Posts from Walkthroughs for custom maps.

Regarding the "Knight Tales" map series - are there any experts?
Some of them seem impossible to complete.
For example, #4 - "Blinded": it's basically impossible to get on the ship, and without that, you can't get to the green keymaster, and that's it, a dead end. Can anyone explain?

It's strange that no one has written about this, and information is very rare on the internet.
It feels like it wasn't even tested.
The dwarf is standing next to the gate in a place where you can't attack him, i.e., he's occupying an empty cell.
And the ship is being built behind the dwarf, making it impossible to get there.

Here it is.

An old, almost classic RPG map, on par with the "Prides" trilogy, which still looks "decent" among the best, and is one of the few from the early 2000s included in the Heroes Portal's collection of the best maps.

Very well-designed and well-developed.
Map description
You play as an evil Wizard who has finally escaped from the astral prison and is driven by the desire to punish his offenders. The map is very carefully made, both in terms of the design of battles and the captivating plot (with a very unexpected twist and sarcastic humor) and beautiful graphics (with really cleverly disguised "secret passages"). It requires knowledge of English, as you need to carefully read all the messages - they hold the key to the solution.
We are also given 20 author's hints, which really help in difficult moments.
Pros
1. Well-thought-out.
From beginning to end. Technically, it is excellently made for the 2000s.
2. Interesting plot.
Logical, captivating, well-presented.
3. Armies.
If the author, using events, gives the enemy an army every 14 days at the beginning, then later every 7 days, and at the end, every day. It's a pity that it doesn't affect the difficulty, as mentioned below.

But there are still cons:
1. Secret passages.
Perhaps the first map of this scale where secret and hidden passages were used. You can play for a long time, and then get stuck because you missed a passage and don't know what to do.
2. Again, the plot.
Without a good knowledge of English, the enjoyment of the map is immediately reduced by half, or even more. Not to mention the hints that are given to us during the plot.
3. Difficulty.
At the beginning, you can get stressed, but after finding the Scroll of Resurrection, you can win every battle without losses, and you have plenty of mana.
We also found the Scroll of Berserk, but I didn't use it, as it would be absolutely uninteresting.

4. Final battle.
We don't really have one. Yes, the events show that an army is given every day in the Conflux, and the Grail has been built. But there is no tavern there either. Therefore, with a hero with stats in the range of 80-99, we easily deal with an army of hundreds of thousands, which has no bonuses in attack, defense, or magic.

P.S. In my opinion, the most difficult battle is the siege of the Castle (when we got Forgetfulness in the spellbook) at the very beginning of the game, against 25,000 Goblins and a couple of thousand Archmages. And we can't release them, and we can't destroy the walls either, so the towers shoot at us every round.

Rating 7 / 10
Minus one point for the difficulty (which decreases towards the end), for the final battle (which is easier than simple due to the lack of a hero in the army), and for the plot (the second half is inferior to the first, I mean the presentation and the story)

Berserker might not be your favorite, but he can always come in handy.

Berserkers might not be your favorite, but they can always come in handy.

There are maps where the second part of the game is very easy, while the first part is a real hardcore experience.

This map is a bit old; usually, creators remove fire magic to prevent Berserkers or Expert Blindness from being too effective.
Here, they removed water magic, which makes sense since we're masters of fire, but it doesn't really make the game much more challenging.

I was playing Paragon in Russian one spring, but I didn't finish it. Has anyone managed to complete it? From what I've heard, it's difficult without a Berserker. And getting Fire magic is also tough. Although, there might be some loopholes...

I was playing Paragon in Russian last spring, but I didn't finish it. Has anyone managed to complete it? From what I understand from reviews, it's difficult without a Berserker. And getting Fire magic is also challenging. Although there might be some loopholes…

Either somewhere in the middle of this topic or in “The most difficult maps for you” (/topic/1674/).

There’s a lot written about Paragon there. I played it myself a bit, but either it didn't grab me, or I just didn't like it. I don't remember anymore.
Fire doesn't seem to be available there.
I'm sure many people have completed it; it's easier than the Chinese maps

Our journey is truly endless. It's a pity that we don't get much pleasure from it.
The plot is very well conveyed to us by bolotnik

there is a rather ordinary plot - there was a good wizard who didn't bother anyone, but evil came, and the wizard took up arms (if we briefly and exaggerate the plot)...

