Posts from Stronghold – “The Barbarian Seven” [Campaign 6, Mission 3]

Thanks, faj! Now let's move on to mission 4!

I came here just to find out how to finish the mission. I'm probably doing something wrong. I didn't develop any magic skills at all, only combat skills, because I consider the Barbarian a fighter, not a mage. And he has very few magic points, 2 battles and they would all be over, and they replenish slowly. During the second mission, I accidentally discovered the "General" Heroism skill on "Kamaz," and that's when I had an idea. I maxed out the Heroism and Luck skills of my hero and stocked up on a ring that gives +10 to initiative (whoever goes first in battle). The battle goes like this. I always go first, I cast "General" Heroism, and all my heroes get a maximum and double attack. Because of this, most of the neutral armies die without even taking a turn. All battles with the Nagas end on the first turn when I immediately eliminate their frogs and archers. The only thing they manage to do is kill 2-3 of my Orcs or Centaurs. In general, I wandered around the map for six months, took everything, killed everyone, didn't lose anything, and maxed out both heroes. The only difficulty was that I didn't know how to finish the map. The battle with Muako wasn't interesting to me, so I let the computer handle it. He, as usual, managed to kill a quarter of my army, but it was no longer relevant. :) P.S. The "Cleave" skill is very helpful, as are all the skills from this branch.

The second mission caused me some serious difficulties (the first was the last mission for Sanctuary). So, here's my tactic: Two starting bonuses (experience and a free hero). At the beginning, I leave Sandor in the Castle, buy two more heroes (one for free, as a bonus); I fully upgrade their Economy and Logistics skills (the rest is optional; I upgraded Luck, Diplomacy, and Experience). I send Airini to the top to the first available veteran units, two Orcs down, one to the lower left corner, and the other to the Goblins. Then, Airini goes to the nearest Dungeon (where there are veteran Panthers). It takes less than a week, then we send all three Orcs to gather units and resources near them (in the city, we build a teleport and upgrade the Orcs; if necessary, Sandor teleports and repels the attack). Then, we gather all three Orcs in one place and transfer all the armies to Airini. She, with the second Orc (it's better to take the one with better movement), goes to the remaining veteran units on the left side (Cyclops and someone else), while freeing the artifact shop from neutral creatures. We leave our accompanying Orc there (he will buy the necessary artifacts). The third Orc goes to the sea to gather resources. After collecting all the units, we teleport Airini to the Castle and switch places with Sandor (including the armies; that is, Sandor goes with the un-upgraded units, and Airini stays with the upgraded ones – by this time, all the upgrades in the Castle should be built). The third Orc, after clearing the sea, returns to the Castle; the second continues to buy artifacts. Sandor goes to the Dungeon, where he meets the Necromancers, who give him the horn. Then he goes to the Harpies, visits them, and collects all the nearby neutral Orc units. After that, he goes along the road leading to the Dragon, where he makes a choice: give the horn or fight the Dragon (tears or blood; I chose the path of tears, so I gave the horn). After that, Sandor teleports to the Castle, upgrades the units, and waits for guests. Ideally, by this time, you should have good artifacts (for example, the Emerald Bow of Yumi). With such an army, any enemy will seem easy, and you will easily level up Sandor to the required level. You can run around and clear the map to level up Airini as well, but on the other hand, there is the final campaign and the 4th mission, which is very profitable in terms of experience; it's up to you

I played as Orcs for the second time, and this time I tried to play more strategically :D For the Warrior, the main goal is to quickly reach level 15; after that, fighting becomes much easier, especially against mages. Skills like Reinforcement III, Counterstrike III, Cleave, Frenzy, and Stamina are essential; the rest can be chosen based on preference. I also upgraded Tactics I, Logistics, Plunder, Restoration II, Heroism, General Heroism, Intimidate, No Retreat, General No Retreat, Stamina III, and Archery II. In the arenas, I chose +2 to physical strength to increase attack power, and in the libraries, I chose a bonus to magical defense for Sandor (the Warrior). I completed this mission as follows: I sent Sandor to the top of the map and Ayrin to the bottom. Ayrin only recruited units from joining factions (and she later dealt significant damage to the Nagas :D). Nagas appeared periodically. Slowly and steadily, I cleared the entire map, defending against enemy heroes. I maxed out the levels of both heroes. In the end, when the heroes started appearing before Muako, I decided not to wait for them but to meet them near the forts and defeat them (it worked, and Ayrin finished leveling up). I killed Muako in the city when he crawled there. There was nothing difficult about it; the only thing that was disappointing was that the Emerald Bow of Yumi or the Unicorn Bow never appeared on the market

In my opinion, this is the most idiotic mission... And, by the way, they say that they will attack anyway, but that's not true; they didn't attack me if my army in the Fortress was stronger. I had to chase them around.

In my opinion, this is the most idiotic mission... And, by the way, they say that they will attack anyway, but that's not true; they didn't attack me if my army in the fortress was stronger. I had to run around and catch them.

How many months/days of game time did it take you to complete it?

Slightly less than 7. Although, towards the end, I started playing a bit unfairly. I put the hero on a ship, saved the game, checked where they were coming from, reloaded, and positioned the hero so that he could deal with them in the water, although I still had to move him around if two of them came at once.

Slightly less than 7. But towards the end, I started playing a bit unfairly. I put the hero on a ship, saved, checked where they were coming from, loaded the game, and positioned the hero so that he could deal with them in the water, although I still had to run around if two of them came at once.

Hmm.
So, that's clear. The increase was significant, and they were already getting scared.

By the way, which campaign are you planning to play next?

No, I was constantly worried, starting around the third month, if I remember correctly, or rather, as soon as there was an army that I wasn't afraid to leave secondary heroes with, which was around the 3rd or 4th month. After that, I started sending the entire army with Sandor.)

As for this, I followed a certain order, but all my heroes are at their limit, and I won't replay, so I'll only play the campaigns from the expansions.

No, we were constantly afraid, starting around the third month, if I remember correctly, or rather, as soon as there was an army that we weren't afraid to leave secondary heroes with, and that was around the 3rd or 4th month, after that I started sending the entire army with Sandor.

Hmm, if all the heroes are at their maximum level, then you won't be able to play one of the maps from the Final Campaign, which unlocks after completing the main campaign.
There are only two maps - one for Blood, the other for Tears.
Accordingly, I also had to replay one of the campaigns to level up a Blood hero.

I have Akamas and Sandor, both level 16, at the beginning of the mission. And I have no resources. Just the way we like it :D
From what I've read, it seems that most people send Sandor to Tears. I'm curious, why? I sent him down the Blood path and he got it at the beginning of the second mission. And it seems to me that his pure combat skills are quite good. We'll see, I'm just starting.

Walkthrough of the "Barbarian Seven" mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5PGutpF4XU&index=23&list=PLGpNWhdMwySfcOuZC0UcWOuU5Ov3Ag9kf