Posts from Walkthroughs for custom maps.

I saw this walkthrough on TLC. It's interesting to see how the map has changed over time. There was an even older version on Heroes Paradise before, which was also quite interesting.

I was actually scared when I saw this ancient version. My eyes are no longer used to it.
I specifically deleted the old version from Heroes Paradise. I had to break the site rules so that the admins would respond))

And if anyone is interested in ancient versions, I've attached a couple of key ones. Unfortunately, the very first versions are lost.

But in general, it's more interesting to see the evolution. Especially knowing how it happened and where the key milestones were.

The first version from the archive uploaded in 2003. Crazy :eek:

How is haloney doing with his TLC playthrough? He's quite persistent; I don't have time to keep up with it.

He completed the map just a couple of days ago. He needed some hints in certain parts, but overall, he showed himself to be a resourceful player. I was pleasantly surprised.

He completed the map just a couple of days ago. He needed some hints in certain areas, but overall, he showed himself to be a resourceful player. I was pleasantly surprised.

Without a doubt!
True, he bypassed a couple of puzzles, which resulted in those bypasses being closed in the new version - 3.8.8 will be released on the site soon.
But this doesn't diminish his achievements.
He's simply great!

Anyone who wants to try it themselves - don't watch his stream))

Added 6 minutes later

The first version from the archive uploaded in 2003. Wow :eek:

Actually, the first one was in 2001, but it's lost.
The initial version was heavily "inspired" by a map from the first Heroes game, where 4 players are separated by cliffs, and a dragon stands in the only passage in the center. I don't remember the name of the map, but it shouldn't be hard to find.
Later, the experimentation started to turn into something tangible.
There were also some surprises (like with Halonea, "WWWWhhhhaaaaattt?!! :eek:"), when suddenly it turns out that a Dungeon Dweller in a boat works perfectly :smile04:

that Dimension Door works perfectly in a boat :smile04:

This is a revelation for many only-online players, due to the fact that matches are almost never played on maps with water:)

I remember when I first started playing Heroes, I sat with an acquaintance at a computer club; I didn't have a PC at home yet. My acquaintance was playing the map Blood! The Vampire's Tale; I only completed it later, so I didn't know how things worked. We got stuck in one place and opened everything possible without knowing where to go. Using an editor was out of the question—we simply didn't assume it existed. Eventually, I suggested probing areas in the underground using Dimension Door, and what a surprise it was when the hero ported to a section consisting of several cells; that was exactly how you were supposed to move there—teleporting between these islets. Now those were times of discovery:)

I haven't played that map since. I guess I'll have time on the weekend :)
Glad you started too :)
My Luna got a Castle with 20 fakes and 25 mana.
But... it's not that important.

After the first three days, I thought, "Okay, it will be easier now," but no.
The real fun is yet to come.
You definitely need to level up Zydar. He gets Armageddon and Explosion as special abilities.
I'm having trouble quickly capturing the Tirit Castle where Fafnir is.
I tried to catch him on his way out so I could capture the Castle and defend it from within.
He gets scared right away.
I think this is one of the key points. After killing Fafnir, you can open the green tent.
I'm curious to see what you'll do.

Added 1 minute ago
I also liked the Fire Wall spell. The first time, I chickened out and was afraid to use it on the Cyclops :)
But then, yes, it was EASY.

Thank you for the comments! What advice do you have for the next few days and weeks? From 114 to 117, or maybe 127? For Ain: did you go to free Orrin or the Dragon, and when were you able to free them? I plan to figure out the desired and optimal route from the map author's point of view and, accordingly, complete it almost perfectly up to 117. This is the second stage of the game on this map.

Added 40 minutes ago

I found a possible bug on this map (not critical). Jedite has problems with his primary stats at level 868. After stopping at the event at 25.90.0, the stats are 0-0-99-99. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be, but I doubt it. Everything seems to be fine with other high-level heroes.

