Posts from impossible gameplay tactics on XL. Auto-translated

Greetings, oh master of Black Magic! Please, don't kick me while I'm down. My friends and I often play Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Shadow of Death, but they only play on the hardest difficulty (no starting gold) and on the largest random map (no dungeons). It's allowed to abandon the game on the first day if there's no path, or if stones or trees are guarded by level 2 or higher creatures (or similar monsters). Basically, I always get beaten: :smile13: Could you suggest a strategy for this type of game, specifically for the Elemental Castle? Here's what I do: I choose Gelar (for gold and water magic) and try to upgrade him to Water Expert in the first week. I also look for Blessing and upgrade levels 2 and 3 of the Elementals. Then, I try to build a Griffin in the third week and after that, find the Fire Book (for Armageddon) or dig up the Grail if I'm lucky. Am I missing something? Are there other options (like a Blitzkrieg strategy) for the largest map? Or maybe there's another race that's more suitable for this type of game? P.S. I forgot to mention the main problem: I play rationally for the first two weeks, but then it turns into pointless hero movement back and forth, and I end up getting beaten again. Could you suggest a strategy for playing from the third week onwards? What absolutely needs to be done, and what can be ignored?

in general, I always get beaten :smile13:

Just learn how to play

You can start, for example, here: http://ru.justin.tv/psyche_7/videos

Watch all the videos; they take a while to load, but it's worth it. And you'll gradually start to understand.

Yes, it's impossible to give a short and definitive answer: there can be many successful tactics, and each player has their own. But, in general, I can advise:
1. Don't get fixated on anything: try different castles, heroes, development strategies...
2. Mastery comes with experience; the more "flight hours" you have, the better you will become! Try practicing "on easy maps" (i.e., playing on single-player maps against the computer): it's not shameful to lose to it, and no one will find out! ;) Although, experienced players will say that losing to the computer is still shameful: after all, it is much dumber than a human. So, first learn to confidently beat the computer - and then you can start dealing with live opponents!

Instead of sending heroes back and forth, you can try preparing 3-4 strong heroes: one with an army, and three with magic, and send them in different directions to capture all the neutral territories. And when you find a living opponent, you need to gather your forces into one and go to attack him. If he comes to you for the same purpose, then meet him :)
It is important to have FAST-MOVING heroes – whether it's due to logistics, artifacts, or spells; otherwise, by the time your hero reaches the enemy's borders, his heroes will have already ravaged your country from one end to the other.

By the way, I forgot to follow up on the main point. Forget about Gelar, just take Grindan. You'll get the same 350 per day, but more importantly, you can get Expert Slow very quickly. Then, as I understand it, you're playing without rules, so you can improve your Fae, and with some skill, you can essentially kill all slow-moving monsters without losses. And when you upgrade Earth to Expert (if you're lucky, you might get it on the first day) with Expert Slow, you'll be able to take down anything. It will take a while, but it will happen. Bite, they fly away, bite, they fly away. :D Then, the main thing is to get the birds and everything will be fine. Although, maybe it's worth upgrading Air as well. By the way, if you're playing completely without rules, it's better to take diplomat heroes. Upgrade diplomacy, have a little strength and luck, and just go around recruiting everything for free. You can gather such an army that growing units in a city can only dream of. Try Adele, she has the Blessing skill and specializes in it :D, you love it so much, but the main thing is diplomacy.

Added 2 minutes later
But, as Marmot rightly pointed out above, the main thing is practice. And, of course, analyzing games. Watch streams if you're not lazy, and play more often yourself. You'll get the hang of it, and everything will come naturally, if you want to

Important - you need to have FAST-moving heroes - whether from logistics, artifacts, or spells; otherwise, by the time your hero reaches the enemy's borders, their heroes will have already ravaged your country from one end to the other.

Theoretically, I know all this - an Earth expert + a city portal (4th level of magic is quickly leveled up), plus gloves, sneakers + logistics, etc.

The problem is that playing on a LARGE map is so addictive that sometimes, only after a week of making mistakes, you ask yourself, "What the heck was I doing there?"

But this is a good idea - a main hero with high stats + two fast mages who explore the map.

P.S. I almost always win against the AI; I play against 3-4 AI opponents at once on impossible difficulty; there's no point in playing against more, as they start killing each other in the first month.

However, if there are many teleports, the AI always beats me - please tell me the tactic for dealing with teleports - simply standing in doorways can be risky.

