Posts from World history

It's unclear why the Monks and Crusaders were there; they went to the mine and stayed there for the entire scenario.

This is for the sake of the plot, and even if you didn't level up Gurnir's Warfare skill, or generally made the hero weak, it's still a way to provide some support at the beginning of the scenario.

Since I forgot what the druid had upon leaving, here it is

Combat 2-3-0-0
Life 1-1-0-2
Order 3-3-2-0
Chaos 3-3-3-4
Nature 5-5-5-2

But it seems we've hit a wall.
Two passes: 14 dragons and 44 efreets on the bridge (specifically on the bridge), and the other pass has dozens of Sorceresses and dozens of djinns against a hero with no magic defense. Unless I can break through the monsters and cyclops by the mercury mine; there's a ship summon, but no ship itself.

Nevertheless, phoenixes can take out dragons one by one and thus pass through; I'll try that for now if I don't find anything else

Added after 1 hour 26 minutes
you could say I crossed the bridge in 4 trips.

Trip 1:
Just attack with summoned leprechauns, take out one dragon and retreat.
Trip 2 - stand on the yellow tile, but outside the bridge. On the turn transition, the dragon attacks, they lose two, and they stand a bit closer on the bridge; now you can attack them on your turn without stepping onto the bridge. 12 dragons and 48 efreets remain.

Trip 3 - we reclaim the nature book from the gargantuans (the druid is missing 3 spells, including praying mantis), additionally found a ring for 20 attack and a shield for 20 defense, but the shield can't be used, or there will be no praying mantis. Attack from outside the bridge with 4 fairies in one slot (whether 1 or 4 - doesn't matter), first turn is summoning magic dragons, which will prevent the efreets from moving, and the hero summons praying mantis until out of mana. They attack, then endure. In this way, mana ran out, 3 dragons remained, then the hero and the summoned minions finished them off. No mana or potions left, retreating from the efreets. The efreets remain on the bridge without dragons, and there will be no experience for the dragons, but I think it's bearable.

The efreets will be dealt with on trip 4.
Next will be the central city.

Added after 3 hours 20 minutes
In the end, I cleared everything further without much difficulty, took the trees, left one pass with black dragons and efreets alone (though it was no longer a problem), it's easier to face the kings with the necromancer's staff in hand. Found the grail in the chaos city, standard altars and universities

Ultimately, level 32 druid
Combat 3-5-1-1
Life 3-2-1-4
Order 4-4-3-0
All chaos
Nature minus 2 summons

But reading the start of the next scenario, all this might be very sad

Added after 22 hours 35 minutes
Completed. Basically, and only, thanks to vampires. First, we take the dragons so that the neutrals don't split too much and complicate the breakthrough, mainly hypnosis and the hand. Due to the lack of the hand, I often had to go without the +20 shield, and later even +50. All battles drain mana, not expecting much; everything else accumulates in the second army, including efreets and fires from dwellings, and vampires. I hit the starting location with dragons.

Then I got tired of these grueling battles, gained 2 levels, and switched to vampires, of which 120 had accumulated. Things became easier, didn't need to spend tons of mana on every battle, and it was faster.
I cleared the garrisons with them; the second garrison took two tries because the first time they suddenly wiped out almost all the vampires before my turn.
Then move around the castle to avoid a field battle that cannot be won, and an attack in the castle. My hero on the tower was strong; his phoenixes and griffins only fell on the 4th try, and that's how I passed.

Next, as the Wizard, suddenly there's no portal and Order is 2-1-1-1. This means there was a rolled scroll while visiting, and I definitely remembered it could be transferred. First to the chaos dwellers, took the castles + cleared crystals / chaos altar (only 1 was needed), took the cities, then gave them back. On the way, bought a dragon in a neutral dwelling to make it easier, finished learning all chaos 5, then to the druids, same thing. Altars irreversibly pushed the summoning, so in the end, I had all nature except nature 5. A pity, but oh well. There was a special battle at a neutral Hive; there were 360 wasps - good thing I bought nectars and buffs. There was a bypass, but I decided to take it anyway.

