Eldgernon
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At one point, I myself really missed something like this; perhaps this topic will help some readers improve their results.
If you are trying your hand at offline for the first time, start by studying the essential document for an offline player – FizMiG.
Of course, no two players are alike; everyone has their own individual style, but still, achieving a result close to the maximum typically requires any player on any map to follow these main points:
1. Tournament Time Management.
Many understand this, but few actually do it. Any claims after a tournament about a lack of time come across as saying, "I am a slacker." Ideally, time management involves creating a table (this comes with experience). For example:
01.01.2010 - 4 hours
02.01. - 8 h.
03.01 to 06.01 - 12 hours each
and so on... Total: 183 hours.
Then, tasks are outlined. For example:
1. Map exploration in the editor ~ 20 hours.
2. Studying the skill trees of all "interesting" (for this map) heroes ~ 15 h.
3. Hero splitting (for the entire game) ~ 40 h.
4. Playing out Day 1 ~ 30 hours.
5. Playing out Day 2 ..... and so on.
At any given moment during the tournament, the player knows whether they are "ahead" or "behind".
2. Exploration.
Do not skimp on time for exploration; do not economize on it. Exploration is half of your success/failure in a game.
Most exploration is done in the map editor, with some details clarified in the save itself. What to explore? 😊 I will list only the most basic and common aspects:
A) Speed-boosting objects.
You should start with these because they often change the entire walkthrough strategy of the map. First, determine the possibility of a cyclic boost — one that can be repeated continuously and multiple times. Few maps allow this, because it requires 3 objects to be in close proximity to each other: a) Tavern for buying back, b) The speed-boosting object itself, c) A stack to split against.
Regular boosts are also important, especially if there are several neutral stacks nearby.
B) Control artifacts.
These are the Tome of Earth, Tome of Air, Angel Wings, and the Statesman's Hat (or equivalent scrolls). In rare cases, also Boots of Levitation.
Their presence and accessibility also fundamentally affect the walkthrough strategy. Naturally, in the editor, we check not only for "freely lying" artifacts, but also those hidden in quests, prisons, events, Dragon Utopias, etc.
I also include in this point the exploration for obtaining such crucial artifacts as Necklace of Swiftness, Cape of Velocity, and the Cloak of the Undead King.
C) Quests, events, pandora boxes.
Review and record what is given where, as well as the skills of prisoners. It is useful to immediately record the composition and strength of the guards for subsequent calculations of "what, when, and with whom to take."
D) Hidden bonuses (Easter eggs).
Some map authors like to hide/camouflage something tasty. Whoever finds it can get a serious bonus, so you also have to check the editor for this. Hidden bonuses can be various. A pile of 100000 gold among ordinary piles. A powerful artifact hidden behind volcano smoke or behind some building. A stack of dragons set with the "Friendly" parameter, etc. When searching, sometimes destroying buildings/terrain helps; sometimes using the "Show Next Artifact" option is enough.
E) Hero skill trees.
It is very difficult to show a decent result while ignoring this point. Usually, during exploration, it becomes clear which secondary skills will "dominate" on this map. And it is highly desirable to have a list of heroes who can obtain these necessary skills, not at level 15, but as quickly as possible. This is why you have to buy and review possible skill progressions. You could, of course, limit yourself to reviewing only the heroes potentially suitable for this. But sometimes victory directly depends on how many heroes a player uses who, for example, have the Air Magic skill. In this case, the winner will be the one who does not bother to review and find the most heroes during the exploration phase.
F) Diplomacy.
Especially important for the opening of the game. Therefore, even before starting your playthrough, it is useful to know how many and which stacks can theoretically be joined by a hero with Diplomacy skills D-1, D-2, and D-3. And then plan the opening scenario taking this into account.
G) Identifying key points / crucial battles.
This will help orient the strategy and outline the leveling points for the heroes you need.
H) Determining the theoretical minimum of the map.
This is one of the main results of exploration that you should determine before sitting down to play. Your entire walkthrough scenario must be compiled and developed based precisely on this minimum. To determine it correctly, you need some experience; also, the map's goal is not always "speedrun," but the general rule is this: in how many days can a hero theoretically run to where "Victory" occurs, given all other ideal conditions. That is, the size of your army and other "limiting" factors are not considered here.
This theoretical minimum is not always achievable, but the development of your strategy should start with it as the goal. Only later, when you hit an absolute wall, can you "step back" in your demands by one day and play the "Minimum + 1 day" variant. However, from practice, truly "absolute walls" are rare. As a rule, with sufficient effort and imagination, it is still possible to complete the game in exactly the number of days equal to the "Minimum."
3. Strategy Development.
Do not play haphazardly, hoping for the best. Do not play with the mindset, "I'll try to be as fast as possible, and then we'll see."
