Posts from Demon invasion. Auto-translated

I didn't notice that the stats don't decrease when experience is removed, so I replayed and rebuilt the Castle. I cleared the entire island and the lighthouse guards in the sea, gathered a good army from the Castle and dwellings, upgraded the Mage Guild, although I only managed to get the Blind spell, and on level 5, there was nothing worthwhile at all. Then I went through the portal, defeated the Hydras and Cyclops without any losses, teleported to the underground, immediately went back up, summoned a ship, and sailed to the purple lands. There, Grobok himself was waiting for me with a medium difficulty level, but due to the special ability, he had no chance of winning, even in his Castle. However, he was losing to me, so I did the following. I took the left purple Castle; he almost caught up with me. On the next turn, I rushed to the right Castle; he captured the Castle, and I pulled away even further, took the right Castle, grabbed the Amulet of the Blood Claw guarded by angels, and escaped through a two-way portal to the island, and from there to the underground. Keegan chased after me with an army even larger than Grobok's and a huge movement range. While he was catching up, I used 3 movement boosters, defeated the red gatekeeper, took out a nearby Krag, and calmly teleported back to my Castle. Meanwhile, the purple faction was defeated because it didn't have a Castle for a week. Only orange remains, but now it has 5 Castles and 2 heroes, each of which I can't kill yet...

What is the hero's skill build?

I’ll continue… I returned to my Castle, gathered all the reinforcements, and went back into the dungeon, where I found the Ring of Swiftness and obtained the Staff of the Underworld. There, Keegan caught up with me, but despite the high difficulty, I defeated him without much trouble /attachments/52398/>. Grobok had also been chasing me through the dungeon for a long time; several heroes were bringing him reinforcements, so I decided to run further away. I sailed to the former castles of the purple faction, took them, and Grobok was still stuck in the dungeon, trying to gather all his troops together. So, I decided to go to his territory, cleared out the garrison and 600 Cyclops at Tom Dark without any losses. I captured all the cities, visited all the upgrade locations; I had 47 attack points, and after a week, Grobok self-destructed because he didn't have a Castle (it's almost disappointing; I will definitely replay and fight him). Or maybe defeats shouldn't be counted when there is no Castle. Screenshots of the build-up and final stage are attached (there are some extra perks; I just didn’t have enough money for the Mentor): https://i.imgur.com/2eY4DjZ.jpg, https://i.imgur.com/scsGvQ7.jpg

UPD. It seems I figured out why Grobok was acting so strangely in the dungeon. He either doesn't have the ship summoning ability or he somehow doesn't want to use it. I just checked – I moved a secondary hero with a ship to the exit to the surface where the Emerald Dragons were, and he immediately ran there and sailed to capture my Castle. Whether this is a bug or an intentional design choice, it should be fixed

Cool, Gerter, cool!))

Added after 32 seconds
You're playing on such a difficult setting...

in the second mission, there's a cool trick)

There's a garrison between the Necropolis and the Stronghold that's separated, and it gets filled with a large army when it's first approached. If you put 7 level 1 Imps in it, the garrison will be left with those 7 Imps instead of thousands of Necrophages when it's first approached, and then you can easily defeat it, thus securing your path to the Necropolis Castle.

The final battle wasn't particularly difficult (probably because I played it after a single-player map). By chance, the Witch's Hut contained Light Magic. After some thought, I equipped my hero with the following:

1) Ring -2 Spirits
2) Ring of Sinners
3) Dwarven Hammer
4) Dwarven Helmet
5) Sar Iss Armor (Dragon Armor would have been more useful, but it's no use crying over spilled milk)
6) Dwarven Boots
7) Amulet of Skill (wasn't useful)
8) Ice Shield
9) Necromancer's Cloak
10) Clover

There aren't many buffs on the map (a flag, sacrificing 1 Imp for 2 luck, and an idol (in the Necropolis)). Since the Overlord has huge resistance and a thousand and a half Imps, there was no point in casting spells, so I dumped Black Magic, taking Machines, Attack, Defense, Bonus Damage (in vain), and Magic Resistance, and Luck with Resistance and Wide Gates, and Light Magic with Fire Protection.

As a result, the enhanced Armageddon, which used to deal 5k damage to each enemy in single-player, now had (50% Fire Resistance, 50% Ice Shield, 25% Dwarven Hammer, 2 gnomish items (40%), 15% Magic Reflection, and 15% Magic Resistance), and wasn't so scary, and in the battle, the Vampire Princes were the ones who took the most damage, but they also retreated.

For this battle against Black Magic, a Torturing Strike might be useful, but it's not worth investing in that branch just for it.

I didn't build up the army for long; the army size was 79-112-267-595-1265-1934-2420.