The Knight got the quest map. Gain 1 level, collect all levels, save up mages and resources (almost at the same time, had to save for a week or two)
And for the small ones, difficulties are already visible. 6 has no heroes. 1 Castle, where it's definitely elves, given the number of neutral dwellings. Went down, beat the halflings, took 1 for each in order. In the school, I'll spend on life 1 for each (choice with chaos for a couple). The military university let me down; the only useful thing was leadership for Lysander. The neutral military school also let me down, no battle.

Afterward, I'll have to manage, since there are 3 garrisons.
Dozens of ice demons will fall
Phoenixes and efreets, not without difficulties, I think also
But 3 heroes, dozens of phoenixes, a pack of efreets, hundreds of ice demons, and hundreds of fires are no joke for such a limited city.

They won't go away that easily.
Checked the conservatories and spells; basically, around the Order conservatory there is a guild guarded by monks with a portal, meaning I can try to hit the garrison not with heroes alone, but with accumulated elves.
But for now, there are difficulties even with breakthroughs, but - the city is taken, the nearest elf-settlement too, another one below will be soon, and then buy life, leadership, and prepare first to clear out dwellings, then djinns for the university, and after that, the garrisons.

Added 22 hours 35 minutes ago
But there are already difficulties with the smaller factions. Faction 6 has no heroes. There's 1 Castle, where it's definitely Elves, given the number of neutral Dwarves. I went down, beat up the Halflings, and took one in order for each hero. In the School, I'll spend on life for each (with a choice, perhaps a Chaos hero). The Military University let me down; the only useful thing is leadership for Lysander. The neutral Military School also let me down, without a fight.

After that, I'll have to find a way, because there are 3 garrisons.
A dozen Ice Demons will fall.
Phoenixes and Ifrits, with some difficulty, I think they will too.
But 3 heroes, a dozen Phoenixes, a pack of Ifrits, hundreds of Ice Demons, and hundreds of Spirits are already a serious challenge for such a limited city.

They won't just leave.
I checked the Conservatories and spells; in general, there's order around the Conservatory, and there's a guild guarded by monks with a portal, which means I can try to attack the garrison not only with heroes but also with the accumulated Elves.
But for now, there are difficulties even with breaking through, but - the city is taken, the nearest Elven town is also taken, another one below will be taken soon, and then I'll buy life, leadership, and prepare first to eliminate the Dwarves, then the Djinns for the University, and after that, the garrisons.

In general, the armies around the starting center are the weakest (even on Champion difficulty), they have the necessary artifacts - boots, snowshoes, staffs, starting spells, and Temples tuned for a specific type of magic, to assemble a squad of heroes from their specific skills and the magic of their class, plus a little bit of combat skills. In fact, as Cold said, even on Champion, it's more profitable than leveling up combat skills to 20 for everyone (and summoning with Elves for two out of three heroes is an invincible armada, stable, albeit very drawn out). Good luck finishing one of the longest, albeit not the most difficult (at this stage) scenarios.

This is already the second to last one; don't forget to enter the portal-additional location north of the 6 heroes at the very beginning - the AI will allow it, and there's also a limit there

Basically, it's not as difficult as it seems. By the end of the first month, I placed Unicorns (Griffins weren't an option), then I stayed near the school, saving up for each hero's upkeep. They run around and clear things out. They even cleared out slow Hydras with a few Ifrits in the underground, but 5 Phoenixes near the city's mine took them down one by one, and I had to load twice for the last one to prevent a hero from being defeated.

By the end of the 3rd month, I had 5 heroes and 100 Elves. I was just chilling. One hero had Order 3, the other had Nature 3, and the 100 Elves get buffs and take down many enemies.
Some Necropolis heroes are taken down with Holy Words. 30 Unicorns are waiting, but they aren't needed yet. Only 2 neutral dwellings have been taken, but they will help take more.

