Posts from Searching for the Rune Sphere (remake)

According to Maxis’s plan, the murder of Jezebel was supposed to prevent a civil war in the Falcon Empire, but things turned out differently. Indeed, the Falcon dynasty continued to exist, and the Empire did not become embroiled in a war between dukes vying for power. However, the current emperor, Brendan, launched wars against Irollan and Grimheim under the most absurd pretexts. No one liked this state of affairs, but it is not yet possible to return to their original timeline – the energy sphere has burst. But there is still a way out: the runic sphere of the dwarves is made of identical materials. Edward must find it.

And did the "easy scenario" become available immediately after about 40 minutes of watching (off-screen) the character progression? Or before?

The message was different. Namely, a certain disapproval of creating deliberately advantageous conditions. After all, this isn't just any random game. Playing scenarios with a random start, similar to a random artifact, where you take what you get and aim for the endgame, seems to be outdated.
I dare to suggest that instead of "easy scenario," we would have read a different, much more expressive phrase, and the author would have heard a lot of new things, but now we will never know. Perhaps that's for the best.

Walkthrough of the "Search for the Rune Sphere (remake)" scenario (Hero difficulty): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrdKzRlKxkA

This is some kind of zombie shooter. Incredibly boring. It's not bad, but you don't get any enjoyment from playing it. I finished it in 140 days, on veteran difficulty. I don't know if I was just lucky, or if regeneration and vampirism were disabled. The map is irritating. Perhaps because of the lack of progress. It's like a simulator of hopeless existence. Overall – forget about it.

Usually, I start with a greeting, but this time, I REALLY NAILED IT!
And as always, I'll share my experience, even though the author probably hasn't responded to anyone in a long time...

1) START - everything depends on it, and there's only one viable upgrade path, without which it's impossible, or at least I don't know how... Specifically, only machines with attack and fire arrows work; otherwise, it's just not feasible. Don't linger at the start; instead, clear the mines, grab the boots, and rush to the sea. At sea, the goal is to gather as much as possible, especially if you have a second hero, and get 2-3 ships. This will bring in money and potentially some artifacts. I got lucky and received a necklace with +1 to Ron and +1 to BB, which was great.

2) This is probably luck, but Faydaen didn't want to fight me. I lured him with a cockroach to the outpost, and he stayed there. The main hero attacked and won. Since it's not always the same, sometimes there are huge losses, and sometimes he runs away, killing only one peasant. The quest is completed, which is great. The bonus of 10 gold per day, plus the attack and defense bonus, looks better than the bonuses for magic and knowledge.

3) After that, we clear the garrison and take the Elf Castle. Ideally (as it happened for me), we go to the third castle and simply conquer the green one – it's easy.

4) The Gnomes were annoying for a while, like cockroaches everywhere. But luckily, I figured out how to deal with them using cockroaches, so I don't have to run from one end of the island to the other at the start. Logistics are essential, and one of the few maps where the anchor in the logistics branch helps in chasing these gnomes. +2 beacons make it easier.

5) There's a mentor in the center, which is good, and a hidden location with the English. It's not in a convenient place, but basically, before the final stage, I took them. And overall, with 10 gold per day, it would be a sin not to get the "Influence" skill. Looking at the guard of the Axe, I thought that Dark Magic was necessary, but I realized that I needed more melee units.

6) The two castles on the island are convenient, especially when you have a good trainer. I had Elaine, who constantly produced knights-monks and simply brought in money.

7) I don't quite understand why it's impossible to pass one garrison under any circumstances; you can only go around the left Gnome castle?

8) Collect three items: armor, an axe, and a stone. I got the armor from Ibby when I defeated her again. I got the axe from the stack. But where did I get the stone? I didn't get it from the left Gnome castle. But strangely enough, I simply bought the stone in the artifact shop before entering the dungeon. Is this normal, or is it intentional?

9) And the plot: Maxis is a jerk; I struggled and suffered through a couple of maps, and he put me in chains.

Overall, this is probably the MOST HATED map because it's stressful and difficult, but the feeling of accomplishment when the initial tension subsides is amazing. Specifically, the pressure from both sides, and then just dealing with the Gnomes, becomes much easier. And when you're running around yourself, it's even more enjoyable. In my opinion, rebuilding buildings is too expensive (I'm talking about dwellings). It's a pity that castles are rebuilt from scratch... you can't use Elves or Gnomes, although you can only get Gnomes from dwellings and upgrade them in the castle, and the cockroaches add a bit to the army.

