Walkthroughs for custom maps.

Despite the fact that people usually post maps they have already completed, I decided to describe a truly magnificent map—the best of all I've ever seen and played, though I haven't finished it yet: Paragon
The map is simply an astounding masterpiece, an example for all mapmakers on how to plan a map and everything in it, although of course, no map is without its flaws and shortcomings.
So, first comes the description of the map, pros/cons, and then the Walkthrough itself and tips for it.
What makes this map the best of the best:
- most importantly, the AI behavior is gratifying; the author achieved the necessary behavior and actions from it. That is, if an event says "expect guests" at a certain time, it actually happens—the enemy arrives roughly then;
- the game pace is set from the start: city capture in 7 days, Virill in 3 months, and so on; the faster you go, the easier it gets later and the less "meat" the computers have;
- well-thought-out battle balance, although eventually, a wagonload of mana solves all problems;
- skillfully hidden objects; the author doesn't hide quest artifacts where they can't be found or seen, but rather hides pleasant bonuses that are noticeable and easier to find—and if you don't take them, you can still play, it just becomes slightly harder;
- magnificent map drawing;
- a great idea with disguised gates placed next to visible towers; as a result, we cannot pass yet, but the computer is always welcome, which also encourages not sitting still but moving forward. If you attack the AI before it goes on the offensive, everything is simplified many times over;
- hints: there is plenty of text, and the player is always warned about what is necessary;
- despite general linearity, there are still branches and options;
Cons:
They are inevitable, no matter how good a map is, but they exist...
- perhaps it was planned this way, but some strong AI heroes can be found in the tavern with decent stats after their defeat (I'm not talking about Olwin, who is available by design, I'm talking about Andru);
- no hero is given with normal primary stats and useful secondary ones, including ballistics (controlling a catapult could have solved all siege problems). As a result, to defeat Deis and his thousands of minotaurs on cursed land, I had to buy Uland (a healing specialist who comes from the start with wisdom and ballistics), and then it was easy but very long via catapult control;
- the biggest downside of this map is that to complete the map, you need to open it in the editor and study it carefully, or simply replay it from the start or a certain point about 10 times because you went the wrong way, turned the wrong way, or missed something...
this kills some of the experience where the player discovers everything during gameplay; that is, elements of surprise vanish from the Walkthrough;
+/ - peasants: more accurately, the huge number of them that must be collected every week, but you need to keep heroes there for this...
- there is a possibility to complete the map unrealistically fast and easier than the author probably intended by using bugs...
during the process, we get more than one Admiral's Hat, as well as many Boots of Speed and Rider's Gloves, so the ГГ and one or two secondary heroes can have practically infinite movement....
as a result, in 1 day you can defeat Frodragon, crush the Barbarians, and defeat the swamp enemies, which obviously wasn't in the author's plans...
therefore, if people write that they completed the map in record time, they simply used a bug to increase MP using the Admiral's Hat...
on day 241, for example, neither the swamp dwellers nor the Barbarians are ready to attack, so defeating their heroes is no trouble at all, and essentially the entire turn duration comes down to how long our mana lasts and whether mana doublers have been used; there, even Yorogoss might dump his Cloak of Denial and bears and run with half of his troops.
Whether to play honestly or use bugs is up to each person.
Now about the Walkthrough itself.
Still, I decided to start at 160%; there's enough difficulty as it is.
We start with nothing but 1 peasant. A classic RPG-style beginning.
All battles at first go smoothly without losses (a couple of peasants don't count).
But then, upon reaching our starting town Stonehelm, things get interesting.
The thing is, during my very first run of the map, I simply gathered troops from secondary sources, restored mana, and attacked; on the 3rd or 4th try, I won such a battle, left with only 1 Knight...
But the correct version intended by the author is to buy creatures from secondaries, break the pegasi at the fort, then join griffins there, upgrade everything, take the hidden gold, take the artifact, and then attack... in this scenario, there is no difficulty; the battle is completed with minimal losses of a few halberdiers and a griffin.
