Posts from The Lord is more alive than dead

In the Stronghold, after the battle with the demons, the vampires say that you need to bring a cloak and so on. I go down and head towards them, and then it says that the flames can destroy the hero.

You can go to the tavern, and it will become clear what to do. It seems there is even a direct hint about this

it further states that the flame can destroy a hero

This message is a warning, not a prohibition against further advancement. Yes, it says so, but with a clarification – if you get too close to the fiery Gates. Well, that is, right up to the hellish flame bursting out of them with the intention of saying hello to Kha-Beleth. Besides, you can easily run up to the altar/tavern, as comrade Gerter rightly noted.

I really enjoyed the scenario; I haven't played with such interest in a long time. It's challenging enough without being overly difficult. I completed it with a hero in 150 days, taking my time and succeeding on the second attempt. The only thing I couldn't manage was the mummy and the lava dragon in the quest. During the battle with the demon hero, I found a bug: when the Cerberus is charmed, the AI breaks and starts simply using the "wait" command with all units and the hero, resulting in an easy victory.

I really enjoyed the scenario; I haven't played with such interest in a long time.

Thank you for appreciating my humble work.

It's moderately challenging and doesn't go overboard.

I aimed for this kind of golden mean. Whether I succeeded or not is up to the players to decide.

During a battle with a demon hero, I found a bug: when controlling Cerberuses, the AI breaks and simply has all units use the "Wait" command.

It's probably not the Cerberuses themselves, but rather the "Control" spell. Because of it, the script may react incorrectly during gating. Thank you for pointing it out; I'll take a look.

Added:
Update Small fix to v1.2.1:
- Fixed a bug in the battle with the Demon Lord at the Gate, where all his units would go into defense after the player controlled one of the Inferno stacks.

The topic header has also been changed (I'm subtly reminding you of point 3 in the "Warnings" section). The download link remains the same.

Everyone plays the game this way. And not a single video. Where is the Remix?

Where is Remix?

I've been wondering that too. No matter how often I check his channel about HoMM5, it's been quiet for a couple of months now. Maybe the guy just got tired of Heroes... Or maybe not. After all, Remix has tons of guides and walkthroughs – I doubt my map will surprise him with anything. Forcing yourself to play isn't great.

P.S. As far as I remember, he had guides on how not to make maps and about the mistakes made by mapmakers in general – they helped me a lot at the time.

Walkthrough for the scenario "[L]: “The Lord is more alive than dead” on the Niksan channel.
https://www.twitch.tv/niksan2704
https://youtube.com/live/AxinItRfP6s?feature=share

Good day to you, I watched your first stream of my map. Regarding the questions that arose during the walkthrough... Concerning the **lack of music in the intro video** – it is actually there; most likely, it wasn't playing because you have a mod or mods installed that affect the music. The tracks from Shadow Fight 2 heard during combat suggest this might be the case. Although, I could be wrong. Regarding the **phoenixes** – here they have not a living, but an elemental nature (see "Change Log") so that the same "regeneration" effect cannot be applied to them. Otherwise, the summoned phoenix would become virtually invincible and overpowered. Regarding Nicholas's special ability – the more often your units participate in battle and the higher the level of the hero himself, the more often reinforcements arrive. However, you mainly fought with Nicholas using only one unit of vampires – single/double squads of skeleton kamikazes died almost immediately. In fact, starting around turn 3, you effectively had not 7 units active, but 1. That’s why his special ability triggered so rarely. Of course, against Robin, you could have deployed all accumulated “meat,” but you managed perfectly well without doing so. Regarding the appearance of **alternate upgrades for partisans** during ambushes – this is a feature. It is stated in the topic header that alternate upgrades are prohibited, but not for neutral creatures. And the monk (partisan commander) acts as a “neutral” character. Besides, anyone who wanted to join the partisans was welcome. Regarding their **powerful tent** – it has Kaspar's enhanced special ability + engineer's ring. The number of shots/actions is also mentioned in the "Change Log." You can break it, by the way, but it takes several attempts because the monk doesn't fully repair the tent; he restores it to half its HP from before the damage. And yes, your reaction (at time 2:16:27) to the first attempts to destroy it is priceless =). P.S. Good luck on your exams!