Pros
1. Creature exchange.
The only plus of the map. In each hut of the seer, we can exchange hundreds of different monsters and "get" Rusty, Crystal, Azure, or Fairy Dragons. But sometimes the offers differ in quality, but let's ignore that.

Cons
1. Again, creature exchange
If we play at an average pace, and not closer to a fast one, the AI will complete all our quests and get our warriors.

2. Bug. A very big minus
There is a bug in the map's playability; almost at the very end of the game, we cannot pass through the portal due to a sign.
What was the author thinking? Did he not have enough strength to test it?

3. Difficulty.
If at the beginning we survive, it is quite difficult to defeat Inferno (blue) and Tower (brown), then there are no more difficulties. One of those maps where the second half is significantly easier than the first.

4. Random creatures.
Almost all creatures on the map appear randomly at a certain level, each new game. I wrote earlier that this means a lot, especially at the beginning of the game, where fast or ranged creatures greatly slow down the pace of the game if there are not enough troops, mana, or spells (resurrection, etc.).

5. Taverns and heroes
Defeated heroes can be bought from taverns, and they are almost in every city. So you can play not with the storyline hero.

6. Gate guards.
Sometimes, when you capture all the enemy castles, the main hero is somewhere wandering or swimming and doesn't even try to return to his lands (as happened to me with Sea Lord). As a result, we don't have a real battle with the boss; all the heroes disappeared after 7 days without a castle, and the border guard is not going to let us pass until we kill him, which makes it impossible to continue the game.

Rating 2/10
The map is not worthy of the top 10; I give it a point for the overall design, effort, and the somewhat unique idea of creature exchange.

Added after 9 hours 47 minutes

The plot is simple and banal to the extreme:
You are a Nightraider, a powerful alchemist. Your mission is to find the artifact, the Wings of the Angel. With its help, you will be able to defeat the Evil Angel who has settled in the heavens. Your support is Monir. Don't lose either of them, or the mission will fail.


We play with 2 heroes who are relatively close, but each has their own path, their own trials.
Logically, they should meet at the very end, as the author claims, but we are given a city portal for each of them a little earlier.

Pros
1. Hero interaction
The first visits one of the keymaster's tents and opens the way for the other, and vice versa. The second does the same.

2. Two games in one
As I said, each has their own path and opponents, so you won't get bored.

Cons
1. Final boss.
The author describes him so beautifully in the plot, but in reality, we immediately go to him after destroying the Tower army. The opponent has only Angels and Archangels; the battle is even won "on autopilot".

2. Rapid events.
Everything seems to be going correctly according to the plot, but we encounter and defeat those who wanted to destroy us too quickly. I would like to see a better development or stronger opponents.

Rating 7/10. A good map, a solid "middle ground".

Pomazok1329, thank you for the feedback! It's concise and clear. Overall, I agree with everything, except that I haven't played "Wings of Heaven" yet. How many months did it take you to complete it (I think I read somewhere that it's a long one)? Maybe not all of Darklord's maps are difficult, but they are all well-designed and fun to play.
So, it turns out you didn't finish "Longest Journey"? That's a shame. I don't remember if it's necessary to kill the main bosses (I played it 5 years ago), but of course, the author should warn the player about such conditions. I remember having to replay a bit on another map because of this.

Pomazok1329, thank you for the feedback! It's concise and clear. Overall, I agree with everything, except that I haven't finished "Wings of Heaven" yet. How many months did it take you (I remember reading somewhere that it's a long one)? Maybe not all of Darklord's maps are difficult, but they are all well-designed and interesting to play.
So, it turns out you didn't finish the "Longest Journey" Walkthrough? That's a shame. I don't remember if it's necessary to kill the main bosses (I finished it 5 years ago), but of course, the author should warn the player about such conditions. I remember having to replay a bit on another map because of this.

I finished Wings of Heaven on 8-3-1.
I'm sure it can be done even faster, because at the beginning we have problems with gold, and we can't buy the entire army for two heroes. As a result, the process was slowed down when one hero completed his path faster than the other, and in the end, I had to wait (until he visited the keymaster's tent or something like that).

I was just one game day away from a clean victory on Longest Journey.
It was that portal, and the main boss was behind it.
I tried to lure him to another part of the map with a smaller army, and I even sacrificed my hero with the book of earth (city portal), but it was all in vain. In the end, I had to use the Dimension Door, and he was standing right behind the portal. He can be defeated even on auto-battle, with almost no losses.

