Posts from Warlock – “Cultist” [Campaign 4, Mission 3]

Heh! I remember that mission – 300 Hydras in the armies – it was the most memorable battle of my life!

Friends, this is just awful.
The first time I played through the game on Veteran difficulty, I encountered serious difficulties on the third mission of Agrael, where I had to defeat Gilraen and the druids, on the mission with the Vampire Lord, and in the end, I had to level up Godric because he just couldn't defeat the Overlord. And that was it. I remember the rest, some missions were more difficult, some were easier, but overall, it was manageable. The missions for the Dark Elves are remembered for their tedious wandering through the labyrinths, and also the first one, where there's a tournament, because I didn't succeed on the first try.
Now I'm playing on Hero difficulty, and so far everything has been fine, of course, I struggled with Gilraen again, but since I knew the map by heart and had a strategy planned out in advance, almost move by move, everything went smoothly.
So, here's the thing.
I can't pass this mission. I don't really remember how I did it before, but I remember that it was interesting, not on the first try, but without too much trouble. I get completely wiped out in the first week.
Raelag's skills: defense, magic, education, luck (unfortunately, no witchcraft yet, haven't gotten it), chaos
attack 15
defense 8
magic 16
knowledge 12
Knows Magic Bolt, Earth Shock, etc.

Shadia: chaos, darkness, defense, logistics, magic, and at first, there was something else instead of logistics, maybe education, but I went back and re-skilled her so that she could reach the first Castle in 1 turn and defeat the hero before he reaches level 5.
5
7
11
10
Knows Magic Bolt, Earth Shock, Subdue, Blind, etc.
I've progressed this far: I transfer troops to Raelag, break through the Furies with almost no losses, spending a little mana, transfer all troops to Shadia, she crushes the level 5 hero with fresh forces, he destroys most of the army and runs away, I easily take the Castle. As a result, there are about 50-60 Minotaurs left, and that's it. If I immediately go to capture the second blue Castle, I'm met by a level 22 hero and he kills me. I've tried it a hundred times. If I stay in the Castle, three of them appear in two days, all with a decent army and level 22, respectively, so in any case, I can't do anything with one hero, and he's defenseless.

Version 1.5

I captured the South and Lower Outpost with Agrail, and sent Shadia to the teleport in the northern castle. In one week, I captured 3 castles. I didn't gather resources; I immediately went on the attack. There's no need to exchange heroes for troops. At the beginning of the second week, I destroyed Inferno with Agrail. It works.

Friends, this is just awful.
.........................................................................................................I've replayed it a hundred times, and if I stay in the castle, they appear in just two days, all three of them, and they all have a decent army and 22, respectively. In any case, I can't put my hero anywhere, and he's defenseless.

Version 1.5

The Phoenix from Raileigh helped me a lot with my hero for a successful start and clearing mines without losses, and of course, you need to buy strong heroes after defeating them.