The map is similar to a dynamic version of Metataks. Almost all enemy heroes were either in cities or in closed locations. Here, most of them will wander wherever they want. Plus, at first glance, there are no safe places on the map where the AI won't be able to reach us.

I won't be playing the map myself yet, but I will follow your progress with interest.

I've played several similar dynamic Chinese maps, which I reviewed in this thread: Jedi Counterattack, Heroes 6424, etc. Basically, it's possible to complete the map against ANY enemy hero, even the most hardcore ones. To do this, we need a couple of conditions:
1) get key spells as quickly as possible: Town Portal + Resurrection.
2) capture a Castle with a tavern to be able to buy back our heroes and hold it.
This allows us to fly from Castle to Castle, recapture Castles from the AI.
As a result, enemy heroes with legions of troops will simply travel from Castle to Castle and to mines, waste time, weeks, while we buy upgrades, complete our tasks (quests, artifacts, etc.) until our forces are equal.
It is highly desirable to take handcuffs on such a map, as enemies like to run away and cast powerful magic at the last moment, but we can tolerate this for some time.
In short, Town Portal is the key to victory on this map, we can figure out the rest.
I also had the idea to try not to kill weak AI heroes, let them drive around, as long as the hardcore ones don't come out early. In this case, we will be able to travel with a sufficient army to all the quests, get everything we need, and only then start eliminating the enemy heroes. If we kill the weak ones, and this releases a bunch of strong heroes from the dungeons, then without Town Portal we will simply have nowhere to run. In general, there is a lot to think about on this map.
For now, I plan to take a piece of paper and draw a map-route of movements and quests, so that I understand who goes where and only then play 114-117.

Yesterday, I half-watched a streamer play a mediocre game of Vengeance Is Mine, and it made me want to play that simple map myself. Interestingly, on version 1.3.2, I managed to defeat 69,993 mummies on cursed ground with 19 archdevils :D

Result: the logistics expert who ran the battle increased his movement range from 4160 to 4640. The battle itself ended in round 2199 and took an hour and a half on turbo animation. I wonder, has anyone ever manually played a longer battle in Heroes in terms of the number of rounds?

Yesterday, I half-watched a mediocre streamer playing Vengeance Is Mine, and it made me want to play that simple map myself. Interestingly, on 1.3.2, I managed to defeat 69,993 mummies on cursed land with 19 archdevils :D

Result: the logistics expert conducting the battle increased his movement range from 4160 to 4640. The battle itself ended in round 2199 and took an hour and a half on turbo animation. I wonder if anyone has ever manually played a longer battle in terms of the number of rounds in Heroes?

Did they change the behavior pattern after 500 rounds or so?

I recently discovered this streamer and am now watching his UTB playthrough in places.

You can check out these small-sized maps from gamerhome. They look interesting. It's definitely better than fighting mummies for 2,000 rounds:D

Didn't they change their behavior pattern after 500 rounds or so?

I was removing the stacks one by one that were set to move diagonally. After each stack died, they shifted slightly, but it didn't really affect anything. Also, one more thing. The terrain should be from HD+, the original is too cluttered with obstacles, I'm not sure if it would be possible to pull this off on it.

I recently discovered this streamer, and I'm watching his UTB walkthrough now.

He has potential. I just watched him, he struggled for a very long time on the section where you have to defeat a series of dungeon heroes, but he completed it much better than I did. I didn't really bother and let the archdevils die in the last battle. And I chose pathfinding instead of air magic for my upgrade.

Can you check out these small-sized maps from gamerhome. They look interesting. It's definitely better than running mummies for 2,000 rounds:D

I literally completed the first map in the archive a few days ago :) It's in the style of Aeris, but much easier.

The terrain should be HD+; the original is too cluttered with obstacles.

Wow, what an abuser! :D

Regarding functionality, I recently discovered that you can use SoD_SP to start a battle with a fixed random seed and then switch to the original random seed where needed. However, it seems that some time must pass after the switch.