We take the town on day 116 (most likely), 117 less often; it's possible on 115, but it won't be optimal.
In the town, everything necessary is built by 121; before 121 we don't build or touch anything at all, but from 121 we hire heroes and start building...
Further it's also very simple, the main thing is not to stall, do everything quickly: the ГГ takes experience from all guards, while secondary heroes pick up resources and capture mines...
Now about secondary heroes:
- as I understand it, the author believes that using "hero-digging" is not only possible but necessary.
So we dig up: Enova (specialist +350 gold) who also comes with an artifact for +750 gold, and Yabarkas/Zhabarkas (lvl 1, but all secondary skills are at expert, has fire exp).
We later free a hero already with the literacy skill, so further on all spells are passed to the ГГ without spending time visiting the Mage Guild in town.
On day 127/131 we capture the second town, easily and without losses.
By the way, I didn't upgrade a single creature dwelling in towns except for griffins (all secondary heroes ran with them), while all upgrades were done at the fort.
Here there is a moment of luck at the start:
which secondary skills will drop. In my last run, I was very lucky (wisdom, logistics, water, earth—we get these from the start), and then tracker, fire, attack, defense (given that attack was taken in a hut, and everything else was successfully obtained upon level up).
Without fire magic and berserker exp, it's significantly harder to complete, and then I would say that an intelligence skill with its mana doubling is highly desirable.
Therefore, I advise not to take the same hut below Stonehelm with the archery skill (archers will do their job fine without it, while getting intelligence or fire will be much more useful).
Regarding the lack of money—it's practically unfelt if you pick up all the gold that is well-placed (hidden, but in a way that can be found).
Before going to the fairy ones—we capture the Rampart in the Dungeon; there we get resurrection and prayer.
Further everything is completed quickly and without losses.
The most interesting part begins upon receiving the hat and entering the lands of the Barbarians and Virill.
And here the question of honest play arises: either complete everything honestly or use the acceleration from the hat..
By the way, the author gave a quest for passage to the lake for 250 wood; then we get 300 wood via an event, but giving it up for passage is absolutely not necessary—we go to the Barbarians via Aelwin, then take the water book, and with the book run back to that lake, while Aelwin is crushed in the garrison with cyclops, and bought back at the nearest Rampart with a quest for 25 archmagi...
there we will also free the hero Oris; this hero can simply be left on Barbarian land in the Sanctuary...
After gathering all troops and buying/upgrading whoever possible (converting everything except gems into gold, buying angels, horses, archers, upgrading them, others according to financial possibilities), all of this is passed in a chain to the ГГ, who the next day with acceleration first takes the town with the berserker (immediately at the garrison), Virill, the town by the portal, and if there are enough moves, also attacks Frodragon (if he hasn't holed up in the 3rd city)..
This all happens either on the 4th week of the 2nd month or on day 311... Everything is completed without losses (the main thing is to take all hidden artifacts, especially for knowledge, and visit all boosters); don't forget about the spring with mana doubling.
The most important thing that makes the map gratifying is the pace of completion.
Immediately after this, we visit the key-keeper's tent (defeat the dragons there—it's best to attack them with one stack of archmagi and that's it, leave all other troops in town), receive earth books for this, and with TP playing becomes easier and simpler.
Then we don't wait, but fly to the Barbarian and crush him.
The most interest, as far as I'm concerned, begins after victory over the swamp dwellers and encountering Yorogoss and Gird, Locomorra and others like them; in principle they are defeated, but a wagonload of mana is spent on each simply...
All the difficulty actually (real and not fake difficulty) begins when colliding with Ashwing with the power of the Father of Dragons and after him...