The hero simply has an impossible mission. I've tried to complete it twice a year, but I can't. I've completely given up on the Heroes series because of this. My Raileg deals 1000-1400 damage with Earth Shock at the beginning of the mission – but I can still only hold out for a maximum of 2-3 weeks... Now I tried to level him up using the ability from the skill wheel – it's a complete disaster, they defeat him on the first turn. Even if you combine armies, they still defeat you... Version 1.5. Finally, I did it. I took a day off and spent 10 hours replaying. After all, the key skills for the Warlock are Chaos Magic, Education, Sorcery, and Luck. In the second mission, it is necessary to master Expert Chaos Magic and, preferably, learn all Chaos spells. Also, a level 2 or 3 Education skill wouldn't hurt. As I noticed, the Warlock has a 70% chance of Education giving a bonus to spellcasting. The most useful spells in the third mission are Meteor Shower (enhanced) and Earth Shock (enhanced); it is impossible to complete the mission without them. If you drag out the battle, enemy mages will sweep away all your troops, and there are very few of them at the beginning. In fact, during the entire level, I never managed to get a double creature growth bonus for the main heroes. In version 1.0, enemy mages started attacking me with Armageddon from the second week of the game – it's enough to make you want to give up; 2 turns for the enemy, and I lost due to a lack of troops. So: (1) Combine Raileg's armies, go to the first town. The enemy will come out of the town to meet us. We defeat them with a combination of Meteor Shower and Earth Shock. As a reward, we take the witch, of course; slowing down solves half the problems. Send Shadia (or whatever her name is) to the right, bypassing the town without troops; there are chests there – she picks them up and goes to the second town. (2) Capture the town, hire a hero – combine the troops and move both to the second town (the hired hero will have more movement points and will be able to transfer the army to Shadia; on the other hand, Raileg should be sent with him, because otherwise the enemy will come out and meet the hero). Transfer half of the army to Shadia (or all of it, and then half after capturing the second castle); she captures the castle. (3) Then, sit with a hero in the castle, and at the same time, if the turns allow, collect chests (always take gold; this is an iron rule for me since Heroes 3; experience will always come). Approximately at the beginning of the next week, heroes will come from the portals; sit in the castle (if you have collected enough resources (first of all, buy meat – so that they can withstand enemy spells), then build a Stronghold – a castle. Defeat them. (4) Now you have few armies, but you have a week's worth of time. (in total, 4 heroes of level 22 have been destroyed, and 4-6 remain). Hire 2-4 heroes – send them to the portals for reconnaissance, and at the same time, collect the chests scattered everywhere (they pay off immediately). Thanks to the reconnaissance, you will have a few turns' advantage before the enemy attacks, due to the revealed map. In the meantime, clear the nearby mines with the main heroes, collect chests. I don't remember if the first demon attacks here, but I didn't have any problems with him (try to destroy the main heroes with the demon first (at least, that's how it was for me). In the meantime, 2 more high-level heroes and a bunch of small ones should appear. An "attraction" begins, where they will chase your single heroes, moving around their territory. (5) This will give us time to build up, collect resources, and build up the castles. By the end of the first month, you can already sit in the castle. Then, either wait for all the level 22 heroes to attack you and die, or gather an army and start capturing castles. It is better to monitor the movement of enemy heroes. In fact, it is best to capture the upper right castle – it is further away from the other enemy castles, so help will not arrive in time. It is better for Raileg to stay close to the castle until he can defeat any enemy hero in the field in a 1-on-1 battle (that's what happened to me; they came and attacked the castle, which gave me an advantage). Send Shadia with a couple of stacks to capture the castle. In general, the enemy had about 8-10 high-level heroes; killing them and winning is just a matter of time. Key skills for hero development: Expert Chaos Magic: Lord of Storms, Lord of Cold, Lord of Fire Higher Education: Magic Affinity, Arcane Insight, Dark Revelation Expert Sorcery: Secret Knowledge, Mana Restoration, Unstable Mana Permanent Luck: Soldier's Luck, Lucky Sorcerer, Magic Resistance Expert Defense: Reflection, Evasion, Resistance By the end of the mission, the main hero should deal 1400 damage with Earth Shock, 2800 (Luck), 2000 (enhanced), 4000 (enhanced, Luck). Mana – 300-400, mana regeneration rate – 60-80 per turn. At the beginning of the mission, Earth Shock should deal at least 1100 (enhanced). At the beginning of the mission, I had 16 Spell Power and 6 Knowledge.

I'm playing version 1.0 (I think I'm the only one), on the easiest difficulty. And still, everything is a mess: castles are constantly being taken, I can't keep up with controlling everything, and I'm also constantly worried that Shadia will die. I struggled with the second mission for ages, and I'll barely be able to force myself to replay it to level up Shadia.

