First Undead Book of Arkain (Patch 1.29.2 or newer!)

[Shar Dundred]

Uploaded a small hotfix. The final battle in Chapter Seven should end properly now.

 

[krawg]

all this hard work deserves to be rated 10/10

 

[Shar Dundred]

Just a little heads up for those who are not watching the Arkain forum:
Arkain News Network
Feel free to send me as many questions as you want!
Also, if you have not done so already and want to stay up to date with Arkain News, make sure to watch the news thread to get alerted (by clicking here).

 

[Shar Dundred]

As suggested by @pyf, I have decided to provide the old and unmaintained 1.27 versions for download.
They have been added at the bottom of the map "post".
Thanks to @pyf for providing me with these old versions!

 

[NeloAngelo]

Where can i download Warcraft 3 version 1.29.2? i downloaded mine from oldgamesdownload but im not sure what version fo the game it is. Any help is appreciated !

 

[Shar Dundred]

WC3 Download Archive (1.00 - 1.31.1 + BETA & DEMO)

Below are lists of WC3 installation and patch downloads. Please don't share any cracked or otherwise manipulated files. This list is only intended for people who already own the game, you still need a CD-key! 1.01c 1.04c 1.10 TFT: 1.20a; 1.20e 1.23a 1.28.0; 1.28.1; 1.28.2; 1.28.3; 1.28.4...

www.hiveworkshop.com

 

[Ralle]

Legendary.

 

[TerrakionSmash]

There seems to be a bug on Chapter 8 of not winning when you kill the base. I don't know the trigger but I left the dwarven base time to recuperate and I didn't win the quest.
Also what's with the Hood of Cunning fetish?

 

[Ravager16829]

There seems to be a bug on Chapter 8 of not winning when you kill the base. I don't know the trigger but I left the dwarven base time to recuperate and I didn't win the quest.
Also what's with the Hood of Cunning fetish?

It's probably due to the game version higher than the recommended one. 1.29.2 is the only choice for playing Arkain campaigns without problems.

 

[xsarq]

In chapter 8 as soon as dark green attacks with upgraded footmans (first attack of the map) after i killed one with Krom's ultimate the sidequest autmatically checks out. Game seems to think that regular footman is the captain.

Compared to Orc and Human books I finally like the difficulty level. It has way less stuff that makes me throw my poor mouse with rage all around my room. Of course it still have some becuase we can't have nice things in Arkain. We absolutely have to include small ramps, narrow passages and catapults in every attack wave. Still it was less of nightmare and much more doable on normal level.

There were more micro map and I really had fun with one when i could possess creeps on micro map. I remember cheesing early with not killing both Elder Bear Shamans and mind controlling them which gave me decent heal.

The macro map also were huge improvement. Finally I didn't had to destroy everything on the map, targeting leaders of Demon Slaves, choosing only to kill navy or going mass Spirits in chapter 8 felt fun and not masochistic.

Gameplay wise from what i played (Human 1+2, Orc 1+2 and now Undead 1) i liked this the most. Storywise still Human 2 is most engaging but for once I had fun playing this game instead of suffering only to get to know what happens after.

 

[ImMikeGaming]

Legends Of Arkain - First Undead Book - Quenching Mod

If you guys are interrested check It out

 

[ImMikeGaming]

Where can I get the Helm of Valor Icon displayed at chapter 06?

 

[CosmicBard]

So, I've recently been doing a playthrough of every campaign on hard, but with the twist of not being able to go above no upkeep, or 20/25 supply, if it was one of those missions where you can't build stuff. I've went through a lot of the more popular campaigns, so I now feel a bit more comfortable trying to get through all of the first books of Arkain. And this was the second one I played through, since I remembered it being harder than the Human Book, but easier than the Orc Book (and now, I can confirm that I remembered correctly).


