AstralLein
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Well then, the campaign is complete. The funniest part is that it took 307 days—exactly as long as it took Remix to finish it.
First Mission. A kind of blooming paradise where you enjoy Zahar's works, utilized in the best possible way. The mission isn't difficult, but while you're figuring out what this version of the Sanctuary is all about, you can still take some hits. I didn't know about the trick with the hero inside the city, so it turned into a siege-style gameplay. But overall, I liked the mission, except that there's significantly more experience here than Akihoto can hold. And I likely missed a couple of set items, as I was stubbornly prevented from venturing far from the city. Eh, Nazar's mods and a good mapmaker's hand really do create wonders! It's a pity Nazar eventually stopped making them for quite understandable reasons.
Second Mission. A mission for leveling up heroes and nothing more. The enemy is own conditional. There's just enough experience for level 21 between the two of them. Mentor, spell sources. Just roll back and skip turns to get the build you need. Half an hour with money and teleport cheats was spent on machines for Seimi. But in the end, it was worth it. Though deep down I condemn this: usually, the opportunity to over-level at the right time is given in any mission if the campaign is build-dependent—and this one is very build-dependent. And yes, there is a mentor in the fourth mission. But at the end of the game.
Third Mission. Very simple with the right build: Logistics, Light. With regen, no one will take even a single Naga from you, and with logistics, you'll manage not only to finish within a month but also pick up most of the goodies. Of course, it's completely obvious where the same exit point is. Therefore, at first I just ran around the map until I understood where the beginning was and where the end was, so that I could then start a proper walkthrough. Not the most interesting mission; some hints are needed as to which part of the map the exit is generally located in. Otherwise, Akihoto would have wandered there blindly for years in reality) I warmed up with the demons in the underground.
Fourth Mission. The hardest mission, because the fifth is short, and here you have to play until the X points forever. With machines, I still couldn't rush the Temple, but a new build saved the day. I gathered an army of undead, bought everyone out before the upgrades, immediately took out the demons, and with a slightly battered army, headed straight for the orange player. My Necropolis was taken: new ones were needed because I intended to play specifically as undead. Vlad first cut me off (since there's no logistics—machines replaced it), then I eventually locked myself in one Necropolis where there was a bunch of unbought undead. I didn't have money for them, but I still managed to assemble a large pack of High Liches. Vlad went on the assault with two squads of 300 Vampires, 400 own same ghosts, 800 Skeletons, and various small fry. With the help of an OP enchanted ballista and the massive damage of Liches at full power, Vlad fell, and losses were minimal. Next, I caught the second undead hero with a small army. And then Orson arrived. His army was almost a copy of Vlad's, but instead of Vampires he had Liches and Banshees, and no Heavenly Shield, which Vlad played around with. Another assault with slightly higher losses, and after that everything went according to plan. Second Necropolis, buying out some of the orange player's unbought units, third city, a couple more victories over Vlad and Orson. Orange finally lost. I have a hundred Liches, a pack of Vampires, everything is super. Akihoto is sitting in the Sanctuary city almost without an army. I was waiting for purple, but I didn't know he lacked samurai honor to such an extent. Not only did a samurai with an army larger than the main purple hero come from the rear toward the defenseless Akihoto, but the author also created the most underhanded one-way portal in the history of Heroes 5. At first I didn't understand this: I got lucky and the purple chieftain appeared exactly at the city where the necromancer Seimi was stationed. On the third try, I defeated him. Destroying the catapult (once it knocked down the city gates in the first second of battle), picking off shooters with the ballista, etc. But he immediately returned with reserves and this time ended up at another city. And then Akihoto ran into this city, while behind him was the second purple army, which, by the way, ignored the empty starting city. Somehow through intrigues with the city portal, Seimi managed to get into this unfortunate city, and for the next twenty minutes I tried to position Akihoto so that he wouldn't be reached by the main purple force, while the second army attacked the city rather than our brave samurai. On the fifth attempt, it worked. Both purple armies were defeated. But he returned again with 1 Vanidzame. In the end, I stopped purple's super-aggression by placing small garrisons in all cities. But a samurai with one shark kept running around until the end of the game, killing caravans, capturing dwellings, etc. Then he bought ghosts and killed himself against a city. I had to replay and buy more troops for the garrison. That's how he cursed at me while I passed by with an already huge army of various undead. Not a single dwelling was upgraded. The undead received samurai rights. A letter arrived in Seimi's mail with respect and honor from a certain Lord A., offering her to become his general in Erish and kill a certain Saret/Saref. I was building reputation. Some I killed, others I spared. In the end, it resulted in 8\8 reputation and a quest involving placing a verse on a tree. I chose Tears, deciding that Prayer is better since it's free. Later I regretted this. Because Akihoto, not understanding necromantic democracy, decided to challenge purple to a duel. And that was pain, because the purple priestesses always went first, having 4 less initiative than mine, lol! I hope on the path of Blood one could treacherously break through the garrison and kill everyone) Anyway, this Naga is shady; he changed sides with the speed of a naga. Strange that he didn't stab Akihoto in the back in the fifth mission. In general, I don't like this mission. Too long an introductory part, too annoying a purple player with his cheating portal to a random city. There was also a yellow samurai. I told him I was for world peace, and he laughed and went to drink tea. I shrugged, killed him, drank the tea, and took the city. For this, I was given a bunch of points in Tears. Apparently, killing ronin is merciful. In the end, purple solemnly assured me that samurai like me are the future of the nation, so "go fight alone." So I went. And my undead armies remained to rule the lands of this very same purple player.
