Posts from Walkthroughs for custom maps.

Hello everyone! Recently, I completed a rather interesting map called "Lord of Destruction," and I would like to share my impressions. 1. General Details. 1.1 The map is conditionally divided into several levels/locations: grass, sand, swamp, lava, snow. There are also underground passages within the levels. 1.2 Besides us, there are enemies of four colors. Interestingly, all heroes are immobilized, except for Leviathan (Tazar), but he is also locked in the water by a gate. 1.3 The cities have events set up, adding a few troops every three weeks for both us and the computer players. There are also events that add and subtract resources little by little. 1.3 This map can be completed in 6 months, or it can take 12 months (the maximum allowed time). The difficulty of the walkthrough will change depending on the chosen pace (it reminded me of Ray of Light). On the one hand, it makes sense to slowly build up an army against static enemies. On the other hand, there are also enemies in the cities, whose army also grows, as well as field monsters that also grow, and the further you go, the faster... In this regard, a fast-paced walkthrough seems even easier. 1.4 Another factor that affects the walkthrough is randomness. This applies to the starting bonus, treasures in crypts and vaults, artifacts in the warrior's grave and black markets, spells in guilds and shrines, secondary skills, creatures in the refugee camp, and neutral monsters on the map. 2. Heroes. 2.1 We start with one city and one hero, Paladin (Loins). Four more heroes can be freed from nearby prisons. After capturing the city of Lut Gholein, you can hire heroes in the tavern, but there are limitations: specialists in Attack, Ranged Attack, Defense, Logistics, Intelligence, as well as heroes with Necromancy and Resurrection, are not available. 2.2 Literacy is not available among the important secondary skills. Among the available skills for the walkthrough, Wisdom, Earth Magic, Water Magic, Logistics, Pathfinding, Ranged Attack, and Tactics are desirable. It is useful to level up several heroes for a more comfortable game. 3. Tactics. 3.1 The main feature is the limited set of spells. Berserk, Frenzy, Resurrection, Clone, Visions, Dimension Door, Flight, View Air, and View Earth are not available on the map. Forgetfulness and Force Field will only appear in the swamp. Blindness, Quicksand, Teleport, Prayer, and Sacrifice appear randomly in different guilds and shrines. 3.2 The absence of resurrection seriously affects the walkthrough. You need to try to save troops in battles and win them with minimal losses, as well as buy all reinforcements every week in all cities and dwellings. It is also useful to check the refugee camps. 3.3 In the early game, the main troops will be elves, archers, centaurs; later - unicorns, golden dragons, snipers; closer to the end, archangels and behemoths will be added. 3.4 A key factor in battles is randomness: it is important to maximize the use of morale, luck, and the abilities of your creatures and avoid the activation of morale, luck, and resistance in the enemy. Auxiliary creatures: azure dragons, phoenixes, wizards, pegasi. In some battles, master djinns, scorpios, and magic elementals were very helpful. 4. Interesting Features. 4.1 On this map, you can have two capitals at once: the first is in Lut Gholein, which you need to capture in just over two months, and the second will be built in Rogue Encamp according to the event on 3-2-2. This is a kind of bonus for being quick. 4.2 To get to the swamp, you need a hero with the Navigation specialty. It is assumed that we will sail to a separate island, free the hero Natalya (Sylvia), and level her up to the required level. But you can skip this if you dig up and level up a hero with the same Navigation skill named Voy in advance. I did not use this maneuver, but it allows you to save some time. 5. Disadvantages and Oddities. 5.1 There are too many Pandora's Boxes, most of which are useless and do nothing. 5.2 Sometimes the randomness "got stuck," which meant that the same creatures could appear in the refugee camps for several weeks in a row, the same resources in the mills, and the same heroes would appear in the tavern, etc. 6. Walkthrough. 1.1.1 The hero Paladin (Loins) starts near the city of Rogue Encamp, bonus - artifact (frozen dragon eye). 1.1.4 Paladin kills 90 ghosts and frees the hero Necromancer (Straker). 1.2.5 - 1.2.7 Necromancer defeats the hero BloodRaven, Paladin frees the hero Sorceress (Daremyth). 1.4.1 - 1.4.2 Paladin defeats the hero Griswold and frees the hero Deckard Cain (Edric). 2.1.2 Paladin captures the city of Cloister. 2.1.6 - 2.1.7 Paladin defeats the hero Countess, Sorceress visits the black tent. 2.2.1 - 2.2.3 Paladin breaks through the garrison (18, 106, 0) and defeats the hero The Smith. 2.3.6 Paladin defeats the hero Andariel and captures the city of Lut Gholein. 2.4.6 Paladin defeats the hero Radament. 3.1.1 The hero Gelu (Jelu) is freed. 3.1.3 - 3.2.1 Paladin captures the city of Caldeum, visits the brown and purple tents. 3.2.4 Paladin defeats the hero Fire Eye. 3.3.5 Paladin defeats the hero Summoner. 3.4.5 Paladin defeats the hero Duriel. 4.1.1 - 4.1.5 Druid captures the city of Scovos and frees the hero Natalya (Sylvia). 4.2.3 Natalya captures the city of Kurast Docks. 4.4.3 - 4.4.4 Paladin defeats the heroes Flamefinger, Vilehand, ToorcIcefist and captures the city of Durance of Hate. Sorceress captures the city of Pandemonium. 5.1.6 Paladin defeats the hero Diablo, Natalya frees the hero Barbarian (Dessa). 5.3.1 Barbarian captures the city of Harrogath, Paladin defeats the hero Shenk. 5.3.4 Deckard Cain kills 3200 creatures and frees the hero Anya (Shiva), who visits the green tent, while the Druid visits the red tent. 5.4.2 - 5.4.5 Paladin, Deckard Cain, and Anya, working together, defeat the hero Nihlathak, Druid captures the city of Sescheron. 6.1.3 Paladin defeats the heroes Madawc, Korlic, Talic. 6.1.5 Paladin overcomes the obstacle course of the anti-magic garrison, cyclops, black, fairy, rusty, crystal dragons, and approaches the castle with the final boss. 6.1.6 The final boss Baal is defeated. Victory!

