13.01.2011 Neverminder (Blue, Dungeon, Shakti, Shakti) def R55Max (Red, Stronghold, Crag, Crag) jebus cross 142
It turned out to be a very tough game. At first, the layout was rather dismal. There were Hives, but behind shooter guards, though a bunch of Dragon Utopias on the respawn, meaning there was no rush to go to the center. However, on day 4, the scout reveals an external dragon dwelling, which drastically changes the situation. Shakti hurriedly breaks back home, eats a lot of chests for experience, visits the tree, captures the coveted external dwelling on day 7, finishing the week at level 8 (advanced Earth and Fire) near the stable. A portal is built right away, and naturally, there's a dragon inside. True, there were no Harpies from the start, so the result of the first week was 1-6 in the fort. But 4 dragons on day 121 warm the heart. On the second week, I took five Hives for 32 ducks, and on day 127 I broke the first two-level Dragon Utopia, which gave almost nothing, but at least some gold. On days 131-133, I broke three more Dragon Utopias (two three-level and one max). Utopias without Armor are painful; all the ducks died in the end, and I can't say my stats rose much, plus only a Water spell book. Angel Wings were just about the only excellent thing. Well, you never know. But I had 130k gold. Got Shackles of War in one of the Utopias. And here comes the classic noob move: breaking down while wearing the Shackles. I die because I have no mana. I want to write "gg", but then I thought: there's tons of gold, still some turn time left, what the hell, maybe luck will smile on me and I'll dig up Shakti. And I did dig him up! With about the 17th hero. And he had full movement points again, so he ran towards the GO, but didn't quite make it as time ran out. On day 134, I entered the center, didn't see Andrey. Over the following days of the week, I killed many various creatures for Pandora's Boxes. The rewards were: all Water spells (already had the book), all spells in general, 25 Evil Eyes, 15 Manticores, 15k gold. On day 136, I killed Andrey's GO (108 Wizards), but I only had 32 mana points, so I didn't go yet. I took a Dungeon in the sands, built a Mage Guild there, and settled in. On day 141, Town Portal home, magic doubling (480 mana points now), Town Portal to the Dungeon, and then rushed to visit. I slightly outmatched him in stats, but it was Crag, and the lack of Armor worried me a lot. On day 142, Crag 18-23-12-8 (50) attacks Shakti 22-28-15-16 (468). There's no Red Orb, but he does have the Cloak of the Undead King (meaning goodbye, Summon Elemental, Resurrection, and Armageddon), but I still found something to surprise with: in the first round, I cast Mass Curse! I was very afraid of Expert Water (Bless or Cure—and my Plan B would also go down the drain), but he didn't have it. Thanks to this unconventional move and a 400+ HP Bolt, I managed to secure victory in the tough FB. With the Red Orb, Crag would have definitely won. On the other hand, without the Orb and without the Cloak, he wouldn't have had a chance. With the Cloak but without the Orb, it turned out difficult and interesting, but the scales tipped in Shakti's favor. Thanks for the interesting game, Andrey!