Posts from Necromancer – “Invasion” [Campaign 3, Mission 3]

In version 1.5, I completed the "raise 1000 skeletons" task faster than in 1.41 – immediately after capturing the 3rd city. It seems that not only skeletons are counted for this task. And that's despite the fact that I tried to avoid fighting strong heroes emerging from the portal unless absolutely necessary, and instead focused on cursing at least one city as quickly as possible. The need for a fight only arose once at the beginning of the game when Hafiz didn't even have titans. Therefore, I haven't had a single serious battle yet. The army is clearly stronger than it was in 1.41.

The third mission in version 1.5 is the third surprise. This time, it's a pleasant one. After the curse on cities, the new Necropolis faction no longer has a level limit for the guild of mages, allowing you to acquire desired spells more quickly. In my opinion, this mission became easier to complete in version 1.5. It's impossible to gather so many high-level units in any other version. I managed to gather a large number of Death Knights and Spectres.

Playing for the first time, version 1.5. Heh! I got the Staff of the Underworld on the island; it was guarded by bone dragons, who happily joined my black parade. And how do I turn an Academy (I captured the first one in the west) into a Necropolis? Right now, I'm facing a considerable army of mages, and I don't have time to run away; I urgently need a Necropolis. Who can't repel an invasion on their home island? I let a mage capture a Haven, then he went for the Necropolis, leaving the garrison empty (why, I don't know). Isabel captures the Haven and waits for the mage, with his army tired from two sieges, to return. It's easy to repel the siege.

I'm playing for the first time, version 1.5
Heh! And I got the Staff of the Underworld on the island; it was guarded by bone dragons, who happily joined my black parade. But how do I turn an academy (I captured the first one in the west) into a Necropolis? Right now, I'm facing a considerable army of mages, and I don't have time to run away; I urgently need a Necropolis.
Who can't repel an invasion on their home island? I let a mage capture Haven, then he went to Necropolis, leaving the garrison empty (for some reason). Isabel captures Haven and waits for the mage, with his army tired from two sieges, to return; it's easy to repel the siege.

This staff doesn't count. To curse cities, you need to capture all the mages' cities. After cursing the first (last captured) city, it immediately becomes easier. The arriving mages are no longer as strong.

I had Isabel running around with Markel, collecting loot so that she wouldn't be overwhelmed. Then I put her in the monastery. I gave her the dragons that joined. I also had mages capturing my cities. This isn't very scary, although it's not desirable. After reaching the development limit and learning all the necessary spells, I took the dragons from Isabel and went on my way, not paying attention to the mages.

Yesterday I completed this mission on Hero difficulty in version 1.5. The walkthrough tactic is the same as on Warrior. The main things are speed and aggression. It is better to lose some troops (within reasonable limits, of course) than to lose time.

Isabel captured the sawmill and immediately set sail to collect debris. She had a few archers and swordsmen. This allowed her to capture not only debris and chests, but also half-sunken ships without losses.

Markel quickly cleared his island, captured the lighthouse on the island to the east of his home, and sailed quickly toward the enemy's western island. He had a sextant. He made no stops at other islands. A support hero also set sail immediately.

When Markel approached the island, Isabel stopped scavenging and sailed toward him. Upon meeting, she gave him the artifacts she had found. From then on, Markel broke through the mines, while Isabel gathered the "goodies." Additionally, she took unnecessary troops from Markel so that he had free slots for recruiting/picking up troops. I took only gold from all chests. I didn't break through anything unnecessary—only mines and undead. It is especially important to capture the abandoned mine. If you're lucky, there might be sulfur there, which is scarce in the early game. I got lucky this time.

After capturing the mines, I gathered the undead near the teleport and used it to reach the enemy city. I took it easily and crossed to the other shore to the next city. There, they also offered no serious resistance. Isabel gathered what she could and followed Markel, as the druid had entered the war.

Next, Markel headed south to the last enemy city, captured it just as easily, and cursed it immediately. Meanwhile, the druid captured the city on the western island, and the enemies emerging from the portal took another city. Along the way, I encountered a level 20 mage with a small army. He didn't even have Titans. On Hero difficulty, instead of fleeing the battlefield, the AI uses Armageddon until the last soldier is gone.

After cursing the city, I didn't waste time gathering troops near the Castle, but immediately headed north to reclaim the northern city captured by the enemy and curse it. This wasn't much trouble. By then, the druid had crossed over to that city himself. He only managed to cast Armageddon twice. I remember that on Warrior in 1.41, he captured the knight's Castle, but here he rushed straight to his certain death.

