Posts from Shades of Darkness

Oh, playing as the Dark Elves. My favorite faction. Well, after Necropolis, of course. Especially since my favorite character, Railag, is here. The starting cutscene is beautiful. You can really see that the quality of the cutscenes is improving with each map. The scenario is divided into three stages. I'd like to discuss each one separately.
The first stage was interesting. You had to run away from the enemies, and you had to hide so they wouldn't notice you. I quickly recruited Chaos and leveled him up a bit, so I didn't have any problems with magic and dealing damage. The only thing was that there was a moment where you had to run quickly and jump into a portal. But I managed to defeat the dragons and get the boots, which will come in handy later, as it will be even more difficult later on. At the beginning, there's a small break, a chance to catch your breath, so to speak. But then the Faceless One appears again, only this time he's chasing the player directly. I had to run around in circles, as I wanted to collect everything, learn new magic, and buy Furies and Hydras. The first time, I went through the wrong portal and failed the quest. When I went through the right one, I didn't get the expected help, and they demanded resources. Then, with the help of the boots, I hid on an island from the next Faceless One. And there was Reveran. What a pain, he ruined my nerves with his Divine Intervention. I rolled back a bit and took another spell, Phantom Creation, and decided to try a different approach this time. I summoned Phantom Furies and used them to deal damage, trying not to use my main forces. And in the end, I resurrected them with a scroll. As a result, the first time I managed to reduce the loss of Furies by 30, and the second time by 8. It was long and difficult, and I had to replay it many times. I didn't want to lose too many troops, and it was worth it, as they came in handy later, so I managed it. At the end, before Jorgen, I was given a mentor, but I didn't change anything, as I was happy with the upgrades. In the battle with the Guardian, I also tried to lose as few troops as possible, as I didn't know if I would get a city after that.
The next stage was like hell. I was really struggling. Well, at first, I reached the city of the Faceless Ones, and on the way, there was a quest with the Black Guard, but I didn't take them, I just cut them down in the pit. So, when I reached the city of the Faceless Ones, I didn't capture it, as I would have to rebuild it anyway, and I didn't want to suffer losses because of that. Moreover, while the enemy is developing there. So, I only captured the buildings and went straight to attack. And then I was in for a surprise after capturing the first city. Frederick, or whatever his name was, who casts Berserk. There's a shield on the map, but by that time, I didn't have it yet, so I suffered. And then it only got worse. The Elves start, and they have a huge army, plus constant luck and Divine Intervention. And Orion, that idiot, if he captures a human city, he returns it to his ally. I had a hard time. Well, I defended myself against them as much as possible in the castle, destroying the catapult and first taking out the flyers and archers. And then the rest. Fortunately, I had a lot of spells and I was good at using Chaos magic. Even with the debuff on Orion. I cleared all the garrisons easily, but the heroes themselves were too difficult. Overall, I realized that I could have just rushed through, as was mentioned at the beginning, but I probably made things more difficult for myself by deciding to take out everyone. But I couldn't just leave anyone. After I dealt with them, I found another mentor. This time, I already changed the upgrades. I dropped some skill and replaced it with Darkness. There was also an epic fail here. Before going further, I decided to take another Dark Elf city and gather some more troops, taking the Faceless Ones with me. And then the entire army was taken away. As a result, I had to take them first. But I don't think they would have helped me much. Well, anyway, I managed to get through it without them and move on.
And the last, final stage was another chase. But before that, I had to defeat a mini-boss, so to speak. I watched other people on streams putting down crystals and kiting him with Furies. I don't know why they had to go to such lengths, maybe it's more difficult on Hero difficulty, but I just attacked him with all my available troops and killed him. Because of the armor debuff, he only took a few steps and cut down half of the lizards, which wasn't critical. And then the chase itself, I had to reach Sareta faster. There were no problems with this, as I didn't drop the log, so I didn't even take the boots at the beginning. At the end, there's a difficult battle with Isabel, but overall it's passable, it's easier than the Elves. At the end, there's a funny moment, Tieru appears and says he'll hold back the demons, and Railag just runs and jumps into the lava, lol.
Overall, I liked the first and third stages, it was very interesting. But the second stage was not so good, as the difficulty level was too high. And I was also pleased that Isabel and Sareta appeared. I was wondering what happened to him, where he was, and what he was doing? And finally, he appeared. I feel that it will be even more interesting in the future.