I have mixed feelings. It's a good map, but it's very stressful. Maybe someone will read this and try to play it, so they should save a lot. Although the most important save is the first one, with the initial upgrades, and then I saved at other points where I thought it was necessary. So, if anyone wants to repeat my success, good luck!
There's one last scenario left; let's see what it's like. In any case, I like the work of this author, but this particular map is too stressful, even though it's not bad.
P.S. Tolgar turned out to be quite simple compared to the regular Gnomes.

continue saves

What’s the point of the ceiling? Otherwise, it’s stuffy, and the creatures on the map are very strong. This is the second map from the trilogy that I’ve played, and I’ve noticed that the author doesn’t like Fortress, and there are very few enhancements on the map. It’s not a rushing map at all. But in general, it’s playable (I’ve played it before). Still, I enjoyed playing it. Thanks for the game.

A map with an unclear lore, which is heavily connected to previous maps where your main hero dies, as was the case with Grover. Regarding the balance, here are my points:
1. Why ban spells if you give the dwarves an infinite spawn with an additional army, which is also illogical, forcing you to kill each hero 500 times.
2. Why reduce experience if you set a hero level limit?
3. Why set such a high defense for the Flame Rune, unlike the defense for the Axe, I could still accept that the Axe can be easily subdued, but breaking through 30k bears, 30k warriors, 5k elders, 30k harpooners, and 10k berserkers is just "idiotic".
4. The map's landscape is extremely unplayable, and everything points to a single build, a build focused on the Engineer, because due to the limited mines, you cannot build a magic guild and progress normally with magic. Also, regeneration is banned, so what's the point of having 1 paladin in the army if any pack can one-shot him?
Regarding the unplayability of the landscape, I should note that I played with skillful logistics using boots, carts, and light magic, which indicates a normal build.
5. The Prophet, who is inaccessible due to the high pressure from the elves. If you kill the elves and go to the Prophet, you will face high pressure from the dwarves, through which you can lose all your castles.
In general, the map is extremely unplayable for any hero, no matter what build you choose or how well you play.
Rating: 4/10

I completed this scenario on Hero difficulty.

Walkthrough

Edward immediately receives level 12, Light, and starts with Light, as well as Darkness and Defense skills. The neutrals here are strong, and there is a time-limited quest, so in the first week, I hired Vittorio and played with two heroes at once, often transferring the army. In the third week, enemies arrive; knowing this, I played a bit defensively, sending Vittorio to the sea in advance and leaving Edward in the city. The elves were afraid to attack the castle. Vittorio captured the lighthouse, but the dwarves caught up with him there, and he had to surrender. On day 23, Vittorio, with pikemen and peasants, defeated Anwen and Faidaen in the field; the total losses were 11 peasants and 50 pikemen.

Then, Vittorio broke through the elven garrison: first, he took 7 peasants, attacked, and retreated; after that, he won the battle (losses: 6 peasants, 7 crossbowmen). On day 29, he captured their city, killing Dirael (losses: 11 pikemen). You can hire some elves, but they won't grow in numbers. I agreed to convert it into a level 1 human city. I completed the time-limited quest on day 49 (it had to be completed within 3 months), choosing the option to complete it through a prophet. Gradually, I defeated the elves (they kept running away), captured and converted another elven city, and on day 92, the green player lost.

I gained experience for Edward on the neutrals and used him to explore the map, while Vittorio trained and gathered an army from three cities. Regeneration and vampirism are forbidden; I received resurrection late (it wasn't available in three cities). I lost 6 archangels guarding the mentor. I gave Edward the Light, Darkness, Defense, Marauding, and Magic Attraction build. Level 27 is the development limit here.

Dwarves were running around the map; I attacked enemies with very low danger, and they retreated in auto-battle. Where the danger was low, I didn't attack immediately but waited for Vittorio to bring troops. The enemy heroes are always weak, but there are many of them, and they respawn with an army. For some reason, orc chieftains sometimes appeared in the enemy armies. I captured cities manually, with archangels without losses. On day 225, I captured the second dwarven city, and the enemies stopped respawning. With inquisitors and 12 pikemen, I defeated a huge dwarven army without losses (10885 bears, 759 dragons...) and received the Flame Rune for the quest. I defeated Tolgar with one squad of inquisitors under antimagic. The scenario was completed in 242 days.

I still didn't understand what overall development strategy the author had in mind. In the comments, all walkthrough options involve restarts so that Edward would be lucky with his skills. I played differently, but my strategy will also not work in every situation.

The gameplay here is quite unique; I would say that this scenario is more about logistics than about battles. There are predominantly negative reviews in the thread, and I understand why... But I have mostly positive impressions, so, as always...
Thank you very much for the map!