Posts from Walkthroughs for custom maps.

Map: Southern and Northern War /南征北战正式版

Author: wklhy
original here: http://www.gamerhome.com/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=348192&page=1&from=sp ace

Walkthrough Review

I will continue my review of the works by my favorite author, wklhy. Previously, I have already covered the maps Dark Man and Heroes on the Wasteland, ВТ /荒原上的英雄完善测试版(高难） in detail. I also completed, but unfortunately did not save the saves for, the map Breaking Wind and Waves. At the moment, only one map remains uncompleted — Blood Volcano River 2-0; it is in the queue for a walkthrough.

According to my personal rating, Breaking Wind and Waves and Southern and Northern War can be considered the "simpler" maps by this author. Next is slightly harder — Heroes on the Wasteland. And the pinnacle of the author's creation is the Dark Man map, which has become quite famous thanks to streamer playthroughs.

A characteristic feature of the Southern and Northern War map, as with other maps by this author, is its dynamic nature, open world, and the onslaught of enemy heroes. Consequently, the player is required to have a well-thought-out strategy, especially in the first few weeks, and constant haste in moving across the map. Otherwise, the enemy will simply crush us sooner or later.

Overall, I would give the map a 7/10. This score isn't so high because it's bad or flawed—no, in that sense everything is fine. As far as I understand, this was the author's first map (created in 2011), so many "features" desired by players are missing, such as Pandora's boxes, an abundance of quests, etc.—there is very little of that on the map. There are no puzzles or overly complex ideas either; the combat component prevails. Nevertheless, for 2011, the map is quite decent, and I enjoyed completing it. Primarily because everything worked out on the map and I finished it relatively quickly, both in game time and IRL.

Another good point is that the map didn't require heavy reloading. It plays how it plays. Yes, it seems like we are surrounded and doomed! But the map is still beatable . A couple of times I had to reload to optimize the route or change the order of battles on the map—just minor things. But there were no reloads like on Dark Man or other maps where you had to replay 1-2 game days (which actually takes 3-5 hours!!!).

Some battles required hitting some RNG, some required catching the right sequence of computer spells to drain its mana (especially when we didn't have the sphere of dissipation yet, and the computer loved to dispel magic), but all of this was within the Chinese gaming norm. So, the map appealed to me.

As in my previous reviews, I repeat that the map may not suit people who wish to move "from location to location," from "hero to hero"; here you have to go wherever possible and kill whoever possible, everything is in constant dynamics.

By the way, it must be added that the author reworked his version of the map, and in earlier versions, one could take, for example, Elleshar, an intelligence specialist, from prison and use him to conduct a good half of the battles with a large mana reserve. In the current version, our pool of heroes is limited and there is no particular choice; Mephala will be the main throughout the game.

Troops in battles can be used variably: just archdevils, archdevils + archangels, or archdevils + snipers. Toward the end of the game, simply take all the meat together: bears, azure dragons, etc.

The Beginning

It so happened that I didn't really generate a starting save, I just started playing (though this happens rarely!). The map allows you to choose the computers' castles, and by setting, for example, Castles, Towers, and other useful castles, you can greatly speed up your progress, quickly increasing your strike stacks through growth. But I started playing randomly, and it didn't particularly affect the game.

We start with a small unimproved starting army with Ivor and an artifact for morale. On the first day, I collect gold and head north, break through an external dwelling with elves, and buy them.

Day 2 – I break into an abandoned mine; lucky me, there's gold! I also take the sawmill and kill the guards for +1 knowledge.

Days 3, 4 – I pick up resources, upgrade grands, and return to the castle.

On day 6, I free the second hero - Saurug. He captures the crystal mine.

At 117, we have Ivor with basic earth, 24 grands, 7 elves, and single digits of centaurs.

Beginning of the 2nd week, we build and upgrade the army in the castle, collecting what we can at the respawn. At 115, I stand with Ivor on acceleration near the alchemist's mercury laboratory, preparing for the invasion. Saurug holds a nearby army of 57 grands, 5 pegasi, 16 cents, 2 unicorns, and 7 dendroids.

In general, during the first 10-12 days, you need to travel around and capture as much of your initial respawn as possible, visiting boosters, capturing external dwellings of elves, and buying them out. In any case, specifically on 1-2-6, you need to stand right before the golden dragon guards, preparing to invade the neighboring western respawn. If you break the guards too early, we probably won't kill the two enemy enemies circling around there. If later — we won't capture the growth in the castle with angels. Maybe someone will come up with another way to pass this part. But the trick of capturing the castle with growth greatly eases development during these days.

So, on 126, the papal relief (see screenshot) allows breaking through 4 golden dragons only with the loss of single digits of cents and 6 woodies (and the 7th remaining after the battle I simply dismissed for acceleration). It's enough to catch 1-2 morale or even without them. 127 ends as in the picture. On 131, by splitting the grands and catching morale on them, I managed to kill the castle guards in 1 round, losing ONLY 3 GRAND ELVES, only 3 pieces!!! As a result, we get full growth in the castle, including 3 angels! With such an army, you can hit the two enemy heroes running nearby. For me, ending the day in an enemy angel castle on 131 is a good result. But that doesn't mean someone couldn't try to break through the golden dragons a bit earlier and take the castle sooner.

