Posts from Islands of Secrets

Wonderful mod, very interestingly made, both the plot and the maps are beautiful, thank you very much! I've reached the 5th map so far. By the way, I found the city of dark elves in the swamps, in the labyrinth, with a Grail building))) it helped a lot with gold.
Overall, it's excellent, and it really compares to professional developers!
Well, the large number of grammatical errors spoils the impression =( But I could help with this, I could volunteer as a proofreader) Feel free to contact me if you need it).

I've been playing all night and can't stop. Can you tell me how to beat "Peak of Stars"? I keep getting wiped out on the second week when playing as a Warrior. They don't just attack from one front; they take out Ingvar (a dark elf) and Geralt. With Geralt, it's clear – he's not fully leveled up yet, but he's level 20. Gnomes keep coming one after another with armies six times larger than mine, and they just keep attacking... I don't have any troops, and the Elven Archers can't get everywhere in time... How do I beat it? I've already started five times, and I have Aeron's super ability and Linna's ability maxed out. It's tough; help!

Well, the main problem there is that Sorgala needed to be properly developed in the previous missions; I didn't know that either. Anyway, I first ran away from the dwarves into the dungeon and captured the city; they didn't follow me. I built it up a bit; there's also an outpost there with dragons, I think, and with a small set of dwarves, I gradually defeated them. It's strange about Geralt; I didn't have any problems...

Has the third part been released yet?

Unfortunately, not yet. I haven't communicated with Ser9K for a while, so I can't even say what stage it's in...

I've reached the 3rd mission, where I control 2 heroes. Which of them should I prioritize leveling up?

Ingira, download.

Level up Ingyr

But I leveled up Lianna first. Here's why:
1. When we first meet Lianna and Ingyr, Lianna has the "Magic Arrow" spell in her spellbook, while Ingyr doesn't. And this spell is very much needed in the early weeks of this map.
2. Lianna receives a bonus at the start of the game (for example, the "Domination" spell). You can still transfer Dark Priests, but you can't transfer a spell.
3. Ingyr has a weak ability (enhancing the "Lizard's Bite" skill). To be precise, the ability might be okay, but among other units, I prefer Beasts and Furies. They are easier to manage. Lianna has a better ability.
4. On this map, there is a quest for Lianna in "Ancient Evil" (for 30 crystals, you can get a level increase for the Dragon Daughter of Malassa).
5. On the last map, there is a quest for a level increase that can be completed by either Aeron or Lianna.

There is a Mentor on the map, plenty of chests, and almost every other week is a Creature Week. So, you will always have time to level up Lianna and Ingyr.

Added 6 minutes later
Damn, how do I beat "Ancient Evil" on Veteran or Hero difficulty?! These crazy demons invade me in the second or third week... On "Warrior" difficulty, they don't go beyond the outpost.

Ingir will complete the final mission on his own, while Liana will team up with an elf. By the final mission, the elf will be very powerful. Liana will simply stay in the castle...

Why should she sit in the Castle?... Let her go to the Dungeon following the pointer, and let Aaron go to the Elves. And again, I repeat, it's not a problem to level up Ingir by the end of the previous map, because there's a mentor + chests + a lot of weekly monsters.

Here, I decided to refresh my memory and play through one of the most interesting Campaigns I've ever encountered. As soon as I started, nostalgia washed over me... I regret not signing up earlier.

Rebellion
Mission One
Creature weeks occurred very often, mostly Elven and Demonic ones. Therefore, the army was gathered quickly. I reached the limit of development by reaching the quarry. The first time, I managed to repel the attack of Tenedos's minions only the first time, when Aeron was in Damdar. In other cases, I had to return home, because the rebels chose a convenient moment to attack - when Aeron was on missions, and in the last case, they even left the city. Capturing the Demonic castle was not difficult due to the lack of a hero defending it. Perhaps, it would be worth adding one. I completed the quest to liberate the church, and the 2 units of knowledge proved to be a good help for the war machines. Overall, the mission is interesting and not difficult, as it should be for the first mission of a Campaign.