Thank you for the walkthrough. The described events fully meet my expectations.

The boss on Hero difficulty is the same, only the player has less health.

Hello. The first time I played, I realized that I needed a different build. I went with the standard luck build. Overall, it worked well, but at one point, I lost my army to the faceless boss in the Dungeon and couldn't beat him. Support from the Dwarves would have helped, but I didn't have enough 1 Mercury to summon them, and I didn't take the Banshees at the start, where there was Mercury (I didn't have enough time, so I had to skip them). I also didn't loot two altars because the Minotaurs were cannon fodder in the battle for the 2 Giants; I was trying not to lose the Furies. This turned out to be a mistake, but on the other hand, I couldn't have known that the Minotaurs would be needed for the altar in that quantity. (I created an army using a code and killed the boss, then got rid of these troops and continued the campaign with a minimum number of troops). I have a couple of questions about the part where you enter the Unicorn lands, but I'll ask them later.

I started a new game, and this time I chose Darkness instead of Luck, but it didn't help me reach the faceless boss; it was basically useless. I easily completed everything and farmed all the stacks (except for the Genies in the Labyrinth; I couldn't get in there, and the reward wasn't worth it, so it's not a big deal). I looted the second altar this time, and now I want to ask the main question that's bothering me! The resources during the second playthrough were just broken; something is wrong with the random generation. To clarify: the first time I played, I had enough resources to hire 40 Furies and some Riders for 15 Gems. I took 40 Furies for 10 Sulfur because I had a surplus, and I had enough for the Dwarves, and I decided to save the Gems for later. This time, I didn't have enough resources for anyone. Here are my resources at the end of the Labyrinth before the portal: 27 Wood, 33 Stone, 9 Sulfur, 15 Crystals, 9 Mercury, and 14 Gems. I repeat, I killed everyone except the Genie where there was one Gem. In the next location, before the boss, I gathered some resources, but I can't go back. As a result, I'm at a disadvantage in terms of army because 40 Furies are a strong boost, even though they will die in the final turn right after the first move, but they can destroy a unit. I wanted to take all the altars and the Furies this time to definitely beat the faceless boss. As a result, I'm standing in front of him now, wondering how to defeat him; even the 5 Dragons that I was given won't help much. In the end, I have 5 Giants, 20 Hydras, 185 Assassins, 62 Furies, 32 Minotaurs, 11 Witches, and 5 Dragons. Darkness is maxed out, but I still don't have Subordination or Berserk, etc. I'm going to try going into Summoning and playing with Phantoms, or maybe I'll take Light. I'll try both in separate save files.

Now, about the Unicorn lands: I took the Castle without a hero (he ran to the Faceless Dungeon), then I killed him on the way back, and then the Elf who came. Later, within a week, I killed two level 1 heroes and then Frederick. Three days later, Frederick came out of the second Castle again, and an Elf came with him. In short: I barely killed the first Elf; 6 morale, Empathy, and Vengeance are a complete mess. I had 21-23 initiative in my units against his 16-18, and he was always going first; I was just standing there. Half of my troops died against him (thankfully, I managed to get Dark Knights for the quest from the mercenary houses and accumulated 600 in total; they saved me). There's no chance with Phoenix; he just doesn't move and has 90 armor and 1600 HP, which the archers with the Unicorn destroy. I have Expert Spellcasting, but it doesn't help; he still goes more often than I do. It was easier to kill Frederick with Phoenix, but I fought him about 20 times. And the question is, what next? How do I kill the next Elf and Frederick in 3 days with stronger stacks? I won't even have time to run for reinforcements, and it won't help me anyway. What should I do? You can't just run past them; they will catch you. How do I stop their spam? At this point, I don't understand how to get through that part of the map. I'm playing on Hero difficulty.

