Language: German.
Description: To emerge as the winner on this map, you must clear some dangerous opponents out of your way, such as the five Samurai (orange), the Sea Lord (purple), Ral's Bodyguard (turquoise), and Ral along with his followers (pink). Explore quickly and do not be afraid to take risky paths.
Google Translation: To win on this map, you need to get rid of some dangerous opponents, such as five samurai (orange), sea lord (purple), Ral's bodyguard (turquoise) and Ral together with his henchmen (pink). Explore quickly and don't be afraid to take risks.In character, this is a "classic" map without the "new original features" that can confuse players, which are often loved by authors of modern puzzle maps.
The initial state of affairs is reminiscent of "The Fall of Atlantis": 4 colors to choose from and an additional hero in the distance, followed by regular lootings. Most likely, the author modeled it after that hit.
Pros:
Possibility to choose color and race at the start: you can play as Red, Blue, Brown, or Green.
There is no plot as such, there is little text in rare events, so reading will not strain you (and Google Translate will help understand what is written).
Lack of linearity and a very high degree of freedom: you can go anywhere, but it is necessary to visit tents to reach some places.
Presence of static threats (enemies sitting in their zones) and dynamic threats (enemies wandering wherever possible). Some enemies appear earlier, others much later.
You can fight enemies however and whenever you like. Only the last enemy, Pink, will require finding a specific winning tactic, specifically killing only one—his strongest hero.
The map seems to have all spells and artifacts, but some can only be obtained in certain places.
A large world to explore with many objects.
A rather difficult start will please lovers of hard maps.
Cons:
Fortunately, I found no serious flaws or errors on the map. There are only a few remarks.
The days and frequency of large and small lootings are set such that they sometimes coincide. It would have been better to make it so this doesn't happen.
Random monsters on the island where the second starting hero is located—who has no spells, artifacts, or army, only a refugee camp nearby. I was very unlucky with this. Everything was fine until the last level 5 stack: for me, these turned out to be 19 mighty gorgons, and I simply couldn't break through them. They frequently triggered either courage or deadly gaze, while my creatures of different races kept skipping turns. In my best attempt, I killed 10 gorgons. Fortunately, it is not at all necessary to do anything in this zone: there is nothing important there, and it can only be opened from the outside and only closer to the end of the walkthrough. So in the first few months, you don't have to waste resources hiring troops for this hero when money is always scarce.
The number of chaos hydras with the final boss could be called excessive; because of this, the fight with him is not difficult, but very long. However, the author might have done this so that the player wouldn't hope for a "brute force" solution by simply accumulating many troops and beating the hydras in melee: in Pink's Stronghold, an additional 30 hydras appear every 4 days, so you need to find another way to win (and there is one).
The location of the Grail is such that anyone can dig it up just by coming to the right place. It would have been better if it lay behind several border gates and guards. On the other hand, for example, the Tome of Air Magic lies in plain sight, but reaching it and taking it is not simple at all.
About my walkthrough
I decided to play
as Green with Tower. I set the other races as follows: Red — Necropolis, Blue — Stronghold, Brown — Rampart, Orange — Fortress. The main hero was Ain (350 gold on impossible difficulty for Tower is very relevant). At the start in the city, there is only a level 1 dwelling, a tavern, and a fort. One hero is near the city, the second (Astral) is very far away on an island, with monsters blocking his path and a refugee camp nearby.
Things went poorly with spells in the city: no Slow, Blind, Resurrection, or Town Portal. But Ain's skills (I checked) will be good, and spells can be learned later in another city.
On 1-2-5, almost all my resources were taken, which are already very scarce
(and this looting will repeat every 2 weeks!). I loaded an autosave and traded some resources so that at least a little ore and wood remained. Because of this, I couldn't build the castle on the 2nd week as planned. Indeed, all construction and development are barely progressing for now.
I have few spells so far, so master djinns can be very useful.
On 3-1-6, I visited the
blue tent.
On 3-2-3, after building a library, I learned Shield, Berserk, and Teleport. It will become a bit easier to fight.
On 3-2-6, I captured the neutral Inferno Kinderspeer. In this, I beat 3 opponents who only have one city each so far. Finally, I learned Slow and Blind. Nearby there is a fort on a hill, mage dwellings, and other things.
On 3-3-2, I visited the
green tent.
On 3-4-4, I freed Soldner (translated as "mercenary"; there are several such heroes in prisons) from prison with the face of Piguedram. He knows Blessing and Healing, which I need to relearn from him. He has 88 snipers and expert logistics and scouting, but no wisdom or earth magic.