And some more regarding certain battles:
- before some battles, to avoid losses, some troops can and should be left guarding mines (in such places they are even specifically positioned);
- for the most part, we just need a wagonload of mana for resurrection:
the absolute majority of battles with AI follow this scenario: blind some stack that we can kill in 1 round, then resurrect all our losses (via archmagi clone, by the archmagi themselves and the resurrection spell), and then crash into the blinded ones (can also crash with clones); as a result, for this entire action in any case, a huge amount of mana is needed, since the task during battle is to cut out strike stacks and minimize losses, although AI in battles gratifies with its stupidity and instead of mass healing/prayer/dispel or something else might do a mass bless (they get chopped by max berserker, and on their turn they do a mass bless—helping themselves be chopped);
- dragons and other such unpleasant creatures guarding objects are easiest to pass with 1 stack of archmagi (resurrecting archmagi via clone or spell); with some mana expenditure, everything is passed without losses;
The most important thing is to attack the AI until it attacks.
Barbarians are killed extremely quickly at the start of the 3rd month, and then, it's necessary to sail out to the swamp dwellers very quickly (before they buy up and arrive, this is roughly the 3rd week of the 3rd month; by this time you should already be on their lands, then defeating them will be significantly easier...
To the swamp dwellers we either immediately lead Haass (looks like Gervulf, actually Kilgor), or give him the earth book, dress him in artifacts, and then after victory over Olwin and visiting the blue tent, he can immediately enter the town (here it's important to calculate, best on the 1st day so that growth can be taken immediately, and so the computer doesn't crush Haass in town); further Olwin and Haass buy everything in caches, upgrade in town, and we open other towns, after which the ГГ takes them without losses, as long as there is mana..
Another point—we get Olwin (Jelu), but also a Golden Bow, so the question of upgrading archers (two shots with Golden Bow) versus 1 for snipers (who have the bow or not) is quite debatable; I preferred two shots instead of 1 and didn't upgrade archers, especially since there won't be enough gold for everything desired (buying all troops in all human castles is practically impossible).
With tracker and logistics, swamp dwellers are also passed quite quickly, the main thing is not to stall; as a result, by the end of the 4th or start of the 5th month, we get an exit to Yorogoss and company...
In 6 months we calmly deal with all available enemies.
As a result, I got such a picture:
it remains to defeat Pink, Orange, Brown, given that Brown has "woken up" and is already ready to run over....
It feels like he can be won, but as for doing it without critical losses—I don't know how to do that yet.
Tips that may help in completing the map:
- there are places (guards and seers) where they are ready to give troops for a few hundred peasants; if someone isn't too lazy to run a hero through peasant caches and accumulate them, you can get quite a few troops; (I'm always too lazy to collect anyone from caches, so I don't perform quests to open some passages with peasants; at first I get archers and that's where my peasant collection ends);
- for bags of gold you can get + to skills on Barbarian land; I advise taking + to knowledge first and foremost, then everything else;
- it is necessary to collect archmagi, so as not to lose pace—a separate hero can be sent for this (we will have very many boots, gloves, and Admiral's hats, so heroes will be able to move very quickly with 1 group of pegasi);
- scouting with heroes: since despite general linearity there are places where you can turn, it's best to send a scout there (a hero with one unit just to see what and where lies) to see if the computer is coming...
- on the last day—day 33, I don't remember—good reinforcements arrive in Virill, as well as resources;
- regarding losses—I believe that halberdiers are a normal "meat shield" that won't solve anything anyway, so sometimes it makes no sense to resurrect them and spend mana on them; the main thing is that there is a stack and that's all;
- all boats must always be sunk; if there is no plan to return to a boat in the same turn, it must be sunk so the computer doesn't get into boats where not intended by the author.
Well, this is all of course for an honest run without bugs; with bugs everything becomes simpler.
Despite all the thought-out and definite behavior of the AI, it still acts like an idiot:
- there is a lake before the garrison and towns of Frodragon, where water movement is used; so Stig, when he sails to us (if you hold out until then), has moments when he calls a boat and sails into this lake... and further it's clear that you can simply not let him land;
- sometimes other computer heroes land on islets and hang there for several turns;
- the computer often leaves troops in town while running with a smaller army, so if you calculate accurately to enter the town on your last moves, you can take the town this way without fearing that the computer will gather all troops under one hero.