What do you think of this, Elon Musk?

How do you like this, Elon Musk?

Is there a video available?

Is there a video?

It's quite problematic to record a battle of 18.5 thousand rounds in its entirety. Even considering that the maximum animation speed was enabled, and where manual attacks were needed, an autoclicker was used, this took more than an hour of real time.
But when I was experimenting, I recorded the beginning of the battle, of course. There's nothing special about it. You just need to position the dragons so they attack each other and then shoot them down with towers. So, winning this battle is quite possible, it's just too long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlGpJrwlO7E

The tactical solution is certainly elegant. But there are some questions. How do you kill the last green and black units in one turn? Otherwise, the remaining one will take out one elf. And secondly, won't the dragons start attacking each other when there are only a few left, enough to kill each other?

How can I kill the last green and black dragons in one turn? Otherwise, the remaining one will take out one elf.
And secondly, will the dragons eventually start attacking each other when there are only a few left, enough to kill each other?

On auto-battle, the Towers kill one dragon at the end of the round and the second at the beginning of the next round. The dragons don't attack each other even when there's only one left and they have very little HP.

Here's a specific example: on auto-battle, the Towers killed almost all the green dragons, and even though the green dragon only has 4 HP left, the black dragons don't attack the sniper. Also, the HP of the last black dragon is reduced to a minimum, and both are killed by the Towers: one at the end of the round, the other at the beginning of the next. In fact, it's not even necessary to use auto-battle. You can reduce the HP of both dragons to 5-10 and kill them in one round. Artillery is overpowered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTA0Ysy_haE

Could this be a bug related to Ash's or SOD's AI? I'm quite sure I've encountered similar situations where dragons still attack if it's safe for them, meaning the damage from their breath attack is less than their HP. In any case, it's a great idea. It's a shame that killing Le Strada doesn't give any advantage in speedrunning (and actually makes things worse, as you can't escape or buy your way out with Phantom later).

Is this definitely not a bug in Ashan or SoD_SP? I'm more than sure that I've encountered similar situations where dragons still attack if it's safe for them, i.e., the damage from their breath attack is less than their health.

Okay, I disabled SoD_SP, uncheck the HD+ box, and, to save time, reduced the number of enemy troops by 100 times, and then started the battle with the rusty ones. Here's what happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwTCKE7-1uc

I think it would be the same even without the HD mod. If you want to check, you can do it yourself.