Added 16 hours 59 minutes ago
So, starting from the 3rd month, when 120 Elves had accumulated and were recruited, the clearing process became easier - apply buffs, and they start to perform. I captured all the Elven dwellings, a total of 10, resulting in 6 full growth rates for the Castle (42 Elves per week).

I needed to reach the experience limit. There's enough experience on the map, but to avoid running around collecting small amounts and engaging in long battles, I found 4 levels around level 16 for the Barbarian and 13 for the others (the Barbarian fought Elves alone when there was water, or even completely alone when there were Devils). Then I noticed another one. The Barbarian quickly reached the limit, then the Tactician reached the limit, and I leveled up to 15, transferring artifacts and nectars from one hero to another, and completed the Coliseums. The Necromancer was the most difficult; I used 6 nectars on Black Dragons, and even then, the Armor of Order and Mirror of Illusion allowed me to reach those levels.

Then I completed the neutral altars and artifacts, resulting in:
Barbarian - full combat, life 3-2-2-3, Order 1, Death 1, Chaos 1-1-0-1 (unfortunately, no altar for level 2), artifacts: 2 HP rings, Amulet of Failure, Halberd, and Armor of Order.
Lysander - Tactics 5-4-4-3, Combat 5-1-0-0, Life 1-1-0-2, Order 2-1-1-0, Chaos 1, with artifacts providing +50 attack and defense, an invisible Amulet of Life, a Helm of Leadership, and a bit of morale, in battle, all Elves have -5, not -11.
Necromancer - Combat with 2 resistance, Life 1-1-0-1, Order 3-3-1, Death 4-3-3-4, Nature 2-2-0-0. And without a spellbook, he knows Vampirism, but still, he has a spellbook and Armor of Chaos, the rest is minor.
Elf with Combat 2-0-2-0, Life 3-3-2-1, Order and Chaos 1 each, Nature 5-5-5-0, no level 5 summoning, but the spellbook provides it.
Mage with Combat 2-3-2-0, Life 2-1-0-1, Order 5-5-5-0, Death 1-1-0-0, and Chaos.
And the Rogue with Combat 5-5-2-0, Scouting 5-4-0-3, Life 1-1-0-1, Order 2-2-0-0, and the first Chaos.

In the army, there are 682 Elves (lost 11 during the game, 4 of which were resurrected) and 252 Ghosts trailing behind.

I can attack the garrison (8th month and 3rd week); the Necromancer and Mage know the Portal spell, so they can join the Elves with buffs. Everyone is on nectars, 3 with 20 defense, the rest with 10. 2 potions of anti-fire ran out at the Black Dragon Colosseum; the Barbarian won't have anything to defend with. The nearest Temple of Nature and Fountain of Might are far away. They will be taken on the second attempt.
The first 2 garrisons were taken without problems; in the third, there are:
3 heroes
36 Phoenixes
216 Ifrits
369 Ice Demons
468 Imps


Added 16 minutes ago
Hmm. I defeated it on the first try, costing approximately 3 nectars. The Necromancer used Weakness, Curse, the Elf used Magic Bolt with -hero per turn, then Dragon Strength and Manticores separately, the Mage used general Slow with Blind, the Tactician used single-target Killers, and the Rogue used Enthusiasm from a scroll. The Barbarian just hit with a Stunning Mace. Approximately 3 nectars, -1 potion for damage and HP, and a potion of cold that didn't work. A second attempt wasn't needed. 138 Unicorns were not needed.

Added 7 hours 7 minutes ago
Phew, I defeated the Reborn Bru in the final mission.
He's just a monster. I took the castle (he's standing nearby, clueless), locked myself in, and he attacks: 9 Black Dragons, 6 Phoenixes, 50 Ifrits, 6 Beholders, 35 levels, insane stats.

I can't afford to bribe him, I can't use the Portal, all except the Verjak are under Armageddon after the general cancellation.

