Posts from Walkthroughs for custom maps.

Yes, it will be possible later. When you reach the green and black tents, let the brown heroes visit them; this is necessary for further progress. I initially did this at the green tent, but it's difficult (I think it's even impossible) to win on the cursed land. However, it's quite possible at the black tent. I first attacked the brown hero at the black tent on the desolate lands and then replayed it. But before opening the black tent, you need to prepare. As for the fairies, I defeated them on level 237 with 50 archdevils and hypnosis. It took a long time; I started with a group of 400. But a lot also depends on the skill tree. At that point, my spell power was exactly 20. I could only hypnotize 1 fairy, so I surrounded myself with 2 of these level 1 units and attacked from there. It took a long time to get the right setup. Although, it wasn't necessary to kill this group first; you can start with the group of 350. If you need anything, feel free to ask; I still have the saves, and I can check what and how it was done.

Seriously, facepalm. Where were you 10-15 years ago when there were awesome offline Tournaments with map Walkthroughs for speed, which were held here and on HeroeSports. People didn't engage in this kind of nonsense; there was real skill!

Released his new map:

https://www.maps4heroes.com/forum/opinions.php?map_id=1982&game=3

50+ battles, you'll have to play it exclusively with level 6424 heroes and periodically restore their level after it resets, the map describes in detail how to do it. Important - the map is only playable with the SoD_SP plugin.

I will be grateful for feedback, the welcome message on the map contains contact information, you can write either there or here in this thread.

. Is it even necessary to use this bug?

I was just reminiscing about how to move the horse units during the New Year holidays – both in online play and by checking out new maps from LC and Obi. I immediately encountered problems with both – it's important to understand what you're dealing with.
The map from LC looks very interesting, but when you reach the 2nd (or 3rd?) battle with the dragons, where the strategy mentioned several times in the thread, or the quick-combat bug, allows you to defeat the dragons with just 2 pegasus units, questions arise about self-determination. Is it necessary to use this bug? Is it implied by the map, since there is still enough material left for at least one more use? After all, the author insists on using SOD_SP, which by default has a checkbox enabled to restore the quick-combat bug, which was fixed in HD (or HD+). In general, it's always a complex question: which bugs can be used on which maps.

wenwell suggests removing the quick battle option in SoD_SP, but this will add monotony to certain parts of the scenario for those who plan to play with the plugin. Although, even if the checkbox is removed, nothing will prevent you from doing it in the battle itself; just block the sniper with a Pegasus and use the bug with the Q key. The battle is based on one interesting AI feature, and with proper positioning, it can be passed with a 100% success rate.

If you uncheck the box in the SoD_SP mod, the bug simply won't trigger; that is, flying units won't duplicate when moving. Consequently, activating quick battle before a fight will result in our hero losing. At the same time, the Q key can still be used during gameplay. So, in theory, we could require everyone to play with the SoD_SP mod and lock the quick battle bug fix in it. The question is, for those playing without SoD_SP, this bug probably can't be fixed.

Added 14 minutes later
Perhaps, for a complete understanding, it should also be clarified that unchecking the box doesn't disable the ability to use quick battle, but rather removes the bugs associated with quick battle, both before the battle and during the battle itself.

About 12-13 years ago, I was in the top three and even won offline tournaments, although on a different site – Hero League. But back then, there were no signs of a unified Heroes community site. And I don't share this concept of "the grass being greener in the past." Rather, the opposite is true; the set of tricks and techniques, both related to bugs and not, has grown significantly. At the very least, this is reflected in the physics engine, which has grown significantly in content and in the number of people who use it over the past 10 years. And the level of maps has grown... but if you don't play them, how will you see it? What appeared 10-15 years ago from hardcore maps, the first thing that comes to mind is Xiedu – and even then, few people completed it, but now there's The Last Crusade, Metataxer's Revenge, a bunch of Chinese maps, puzzle maps from RoseKavalier, Obi, wenwell – all of them appeared after 2010.
And you can also see a sharp increase in quality and skill in online games. The champions have changed – before, you could admire Maretti and ATG, but now they are far from dominating everyone. Except perhaps Stinger and Bishop, who have consistently been strong, probably since the time of the dinosaurs, but their level has also increased.
In short, it's not worth dwelling on the past and drawing conclusions based on isolated examples.