Such tricks for capturing growth allow building an army on the map, and further, this important element will need to be repeated often.

While staying overnight in the castle, on 132, Enova attacks us; she is easy to kill via defense with the loss of 3 single units. By 132, we already have a very well-leveled Ivor, see screenshot.

While Valeska captures mines (let her take them, I don't mind!), we upgrade 4 angels and other troops in the fort. 135 – Valeska killed, not a difficult fight with mass slow, losses of single units and 1 grand.

Next, having archs in the army, we can break through the archangel guards in the south and free Kir on 143.

Then I hesitated a bit at the respawn, not knowing where to go. There was an option to free Grindan, another hero, in the north a bit earlier. Or go east to the Inferno lands.

As I later read on the author's forum, by 147, ideally, they have already fully captured the eastern Inferno respawn. Well, a good pace, I thought, but in my playthrough everything was slower. After freeing Kir, I decided for three reasons to return back to the angel castle: upgrade 4 angels from the "can", free Grindan, and most importantly – kill the enemy who entered our respawn on 146 – intelligence specialist Aiden (this can be done "right now" while he has a very small army, because as soon as he gathers an army from the captured castle, he will tear us apart with his strike magic). So on 146, Aiden was killed with the loss of single units. I managed to pull off such a fight only on the condition that Ivor caught the magic resistance skill in the 8th slot, which triggered twice or thrice during the battle. Aiden knows how to do an explosion, and that complicates battles significantly. Nevertheless, victory over Aiden — no army losses, but a loss in tempo (got stuck here at this respawn for a bit).

 

211 – 237 (OBTAINING КЗ – SPOILERS!)

On 211, the first Inferno heroes arrive at our respawn from the east – Marius (killed 212), Nimus (killed 213), and the strongest – Xeron. Due to the loss of magic in the first two battles, I retreated for now, and after replenishing mana, on 215 I killed Xeron, collecting the elixir of life.

Immediately we rush to the Inferno respawn, capture devil dwellings and the castles themselves. From here, this will be one of our strike stacks until the end of the game. Right there, without leaving the counter, you can buy one azure dragon; this is enough for battles for now.

222 – we free Mephala, who in two steps levels up by killing pits and visits the library. From here on, Mephala will be our main. I attach a screenshot of leveled Mephala on 222. She knows resurrection and blindness.

Meanwhile, Galtran arrives at our initial respawn from the south and Zhabarkas from the west, and later – other enemies. We have a choice – go northwest to the Barbarian lands or return and reclaim the initial castles. According to the author's design, you should go north and, making a counter-clockwise circle, manage to return by that time. But I, having bribed the archdevils, decided to return to the initial respawn anyway; growth is just too important.

232 – Zhebarkas killed. 235 – Shiva.

Generally, enemies are now literally on all sides, see screenshot on 235 – a "normal" situation surrounded by enemies. Then I realize that in this spirit I won't last long and sooner or later my heroes will be caught and killed in this "tight ring," and there is nowhere to buy them back, there are no taverns on the map and there won't be. Therefore, I decide on an adventure – to obtain the book of earth in my possession contrary to the author's plan (town portal is not in the guilds and will be available much later).

Actually, it should be said that there are 2 quests for КЗ on the map, both at level 32. But by this time, Mephala is only level 22, and it's completely unclear how to reach level 32. All the while, Sir Müllich has already taken one copy of КЗ and is now flying around castles, threatening to reach us and creating trouble. Killing Müllich in the field is unrealistic; on the first turn (having a speed advantage of +2), he simply casts prayer and wipes out our strike stacks from the 1st turn.

Therefore…..

Header

on 236 I entered the sandy respawn with Mephala, opened the blue guardian, stopped very close and let Yog (he is above level 32) take the book of earth and attack me immediately!!! But here you have to calculate correctly so that Yog first takes КЗ (instead of attacking Mephala), then attacks Mephala (doesn't fly away on a town portal to some castle). And of course, you need to kill Yog to get КЗ! But after a few machinations, everything worked out! I'm not sure if the author intended for the player to get КЗ exactly this way, but nevertheless! The trick, obviously, is not new; I've performed it a couple of times on other maps, but doing it specifically on this map was difficult due to the fact that many enemies are circling around. Below will be a screenshot with explanation

Having КЗ in hand, things became more cheerful: now heroes can buy out growths, capture castles, and immediately fly away, which adds a lot of dynamics for us.

241 – 337 (killing logisticians, freeing Jelu, control of respawns)

More interesting battles begin. Generally, this stage looks like this: Mephala kills someone or goes for stats, and secondary heroes after the battle take КЗ and fly to capture an enemy castle. Other heroes, if the castle is captured, take КЗ for themselves and immediately fly to the next one. The computer cannot keep up with such a pace. As a result, a bunch of enemy heroes are traveling the map, but we have control of most castles, and we receive growth from almost all of them.

241 Roland killed on a super-tile (see screenshot); I managed to hide in an external dwelling where only 1 devil hits us. And for Mephala with the elixir, this doesn't even deal damage.