Added 2 minutes ago

The map isn't very story-driven, so there are more battles than text.
The map can be called the younger brother of "The Empire of the World 2".

Pros
1. Quests.
An interesting idea to collect all the parts of the most difficult artifact to collect - "The Power of the Dragon Father" (9 parts). And we collect them in different ways - some are hidden on the map (scouting will help), some need to be exchanged for creatures, and some are with the enemies.

2. Design.
It's immediately noticeable that the author is trying to repeat (or parody) "The Empire of the World 2" (especially the elementals). But he does it in an interesting and unique way, so it's fun to play.

Cons
1. Army.
This is one of those maps where the AI starts with a huge army (the final boss has 8534 archdevils). In some moments (if we're used to completing everything quickly), we have to wait a week or more, because even with skill, it's impossible to win.
There are no Events in the cities, so the starting army doesn't change much in the game (except for weekly growth).

2. Tiresome.
The ending is completely botched. There are long, empty underground passages, the last AI cities with ordinary weekly growth, and in general, more and more moments when it becomes boring.

3. Taverns and heroes
Again, defeated heroes can be bought back from taverns. Although they are forbidden in the cities, it's easier to forbid buying AI heroes with stats of 99 in the map itself (thankfully, the map was released in 2008, and knowledge about this existed). So you can complete it with a non-story hero.

Rating 7 / 10
for the botched ending and other drawbacks

Longest Journey
Author: MiXalych
Download link: http://heroesportal.net/maps/view/542

There is a map bug related to pathfinding, almost at the very end of the game.

It's strange, as far as I remember, I didn't encounter such terrible pathfinding bugs, where you couldn't get somewhere (although maybe I didn't reach that point or didn't pay attention, or something else).
I definitely remember that I had a problem: where you need to sail to the blue Inferno, there is a boat, but it might not be there, and without the "Expert Water Magic" skill, you can't create a boat, so either you spend time leveling up someone who will definitely get the water skill, or you get the water skill with the main hero, or you replay and rush to get there before any of the AI heroes start summoning boats.

But at the end, everything seemed to be passable.

It's strange; as far as I remember, I didn't encounter such terrible bugs with map traversal, where you couldn't get somewhere. (Although, maybe I didn't reach that point, or I didn't pay attention, or something else.)
I definitely remember having a problem: there's a boat where you need to sail to the Blue Inferno, but it might not be there. And without expert-level Water magic, you can't create a boat with the Navigator's Hat. So, you either have to spend time leveling up someone who will definitely get Water magic, or have the main hero get Water magic, or restart and rush to get there before one of the AI heroes starts summoning boats.

But in the end, it seems like everything can be completed normally.

As others have written, the main villain can attack under certain circumstances (or when all the planets align:smile52:).
Then you don't need to continue playing.
But in general, there's a bug that you can't do anything about.
You need to get Water magic with the main hero.
There's also randomness here; you might not level up the main hero in the way you need, and then you have to start over (as an example, I got Expert Slow after Water, Fire, and Air).
Anyway, I've already given my rating

Well, there's this bug, nothing you can do about it.
You need to get Water for the main hero.
There's also randomness here; you might not develop the main hero the way you want, and then you have to start over (as an example, Expert Slow -> Expert Earth, I got it after Water, Fire, and Air).
Anyway, I've already given my rating.

My build turned out a bit different:
Logistics, Pathfinder, Wisdom, Earth, Air, Defense, Archery, Tactics.
And no Water or Fire!))
Water was with one of the lesser heroes, obtained by completing all the upgrade quests, so there were no problems with summoning a boat at the beginning, and later, when we control the shipyard, it will no longer be necessary to create boats; we can just summon them!))

Right away, it can be said that the map is in German – without knowledge of the language or a constant Google translator at hand, you won't be able to understand the plot.

The map's design is not bad, but we don't see anything particularly special.
But what distinguishes this map from others is its very long and tedious solutions.
That is, to unlock a guard tower, which contains a keymaster's tent, we have to collect all the parts of the most difficult artifact to collect – "Might of the Dragon Father" (9 parts) – throughout the entire map, and this is mostly monotonous and repetitive. (unlike the map Ragnar 3: The Lost Empire, where this is presented interestingly and in different ways.

There are not many battles on this map, and there are no difficult ones – the final boss has the same army from the beginning to the end of the game, and his army has no more than 500+ units of level 7, which is quite small.