I will write about the second one soon.

Added 2 hours 26 minutes ago
Misty Forest
Mission Two
First, I captured the rebel city and cleared the territory up to the portal. The shaman told about Tenedos's dark essence and about the artifact he is looking for - the Heart of the World, which was divided into three parts. After gathering strength, I went through the portal and captured Torrir; this was perhaps one of the most difficult battles. Due to the limitations on building guilds in the cities, it was not possible to learn light spells of a level higher than 2, but the enemies also did not use divine vengeance. :D I passed through the Orcish lands as if nothing had happened, acquiring their mines, and reached a one-way portal. And then an Orc appeared! Ilfina, who was released, closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. It was clear from the task that the Orcs came because the Elves had captured their mines, but the task appeared only after Aeron had committed the crimes. I had to replay. This time, the Orc did not appear, but it was impossible to enter the cities. Descending along the mountain path to Tenebrad, and defeating monsters, Aeron finally reached the limit of development, receiving mentorship. Tenebrad was captured without much effort (probably due to the lack of a hero). In Tenebrad, the local Tenedosians robbed Aeron of all his treasury, so the departure was delayed by 1 day. Foreseeing the mentor, Aeron frantically gathered all the island's gold, but his premonitions deceived him. After an attempt to deliver the final blow (even Zazir allocated troops for this), Tenedos told Aeron a story and flew away.
Regarding the second mission: the plot is extremely interesting. I have already forgotten many moments of the Campaign; I am playing it as if for the first time. The map design is excellent: it is not for nothing that the shaman built her hut here. The mysterious greenish fog descending from the mountains reminds more than ever of the magical nature of the island of Ashirr and the entire archipelago.

Let's see what awaits us in the next mission. :)

Ancient Evil
Mission Three
This mission is more challenging than all the previous ones. I chose Ingir as the main hero (you can read why in the posts above). I chose Shadow Lords as the bonus. First, I cleared the territory and searched for the Tear of Ascha, which I soon found. Demons didn't come for a long time, but when they did, there were too few of them. The enemy hero was low-level (Daleb, level 7), but by that time, he had about three times more troops than Ingir. The demon was defeated with some difficulty, after which I decided that it was enough for the imps to get cocky. The demonic city on the surface was taken in a not-so-difficult battle, but it was impossible to avoid significant losses. Descending into the Dungeon, I saw two cities: one behind a wall of fire, which can be removed by capturing the second city. However, Grog was stationed in the second city, and in addition to having a huge army, he was also level 19 (approximately the same as Ingir). Therefore, I decided to first deprive the demon of resources and reinforcements, while strengthening my own army. When Linna arrived with 20 dragons, etc., Grog suddenly burst out of the city and tried to attack Ingir, but... he didn't make it one step, which was fatal for him. After talking with his sister, Ingir attacked Grog, and the first thing he did was to subdue the archdevils, the furies slightly tore apart the elder demons, and the nightmares tore apart the furies, and then Grog suddenly fled. Fortunately, the main character was a keen logistician, and it was not difficult to reach the empty demonic city. The wall of fire fell, and the path to Mordgall's city was opened. Mordgall is the complete opposite of Daleb: he is high-level himself, but his army needs to be examined under a microscope, an electronic one... After the demon was defeated, a cutscene played, in which Klig, in the guise of a cave lord, steals the Staff of Darkness while Mordgall is talking to the dark elves. As a result, the Shadow Lords get what they want, and a demonic armada pays a friendly visit to the dark elf cities. Ingir settled in Lostar (north), and Linna in Karinar (south); in general, she hid while Ingir prepared for defense. However, the demoness ran to attack Linna, so Ingir had to fight the demoness in the field. And after defeating her, a cutscene shows Geralt coming to the aid of the dark elves when Mordgall attacks again.
And yes, regarding the priority of hero development: there wouldn't have been enough experience for Linna at all. Ingir barely reached the maximum level, taking Dark Revelation from a mentor. Linna had to learn from Ingir (he had mentorship). As a result, Ingir is level 27, and Linna is level 20.

