Posts from The fourth stage of the "Van Kanighem" tournament.

My save files downloaded perfectly. Iron, congratulations on your victory! Although I had no doubt that you would be the favorite. And even though I don't know how to play in difficulty level 4, your result in 3 days shocked me! :eek: Keep it up!!! :)

P.S. Writing a clear walkthrough is, indeed, a very difficult task. And it would turn out to be huge, and no one would read it.

I absolutely agree with you. We just need to make sure that everyone who wants to can get the save files. Otherwise, only you asked about some battles. And maybe some people don't quite understand even the simpler battles, but without a video, they can't ask any questions :(

Added 2 minutes later

Iron, congratulations on your victory!
Although I had no doubt that you were the favorite.
And even though I don't know how to play in 4-player mode,
your result in 3 days shocked me! :eek:
Keep it up!!! :)

Thank you :) It's not my fault :) It just happened that way. I got lucky.
Today I'll post the last save file with the finale. I'll also send the result for the third blitz, just for the sake of it - I spent a day and a half on it, I think I completed everything, although I don't understand how it happened :) and I still have some questions :)

It's a pity the save file can't be downloaded... it stops at 600 kilobytes. :(
Maybe you could re-upload the archive? :rolleyes:

It’s a pity the save file can’t be downloaded… it stops at 600 kilobytes. Maybe you could re-upload the archive? :rolleyes:

Will it be of any use? Maybe it would be better to split the files into parts. Any suggestions on how? I’ll also upload compressed save files using the method I described above. You’ll need 7-Zip and win-gz to extract them. Or should we ask the organizer to upload them directly here on the forum?

It's a shame the save file can't be downloaded... it stops at 600 kilobytes.
Maybe you could re-upload the archive.

Try downloading at different times.

By the way, Axe, I had an idea that the ability to pass through the center of the map doesn't significantly speed up the process, at most by a day. After all, you could have leveled up the Fire Guard and Armageddon (considering the amount of experience gained in battles) and defeated everyone.

Okay, I understand, we need to provide some basic information.
Could someone kindly tell me where to download the fourth game?

Ironclad is awesome, really awesome! Congratulations!

Try downloading at different times.
By the way, Axe, it occurred to me that the ability to pass through by shifting from the center of the map doesn't speed up the process much, maybe a day at most. After all, you could have leveled up a Pyromancer with Armageddon (considering the amount of exp gained in battles) and wiped everyone out.

Well yeah, probably. There are definitely several options for a power Walkthrough as well. It's just that in those, effectively only ONE first day is allocated to leveling up fighters. On the second day, for example, two heroes (a scout and a powerhouse) need to head toward the black dragons from the nearest Fortress. They should carry 2 graves with them. In battles, use freeze potions utilizing the terrain of the combat area and magic. The difficulty is breaking through the Black Dragons, on whom magic doesn't work. But you could probably have managed to hire minotaurs for this task. A witcher can't scare Black Dragons :) And you can probably try to fit it into three days as well.

Hmm... it's a bit unsettling to read about Witch Hunters and other intricacies – I personally didn't know about any of this and slowly leveled up my second hero using a specific tactic. I dragged his corpse through the Caverns of Despair, bought troops near the Sanctuary, defeated the defenders, resurrected the corpse, and then cleared everything with purchased units until victory. Later, I learned about the "drop" tactic... but I couldn't get past the neutral creatures in the center using that tactic (neither the left nor the right ones). Apparently, there's some trick to it. I'd like to read about how it's done or watch a video (recorded with Camtasia, for example). My hero just keeps shifting to the right and can't get behind the neutral creatures. It's easy to get around them from

well.... it's a bit unsettling to read about witchers and other subtleties—I personally knew nothing about this in principle

There is a good table on the Gugolok website showing which hero class is obtained when two primary skills currently held by the hero intersect. It also describes what additional benefits a hero of that class receives. For example, you have no poison magic, no poison bubbles, and no poisoning artifacts. But you desperately need poison for this particular Walkthrough. We level up the hero in a certain way and get a class—Assassin (or something like that). A hero of such a class gains the ability to poison an army upon striking or shooting (I think that's the case too). Poison will be applied to them as if you had cast poison magic, even though you don't have it :) This can be very useful sometimes.

... then I found out about "offloading"... but I just couldn't get past the left neutrals in the center using offloading (the right ones either). It seems there is some trick to it. I'd like to read how it was done ...

It is impossible to get past the right neutrals in the center by offloading. But the left ones can be bypassed. For this, you needed to take a couple of units with you. You can pick up Efreeti from the dwelling there, + offload an Efreeti and buy a bunch of Imps. When you are standing right next to the hero, you first offload one unit, then a second, and ONLY THEN do you offload the main army and the hero with the tombs. At this moment, he cannot jump to where the two previously offloaded units are standing, because those spaces are occupied ;) And then he makes a jump behind that neutral. Well, then you jump a couple more times and you've broken through without a fight.

... or watch a video (recorded with Camtasia, for example).