Updated 13.06.2026:

Added after 22 hours 0 minutes
Updated 14.06.2026:

I started a new game with the Hero class and played using only Vampires. Of course, I had double primary skills on Nicholas (I didn't pay much attention to specializations). Stefan defended against mage attacks.
In the first week, I captured an outpost, but it was quite challenging, and in the end, the best result was losing only 50 units. (The Colossi stubbornly held their ground.)
Then, I stormed the second Castle, looting a treasure chamber along the way and gaining control of it. After that, I went around clearing out everything.
Humans turned out to be a real pain. Especially the engineer who constantly repairs his ballista.
This raises the question: is it normal for them all to run around with a static army, and "resurrect" with approximately the same composition? Not to mention that they revive from the dead at different times. Fortunately, mages resurrect with their own army, not the one they died with.
I decided to skip the partisan quest, as well as the Sphinx and scroll quests; it seemed like a waste of time. The final battle took place in a castle with a Fida’i. With a bit of luck, I gained control of the archers and finished him off with his own archers.
Overall, the scenario is good, 9/10.

kilverstu, thank you for your feedback!

Update to v1.3:
- Nicholas's special ability now summons vampires slightly faster (reverted to the parameters in v1.0, but not completely, only halfway);
- when Caldwell is re-hired in the tavern, the number of his troops no longer depends on the time elapsed since the start of the game;
- the supply point in the west of the underground now provides the Imperials with a caravan of reinforcements every 2 weeks (previously – every week);
- Guard Vampires have been given the "Weakening Strike" ability;
- Robin has had the "Ring of Sar-Issa" removed;
- Faidan's luck skill has been replaced with Summoning magic and the combat script has been adjusted;
- a loophole through the barrier to the city of mages near the lower tower for heroes of the "turquoise" player has been closed;
- other minor changes.

The topic header has also been changed (I subtly remind you about item 3 of the "Warnings" section within it). The download link remains the same.

I completed it in 145 days on Veteran difficulty – I could have done it faster, but I didn't rush and explored different upgrade options + the order of quests, without knowing the specifics of the map.

I killed Faydaen without losses in the castle (more for the challenge) by destroying the catapult + phantoms + raising undead with level 50 magic. In an open field, he left me with 30-40% of his troops, but the battle wasn't difficult at that point either.
The fire dragon seemed more challenging than Faydaen (mainly due to the number of losses, which are very difficult to minimize), so I ended up with about 5% army loss. In principle, you don't even need to fight him; +10 magic doesn't make a big difference. Robin posed a threat during his first appearance, but I chased him around and gathered as much of my army as possible – after that, I won without any losses. Mages and humans weren't a serious threat initially.
The battle in the pyramid is cool as a puzzle – I won't spoil the solutions (there are probably several), but I managed to complete it without losses.
The demon seems strong, but if you gather a good army, he becomes just an easy target. You can easily defeat him in one and a half turns while he tries to open the gate. It feels like he needs some kind of buff, but I don't have any specific ideas yet :)
At some point, the mages' and Robin's raids became more annoying than posing a real threat, but by that time, you could also eliminate the mages themselves and the "lower" humans. Subjectively, the underground area is too large; it would be better to cut down on unnecessary things and "compress" points of interest to make everything more accessible.

Overall, it's a very well-designed map with a lot of thought put into it, without being unnecessarily drawn out, but also without creating a high risk of losing (which is actually a plus for me as a casual player).

Everything is fine regarding additional quests, artifacts, and upgrade options; the main quest is also quite decent. I can't say that I got some kind of wow effect; it was simply done at a very good level (no, this isn't simple). There are very few maps that are made well and don't annoy you in any way. It was enjoyable to spend time playing it.