244 one of the ways to steal growth:

Header

Mephala on 7 pegasi reaches Müllich's home castle in the western part of the sands. Since the computer doesn't feel danger (the castle is guarded by 22 angels), it doesn't buy out the growth. Mephala attacks, summons elementals with the book of earth, and captures the castle with growth. In the end, + 8 archs and shooters, plus the grail in the castle. There are also 3k spearmen there, who can be upgraded for free in the fort and sold for a good profit.

This trick was subsequently performed more than once on the map.

245 – Sylvia killed (hid behind a tent with hypnosis), then cast sands and killed everyone with archdevils.

312 – Alkin killed, an interesting strat was applied (see screenshot) involving killing the archers.

314 – only now we kill Kilgor from the castle defense and reach level 32.

323 – VERY IMPORTANT moment with freeing Jelu. Now we convert all accumulated grands and archers from the castle into snipers, if there's enough money. 326 – we have 724 snipers!

323 – during castle defense, Mephala with only azure dragons kills Edric with the cloak of denial. Extremely easy battle: we kill the ballista with shooters and pelt the computer with shooters. His archers cannot cause any harm to our azures, and other magic does not work on them (the computer fell victim to its own strategy!). See screenshot.

326 - freeing Craig, 331 – freed Caitlin.

337 – in castle defense, managed to kill Dessa, who caused quite a bit of trouble, and immediately on 341 – Gunnar. After their death, there are no problems with map control anymore!

Parallelly, we go and capture the snowy respawn in the north. At first, I thought there was no passage there and that the quest Tazar needed to be killed, but when enemy heroes came out from there, I went north toward them.

 

341 – 447 (breakthrough of necro-garrison, new locations, book of water, obtaining town portal, FULL CONTROL of the surface map)

343 – I break through the necro-garrison with Mephala, an event preventing movement south, see screenshot, lost only 2 flies.

346 – receive prayer for level 36, immediately level up on legions of rusty dragons, and on 417 we take the Book of Water for level 42. Now we know clone and can conduct even more complex battles.

Generally, by this time Mephala is simply a monster! The skill allows enduring a lot of damage and pulling through the hardest battles.

422 – Tazar killed. Having received the captain's hat from him, one can enter the closed location where, after killing fairy dragons, finally, on 424 everyone learns town portal, and we gain full control over the map and growths.

425 – we kill the azures and take an important artifact - the sphere of dissipation, which will be very useful later.

432 – from defense Müllich killed, who was still flying with the second КЗ.

445 – FULL CONTROL over accessible locations, ALL SURFACE CASTLES captured.

One could drive Mephala around the remaining boosters / enhancers, but it's BETTER to move on to new lands in the underground. I repeat, the WHOLE surface is under our control, all growths, resources, etc.

 

511 – completion (most powerful battles, obtaining КВ, victory)

At this stage, we need to capture most of the underground with stronger heroes and larger armies. Here, Mephala usually fights "wall to wall."

On 511, we enter the previously closed respawn behind the blue tent. Here, both heroes and armies are significantly tougher; real carnage begins! For example, see the battle 511 with Tiraxor. On 512, we kill two at once – Erdamon and Das, with similar legions. 513 – we kill Thorgrim behind a double forcefield. 514 – Katerina, etc. See screenshots. We kill everyone we can and whoever we have enough mana for. Nevertheless, there are monsters here too, currently insurmountable. For example, Sanya with troop concentration and the cloak of denial, whom you can't break without significant losses. Or Damacon with a sniper bow and 6 legions of shooting stacks.

All this time, we send scouts deep into the territory and take their castles with growths (same trick with single units, mana reserve, and summoning elementals so the computer doesn't buy out the growth).

521 – already captured a couple of castles further north and moved to the snowy underground respawn.

In general, battles every day; the wizard's well was very helpful.

522 Gundula killed, and on 523 in 1 day – 3 heroes: Labetta, Josephine, Kira; Mephala's specialty allows this (see screenshot).

Brutal fights continue. 533 – Andra killed and green killed. 536 – Terek and tea. 537 – Mutare killed (see screen, sat in castle) and brown, 543 – Lord Haart and pink. 546 – Mutare Drake.

547 – obtained quest book of air. Due to the computer's fear of leaving prison, I managed on 611 to free the last enemy hero from prison, getting all his army, which was partially needed to take down the last hero with the cloak of denial – Sanya (she also had the armageddon blade, which I didn't get to play with

612 – Grail dug up and victory!

Our Heroes

Let's start with the fact that a peculiarity of the map is that THERE ARE NO TAVERNS AT ALL! Therefore, if someone is killed, the hero is lost forever. Hence the impossibility of hit-running. A very good question arose for me during the playthrough – whether it's worth freeing EXACTLY ALL heroes from prisons immediately, since there's nowhere to hide them; there are only a couple of sanctuaries on the map and not enough for everyone. As the playthrough showed, whenever possible, all heroes should be freed immediately. Further, with skillful "leading by the nose" of the computer, you can calmly run away from the computer's forces, although at some point the logistician specialists scare us by being able to catch our heroes. But the general strategy is still to release heroes to help us whenever possible.