When you sit down to play, you should already clearly know what you want to achieve on Day 1, Day 2, and so on. For this, you need to devise an overall strategy and also outline, at least in general terms, a day-by-day tactic.
A few general tips for playing:
1. Forget your stereotypes from regular Heroes 3! Any, even the "crappiest" hero and the "crappiest" specialization can turn out to be the "coolest" and the only one leading to victory on this map.
2. Remember that skillful use of secondary skills often allows you to solve seemingly impossible tasks.
3. Spread necessary and important spells using heroes with the "Scholar" skill!
4. The number of actions you can perform in a day is directly related to the total MP (movement points) your heroes have. Therefore, on "resource-poor" maps, a huge advantage goes to whoever can buy more heroes on the first day than everyone else.
5. Remember that a map of any(!) size can be "circumnavigated" in 1(!) day, if the distances between all towns are no longer than the movement range, and there are enough towns. All you need is to build a tavern in the first captured town and "release" a hero from there to capture the next town. After capturing all towns, you can then reach almost any object on the map that you need. Teleports, if available, will also help you. When calculating the reachability of towns, do not forget to consider the possibility of having Flight/Dimension Door.
6. A very powerful tool in offline play is splitting. With its help, a hero who has completed their task can pass all their artifacts to the next hero, and so on down the chain, until all heroes, including those bought that day, have used up their movement. In offline play, there are walkthroughs where 100 heroes are bought in a single day, leaving no stone unturned on the map. Splitting is when at the end of its turn, a hero attacks the nearest stack (usually neutrals) and then retreats. According to the rules, it is allowed to buy them back later that same day. If you already have many towns, this is equivalent to using a teleport, because you can buy back the retreated hero in any tavern, i.e., at any point on the map you need. Splitting is especially effective in combination with control artifacts, since by transferring, for example, Angel Wings, you can immediately send any bought, level-zero hero flying. For this reason, if such control artifacts exist on the map, the walkthrough usually ends on the day these control artifacts are obtained (in speed-running tournaments).
7. Prepare your heroes in advance! If you plan to use a certain hero, for example, on Day 3, it will be much more efficient to buy them on Day 2, level up their skills, add spells to them, raise their spell power, and fire them at the end of the day. Buying them on Day 3 gives you a hero with skills, mana, and 2000 MP.
Good luck to you and future victories in tournaments!
If you are trying your hand at offline for the first time, start by studying the essential document for an offline player – FizMiG.
Of course, no two players are alike; everyone has their own individual style, but still, achieving a result close to the maximum typically requires any player on any map to follow these main points:
1. Tournament Time Management.
Many understand this, but few actually do it. Any claims after a tournament about a lack of time come across as saying, "I am a slacker." Ideally, time management involves creating a table (this comes with experience). For example:
01.01.2010 - 4 hours
02.01. - 8 h.
03.01 to 06.01 - 12 hours each
and so on... Total: 183 hours.
Then, tasks are outlined. For example:
1. Map exploration in the editor ~ 20 hours.
2. Studying the skill trees of all "interesting" (for this map) heroes ~ 15 h.
3. Hero splitting (for the entire game) ~ 40 h.
4. Playing out Day 1 ~ 30 hours.
5. Playing out Day 2 ..... and so on.
At any given moment during the tournament, the player knows whether they are "ahead" or "behind".
2. Exploration.
Do not skimp on time for exploration; do not economize on it. Exploration is half of your success/failure in a game.
Most exploration is done in the map editor, with some details clarified in the save itself. What to explore? 😊 I will list only the most basic and common aspects:
A) Speed-boosting objects.
You should start with these because they often change the entire walkthrough strategy of the map. First, determine the possibility of a cyclic boost — one that can be repeated continuously and multiple times. Few maps allow this, because it requires 3 objects to be in close proximity to each other: a) Tavern for buying back, b) The speed-boosting object itself, c) A stack to split against.
Regular boosts are also important, especially if there are several neutral stacks nearby.
B) Control artifacts.
These are the Tome of Earth, Tome of Air, Angel Wings, and the Statesman's Hat (or equivalent scrolls). In rare cases, also Boots of Levitation.
Their presence and accessibility also fundamentally affect the walkthrough strategy. Naturally, in the editor, we check not only for "freely lying" artifacts, but also those hidden in quests, prisons, events, Dragon Utopias, etc.
I also include in this point the exploration for obtaining such crucial artifacts as Necklace of Swiftness, Cape of Velocity, and the Cloak of the Undead King.
C) Quests, events, pandora boxes.
Review and record what is given where, as well as the skills of prisoners. It is useful to immediately record the composition and strength of the guards for subsequent calculations of "what, when, and with whom to take."