I respect the visuals and the idea of the map! I really liked it; I haven't seen scenarios for Dark Elves in a long time, and they are my favorite race. Thank you for your work, but something needs to be done about the random resource generation 100%! And I'm waiting for answers to my questions. Thank you. And please do something about the website's authorization; why do I have to write text in the notes so that I don't get kicked out of the forum while writing? Admins! It's an outrage, to put it mildly!

Added 23 minutes ago

Also, what would you advise for future builds? I'm standing in front of the faceless boss now, and there won't be a Mentor in the next part at the start. Darkness will definitely be needed, as will Spellcasting and Logistics. Should I get rid of Education and Defense? Education does give +25% initiative to the hero at the start and stats, but it seems like I should take Light and Summoning instead of Defense. Even with a Master, I never had any questions about the build, but here, I really don't know. How should I proceed? You've made the heroes in the second part too strong

  By the way, I remembered something else. At the very beginning, I wanted to put Luck in the last available skill slot. And then, right next to it, they offer Logistics, saying it's important. Question: What would happen if the skills were already filled at that point, like they are for me? Would I have to replay the mission from the beginning?

Okay, author, I'm sorry, but I'll probably have to decline playing this scenario. The map is broken! The first time I played, after getting the Castle, I left the Dungeon after about 9 days (I gave up on Logistics before facing the Faceless One) and then, about a month later, a blue hero emerged from the garrison with a medium-sized army: 15 Angels, 25 Knights, 50 Monarchs, 65 Griffins, 140 Knights, 200 Archers. During the second playthrough, I left the Dungeon after 4 days and then, two weeks later, a blue hero emerged (almost three times faster) with the following army: 31 Angels, 60 Knights, 101 Monarchs, 160 Griffins, 300 Knights, 450 Archers, and about 660 Militia. What kind of randomness is this? It's impossible to defeat him at this stage, especially considering that I was farming creatures at the top of the map when he emerged. I simply couldn't return to the Dungeon to buy the "Subdue" spell (and while I was in the Dungeon, I didn't have enough resources; I decided not to waste time, as I thought I had enough time). I had just killed everyone except the stack at the Dungeon near the Faceless One's Castle. There was still time to capture the Castle and return, based on my first playthrough. Even if I somehow manage to defeat him on the hundredth attempt, I'm afraid to imagine what kind of Elf will be there, and I don't even want to think about Frederick and the second Elf. Something is wrong with the randomness...

Added 3 minutes ago

By the way, I remembered something else. At the very beginning, I wanted to put Luck in the last free slot. And then, right next to it, they give you Logistics, saying it's important. Question: What happens if the skills are already filled by this point, as they were for me? Would I have to replay the mission from the beginning?

Yes, and you would have to, even if you had already invested in Logistics. The Witch doesn't increase the level of Logistics; she can only give the basic level. I also think this is a flaw in the map design; it shouldn't work this way.

It seems that you had a different difficulty level in the first and second playthroughs. Or, the first report on Vittorio's army is from a different version of the map. The initial army of AI heroes depends, among other things, on the difficulty level. As far as I remember, a flexible script with logistics simply cannot exist within the capabilities of the game's scripting language. It can only be done this way.

It seems that you had a different difficulty level in the first and second playthroughs. Or the first summary of Vittorio's army is from a different version of the map. The initial army of AI heroes depends, among other things, on the difficulty level.

As far as I remember, a flexible script with logistics simply cannot exist within the capabilities of the game's scripting language. It can only be done this way.

There was one difficulty level – the hero. The second time, my army was much smaller than the first time. The first time, I had 350 assassins, about 30 sorceresses, 80 minotaurs, or 120, I don't remember exactly. 87 riders, 20 hydras, and 11 dragons, 600 dark knights, and 80 faceless (I was carrying troops in 2 heroes). And the second time, when the blue hero appeared, I had 12 giants, 120 assassins, 16 sorceresses, and 350 black knights, 20 hydras, and 35 minotaurs. That's why I say that something is not right. The second time, there were no resources on the map to buy troops in the Dungeon, and the heroes were 2.5 times stronger. It's strange in general.