Wow, you're lucky; at least demons sometimes show up for you:(, but for me, they either run away or I must have set the difficulty level too low...
Well, here's what happened (I'll say right away that I have the Gold Edition with version 3.1):
I run to the first Castle, visiting the mage's hut (or whatever it's called) and getting distracted by other minor things. I stop, leaving one hero to gather resources and sending the other to scout the area around the second Castle. If the army in that Castle is small, I immediately capture it. No matter how many days I wait, the red player doesn't show up. So I forget about it... during these days, I, of course, develop my cities. So, at the end of the 2nd week - beginning of the 3rd, in the first Castle, I've built at least a level 6 creature building, and in the second - a level 4. I take Shade (in other sentences, she will be referred to as 2HG) and her army from the second Castle and go to gather resources nearby again. I take Raileigh (in other sentences, he will be referred to as 1HG) and his army from the first Castle and go to the southwestern portal. Just then, Irbeth runs up from there and runs away in terror:D. I barely catch up and defeat her so she doesn't interfere. 2HG goes to the northeastern portal and meets a demon and a ranger along the way. They timidly run away in different directions. 1HG goes to the western Castle and captures it. Letos and Vaishan (or Sinithar:confused:) run past. 1HG kills them. It's the beginning of the 2nd month. 2HG goes for reinforcements, and 1HG runs towards the southwestern Castle. 2HG runs towards the northeastern Castle. It's the 2nd month, 3rd week (oh yeah, by this time, the blue player stopped running to my Castles, they basically gave up:smile15:). I combine the armies of 1HG and 2HG and capture the northern Castle. Before going to the last Castle, I remembered about the demons. I looked at the place where the mage's eye showed... and there were just 3 demons standing there... the danger level of one is very low, the others - low. I don't understand why they didn't attack me... Oh well! Finally, I captured the last Castle, and the mission was completed.
But I still don't understand the point of the demons:smile32:. Maybe it's because of the difficulty level, or maybe because of the patch...

They are waiting... after all, Agrail is his: D The problem is, of course, the same as for most players here: capturing the first 2 castles in the dungeon and reaching a dead end. Because they keep attacking from two sides, as soon as you move away. And letting them take the capital is a loss, because you lose the capitol. In general, I guess I'll leave Shadi to defend and add another powerful hero from the defeated ones, and I'll try to launch a blitzkrieg with Railag. :smile36:

Added 9 minutes later

I've tried so many things, but it's always the same! These Grim Hearts are making me :smile04:. I know that the demons only start attacking AFTER capturing 2 castles!
:smile33:

But they didn't attack me at all, they just showed up on the magic eye, and that's it. And their squad has been standing at the top ever since, I have 2 castles now. But it's true that the blue ones took each of these 2 castles from me, and they say that's when the script glitches. (Version 1.60)

by the way, I have a question – have you ever encountered this on Veteran or Hero difficulty: as soon as a mission starts and you approach the first castle, a Warlock (any) appears with an army larger than the main hero's? This happens to me constantly, and I can't even take the first town, even though Railag is already leveled up to 40 – there's just not enough manpower...

The problem, of course, is the same as for most people here: capturing the first 2 castles in the basement and then hitting a dead end. Because they keep coming from 2 sides the moment you step away. And letting them take the capital would be too costly, since you lose the capitol.

You shouldn't hold them at all. On 1-2-1 buy up troops and run to the castle next to the Dragon Utopia in the northwest. And it is preferable to take the Dragon Utopia before the opponent. As for the money? To hell with it, they'll give you some in the Dragon Utopia.

by the way, a question - on Veteran and Hero difficulty, have you experienced this: as soon as the mission starts and we approach the castle (the very first one), a Warlock (any) arrives there with an army larger than that of ГГ? This happens to me constantly, and I can't even take the first city, even though Railag is pumped up to 40 - simply a lack of meat...

Generally, he usually just stands near the city. And on the enemy's first turn, he charges at Railag or Shadia, whoever is closer.
If, for example, Railag has upgraded logistics, then Railag can reach him on his own turn. You can put out a single minotaur for the fight and stifle the enemy, who likes to bunch up, with Meteor Storms. Of course, it is highly desirable to have developed Sorcery, Chain Lightning, and all Chaos magic.
If Shadia has Expert Logistics, she can not only reach the enemy but also enter the city, as she initially stands closer to the city than Railag.
Both of mine had logistics. Therefore, I hit the adversary with Railag (he is stronger), and entered the city with Shadia.
But even if there are no logistics, you don't need to take the city. The enemy will attack on their own.
On the second turn, another enemy usually arrives. The main thing here is that he attacks the castle rather than chasing after one of the heroes. But he might not arrive; in that case, it's better to replay and make sure he does. The fewer powerful heroes the enemy has, the better.

