Posts from Walkthroughs for custom maps.

Okay, I've figured out how Flight works! I made a test map, experimented, and now it's all clear. Later, I decided to check something else, and it was worth it. Pomazok1329 was absolutely right. I'm attaching my findings with screenshots. They will be useful for both players and mapmakers. So, flying over land works exactly as described in the game manual:

A hero can move through water and any objects on the adventure map, but cannot stop on them.

Another important, but not obvious, nuance: flying over land allows you to fly over any objects without interacting with them, BUT if you fly over a cell with an event, the event will trigger. Most likely, the same applies to the sea. The author of "Jedi story" even placed an ambush in one location on the sea that can only be bypassed with Fast Combat enabled; otherwise, the game will produce an error and crash.
And here's flying over water (surprise!) actually works almost the same as... walking on water: you can move from land to land only on empty water cells or cells with rocks. I tried to bend the trajectory in every possible way, and it clearly showed that it bypasses passage guardians, monsters, and border guardians, but ignores rocks.
Another interesting nuance was revealed here: the author of "007 chases Dr No" didn't randomly place these two water paths on the very edge of the map! The fact is that the standard map editor does not allow you to create a bridge-passage across an empty space less than 2 cells wide. The same applies to water: the minimum width of a channel is 2 cells. And only on the very edge of the map can you create a path or channel 1 cell wide. So, the author really thought everything through deeply.

The map is called "Wings of Heaven." Could you please tell me where to find and kill the crystal dragons to open the gate? My playthrough has stalled at this step. Alternatively, I need to find a white tent, but I can't find it anywhere on the open map!

The map is called "Wings of Heaven." Could you please tell me where to find and kill the crystal dragons to open the gate? I'm stuck at this step in the walkthrough, or maybe I need to find a white tent, but I can't find it anywhere on the open map!

Please share your save file.

I've updated the previous post with new details about flying over water and added new screenshots: it turned out to be even more interesting. I also added information about activating the event during flight.

Thanks, but my nerves couldn't take it anymore. I had a Scroll of Flight, and I didn't want to use it, but I had to in order to get out of the stalemate and kill Christian...

And was the scroll obtained by you in a fair manner? If so, then you have the right to use it as much as you like. Moreover, as I have already clarified above, flying over water still has a number of non-obvious limitations: flying over water near objects with which you can interact (primarily quest-related ones) is prohibited.

Yes, the scroll was obtained from a WOG (World of Xeen: Remake) chest.

I looked at the screenshots and drew a conclusion:
"When flying over water, if there are monsters, items, or objects on the water that require stopping for interaction (landing on water is not permitted), they must be flown around – you cannot fly over them. The trajectory can be any, as long as there are enough movement points to reach an empty cell on land."
This isn't about quests, but rather that interacting with any of these objects requires landing on the water. And it is not permitted for a hero without a boat to land on water.
In connection with this, a question arose (inspired by HotA). If a hero in a boat activates flight, can they fly over obstacles (patches of land) on the water? Dimension Door seemingly allows this (although I haven't had the chance to check).
Checked it - teleporting in a boat is no problem (the main thing is that it's onto water), but flying would be too much.

yes, the scroll was obtained from a WoG chest.

Remember: Never play RPG-style maps in WoG! The map "Wings of Heaven" is exactly this genre. This applies to all maps where there are clear restrictions on hero or city development, mandatory tasks from seers and gatekeepers, as well as key tents, border guards, and border gates. In WoG, a number of things happen according to different rules, and purely WoG-specific features are added (commanders, army experience, etc.). And if the map is also WoG-ified at the start, then a number of objects will change on it and be replaced by others. In WoG, you can use the abilities of commanders to join part of the monsters you have to fight, etc.

I’ll add that such maps cannot be played on Heroes of Might and Magic Online either. While it doesn’t completely break the gameplay, several critical issues will arise.

I'm currently playing through Paragon. Do you have any ideas on how to win this battle without any losses? Here's the save file: https://yadi.sk/d/UdIBJ8tG3KS4vE

You can almost do it without any losses (it’s a pity that the enemy is immune to blindness; otherwise, it would be great). Once you get the hang of it, Berserk and clones of Archangels will help you.

