kolotok
Auto-translated
Map Title: Lord of Destruction
Author: marcel33
Downloaded: from the maps4heroes map catalog
I'll add my two cents.
I recently finished this map as well, and it took me 9.5 months because I wasn't in a hurry: I deliberately didn't give my main character the "Pathfinding" skill (even though almost the entire map consists of deserts, swamps, and snow), I traveled to the most remote locations, and sometimes I lost a day or two with my main character to leave guards for the outposts and level up the last ones.
I'd rate the map 6-7 out of 10. Overall, I would describe the map as corridor-like, mostly based on battles with neutrals. It will appeal to those who enjoy a relatively leisurely playthrough. At the same time, we are limited in restoration magic, so battles must be fought with minimal losses so that we have enough strength for the next stage.
The author tries to "slip" us a prayer specialist as our main character, but as often happens, experience suggests that we should immediately switch to other specialists: Orrin, Mephala, Nila, Gunnar, Kir, Gundula. I also immediately leveled up all the logistics experts and the navigation specialist, which allowed me to quickly pass the section where they are needed on the water. The delay in the playthrough occurred because I was trying to level up everyone at the same time, not knowing what would ultimately be useful. Ideally, we only need to have two main characters: Orrin and one of the two armor specialists - Nila or Mephala. The advantage of Nila is that she can immediately retrain the magic she has learned to others, and she also gains intelligence for battles more easily, and she also excels in "wall-to-wall" battles. Orrin, given the main strike force in the form of snipers, is very good in ranged battles. Logistics experts, with the mandatory "Pathfinding" skill, can clear the underground with false branches on their own, which will save a lot of time while the main character simply travels to the right location.
Regarding skills, it is definitely desirable for the main character, whoever they may be, to take logistics (you have to travel a lot and for a long time), attack (we have a number of strike forces of the contact type), shooting (snipers - the main strike force), and standard earth + wisdom + water (although Gunnar traveled the entire map without water). The remaining 2 slots can be filled as desired: "Pathfinding" for faster passage, tactics (it helped me more than once), defense (it will also be useful in all battles), intelligence (I took it out of habit, although Nila only needed it a couple of times during the game). I started leveling up the intelligence specialist for a possible "Trickster," but it never came in handy.
As for the battles, I didn't experience any particular difficulties on the map. The most difficult were the battles with 2-3 heroes and garrisons in the first half of the map, where losses were inevitable. For some reason, I remember Marius (Andariel), who seemed impenetrable, but after reinforcements and a lot of morale, I managed to defeat her with small losses.
In essence, almost all battles boil down to the need to maximize morale and luck (with artifacts and objects), and to catch random double damage on golden dragons and double shots from snipers in battle. If this can be combined, and especially in the second round, the battle is practically won. It is also desirable to use azure dragons: they can absorb damage under Nila, block archers, and (hopefully) inflict fear on the enemy. I didn't have any major losses in any battle, and I never used "hit and run."
If you approach the battles in this way, you will have enough strength to pass the next stage without losses. Losing more than 10% of the strike force is unacceptable; it is better to take someone to absorb damage.
Regarding magic, as mentioned, there is a lot, but little is used: slow, prayer, bless, blind. I didn't use most of the other spells during the game.
I think we will have access to "sacrifice" (an analogue of resurrection), but I didn't find a use for it in battles.
In my opinion, the author could improve the map a little:
- in the description or at the beginning, it would be good for the author to give initial instructions regarding magic: there will be no restoration or clone magic, nor berserk, so fight carefully and without losses; tactics or shooting are more important than fire magic or intelligence, for example. You understand these things closer to the middle of the game, when you no longer want to change main characters.
- perhaps it would be worth adding the ability to create wizards from the purchased fanatics, while reducing the attack power of some other units,
- it would be nice to release 1-2 enemy heroes to liven up the static map. Or, as an option, create a zone where you would have to "run around" with a logistics expert. The map is motionless (except for the floating Thazar),
- as an option, it would be nice to give the floating Thazar some useful artifact for the passage. At some point, he sails with a navigation specialist, then we enter a new zone, and this hero is simply forgotten. But it would be possible to give him a quest artifact, and then you would have to defeat this hero, albeit later,
- again, in a corridor-like map, it would be nice to hide unique specialists (Gela, Orrin, armor specialist) in prisons and free them as you progress. The availability of almost all heroes in the tavern makes the game much easier.