But there are more than enough classic situations from other games – we unlock a guard tower, move a little forward and visit a tent, return back, collect a bunch of artifacts (Legion, Might of the Dragon Father, 4 spellbooks + Dragon's Blood, etc.), then after a couple of months we return back, unlock a new tent and repeat this many times.

Pros
1. The only thing is the design of the overland world, which is not bad and somewhat well-thought-out.

Cons
1. Guard tower borders.
They are here, but their significance is minimal – half of them close after 17 months (if you wait a long time, you can arrive on turn 3, or even 4, but definitely not 17), the other half only allows the Green color (us) to pass. There is no point in them.

2. Preparation for the finale.
The author leaves absolutely ALL artifacts in the game on the map, while the enemy only has the Armageddon Blade artifact.

3. Easy final battle.
An average player can cope with only a couple of Azure Dragons, using only magic.

4. Resources.
Throughout the entire map, every two weeks, all resources and gold are automatically reduced to zero, that is, every other week, it is necessary to sell resources for gold through the market and buy troops in cities so that the money does not burn out.

5. Meaningless artifact collection for progression.

Rating 1 / 10
There is almost no Might and Magic here, but there is a lot of running around, which becomes annoying even in the middle of the game

Download link*: http://www.maps4heroes.com/heroes3/maps.php?keywords=lost+empire&type=wg&size=&difficulty=&sort=3

* Note: This is a version of the map I found on the Maps4Heroes website (despite what it says there, it is for SoD). I started playing through the version given to me by tr[NEC]yo, and its file size is different. Unfortunately, I know nothing more about the differences or which version is newer or preferable. I will attach the version I am playing separately at the end of the review. I can also offer my starting save.
This map is an RPG genre with great freedom in its strategic component. Having completed it, I wouldn't call it "excellent," but definitely very good.
The language is Polish, but this shouldn't bother anyone, as there is very little text and you can even get by without reading it. I will paraphrase the few things the author told us below.
Plot: your empire has been bogged down in endless wars, and there is only one general capable of bringing back the long-awaited peace: Sir Xellos.Aside from the predetermined main hero and his skills, as well as the general order of progression, you have great freedom of action.
The main hero (and secondary ones, if desired) can be maxed out.
The map contains all artifacts and spells except those that allow flight (also, diplomatic artifacts needed by seers or guards and boots of same-dead can only be obtained in specific locations).
The amount of artifacts and resources is simply huge! I've played only a couple of maps with roughly the same amount of resources, but there were far fewer artifacts.I expected the map to follow the "classic" scheme of linear RPG maps, where each subsequent enemy is stronger than the previous one and you need to find your own combat tactics for each to defeat them (as in maps like "The Lord of War" or "Longest Journey"). But here, once your hero becomes substantially leveled up, the enemies themselves are no longer truly scary (few of them lasted more than 3 rounds in battle), and only the garrisons on the borders are stressful: they are not only very powerful but also anti-magic! These garrisons will drink the most blood from your soldiers, and you'll have to replay battles there more than once to optimize losses.
A certain dependence of difficulty on the "drop," since almost all artifacts are random. If you manage to prepare for war before clashing with neighbors, then you will win.
The mandatory quests themselves are implemented in a way that doesn't spark interest: you simply find out what another guard needs and bring it or kill whoever is necessary. Interest appears when you need to search for something or think things through, but here it's somehow boring. In case of difficulties, use an editor or Prospector.
Brown has only one Tower, where he sits and waits for us to come and destroy him. It's almost a pity, as the map size allows giving him more land and freedom.
Clearly inadequate behavior from Red, which the author should have noticed during testing and taken measures to correct this misunderstanding. Apparently, this enemy was meant to be the last and most powerful, but in fact, he just stupidly sat in his Necropolis and didn't stick his head out, even though accumulated troops and resources clearly allowed him to push forward. And if he had captured another 5 Necropolises, it could have been a completely different game! He could have even moved further west, seized a huge territory, and gathered a massive army, so I don't even know if he could then be defeated!
The Green player was not used on the map, although extensive neutral lands would have easily allowed his introduction — for example, let him own Ramparts in the western terrestrial world.
And one more small thing: there is a mage's hut on the map, but the only mage's eye on the map shows an area where there is nothing special or important for progression: a pile of treasures, a Library, Dragon Utopia, and that's it. The same things are everywhere, so the mage's hut is effectively useless. Yet it could have shown locations of key-holders' tents or artifacts needed by passage guards (in Turquoise's lands).Do not lose Sir Xellos! Without him, the map becomes impassable: some passage guards require only him.
After some time in the far northeast, you may encounter Pink. Keep in mind that defeating him is the only way to successfully continue the struggle.
If Blue attacks you and you are not strong enough to repel him, you can take shelter in the northern castle Soutch park.