For the first 3-5 weeks, until freeing Mephala, we conduct battles with Ivor. Then we switch to Mephala and finish the map with her. Therefore, any bonuses should be given to Mephala. In other, earlier versions of the map, the author gave the possibility to play as Orrin and Elleshar (I saw screenshots in the Chinese forum thread), but we are deprived of this option in this version of the map and are forced to play only as Mephala.

Mandatory leveling is required for Kir, to reach other castles and take growth. Also, it's desirable for all heroes to pump knowledge so they can capture computer castles; sometimes they have very impressive guards that have to be broken through with the remnants of the army (since the main forces are usually on Mephala).

Try to get pathfinding for ALL heroes; it will be very necessary on such a dynamic map. Essentially, only Ivor traveled without this skill for me.

Mephala doesn't necessarily need to visit all enhancers and waste time on it, as they are often intentionally placed inconveniently and too far away. Enemies can be killed even with lower stats; Mephala's specialty allows this.

Enemies

There's probably no one in particular to highlight. Everyone can be killed step by step.

Among quest enemies, perhaps only Tazar stands out with a huge mana reserve and teleport knowledge, whom I went to face already knowing clone and with a decent stack of archangels. According to the Chinese strategy, Elleshar killed him, simply winning on mana and elemental summoning. But Mephala didn't have that opportunity; I had to go a bit later.

The logisticians – Gunnar and Dessa – turned out to be very annoying. The sooner you can catch them, the better.

All enemy heroes, in almost all cases – with vastly superior forces. Heroes can meet, exchange troops and artifacts, so there is some randomness regarding who and in what configuration you will fight

----------------------------- the end ----------------------------------

screenshots part 2

screenshots part 3

Decided to return to Dark Man..

This is both the strength and the weakness of such maps. By making the world open, unforeseen events can always occur: the AI flying from one island to another without having the necessary magic, the AI getting stuck near a creature dwelling and refusing to open a quest location, the desired enemy hero going in the opposite direction, and as a result, a tent not being opened. All these and some other problems have already occurred in Heroes 6424 and on other maps. I think that on such a dynamic map, the author is unlikely to calculate all the options.
Therefore, such shortcomings are a kind of "attribute" of such maps, and I personally am willing to put up with them.

Next, regarding the Grail, on some maps the AI can indeed dig it up. Usually, this is not critical, unless the author wanted to force the player to place it in Flax to learn magic. Let's just say that on this map, losing the Grail is tolerable.

Regarding the exchange of troops between heroes, I have already shared my opinion on this: usually, it simplifies the game. Instead of several, usually ALL MORE POWERFUL than us, heroes, we get several weak ones and only one strong one. By killing all the weaklings, we gain control of the map, and we will kill the strong one when we gather our armies. In my opinion, this is a common practice. Yes, if we are playing according to the author's plan, then we kill enemies as soon as they appear (this is usually the plan), and the players do not have time to exchange armies. But in my experience, such an exchange is not critical. If it turns out that all the super-powerful units are gathered on a hero with a Sphere of Inhibition or a Cloak of Negation, then we will simply leave this hero for last, nothing terrible (unless, of course, it is a quest hero). To prevent this from happening, experienced map makers usually do not put inhibiting artifacts on the strongest enemies. And any army on any hero can be killed over time.
So, with the statement

After all, theoretically, some hero can acquire such an army and such artifacts that it will become simply impossible to defeat him.

I cannot agree. Any enemy can be killed, the question is only of time, strategy, and strength, as well as the possibility of hit-and-run tactics.

But I agree that it is possible to leave enemies without a castle, which will lead to the loss of the hero and the map becoming unpassable. In any case, the author needs to think about such a scenario; this is a significant drawback.

But I repeat, getting such a UNIQUE map as Dark Man, on which everything would be "in order," is probably impossible. Therefore, I personally put up with its shortcomings as an integral attribute.

Now that I have a Castle, things are getting more interesting: now heroes can buy upgrades, capture Castles, and immediately fly away, which adds a lot of dynamics to the game.

I see that in the author's maps, getting a Castle as early as possible is the most important task. After that, the Walkthrough becomes much easier. In Dark Man, I also almost immediately, after capturing a Castle with a tavern, focused all my efforts on gathering creatures and getting a Castle. Kirra is especially helpful in this, so I leveled her up whenever possible and gave her all the artifacts for logistics.

I can't agree. Any enemy can be killed; it's just a matter of time, strategy, and strength, as well as the possibility of hit-and-run tactics.

I was obviously exaggerating here. Of course, there are no heroes that cannot be defeated at all. Either with hit-and-run tactics or by simply gathering troops. But in theory, if several strong heroes combine all their troops and all the worst artifacts, like Shackles and Cloak of Disappearance, and give them to one hero, especially someone like Tazar, it will be incredibly difficult to kill him.

But regarding the possibility of leaving enemies without a Castle, which will lead to the loss of the hero and the impossibility of completing the map, I agree. The author must consider such a scenario; this is a significant drawback.

I don't know in what order the author released his maps, but it seems to me that in Breaking Wind and Waves, he already took this into account, and in each location closed to the player with prisons, there is also a Castle. Although there didn't seem to be any quest heroes that needed to be killed to proceed.

