Eldgernon
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I want to say right away that if my result remains the best, it will be only by a lucky coincidence. I certainly assumed there would be mistakes, but for this to happen... In the Walkthrough, I completely ignored obelisks and the very concept of the "Grail." And if Dirty had set 90% or say 80% toward Wizardry from the start instead of 100%, my result would have been among the last.
Regarding the description. I will post what I manage to today.
I believe describing the Walkthrough statistically, given the size and density of the map (and consequently the number of steps), is pointless. I'll describe it instead in a way that is as useful and clear as possible. That is, for each day, I will first provide a strategic plan and then detail the tactical actions to execute it.
I apologize in advance to the experienced players, but we have to introduce and train the same newcomers somehow. When only a few people reach the finish line while others quit—that's not a good thing.
So:
Day 1.
Strategy.
Pre-game reconnaissance reported that the layout of castles and numerous portals is such that all castles on the map fit the "One-move Tavern" rule. That is, if we treat all castles as potential taverns, while also considering all external taverns, it is theoretically possible to get from any tavern to any other within one game day. Problems with "one-movability" only arose when crossing to the Inferno continent, but that's for "zero" heroes; by that time, we should already have at least a few bought out computer heroes with Logic and Air.
Based on this intelligence, the strategy was obvious. On the very first day, "disable" all computer heroes without letting them kill a single unit of neutrals. Of course, killing all computers using only Necromancer heroes was unrealistic, and there will certainly be zombie losses with such an approach. But I figured these losses would be much lower than if any of the computers were left alive.
The strategic plan for the first day also included a second task: freeing all 4 prisoners from jail (ideally). Or at least several of them.
And finally, once more on the importance of reconnaissance. Before the game, I had a sheet with a full list of computer heroes, including their skill layouts. Also, after testing, I had a full list of all Necromancer heroes with a pre-determined and selected upgrade tree. Priorities: Air, Earth, Logic, Path, Intelligence.
Tactics.
Tactical freedom on the first day was greatly limited by the condition "With minimum number of battles and zombie losses." After all, I had to fight mainly not as necromancers. But at the start, you can't do without it entirely. But where is that golden minimum? At first, I chose the option to take only 47 liches with Vidomina and gave up on capturing the Grail Necromancer castle right at the start. All out of greed. :) However, upon reaching the fight with fairies near the prison with Nagash, I realized that in this battle alone I would lose a lot without the 20% bonus from the Grail necro-castle. I had to return to the very beginning.
At the start, I solved 2 tactical tasks: taking Worm Warren and getting the +12 helmet. The very first moves are always very important; I'll describe them in more detail.
Straker takes a 2K chest in front of him and that's it. His MP is especially worth its weight in gold. We pick up the rest of the "cabbage" at the market. After gathering 2500, we buy Tamika in Coldreign. She isn't for battles yet; she collects everything in her path except for the chest on the road with 1000 experience (for Vidomina) and a pile of stones near the ghosts by the shipyard (we fire her). We put whoever is available in the window; I got Ash.
We buy Ash (Ksi). Ash collects everything she can at Sanctum (we fire her). But Ksi is needed to fly for the helmet, so only a necro-mage with 20 mana had to be placed in the window. While Ksi lingers in the window, we buy Vidomina (Moner). Vidomina is clearly for liches, while Moner prepares for the trip to the Grail castle.
Vidomina takes the experience chest (expert Necromancer), Straker dives into the portal and Vidomina takes artifacts and 66 zombies from him. Then Vidomina fights troglodytes on the road (24 liches), gets the Mana Talisman, and goes back to the portal. Before the fight, of course, we build enhancers in both castles.
Important! The fight with troglodytes gives exactly 1K experience, and Vidomina can already take basic Air.
We buy Moner (Aenanin). This guy with the ugly last name is a very important character; later he will play a star role with his basic Air and 30 mana.
