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Map Name: Metataxer's Revenge
Version: English, 20.0
Author: Nautilus
Downloaded: from the Heroesportal map catalog
I can hardly believe it myself, but I have finally finished the walkthrough. This is the most time-consuming map I've ever played (keeping Rise of the Sun King in mind). I spent over a month of real time, which is about two weeks longer than what I needed to tackle Xiedu. I played with the feeling that I was going to work, with the only difference being that at work you don't have to strain yourself as much as during the MR walkthrough :)
I got the impression that the author purposefully tried to make the most difficult map for SoD. And it must be admitted that he came very close to realizing such a goal. The map is complex in every aspect: tight timings, logistics calculated down to the cell at the start, hidden passages and artifacts, a bunch of puzzles related to hero movement across the map, and as its main feature, an unprecedented combat component. The sign at point 0.53.1 contains the following text: "In obeicance to season, one of the best mapmakers ever" (yes, frifix's English translation here is quite clunky). Well, I can confidently state that the student has surpassed the teacher. To be honest, any of Season's scenarios are inferior in difficulty to MR (which doesn't mean they are worse, of course). From my own experience, only Limes Inferior (when playing at 200% you need to maintain a higher pace) and The Last Crusade (a much more complex map in terms of logistical puzzles) are harder than Metataxer in certain aspects. Again, let's remember Rise of the Sun King (I fear this scenario will remain something of a heroic enigma, given the author's negligent testing and the originally stated difficulty — on the author's site, MR is marked "standard", while RotSK is "extreme").
Regarding the similarity between MR and Season's maps. It is visible to the naked eye, of course, but there is absolutely no feeling of plagiarism. These analogies are perceived more as amusing easter eggs. At the same time, a mass of original ideas have been implemented on this map. MR was made in the VOG editor, like all the best maps of recent years (in my personal opinion); there are several episodes with object replacement, some quite insidious (for example, a swan pond instead of a fountain of luck at point 94.116.0 or invisible white gates at point 77.139.1).
The translation from German, as I've already written, is quite sloppy, but the texts on the map do not have any particularly important meaning for the walkthrough. At the beginning of the game, there will be a text message with hints:
1) the last day to leave the burning respawn is the sixth;
2) after this we will meet a companion with powerful own weapon;
3) on the seventh day you must kill the nomads;
4) a vague hint that you need to give away this very weapon;
5) the hero A Friend needs to reach level 18 to undergo transformation no later than day 21 (but actually by the 14th, whether it's an error or a deliberate mockery from the author);
6) Metataxer must be defeated within 13 months (actually there is a question keeper to whom you must send the re-bought Metataxer no later than 13.1.1, otherwise the map becomes impassable without angel wings).
The rest of the messages on the map are of little use. The only thing I would consider useful is the warning before the city of Bayou that the green heroes will vanish into oblivion after capturing this Castle, which must not be allowed, as the same question keepers on the way to Metataxer's palace request the scalps of Sleeper and Captain Rudy.
As for the plot, it is present here in a rudimentary form. The action takes place in the universe of Marods of Damelon (where the events of Bug-Race and Rise of the Sun King also occur); one of the starting messages contains characteristics of the heroes and gods who inhabit this world. The supreme deities here are Chaos, Metataxer, and Damelon. They are challenged by a group of heroes that we play. Among them are A Friend (protagonist, logistics specialist, who transforms into a shooting specialist as he goes), Smash Downhill (swordsmen specialist, whose sole purpose is to give the armor of wonders to Resus), Mr. Fat (attack specialist, who must win a famous battle with 5 snipers and 1 crystal dragon against hero Sir Lock with 20 rusty dragons and 160 imps, although it seems the map can be completed even if you lose this battle), Mr. Vertigo (Wizard specialist, actively used at the start in key positions, but later needed primarily for fetch-quests due to a lack of intelligence), LiLaLauneBear (intelligence specialist and for the most difficult battles), Brewster (logistics expert; there are locations on the map that only he can reach), Sepello (defense specialist, capable of quickly turning into a tank and breaking through specific guards). But the plot is not detailed. It's unclear why Metataxer intends to take revenge on someone. In my case, he unleashed his wrath upon Damelon, wiping out his entire army with four Armageddons.
Now for the walkthrough itself. I am ninety percent sure that without a general idea of the map and without periodically using hints from RoseKavalier, I wouldn't have managed. The map has a very tricky start. Here you should either study the walkthrough plan for the first three weeks in detail or replay the beginning countless times. I took the first path. Global goals for the first month are to complete the transformation on time and prepare to break through heroes Wendigo and Boss. Resurrection and a sniper's bow will be very appropriate by this point. After that, you can relax a bit, but I tried not to slow down, guided by the following: the timer for hero One Eye to leave the city of Sharp Corner. Upon leaving, there is a very high probability he will take the sign of courage, and how to counter his shooters after that remains a mystery to me. And as a nice bonus — reach Pandora's box with additional troops before 3.1.1 (surprisingly, I made it).
