Walkthroughs for custom maps.

Thank you to the author for reviving my long-lost faith in the immortality of the third Heroes game. As a mapmaker accustomed to using WoG with its scripts whenever I wanted to enhance the plot or gameplay with something unusual, I was simply amazed to discover how powerful all the same things can be when done with the purest "Breath of Death," seasoned with only a few externally modified objects...
At first glance, a classic long, "linear" adventure with a hero starting with a single peasant in a war against the whole world. In reality, the adventure turns out to be not so linear, although undoubtedly progressive.
Almost complete absence of various restrictions on the strategic part of the game, so characteristic of adventure maps. In the castles, almost all buildings are available (capitols are prohibited, in some places - high-level mage guilds, somewhere else something - but these are all "point attacks," not a general rule). Mines and external dwellings are plentiful. Taverns are in place...
Practically perfect balance. Neutrals guarding passages and all sorts of bonuses gain strength gradually, as you move away from the starting area. Battles are moderately difficult, but not hardcore. In almost five months of playing, I have not encountered a single place where it would be necessary to simply accumulate troops to move on, which many similar maps also suffer from. Here, there is quite enough of what you can realistically collect "along the way," if you don't slow down too much.
A strict ban on the aforementioned slowing down: despite the fact that the map does not have a special defeat condition, the author allocates a definite period of time for each of its stages, which does not allow for "tea ceremonies." We must complete the very first task assigned to us in no more than two and a half months, otherwise - 100% defeat (yes, that's how it is - without special defeat conditions, in pure SoD without any scripts!). Subsequent "deadlines" are even shorter, but they behave less harshly - simply at the right moment, the player is subjected to a sudden attack by several strong enemy heroes, with whom it is not so easy to cope without proper preparation. Despite the great importance of these moments for creating the appropriate tense-military atmosphere and timely development of the plot, it is here, in my opinion, that the only serious drawback lies: some of the established deadlines are simply too short. They do not in any way make the map impassable, but they can quite force you to replay fairly large sections of time. The fact is that after completing the first key task, the territories available to the player expand sharply and simply beg to be thoroughly explored. However, there is very little time for exploration: it is assumed that the player will immediately begin to actively prepare for the next threat, but, firstly, he is not yet aware of it, and, secondly, he has no idea where and in what sequence it is best to run to have time to get everything useful. In general, in its current version, the map requires extraordinary clairvoyance skills, thereby actively provoking the player to scout using the editor and cheats before completing the next section. However, the author has already promised to fix the situation in the coming days by creating an easier version with slightly shifted deadlines for enemy attacks.
Wide possibilities and an abundance of tactical tasks. The map is extraordinarily (again, for its class) generous with powerful artifacts and spells. Sometimes - even too generous (for example, most of the heroes released from prisons immediately have boots and gloves of speed, and the book of earth, when finally obtained, is given out in four copies at once). In the early days after receiving this gentleman's set, it seems that here it is - happiness for a true tank, that we are now invincible and the devil himself is not our brother. Several of the nearest battles with enemy heroes only strengthen this deceptive impression. But you don't have to be bored for long: even with such possibilities, we will still encounter difficult or even unsolvable combat tasks...
Thought out in every detail, beautifully described with a multitude of very appropriate texts, a constantly developing plot as the gameplay progresses. Here, I simply have to repeat myself: I never thought that a plot of this level was possible in pure SoD. And the point here is not that it is a revelation in itself or something incredibly original. No, here we encounter a rather standard warlike and pompous, although very well-written "high fantasy," full of quite stereotypical elves, gnomes, dragons, emperors, and wizards. The point is how all this is presented. How harmoniously and naturally the author's ideas are woven from the most standard heroic tasks, which for the most part are not perceived as "another seer's hut." If I had a hat on me now, I would definitely take it off and applaud standing... In the end, this is also the first known to me truly story map that has appeared on our Portal since the opening of the Cartographers League two years ago...
I recommend that everyone who has time and faith in their abilities play Paragon.