I forgot to mention one more thing. I see that Ilia was killed. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who decided to kill Ilia. In my universe, Ilia also dies. But it's much more complicated there. Or simpler. It depends on how you look at it. Maybe I'll even make a map about it someday. But probably not. But anyway, I thought I was the only one who decided to get rid of Ilia, but it turned out that wasn't the case. [spoiler=Ilia's death]Her body was taken by an angel.[/spoiler]

Added 4 minutes later

One difficulty was the hero. The second time, my army was much smaller than the first time. The first time, I had 350 Assassins, about 30 Witches, 80 Minotaurs or 120, I don't remember exactly. 87 Riders, 20 Hydras, and 11 Dragons, 600 Dark Knights, and 80 Faceless Ones (I was carrying troops with 2 heroes). And the second time, when the blue player appeared, I had 12 Giants, 120 Assassins, 16 Witches, and 350 Black Knights, 20 Hydras, and 35 Minotaurs. That's why I say something is wrong. The second time, there were no resources on the map to buy troops in the Dungeon, and the heroes were 2.5 times stronger. It's strange overall.

Maybe you came later the second time than the first? It seems like the Redhaven formula is in effect.

Be that as it may, it is the second army, which is larger, that corresponds to the intended difficulty for the Hero. And the first one is very similar to the Warrior. There isn't much randomness there. Vittorio receives 20 Seraphim on the Hero and 10 on the Warrior + a couple in the army, not counting the script + two cities that start producing troops only after Railag completes the first third of the map. Vittorio's army cannot be significantly reduced on his starting territory. And throughout the entire map, such cases have not been observed. The difference between the Warrior and the Hero may not be noticeable at first, as it does not affect the number of enemies in the dungeon. However, it does affect the number of reinforcements for Railag, the aggression radius of the faceless ones, and the stats of the AI heroes.

  I forgot to add something else. I see that Ilaya was killed. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who decided to kill Ilaya. In my universe, Ilaya also dies. But it's much more complicated there. Or simpler. Depending on how you look at it. Maybe I'll even make a map about it someday. But probably not. But still, I thought I was the only one who decided to get rid of Ilaya, but it turned out that wasn't the case.

Ilaya's death

Her body was taken by an angel.

Added 4 minutes ago
Well, maybe you came the second time later than the first? There seems to be a Redhaven formula in effect.

No, the second time I completed the Dungeon faster.

Added 3 minutes ago

Regardless, it is the second, larger army that corresponds to the intended difficulty for the Hero level. And the first one is very similar to the Warrior.

There isn't much randomness there. Vittorio receives 20 Seraphs on the Hero difficulty and 10 on the Warrior difficulty + a couple in the army, not counting the script + two cities that only start producing troops after Railag completes the first third of the map. Vittorio's army can't be significantly reduced on his starting location. And there haven't been any such cases observed throughout the map.

The difference between the Warrior and Hero difficulties may not be noticeable at first, as it doesn't affect the number of enemies in the Dungeon. But it does affect the number of reinforcements for Railag, the aggression radius of the Faceless, and the stats of the AI heroes.

We're talking about the same thing, I didn't write all this just for fun. I specifically compared two cases with facts, I deleted the old saves, so you could compare and see that something strange is happening. Hero difficulty! I don't play other difficulties in general. And you didn't answer anything about the resources; I can send you a save file at the moment of completing the Dungeon. You'll see for yourself that everything has been cleared, and there aren't enough resources for any purchases.

Resources are completely random, that's true, and there are no hero armies.

I completed this scenario as the Hero.