Before jumping into the portal, Vidomina drops the now-unnecessary 66 zombies to Moner. We emerge at the medusa's place. DD now costs 20, so immediately DD to the flag; we stand between goblins and nomads. Then we attack the flag with a battle, then fight nomads and a battle in the medusa's place. Total: 4 battles with 4 squads, 235 liches. That is the initial minimum that had to be turned into liches for the sake of taking Worm Warren.
Now Moner with his 1900 MP. He leaves zombies in the castle, enters the portal, takes the liches and fights hippopotamuses. Battle without losses (single units don't count); terrain folds were very useful. :) Some skeleton singles blocked the liches themselves, and some blocked a narrow 3-cell passage for those wanting to enter from the flank. Setup: 235l – 10s-1s-1s-1s-1s-1s.
We buy Ksi (any mage-20) in Coldreign. We buy this "any" in Worm Warren to deliver liches and artifacts back to the waiting Ksi. Then Ksi, with Flight, fights for the castle and the +12 helmet is ours. Now we can move to the second part of the debut.
Tactics of starting castle capture.
This is where Straker comes into play with his initial 50 mana. His goal is taking Utopia for money, which will be needed in very large quantities later. Also, taking the first and, by the way, only currently reachable castle—Death’s Gate (plus there's another Magic Enhancer there). Having received liches from Ksi, Straker uses a first DD to fly to the respawn, second DD to the well, third DD to Utopia. By the way, I could have taken the Courage trinket immediately here, but I simply forgot. In Utopia without losses; refueling at the well with the +12 helmet allowed summoning Earth Elementals, and on the first move of the fight, they hit skeleton singles.
After the battle in Utopia—DD to the castle and its capture. So, we have: the first foreign captured castle, a boost of 40K money, and big plans for the future. :smile26:
In Death’s Gate, we buy anyone, refuel at the well, DD over the mountains and Ceald is also ours. Pasis, standing in the gates, looks around nervously, seeing this bustle behind his back and sensing something bad. And our next goal—the coveted 5 adult Dragons behind Wazzar castle. From Ceald it seems far, but we have Aenanin. :smile13:
We buy him in Ceald and go straight to visit Pasis. He actually flees on the second move, but for 5 killed birds, you get the necessary level 2. No losses; birds hit a single unit standing next to liches. We raise Aenanin's Air to advanced. Now DD to the well by the road. We sweep away the hobbits there; after the well, we take another nearby experience chest—and thus level 3 is ours. With expert Air, it's now possible to jump to Wazzar. On the way, we also visit a stable.
So, Wazzar and 5 dragons are ours. Where to move next? The overall goal was, while capturing castles, to advance toward Nagash, visiting the tent there (to free Silva and Rion). Later, however, it turned out you could do without the tent, but for now I decide to move toward the swamp castle, to visit Tazar. On this path, the next necessary castle is Snow, at 59-82. But breaking through there proved harder than I thought. I chose Serena. The plan was DD to the portal (125-46), fight hippos, then fight Primal dragons on the other side of the portal, get basic Path and capture Snow. (Saving even 1 single unit after the dragon fight to carry neutral own dragons didn't work). In reality, it turned out that basic Path doesn't save you; Serena still lacks 1 movement cell. I had to spend on another mage hero. He took the hat, activated Flight, gave the hat back to Serena, and flew to the portal after her. A gremlin single was stationed there at the portal. Serena, after the fight with dragons, returned to the other side of the portal, took the single unit and went to Snow with it.
In Snow, we buy a mage-30. For me, that was Halon. No fuss for him. DD to Rock (50-68) and capture. From here, Tazar is within arm's reach. We take another mage-30 (Gelare), DD across the sea to the path and along it to Tazar. After taking down Tazar, we immediately put him in the tavern window. In general, there was a lot of work at this swamp respawn. As many as 6 heroes were bought. I cleared the respawn with Vokial (including event), visited the lighthouse, and pulled Silva out of prison (thanks to Tazar). Right here, by the way, it turned out that the tent is not mandatory for freeing Silva (and Rion). If you correctly direct the flight trajectory at the quest post itself, the battle automatically activates in flight, and after the fight, the hero will already be behind the quest post, right in front of the prison. And most importantly, I sent Sandro into the portal to Nagash. For the fight with fairies, 10 fairy Dragons from Silva were added to the 5 old dragons.