Fifth Mission. A small mission named after pain. In terms of puzzles, only at first did I choose the wrong spelling of Shantiri, because I recently played a campaign where the author wrote it exactly as it was incorrect, brrr. And I didn't kill Horror on the first attempt, but if anything, here is the panacea: single-unit Titans, slow, sorrow, and then a destruction beam until the first two casts wear off. Reapply them and then more beams. It might not be lucky, of course) And so the heroes are at the Naga-Lich. Ironically, his orange undead armies have long since obeyed my will, and I've already sent a reply with respect and honor to Lord A. Therefore, Seimi immediately suggests befriending the bro-lich, but stubborn blockhead Akihoto decides to beat him up. The battle isn't the easiest if you want to win without losing 50-75% of your army. And after the tragic death of the Erish Alliance Hero Zhenyang, it's Fenrig's turn—it's unclear why he is here and not Menelag, since Fenrig hasn't really left Saret for the last two decades. And in general, it seems to me that in all fan campaigns, the power and malice of both demon-worshippers are greatly exaggerated: their same summon demons and great power from Dark Messiah seem to have failed them. Well, what can be said about Fenrig. Honestly, I didn't defeat him. I don't feel like going back to over-level anything; I only have enough strength for half of Fenrig, and the losses among the undead are too painful. Plus his Armageddon with pyrokinesis and summon demons... In short, I didn't want to replay the battle with purple just for the mentor in the fourth mission—may the author forgive me! Akihoto's strength proved insufficient. And Seimi, as a newly minted but already loyal student of Lord A., decided to carry out the Naga-Lich's order at any cost and no one saw her again. And then Akihoto spent a long time explaining to all the daimy why half of Hashima is now given to worker-skeletons and peasant-ghosts. Happy end with a setup for a sequel, which the author, as I understand from the comments, doesn't really want to make.
Although there are plenty of balance problems in this campaign, it is still unique, and will remain the first of its kind, even if my favorite Gerter finishes the dark dwarf campaign with his mastery as an original mapmaker. Samurai's Persistence is a very beautiful campaign, with a good plot woven into the lore of Heroes 5 and Dark Messiah, elegant use of cool high-quality mods from familiar modders in our community, good scripts, and decent implementation of interesting ideas. Gameplay-wise it's average and steps on many rakes, but then again, who doesn't. My rating is high regardless, and I received a lot of pleasure.
Additional. Once I wanted to be the first to use Sanctuary for a scenario, heh-heh) Moreover, I also intended to change the myrmidons. To Yuki-onnas, as Zobr even made them but didn't finish. Maybe I'll pester him about them again. He has improved his skill since then; maybe he can implement them better. Because mermaids are a very vague unit. As are myrmidons, for that matter. Mermaids look good, no doubt, but gameplay-wise it's something strange. Not fitting the model. And as for tiers, I would place units differently. Priestesses with a focus on chain lightning are OP. All kenshi are not bad; kirins will do. But there are also weak units (gameplay-wise). However, I think all the balance was done by Zobr, and Zahar's units are just default from the mod, and Zobr as a balancer is not great) So it's not the author's fault. 10 exploding golems for your whole squad out of 10. Only the stream spirits have a weak model, but it's as old as time and clearly needs some rework.
Question: in case of need, can I take this mod pack as a basis? I will, of course, make changes. Zobr and Zahar certainly won't mind)
Thanks for the campaign! I'd be happy to test your future works)
8.5 Shalassa-chaos-necromancer priestesses out of 10
Added after 1 hour 36 minutes
A-a-a, Izura had a Faedan spec, lol. I didn't realize that.