Calling for reinforcements allowed me to save part of the army from the upper cities, which were being attacked by the Knights. The lower right castle was the first to fall; I don't know how anyone manages to keep it. My hero (who was always ahead of Sigrif in level) couldn't withstand the first Knight in direct combat without serious losses, so he ran around with 7 Imps and mowed down his army with a ballista, Ice Bolt, Devil's Strike, and Subjugation. But at the same time, I managed to gather a spell from 3 castles.

Reading the reviews, I also reloaded at the very beginning to find the artifact for spellcasting behind the bears; 10 attempts gave me the Phoenix Cloak, which I agreed to take :)

And the Mentor is a pain; he's invulnerable. The first time, there were 300+ Lava Dragons, which couldn't be pitted against each other, and it takes a long time to defeat them with ice and a ballista, and there's no time for that because you need to either bite or defeat the Knights. By the time I finished, there were 2282 of them, so I couldn't use the Mentor, but that's okay. In single-player, I encountered Crystal Dragons, which I could have defeated, but I didn't. In the campaign, I just wasn't lucky with the guards (the price for the Phoenix Cloak). Because of the lack of access to the Mentor, all the other heroes, except for my hero and Sigrif, were useless, even though they could afford to cast a single Devil's Strike.

In the battles against Faidaen and Duncan, I had the following equipment (Dragon Ring, Ring -2 Spirits, Mage Staff, 4 gnomish items, +1 damage, Dragon Cloak, and Horseshoe; it's perfect for defeating them in the castle, but it's scary in direct combat).

Added after 15 hours 44 minutes
in the third mission, there's a trick that the main hero can't surrender in battle, otherwise it's a defeat.

in any case, when the portal to the Orange lands was guarded by three hundred Thunderbirds, I calmly reduced their numbers and retreated.

When I surrendered in a battle against the Crypt, it counted as a defeat; when I fled, it seemed to be okay.

Too bad that you have to buy Machines again after raiding him with the main hero

In the third mission, there's a quirk: the main hero cannot surrender in battle, otherwise it's a loss.

You can retreat instead of surrendering; at least, that's what the mission instructions say.

I specifically registered to leave a comment. In general, I played until the point where they took everything away, and it became uninteresting. Regarding the hardcore mode, the way to progress is to max out defense with Battle to the Last and Leadership with Devour, then I easily defeated everyone in packs of 4 Imps. For Colossi, I surrounded them with summoned Imps, so only one of them attacks, and the other two defend, and then I attacked with magic. It turns out that the Thunderclap spell needs to be cast ten times to defeat real Imps. And in the same way, it's easy to defeat Angels, and generally almost everyone.

Lex, could you explain the current state of the game and how challenging the campaign is?

I'm currently on the 4th campaign, with two cities and four heroes (my main hero is level 31, Orlando and Agrael are both level 28, and Alastor is level 28 – I bought him because I needed another hero, but I didn't have much luck finding one in the castle). I control almost the entire territory around my second castle, except for the arena and the quiver (which are behind a portal guarded by titans and thunderbirds; I still need to deal with them), as well as the entire territory up to the garrison and the Inferno outpost.

However, I reached this point in the single-player campaign as well, and I don't know what to expect next.

In the single-player version, the number of overlords was equal to the hero's level, and there were astral gates that spawned new heroes and instantly resurrected them, making the campaign much easier.

The Orc now only scares everyone once (instead of constantly), which makes the game easier, although I personally liked the constant scare effect.

I haven't encountered any bugs during battles so far, and I've faced all types of enemies.
The hero specialization is now quite good, and the enhanced version with two magic beacons, allowing for a "hit and run" tactic in battle, is very useful.

I should note that I haven't encountered either Markal or Arantir in this campaign. Are they unavailable?

In the single-player game, I used Arantir to complete the first campaign, and in the 4th campaign, Markal joined my mentor's guard after I cleared it of mummies and dead horses, as well as the guard of Sandro's cloak. In the first campaign, after a certain point, I started finding only Necromancers in the tavern, so I was lucky that I had bought one demon (Grok) and kept him in the castle; he was the one who added archdemons to my army. But I didn't find either Arantir or Markal (I even avoided the undead in the 4th campaign for a while, waiting for Markal, but I got tired of it).

My main hero is specialized in machines and mentorship, and he needs only 5 more skills to unlock the super-gate opening. (Agrael already has the super-gate opening, and Orlando is only one level away).

