Walkthroughs for custom maps.

Instead of replacing a column, you could add another one right after it, also requiring a specific item. This way, the player would have two of the required items, but the quest would ask for three. That's a more interesting option. Although, this was already done in Rise of the Sun King.

I'm not a big fan of puzzles that test the player's knowledge of a specific bug, except perhaps for the Bug Race map, which is entirely built around such puzzles.

It's a debatable question whether something used on a map can be considered a bug. If so, then all the "Chinese" siege tactics, which exploit the AI's stupidity, could also be called bugs.

Reading various forums, I've repeatedly seen people who, after learning about the siege tactics used on hardcore maps, followed the same path. First, they experience childish delight at realizing they can defeat a computer army that is 10 times larger than theirs. Then, they feel disappointment and ask, "Is it really interesting to defeat a stupid AI that sits in a castle and does nothing?"

This question has repeatedly bothered me and depressed me while I was making this map, even though I tried to make the battles as diverse as possible. It still bothers me now as I'm making the XL map, but fortunately, there are already many other options and possibilities for creativity. Battles based on castle sieges are just one part of the map, albeit a rather important one.