“Elia’s Quest” – “The Encounter” [Campaign 3, Mission 3]

How can you reliably ensure that this single powerful creature doesn't get killed? It's practically a burden, not a help.

Actually, even one dragon with well-developed attack and defense stats is far from being a burden. Personally, this dragon helped me win many battles without losses. And when there was a clear threat to the dragon (for some reason, the enemy hero always tries to kill the dragon first), I would, of course, remove it to the reserve. Overall, the mission is completed without complications if you start quickly and develop. And yes, a tip for those who will play this map in the future: try to capture the human castle as soon as possible in the first week; this will solve one problem. After that, only the green faction bothered me, and even then only until I gathered a more or less decent army; after that, he also got his due=) I played on veteran difficulty.