then accumulate strength against one mega boss (but then we have control over the map), or fight against several weaker bosses (but control over the map is lost). I went with the first option, and the game was prolonged. Against the mega-bosses of the map – Gundul, Ellezar, Tazar, Moandar, Tant, Solmyr, etc., I fought from the 10th to the 11th month.
A feature of the map is that there is no magic in the castles, and computers only use what is prescribed for them, usually from 4 to 8-10 spells, which both makes battles easier (for example, defending or attacking a castle) and complicates them (the computer does not waste time on trivial things but casts speed and prayer immediately, and it is not easy to defeat such an opponent in an open field). Also, many have amulets of blindness and immunity to mind magic, which also complicates matters.
On the map, I found a "safe point" where you can hide archdevils
(in my opinion, 91-23-0 in the snows) and where only single-hex units have access, but I never used it :)
Difficult battles were with Ellezar (depleting his mana when he has 4900), Xyron (many troops), etc. The main tactic in battles: Craig attacks with prayer using all forces and eliminates all enemy ranged attackers in the first round, loses almost everyone except archdevils, applies anti-magic to them, hides behind a forcefield, and gradually defeats everyone else.
There are only two mana doublers on the map, near the end of the game.
I used Hitran on the map only twice: against Mutare Drake (many dragons and ranged attackers - killed by burning titans and fairy dragons and then attacked), and Tazar (with stats 99/99 and ability, he cannot be killed at all), whom I lured under the castle and then Zidar tricked him a couple of times with Armageddon's Blade.
A few screenshots with the final bosses.
By the way, an interesting fact: there was 1 or 2 battles in which the autobattle won with large losses, but when replaying manually, I couldn’t win at all! :) I had to postpone the battle for 1-2 weeks.
In general, this map is very difficult and requires a detailed plan for the game; otherwise, we will simply be defeated. I really liked the map and can confidently give it a 10 out of 10. This is exactly what I expected from a Chinese map – dynamics, food for thought, an open world.