You can also check out this map. It's for HotA, but they mention that the battlefields have changed in HotA, so the map might be more difficult in the current version, or even completely broken.

Diablo or Dark Man map
/topic/at/1034979/

I progressed from week 114 to week 117. I can't count how many times I replayed days and battles :) Even taking into account tests like where you can travel and how much mana will remain, you still have to replay to find the right resources for building, change logistics, etc. So:

- Luna. Probably the best progress. In week 114, we freed Craig (by burning titans and giants with fairies), and then made a rapid advance only on angels. As a result, Luna reached crystal dragons in a week and even bought one in week 117, which strengthened the army up to 7 archmages. If Saurug and Tiraxor usually go to attack Luna, then when buying the 2nd crystal dragon, they already start running away :)! It seems that the author's plan is being fulfilled precisely through Luna: we are on someone else's respawn point, we can kill the growth of companions in castles within a week, strengthen the army with dragons, and capture 2 cities. Almost perfect.

- Craig. Since only Craig can take the intelligence skill from the scholar at the starting respawn point, he will become very strong by week 2, while Luna will become secondary because, although she is a good mage, she has only 120 mana, whereas Craig with intelligence can conduct more complex battles. Unfortunately, I realized this too late, so I decided to separate Craig and Luna, and have Craig gather resources (there is a catastrophic shortage for building and purchases), as well as buy fairies in week 121 in the flax field to give them to the scholar later for +3 attack. That is why Craig was delayed and lags far behind Luna; this is its biggest drawback. On the other hand, we already have an expert log and passfinding by evening in week 114. It is also not yet clear what Craig should learn: tactics or fire magic. I still decided to take fire magic due to blindness and the ability to attack without retaliation. Later, Craig will take water in the hut, intelligence from the scholar, and earth in the hut or by killing orgs. As a result, the development will be super; it will be the main hero, but there is a feeling that we are lagging behind with Craig.

- Aine. She made a rapid advance, and as a result, in week 115, we free Orrin (a difficult battle), and in week 117, we capture the 2nd tower on the respawn point, build mages, and in week 121, we get +8 mages in the army. Not bad. Aine has fully fulfilled her maximum potential up to week 117, in my opinion. Further, she will develop water and fire magic, which is good; intelligence does not appear (possibly banned).

- Orrin. He is currently supporting Aine, but he has already developed somewhat. In the future, as I see from the quests, Orrin with his archery will be one of the main heroes, along with Craig. For now, the question remains how Orrin will develop; this is problematic during tests; he receives earth magic as the last skill, which is bad.

- Zydar. He remained at the wellspring, and in week 121, with 3 devils, he will break through to the left until the end, take meteor shower, and spend the night in the mercury laboratory of the alchemist. He develops perfectly, will take fire magic for development and passfinding in the hut.

- Pir'h. It seems that after breaking into the prison with Zydar in week 1, her functions are over, and further she will only transport troops. What else she should do, I don't know yet.

I made a map (!) on paper with quests, tents, teleporters, but I have not yet built the further route. Options:

Luna and Craig. Luna will probably capture 2 cities and possibly kill Tiraxor and Saurug; this is within the power of 7 archmages and 1-2 crystal dragons. The plans also include opening the red guard passage and burning gorgons so that Craig can learn blindness and forgetfulness magic from them.
Craig must reach the area near Luna in 3 days, already developed, and then start developing further. In the future, we MUST go north and kill Sorcha in the castle before day 231 (!), so that we have time to get free archmages and fairies according to the timing + immediately teach Craig restoration nearby. To the west, we must kill Brokhild or by day 147 (after this date, dwellings of all creatures of levels 5-7 are built in Brokhild's castle, and he begins to accumulate strength) or after day 231, and take the blue tent. That is, where to go globally is clear - to the north, but in what order and with what forces, you need to think about it.

