Posts from Battle of the Celestial Gates

elizbar1967
Seven starting heroes? Well... with all due respect, that's too much. Three would be enough. But no more.
I agree!!!
MasteR
The extra heroes can be put in shrines; there are many on the map. They won't interfere as errand runners.
Sorry, but I disagree! What's the point of all that micromanagement hassle? Especially when you don't even know who will be in the final lineup?
The pointless bots need to be cut down.

If the map were isolated from everything else, then yes. But it's integrated into a specific storyline, and all these heroes are essential to the plot. I can't just take one and discard him ("Hey, Faidaen, you're useless, so get out of here" :) ).
Hiring secondary heroes is disabled (except for one), and there's plenty of space on the map. You'll often need to run around delivering troops, collecting a lot of resources, and making sorties to gather loot, so someone needs to do that. Each of them has a small, but free, starting army. You can give the less useful ones control of the treasury or good luck on their journeys. You don't have to collect stat boosters; it will just be easier in the end.

In general, there are some positive aspects, and I don't see this as a big problem.

Downloaded, looked, and was horrified: the desire to play completely disappeared. It seems like there's only one author, but the maps are so different. Although, I'm grateful for what I have; everyone has their own preferences.

Antik, do you also think that the previous installment was slightly better?

Too bad, too bad.

Antik, do you also think that the previous installment was slightly better?

Most likely, he is talking about the number of heroes, although Master already had a mission for Haven with 4 castles and 4 heroes.

The author is a recognized and highly respected mapmaker. I, too, hold him in high regard. Therefore, I don't think my opinion about any particular work by this author is important. Moreover, differing views on a map, the gameplay, or, say, the ending are common in our community (and that's a good thing, as we have a choice). So, please understand me correctly.

It happened! I finally completed the light map on warrior difficulty, although at times I wanted to just drop everything and start over on recruit )

As noted above, there is no accounting for taste. Personally, I really liked the map; it's one of the best works imho. Nowhere before have I seen a Heroes map where the atmosphere of defending a fortress was presented so realistically. Capturing dwellings and garrisons feels like seizing strategic points—and moreover, it's not enough to just capture them, you have to hold them too. There are many heroes from the start, but paradoxically, you constantly feel like you're falling behind somewhere. You don't have time to capture buildings with elven shooters, you don't have time to reclaim mines / structures, you don't have time to collect freebies at sea and clear Dragon Utopia, etc. The events of enemy captures are random, but they follow a clear logic. The yellow demons don't let you relax and force you to look for patterns and plan sorties...
Overall, the implementation of the fortress defense is, in my opinion, top-notch. Everything is very well thought out, logical, and bug-free )
I have some minor complaints about the visuals, but I don't want to nitpick. The map's foundation was taken from the first campaign 5th mission, which probably came out around 2015 or so )
The sounds of horns and the changing lighting add to the atmosphere)
I didn't experience any problems with the heroes or their number. From the start of the map, I sent Faendan down the left path into the Sanctuary. At the beginning of each week, he would run out and collect freebies from two water mills. Gotai reclaimed his buildings and spent a couple or three weeks gathering an army, after which he was ready to sail to the island and liberate dwellings if necessary. Zehir leveled up well, performing the main clearing alongside Kane. Later, I sent him along the path left of center to clear other dwellings. Isabelle, Frida, and Railag handled the rapid delivery of troops and artifacts to Kane.

Regarding the plot:
Quite intriguing. By the end of the game, I thought that was it—the turning point where good triumphs over evil once again. But no, not a chance. The final cinematic revives the intrigue )
Actually, this isn't just Campaigns; it's like Game of Thrones. The author is cruel to the main heroes. And this time was no different. I was prepared for anyone to die, but [this one]... (I won't spoil it) was especially hurtful and unexpected. Overall, I'm glad that the plot strongly echoes previous parts.

All in all, thank you very much for the work done! And good luck in the future.

The map's foundation was taken from the first campaign, mission 5; it probably came out around 2015.

Old map

In February 2014, to be precise.

Thank you for your feedback; I'm glad that at least someone liked it

In February 2014, to be exact.

Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad that at least someone liked it.