First Mission. A kind of blooming paradise where you enjoy Zahar's works, utilized in the best possible way. The mission isn't difficult, but while you're figuring out what this version of the Sanctuary is all about, you can still take some hits. I didn't know about the trick with the hero inside the city, so it turned into a siege-style gameplay. But overall, I liked the mission, except that there's significantly more experience here than Akihoto can hold. And I likely missed a couple of set items, as I was stubbornly prevented from venturing far from the city. Eh, Nazar's mods and a good mapmaker's hand really do create wonders! It's a pity Nazar eventually stopped making them for quite understandable reasons.
Second Mission. A mission for leveling up heroes and nothing more. The enemy is own conditional. There's just enough experience for level 21 between the two of them. Mentor, spell sources. Just roll back and skip turns to get the build you need. Half an hour with money and teleport cheats was spent on machines for Seimi. But in the end, it was worth it. Though deep down I condemn this: usually, the opportunity to over-level at the right time is given in any mission if the campaign is build-dependent—and this one is very build-dependent. And yes, there is a mentor in the fourth mission. But at the end of the game.
Third Mission. Very simple with the right build: Logistics, Light. With regen, no one will take even a single Naga from you, and with logistics, you'll manage not only to finish within a month but also pick up most of the goodies. Of course, it's completely obvious where the same exit point is. Therefore, at first I just ran around the map until I understood where the beginning was and where the end was, so that I could then start a proper walkthrough. Not the most interesting mission; some hints are needed as to which part of the map the exit is generally located in. Otherwise, Akihoto would have wandered there blindly for years in reality) I warmed up with the demons in the underground.
Fourth Mission. The hardest mission, because the fifth is short, and here you have to play until the X points forever. With machines, I still couldn't rush the Temple, but a new build saved the day. I gathered an army of undead, bought everyone out before the upgrades, immediately took out the demons, and with a slightly battered army, headed straight for the orange player. My Necropolis was taken: new ones were needed because I intended to play specifically as undead. Vlad first cut me off (since there's no logistics—machines replaced it), then I eventually locked myself in one Necropolis where there was a bunch of unbought undead. I didn't have money for them, but I still managed to assemble a large pack of High Liches. Vlad went on the assault with two squads of 300 Vampires, 400 own same ghosts, 800 Skeletons, and various small fry. With the help of an OP enchanted ballista and the massive damage of Liches at full power, Vlad fell, and losses were minimal. Next, I caught the second undead hero with a small army. And then Orson arrived. His army was almost a copy of Vlad's, but instead of Vampires he had Liches and Banshees, and no Heavenly Shield, which Vlad played around with. Another assault with slightly higher losses, and after that everything went according to plan. Second Necropolis, buying out some of the orange player's unbought units, third city, a couple more victories over Vlad and Orson. Orange finally lost. I have a hundred Liches, a pack of Vampires, everything is super. Akihoto is sitting in the Sanctuary city almost without an army. I was waiting for purple, but I didn't know he lacked samurai honor to such an extent. Not only did a samurai with an army larger than the main purple hero come from the rear toward the defenseless Akihoto, but the author also created the most underhanded one-way portal in the history of Heroes 5. At first I didn't understand this: I got lucky and the purple chieftain appeared exactly at the city where the necromancer Seimi was stationed. On the third try, I defeated him. Destroying the catapult (once it knocked down the city gates in the first second of battle), picking off shooters with the ballista, etc. But he immediately returned with reserves and this time ended up at another city. And then Akihoto ran into this city, while behind him was the second purple army, which, by the way, ignored the empty starting city. Somehow through intrigues with the city portal, Seimi managed to get into this unfortunate city, and for the next twenty minutes I tried to position Akihoto so that he wouldn't be reached by the main purple force, while the second army attacked the city rather than our brave samurai. On the fifth attempt, it worked. Both purple armies were defeated. But he returned again with 1 Vanidzame. In the end, I stopped purple's super-aggression by placing small garrisons in all cities. But a samurai with one shark kept running around until the end of the game, killing caravans, capturing dwellings, etc. Then he bought ghosts and killed himself against a city. I had to replay and buy more troops for the garrison. That's how he cursed at me while I passed by with an already huge army of various undead. Not a single dwelling was upgraded. The undead received samurai rights. A letter arrived in Seimi's mail with respect and honor from a certain Lord A., offering her to become his general in Erish and kill a certain Saret/Saref. I was building reputation. Some I killed, others I spared. In the end, it resulted in 8\8 reputation and a quest involving placing a verse on a tree. I chose Tears, deciding that Prayer is better since it's free. Later I regretted this. Because Akihoto, not understanding necromantic democracy, decided to challenge purple to a duel. And that was pain, because the purple priestesses always went first, having 4 less initiative than mine, lol! I hope on the path of Blood one could treacherously break through the garrison and kill everyone) Anyway, this Naga is shady; he changed sides with the speed of a naga. Strange that he didn't stab Akihoto in the back in the fifth mission. In general, I don't like this mission. Too long an introductory part, too annoying a purple player with his cheating portal to a random city. There was also a yellow samurai. I told him I was for world peace, and he laughed and went to drink tea. I shrugged, killed him, drank the tea, and took the city. For this, I was given a bunch of points in Tears. Apparently, killing ronin is merciful. In the end, purple solemnly assured me that samurai like me are the future of the nation, so "go fight alone." So I went. And my undead armies remained to rule the lands of this very same purple player.