Right during the New Year holidays, I was remembering how to move the horses — both in online play and by checking out new releases: maps from LC and Obi. Both had issues right away — it's important to understand what you're dealing with here.
The map from LC looks very interesting, but once you reach the 2nd (or 3rd?) battle with dragons, where wenwell's strategy mentioned several times above in the thread or the quick-combat bug allows you to break the dragons with 2 pegasi — questions of self-determination arise. Should you use the bug here? Is it intended by the map, since there's still enough material for at least one more use? After all, the author insists on using SOD_SP, which by default has the checkmark for restoring the quick-combat bug (fixed in hd or hd+) enabled. In general, it's always a difficult question which bugs can be used on which maps.
Now, the map from Obi doesn't pose such philosophical questions. To be honest, I didn't understand the map at first — some battles were simple, and then you find yourself at a dead end, wtf? I read the comments for one of the battles in Rince's VK group and it turns out the battle isn't that straightforward and simple. You start thinking further and it turns out there are alternative solutions, that the puzzle has a second level of solution. And then it's seasoned with restrictions on mana and move points, and it turns out that even the second level of solution isn't enough and there's actually a third In short, I'm thrilled. Some (and quite a few) of the battles are absolutely genius. And at the same time, they don't require knowledge of any bugs, but they do require a good knowledge of mechanics and courage in experimentation. Also, very long solutions are not intended — any battle, if you understand the solution, is executed in a maximum of a couple of minutes. However, I must caveat that I haven't completed much — only 2 days in 3 directions + tests of 2-3 battles on the 3rd day. And here is a small fly in the ointment — it's related to that damn battle with the firewall abuse and the champions. The only battle with such a huge number of placement options for your stack(s?) and the firewall before the champions' first turn. I spent about a day in the denial stage of this battle — I basically didn't want to approach it. Then I checked all the starting hex options for one stack (yuck for such approaches, but it's better than nothing) and the most logical placement of the wall — I only came to understand how the battle is passed if you isolate and sacrifice a 1-unit stack, which of course is not the solution, as the further quest requires completion without losses. And yes, I still haven't passed this battle and have no particular enthusiasm for it. IMHO, there should be a hint for it; "13 or less" is most likely a restriction on the number of firewall uses so that there's enough mana for the other battles, but that's not great. It's not a reference to hex I3 — it's not particularly noteworthy, there are more interesting hexes. The placement option of 1+3 (that's how the "hint" can be interpreted) also doesn't reduce the number of possible options that need to be plowed through — and that's a crappy puzzle solution.
As for small flaws, which aren't critical at all, but could be fixed if desired — it can also be noted that in some parts of the map the text is English, in another part it's Russian (since I have localized Heroes) — it's a bit distracting. The move points are slightly miscalculated, and a hero with 111 after picking up a stone doesn't stay in the Castle (like his companion), but has move points left for an extra step. And the battle of the unicorn against a group of wyverns + ifrit is too simple.
But otherwise, the map is gorgeous — all sorts of techniques are used, and many battles are far from obvious and require the application of not just one, but a couple or more tricks or tactical maneuvers. There are false hints that lead you astray. There's a bit of trolling when you're given something that isn't needed for the next battle :) But, excluding the battle against the champions, I got enormous pleasure solving each puzzle and wondering what Obi had prepared for this battle. I hope the other 2/3 of the map are in the same style)

It’s not about the grass. The hat bug has been around as long as the heroes, and in 2021, there are still people who say it’s a method.

As for the old guard, yes and no. I am sure that neither DmitryAS nor Anton would be out of place among the new players in offline. The problem is that offline itself is practically dead.

I don't know about Atg, I don't know what happened to him, but Maretti appears on Twitch. I understand that he plays much less now. Maybe he got tired of it, or he started living a real life, I don't know. I know for sure that playing regularly, in binges, is not the same as playing a few games for fun. This is a big difference, both in approach and in result.

And there is another very important nuance here - Hota is NOT Heroes.
This game is undoubtedly popular. Fan addon, expansion, mod, let anyone call it what they want. It is a game similar to Heroes, but it is NOT Heroes 3.