Flame_Haze
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, I've finally made it here to properly tackle mission number 3, and in short, I'll say that despite a rather difficult start (personally for me), and naturally it's a bummer that our MC is again a level 1 scrub, while the starting stacks are quite strong — well, nothing to it, we grit our teeth at first, then take it easy, and squeeze the maximum out of it. Well, let's go through it all in order....
Mission 3 — In the Depths of Shio
According to the lore of this mission: After Sigrif and Ilaya escaped from the outcast lands, we end up in the center of Ashan, or to put it simply, in hell, and our main task is to get out of here and stay alive. Based on the intro cutscene, Ilaya and I split up to find a way out. And that's where our gameplay begins.
And naturally, our MC, after going through the portal, turns into level 1 ((probably in all 5 missions of this campaign we're in for pain and suffering to fully feel the power, but oh well, just thinking out loud. From the start, we're given a decent army, though right after the red boots, we run into a stack of Pit Fiends (and depending on luck, they may or may not have the Pit Lord upgrade) — naturally, as much as I'd like to play beautifully and with zero losses with a level 1 hero, that doesn't really work out, and we have to go for a trade-off
Start vs Pit Lords
- Yes, I understand this battle is far from ideal, maybe it could be done better, but after several tries, I settled on this one and figured, screw it, we need to play rather than try to come out dry from the water
To hell with these Pit Lords, but we move on across the bridge, and from the Gates, 3 stacks of Archdemons come out at "Many", and here, like it or not, it's another trade-off. I didn't save replays of those fights, I'll only show how I managed, for these battles, a lucky level-up in my understanding (let's just say I didn't stress too much, and the leveling tactic from previous missions worked for me, so I leveled the same way here)
I didn't touch the 3 stacks of Archdemons, figured I'd go to the hut, and what a surprise that someone's alive here) he'll briefly tell us about the local area and ask us to bring an item guarded by Phoenixes. I thought, well okay, I'll try, why not. We go and take out the 3 stacks of demons, I upgraded the Hunters to Sins just in case, and the losses turned out smaller
Also along the way there were a couple of battles with Fire Elementals, but I couldn't break through the Phoenixes themselves, since I think there are 20-30 of them, and I have no idea how to take them out, so I gave up on that quest and moved on (I only returned to it when I'd already reached that location)
And we go to the first altar, where a dialogue starts, and we're given our first clear and explicit tasks:
- namely, to free the souls of imprisoned heroes in the altars
- to destroy all Inferno castles
- to find information about an ancient artifact (which is the Ring of Dominion later on)
Further along the way, we meet Familiars that can't be killed, but you can interact with them and they give a side quest
- they need 200,000 gold in total, and in return they give us souls of Dark Elves — probably one of the most vile quests — they take gold once a week, and it doesn't matter if you have 20,000 or 500 coins, they'll still deduct it. Though, when 200,000 accumulates, it stops. If you don't have money by the start of the week, they'll raise the threshold to 5,000, and if you don't have 5,000 the next week either, then nothing happens)) (at least nothing happened for me)
Enjoying the scenery
I don't remember why I highlighted this battle, but nevertheless, let it be here
vs Hell Chargers
So, we approach the first castle
Outpost before the 1st castle
And essentially, we move on to the first opponent, Alastor, and the first castle respectively
Sigrif vs Alastor
We go for a small trade-off, nothing terrible. Near the castle there are demon dwellings, and we're offered to capture them. I sacrifice the experience, thinking, why would I need them, but probably it'll come in handy later...
A quick remark right away, or maybe if you're going to play through it, do this. Don't approach the Familiars at the start, because right after leaving the portal, there's an artifact merchant, and you might be able to grab something useful (in my case, there was a Ring of Sar-Issa — not sure I'd have had enough, but hypothetically, after a week or so, I'd have come back and bought it, and then taken the quest. But as it stands, you don't have that time, because the Familiars will steadily take your money)
Well, we move on, there's already a shop here — if you have money, you can grab a gold sack, we'll pay off the 200k faster, money will accumulate faster, and you won't end up in a situation where those extortionists raise the threshold to 5,000 a week. Well, anyway...