I'll continue tomorrow.
Regarding the description. I will post what I manage to today.
I believe describing the Walkthrough statistically, given the size and density of the map (and consequently the number of steps), is pointless. I'll describe it instead in a way that is as useful and clear as possible. That is, for each day, I will first provide a strategic plan and then detail the tactical actions to execute it.
I apologize in advance to the experienced players, but we have to introduce and train the same newcomers somehow. When only a few people reach the finish line while others quit—that's not a good thing.
So:
Day 1.
Strategy.
Pre-game reconnaissance reported that the layout of castles and numerous portals is such that all castles on the map fit the "One-move Tavern" rule. That is, if we treat all castles as potential taverns, while also considering all external taverns, it is theoretically possible to get from any tavern to any other within one game day. Problems with "one-movability" only arose when crossing to the Inferno continent, but that's for "zero" heroes; by that time, we should already have at least a few bought out computer heroes with Logic and Air.
Based on this intelligence, the strategy was obvious. On the very first day, "disable" all computer heroes without letting them kill a single unit of neutrals. Of course, killing all computers using only Necromancer heroes was unrealistic, and there will certainly be zombie losses with such an approach. But I figured these losses would be much lower than if any of the computers were left alive.
The strategic plan for the first day also included a second task: freeing all 4 prisoners from jail (ideally). Or at least several of them.
And finally, once more on the importance of reconnaissance. Before the game, I had a sheet with a full list of computer heroes, including their skill layouts. Also, after testing, I had a full list of all Necromancer heroes with a pre-determined and selected upgrade tree. Priorities: Air, Earth, Logic, Path, Intelligence.
Tactics.
Tactical freedom on the first day was greatly limited by the condition "With minimum number of battles and zombie losses." After all, I had to fight mainly not as necromancers. But at the start, you can't do without it entirely. But where is that golden minimum? At first, I chose the option to take only 47 liches with Vidomina and gave up on capturing the Grail Necromancer castle right at the start. All out of greed. :) However, upon reaching the fight with fairies near the prison with Nagash, I realized that in this battle alone I would lose a lot without the 20% bonus from the Grail necro-castle. I had to return to the very beginning.
At the start, I solved 2 tactical tasks: taking Worm Warren and getting the +12 helmet. The very first moves are always very important; I'll describe them in more detail.
Straker takes a 2K chest in front of him and that's it. His MP is especially worth its weight in gold. We pick up the rest of the "cabbage" at the market. After gathering 2500, we buy Tamika in Coldreign. She isn't for battles yet; she collects everything in her path except for the chest on the road with 1000 experience (for Vidomina) and a pile of stones near the ghosts by the shipyard (we fire her). We put whoever is available in the window; I got Ash.
We buy Ash (Ksi). Ash collects everything she can at Sanctum (we fire her). But Ksi is needed to fly for the helmet, so only a necro-mage with 20 mana had to be placed in the window. While Ksi lingers in the window, we buy Vidomina (Moner). Vidomina is clearly for liches, while Moner prepares for the trip to the Grail castle.
Vidomina takes the experience chest (expert Necromancer), Straker dives into the portal and Vidomina takes artifacts and 66 zombies from him. Then Vidomina fights troglodytes on the road (24 liches), gets the Mana Talisman, and goes back to the portal. Before the fight, of course, we build enhancers in both castles.
Important! The fight with troglodytes gives exactly 1K experience, and Vidomina can already take basic Air.
We buy Moner (Aenanin). This guy with the ugly last name is a very important character; later he will play a star role with his basic Air and 30 mana.
Before jumping into the portal, Vidomina drops the now-unnecessary 66 zombies to Moner. We emerge at the medusa's place. DD now costs 20, so immediately DD to the flag; we stand between goblins and nomads. Then we attack the flag with a battle, then fight nomads and a battle in the medusa's place. Total: 4 battles with 4 squads, 235 liches. That is the initial minimum that had to be turned into liches for the sake of taking Worm Warren.