And now to the main part. The main thing on this map is the battles. The player is required to overcome simply unimaginable brutality throughout almost the entire scenario (you can only breathe after the fight with Nosferatu near the end of the map). Main strike stacks are titans, Wizards and archdevils in very modest numbers; later there will be archangels, ancient monsters, vampire lords for Sepello; auxiliary ones — pegasi, mages, ghosts, djinns, dragonflies, imps, ifrits, phoenixes and other small things. Enemy heroes are expected to have massive armies and stats, very often supported by immunity to mind magic due to signs of courage and shackles of war included (I am attaching a screenshot with the collection of these artifacts).
At first it will be difficult to fight creatures on the map, and gradually the difficulty will shift toward fighting enemy heroes. In my opinion, the jump in difficulty starts from the battle with Roaring Beer (painfully long pounding him with hidden archdevils); the next jump is Theophrast. This battle marked the transition to total grinding, where many subsequent battles would require several hours, conducting test fights, selecting the appropriate army, and checking how the AI behaves during the fight, what it casts and how to counter it. A two-hour battle in a final (!) version against hero Bunzenburn convinced me to install Turbo SoD. I recommend speeding up animations as much as possible when playing this map, otherwise it's just a nightmare in terms of time.
Regarding combat tactics. It must be different every time; you won't be able to beat opponents one after another easily by following the same pattern. But overall, in the vast majority of cases, it can be reduced to the following: find a way to make the AI idle, drain its mana and let the shooters or mages spend their arrows and casts respectively. Or conversely, do not give enemy shooters the chance to shoot without releasing flying creatures from behind the castle walls (controlling the shooter by timely resurrecting a stack right next to them). Another frequently used tactic when besieging castles is to quickly lose the army, leaving summoned elementals. The AI reacts strangely to them, not bringing troops out of the castle even after the shooters have fired and mages don't cast magic at them if no other creatures are present. This can and should be utilized. Another interesting point with the explosion bug: if the AI has an explosion, then even with drained mana and zero ammo for shooters, it stays in the castle if opposed by melee troops or a small group of shooters. There are battles tied to the terrain. For me, the most tedious part of the map was the chain of heroes INGE - Guy le Fort - Athmos - Tongue - Isegrim - frifix in the city of frifix' end - Nosferatu. And all this during a parallel mass invasion by red. I spent over a week of real time on this.
A brief summary of battles:
- battle that I couldn't conduct without a hint: 6000 + 6000 magical elementals + 4000 minotaur kings in the garrison;
- longest battle in final version, which forced me to install Turbo SoD: Bunzenburn;
- most agonizing battles with hours of attempts: Resus, Nosferatu;
- battles that required hit-and-run tactics: Bunzenburn, ScytheScroge (a clinical case, about ten hit-and-runs), Bellpell, the last frifix, Nosferatu;
- shock-effect battles: Blue Sniper, frifix in the city of frifix' first, Bellpell;
- unexpectedly easy battles: Wendigo, Cow Heel, Kalryh (the latter would have been difficult if I had fought him before Arth. Dent and Mr. Canoli, but not after; thus Sepello broke through the opponent head-on);
- battles in which through various manipulations (presence/absence of tactics for us and the enemy, selection of troops and artifacts) one can force separated same-type units of enemy troops into one stack: Nemesis, Marde Le G., Athmos. But with hero Boneman!!! this trick didn't work at all.
I would also like to note two points that I never fully figured out:
1) for a long period of time, two enemy heroes (Double Bert and Cpt. Rudy) are blocked by summoned ships. We constantly need to make sure not to summon these ships from their designated spots. At the same time, I couldn't understand how it happens that A Friend first blocks Double Bert but later can summon boats without removing the block, while LiLaLauneBear, who blocked Captain Rudy, immediately removed the block when attempting to call a boat. The point is that A Friend underwent transformation (we start the game as Dessa and continue as Orrin, meaning they are different heroes). It turns out that in most cases, the hero summons exactly the boat he summoned before. But! Sometimes just the nearest boat is summoned. The logic here is unclear to me. Another strange moment: at a certain stage I drove Captain Rudy through Leak in Heaven to the east and fortified the shore. After this, it was impossible to step onto the burrow cell from the castle;
2) I noticed that a creature resurrected in battle can move either in the same round it was actually resurrected or (more often) in the next. While things are transparent with clones (decided by simple speed priority), resurrection is an obvious mess.
P.S. As it turns out, the German and English versions of the map differ not only in text language. The German one is slightly harder. From what I noticed — 180 ruhs instead of 1 ruh at point 51.60.0, 450 green dragons instead of 450 naga queens at point 61.52.0, an additional 1500 boosted snipers in event 120.143.0 for Double Bert.
P.P.S. Finished the walkthrough on 4.2.5. One of the best maps for a trio.