The story was very interesting and decently well made:

• While the storyline of the undead books isn't as iconic as the one from the human books, I still think it's enjoyable for different reasons. The undead in the human and orc books played a pretty weird part in the narrative, as they were wild cards that could show up anytime and achieve seemingly anything they wanted, but a lot about them was shrouded in mystery. They also seemed like an extreme powerhouse that could seemingly conquer the entirety of Arkain if they wanted to, so their presence is always very unsettling.
• So what happens if we flip the switch and make this weird, manipulate and overpowered faction the protagonist race that the player follows? Well, it makes writing a bit risky, as there are many potential mistakes that could be made here on accident. I think Shar avoided them quite decently here, as he did keep the creepy vibe of the undead, and they still felt very powerful and intelligent, but absolutely not indestructible or perfect. Turning the three books into the three alternate universes was also a smart call, as it means that Shar no longer has to worry about all the revelations creating enormous plotholes, or the plans of the undead turning out to be completely nonsensical.
• I don't think the story of this campaign is as broadly appealing as the human story about sorting out inner conflicts while still trying to save Arkain from the demons, or the orc story about passionate, but (mostly) clever individuals trying to figure out how to prevent their race from going extinct. The tension here feels much lower, as it's kind of traded for a lot of world building that serves to complement the other two campaigns, offering insight, and a lot of new details that make us reevaluate some things, while seeing certain events and characters in a completely new light. I think using the campaign like this was a good choice, especially because it would have been boring to make it about heroic savior like Blen/Gardon/Rangul/Amari (I've got nothing against these characters, but storytelling is at its best when we're using new ideas, and aren't just repeating a formula).
• In my reviews, I tend to also go over the music here, but unlike most big campaigns, Arkain basically never uses anything other than the default human/orc/undead themes. This isn't a huge problem, as the original tracks are honestly quite good, but I do have to warn you that completing these campaigns take a while, so I generally recommend that you use a personal playlist for this one.

The gameplay's enjoyability is somewhat subjective:

• The thing about Arkain is that it has a pretty simplistic, but an iconic and well thought out design that either really appeals to you, or really doesn't (I'm in the former category, btw). LoA campaigns are a bit challenging and grindy, and take up quite a bit of time and energy, but they feel extremely rewarding when completed, and the process is still usually quite fun, even despite moments of tediousness.
• Despite what some people might claim, I actually think they're really well balanced. They definitely started off a bit dumb (if you played the release versions of the second human and orc books, then you know exactly what I mean), but I think they're in a decently solid state right now. I do think there are some levels that go a tiny bit too hard on the player, while some others might go a tiny bit too easy on the player, but I've seen waaay worse.
• I think a big appeal of these campaigns is the huge variety of new factions and units that got added. Unfortunately, the first books don't really go hard with them, and the undead and orc books are especially underwhelming with the new units (both of them give you a grand total of 2 new trainable units (and no, a reskinned and renamed tauren doesn't count)), but don't worry, the second books and the True Story go way harder with it, and this is only the tip of the iceberg.
• Arkain has another really appealing factor, which is the ability to make player choices that impact both the future story and the future gameplay.... theoretically. You see, while the human choices are amazing, and the orc choices are great, the undead ones are just kind of meaningless. I really hope that once Shar is finished with the True Story, he will return to update the Second Undead Book, because right now, most of the choices that you make are completely irrelevant and have no impact whatsoever. I understand why the second book was shortened, and I don't want to be a jerk that whines about some random choices. But such a core part of the campaign series with such a huge potential being completely wasted is something that should probably be acknowledged and potentially addressed in some way.

The heroes weren't that interesting, but most of them were fine:

• I feel like Aridon's kit should have probably been a bit more wild than just: modified Carrion Beetles - modified Storm Bolt - Dark Ritual - modified Doom (and I mean, one of these spells is literally used by Cora, a random human mage). Although a more glaring flaw that he has, is how he blows up if he positions just a tiny bit too forward, and a few enemies look at him a bit funny. Yeah, an intelligence hero probably shouldn't outtank The Fleshtearer, but he was immersion-breakingly squishy here, and I'm glad the True Story addressed that.
• Krom was probably the most interesting hero of the campaign. I liked how he was designed as a supportive spellcaster agility hero that still has a solid attack speed boost to keep his auto attacks relevant (which also sets him apart from the Shadow Hunter, who is basically an int hero in disguise). I'm not sure if his kit really does a good job at presenting him as a master assassin/hunter, but he's still fun, and he can give people the Crack!
• Largoth is the only hero that straight up disappointed me. His kit is boring and underwhelming, and doesn't live up to his overly boastful nature in the slightest. And if I'm not sure if this is intentional, but he apparently doesn't have an ultimate either (which is weird, because I have a distinct memory of Animate Dead being available on him in CH6). Thankfully, that was acknowledged on the True Story, and he got a great rework there.
• Rahandir is basically a Lich that got enormous buffs, and I love it. I honestly find it weird how Shar never actually nerfed Fist of Ice, or changed it to be his ultimate, but I guess if you're known for constantly throwing overpowered enemies at the player, then you might as well give the player something overpowered for once too. It also fits Raha, since he's basically the second most powerful undead, and the most arrogant of them all.
• The Fleshtearer is a pretty cool concept. We've seen a lot of demi heroes in many Warcraft campaigns, but we've never seen a demi unit (I don't think anybody has used that term before, but I think it fits). I like that it was added, because otherwise, the player wouldn't have a strength hero on the big final map. It also makes sense that its kit is very simplistic, though I wish it focused a bit less on damage, and a bit more on survivability and sustain (I think it should have Cannibalize as a bonus ability, or it could be its E that you could level up, and Disease Cloud would be the bonus).
• Veringar and Saphira are mostly just default heroes, so there's not much I could say about them. I feel like they were a bit too important to be stuck with a default kit, but Salomar wasn't exactly unimportant either, and if I was fine with him, then I'll be fine with these two as well.

Before I start talking about the chapters, there are a few things I would like to go over, such as:

• The rating. Something weird that I've noticed is how the First Undead Book seemed to have not performed as well as the other two. And I definitely see why someone might think that it's the weakest first book, but I still think they're relatively the same in terms of quality, which is why I found this weird. I suppose the other two first books just got more people that were passionate enough to give them 5 stars?
• This is an extremely minor thing, but the Arkain campaigns like to use a lot of random melee map hero names on the enemy heroes. Which is perfectly fine, as many campaigns (including the ones made by Blizzard) have done this too, but the problem is that some of those hero names belong to characters from Warcraft's canon lore, like Samuro, Nazgrel or Azgalor. Since these campaigns take place in a completely different universe, I feel like those names should be removed.
• Demons are apparently pretty indecisive about being counted as living or undead units. Most of them are living, but I've still found a Pit Lord in CH4 that isn't. Is he perhaps an impostor? (Please ignore the horrible state that fight was in. I most likely reloaded here xd)
  
  
  
• I feel like the terrain here is basically the perfect representation of alright. I don't think it's really that spectacular or interesting, but it does its job fairly well. A lot of the different locations have different kinds of terrain design choices that do a pretty good job at portraying the locations the maps are supposed to take place in. I like how this campaign actually uses huge open battlefields. Some people might call it lazy design, but I think it's great, especially because if you imagine a medieval battlefield, you would imagine something that is open and somewhat barren. I specifically like them here, because the Arkain campaigns use them sparingly, and because they're much more pleasant than those dumb tiny choke points. (Which are used even more sparingly. Thankfully.)
• When I completed Fists and Claws (the fifth chapter) and pressed the "Quit Mission" button after the end cinematic was over, the next mission, A Rotten Breeze, didn't become available in the campaign screen (though it was still accessible if I selected "Continue" in CH5, and it was available after I completed it and unlocked CH7).
• On the campaign screen, chapter 8 is called "Possessed", while it's called "Possession" everywhere else. Please, make up your mind, Shar.
  
  
• Haran'tel-kazor's Cripple and Carrion Swarm abilities have overlapping hotkeys, as they both use "C". I don't remember which ones takes priority, though.
• I'm not the biggest fan of the default difficulty selection, as it's kind of weird, and is pretty annoying to use. It's a very minor thing that doesn't really have an effect on a a campaign's quality, but changing it to work like in Tunro's and OutsiderXE's campaigns would be a pretty nice QoL change.