Among the noticed bugs/oddities:

1. The blinding attack from unicorns has a strange effect on the guard vampires – they don't react to the attack; I see the blind effect in the log, but it doesn't apply (and shouldn't, since they are undead).

2. The guardian of the portal to the elves in the underground area disappeared at some point with a strong army (Randall?), and I didn't notice any specific trigger. At the same time, the quests "do not engage Randall in battle" and "capture Coldwell" remained open until the end; I won without completing them. There were no blue heroes/cities on the map, but their objects remained blue. Maybe this is normal behavior overall, but it seemed unintuitive.<

3. An elf hero (I had Ossir) got blocked by caravans between the last city and the garrison (the city has 3-4 caravans, the hero, followed by another 3-4 caravans near the garrison). He stood there for several weeks. Perhaps the passage needs to be widened :)

Thank you very much to the map author for such great work. This map is definitely among my personal favorites :)

SomethingWicked, thank you for the detailed feedback!

The Demon might seem powerful, but with a good army, it becomes an easy target. It can be easily defeated in one and a half turns while it's trying to open portals. It seems like it needs buffs, but there are no specific ideas yet.

I don’t have any either… The strength of the Demon lies precisely in its powerful gates. I don't plan on giving resistances as enhancements because then most players probably won't want to fight it.

Subjectively, the underground is too extensive; some unnecessary parts should be cut down and points of interest compressed to make everything more accessible.

In the original Nival mission, it was the same; basically, the key elements in the underground are two cities, and the rest is minor. Of course, two-way portals could have been added to shorten the path. But this also has a downside – the "blue" AI heroes may start teleporting through them constantly, significantly slowing down your turn.

Overall, it's a very pleasant and well-designed map, without being overly drawn out, but also without much risk of losing (which is скорее a plus for me as a casual player).

Regarding additional quests, artifacts, and upgrade options, everything is good; regarding the main quest, it's quite decent too. I can't say that I got a "wow" effect; it's just done at a very decent level (no, it's not simple). There are very few maps that are made well and don't annoy you. It was nice to spend time on it.

I’m glad I didn’t disappoint As for the "wow" effect, I think it's very difficult to achieve now because a lot of time has passed since the game was released, players are already experienced, and besides, it's quite subjective.

Now, about some oddities:

1. The blinding spell from unicorns strangely affects the guard vampires – they don't respond to the attack; in the log, I see the blind effect, but it doesn't apply (and shouldn't, as they are undead).

This is a feature, actually implemented not by me, but by the game mechanics themselves. This applies to all undead (including guard vampires). Since the "blind" effect from unicorns "passes through," and blinding (as well as berserking/subjugating) undead is impossible, they simply don't respond to the attack. Tested while playing as elves in the same mission, "High Vampire."

2. The portal guardian to the elves in the underground with a large army (Randall?) disappeared at some point; I didn't notice any specific trigger. At the same time, the quests "do not engage Randall in battle" and "capture Coldwell" remained open until the end; I won without completing them. There were no blue heroes/cities on the map, but their objects remained blue. Maybe this is normal behavior overall, but it seemed not very intuitive.

When completing the main task for Coldwell, his companion, Randall, should clear the path to the elves (disappear from the map), the "blue" objects switch to neutral, and both tasks for the lord and archpriest are completed. For some reason, in your case, the script fails; I haven’t had that happen. Earlier, a user named raspisnoy, for example, did not activate two secondary quests (messages #56 and 57) also for an unknown reason... It would be interesting to see what the console shows you right now. I just checked – the script works correctly.

3. An elf hero (I had Ossir there) got blocked by caravans between the last city and the garrison (the city has 3-4 caravans, the hero, followed by another 3-4 caravans at the garrison). He stood like that for several weeks. Perhaps the passage needs to be widened

This is already AI glitches and a personal "gift" from it to you. But… You won't leave your computer opponent in trouble, will you?)