My analysis and walkthrough tips.

As I already said, the difficulty of completion may vary depending on a specific "drop." If you see that everything is going poorly, you can start over with a new generation, just don't forget to reload the game (otherwise a bug with key-holders' tents will trigger!).
Use every opportunity to save until resources become plentiful (yes, such a time will come!): do not upgrade dwellings in the second and other cities, use the fort on the hill and stables (when you reach them).
On the land around your capital, there are all mines except for the gemstone pond. Therefore, in the initial stage, you'll have to exchange other resources for gems more than once.
As soon as it becomes possible, visit the blue tent, pass through the blue gates, and sail northeast: in the sea, you will find many valuable artifacts, and cities and mines in the northern lands will provide necessary additional resources.
The key to victory is the region west of the third Castle, located between Soutch park and Reteslyws. There are 10 azure dragon dwellings; a bit further, 79 more want to join, and even further west are the main treasures: most valuable combined artifacts and Pandora's Box, which gives many resources and 1000 cavalrymen. Whoever gets all this will ultimately win.
For lovers of necromancy, I say: the "level up a Necromancer" option is possible, but keep in mind that due to the ban on boots of same-dead, assembling the coveted cloak won't be easy: you'll find it only in the "valley of treasures," and if you reach there, things are going well for you even without a Necromancer.
While filling your backpack with artifacts, don't forget to collect combined ones and constantly distribute them among heroes; otherwise, at some point, you won't be able to remove one artifact to put on another, or move forward because of an artifact in the way. Extra artifacts are best sold to merchants or exchanged for experience at the altar.
To reduce losses in anti-magic garrisons, use the alliance of angels or cursed armor (remember that they also work there).
Finally, about enemies. Only two neighbors can attack you: Pink from the Dungeon in the northeast and Blue from the south. Pink will emerge from behind the red border gates earlier. You won't be able to pass through them for a while: you'll have to complete the task of the passage guard nearby. For this, it is necessary to build all dwellings in the Necropolis Kuragdako, and preferably in another one (Pro Active). Fortunately, you won't have to save up dragons for months: eventually, an event will trigger a significant arrival of troops in Kuragdako. But for this, it must be yours and have a dragon dwelling.
As for Blue, you are separated from him by a strong dragon garrison. There is nothing in his lands that would be necessary for completing the rest of the map, but you only have one race — Castle. Therefore, you don't need to attack him yourself, but when/if he can break through the garrison and invade your lands, it is highly desirable to repel him; otherwise, if he captures your cities, your army strength gap will grow every week. It's advisable to clash with his main boss to see if you can defeat him: if not, it's better to start the game over. Ambush him when, caught up in looting, he spends his mana — then he'll be easier to beat.
It is impossible to lose completely here, as your northern Castle, Soutch park, is unreachable for enemies due to an unrealistically powerful border garrison. For the same reason, the blue tent is inaccessible to enemies, and they cannot pass through the blue gates.
Because of the nasty anti-magic garrison before Blue's capital, I did this: when he was ready to come out, I invaded him myself, defeated the main boss in the field, and captured two Castles in the west, and on the road leading to the capital, I placed a secondary hero with an army sufficient to block the enemy. And I returned there only at the very end, putting an end to the war by capturing the capital. This happened on the 8th month, 3rd week, 6th day (if you don't capture all neutral cities, which I spent some time on, you can win sooner).
Note the following feature: in cell 35,83 stands a passage guard requiring a huge amount of resources. But behind him is only a prison with hero Sylik (far from being cool enough to pay such a price for!) and the Library of Enlightenment, as well as several random artifacts. I checked using Prospector: Sylik is definitely not required anywhere, by any passage guard or seer. Probably, this is just "bait" for the AI to make it spend resources. We won't do that! But perhaps it's one of the author's unrealized ideas.

Great, I doubt I could describe the strategy needed to win. Only luck with random events is necessary to complete it.