Come on, I liked it too! There was just a slight mismatch between expectation and reality – well... I had a slightly different idea of what a Castle would be like. And 7 heroes is unusual.
I already wrote about my first impression, I started playing it today (I had to work before that).
I'll write when I finish, it will be soon (without false modesty, I can say that I know how to carry the game with a hero, especially such an overpowered one as The Hir).
I already know about the Prophet, I'm saving up wood and sulfur xD. I won't build Dwellings, I noticed a lot of Fortresses on the horizon, one is guarded by Arcata Warriors, they will be easily defeated by Chaos. I read the reviews, I think I'll level up Zehir and Findan, I'll use them to clear everything and defend against enemies, the rest are "minor heroes".

In theory, it shouldn't be difficult to create a Walkthrough, we can defeat any army (thankfully, if I get lost, Remix has a lot of guides).

Added 4 minutes ago

If the map was isolated from everything, then yes. But it is integrated into a specific plot, and in the plot, all these heroes are the main ones. I can't just take and remove a hero ("Hey, Faidaen, you're useless, go away").

It was quite possible to add a plot twist like "Findan went to Irollan for reinforcements..." Or just give control of some heroes to the computer.

Added 23 hours 48 minutes ago
I finished the playthrough with the hero.
I mainly played with Zehir, using Chaos and Summoning, although I didn't have much luck with artifacts, but I still got the necessary ones. In the second week, I captured a Fortress on a hill with Arcata Warriors, upgraded the Golems to yellow, and then everything went smoothly: Golems defend, I bombard the enemy with Chaos, then I attack myself (:)). The Mentor was heavily guarded, so I played with useless Summoning for a while.
At the same time, I gave as many Archers as possible to Findan, he cleared everything he could on the right. I leveled up Findan as a Warrior with Light + luck. I used the others to scout, but not beyond the outer fortifications.
Somewhere in the 2nd-3rd week, the computer unexpectedly captured one of the garrisons, I rushed to recapture it.
In the first month, I killed neutrals... Sometimes, yellow demons suddenly captured garrisons, although I didn't see how they got there. In general, I developed. The same happened in the second month, I periodically defended against tough opponents, barely killed Shadowear and a tough Deleb, who was doing some kind of weird thing (maybe slightly reduce the number of computer opponents?). I tried to control outposts with GG-s, alternately ran to capture Dwellings and kill mobs, but there weren't enough heroes, so I quickly leveled up Railag as a Warrior... with a human army, I don't want to go to the Dungeon). Reinforcements could not break through, I didn't realize that I needed to attack the outer outposts xD

Another hero appeared... well, at least a leveled-up one, although not as much as I would like, but at least with an army!)

In short, Zehir defeated everyone! Neutrals were defeated with a single stack of 92 fire elementals, the computer also ate them and finished them off with a spell. I had to reload many times due to problems with logistics (either Shadowear in the climate control was defeating Zehir and Findan, or I ran past, or the outpost was captured...).

Marbas and other opponents, who cannot be approached and do not move themselves, and Nimue with a huge army (tons of dogs) confused me. Here is a screenshot:


So as not to spoil the game completely, I will only say that it is very tedious (many reloads) to defend against these tough demons, especially Ir-Kha-...Br-br-br and Istilktiya :). I used the following tactics: when I killed the mobs and alternately leveled up the main GG-s at the Mentor (we teach mentoring, give experience, reset - I barely had enough gold), I stood at the edges of the city at the outer outposts with Zehir and Findan, and Railag defended the garrisons of the second line (yellow demons didn't cause any problems, because, after standing in place for 5 turns, they disappeared...). Autosave is on, so I always have the opportunity to change the direction of movement. I repeat: IMHO, reduce the army size.

I'm tired of writing the report, I liked the ending, if I wrote it not very coherently - mille pardon, I'm already tired!

Thanks for the map!

Added 8 minutes ago
I forgot to say: A terrible violation of traditions!!! Arantir opened his mouth in the cartoon... The world split in half!

I'm tired of writing reports; I liked the ending. If I didn't write very coherently, please forgive me; I'm already tired!

Thank you for the map!

Thank you for the feedback. The yellow demons were probably so scared that they decided not to show themselves. They didn't necessarily have to be touched.