In any case, it's a great idea. It's a pity that in terms of speedrunning, killing Le Strada doesn't give anything (and even the opposite - you can't escape or redeem with Fathom later).

I don't know about speedrunning, I'm not into it, but in a regular game, this trick gives some benefit, because immediately after getting the City Portal, you can learn such useful spells as: Blindness, Hypnosis, or Quicksand.

But again, this battle is more of an experiment, and I don't think that in a normal playthrough, many people will want to have a battle that lasts 15-20 thousand rounds, which doesn't offer much benefit.

But saving the Blade of Armageddon in the first week is a completely different story. Here, the game becomes noticeably easier in some places.

If you simply run away from Fathom, the blindness and other effects will start appearing as early as the first week. And the support from Fathom, located near the tavern, will be very useful later on. He's not very helpful in the city itself, except for bringing in money, but there's already enough of that.

However, saving Armageddon's Blade in the first week is a completely different matter. In some places, the game becomes noticeably easier.

Armageddon's Blade is good, but what do you do afterward with Rustify, which has high damage and flight, plus an army that we can't break through at that time?

I read the very first walkthrough by RoseKavalier, and I understand that in that version, the map and the Faction were available for hire, and he even defeated (didn't destroy) Brewster and then immediately bought him back. Was this fixed, or is it something else in the version that is currently available, where Vertigo can be safely sacrificed?

If you simply run away with Fathom, he will learn Blind and other skills by the first week. And Fathom's support near the tavern will be very useful later on. He's not very helpful in the city, except for bringing in money, but there's already enough of that.

When I was analyzing this episode, the question of what is more beneficial for further progress did not arise. I was only interested in whether it is possible to win the second battle, which seems absolutely impossible. But yes, running away with Fathom and then buying him back at the tavern is probably more beneficial.

Armageddon's Blade is good, but what should you do with Rustify, who has damage and flight, plus an army that we can't break through at that time?

To kill the mages of Carrot Pit, it is not necessary to use Armageddon's Blade. You won't be able to capture the nearby blue Dungeon later, and the final score will be lower, but it won't affect anything else.

To kill the Wizards of Carrot Pit, it's not necessary to merge with Armageddon's Blade. You won't be able to capture the blue Dungeon located nearby later, and the final score will be lower, but it doesn't affect anything else.

I didn't quite understand about the blue Dungeon. If you kill the Enchanted creatures by using a spell, what prevents you from coming back later and capturing the town?

I didn't quite understand the part about the blue Dungeon. If you kill the Enchanted creature with a Fireball spell, what prevents you from coming back and capturing the town?

Before this Dungeon, there's a quest guard who requires a blue ribbon, which Carrot Pit takes from the nearest Pandora's Box for Armageddon's Blade. If you don't give him the blade, he won't even reach the box. I don't know if it's possible to reach this box on your own before version 2.1.1, but there doesn't seem to be another such ribbon on the map. Although, I might be wrong – I haven't studied the map much. And the flight bug didn't work for me on this Castle for some reason. The hero stops at the gates, but can't enter the town.

However, this isn't really important. If it's possible to capture this Castle somehow, then that might even be better.

Before this Dungeon, there's a quest guardian who requires a blue ribbon, which Carrot Pit takes from the nearest Pandora's Box in exchange for Armageddon's Blade. If you don't give him the blade, he won't even reach the box. I'm not sure if it's possible to reach this box on your own in version 2.1.1, but there doesn't seem to be another such ribbon on the map. Although, I might be wrong – I haven't studied the map very thoroughly. Also, the flight bug didn't work for me on this castle. The hero stops at the gates, but can't enter the city.

However, this isn't really important. If it's possible to capture this castle somehow, then that might even be better.

Now I understand.

Outpost of Progress is a good example; I remember sanyassh posting one of the early versions. Alcatraz Escape, where you have to play as two colors at once.

P.S. Is a new version of Ascension planned? Or has it already been released, and I'm just not aware? It's the most interesting map for HotA, after all.

I won't be surprised if everything is broken again from day one. Let the premiere be here. https://disk.yandex.ru/d/9kxxlF4X8_icbQ