Marmot Just finished a battle, and I can say I won, but I refused such a victory where half of my troops were lost. I held the gates, using Archangels, then Ancient Beasts (I had to cast Antimagic on the Beasts because the enemy was casting attack spells on them). My catapult was destroyed by a Berserker. The battle, like other battles in Paragon, was interesting and long (thank you to the map creator (Rince) for the good "balance" of the fight).
In general, the enemy often uses teleportation (when the gates are held), Meteor Shower, and a very unpleasant spell like... healing, which heals her troops from the Berserker. She uses it very often (approximately 8 times). The creature is not blinded and does not have a supply wagon (which prevents me from executing a tactic where I almost eliminate the enemy's ranged unit stack, so that when only the enemy's ranged units remain, I can use a clone to heal my troops with Archangels). I brought her to the point where she spent all her mana, but she started "spitting" Titan's Thunder (600 damage). To escape the "teleport," the Ancient Beasts, Snipers, Archangels, and Riders retreated into the Castle (i.e., switched places with the enemy), and when the enemy used teleport again and entered their Castle, all the infantry units could not leave the Castle.
In this battle, I think you need to ensure that the enemy's last troops remain in the Castle when the enemy runs out of mana. A lot of mana will be needed.
Do any forum members have any ideas on how to come out unscathed (without losses)? Should I take a supply wagon for the archers, so that... although the enemy often uses Armageddon? Should I bring in Golden Dragons to hold the gates, as they have immunity to magic, or if I have the Sphere of Vulnerability, can the enemy cast something on my Golden Dragons? It's a pity that I can't cast "Antimagic" on the enemy to prevent them from resurrecting, sacrificing, or teleporting.

Yes, if you have the Sphere of Vulnerability, the enemy will be able to cast spells on your troops that previously had immunity. A feature (asymmetry) of the Sphere of Vulnerability (quote from FizMiGa):

The medal has a different effect for its owner and the opponent: the owner can cast previously unusable spells on both their own and enemy troops. The opponent also gains the ability to cast previously unusable spells, but only on the units of the medal's owner.

http://www.celestialheavens.com/search2.php?map_name=007+Chases+Dr%25+No&author_name=&size=&nr_players=&playing_type=&version=&sort_by=map_name&order=asc&multiplayer=&month=&year=&minimaps=on&results1=20&page=1&action=search&submit=Search
http://heroesportal.net/maps/view/2624 (discussion is useful in some places)

* Attention: in the map version V.13/2011, currently downloadable from both sites, a leveled-up heroine with a bunch of the strongest artifacts has been added to the map! The player definitely should not have her at the start. Therefore, do not download the map from there or delete Daremyth yourself! I played version V.12/2006, downloaded in 2010 from Heroesportal. I am attaching it.
Later (not on the first attempt) I found an archive with the map and author's description on Celestialheavens. And it turned out that even there it was V.13/2011, and Daremyth stands in the south with a mega-army and a bunch of artifacts. Therefore, I lean toward the assumption that the author himself placed this heroine only for testing and then simply forgot to remove her. But one can use cheat codes for testing. I will try to write to the author anyway – maybe he will respond and clear things up?
There is a version of this map called Abilities (apparently an earlier one, without Bond and without a plot), as well as a German version (most likely the English one was made from it: some of the texts remained in German). As I understand it, originally it was a "figure it out yourself" style map, and later the author decided to help the player with tips.
Genre: RPG.
Plot: James Bond chases Dr. No. But how to hit him? Only lots of barriers and drawbacks! That’s the reason for 007 swears like a trooper!
A Trip only for patient, expert heroes-players with a strong liability for game-savings. Not for beginners and romantic people. Who wins will be a tough guy!
So, this is the story of James Bond's mission to find and eliminate Doctor No, who is planning world domination.
Since the map is in English, you need to know the language or use a translator: there is a lot of useful information in the texts.

Everything written here is just my own point of view, and I do not claim to hold the ultimate truth, especially regarding the walkthrough. If you disagree with something – I will gladly listen to your opinion and will be happy to hear stories about your playthrough.

I tried to describe the main points and give the most important necessary tips so that you do not make fatal mistakes and can complete the map on your first attempt. If you like to figure everything out on your own – do not read what follows from the "Drawbacks" section until you encounter difficulties.