Added 6 minutes later

By the way, I forgot to mention. Forget about Jelar. Take Grindan; it's the same 350 per day, but more importantly, you can get expert-level slow very quickly.

I buy Grindan as my second hero when he's available - precisely because of the slow ability + money.

I always try to play with the red faction - maybe I'm wrong, but they always go first, and on the first day of the week, I get the free reward first (or maybe it's because I'm the host).

I don't buy heroes from other factions - I've been told that if a hero is a foreigner, it negatively affects morale and luck, even if the army consists of only one race (maybe I'm wrong).

P.S. I level up the Fairy hero and look for Fairy dwellings. I don't know about diplomacy - I've observed that a huge, uniform army captures roaming monsters of the same type much more often than an expert in diplomacy

...I was told that if the hero is a foreigner, it negatively affects morale and luck, even if the army consists of only Aryans...

They say that in Moscow, they milk chickens, and cows lay eggs :D
Read up on the subject, and you'll understand that in Heroes of Might and Magic III, morale (and sometimes luck) is reduced by monsters, not heroes - heroes can only increase it.

"but the idea is – the main hero is a strongman + two agile mages who explore the map." This is a must. It's dangerous to split the main army into many small parts, and it's absolutely impossible to explore an XL map with just one hero; a mage can do a lot even without an army. But you need even MORE heroes – these three or four defeat and capture, while a few completely unintelligent ones pick up what can be taken without a fight, deliver reinforcements, and quietly take the slow units away from the fighters at night. "however, if there are many teleports, the AI always beats me – please suggest a tactic with teleports – just standing in the doorway can be risky." In each castle, don't just take two types of the slowest or most useless creatures; with the help of even a weak hero, they can usually fend off the opponent's non-main heroes.

Probably not the right place to ask, but how is the location of the Grail burial site determined when the center is occupied? Does it follow a spiral pattern, or from left to right, or vice versa? For example, sometimes I find it 4 spaces to the left when the 3rd space to the right is free.

Because digging with all heroes for half a month is not very efficient.

And another question - for XL, for the Elemental race, besides the Book of Fire and the Grail, what other ways are there to get Armageddon's Rain? Capturing enemy castles is obvious, but it requires money for upgrading churches, and there are no guarantees.

KingArthur

There is a hat that casts a level 5 spell, and in Armageddon's Blade, there is the Armageddon's Blade.
But if the opponent has a Sphere of Inhibition, then Armageddon won't work, and the strongest mage is weaker than the weakest warrior...

...how is the location of the Grail's burial site determined when the center is occupied? Does it form in a spiral? From left to right or vice versa? For example, sometimes I find it 4 steps to the left when the 3rd cell on the right is free...

I didn't quite understand the question. Is something or someone standing on the Grail, making it impossible to take? Ideally, it should be under a cross, which you need to stand on. If you want to find it in an invisible area, theoretically it should be in the center of the puzzle, but in practice, it might be slightly off-center. It's likely random. To avoid searching for a month, try to reveal as much of the puzzle as possible to at least see the edge of the cross.

You are feeding the troll.

The Grail is located in a random spot within the specified radius. If the radius is 0, it will always be in the same location. Also, the Grail cannot be placed closer than 9 tiles to the edge of the map.

You're feeding the troll.

+1, he's quite chubby.

I didn't quite understand the question. Is someone or something standing on the Grail, making it impossible to take? Ideally, it should be under the cross, which you need to stand on. If you want to find it in an invisible area, theoretically it should be in the center of the puzzle, but practically it might be slightly off-center, in which direction is likely random. To avoid searching for a month, try to reveal as much of the puzzle as possible to see at least the edge of the cross.

I reveal as much as I can and try to align it with the map so that the image matches.

When a tree or a rock is in the center of the zone, I dig around it (as close as possible).

So, the cross might not be in the center of the image?

Then it's clear...

Added 1 minute ago

+1, it's quite chubby.

You are wrong, Sir!

P.S. And what does "if you play completely without rules..." mean? Does it mean that the "diplomacy" skill is usually forbidden when people play?

We are really playing without any restrictions (except for those described in the first post - at the beginning of the game).

We sometimes introduce 1-2 computer opponents into the game to add some randomness - otherwise, I am always killed first :-)

And what additional restrictions should be imposed on XL games to make them fairer (at least to newcomers like me)?