Along the way, we meet the second tier of creatures — Greater Demons, who you can chat with, and they tell us something — in short, they ask us to bring the Ring of Celerity, which is located in one of the crypts (ironically, the last one). Well, we take the quest and move on...
vs crypt 1
And OH YES, there are reinforcements here worth fighting for. At first it might be a bit uncomfortable, but then no problem
vs 100 Devils
We move on, and along the way we come across a gate, upon approaching which info is shown about what's what. In short, you can fight and get something good, or vice versa (though I never encountered the "vice versa" in the whole game). Naturally, we're all for that kind of action. Also, it's cool how they did it — we see who we're fighting, they're like in a burning cauldron, and after defeating that stack, they fall. Seems like a small detail, but damn, it's so well done
vs portal stack
Along the way, we encounter the second altar, which imprisons Thralsai, who in turn says we need to capture all demon structures (oh, so what we repainted earlier came in handy). And in general, all altars are highlighted with the circle of the faction whose hero is imprisoned in them
So, we're slowly approaching castle two. Here, useful for us — since I'm playing summoning, I gladly use the secret puzzle to grab Phantom from him (though how he cast it is another question)
Also, not far from the second castle, there's a library. If you've acquired gems and play through summoning, you can buy a Phoenix there, and there's a market for these matters if you happen to lack resources
Sigrif vs Nebiros
A few periodic battles, and along the way we'll also meet Succubi and Hell Hounds, who in turn will give quests — one asks for the Unicorn Horn Bow, the other for the Windstrider Boots
crypt 2
Dragon Utopia
Further along the way, we encounter an obstacle in the form of strong stacks of Archdemons
Actually, I had an idea to try and break through them, and I did attempt it, but unfortunately, my mana pool wasn't enough (if I'd had that Ring of Sar-Issa from the start that could've been bought, maybe it would've worked). But obviously, they don't have to be fought — we pay, I think, 100,000 experience, and a boulder falls on them, removing the obstacle from the passage...
By this point, our MC looks like this
Further along the way, we encounter the third altar, which is on the grass. There's a nice mana fountain plus a couple of trees for +level. Here, we're asked to free the souls of Archangels, and they'll be highlighted on the map accordingly
Traveling between the second and third castles, we'll meet the Horses — whom Sigrif teases a bit, yes yes, you need an artifact, etc., etc... They, in turn, ask us for a golden horseshoe. Well, why not — horses mean horseshoe))
Well, I won't beat around the bush, we approach castle 3 guarded by Deleb, where I probably had to work the hardest to minimize losses
Sigrif vs Deleb
We move on, enjoying the scenery again + reinforcements for us)
What can I say, on the way to castle 4 we encounter another altar, this time of the Necromancers. Here, we're told we need to bring the Staff of the Netherworld + Cloak of Death's Shadow, so that we slow down enemies, and like, don't worry, we won't take them from you. Well okay, you won't take them, good, and thanks for that. Oh, and between all that, there was this battle
vs 12k horses
Well, first things first, we clear out another castle here, I think we free another stack of Archangels, and only then we go to the meat grinder)) or rather, to the bone processing)
As for castle 4, Grawl will meet us there, but it's simpler here, since we have Berserk, we can eat well))
Sigrif vs Grawl
After the castle, we come out into a location like this (somewhere around here, by the way, I'd already paid off the Familiars, and they stopped taking money + on top of that, there's an artifact shop here, which is very tasty)
Here, we essentially have 2 options right away: clear the crypts (to find the ring for the Greater Demons) + clear the markers to find the staff and cloak....
As I said above, ironically, the ring turned out to be in the last crypt. Well, fine, we clear all this goodness, approach the altar, get our goodies (army bonus), and move to the next castle. Along the way, we also capture dwellings and rescue Archangels
In castle number 5, Marbas meets us
At this stage, there are almost no problems anymore)
Sigrif vs Marbas
We move on, according to the plan we have one castle left, and it seems like it's in the bag, though we don't know anything about the mighty artifact yet. Well, whatever, they'll tell us later....