It should be said that some features of the map can be viewed as both pros and cons (more on this below).
A sufficiently interesting map to play through where you need to think.
The tasks the author sets for the player are not difficult and are logical; today's players are unlikely to find them challenging. The map does not compare to modern brain-melting champions ("Xiedu", "Metataxer’s revenge"...).
The player almost constantly receives necessary hints in events. By reading these texts, one can avoid the main troubles and unexpected surprises. At the same time, there are no full ready-made instructions: some things must be figured out by yourself.
There is a plot with a fair amount of healthy humor (the message on day 30 is a great example!). At the same time, there isn't too much text to tire the player.
The variance of random factors, different skills of the main hero, and different player approaches lead to every playthrough being unique. Even if you want to play the map again – something will go differently.
Except for the initial and final stages of the playthrough, as well as the transition to the Dungeon in the middle of the game, you have almost complete freedom of action: heroes, army, where and when to go – all at your discretion. Even Bond, although he is the main character according to the plot, is not required to perform the main tasks himself.
Absence of grueling prolonged battles, which often test us in difficult author maps.
Absence of legion-sized monsters or ambushes.
The main hero can be maxed out (my Bond with artifacts had skills 99/99/99/99).
With the exception of Resurrection, Raise Dead, Town Portal, Fly, and Dimension Door, which can only be obtained in designated locations, all spells are allowed.
There are plenty of artifacts on the map and, except for those granting the aforementioned spells, they are all allowed.
The Grail is buried in such a place that enemies can certainly never reach it. Unfortunately, it happens that AI enemies manage to dig up the Grail before you find out where it is.

