Posts from Haven – “Defeat and Victory” [Campaign 3 – Mission 4]

This mission is tough... (I've replayed it twice today, and I still can't manage it. I guess it's going to be difficult for me without the Phoenix amulet.

Update: It's not even about the Phoenixes; they've buffed Inferno and the chain lightning spell, and it seems they've also buffed the fire storm. An enemy hero walks around with a weak army, but the hero is level 25-30. You can destroy the army in at least two turns, and in that time, they cast at least two spells... and that's it. The losses from such a battle are simply unacceptable (a week's worth of growth), and they keep coming from everywhere. In longer battles, it's even worse. The only way out is to fight with armies for which magic damage isn't so critical, that is, in the later stages, when the armies are large and everything heals calmly, but how to survive and build up such an army is the question. Has anyone already completed it under patch 1.5.1 or 1.5.2 on normal difficulty? Share your secrets urgently (specifically with the latest patch! I passed this mission at release, and it seemed easier then).

This mission is tough... (I've replayed it twice today, and I still can't manage it. I guess it will be difficult for me without the Phoenix Amulet.

Update: It's not even about the Phoenixes; they've buffed Inferno and the chain lightning spell, and it seems they've also buffed the fire storm. An enemy hero walks around with a weak army, but the hero is level 25-30. You can destroy the army in at least two turns, and in that time, they cast at least two spells... and that's it. The losses from such a battle are simply unacceptable (a week's worth of growth), and they keep coming from everywhere. In longer battles, it's even worse. The only way out is to fight with armies for which magic damage is not so critical, that is, in the later stages, when the armies are large and everything heals easily, but how to survive and build up such an army is the question. Has anyone already completed it under patch 1.5.1 or 1.5.2 on normal difficulty? Share your secrets of success urgently (specifically with the latest patch! I completed this mission at release, and it seemed easier then).

I completed it on hard difficulty... The main thing is not to hesitate and to connect with the Deer as quickly as possible, then take back the second of the quest villages in the south. You will already have 4 castles, while the demons have 3. You won't be able to defeat Nimue quickly, but it will be easy to clear the southwest and take two cities there, after which, waiting, you can defeat the last one. In general, that's all...

Sorry, guys, I just panicked a bit. I completed the mission! Steel-clad cavalry, Knights in shining armor, Angels, and cold steel crushing everything in its path! In the end, it was just an avalanche. The Demons were begging to go back to Sheol! Great feeling after a successful completion, especially after struggling with it. But there are still other battles ahead. As for the tactics, I focused on magic defense as much as possible at the beginning, and I played without the Phoenix Amulet (at first, then some enemy hero brought it with him). I guess I was lucky at the beginning; the first two random heroes from the portal (red) were warriors, and I just crushed them (because mages in the early stages were a pain). So, after quickly capturing the first town and two forts (carefully collecting all the nearby resources), I immediately rushed downwards (underground) towards the Orange player. (Yes, maybe there was some trick to it; I didn't capture the second town nearby, nor did I go to the Deer player). I dealt with the Orange player easily, occasionally getting distracted by the aforementioned random red players from the portal. And then, basically, that was it. I came out of the dungeon, finally captured the second town nearby, repelled the attacks of the red players, and started BUILDING. After a week or two, I broke through to the Deer player. By that time, the infrastructure in the castles was already providing a good weekly replenishment of the army, and the portals allowed me to repel attacks relatively easily (I bought a second hero for convenience; he had 1/3 of the army, and I only merged them when strong enemies appeared). I had to buy a lot of resources, and I tried to build Angels as quickly as possible, and I never regretted it. I apologize for the rambling, but honestly, this mission was really difficult at first, and now I'm just feeling a bit euphoric

KefirX, congratulations!
By the way, the AI actually calms down if it manages to defend its second town; I've experienced this myself.

Hmm. Actually, I got carried away saying it became difficult; it's just that two heroes with large armies are hiding in various corners, collecting loot, while weak armies made up of remnants are running around in the center, which is why the red faction was pushing me so well. But then, when Anton arrived, everyone scattered to the corners.
I didn't immediately recruit the Deer, because it accidentally dove underground, and there it fought with varying success, spending a lot of time capturing one of the Castles, as it had to come out to the surface.
But I somehow managed to kill Jezebeth on the first try, although I lost the battle in the auto-battle.
At the same time, I upgraded the Green Staff to level 3 - it's so funny to create tsunamis; I always use it in every battle. It's a good staff.
Only one farthest corner remains, and then the Falcon's Nest is next.
It's a good, interesting map.

Added 1 minute ago
And does anyone know why the Necromancer comes there?
First, there's a closed Wall, and then it arrives and stands there, doing nothing.
I came to it, but you can't even exchange artifacts or enter the Castle.
It's some kind of useless thing on the map.

in reality, the Necromancers aren't really needed there, although Svetlana supposedly brought reinforcements for Anton (according to the plot). It's quite possible that this is just an attempt to connect the endings of campaigns 1 and 2 with a common storyline.

Well, Svetlana still managed to capture one Castle for the "red" faction. So, even if it's just a little, we can say she helped.

Well, I completed this mission. I received more than 10 achievements for it, probably even 13. I killed Arriban quite easily, although I didn't understand his attacks. The first time, he attacked my Seraphim with Deryabin's, the upgraded ones, and they took 0 damage. But the next time he attacked them, he wiped out the entire squad in one go – 49 units. However, his victory didn't last long. I cast a level 3 reinforcement spell on the archers (around 768), bringing their number to 1390, and they quickly overwhelmed him. The Alliance of Angels on my side leveled up from 0 to 40968 points.