Fifth Mission. A small mission named after pain. In terms of puzzles, only at first did I choose the wrong spelling of Shantiri, because I recently played a campaign where the author wrote it exactly as it was incorrect, brrr. And I didn't kill Horror on the first attempt, but if anything, here is the panacea: single-unit Titans, slow, sorrow, and then a destruction beam until the first two casts wear off. Reapply them and then more beams. It might not be lucky, of course) And so the heroes are at the Naga-Lich. Ironically, his orange undead armies have long since obeyed my will, and I've already sent a reply with respect and honor to Lord A. Therefore, Seimi immediately suggests befriending the bro-lich, but stubborn blockhead Akihoto decides to beat him up. The battle isn't the easiest if you want to win without losing 50-75% of your army. And after the tragic death of the Erish Alliance Hero Zhenyang, it's Fenrig's turn—it's unclear why he is here and not Menelag, since Fenrig hasn't really left Saret for the last two decades. And in general, it seems to me that in all fan campaigns, the power and malice of both demon-worshippers are greatly exaggerated: their same summon demons and great power from Dark Messiah seem to have failed them. Well, what can be said about Fenrig. Honestly, I didn't defeat him. I don't feel like going back to over-level anything; I only have enough strength for half of Fenrig, and the losses among the undead are too painful. Plus his Armageddon with pyrokinesis and summon demons... In short, I didn't want to replay the battle with purple just for the mentor in the fourth mission—may the author forgive me! Akihoto's strength proved insufficient. And Seimi, as a newly minted but already loyal student of Lord A., decided to carry out the Naga-Lich's order at any cost and no one saw her again. And then Akihoto spent a long time explaining to all the daimy why half of Hashima is now given to worker-skeletons and peasant-ghosts. Happy end with a setup for a sequel, which the author, as I understand from the comments, doesn't really want to make.
Although there are plenty of balance problems in this campaign, it is still unique, and will remain the first of its kind, even if my favorite Gerter finishes the dark dwarf campaign with his mastery as an original mapmaker. Samurai's Persistence is a very beautiful campaign, with a good plot woven into the lore of Heroes 5 and Dark Messiah, elegant use of cool high-quality mods from familiar modders in our community, good scripts, and decent implementation of interesting ideas. Gameplay-wise it's average and steps on many rakes, but then again, who doesn't. My rating is high regardless, and I received a lot of pleasure.
Additional. Once I wanted to be the first to use Sanctuary for a scenario, heh-heh) Moreover, I also intended to change the myrmidons. To Yuki-onnas, as Zobr even made them but didn't finish. Maybe I'll pester him about them again. He has improved his skill since then; maybe he can implement them better. Because mermaids are a very vague unit. As are myrmidons, for that matter. Mermaids look good, no doubt, but gameplay-wise it's something strange. Not fitting the model. And as for tiers, I would place units differently. Priestesses with a focus on chain lightning are OP. All kenshi are not bad; kirins will do. But there are also weak units (gameplay-wise). However, I think all the balance was done by Zobr, and Zahar's units are just default from the mod, and Zobr as a balancer is not great) So it's not the author's fault. 10 exploding golems for your whole squad out of 10. Only the stream spirits have a weak model, but it's as old as time and clearly needs some rework.
Question: in case of need, can I take this mod pack as a basis? I will, of course, make changes. Zobr and Zahar certainly won't mind)
Thanks for the campaign! I'd be happy to test your future works)
8.5 Shalassa-chaos-necromancer priestesses out of 10
Added after 1 hour 36 minutes
A-a-a, Izura had a Faedan spec, lol. I didn't realize that.