Next, the path to the next castle. Nothing special here — along the way, we'll meet Pit Lords who'll ask us to take out other Pit Lords, saying they're not taken into the Overlord's army, oh dear))
We'll also meet Archdemons — I kept wondering what they'd want, and they're like, "what makes you think we need anything?" and I'm like, "oh, so there's an option to TAKE THEM OUT?" Perfect, we take them out feet first without any problems))
Along the way, we reach the last castle from the starting quest. In castle number 6, Nymus meets us — here there are no problems with him at all, we have the Vampire Lady + Red Dragons, and go go
Sigrif vs Nymus
We also rescue the last stack of angels here, get our goodies, and move on)
Well, in the distance, Ilaya is visible. There's one more demon left to kick (not counting the Devil himself, of course) — that's Grawl. I didn't even save the fights with him, it's a beating, nothing to watch)
I thought I'd approach Ilaya and something would happen — no, nothing. When trying to enter the portal, she says you don't have the ring, like, where are you going. There's one more move we make....
I go back to the one-way portal earlier, run around a bit there, and we learn information about that very great artifact, which we actually heard about earlier, in the second mission, from the side quest about the history of Dominion — the Ring of Dominion itself (I even felt some reference to the ring from Lord of the Rings)
After the dialogue, we're returned to the start, and here it's purely sporting interest to see what that staff was, which could've been obtained at the beginning
Seems like an interesting stick, but as I understood, its maximum impact would've been if I'd taken it at the start, as the map designer intended. And as I understand, this artifact allows you to Town Portal from the altars back to the start. Well, anyway, let's return to the first altar to find out where the Ring of Dominion is...
We're told that thanks to our actions, they can unlock the passage to the top of the volcano, where the Soul of Dominion guards the ring (we actually saw that passage, guarded by a stack of undead dragons, but couldn't go there). A beautiful mountain, we ascend in a spiral and meet the one we were told about earlier...
Obviously, at this stage, it's just another punching bag)
After defeating the Soul of Dominion, we get that ring, and all that's left is the final boss
But before moving to the finale, let me briefly dwell on what the MC turned out like in the end, before the mentor, because although I didn't want to use the mentor, I realized that with this kind of leveling, it's not great.. But nevertheless, before the battle with the Devil
And just out of the corner of your eye, you can see what beauty it is))
And a bit of a spoiler ahead — I thought, "I'll beat him anyway, what's he to us boars," but I realized that my 1000-something mana wasn't enough, because the Familiars eat almost all the mana. And also, I decided to reload earlier and do one more run from the start to visit the fountain so that mana would definitely be enough. Also, Hunters aren't needed here, Sins are more of a priority. Well, anyway, let's skip this moment and let me show you the Devil
Actually, I wanted to get the Light spell, but after using the mentor, it just wouldn't come (under the Dwarf set, it'd be perfect). Well, whatever, we put on the set, without Light, on Attack + Defense, and in the end, the MC turned out like this
With this setup, I honestly barely felt this guy, so for those interested, the battle is below
Sigrif vs Devil
After the victory, we're shown beautiful cutscenes with the one we freed, and how we beat the Devil with a crowd))
Something like that) Let me sum it up...
Visuals — very cool. Damn, despite playing on a weak machine, and there are places where it lags so much it's unplayable, but if you turn the camera where there are fewer objects, everything becomes quite fine...
Start — that's what burned me the most, but once we endure it and level up, everything goes smoothly
Concept — very cool. The souls of heroes spiraling down, as if toward the center of all this action... damn, awesome. Though, it's a bit of a shock that all the scum we killed, etc., etc., returned in the original. Of course, that's quite a shock, but I think it'll be addressed somehow. Or they'll just live their own lives there
In general, despite everything, this is still my favorite map by feel, even though it burned me, I kept putting it off for a long time, and overall it seemed unreal...
Well, and looking ahead, of course, it burns that our MC is again a level 1 scrub in the fourth mission. Probably he's destined to start from 0 in all missions, and who knows, we'll see. As they say, on that note, a big half of the campaign is behind us, let's see what plot twists come next, and how this story ends. Despite being difficult, I like it) moving on...)
p.s. The result of this mission (yeah, it took long, but that's how it is — without an extra lap around hell to visit the fountain, I think it would've been faster))