Aine and Orrin. There are many questions here: you can develop Orrin on neutral creatures, you can go north or south of the respawn point. Globally, you need to free the dragon east of the crystal dragons because, although the dragon will not be a main hero, only he can learn town portal on the map. I am considering the idea of dividing the army into 2 parts: mages+archmages+djinn on someone, and master gremlins+djinn+giant on someone else. This way, it will be possible to clear the respawn point twice as fast.

Zydar and Pir'h. Zydar should develop as much as possible in a couple of days, and then the question is: capture the 2nd inferno in the north and kill Josephine, who is already (!) traveling around that respawn point, arriving by boat. Or go straight to the swamp respawn point and break through there. Globally, you need to kill Fafnir in the north and open the green tent.

I don't know when I will progress from week 121 to week 127.

Didn't they change their behavior pattern after 500 rounds or so?

I also had to fight battles with 1k+ turns, and there were at least a dozen of them - no change in the AI's behavior was noticed after 500 rounds. But was it supposed to change?
Besides, if the behavior had changed, some of the battles would have been unwinnable.

I also had to fight battles that lasted 1,000+ turns, and there were at least a dozen such battles – I didn't notice any change in the AI's behavior after 500 rounds. Was it supposed to change?
Moreover, if the behavior had changed, some of the battles would have ended in my defeat.

I read posts from players in offline tournaments, stating that after prolonged battles, a "desynchronization" can occur. Moreover, this does not depend on the destruction of stacks.

I posted a recording of a battle between pikemen and swordsmen. I tried to kill them with one pikeman without using the "Bless" spell, but after 7 rounds, "desynchronization" begins, even with the repetition of the same actions. Moreover, "desynchronization" occurs regardless of whether we attack with the pikeman or not, or with what RNG we play (fixed or not). In general, the battle plan was ruined:mad:

I suspect that "desynchronization" depends on the complexity of creature movement, i.e., it is clear that they will not "desynchronize" if they move in a straight line and nothing interferes with them, but when they go around obstacles and bypass each other, then surprises may occur.

Diablo or Dark Man map

The map is similar to a dynamic version of Metataks. Almost all enemy heroes were either in cities or in enclosed locations. Here, most of them will wander wherever they want. Plus, at first glance, there are no safe places on the map where the AI won't be able to reach us.

I won't play the map myself yet, but I will follow your progress with interest.