And now, we get to the chapters. I'm giving out a spoiler warning, as I will be going over individual choices here. I'm not sure if these maps are going to get updates at all (since Shar is probably focusing on the True Story), but that won't stop me from talking about them:

CHAPTER 1 - For how much people talk about Arkain's macro missions being insane, Shar sure does know to have restraint when it comes to maps that could be your first experiences with the campaign series. Both this one and Clash in the Forest are maps that are fairly big, have multiple parts to them, and immediately have the tier 3 town hall unlocked. Yet they're still fairly simplistic in practice, and not that difficult or grindy. Tough, I think I like the undead first mission a bit more, as it's a perfect introduction to the narrative and the nexuses, while also having a few secrets, and a much more important choice. Speaking of the choice, the wiki says that "Not killing him results in him beginning at level 4 instead of 3 in the Second Undead Book", and I'd like to know if that affect his level cap, because I think that's actually quite impactful. The one part of the map that I'm not a fan of is the big swirly pathway on the crypt fiend nexus (I think it was the Rohir), which is an early sign of the annoyances that you could expect from Arkain. But at least if you save that nexus it for last, then it's kind of manageable. Oh, and btw, is there a chance that the enemy Chieftain hero uses Tauren Chieftain names? Because "Dusthoof" as a last name feels very off on an orc.

CHAPTER 2 - Just like most people who have played Arkain, I also really adore this map. The concept is extremely unique, and trying to figure how to fully utilize all the sins is just fun. The sins also have this 6 man MMO/RPG group feel to them, which I really like. My only real complaints with the map are that it's a bit too short, there's not enough item drops, and the first fight shouldn't be so much harder than all the other ones (or the other ones shouldn't be so much easier than the first, I suppose). It also doesn't go as crazy with its concept as it potentially could, but the True Story did add some of Selior's memories as cutscenes, which was nice. (Even though I would have just made them play out on the side of the road without them interrupting the gameplay, while being blocked off with a force wall. Although now that I say this out loud, I think it would be better if this was done with the restrained thoughts, no?)

CHAPTER 3 - I don't really have much to say about this one, as it's kind of an unexciting, but really well made and balanced map. I liked the little enemy base behind the trees, and how it used a way gate that you yourself could then utilize after finding and destroying the base (I don't think the True Story changes on it were necessary, but they certainly made it more interesting). If there's one thing I didn't really like, it was the layout, as I feel like this map should have probably been a bit smaller, and Krom being completely walled off from the player's main base makes it very annoying/difficult to properly set up and utilize his side, and I'd like it if we had at least one tiny passageway to him, that wasn't blocked by an enemy base (and it could be blocked off by invulnerable rocks, until Krom arrives). But overall, this was just a great map that was made even better by the True Story.

CHAPTER 4 - I find it a bit weird that people don't really talk about this one a lot, as I feel like it is among the hardest maps of Arkain (though admittedly, most of the maps from the second books are worse). Not only do you have to complete this map with a tech disadvantage and two weak low level heroes with no starting items, but you also have to fight off against powerful attacks from 3 bases that are kind of difficult to destroy. Although, some early maps are generally pretty rough if you cap yourself at 50 supply, so I'm not blaming Shar, especially because the player is not even supposed to destroy the bases to begin with (though it does make me wonder why they give items, if that is the case). What I am blaming him for, however, is the fact that Saphira's frost wyrm attack is basically useless. Because for some reason, she sends the wyrms to attack a base that you can't really get access to by that time, and even if you're fast and you reach it in time, the couple of demonlords near the entrance might have something to say about you trying to kill their slaves. I don't want to come off as whiny, but it would make an enormous difference if Saphira attacked the base in the north instead. Oh, and using a Scroll of Town Portal on the starting black citadel can apparently get you stuck.

CHAPTER 5 - The fact that this map didn't make it into the True Story makes me a bit sad, as now, we'll never know what the impact of the tunnel choice actually was . I definitely understand why it wasn't present though, since outside the choice, it didn't add much to the story (except for giving Veringar more screentime before he dies, but that isn't something the True Story needs to do), and the gameplay is basically a slightly less interesting Turnro micro map. But I still appreciate it, mainly because it serves as a nice break from the previous map (though the following two maps could fulfill that role too), and the balance feels really solid too. I liked the way a lot of the guardians and secrets were put into the map, and I wonder if this ranger hero is a reference to something, as her name kind of reminds me of Valeera or Alleria.