On 4-1-5, a
large looting occurred: 25 of each resource and 30000 gold. This will also repeat every 3 weeks.
Having scouted with the Prospector that Resurrection and Town Portal could be learned in Reichhaven Rampart almost in the center of the land world, Ain headed there. Unfortunately, Reichhaven had been captured by Orange, and now Samurai 1 happened to be nearby with swamp troops.
I waited until Samurai 1 left through a one-way monolith to foreign lands, and landed on the island near Reichhaven.
On 4-4-7, I took Reichhaven, which was guarded only by Rampart monsters.
On 5-1-2, I attacked Samurai 5, as he had landed on the shore of the island where Kinderspeer stands. I replayed this fight several times, changing troops and artifacts. Each time I defeated him, but losses were almost always great. I got trophies:
Captain's Hat and Silt Sphere.
On 5-1-4, I went from the capital through a blue one-way monolith and ended up on an island with Silverwing Tower. Also, finally, I decided to attack the gorgons with Astral to escape and immediately hire him in the capital, then send him to study: besides Ain, he is currently the only hero with expert wisdom.
On 5-1-5, I took Silverwing, where Gurnisson, Blue's main villain, was sitting. He was strong in skills but almost without an army, so I easily beat him without losses and received a bunch of trophies.
On 5-2-1, the powerful Necropolis hero of Orange, Knochenkonig, who had scared me, landed back where he got into the boat—probably because Ain appeared at the library on his island. But on the same day, the terrible Purple hero Sea Lord popped out of a one-way monolith on the island with Magmetin.
On 5-2-5, Samurai 2 jumped out of the monolith exit with crystal dragons in one stack. I tried to beat him—it worked, and without losses, only at the end he still managed to escape.
Entering the tavern in Silverwing to hire a hero for capturing dwellings and mines on the island, I suddenly saw Gurnisson there. His skills turned out to be excellent (which is very rare for a Barbarian under AI control), and I hired him.
On 5-2-7, I took Glatherot. Perhaps this city and its surroundings will become my new base and refuge for all weak heroes: the city itself is behind green gates, there are 2 blue gates nearby, and very valuable things are located further away, but they still need to be reached. It's a good sign that none of the enemies have been here yet.
On 5-4-2, I attacked 111 ancient monsters in front of the red tent on the southeastern island. The fight took place on cursed land, so I had to run around to hit the monsters only with shooters and nagas without retaliation. Thus, I visited the
red tent.
On 6-2-1, Purple's hero Admiral Yun came out of the monolith and headed toward Magmetin Conflux. I assessed his army and decided to try to beat him. It worked, and without losses. I got 3 artifacts, among which the
Admiral's Hat is valuable.
On 6-4-2, I took the
Wizard's Well east of the Stronghold that I intended to capture.
On 6-4-7, I visited the
blue tent.
On 7-3-5, Ain took the
Sphere of Vulnerability. The Sphere, of course, had hidden guards, but the strength of the troops and mana reserve were enough to conduct the fight without losses.
On 7-4-2, Ain visited the
brown tent.
On 7-4-5, Turquoise's hero Der Patriarch suddenly moved and, passing through white gates, jumped into the entrance of a yellow monolith.
On 7-4-6, from a blue monolith on the island with Cragmoor Stronghold, Turquoise's main hero Ral's Herold popped out.
On 8-1-1, passing through brown gates and killing legions of gold golems, I took the
Legion Statue.
On 8-1-4, I defeated Der Patriarch, receiving a
Sniper Bow,
Shackles of War, and all speed artifacts.
On 8-1-7, Brown disappeared. I was not involved in this.
On 8-2-1, Turquoise's main villain Ral's Herold popped out of a blue monolith south of Blackcorter; Ain attacked him and beat him.
Passing through the same blue monolith, Ain ended up at the white tent, the path to which was blocked by a Turquoise garrison of black and azure dragons. With the Sphere of Vulnerability, I destroyed the dragons easily and visited the
white tent on 8-2-2.
On 8-2-4, I captured Malev Dungeon on a volcanic island, which Turquoise had taken shortly before. This city can become a reliable refuge since no one except Turquoise has visited the only white tent.
On the same day, Knochenkonig popped out of the monolith near my Silverwing Tower. Ain rushed to meet him and attacked. The advantage was clearly on my side, and soon I finished the fight without losses.
On 8-2-5, entering a hut on the island with Blackcorter Necropolis, I received
Cursed Armor for killing Der Patriarch.
On 8-2-6, I beat Orange's Samurai 3, who had landed on the shore not far from my capital.