A certain dependence on random factors (starting "deal"), primarily regarding the disposition of green dragons. At the same time, this might prompt some experienced players to generate "chocolate" for themselves via restarts from the very beginning.
One of the first commandments for map makers: the spread of random factors should not lead to the map becoming impassable! And it is one thing to have a unique set of circumstances that is hard to foresee (the aforementioned case with the Grail), and quite another to have "rakes" that you set with your own hands. There are 2 such rakes here.
The Water Walking scroll located in the south is a false goal and an extremely unfortunate one: to obtain it, you must visit 3 keymaster tents and pass 4 passage guards, one of whom requires you to give 25 green dragons. It is not worth taking this scroll: you will spend a lot of time, you might not even gather that many dragons (as happened to me), and their value is too high. Later in another place you will get Boots of Levitation, and you can cross to the north from the cape in cell 136,92 using a boat if you do everything correctly. Consequently, this drawback is a major, critical flaw if you decide to go by water and you are unlucky and joined fewer than 25 green dragons (and failed to get the barbarian's boat) – you have to start the playthrough over. I don't know what the author thought about this, but apparently other players did give away the dragons. Then, to cross by water to the island, it is necessary that one hero has expert scouting + telescope + spyglass. However, the author overlooked one option (exactly my case): if the Brown player's random town turned out to be a Tower, the watchtower in it opens the way. Furthermore, even after crossing by water to the "training" island, without scouting the lands to the west, you cannot proceed further (judging by the event texts on the map, the author planned for the player to cross by water to the west and head toward the center). Vladimir Belkin got out of this difficulty thus: when an enemy sailed from the north, he took his boat. But that is luck and might not have happened in the near future. Also, to go west, you must stumble upon a serious ambush and defeat monsters with minimal losses – at this stage, it is not easy at all, especially without dragons. Moreover: water magic is forbidden on the map specifically because of this tricky combination, so that the player cannot create a boat, but the author seemingly didn't think of a simple and honest way to acquire one. If you also figured out how to cross by boat – please write about it.
Even though we know in advance (we are warned) that enemies from the Dungeon will appear on the surface (via one-way monoliths), neither the time nor the location of their appearance are known beforehand (there is a very large variance here). On many maps, the appearance of enemies is implemented such that it happens on a strictly specified day (or slightly later). If you are unlucky and a strong enemy cuts off your path forward – consider the game lost. And while, for example, on the map "The Lone knight," after such an enemy appears, you can accumulate troops, level up, and beat this enemy in 2-3 weeks, here that is impossible because by normal means from towns on the surface you can only get weak troops, so dealing with these enemies will have to wait until almost the finale.
Starting from day 3, Bond can receive useful skills, but at this time the player (during the first playthrough) does not yet know which skills are needed. He may act based on general considerations, but he might make a mistake in some things – this will also affect the difficulty of the playthrough. In general, in RPG genre maps, it would be better to either give the main hero the necessary skills from the start, ensure obtaining these skills during the playthrough, or at least state directly: he needs such-and-such skills. Such an important component of the game cannot be left to chance! Here, you can reach almost the finale and realize that you have to replay from the very beginning! To make sure everything works out for you, I will tell you about the necessary skills later. By the way, Literacy, which Bond has from the start, would be better suited for a secondary hero. And why are skills given to Bond by scholars, rather than witch huts, which are located further away and do not give specific skills?
The strongest enemy hero appearing once on the surface, Tunar, has the Fly spell from the start! This is overkill. The thermonuclear nature of this threat is compensated only by the incomprehensibility of his behavior: in my case, Tunar, having flown over all southern lands and visited Mazehouse and Norric, did not capture a single city and did not defeat a single hero. Even when he flew near Bond, he didn't touch him. He only captured 4 mines and a lighthouse. First time I see such a thing in "Heroes": usually the enemy grabs everything within reach and hits everyone he can. Whoever can explain this miracle, please speak up!
The quest component of the map is weakly implemented: of all the keymaster tents, only the Purple one needs to be visited. There are many passage guards, but mandatory tasks are few; others are either intended for enemies (almost all tasks and border guards in the Dungeon) or are only relatively useful.
The quest for 9999 powerful liches is cool, but the quantity is clearly excessive. Plus, the author doesn't warn us about this in advance, unlike the task for 3000 skeletons. Meanwhile, collecting skeletons turns out to be easier and faster.
Regarding obtaining the Shackles of War (mandatory artifact for one task!) - the situation is opposite to that with the Water Walking scroll: two passage guard quests in my case did not prevent the enemy from passing through and taking them. Why not put a guard there requiring the Blue player? It's good that I later defeated that enemy and got the Shackles before the question arose: where to look for them?
The author ensured that Resurrection and Town Portal could not be simply learned by us or the enemies. Yet, the Earth Magic Tome is blatantly poorly guarded, and an enemy could easily take it if they reach it.
Agent 008, also known as Chris, is needed for only one guard, and opening him (the guard) is not mandatory, I checked. That is, even if you leave 008 to pine in prison or he falls into enemy hands (which is extremely unlikely), it will not affect the playthrough.
The seer's task to kill Captain Huck – for whom and for what? Defeating this pirate in battle at the early stage of the playthrough is unrealistic. By the time you reach this seer, Captain Huck will disappear due to the loss of his city and will probably be recruited by you. And the reward (25 gorgons) for such a feat is frankly inadequate.
The last messages with text for the player (on days 150-170) about bonuses for Doctor No are marked as for Red, and therefore you will not see them in the game.
Inaccuracy in placing obstacles, because of which some guards can be bypassed (this is not critical, as there are other guards following, it's just that an attentive and not entirely honest player can simplify a couple of tasks for themselves).
Some monsters, clearly placed to guard artifacts, can join, especially a hero with diplomacy: most likely, the author forgot to set them to hostile.

Walkthrough tips, so as not to inflate the size of the review, I will attach to the post in a separate file: the text turned out to be quite long. I will also attach several useful screenshots.

I kept detailed notes for myself, but I won't bore you.
What I feared most:
1) making an unsuccessful choice or error at the initial stage that would fatally affect the playthrough, preventing its completion. In the end, my decisions proved correct.
2) Tunar, flying over my lands. The day came, and I defeated him.
3) that I wouldn't be able to fly to the enemy cities. I managed eventually.
4) that I wouldn't be able to accumulate 9999 liches within a reasonable timeframe, and then – that I wouldn't accumulate enough more to defeat the bosses. It turned out that there were enough liches for both tasks.
My victory came in the 9th month, 2nd week, 7th day.
Result:238 days. Grail found, dug up, installed, all enemies destroyed, all cities captured.
Probably, strong players, if they wish, can complete the map in about 6 months if they strive to optimize their actions and conduct all mandatory battles with the minimum necessary troops.
If anyone thinks or can practically beat Isra and Doctor No without the help of liches, tell me how to do it.
Frifix has several other maps that haven't received the same fame: "Erik the Viking", "A Dream of Mr. Defoe", as well as joint works with other authors and translations of German maps into English ("Knights of Cocoanut" and others).