I don't know in what order the author released his maps, but it seems to me that in Breaking Wind and Waves, he already took this into account, and there is a Castle on each location closed to the player, which also contains prisons. Although, as far as I remember, there were no quest heroes that needed to be killed to proceed.

If a hero designer takes on a map like Dark Man, he will definitely be able to handle such mistakes as "not capturing Castles" due to the death of heroes! :)

Yesterday, I was literally on the author's page. If the creation dates of the threads with his maps are to be believed, then the first two maps are Breaking Wind and Waves (2011) and Southern and Northern War (2011). The 3rd map was made in 2013 - Blood Volcano, which I just started playing.
Heroes on the Wasteland - a map from 2014 (I liked it, even very much). Dark Man is from 2016.
The author definitely stated that his first two maps are Breaking Wind and Waves and Southern and Northern War, and the 3rd is Blood Volcano.
It turns out that, on average, 1 great map takes 1-1.5 years to create + community testing, then corrections, etc.

I can say that, in addition to the map designer Woxin, I can name another favorite Chinese creator - wklhy.

Map: Leon's Redemption

Author: Barbuta [spoiler=in case of author monitoring this topic] I will write english version of review on maps4heroes a little bit later[/spoiler]

Version: 1.4 (on maps4heroes the author recently uploaded 1.5)

A few introductory words 

A map with huge potential and quite diverse content. In terms of difficulty, it's almost perfectly suited for players who have completed the "amateur starter pack" - Paragon, UtB, ViM, Way Home and want to try something slightly harder, rather than start sweating on well-known hardcore maps. Veterans are unlikely to discover anything new here, but the map is made very high quality indeed, so in my opinion even seasoned players can enjoy the walkthrough. However, there are nuances. Personally, I would have been glad to have read about them, at least in general terms, in this topic before starting my playthrough, so I decided to break my read-only mode of viewing the topic and write this for posterity 🙂 

Clear advantages of the map

• Excellent geography and terrain design
• Well-developed storyline
• Most battles are well-balanced (more on the combat part below)
• Excellent choice of main stack
• You'll have to solve several interesting puzzles 
• There is virtually no casino gameplay like "six genies and a stack of titans". [spoiler=The reason is very simple] there will be only 5 genies 🙃[/spoiler]
• A recognizable authorial style is felt throughout the entire walkthrough

Nuances of the map

• The story, although developed, is not particularly deep, and the delivery is lacking. I personally got tired of reading the spiel about Zenthino and Wizardino 100500 times in different events.
• There are almost no replaced objects, but their appearance is confusing.
• Some battles are simply awful
• In certain areas, the map looks as if the author simply ran out of ideas, so they look a bit bland compared to other areas
• A recognizable authorial style is felt throughout the entire walkthrough

Combat component

For the first half of the map, battles are moderately interesting and not very difficult quests for no-loss fights. Questions like "where to fight" and "how to fight with my current army composition" rarely arise. If they do, you've probably missed something (I twice missed the modified garrison with reinforcements and a spell book hidden right under my nose). If you're sure you haven't missed anything, then a question like "Barbuta, do you really want to make me do

this?"

for example, kiting Black Fiona's entire army with 80 snipers during a siege, casting haste, slow, and forgetfulness, having a limited mana pool and spell power around 6

pops into your head almost immediately and is the sought-after answer. In the second half of the map, there are no revelations, only occasional use of siege mechanics with elementals.

Moreover, most battles don't depend on randomness and are generally easy to replicate if you understand the idea of the fight, which in turn is not too hard to grasp. As an example, you can analyze the fights with

ShockContent

You have 210 snipers, and the enemy has much higher stats, a powerful army with about a thousand magic elementals and a cloak of retribution? Great, so you at least need a cart. Hmm, why does the enemy have two stacks of 10 champions? Ah, to lead them to the right spot, cast blindness, barricade yourself from the rest of the army and shoot it down

and with  

Destruction

The enemy has a large army of two-hex units? I'll hide behind the force field. Oh, does it have a red orb? That means the fight should be fought on special terrain with harpies, which the author specifically hinted at.

.  

They won't let you abuse clone+archangels, there's only one authorial fight for berserker (though it can be completed without it), you'll have to run without resurrection for the first third of the game; they also don't let you use AoE skills to break the catapult 🙃 - so the overall range of battles is quite diverse and varied in the mid and late game stages (my solutions absolutely did not match the author's), which can't help but please. (though subjectively there are many fights based on the "figure out how to blind everyone" -> "blind them" -> "raise all the hobbits and shoot them with a sling" tactic).

However, some battles are terribly, maddeningly annoying - from the very start it's clear what and how to do, but the execution is either RNG-dependent or quite tedious. It would seem, fight it once and forget it, but remember? Because of the recognizable authorial style, some fights will have to be replayed many, many times. From what stuck in my memory:

• 1 sniper and 1 dog against 15 upgraded dwarves with no magic.
  Title

  WHAT PREVENTS THE AUTHOR FROM PUTTING CURSED GROUND UNDER THE DWARVES TO REMOVE MORALE? Answer: the recognizable authorial style.
  