Also, for some reason, Cannibalize is greyed out. I get why you wouldn't want us to have it (since Veringar's sustain is already good), but don't tease us like that.

CHAPTER 6 - First of all, I'm really happy that you've renamed this chapter. It does fit the undead, even if a rotten breeze sounds kind of unpleasant (I suppose you get it when there's wind blowing near the dead body of an animal... which is indeed rather unpleasant). As for the map, its difficulty is pretty much between the other two breeze maps, but it leans a bit more on the easier side. The choice is interesting, but if I remember correctly, it's not something that you can do in the True Story, so I suppose we'll never get to see how Merlon's and Sasrogarn's passing would affect things. This also means that there's pretty much no downside to just taking the easier path and picking off some pre placed ships and vulnerable shipyards, meaning that players can just breeze through this without a consequence. The one thing that I really liked about the map is how the player gets so many production structures, but he also loses the ability to build them, which in turn gives them a much greater value. Having the buildings on three different islands also means that defending the structures is a bit more tricky than just camping in one area with a boatload of frigates and towers. Overall, this map would be great, if not for one thing... green Blooddrinker Legion? Seriously, green Blooddrinker Legion?!?!?

Abelhawk would be disappointed.

CHAPTER 7 - Ah, a micro map 4 with heroes. It's unfortunate that not a lot of Warcraft 3 campaigns have micro maps with a lot of heroes, as I find it really fun to demolish enemies with a constant barrage of different spells. Also, I just love how crazy the skeleton spam becomes when you have Aridon, Saphira and a bunch of necromancers on the same group. I really like how the Ironfist fight was designed, and in case some of you were worrying about it being a choice (the dialogue kind of frames it like that), don't worry, not even the Wiki lists it as one. The idea with the Fleshtearer is also great, and the only thing that would have made it better is if it would have shown up in the second book in some way (as long as he survived, of course). The boss fight was a tad annoying, and the boss' ability to get rid of squishy units is quite rough, but for a late mission boss fight, his power is pretty much around where it should be. Overall, this is just a really fun map with some really good ideas. The only thing that I'd change is that I would make the boss fight initiate upon the player getting close to him, and upon not killing the big faceless one guarding him (would make it a little less annoying to farm both paths for items).

CHAPTER 8 - If I'd have to name the mission that gave me the most trouble, it would absolutely be this one. Not only am I have to play with a single hero, and with a major tech disadvantage, but I was also lucky enough to get an interlude before the map. (If you didn't know, watching an interlude before a map will automatically put it to hard difficulty if the campaign uses the default difficulty system. I know I could have fixed it do be normal, but I'm somewhat of a masochist, and it was still much easer than Disobeying Orders from Resurrection of the Scourge). Horribly tough difficulty aside, I actually kind of dig this map. The main idea is certainly very similar to the one seen in The Dark Lady (chapter 3 from Legacy of the Damned), but there are enough neat differences to prevent it from feeling like it was stolen. Having a weak human base rather than a weak undead one, being able to get Sir Ross' base as an ally by possessing him, and being able to upgrade the weapons and armor of my units by reaching a building inside an enemy base are the most notable ones. If I'd have to name some things that I'd change, it would be the following: Make the allied base attack the brown dwarves before the two main quest bases, because you pretty much have to destroy it. Give the hidden Paladin a level 2 Divine Shield instead of a level 3 one because he has enough guards, and he ain't Bubblerino (but I guess you could keep it if you really like annoying us xd). And there's a bug with the Kasrkin leader quest, where it gets marked as complete after the player defeats the wave at the start, despite the leader still being alive at a corner of the map. That one should probably be fixed.

CHAPTER 9 - Apparently, a lot of people think of this map as one of the big and hard Arkain missions, but honestly, if you just survive the first few minutes, spam spells consistently, and retreat when needed, then it should be about as easy as Payback was from the First Human Book. It definitely feels like a more intense version of that map, but being used as the final map instead of as an early one changes a lot about how it feels. It also has quite a few choices. It's nice how killing Progaderas actually has a consequence, especially because coming back for revenge and getting killed over and over again is his thing. But unfortunately, outside of getting item drops, destroying the orc bases achieves absolutely nothing, which again, is a bit of a waste. But as a final mission, I think this one works well. The stakes don't feel as crazy high as with the human and orc final missions, but the level does do a great at showing what the plans and moves of the undead have really led up to, and if you somehow loose Aridon, then the Second Book is going to waste no time punishing you for your failure. Also, possessing those overbuffed orcs is a lot of fun, and it's nice that we can actually see Grennan this time (I don't remember him being there in older versions).


