Posts from "Ashes' Will" - "The Last Soul" [2nd campaign, 1st mission]

I didn't even get a chance to start playing, and I'm already stuck:( Every time I visit the witch's hut, the red faction declares war on me. Their army is much larger than mine, and I have no chance. How did you guys get past it? What should I do about the red faction? Please don't just write "I breezed through it in 5 minutes." Something more helpful would be better. And please, be more detailed:smile45:
I guess I was just having a bad day yesterday. It was easy the second time around.

Guys, can you tell me where to find the top half of the key? I've looked everywhere.

Explore all the portals available. There's a portal in the south, and a second Necropolis castle is located slightly to the left and south of it; there's also a portal there, guarded by elementals, and one half of the key is located there. The second half, as far as I remember, is with Lord Giovanni. If it's not there, follow the road north (there might be a portal there too) from the first castle you captured. If it's not there either, go to the eastern portal, which is guarded by Demonesses. Explore the map thoroughly; finding the halves of the key isn't that difficult. I completed this mission on my first try. Pay attention to details. And this isn't the second campaign; it's the very beginning, the prologue. This is the first campaign!

I think I've checked everything, but I can't find the bottom half of the key anywhere. I've searched all the portals.

the lower half is located south of your first captured Castle (look for it there).

Hello, my name is Sasha. I started a campaign as the Tribes of the East. This is the first time I've played a game like this, and I'm stuck on the second mission where I need to find a key. My problem is with upgrading my units and hero. Whenever I encounter a red enemy, they have at least twice as many units, and they have new types of units as well. I conquer the entire first forest, but as soon as I enter the second one, they're there, and the game is over.

has anyone tried to complete this mission on the "Hero" difficulty level?
I tried, and after capturing the first castle, I was left with only 19 zombies. It seems like the game glitched, and with a luck bonus of +2, it was dropping for almost every unit every turn.

then the red hero came...

how did you guys complete this mission on the hero difficulty?

Regarding the keys: Both halves of the key are with the dragons. 1) The first half is with the Bone Dragon (it's near a Castle; I don't remember what color the player's Castle was, but it's the easiest Castle to capture; search around it). 2) The second half is also with a dragon. Giovanni said that the second half is with a similar creature, and this key (I mean, the half of the key) is located near the Red player. Just gather a larger army and go into battle. Now, regarding the difficulty. In my opinion, you should start by playing the game on an easier difficulty level. Now, regarding the old woman who gives you the ability to make improvements in the Castle. I didn't go to this old woman at all. Of course, it's good to have the strongest units, but there's another way to improve your army. Near the weakest Castle, there's a Tower guarded by a Lich. Kill the Lich, and you can go and improve your soldiers.

Added 4 minutes later
Sorry, I forgot. I didn't write where you need to go after you find all the halves. You need to go to the Elemental Forge. They will forge the key for you, and then you need to go to the portal guarded by demons.

Now, regarding the difficulty. In my opinion, you should start by playing the game on an easier level.

But I already completed it on an easier level a long time ago... now I decided to play through it again, but I got stuck on this mission.
The question remains: is there anyone who has completed this mission on Hero difficulty, or not?

ntktuby, if you're playing these games for the first time, you should have started with "Heroes 5":confused:, not with the second expansion pack:cool:. The entire first campaign is like a "tutorial":D. At worst, try fighting your "red" enemies by lowering the difficulty level to "beginner":smile13:, or whatever it's called, recruit, I think.

ntktuby, if you're playing these games for the first time, you should have started with "Heroes 5":confused:, not the second expansion:cool:. The entire first campaign is like a "tutorial":D. At worst, try fighting your "red" enemies by lowering the difficulty to "beginner":smile13:, or whatever it's called, recruit, I think.

I agree with you halfway. When switching to the 2nd expansion, you need to learn how to level up your hero again, as the skill wheel has changed significantly. Therefore, there is no point in starting with the vanilla version. As for completing the campaigns, I completely agree. There is a mod that allows you to play all campaigns in version 3.0. In the first campaign, even a beginner can complete the first 4 missions with a hero, as no one can prevent them from gathering a huge army. The first problems may arise only in the 5th mission. Here, a beginner can also lower the difficulty level.

Hmm, I completed this mission using a hero. Before this, I hadn't played Warlords of the Horde (only the prologue campaign, of course), and I've only played Heroes 5 about 10 times, and only in PvP. But I've been playing Heroes 3 since the release of the Armageddon's Blade expansion, about twice a week (PvP). Getting back to the point: the mission was completed relatively easily:

1. Test run. Just reviewing the map, marking points (I always look at the map first). The AI defeated me quite easily – on the fourth week, after visiting the witch.
2. The actual game:

I reached the first Castle without losing a single unit in any battle. I didn't touch the manticore or the archers guarding the pile of gold. I took the Castle, preserving all the vampires (22 units) and 12 zombies (I replayed it about 7 times to find the tactically correct formation). After that, with the support of the vampires, I raided the mines. By the end of the 4th week, I took the Mountain Fortress (all the dwellings in the Castle were built, but not upgraded (because it's not allowed) by the middle of the third week). By the end of the 2nd month, the Red Castle fell; it didn't cause any particular problems because, on the 5th week, I approached its Castle with such a force that it couldn't take the Castle, and it couldn't defeat me in the field. I set up a blockade, positioning myself right next to the Castle. As a result, I received reinforcements from my home Castle (three heroes specifically purchased, and reinforcements only take one day, the first DD), and from all available dwellings, while it just sat there, afraid to come out. The main striking force in that battle was one and a half hundred High Vampires (I resurrected a lot of them, and I had a good number of my own). And the AI took the Green Castle on auto-battle with almost no losses on the 6th day of the 4th week of the 3rd month. There you go!)

Thanks for the reply... I probably couldn't beat it because I didn't replay the battles multiple times... I kept trying to solve the problem on the fly.

Koroun I just don't understand one thing:
how did you manage to transfer reinforcements in one day? :confused:
like, using some kind of "relay" system?
and what are these "abbreviations" - DD and PvP? :confused:

valleriv Reinforcements - yes, like a relay race. Three heroes are enough.

Abbreviations: DD stands for the smiley :D. And PvP means playing against a real person - PvP - player vs player. Playing against the computer - PvE - player vs environment.