  Actually, after the section with the dog, any player will simply hate this unit, oh well.
  
• The fight for the external dwelling of pegasi (from memory, 170 snipers against 1000 upgraded pegasi). What prevents the author from making the pegasi unupgraded so that you can consistently budget your mana?
  Answer:

  the recognizable authorial style.
• About 5 similar long fights on cursed ground.
  Actually,

  it's not all that bad here, just monotonous. I suspect the author doesn't realize that if you shield your ranged stack with singles and kite with a more valuable stack, snakes will never fly at the ranged troops
   
• The finale will definitely leave no one indifferent

Also, in two battles I encountered a wtf moment, please veterans comment in the topic:

• The fight against Zenthino. Why don't the dragons fly out at the archangels when the titans have no shots left? You can watch
  here
  
  
  
• In the finale, I received messages about the inability to cast clone, supposedly due to 20 units on the battlefield (the game incorrectly handles clones that expired due to a timeout)? I haven't heard of this bug before.

 

Logistics

Where to go and what to do is generally always clear, the geography is easy to remember, which is a definite plus. There are a few simple logistical puzzles:

• Zenthino and obtaining the grail. Two single fairies next to a bunch of oases hint unambiguously
• "Towing" boats from Wizardino.
  Solution

  I heard a long time ago about arrow keys and boats, plus the author hinted at it, so the puzzle wasn't a revelation
• Getting the last part of the AotD
  Solution

  Jumping into a town by pressing space when you have wings is a well-known trick
• Getting the hands of legion. This one even impressed me.
  Solution

  I hadn't heard about moving through underground voids using arrow keys
• Getting the head of legion. Here it became interesting how this is implemented at the editor level.
  Solution

  The head needs to be dug up and then picked up; it will appear in place of the pit

You don't need to rush headlong at all costs, but you shouldn't linger either. The author has set timings, but they are quite forgiving and easy to meet, perhaps except for the first one - you simply physically cannot get there much earlier.

Recognizable authorial style

Let's finally talk about the little details. The author constantly flirts with you on the edge, and sometimes even over the edge. If you don't study the map in the editor (maybe that won't even help), you'll have to replay often. No, not like that. Often. Sometimes you'll realize almost immediately what you did wrong. Sometimes - after a month. Sometimes - even longer. All this is seasoned with very specific authorial humor.

ha-ha

The first time you see this ha-ha, you might even laugh. But the fifth time, you want to find the author and look him in the eye. [spoiler=for those interested but don't want to play]ha-ha is an inscription made of mage hut eyes, visiting which turns the game into a slideshow for several minutes. The kicker is that you might potentially have to watch this ha-ha for another 10 minutes at the end to get the explosion, but I managed without it[/spoiler]

 

Despite the fact that the author gives hints, in some places the author outright fuck.. dissembles. For example, John Dastr must not only open the pillar and die (actually he can just open the pillar and die, but then the finale becomes a spectacle for the truly strong of nerve). You cannot lose two peasants (okay, you actually can - only it won't be those 2 peasants you first think of. Or rather, the second peasant-cannon fodder will be a bit later). 

What burned me most was the author's advice about the exiled quest at the very beginning. The author writes that the Exiled girl must sink the boat in the shadow, but of course I sank the boat in the wrong shadow, which I found out about 8 months of game time later. 

Overall, credit where credit is due - they skillfully prepare you for replays from day one:

• Jumped into a boat with two heroes? Load, because the event prevents disembarkation
• During the first Wizardino fight, you thought you could sweat a bit and save mana, but it seems to be just barely enough, so that's the author's intent? Load, because the author's intent was to deceive you
• Played Dastr's squire fight wrong? Load
• Got out of the boat without digging the pit? Load
• After a month of waiting, find out that one pit wasn't enough? Load, because you need to dig two more, and to not lose pace, you have to roll back a week.
• See a strange extra boat and think, hmm, can I do something with it so Crag Hack doesn't get in it? Well, probably not. Or rather, I can sail Wizardino across the entire map to have him steal it, but the author probably didn't intend that, so it's fine. Load, because that's exactly what the author intended.
• See another extra boat and think, hmm, but would the author stoop to such a dirty trick a second time? I don't believe it. Load, because a month and a half later, someone will reach this boat via an unexpected path.
• Loaded last time, replayed the whole segment to have Wizardino also move the second boat? Load again if you placed the boats incorrectly, because otherwise there isn't enough room on the shore! 
• Do I need to remind you about ha-ha?

After about 4 months of game time, you start getting used to replays and treat them as part of the gameplay 🙃 Halfway through the map, it seems like you're being given a break, but no, an incredibly tedious segment begins (capturing necro castles). Had a dull 15-minute fight against Dastr? Here's a random fight against azure dragons so you don't get complacent! Move on, and there's a fight against 2k azure dragons and one hex for a stack of 100 archdevils? [spoiler=yes, I beat it with archangels by disabling the original randomness]this was the first time I genuinely got angry.[/spoiler] 
 
Dealt with that, but then you see a pillar asking for Wizardino? Oh well, you'll just replay the previous fights! Gritting your teeth, you kill those 2k dragons, open the pillar and see what? That's right, a pillar for units you didn't bring!  The prospect of killing 2k azure dragons for the third time stirred up such intense emotions in me that it even made me look at the author's solution, which was in the author's spirit - amusing in its own way (I could have figured it out myself, but my brain wasn't working anymore). 

