Posts from The "Refugee" scenario.

where is this portal?

I wrote these instructions a long time ago and don't remember the details at all. But if I didn't specify where the portal is located, it should be obvious, so I assume that the portal shown in your screenshot is the one. (The yellow creature runs into it.) If your game is freezing, I can only suggest trying patches. Although, as far as I remember, I completed this scenario on version 1.0, without patches, and nothing froze.

Okay, now it’s clear, but what about the Astral Gates?

Now it's clear, but what about the Astral Gate?

You can't get the Astral Gate anywhere except at the Altar of Magic Touch, which is located right behind this portal. As I said many years ago, this altar is easily mistaken for one of the rocks in the dungeon, so look carefully! So, jump behind the yellow one, see how this creature runs away from you right through the rocks, then quickly learn this spell and teleport behind it.

Nah, I wouldn't have missed it, but the darn thing keeps freezing.

I recently came across this, without a doubt, magnificent, and also my favorite old map. I decided to play it. Here, I will write a brief review/hint, in case anyone else decides to play.
1) The main thing in this map is speed. The number of black dragons grows very quickly, so don't hope that after 1-2 years of game time, they will still be easy to defeat. The optimal time is 2-3 months.
2) The map is not very large, and the paths between the castles are almost not blocked, sometimes by mobs of level 3-4. First, I advise you to capture the Necropolis, which is located to the northeast of us, in 1 turn, and then spread across the map with your still weak units; at the beginning, they are easily defeated. I destroyed all the players except the yellow one (but he is scripted) on about the 30th day of the game.
3) So, the dangerous enemies have been destroyed, and you have time. It is better to use it wisely. There are two ways here:
First, start building up cities, capturing resources, and exploring the map. In the first case, the game will end with a battle of 1,000 black dragons against 10,000 skeletal archers, etc., and a hero of level 33 with all sorts of artifact sets to suit every taste. This will happen approximately on the 7-9th month of the game; the map is filled with various objects.
The second way is to have the main hero focus on completing quests. First, you need to accumulate 50,000 gold, as Naadir says, "we learn to save." At the same time, bring 100 swordsmen to the keymaster; this will take at least 5 weeks (20 swordsmen from two dwellings per week), but, by the way, we still have two Knight cities =). I honestly forgot about this when I was playing...
4) The cities are more or less built, the army is ready, the quests are completed, and we go through the portal, and our artifact is stolen! We run after it, learn the Astral Gate spell (Hint: it is located in the house to the left of the place where you end up). Then, there will be a battle with the yellow player. He is not very strong, although he annoyed me with his constant moves and high morale. Next, you can explore the Dungeon, destroy the yellow city, find the portal to the top, then collect 100 gems for the prophet and give the artifact to the black dragons. Now, we are given the opportunity to "fight them" (Why couldn't we do this at the very beginning?).
5) If it is difficult, remember the great ability of the Necropolis, as well as the fast-moving caravans. Gather troops in the capital, turn them into undead, and give them to Naadir. Well, now the dragons are no longer a problem.
P.S.: Unfortunately, only a Necromancer will learn the secrets of Belket. Instead, players will see the screen "You have won"...
Good luck with the Walkthrough.

How do you manage to gather so many dragons? In my game, I reached the 5th month of dragons, and I had around 200. I defeated them with vampires, ghosts, and skeletons – 200, 200, 700... Of course, maybe you're playing on Heroes mode?)))

Definitely, the difficulty level is Veteran Hero. I had so many dragons... I don't even remember how many. The trick here is that after a few hundred, they grow very quickly, and you simply might not have time to destroy them before their numbers exceed ten thousand.
I had roughly the same amount, if I'm not mistaken. Not that few, after all.

Yeah, I understand that the percentage increase for troops on heroes is the highest. I myself played on veteran difficulty. On heroes, this map is a bit stressful because there are too many neutral creatures, and I play more for enjoyment than to calculate everything at the beginning...

Added after 4 minutes
And yes, after the "journey" from "Durman" to the dragons, there are so many tactics :D :D

I got to the point where they demand that necklace made of teeth, and decided to check here. And what I read was unsettling. Right now, there are only 2 players left (besides me), and it seems I need to eliminate them as quickly as possible, especially the orange one, while they are weakened from their previous battles with the former blue players. Up until now, when I have 4 cities, there haven't been any major problems. Well, except for the usual thing in Heroes 5: as soon as the main hero leaves the city for 2-3 turns, some scum immediately appears and tries to either take the city or the mines :smile05:. So, they attacked my capital when Naadira wasn't nearby, but luckily, Lucretia (so cute) as my #2, completely annihilated them :smile13:. P.S. And here I reached the end of this, but there... there were only 71 creatures, where did everyone get thousands of creatures from? Could it be because I was playing on Recruit difficulty? (227 game days). By the way, the yellow army died on its own, because I took their city in the dungeon, and they approached it and died on their own for some reason, without a battle.

Walkthrough of the "Refugee" scenario: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkhaWAqXzro&index=8&list=PLGpNWhdMwySdpBRp2AHR_wqblI3NH1Pbu

Walkthrough of the "Refugee" scenario (part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43FgphBro7g

Definitely, the difficulty level is veteran-hero. I had so many dragons... I don't even remember how many. The trick here is that after a few hundred, they grow very quickly, and you simply don't have time to destroy them before their numbers exceed ten thousand.
I had about the same amount, if I'm not mistaken. Not that few)

A similar situation. I understand that if you lose even a little time, the scenario becomes almost impossible to complete.

Walkthrough of the "Refugee" scenario (WITHOUT SAVING THE HERO): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4YAE17AWGM
Walkthrough of the "Refugee" scenario (WITHOUT SAVING THE HERO VIA THE CENTERPERK): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p28TGOd1dNE