After a couple of evenings, there is progress on the map: I played from 121 to 345.
The most difficult battles were at the very beginning, barely managing to defeat the neutrals and level up the starting heroes. In principle, the plan worked, and the progress on the map is VERY good, gradually worsening later:
- From 121 to 127, Zidar fully specialized, captured the second Inferno on the map and gained an advantage (!), but we are already running away from Josephine, because we cannot defeat her golems, magic damages them weakly, even in the castle. We are exploring the map on other respawn points.
- From 131 to 137 is very important. We make a dash with Zidar and Pirri to the western swamp respawn, learn Forgetfulness and the key Inferno spell. At 137 (!), we kill Fafnir; you can see a screenshot of the battle, how the djinns and ifrits, don't laugh, kill the golems with magic. The battle is not easy: Fafnir has 20% resistance, the golems are resistant to magic, etc. Victory: we cast antimagic on the ifrits with the djinns (otherwise, they will overwhelm us with chain lightning), and we cast 2 Armageddons until everyone dies except the golems. Then we cast 3 or 4 explosions on the golems and finish them off with the ifrits. And all this must be done so that Fafnir has no resistance. It worked! This gives us the green tent and a lot of magic for Zidar. This is a key victory this week.
We are leveling up Craig as the main hero, but it's tough because there is no expert Earth and Water. But in the end, Craig is specialized, except for intelligence. We break through the edge of the Stronghold respawn - the azure dragons - and can go up.
The snowy respawn is almost completely cleared; a blue hero came to us, we are running away from him for now, trying to buy up the advantages.
- From 141 to 147. I even reached Sorsha with 7 angels and 4 crystal dragons, but there is nothing to kill her with, too many archers, and Craig doesn't have powerful attack magic, he lacks mana and meat. Therefore, it was decided to turn back, buy an advantage of 211 in the Strongholds, and visit the upgrade locations. After visiting the tent, Zidar jumps into a boat, kills the Wizards for gold, and returns to the Inferno, where he calmly kills Josephine with magic and elementals in the castle at 147. In general, the plan for Zidar was executed perfectly, IMHO. At the snowy respawn, we captured the 3rd Tower, we are clearing what is left, and we want to go around to the east at the bottom to the swamp to get the boots of levitation.
- From 211 to 217. Craig stands near Sorsha to take the key castle. Zidar with 30 sultans and ifrits clears the swamp respawn, completes the ifrit quest. I am trying to escape with all 3 heroes from the snowy respawn to the swamp in the east.
- From 221 to 345. We are trying to carry out the key battle with Sorsha with minimal losses, many replays, we are catching morale and luck, magic resistance on the crystal dragons, as a result, we lose almost all 88 birds and 3 crystal dragons, but 7 archons are alive. I remind you that Craig does not have resurrection and can only be taken by killing Sorsha. We give Craig restoration + summoning and flooding the boat + boots +2, and we manage to pass the guard by the timing to 231, take the free archons and fairies (they are very needed). Pirri steals Armageddon's Blade + later takes the boots of levitation, runs around all the enemies, gives it to Zidar, and he goes to Craig and the company, killing Flaks in the south. At the meeting point 317, we kill Brokhild and open the blue tent. The dragon also travels between the enemies to us, receives the boots of levitation from Pirri, and learns town portal at 331. This ends the development, and a real hell begins.
You can say that up to 211, the game was played VERY and VERY quickly, almost according to the author's plan, especially with Zidar, and partially with Luna and Craig. At the snowy respawn, the plan could not be fulfilled; my heroes did not escape to the southeast, they did not have time, they remained at the snowy respawn, Aine was killed, and worst of all, we did not get the boots of levitation on this route, which later went to the enemy Tazarr, and this complicates the game now. From 211, the pace has begun to slow down very much due to the deviation from the author's plan, and now the map looks like a real hell: the enemy heroes were released from prisons and from the guards and are traveling all over the map. There is almost nowhere to hide; we have to capture something and immediately run away, maneuver, and the enemies have 2 sets of boots of levitation on their main heroes. All quests up to 311 for getting free troops have failed.

All we can do is hide in the Sanctuaries or behind the guard of the red tent, which no one knows except us (and also the blue one, but I will block it from flying in), recapture castles, and fly the Dragon from castle to castle to transfer the army, buy up advantages. Our forces at 345: 55 archons, 54 bears, 45 archdevils, 120 ifrits, 104 cyclops, 21 titans, 135 wizards, 8 phoenixes, 12 crystal dragons, 1 azure and 1 sulfur.
The good thing is that Leonis was killed, and we got the second set of boots of levitation from him, and after Leonis, we captured the castle with the only tavern available to us. Also, the entire map is open in the cartographer. But everything is very difficult: we can't kill almost anyone, the enemy heroes with their stats and legions are just wild. And after each kill, even more wild heroes appear. Forces accumulate very slowly, and the game has almost stopped. Zidar with Armageddon's Blade is, of course, a beast - 2700 damage with 740 mana, but this does not help much against the legions.
Here are some ideas for the next few weeks:
- go to new open respawn points and raise the stats of the main heroes - Craig and Zidar, at the upgrade locations,
- capture advantages in castles at the beginning of the week,
- complete some quests for magic, stats, or troops,
- generate the monsters we need for an advantage for a week,
- finally capture the castle with the tavern and fortify it with a couple of heroes so that we can easily recapture it later,
- having a castle with a tavern, buy out Zidar and outsmart Malekith until we kill him. This gives access to the prison with Astral, who knows learning and town portal, and everyone will take it. This will mean 100% victory in the future.
This is how you can win, although the game will be difficult and long, but quite playable.