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Huge hello to everyone!
Sorry for disappearing. There were some issues logging into the site. Now everything seems to be fine. The esteemed VDV_forever gave me a task – either to make a detailed description of my walkthrough or to post the saves. Unfortunately, there is practically no time for a detailed description, and as I understand it, everyone is just waiting for me to finally wrap up the tournament results. Therefore, I will describe my walkthrough briefly.
I'll start by saying that I completed the map 4 times. The first result was 119 days, the second – 69 (replayed a bit and got 62), the third – 53, and the fourth – 39. For the first three times, the first month was the same, i.e., I sailed away on the 4th week and captured Tormina only on the 7th day of the 4th week.
So, the final walkthrough or 39 nightmare days (I don't think I'll reveal anything new, but still):
- We definitely make Dessa the main hero, as this is a speedrun; we buy her out on the first day and arrange it so that Jeddit or Alamar appears in her place (one of the key points).
- Since the prefecture had to be built on the first day, we buy out Jeddit on the second day and temporarily make him the main hero (for battles with Wizards and pegasi and some others);
- Seltom occupies the sawmill and runs down to collect resources; Jeddit occupies the ore mine and also runs down for leveling and, most importantly, to learn Blindness and get the hat (+4 Knowledge); Dessa also collects resources and levels up by visiting stones of knowledge (I only took gold from the chests);
- I built up Slau counting on Thunderbirds (I built the municipality only in the 4th week, and the Behemoths in the 3rd);
- On the second week (I think on the 2nd day), I killed the Wizards and pegasi with Jeddit, and with all three heroes, I ran to the breeding grounds and AlekseyPanky. After taking the necessary breeding grounds, the captain's hat, and joining 3 Ghost Dragons, 14 Death Knights, and 19 Vampires, I ran back with Dessa, as I planned to sail away in the 3rd week.
- So, having bought all the Thunderbirds (20 in total) and taking 2 Ghost Dragons (one was killed) with Dessa, and having previously learned Navigation, we attack the Penixes. No losses, as Dessa had already learned Restoration via Literacy, which was given to Jeddit.
- Then we sail to the whirlpool, emerge in the Dungeon, and land on the ground near the shipyard with the fairy dragons (I landed on the 6th day);
- On the 7th day of the third week, we capture Tormina and stay there overnight to replenish mana.
- The 4th week arrives (and I made it so it was the month of the Ancient Behemoth), and here I realized I messed up the Slau building tactics a bit (lost 2 days, and potentially 3-4 days), as there clearly wasn't enough money to buy all the Cyclopes, Behemoths, and birds, resulting in me simply circling Tormina to save up money. And "meat" was necessary to join the Gargoyles, which is a key point for a fast walkthrough.
- Next, we attack the garrison (the first long and tedious battle) – my army: 23 Cyclopes, 8 Behemoths, birds, and 4 Raiders one by one plus supply wagons – no losses.
- Then we buy more troops and run to join the Gargoyles, opening the Griffin conservatory along the way.
- After joining the Gargoyles, we run to uncover the surprise from VDV. My army: 25 Cyclopes, 2 Angels one by one, 1993 Gargoyles and another 4 one by one. Losses – 303 Gargoyles.
- Then we run to occupy Rovener and the Behemoth breeding grounds.
- Then we run underground and occupy Auer, picking up the Gladius and the Helmet of Heavenly Thunder along the way (also, Ta Kotoraya happened to be conveniently located, whom I beat without problems, sorry if I offended you)
- After occupying Auer (it was the 6th day of the 4th week), we run for the Titan's plate armor, jump back to Auer, and run to the water where the Penixes are; I reached the water by the end of the 7th day)
- With Jeddit, we kill the demons and take the Sentinel's shield and pass it along the chain to Dessa together with the Necklace of Marine Foresight, which I conjured from the merchant (spent 4 hours).
- On the 1st day of the 5th week, I had already taken the second Tower. On the second, I jumped with Dessa first to Kildar, then to Slau (doubled the mana), and back to the Tower and attacked the Efreets. Lost 700-800 Gargoyles, but in return took 100 Archangels, which is absolutely necessary, as Hacker and Magnus cannot be taken down so early without them.
- Then we sail with Dessa to Hacker (by the way, I took only 100 Archangels in the army, splitting them into two groups of 50). We crush Hacker (this is done quite easily and without losses) and sail with the same army to the island for the Liches and the Dragon Tooth Necklace (I lost 3 Archangels in the garrison).
- After that, we jump to Darklood and sail to the Black Dragons. We kill them (army – 97 Archangels, split into 2 groups, and 4 Thunderbirds one by one. Losses – 4 Thunderbirds). We take the chainmail, jump to Slau, double the mana, jump to Kildar and run to Magnus. Along the way, it is mandatory to pick up the Penixes.
- We kill Magnus. My army – 97 Archangels, 59 Cyclopes, 439 Liches, 14 Penixes split into 2 groups of 7, about 90 Thunderbirds, 66 Behemoths. The battle tactics against Magnus have basically been described already, but I'll repeat once more – the main thing is to lock the Psychic Elementals and Magma Elementals in the castle, for which the catapult must be destroyed and someone must be killed in front of the castle gates.
- And then everything is simple – with Seltom, we run to free Joker, and with Dessa, we crush the Wyverns, while building a chain to the swamp to free Knight.
That's basically it. Sorry for the lack of date references; I wrote this from memory and at my workplace. If I find the time, I'll try to describe it in more detail.
I will definitely post the saves. I have already prepared them (daily saves and before important battles), but I don't know how I'll post them, as my computer is ancient, the upload speed is 2-4 Kb per sec, and the saves weigh about 10 MB. Well, whatever, I'll try to come up with something.