And that's it for my review of the First Undead Book of Arkain. Thankfully, I was smart enough to keep the things I've written down saved in a Notepad, since Hive has recently started deleting messages upon the use of the refresh feature. So this analysis ain't getting deleted like the one about the First Human Book (I got all the way to CH7 with it, and yeah, I'm still salty about it), but the undead are my favorite race, so I'm thankful that I at least didn't loose this one. I'd say that this campaign is between 8/10 and 9/10, but it leans a bit more towards a nine for me. It could just be because I have a bias for Arkain and cold arrogant masterminds, but I'd say that this campaign is pretty well polished, as there aren't many bugs, mistakes, imbalanced things, and grammatical errors. Sure there are some (...green Bloodrinker Legion), but they're very few and far between. If you're looking for a campaign with a tough, but satisfying gameplay, and a really interesting narrative to follow, then the Arkain campaigns are perfect for you.

I'm already getting kind of close to finishing the First Orc Book with this challenge, and I'll eventually review that too, but I'm heading for vacation soon, so don't be surprised if that one will take a while.
But anyhow, thanks to all of you who read this far, and big thanks to Shar for still working on this series even after so many years! Wish you all a great day and night!

 

[ImMikeGaming]

Just finished the walkthrough of this campaing, gotta say these first books of the arkain series is the reason why I play this game. Hard difficulty but doable and constant map pressure aswell as presence of the AI, never got a dull moment in each of the book witch I love.

If you wanna check out how my channel improved over the past few months or If you wanna follow the stream, I´m currently doing Revenge of Malganis so hoop on and have a good time.

Thank you Shar Drunded for another awesome campaign, excited to be playing the second books.

 

[Ravenwood Skye]

At last, the last of the first books I have successfully completed.

This campaign plays just a little differently to the others for the most part. Due to the nature of the Undead as a 'behind the scenes' race, the missions involved a lot more sabotage than siege, and sometimes even had other races fighting amongst each other while you slip under the radar. Although there is the fair share of straight up conflict, which the player is equipped fairly well to handle.

Having so many heroes in the one instance is fun, since I do like to play around with heroes and their rpg mechanics a lot. Rahandir I liked playing around with the most because of the power of Ice Fist, and I liked his character too, so it's a win/win.

This one was a little harder to manage at times, but still was plenty fun, so it's time I go discover the consequences of my actions as I start the second books!

 

[Karthus1trick2]

Cheats in this campaign are not disabled, but they aren't supported. If you cheat and encounter any bugs because of that, I won't fix that. There are no known major issues so far, this is just an ordinary announcement.

Tips

Some tips from Kasrkin, the Chief Development Tester of this campaign, for the harder chapters.

Tips

Chapter Nine

-Start upgrading immediately, you have a little amount of time before you're needed to assist your ally.
-You obviously won't have enough forces at the start to assist your ally in any significant fashion so send your heroes and use their abilities to keep Teal's forces alive.
-There are going to be a lot of corpses both friendly and not, so train necromancers and "Bring up the meat wagons!"
-Begin building your main force but remember a lot of them will die within minutes.
-Build some extra ziggurats near the front of your base.
-It will be a back and forth situation, watch out for demon heroes and kill them quickly.
-PUSH THEM BACK!!!!
-The enemy base has chaos juggernauts as outer turrets watch out and kill them quickly.
-DEMON LORDS?! Remember they reincarnate once.
-Destroying a demon gate will prevent the spawning of some units in the waves, destroy the gates and the waves will stop.
-Ornasion is immune to spells best get to stabbing.