Now Moner with his 1900 MP. He leaves zombies in the castle, enters the portal, takes the liches and fights hippopotamuses. Battle without losses (single units don't count); terrain folds were very useful. :) Some skeleton singles blocked the liches themselves, and some blocked a narrow 3-cell passage for those wanting to enter from the flank. Setup: 235l – 10s-1s-1s-1s-1s-1s.
We buy Ksi (any mage-20) in Coldreign. We buy this "any" in Worm Warren to deliver liches and artifacts back to the waiting Ksi. Then Ksi, with Flight, fights for the castle and the +12 helmet is ours. Now we can move to the second part of the debut.
Tactics of starting castle capture.
This is where Straker comes into play with his initial 50 mana. His goal is taking Utopia for money, which will be needed in very large quantities later. Also, taking the first and, by the way, only currently reachable castle—Death’s Gate (plus there's another Magic Enhancer there). Having received liches from Ksi, Straker uses a first DD to fly to the respawn, second DD to the well, third DD to Utopia. By the way, I could have taken the Courage trinket immediately here, but I simply forgot. In Utopia without losses; refueling at the well with the +12 helmet allowed summoning Earth Elementals, and on the first move of the fight, they hit skeleton singles.
After the battle in Utopia—DD to the castle and its capture. So, we have: the first foreign captured castle, a boost of 40K money, and big plans for the future. :smile26:
In Death’s Gate, we buy anyone, refuel at the well, DD over the mountains and Ceald is also ours. Pasis, standing in the gates, looks around nervously, seeing this bustle behind his back and sensing something bad. And our next goal—the coveted 5 adult Dragons behind Wazzar castle. From Ceald it seems far, but we have Aenanin. :smile13:
We buy him in Ceald and go straight to visit Pasis. He actually flees on the second move, but for 5 killed birds, you get the necessary level 2. No losses; birds hit a single unit standing next to liches. We raise Aenanin's Air to advanced. Now DD to the well by the road. We sweep away the hobbits there; after the well, we take another nearby experience chest—and thus level 3 is ours. With expert Air, it's now possible to jump to Wazzar. On the way, we also visit a stable.
So, Wazzar and 5 dragons are ours. Where to move next? The overall goal was, while capturing castles, to advance toward Nagash, visiting the tent there (to free Silva and Rion). Later, however, it turned out you could do without the tent, but for now I decide to move toward the swamp castle, to visit Tazar. On this path, the next necessary castle is Snow, at 59-82. But breaking through there proved harder than I thought. I chose Serena. The plan was DD to the portal (125-46), fight hippos, then fight Primal dragons on the other side of the portal, get basic Path and capture Snow. (Saving even 1 single unit after the dragon fight to carry neutral own dragons didn't work). In reality, it turned out that basic Path doesn't save you; Serena still lacks 1 movement cell. I had to spend on another mage hero. He took the hat, activated Flight, gave the hat back to Serena, and flew to the portal after her. A gremlin single was stationed there at the portal. Serena, after the fight with dragons, returned to the other side of the portal, took the single unit and went to Snow with it.
In Snow, we buy a mage-30. For me, that was Halon. No fuss for him. DD to Rock (50-68) and capture. From here, Tazar is within arm's reach. We take another mage-30 (Gelare), DD across the sea to the path and along it to Tazar. After taking down Tazar, we immediately put him in the tavern window. In general, there was a lot of work at this swamp respawn. As many as 6 heroes were bought. I cleared the respawn with Vokial (including event), visited the lighthouse, and pulled Silva out of prison (thanks to Tazar). Right here, by the way, it turned out that the tent is not mandatory for freeing Silva (and Rion). If you correctly direct the flight trajectory at the quest post itself, the battle automatically activates in flight, and after the fight, the hero will already be behind the quest post, right in front of the prison. And most importantly, I sent Sandro into the portal to Nagash. For the fight with fairies, 10 fairy Dragons from Silva were added to the 5 old dragons.
I'll continue tomorrow.