On 8-4-1, taking fresh troops from cities, I tried to attack Sea Lord once more, and this time I was able to overcome him without losses. Of course, Berserk and Badge of Courage helped a lot, as well as the fact that the fight took place at sea: obstacles hindered the enemy crusaders.
Purple has now become the weakest of all, and it will be easy to finish him off. Now active enemies do not scare me, so I can explore the world at an accelerated pace.
On 8-4-6, I beat 379 azure dragons at the
land cartographer and visited him. Almost all land opened up, only Turquoise's domains are hidden by darkness since he lives in Dungeon lands. And I already see the purple and black tents and Pink's island. In one place, I saw several holes in a row—checked in the editor: that's right, someone has already dug up the Grail.
On 9-1-7, I took the
Sword of Justice.
On 9-2-4,
Blue disappeared from the map, losing all heroes. On the same day, I captured Whisteldal Castle, former lair of Purple, and visited the
purple tent.
On 9-2-5, I beat Caitlin, and
Purple disappeared.
On 9-2-6, Sea Lord reappeared, now hired by Orange, and landed on the shore by my capital. Gurnisson rushed to intercept him, but he was one step short of attacking, and the next day the enemy town-portaled back to his city.
On 9-2-7, Red disappeared.
On the same day, I invaded Turquoise's territory in the southwest. Immediately after that, I beat Jenn, who happened to be nearby, without taking losses. Now Turquoise has no heroes and cannot attack me himself. I captured Turquoise's capital Scar, in which I found the Earth Keeper.
On 9-3-4, I caught up with Sea Lord and swiftly dealt with him.
Orange disappeared.
On 9-4-1, I reached Turquoise's last Dungeon Shade in the southeastern corner. Theodore awaited me in the city garrison. However, he was unable to put up strong resistance. As a result,
Turquoise disappeared.
On 9-4-2, I took the neutral Fallenstar Tower behind purple gates. There are no dwellings there, but there is an Air Ship (and the map is already fully open anyway).
Now I just need to deal with Pink's heroes and capture his Stronghold.
On 9-4-6, I attacked Der Elende, patrolling the northeastern island. It turned out he has a Cloak of Renunciation, and the fight will be with losses. Then I won't touch him for now, but will visit libraries and go straight to Ral.
Ral happened to have Father of Dragons' Might! Beating him by force is unlikely in an acceptable amount of time, so I'll have to use cunning.
And only now did I start looking at what serious rewards the seers offer. Yes, one can get Fly and Dimension Door, and with them, you can visit the black tent without fighting the anti-magic garrison with fairy tale dragons, and also take the Tome of Air Magic and beat Schlachter without breaking through to him via another anti-magic garrison.
On 10-1-2, I learned the
Fly spell from a seer.
On 10-1-4, I flew to the
Tome of Air Magic. Of course, it had strong hidden guards, but the Sphere of Vulnerability and expert berserk helped wipe them out without losses.
After that, I tried to defeat Schlachter, but he had a Sphere of Forbidding, so I decided not to touch him.
On 10-2-1, I visited the
black tent, flying past the anti-magic garrison. After that, I tried to break the garrison wearing Cursed Armor and managed to do it without losses.
On 10-2-2, I took the
Helmet of Divine Enlightenment. With it, I can now assemble the
Alliance of Angels.
On 10-2-4, I opened Pandora's box at sea behind black gates. Fought a long time with powerful guards, resurrecting the fallen. The fight ended without losses; I received +5 to all skills, Alliance of Angels, a bunch of resources,
Dimension Door, and
233 azure dragons.
On 10-2-5, I captured Pink's Stronghold, put on the necessary artifacts, and waited for Ral's attack. He came, attacked; the fight went generally as I expected, only I failed to save the cart, so I had to clone archmages and evil eyes (when enemy rusty dragons were already destroyed). In the end, the fight finished without losses.
Now, without fear of losses, I can fly to kill Der Elende and Schlachter.
On 10-2-6, I defeated Der Elende.
On 10-2-7, I similarly swiftly beat Schlachter. Right then, I was declared the winner.
Result: 266 days, 432 points.
If you have difficulties in
how to defeat Ral, here is a
spoiler to help you:
I immediately thought of 2 options:
a) "cowardly": leave a boat on the shore so that he gets into it and sails away, while capturing the Stronghold yourself and "activating" the veil of darkness nearby. There is a possibility that the enemy will not capture the city within 7 days and disappear. You can also stand on the shore with your heroes to prevent the enemy from landing.
b) "bold": distract the enemy with another hero or use Fly, capture the Stronghold, and accept the fight in it, preventing the enemy from breaking walls and gates. Hydras will not be able to enter the castle, while we will shoot them down and hit them with Fireball.