And this, while the most vivid, is only part of the description of the authorial style. Some people might even like this 🙃

Conclusion

Despite the previous section, I really liked the map, I would rate it 8.5-9/10 and will be happy to wait for the next installment of Barbitullon.

Here is a list of my suggestions for the author:

• I didn't understand if the author intended for the huge amount of money in the sea to be picked up, but I picked it up. There's nothing to spend it on; at the end I was trading crystals and giving them to the computer so its heroes would open their pillars faster
• If you place a one-time barrier of a legion of azure dragons, make the stacks as large as possible - some computer heroes are not afraid of such barriers and kill them, resetting their level, which breaks the author's intent (I killed Firelinda very easily this way; this behavior was also observed with Destruction)
• Increase the growth of harpies, some battles are very slow even using the q button
• Rethink Cursed Randy. If you don't release him to get the bonus with original Leon, he doesn't gain experience and is easily killed by upgraded Leon with one hit, and this doesn't affect the walkthrough at all, and even spoils the story in one place. (Zenthino says Randy killed the prince of Baradia, but I never let Randy out of his cage)
• Rethink the fights for hell against Huhlop, Belzebub, and Reciful - the fights are completed almost identically.
• The fight with Drongo is far too simple
• Rethink the final part of the map - getting the explosion and water elementals is not necessary for clearing, nor is breaking through the last mage town and taking the azure dragon external dwelling
• Almost all White Knights can be strengthened: Pain is dealt with by resurrecting archangels in a chain, Spectral Rage is no match at all, nor is Suffering (a wasted Meffala level 6424 =(), Annihilation could be given a spell book.
• Make Death's dragon stack less massive, otherwise the finale lasting 1500+ rounds is truly killing

Good day, everyone. I don't play often, but I came across the R.O.S.S.S. map. I'm stuck at the very beginning; the Knight can't leave the Infernal Islands. Can anyone offer some advice?

You don't have ""Prospector""? If not, it's worth downloading and using. By the way, it was updated on 03/24/2021, so I recommend everyone download the latest version.
I launched it for you.
The "Call of the Boat" (in the layout that I got) is in Ashcombe (with the Orange player, cell 40.98) and with the hero Jem (it can be dug up in the tavern).
"Walking on Water" is with the hero in the prison in cell 55.1 and in the Pandora's Box in cell 102.30.
The Captain's Hat is in cell 30.39.
The Tome of Water Magic is in cell 38.59.
There is no Boot of Levitation.
Yes, I looked at the cell with the Hat: it's almost next to Sir Olsen, but it's not visible, hidden behind the volcano. What a silly joke!

...
The boat summon... is available... to the hero Gem (it can be found in the tavern).
...

This is definitely a map author's mistake.

Walkthrough of the map Paragon 2.0 (obtaining the Admiral's Hat) in 6 (six, six) game days.

            Hello everyone! I decided, as it were, to unsheathe my axe of heroic warfare and "shake off the rust," so to speak.

            Therefore, I present for your attention a walkthrough of the map Paragon 2.0, or more precisely, obtaining the Admiral's Hat in 6 game days, no SMS or registration required. I'll finish the map itself to a victorious end a bit later, but that's not set in stone). The main thing is a good start, and I have one. As they say, watch closely.

            The following were used in the walkthrough: starting saves – 1700 pcs, Wizard - 1 pc, Admiral's Hat – 1 pc, steady hands – 4 pcs, patience and hard work – uncounted. I used the possibility of rehiring dismissed heroes on the same day and a bug to inflate movement points using the Admiral's Hat. The idea was to generate a starting save with Boots of Speed in the skeleton at 138,126,0. Well, and I set a starting artifact in the conditions to attract at least some help, although it's not critical, just as it is a misconception that there's an urgent need to generate max Constitution and single units of Fairy Dragons. There is simply no need for all that, nor for Expert Logistics in the first two level-ups. The only significant point (besides the boots, of course), in my opinion, is Morgraine taking the necessary secondary skills – Archery, Tactics, and Pathfinding. I also taught Morgraine Earth Magic. I took Intelligence from the scholar, since it was impossible to level up both Intelligence and Water Magic independently. Morgraine picks up Water Magic with a level-up after obtaining Intelligence.

            I took the Admiral's Hat from 38 non-champions at 141,107,0.

            As mentioned above, a total of 1700 starting saves were generated. There turned out to be as many as 7 saves with boots, 2 of which were duplicates, meaning only 5 variants were unique. In addition to the skeleton in the closet boots in the skeleton, the starting artifacts were a Magic Ring, Prophecy Maps, Centaur Axe, Spirit of Despair, and Dragon Bone Knee-guards. I stopped at the last variant. At the same time, I note that out of all this variety of saves, gloves appeared only once, but they came with a starting Necklace of Speed. Just a little nuance like that.