The map's terrain is amazing: the night lighting is very suitable for these lands conquered by demons, and it is not too dark. The daughter of Malassa told in detail about what happened here, and I would like to thank the author for that.

Stinking Swamps
Mission Four
The beginning was very surprising with its opening cutscene: Aeron agrees to Shadowfang's offer to ravage these lands. It's interesting to wonder what Altir is looking at. But in any case, this is the main task of the mission.
The location of the cartographer was very surprising: he is located just a couple of days' journey from the elven city of Whispering Glade. By paying 4000, you can observe the actions of the necromancers and orcs until the end of the game; they are in plain sight. An interesting idea. The necromancers did not pose a significant threat. After taking Bright Marsh from them, Amyl-Barasog and Ammi-Halebro, Aeron descended into the underground labyrinths. After wandering around and falling into a trap a couple of times, the ranger still managed to find the Hidden City, which later proved very helpful with money. After the tour of the dungeons, the necromantic city of Sipec also fell. Another curious moment: in the cutscene, the necromancer Lucas, as soon as he learns that the druid's name is Shadowfang, angrily says: "Shadowfang... AAAAA!!!! I swear you will be the one begging me for death!!!" Is he so angry because of the final death of Luciana, or did Shadowfang manage to annoy him even earlier? The druid's haste seems to suggest that the second option is more likely... After the necromancers, he turned to the orcs. They offered significantly more resistance, trying to capture Ammi-Halebro, but in the end, they repeated the fate of the necromancers. The final dialogue was truly pleasing. Not only because of its beautiful execution, but also because Aeron joined forces with Ingir and Linnea (with Altir's help, of course) and finally overthrew Shadowfang's illusion; I was already starting to worry. ;)

Peak of Stars
Mission Five
Wow! The dwarves, whose kingdom (on the islands) was destroyed by demons, agreed to form an alliance with the demons and elves! Tenebdre is quite the smooth talker, it seems. The elves followed him to the end because they have longer ears. In the "Path of Geralt" mission, it says "...after the destruction of Mordgal." However, he wasn't destroyed; he escaped, or am I misunderstanding?
So, let's begin. Geralt can indeed sleep through everything if he doesn't start building in Nordheim and upgrading archers to marksmen. If everything is done correctly, there are no problems.
Aeron Linn definitely doesn't need any support. Aeron is the most powerful hero, who can easily capture 3 castles in addition to the 1 he already has. So, the charming dark elf had nothing to do but sit in Ilmon. Aeron did an excellent job: he quickly captured the elven cities and waited for the others to do the same, so they could continue on their way to Silver Lake.
Despite Ingir's excellent development, he still had to work hard. But perhaps his journey was the most interesting. The dwarves attacked the necromancer several times, but each time they were defeated, despite having superior armies. Chaos magic helped a lot. Once, they even hired a high-level elf, once defeated by Aeron, whom Ingir had to face in Tallmund - a newly captured dwarven fortress. In the field, Ingir would have definitely lost.
As for the shortcomings: the crystal mine near Ranalen is inaccessible, and the last dialogue is played twice. But such microscopic details cannot spoil the overall impression.

The final dialogue is extremely well done. Tenebdre, as always, is in his element.
The plot of the campaign is interesting. You'll have to search long and hard for campaigns and maps with such a well-developed world, although it will be a futile search. The shamaness, I suspect, went somewhere...
The difficulty level in the campaign as a whole lives up to its name. I chose Veteran difficulty and got what I expected.

Thank you again to the author for the excellent work. Let's see what awaits us in the lands of mages. :)

Hey, where is the download link for the map? I don't see it in the first post.