P.S. What do you mean Railag is pumped up to 40?

They aren't worth keeping at all. On 1-2-1, buy up the troops and run to that Castle which is next to the Dragon Utopia in the northwest. And it's preferable to take the Dragon Utopia before the opponent. As for the money? To hell with it, they'll give you some in the Dragon Utopia.

No, well, I actually built up an army there, periodically clearing out the blue units coming out toward those cities, and when they (seemingly) had no particularly powerful heroes left (I bought out a couple of lvl 18-19 guys) - I left Shadi in one Castle and went North with Agrail. And for some reason, the blues just calmly surrendered all their cities one by one. And here's an interesting point: it turns out you don't actually have to kill the demons; if Railag takes the last 7th castle, the mission is still considered complete, except apparently that you end up getting fewer points for this Campaign in the Top-10 games :smile13: And therefore, before taking the 7th, it makes sense to finally get Shadi out of the capital and go up to clear those 3 brigades of demons led by Grol, and only then take that castle. Another trick here is that they both gain an extra lvl if you haven't reached the max for some reason. Well, in my case, they finished with 26 and 25 respectively.
P.S. I play on Recruit, because a game should bring pleasure, not stress :rolleyes: version 1.60

No, I gathered an army there, periodically clearing out the blue creatures that emerged near these cities, and when they (seemingly) no longer had particularly powerful heroes left (I bought a couple of level 18-19 heroes), I left Shadi in the first castle and went north with Agrael. And for some reason, the blue creatures surrendered all their cities one after another. And here's an interesting point: it turns out that you don't have to eliminate the demons, and if Railag takes the last 7th castle, it still counts as completing the mission, except perhaps that you get fewer points for this campaign in the Top 10 games:smile13:. And therefore, before taking the 7th castle, it is advisable to finally get Shadiya out of the capital and go north to clear out these 3 groups of demons led by Grol, and then take that castle. Another trick is that they both gain an extra level if they haven't reached the maximum for some reason. So, they ended up with 26 and 25 levels, respectively.
P.S. I'm playing on Recruit mode because the game should bring pleasure, not nerves:rolleyes: version 1.60

I play on the hero difficulty because I feel dissatisfied when playing on easier levels.
If you don't sit and accumulate, then in the first week (if Railag has logistics), you can easily take three castles and buy out the growth. That's what I did when I played through it. I took one southern and two western castles. And then the issue is practically resolved. At the beginning of the second week, a killed strong hero, or even two, is bought back. They have a huge advantage over Railag and Shadiya, and not only because they are level 22, and our heroes are level 18. They can scatter at any moment. Therefore, it is convenient to send them ahead of Railag with single assassins. When an enemy is detected, the bought heroes attack first, destroy most of the army with magic, and scatter. Railag finishes them off. The scattered hero is immediately bought back in a convenient castle. Also, a leveled-up hero can take a castle alone, if he has single hydras. Additionally, he can, by scattering, "teleport" to any castle near a neutral, when approaching the castle of a strong enemy. The main thing is not to have too many troops on hand, but to keep them in the castles and not clear out all the neutrals - you can do that later.
By the way, there was a funny situation with Kifira, whom I managed to get on the first turn. She was level 5, but when she appeared in the tavern at the beginning of the next week, a script was triggered that gave her level 22, and windows with skill choices popped up, and I didn't hesitate to give her the most important skills.

yes, that's the problem – the enemy has a larger army, and he simply wipes out my troops. I have abilities and spells, but unfortunately, no wizard.

Replay from mission 1, focusing on acquiring the necessary skills: Sorcery, Education, and Chaos.

Here are my heroes. I watched a walkthrough on YouTube – the guy had invested in summoning magic, and the phoenix was a great help to him. In the 2nd mission, I had Shadia explore the locations with power-ups for a while, while my 3rd hero was carrying the Tear of Ashi to the right city. Raialag has full Chaos magic. Should I replay? Do I have a chance?