Walkthrough

Raihlag starts with defense and education, I also took logistics, machines, and Summoning. I ran away from the guardians and defeated all the neutral creatures (except for the liches and druids at the beginning). I remember the logistics task: to join a hydra unit in such a way that the guardian wouldn't catch up. I also bought 10 more hydras for crystals; there weren't enough resources for other troops. I defeated Reveran without any problems, with losses of 27 furies, 9 riders, and 1 minotaur. I changed the mentor's skills, resulting in Ballistics, Mentoring, Fire Arrows, and Light (without abilities). Unfortunately, there was no Anti-Magic; I chose the Hive there. The battle against Sarnar was difficult, but I won because he inexplicably cast Berserk on his own Sovereigns, and they started shooting at their own units. When he ran out of mana, he resurrected troops, resulting in losses: all minotaurs and dragons, 10 assassins, and 3 riders. After this, Raihlag gets a town, but the problem is that Vittorio is already running towards us with a high threat level. I trained Letos and bought him Berserk. Letos took 7 archers and attacked Vittorio; Raihlag easily finished off the last unit. This also worked against Talanar, but it was more difficult (he had resistances and Anti-Magic), so I also trained Kifru with Chaos. The game continued like this: Letos and Kifru gradually destroyed enemy troops with hit-and-run tactics, while Raihlag either fought neutral creatures or stayed in the castle. Raihlag also captured the City of the Faceless. There was an interesting moment when Kifru killed Frederick, and he was immediately resurrected with a large army. I fought back and left him alive with only one Zealot. After capturing three human towns and killing all the blue heroes (including Miv), I put Raihlag in charge of guarding the outpost on the road to the elves; even in the tavern, he was already stronger than any elven hero. I captured one elven town and defeated their heroes, except for Orion with a low threat level but an unbreakable (due to Chaos Negation) unit of 450 unicorns. Raihlag went forward, and Orion hid in the castle, where I blocked him. I put Kifru there (Raihlag gave her all his army, except for the red dragons). The elves have a third town, but I didn't take it either, because if you capture it, Ilfina appears with an absurd army and also has Anti-Magic. For some reason, the enemy doesn't hire heroes there. Raihlag changed the mentor's skills (instead of machines and attack, he took Darkness and Sorcery) and broke through the blue outpost with one unit of dragons without losses. Raihlag is now without towns and additional heroes, but he was given a small army. And he must defeat a super creature with huge stats and area-of-effect damage. I thought about what to do and came up with the following: I chose artifacts in a certain way and only put out red dragons. With acceleration, the dragons have 25 initiative, and the super creature also has 25 (and also -4 defense). And this means that the dragons will always survive as long as they are under regeneration, because Raihlag has Ballistics! The dragons used "Destruction," and Raihlag attacked directly and renewed the regeneration. Victory without losses. Then I gathered all the reinforcements, but Saret appeared ahead and positioned himself in such a way that it wasn't immediately clear how to escape from him. But I found a solution: Raihlag must break through the garrison and stay behind it; then Saret will run in the other direction, through another garrison. Then there was a battle with Isabel. I looked at what magic she uses and put on different artifacts. After that, I won the battle, but everyone died except for one fury! The scenario was completed in 284 days, and the statistics show "Battles lost: 62" . And yet, against weak heroes (Iris, Dugald, Vinrael), Kifru usually even won battles!

In the second part, if you play it the way I did... there isn't some extreme hardcore difficulty, although the playthrough turns out to be long. But it's as if it was made for this style of play? Of course, it should be acknowledged that this map is generally more difficult than "Price of Love" and "Path of the Necromancer." In terms of plot and cutscenes, this scenario is, in my opinion, even better than your first two maps! I also liked the gameplay; in the second part, I was constantly coming up with something interesting on the strategic map, and sometimes in battles too (there are many nuances; in the walkthrough, I only described the general ideas).
Thank you very much for the map!

Thank you for the map.

Could you please provide a link that isn’t from Google Drive? I’m having trouble with Google; when downloading a file, I need to verify my Google account, but it’s been banned and I can’t recover it, and I don’t want to create a new one. Yandex Disk or a ZIP file, anything would work.