I would like to know about other players' runs—how they managed to defeat Ashwing in the power of the Father of Dragons (you could do a hit-and-run, especially with MP boosting from the hat and mana doubling at the spring, taking say some dragonlings and putting all speed artifacts on them, then attacking, doing an explosion and running away), but without such tricks, I can't yet think of how to win against him without critical losses..
There is a own option to enter the castle if Ashwing is standing there at an event with dragonlings (there is a terrible event only for AI; each visit gives him more dragons), then defending behind castle walls will be easier, but as for how to win and not suffer substantial losses, that's still a question for me (winning isn't the problem, the problem is preserving troops)

Added after 20 hours 25 minutes

Map Paragon
Coped with previous difficulties. Now faced the fact that I cannot overcome the Dwarf King... This devil has almost full immunity to magic and I cannot find the key to this opponent! Can anyone suggest a tactic?

Yeah, that's a funny fight—easy, but very long...
Well, you need to come to him with a sizeable army and parameters roughly the same as his...
1. You must lock him in; that is, none of his troops should leave the walls (achieved by casting berserker on your 1st stack near the ballista).
2. You must take out his archers as quickly as possible, and then use resurrection, archmagi clone, sniper clone.
3. You must preserve the ammunition train.
4. You need a lot and lots of mana (for resurrection).
5. It's optimal to come to the king with troops not much smaller than his, and parameters not lagging far behind.
The best part is if forgetfulness hits even one of the archery stacks, but the thing is that almost all magic on him goes into a void, so it's better to cast something useful on your own—stone skin, prayer etc., or you can just immediately clone archmagi and resurrect losses right away while shooting his archers.
6. When he has only infantry left (usually a huge number of dwarves), he starts hitting with spells; here too you need to be more careful not to expose the supply train to this and resurrect losses..
7. Then when he has only archery towers and a huge number of dwarves with 0 mana, we begin systematically resurrecting all our losses via archmagi clone (costs slightly more mana but resurrects more than the resurrection spell + distracts one tower shot).
8. In the end it's very, very long, but passable; only if: the wall was breached/the supply train was destroyed/you failed to minus the archers quickly enough, you can reload the battle.

!Separately I would like to mention one point because of which I once replayed the game just to prepare a hero from the tavern for one single battle!
BATTLE WITH DEIS for the diamond gates, before freeing Vael and the battle with Ashwing.
Deis has one stack of several thousand minotaurs; when I came to him he had nearly 15k, but that's trivial—the main thing is that this is all on CURSED LAND—meaning spells above lvl 1 are forbidden!! We have no ballistics, and no troops capable of taking down 15k minos before breaking the breach....
Therefore, in this situation I found only one way out—hire Uland in the first days (Rampart hero, healing specialist, starting wisdom and ballistics), taught him archery, water, earth, defense, increased his stats at all available boosters during the game (essentially he was a booster and tail for the ГГ).
And then in the battle with Deis his hour struck—I put on the power of the Father of Dragons so troops wouldn't be shot, bought one-off archers (lizards, orcs, cyclops, gremlins) who aren't a pity to lose), sniper bow, supply train, and for the gate block a stack of a couple dozen death knights (we don't play with them either, so they aren't a pity)..
As a result: catapult—defense. DKs—to the gates (towers attack specifically the DKs, which is beneficial since archers are more important there), and then I hammered the minotaurs until I was blue in the face...
Over very many rounds I took down Deis...
I don't have enough brainpower to figure out how one can pass that without losses specifically with Mogrein: by round 2-4 there is a 100% breach in the wall, minos come out and deal heavy losses that cannot be resurrected; but this way it happens without losing even 1 unit from used stacks, just very long, and experience goes to someone other than who needs it...
If other battles when attacking a castle are won through magic, then there I believe the only option is a hero with ballistics (catapult control).