- Urkas scares everyone only once, but his attacks with the Krag's Disruptor ability are effective

Are these heroes from some mod? It looks like cheating, especially with Markel. I've been playing this mission for 5 months now, and my army is steadily growing. I've even managed to get the Tears of Ashtar. But I can't even get to the dragons guarding the Ring of Speed. The enemies attack in an organized manner, one after another, almost every week. Astrid is defeated without much trouble, but the demons are killed by the titans because of the initiative artifacts. The Orc is a bit more difficult, but I can fight him normally in his castle. The Elf is very weak; he came once and now runs around with a weak army and doesn't attack. Occasionally, the weak Mive comes, and she's defeated with a trade of a couple of dozen demons. Axel has visited twice, and he was difficult to fight. In short, I don't know what to do yet. I tried to make a raid, easily captured the blue castles, but then Duncan appeared, and there's no chance against him without high-level Dark creatures, which, in theory, are only in the library under heavy guard. To get to them, I need to break through the Mentor, to get the Light with Storm Wind, but I don't know how to break through him without heavy losses. Or, there's an option to simply accumulate a very large army to be enough for Duncan, constantly repelling attacks, but as I understand it, the enemies get stronger each time, and sooner or later, the losses will exceed the gains. In general, I need to think

I should note that I didn't encounter either a Markal or an Arantir throughout the entire campaign; are they prohibited?

Well, generally, when merging maps into a campaign, I prohibit all heroes from the campaigns from appearing on them, but I must have missed someone.

Added 1 minute ago

which, in theory, is only in the library under strict guard

The spells themselves are not prohibited on the map. In the main castle of the Humans, you can build a guild up to level 5; you can also use an eagle to learn spells from Vittorio if he is willing to use dark magic...

So, my overpowered heroes with the Initiative aura just sit in the castles with gold sacks and don't bother anyone. On his side, Alaric, Isabel (who has a massive Divine Might skill), and Frida (it's unclear what kind) are running around. However, they have a small army and a low level, so they don't cause any major problems. Alaric's only advantage is in his starting skills (Artificial Attack and Frenzy at level 1). My overpowered initiative heroes haven't fought a single battle because I don't let anyone near them. The biggest threat in battles right now is the Orc, Urkas.

He defeats enemies with his main hero (either with a full army or Imps, depending on what he has), and he also uses Alastor, from whom I took Dark Magic with a mentor, and the new Leto, from whom I also plan to take it and give him Spellpower (since he has the Phoenix Cloak and 2 fire spells of level 3), the last two fight until the very end and have siege engines with a tent.

But you can't fight much with Darkness with maximum Dispel and Cursed Ground, there's no Unholy Word or Berserk/Subdue, and I haven't even found the path to the library yet, and I don't have enough Dragon Armor yet.

Since I've already acquired the Mentor and Sandro's Cloak, I don't need Markel that much, but I would really like to get Arantir, but he doesn't appear, and it seems he won't. :(

In the main castle of the Haven faction, you can build a guild up to level 5.

Wow, thanks for the tip, now it's clear what to do.

UPD. I think I figured out the reason for the Necropolis hero's stupidity in the Dungeon. Either he doesn't have the ability to summon a ship, or he doesn't want to use it for some reason. I just checked - I brought a secondary hero's ship to the exit to the surface, where the Emerald Dragons were, and he immediately ran there and started sailing to capture my castle. It's either a bug or the author's intention, but it should be fixed.

and could you comment on this, please?

I have 6.5 in-game months played. Knowing that Vitya becomes more active after capturing 1 blue Castle, I haven't touched any of them yet, although I could have captured 5 already. There's a trick: when looting the treasure vaults of Mages or Dragons, you get one random Dragon artifact. I found a piece of armor, completed the set, and gave it to the main Castle. Besides the complete set, I have 2 crowns, 1 ring, 1 pair of boots, and 1 cloak. I can assemble a second set. The treasure vaults of Mages and Dragons are on my territory, and my hero moves quickly with 2 pairs of boots. What's your problem with doing raids on the Library's guards using only Imps? You can reduce their numbers that way. The Necromancer's cloak and ring, along with the Spirit, will help you fight to the last. For example, the Mentor's guard was reduced to a size where it's "good for gaining experience" after just two raids; you can spend more time on the Library. (The guard is very powerful - http://c2n.me/3PNWwBd - but I think it's passable). I haven't found the way to it yet, and I don't have the Tears either; there's also one more obelisk somewhere. Maybe I'll get lucky and be able to assemble a second Dragon set by that time

I'm leveling up one hero, there's no mentorship, and I can't venture far from the castle, especially when an Orc shows up; fighting him in open battle is tough. I'll try to gather an army from two cities for another month, plus I'll grab Ash's tear. Then, I'll conquer all the blue factions, and if things go well, Darkness will spawn in the human castle, which will make dealing with Duncan easier.

Lex, could you explain the pricing and how extensive the campaign is?

No, I didn't even complete the first mission. I got to the point where I was thrown to the other side of the map, and my level and skills were taken away, and for some reason, I lost interest. I was talking about the very first Titans, that I defeated them with four Imps each.

Well, you really went for it! Duncan is the final boss, after all!