So, finally. Only his weak resistance could be broken. I managed to cast Blind on the hero. While he was sleeping, the surviving Necromancers cast Vampirism, Blessing, Aura of Fear, even summoned Manticores and gave them Dragon Strength and Mirror of Pain. The Barbarian and Manticores defeated all his troops, but I couldn't re-cast Blind or Swarm of Wasps.

He woke up, cast Armageddon, and all except the Verjak fell. He had removed the nectars beforehand.
Then, a magical duel - he casts Dragon Strength on himself, the Verjak removes it. And so on until the mana runs out.

Then, the Verjak can't defeat him. He regenerates everything. The Verjak's Fireball won't work, it deals little damage.
But finally, the potions helped. Standing on the tower, having Blessing, Fire Aura, Bloodlust, Ice Blade from a potion, Spiritual Armor, Poison Attack from a potion, Retribution, Accuracy, Amulet of Death, Killer, his own regeneration (Mage of Life, what else?), Enthusiasm from a potion, he was able to defeat him. Without Fire Aura and Poison, it wasn't very effective - a close fight, and until the protective Blessings wore off, he still had to heal. But here, he finally defeated him. Hooray. The Mage will have to complete the mission for a long time.

Added 9 minutes ago
And actually, I messed up a bit.
After completing the quest, I teleported the Necromancer to Kryl's city, but I could have waited and jumped to the correct one; in fact, he's trapped there (although he'll find a way out).
It would have been easier with the Necromancer than with some with -11 Spirit.

After the victory, it said that the orange one was defeated (on his turn, during the siege), but he continued to move. He will stand for the next turn; I'll finish him off with the 2 remaining castles. The Barbarian did it all.

Added 41 minutes ago
And here's a strange thing: it turns out there are quest gates; I didn't see them. They require all 6 heroes and no higher than level 20. I leveled up the Verjak to 2 in the Coliseums; is that it now?

Added 41 minutes later
There's a strange thing here: it turns out there are quest gates, I didn't see them. They require all 6 heroes and no higher than level 20. I leveled up Verzhak 2 in the coliseums, is that it now?

Yes, but you can restart the final scenario later. And yes, in it, the heroes escaping to other cities can break the game, if anything. I didn't change anything there either – it's already an anti-cheese strategy, for the most part.

Hmm, nothing needs to be replayed, everything is passable. It seems that that particular location with a maximum level of 20 is just there to provide artifacts, but I managed to defeat the yellow hero without them, even though I had 6 smaller heroes. The longest save is right after the first black coliseum, with 21 levels. So, it doesn't quite fit, but it's not necessary.

And jumping around won't help much here. If you jump ahead before completing the quest, it's a defeat. The heroes won't be able to pass through the gates. The only thing you could do is defeat the yellow hero with a strong hero like Gurnir. But since I managed without him, now the only thing I can do is gather an army from all the cities for Krilon and maybe give him a slight boost (but there aren't many buffs available).

And even then, this tactic might not be necessary.
Perhaps, if you play from the very beginning, you should focus on developing Death magic instead of, for example, Nature. In the final stages, there are strong opponents with robes and guardians, and he has so many altars for tactics that are essentially wasted. It's unlikely that you'll find the Staff of the Dead (I encountered it in one of the parts, but I don't see it in this one, and it's quite rare)

Hmm, nothing needs to be replayed, everything is passable. Apparently, that location with a maximum level of 20 is just there to give artifacts, but 6 minor creatures defeated a yellow one without them. The longest save is right after the first black coliseum, with 21 levels. So, it doesn't fit, but it's not necessary.

Well, in general, this location prevents you from taking those artifacts, and they will still be removed upon its completion. It gives a bonus, but it's more beneficial to just not go there. That's why it's a secret location. It's an additional location that slightly breaks the fourth wall; it's just for relaxation and a challenge. Well, it's roughly on the same level as all the battles, except for the quest orange one and the final one against Krilon.