Started quite confidently – cleared some territory, captured the first Dungeon – all without losses! My hero is a Mage, named Blood.
Valeska is an incredibly useful second hero with the "Architect" skill. The 20% cost reduction is very important for early construction.
In the first week, I already have 3 Havens. Everything is set up so that the first turn is mine, during which I summon Light Spirits.
Went down into the Dungeon. I was lucky that I took both castles without facing defending heroes. Yes, with just three Havens! But I already fought the orange heroes with the help of an army that Valeska teleported to me. Although the army is small. Starting with 2 Seraphs, 11 Havens, etc. I captured the second orange castle and all 3 heroes. And then I went to the center of the Dungeon to save Gwendolyn! Oh my god!! I haven't been playing for long, and I haven't experienced any lag, BUT THE HELLISH HERO HAS A LEGION OF LILIMS!!!!! THREE GROUPS OF 330 EACH!!! And there are just as many other warriors!!!!
HOW?? WITH WHAT?? I'm supposed to defeat her when I only have 7 Seraphs, 20 Havens, etc.?? Does she always have such an army?? CAN SOMEONE WHO HAS FOUGHT HER GIVE ME SOME TIPS!!

tomatovv, well, this is a task near the end of the mission. I think there's a Haven castle there, so the demon army won't grow. Capture all the castles on the surface and go there when you have 1500 crossbowmen :).

Yes, you are right, there is a gray Castle of the Alliance! But is it a growing or stasis castle? If it's a growing castle, like Nibiro's in the 4th mission for Irina (Sanctuary campaign), then... But if it's a stasis castle and the heroine is standing still, then I have bad news for her!))
Winner, respect to you for the hint! But you didn't answer my question about "Sad Song" and the staff's ability "Word of Safira," which heals 11 hit points!!

tomatovv, replied in another thread: they will fix it in the patches, it's a bug.

Not sure, but it seems the army doesn't increase in size.

tomatovv, replied in another thread: they will fix it in the patches, it's a bug.
Not sure, but it seems the army doesn't increase.

Okay! I'll check it out now! I just had a moment when Seraphina was exactly 11 hit points short of being resurrected))) this was the only time it helped)))

Added after 16 hours 59 minutes
So, yesterday I continued playing! As Winner advised, I didn't go to save Gwendolyn, because my army was still too small! And I went back to the surface. Yes, I agree, the red one is a bit annoying with his jumping from a one-way teleport. It makes it difficult to travel long distances. That's the hellish hero Malik)))
I encountered serious resistance in the level 2 Castle (the maximum level 2 Castle), which is located under the Duchy of the Deer! 150 Broodmothers, 380 Lilim, 177 Devastators, 24 or 34 Lords, and others by default. My army: 74 Golden Guards, 70 Knights, 155 Guards, 158-160 Archers - 200 Vestals, and 74 Ultimate Griffons.
I'll say this: we won the battle with five spells: Summon Elements of Light, Healing, Mass Healing, Mass Resurrection, and Blindness. At one point in the battle, I had only one Golden Guard left!!!! I already thought that was it - I had lost my main striking force... BUT! I managed to cast Mass Resurrection! and positioned the Elements of Light so that they not only killed the Sadists with their counterattack, but also resurrected 20 Golden Guards!! Then, Blindness on the Broodmothers and focus on Healing and Resurrection!!!!!!!!!!!! There were no Seraphs! They are in the Castle! As a result, yes, I skipped three turns, and Blindness lasted for five))) but I healed and resurrected the ENTIRE army!!! Mana?? Plenty! Meditation + El-Sara's Robe (-50% spell cost)! So, I got as much as 87,530 experience!!!))) and the hero became level 30))).
Svetlana appeared - she destroyed the Castle. And stopped. As I understand it, that's how it should be))
The map is interesting! And beautiful, especially the village meadows.
I'm playing on!

tomatovv, you're a monster! How did you manage to restore your entire army with spells?

Regarding Svetlana: the player controlling her will become less effective as the game progresses. Moreover, this player is hostile, so I advise defeating them to avoid interference.

Winner, thank you!
WHAT? Svetlana is an enemy??? Oh, how interesting! I thought she was an ally! Well, that's fine! An extra Castle won't hurt me)))
Regarding spells: maxed-out Light magic gives over a thousand single-target healing and 700 area-of-effect healing. + maxed-out Earth magic gives 300 area-of-effect regeneration - about 700 or so single-target. + Vestals.
The strategy is this: either stop time, blind (Light magic), or blind with a Light elemental on the last enemy unit. Then just wait and watch as regeneration works every turn. + healing and area-of-effect healing once every three turns! And once, I almost resurrected all the Vestals with the 4th level Human racial ability. I have absolutely no offensive magic! Only healing and summons!
I dumped all the points into 1000 Blood!
Here's the setup:
Light magic 3, healing, area-of-effect healing, Light elementals, Blind.
Earth magic 3, regeneration, area-of-effect regeneration, Earth elementals.
General magic: magic enhancement 3, stop time, MEDITATION.
That's it. That's the whole magical arsenal.
The rest of the points go into general development, and I even have 8 free points! I'm thinking, maybe I should turn the hero into an elementalist? I can put 4 points into Air and Fire. That is, Air magic 3 + summon elementals? And the same with Fire.
What do you think? And then I'll summon elementals every turn! Four magical creatures + phoenixes!?