After capturing the northern city, I captured and cursed the final city, both mage outposts, and wiped out all high-level neutral mages. I was afraid they might join the enemy. Only after that did I go to collect the undead near the southern Castle.

Everything went surprisingly easily—much easier than on Warrior in version 1.41. But then an enemy appeared who had 55 Titans and everything else in corresponding quantities. He recaptured the northern city and headed south. By that time, Markel had managed to collect all the undead at the southern Castle and met him behind a high fence, while Isabel, with all the recruited dragons, hid in the monastery. I saved the dragons and gave them all to Isabel.

In principle, I could have run away from him. The development limit had already been reached. All that remained was to visit all the skill-upgrades and obtain the Phoenix. As far as I remember, you can't acquire spells in the next mission, and in the 5th mission, a level 34 Godric is sharpening his massive sword. But it wouldn't be fitting for the cool Markel to flee from a level 1 mage. An aggressive level 20 mage had long since been recruited from the tavern and was guarding the Castle reclaimed from the druids on the western island. He had leveled up to 21 with me.

The hardest part was obtaining the Phoenix. I had to wait for long months. At first, neither the treasury nor the pyramid gave me any spells. There were no more enemies with large armies. 2-3 Titans under the command of an un-leveled rookie are nothing in such a long game.

Of course, without a well-organized rear, Markel would not have been able to advance so quickly. A crowd of support heroes constantly provided him with reinforcements. All knightly troops were converted into undead. Throughout the entire time, the enemy landed on the home island only once. A support hero delivering reinforcements to Markel dealt with him easily—upon his approach, he changed course and managed to return.

:mad: I captured all the castles, killed everyone, but they still didn't give me the staff, and I didn't curse a single city; they all belong to me, but they won't let me into the Dungeon without the staff. I even went there with dragons, but it says I need to collect artifacts. Damn it, the task says the staff will appear when I capture the city of ZIAD, and I captured it, but the staff didn't appear. I don't even know what to do; I've been trying for so long =((( But they gave me the cloak right away. What a bummer.

slavi-t, maybe you have a staff lying around in your bag, not being used? It should be active on your hero. Someone mentioned that the mission might glitch if the cities are captured in the wrong order. I captured the city on the western island first, then the northern city on the eastern island, and last - the southern city. Dragons bought in cities don't count. Only dragons that have joined your army are needed to enter the dungeon.

A hero with a staff can be defeated by neutral creatures... so it might be necessary to replay the mission. P.S. I always captured the lower right castle first, and I always received a staff there. In this case, the city was cursed, and it became much easier to play.

I always captured the bottom right Castle first, and I always received a staff as a reward. Then, I would curse the city, which made the game much easier.

I didn't know that you could curse cities after capturing only one city. If I play this mission again, I will try starting with that city.

I didn't know that you could curse cities by capturing only 1 city. If I play this mission again, I'll try starting with that one.

I first captured the eastern city, then the northern city, then the western city, and finally the northwestern city. I've definitely checked all the bags of all the heroes, and the staff isn't there. The quest says that the staff will appear when I capture the western city, and I did, but it's not there:mad:

I didn't capture the city, which has garrisons near the entrance to the dungeon. Maybe it shouldn't have been captured, at least not before capturing the others. Try starting the mission again through the campaign menu and start from the southwestern city, as Alan suggests. If you manage to quickly curse the city, it will be much easier. The mages become less effective after that. If you're lucky, you can buy the most powerful high-level mage in the tavern. What version of the game are you playing? I completed this mission as a Warrior in version 1.41 and as a Hero in version 1.5. There were no glitches.

I didn't capture the town near the dungeon entrance at all. Maybe I shouldn't have captured it, or at least not before capturing the others?

Try restarting the mission through the campaign menu and starting from the southwestern town, as Alan suggests. If you manage to quickly curse the town, it will be much easier. The mages become less effective afterward. If you're lucky, you can buy the most powerful high-level mage in the tavern.

Yes, I tried replaying from the middle and didn't touch it either; I just captured the western town late, but I methodically took them out through the east =). And I killed the green one right away by the river.

Try starting not from the middle, but from the beginning through the menu. Perhaps something glitched when the mission started.

Try starting not from the middle, but begin a new game through the menu. Maybe something glitched when the mission started.

Well, I wasted so much time and it was all for nothing :(

I also spent a lot of time on this mission. Neither in the treasure chamber nor in the pyramid did I initially receive any spells. And in all guilds, it was the same. And on the hero in the 5th mission, without a phoenix and all the dark spells, it's difficult to defeat Godric, who is maxed out. In the 4th mission, there's nowhere to acquire spells.