D) Hidden bonuses (Easter eggs).
Some map authors like to hide/camouflage something tasty. Whoever finds it can get a serious bonus, so you also have to check the editor for this. Hidden bonuses can be various. A pile of 100000 gold among ordinary piles. A powerful artifact hidden behind volcano smoke or behind some building. A stack of dragons set with the "Friendly" parameter, etc. When searching, sometimes destroying buildings/terrain helps; sometimes using the "Show Next Artifact" option is enough.
E) Hero skill trees.
It is very difficult to show a decent result while ignoring this point. Usually, during exploration, it becomes clear which secondary skills will "dominate" on this map. And it is highly desirable to have a list of heroes who can obtain these necessary skills, not at level 15, but as quickly as possible. This is why you have to buy and review possible skill progressions. You could, of course, limit yourself to reviewing only the heroes potentially suitable for this. But sometimes victory directly depends on how many heroes a player uses who, for example, have the Air Magic skill. In this case, the winner will be the one who does not bother to review and find the most heroes during the exploration phase.
F) Diplomacy.
Especially important for the opening of the game. Therefore, even before starting your playthrough, it is useful to know how many and which stacks can theoretically be joined by a hero with Diplomacy skills D-1, D-2, and D-3. And then plan the opening scenario taking this into account.
G) Identifying key points / crucial battles.
This will help orient the strategy and outline the leveling points for the heroes you need.
H) Determining the theoretical minimum of the map.
This is one of the main results of exploration that you should determine before sitting down to play. Your entire walkthrough scenario must be compiled and developed based precisely on this minimum. To determine it correctly, you need some experience; also, the map's goal is not always "speedrun," but the general rule is this: in how many days can a hero theoretically run to where "Victory" occurs, given all other ideal conditions. That is, the size of your army and other "limiting" factors are not considered here.
This theoretical minimum is not always achievable, but the development of your strategy should start with it as the goal. Only later, when you hit an absolute wall, can you "step back" in your demands by one day and play the "Minimum + 1 day" variant. However, from practice, truly "absolute walls" are rare. As a rule, with sufficient effort and imagination, it is still possible to complete the game in exactly the number of days equal to the "Minimum."
3. Strategy Development.
Do not play haphazardly, hoping for the best. Do not play with the mindset, "I'll try to be as fast as possible, and then we'll see."
When you sit down to play, you should already clearly know what you want to achieve on Day 1, Day 2, and so on. For this, you need to devise an overall strategy and also outline, at least in general terms, a day-by-day tactic.
A few general tips for playing:
1. Forget your stereotypes from regular Heroes 3! Any, even the "crappiest" hero and the "crappiest" specialization can turn out to be the "coolest" and the only one leading to victory on this map.
2. Remember that skillful use of secondary skills often allows you to solve seemingly impossible tasks.
3. Spread necessary and important spells using heroes with the "Scholar" skill!
4. The number of actions you can perform in a day is directly related to the total MP (movement points) your heroes have. Therefore, on "resource-poor" maps, a huge advantage goes to whoever can buy more heroes on the first day than everyone else.
5. Remember that a map of any(!) size can be "circumnavigated" in 1(!) day, if the distances between all towns are no longer than the movement range, and there are enough towns. All you need is to build a tavern in the first captured town and "release" a hero from there to capture the next town. After capturing all towns, you can then reach almost any object on the map that you need. Teleports, if available, will also help you. When calculating the reachability of towns, do not forget to consider the possibility of having Flight/Dimension Door.
6. A very powerful tool in offline play is splitting. With its help, a hero who has completed their task can pass all their artifacts to the next hero, and so on down the chain, until all heroes, including those bought that day, have used up their movement. In offline play, there are walkthroughs where 100 heroes are bought in a single day, leaving no stone unturned on the map. Splitting is when at the end of its turn, a hero attacks the nearest stack (usually neutrals) and then retreats. According to the rules, it is allowed to buy them back later that same day. If you already have many towns, this is equivalent to using a teleport, because you can buy back the retreated hero in any tavern, i.e., at any point on the map you need. Splitting is especially effective in combination with control artifacts, since by transferring, for example, Angel Wings, you can immediately send any bought, level-zero hero flying. For this reason, if such control artifacts exist on the map, the walkthrough usually ends on the day these control artifacts are obtained (in speed-running tournaments).
7. Prepare your heroes in advance! If you plan to use a certain hero, for example, on Day 3, it will be much more efficient to buy them on Day 2, level up their skills, add spells to them, raise their spell power, and fire them at the end of the day. Buying them on Day 3 gives you a hero with skills, mana, and 2000 MP.
Good luck to you and future victories in tournaments!