Why bother with a video for some reason—I don't know how to do that. Just download the saves. I've uploaded two saves for the end of the 1st and 2nd turn. See the links in the thread above. In the games, there is a turn review mode that shows what the player did; in the review mode, there is a pause (spacebar), and while paused, you can poke around and look into the hero's army window and pockets—see what's going on there. I've already written about this.

my hero just shifts to the right and cannot get behind the neutrals. at the bottom—it's easy. by the way, it's unclear why all these perturbations are needed if the center can be passed without a fight? get grand stealth and go forward.

Grand stealth cannot pass everywhere; the passage doesn't allow it—it's narrow and there is a neutral standing there. But stealth allows you to get right up to them, and sometimes this can be done even without stealth—mapmaker glitches or tricks with a tomb thrown at your own feet in front of that neutral. Then you can add units to the hero if the hero cannot jump by offloading himself—as you described. Then you scatter units first so they occupy the suspected spots where your hero is aiming, then you jump with the hero, and since the spaces are occupied, he climbs over the neutral. This does NOT ALWAYS and NOT EVERYWHERE work. You need to find where you can squeeze through and where you can't. For example, the right neutral in the center cannot be passed at all, not even by a grand stealth hero.

by the way, it's unclear why all these perturbations are needed if the center can be passed without a fight? get grand stealth and go forward.

Well, on the other side, you also have to fight the castle guards. Therefore, leveling up the fighters is not extra, if only so you don't have to chew through this guard with fairies for a long time. And castles, money, minerals—that's more additional troops, artifacts—this is needed for points at the end of the game—because the secondary criterion for determining the winner in case of equal days is the points scored in this tournament, and the third parameter is oil.
So, on the third day, we grab the nearest neutral Fortress on the other side. Moreover, I couldn't break the ballistas with the stealth hero, but by removing one guard squad at the gates, I managed to push the tombs into the Fortress and they came to life. From there, powerful fire-witchers emerged and beat the ballistas, completely clearing the area in front of the gates. Then two went (the stealth hero's turn was already over, but the revived heroes had a full turn) to another neutral Fortress where the guard was Cyclopes + Harpies in pairs in one squad. I didn't have time to figure out how to take them out on that territory, there were also "booholders" in the quest towers, but I knew the tactics of two fire-fighters. One constantly cast forgetfulness on the Cyclopes. The second poured flamethrowers on the Harpies. Witchcraft doesn't work on Harpies because the retaliation doesn't trigger—Harpies are not retaliated against. When the Harpies burn up, the first continues to hold the Cyclopes with magic—they constantly skip their turn. The second fire-fighter begins roasting the Cyclopes :) Such a fight takes very little real time, but a lot of mana :) Then in one neutral settlement, a zero-level hero is bought (this is necessary to get maximum points from the last battle—because a high-level hero will be given fewer points for the last fight). But it would be very difficult for a zero-level hero to defeat the enemy in the last Fortress. But since we worked hard on previous turns and gathered ALL SORTS of junk, we put a bunch of artifacts on him, give him many different bottles, and he's already doing quite well—no joke :) That's basically why all the perturbations are needed in the very first turns. Because it's unknown what awaits us in the subsequent turns ;)

oh, it's clearer now regarding the passage, it's just not very obvious from watching the turn (the turn is masterful, long, my eyes got blurry)... I'll try to replicate it tomorrow...

Added after 5 minutes
by the way, will we be able to see the save on day 3?

Oh, it's clearer now regarding the passage. It's just not very obvious from watching the turn (the turn is masterful, long, eyes got blurry)... I'll try to replicate it tomorrow...
Added 5 minutes later
By the way, will we be able to see the save from day 3?

Absolutely. I'll upload it today or tomorrow. So you managed to download the saves. Because some players are having trouble doing so. And it would be preferable :) Since some players who cannot download are in the same clan as me. I understand, they are online players, but it won't hurt them to watch :)

Here lies the third turn: the save of the final battle : http://slil.ru/24483984
To watch the execution of the turn - flee the battle with your hero.

even though I have a slow internet connection (90 KB/s at best), everything downloaded without any problems... thanks!

Added after 55 seconds
by the way, I probably won't be able to repeat your move... it's top-notch.

Even though I have a slow internet connection (90 KB/s at best), everything downloaded without any problems... thanks!
Added after 55 seconds
By the way, I'm 99% sure I won't be able to repeat your move... it's top-notch.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch :) First, repeat the logistics; I allow you to use nwcAres in battles. The next stage is to move on to battles until the moment of cycling. The next stage is to continue the battles until the end. But I wouldn't advise it - your keyboard will end up like mine. Or maybe you'll try it. Then at least someone can support me in the idea that there's no point in continuing the battle manually when, at the moment of cycling, it will already be clear that your troops will suffer NO losses in health or resources, and the enemy will simply die VERY SLOWLY AND FOR A LONG TIME, while you will quickly and strongly pound on the keyboard and break the buttons on the mouse.

And I downloaded the save file for the Final Battle. Now all that's left is to find the heroes :D