I completed the map with a hero; thanks for the map, the creator is consistent in their style.
I played it for 3 days. It's difficult and tedious to withstand these countless hordes of demons; you can only do it with Zephyr, using Omniscience, and in a castle with a doubled mana reserve, starting from the 3rd or 4th attempt at the earliest. Any other hero will simply be overwhelmed. Reinforcements at this difficulty level are useless, as are humans in general on this map, only to clear out upgrade locations and capture human dwellings (well, griffins were useful at the feast). If you use a veteran, of course, the game will be much more comfortable. The final battle, compared to the rest of the demons, turned out to be very easy.
Regarding the gameplay, it's better not to forget about the ships in the area accessible to the yellow demons; otherwise, they will end up where they shouldn't through the whirlpool, which is unpleasant. Well, we've already talked about the Temple. I also didn't like the fact that the teleporting demon removes mini-creatures from the Academy creatures.
Overall, this map is hardcore for those who like it, but it's made with quality and without bugs, as always. Perhaps one of the most difficult missions in all 3 Campaigns, there are too many mutants (but I feel like the creator held back to avoid giving them more stats, like they did with the bosses in Campaigns 1 and 2).
You can only play as a hero if you're a hardcore gamer.
And a big thank you to the creator! I wonder what Markel will do next

a normal map, I liked everything)
I'm curious, how did the final version turn out to be so simple?

There's a ton of damage, plenty of power, extremely high initiative, plus an additional hell wave that deals 1k damage to each enemy without debuffs, they go almost first, can remove control, berserk doesn't allow them to throw away the shield of the dwarves, absolute gating. I played with an imp - it's game over if you don't put anyone in front of it to take the hit. There's enough defense, the bonus from the dwarf set works great for it, attack, defense, luck buffs, if you fight it for every initiative point to even have a chance of going first. I only won because I had 2 stacks with control, and another one with high base initiative to fly in and attack the imp, but even that had to be maxed out (besides Sandro's cloak, you can't do without it). And I won on the 20th try or so).

Perhaps one of the most difficult missions in all three Campaigns, there are too many mutants (but I feel like the developer held back to avoid giving them too many stats, like they did with the bosses in Campaigns 1 and 2).

Thank you for your feedback!
During testing, I cut down the demons many times, especially Sigrif. Apparently, what seemed impossible turned into an easy battle, although I still managed to defeat him with some difficulty.

Added 1 minute ago

The map is good, I liked everything)
I'm just curious, how did the final battle turn out to be so easy?

He has a lot of hit points, enough power, extremely high initiative, and he also gets an extra turn with Hellfire, which deals 1k damage to each unit without any debuff protection. He goes almost first, can remove control, Berserk prevents him from dropping the Dwarven Shield, and he has absolute gating. If the Imp gets a turn, it's game over unless you put someone in front of him to take the hit. He has enough defense, the bonus from the Dwarven set works great for him, attack, defense, luck buffs. If you fight him for every initiative point to make sure he doesn't go first, it's even harder. I only won because I had two stacks with control, and another one with high base initiative to fly in and attack the Imp, but I still had to max out its initiative (except for Sandro's Cloak, you can't do without it). And I won on the 20th try or so.

Probably, you meant the last battle with Sigrif. It turned out to be easier than the battle with Kahn.

Yes, I meant the battle with Sigryph. On Light and Shadow and Divine Might, counterspelling works well; you just need to manage to re-cast the spell and grab the Sar-Iss staff. Khan on Zephyr is also decent if you have a large stack of fire-resistant gargoyles with minions. Demons are controlled one by one, countered by hives, and vampirism is negated by mirrors. But it's not easy either. There's definitely no need to make it more difficult. The only thing I'd like to add is that the message about the attack of the last demon should indicate that it's the last one, so it's clear that you can use the limit on it and finish with minimal losses, because otherwise it's too harsh. Although on Khan, you can't resurrect anyone anyway.

Then I think it would be right to indicate the main character in the topic header. I'm not a participant in the "Battle of Psychics":)
Or someone can send me the name of the main character in the finale in a private message.
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homm_5_fan
Playing as a hero is only for hardcore players).
Hmm... so I'm a hardcore player... well, okay... then playing on recruit difficulty is only for newbies)).