            Among the battles worthy of attention, I'll highlight: 16 Silver Pegasi at 132,118,0; 300 Combat Dwarves at 123,103,0; the Silvertop Castle garrison at 120,102,0 (Dwarves - 199, Combat Dwarves – 153, Grand Elves – 76, Snipers – 88), 15 Gold Dragons at 123,140,0; 1200 Gold Golems at 120,142,0; 800 Diamond Golems at 110,141,0.

            The battle with the pegasi can be difficult because it's impossible to lose peasants in the fight, as they are needed to complete the quest for 50 bows. You need to find the right formation there.

            300 Combat Dwarves can exhaust you with their morale. Therefore, we choose the correct formation and endure. Advanced Archery helps us here.

            Silvertop Castle was taken thanks to Tactics and upgraded griffins. In fact, because of this, it was necessary to kill the pegasi and clear the road to the griffins and the fort on the hill. We block the snipers and elves with single units of griffins, lures them outside the castle walls with two groups of 2 griffins, and then - pew-pew (also known as rat-a-tat, or boom-boom), as we know how to do.

            For help in the battle with 15 Gold Dragons, we took Stone Skin and Healing; because of this, losses are minimal.

            I dealt with the golems using an Angel, 88 Archers, single units of Pikemen, and griffins. We cover the archers with single units of pikemen. We cycle the golems with the Angel and single units of griffins. And then - pew-pew, well, you get it).

            I cleared the Fairy Dragons on quick-combat thanks to 15 Diamond Golems from the grand piano Pandora's box in the bushes at 102,142,0.

            I note that the turn management is a bit clunky in places; I didn't want to polish it to a shine, and besides, there was a large surplus of gold. That's how it is.

            All battles, once you know the algorithm of actions, are quite elementary, so any of you can repeat them at home.

            Later I will record a walkthrough video and add voiceover, but for now, I offer for your attention step-by-step and daily saves.

Step-by-step saves (206 mb): https://dropmefiles.com/EmxkT

Daily saves: https://dropmefiles.com/iswTA

            Finally, I express huge gratitude to Dirty_Player for the possible help in generating starting saves and completing some battles. Respect, as they say, and kudos!

The Admiral's Hat at level 116 is really impressive. The number of processed saves is also impressive.
There's just one thing: getting the hat at level 116 and completing the map at level 116 are completely different statements. The person above in the forum finished at level 117 only because of a bug with the tents; if you don't use it, the completion will definitely be delayed by a couple of days just because of the scripted Necromancers with quest artifacts, and this isn't the only problem with the quest parts. Moreover, I don't rule out that even shortening the finish from 124 might not be possible – but I could be wrong. For example, to get to the green tent, you need to kill Jorge, and to get to him, you need to give 15 Chaos Hydras, which I haven't found a way to get in the first week, except by waiting for them to appear. And if you don't solve this problem, then there's no difference for completing the map whether the hat is at level 116 or 117. In general, it's interesting to see on which day the victory will be achieved.

Dandy, thank you for the flattering feedback. I planned the map's ending this way. If I don't resolve the issues you mentioned that prevent completing the map on day 116, I'll simply bug the tent passage, as the number of bugs used isn't important. In general, it would be great if the author removed that infamous admiral's hat from the third version of the map. Then, we could definitely speedrun it, and it would be much more interesting and informative. We've broken so many lances over this admiral's hat in the Heroesportal tournaments; it's just unbelievable.

At this rate, the start of the red faction won't be long in coming

As I said before, it's better to categorize such Walkthroughs separately, especially if there is demand for it. Here, the Paragon speedrun with glitches is just such a case; different people contributed to it, and the approaches are very different. Getting the hat on day 6 is no longer a waste, as it allows you to improve the maximum result with tents, and as a separate task, it is also more than worthy of attention. And if there are also videos/comments, then you couldn't ask for more.

At this rate, a start for the red faction is just around the corner

Well, unless it's for getting an extra number of points. If we're serious, the hat glitch allows you to save much more days than the flag change glitch, and on other maps, the flag change glitch may be completely useless, as it may throw us into a zone from which it is simply impossible to get out. It all depends on the map. In the case of Paragon, this glitch worked perfectly. Just in case, I'll clarify - I don't consider a result of 1 day to be something cool or incredible, but as an illustration of a broken game, it's quite suitable. And for this, everything that was needed was used to the fullest - the flag change glitch, the hat glitch, and the event repetition glitch. This is about separating the wheat from the chaff.

you need to give 15 chaos hydras, which I didn't find how to get in the 1st week, except for waiting for the increase.

And how many of them can you get in 1 week? If there are more than one, then you can bypass such a guard without the tent glitch, using another glitch It's like a rabbit hole. You pull on one glitch, and then there's a second, a third, and so on.

In general, it would be great if the author removed this ill-fated admiral's hat from the third version of the map. Then you could definitely speedrun, and it would be much more interesting.

I don't remember now if the hat will be in the new version, but I'm sure that Rinsa has already been asked about this many times. In any case, the third version will be on the SoD_SP plugin, and there you can ban the hat glitch, as well as many other glitches. That is, even if the hat is there, it will not be possible to abuse it. For a speedrun, this is, of course, a much more interesting option.