Optional:
-Zairmak's base has a gold mine that's not being used why not... just take it? He doesn't train additional units so take your time.
-The east entrance to his base is heavily defended you might want to attack initially from the south instead.
-If the situation allows it add your heroes to your attacking force to make it go by faster, they might be needed at the front in a moment's notice though.

-By Fire be purged! He's back again and he's even more pissed than before just take your time and kill those golems of his.
-Silence him when you can.

-The Darkmind outpost is easy to destroy, bring in Rahandir and the rest of the squad if you want to go overkill.
-METEORS!

Author's Notes

Some of my thoughts and plans. (includes spoilers)

Plans

Kasrkin Mode

This is a mode that will be added later. It's supposed to be an additional difficulty for all, who think that Hard is too easy.
The name comes from Kasrkin (who would have guessed that?) who tested the campaign. The idea came when he said that Had was too easy.
I'm not COMPLETELY sure how it will look like later, but it's planned to make the campaign really hard.

Backgrounds

Rebirth

Rebirth

It was a clear night. The wind was picking up, making the leaves rustle while the light of the moon revealed everything on the ground. Everything, especially the remains of those who were fighting at this place days ago. Betrayed by their own king, these brave soldiers of humanity were sent to their deaths because their king became paranoid.
King Uras the Fifth of Rendar, the richest realm of the Seven Kingdoms, called "Defender of Mankind". He sent two thousand soldiers to their deaths because he thought that their leader was plotting against him, because his advisors told him to get rid of him, because this one leader, who was more loyal than the whole council of the king, was more popular than he himself. The moonlight showed who this "Defender of Mankind" really was: A murderer, a madman. A traitor.
The troops had hold their position for several days before they were overwhelmed by the Demons who inhabited this place. Demons, the most wicked and vile creatures that ever existed. There has been no month without a battle against these creatures, no week without waiting for them to attack, no day without being reminded of their trickery and their evil sorcery. They say, a single Demon might be capable of destroying a whole village if not opposed by true warriors. But what are the Demons compared to the schemes of humanity? The intrigues of mankind are already destroying the whole race from the inside, even without the Demons attacking the Kingdoms. The next real invasion of any other race would destroy humanity easily at its current state. Luckily, for the survivors of the clashes that take place before that happens, it might still take centuries before the next real invasion occurs. The Demons have a strange way of acting and the other races have other problems to deal with. Humanity is lucky. That's the only reason why it still exists.
A heavy breath. One of the fighters has survived the battle, heavily wounded. He can feel as life forsakes his body and as he slowly leaves this plane of existence. Only thanks to him and the healers, the soldiers managed to survive that long in this god-forsaken place. He looks around at his fallen comrades, feeling both endless shame and rage at the same time. When that big Demon's strike hit him, he realized that he had been a fool.
The king whose orders he obeyed, let him run into death. The man knew that the king became obsessed with the thought that he was to be replaced, but he didn’t think that it would make him even consider such actions. He was too blind to see what his king had become. That's at least what he wished to be the reason. Actually, he knew the truth: He didn't WANT TO see it! He didn't want to believe that the fear of the king would get the better of him. This was the punishment. Death. Ironic that it wasn't too long ago that he saved the life of the king himself. Now, so many had to die because of the madness of this king. The man had known these soldiers for years, he fought at their side countless times. Now, thanks to the king, they were dead. The man wouldn't have been surprised if some evil god with a twisted sense of humor was laughing right now, while watching him, suffering the pain and waiting for the end.
No, it wouldn't end like this! The man wouldn't ALLOW himself to die just like that! He would return to his king, spit in his face and kill him the most slow and painful way he could think of! This "Defender of Mankind" would suffer for the betrayal of his own kind! His family and advisors would be annihilated, just like the king annihilated all the soldiers here for his mere envy! No one would be able to escape revenge!
The man gathered the tiny bit of magic that still remained in his body and tried to give himself the power to stand up. He didn't care about the consequences, he just wanted to stand up and take revenge! He screamed in pure rage and bitterness. The magic exploded. The man could feel the life abandon his life, leaving him for good, but he was still there. He could feel new strength, his might returning to him, making him even more powerful than he was before. The man stood up, slowly walking away from this place of death. The king shall regret the day, he decided to betray his own kind. For from now on, his time would be over.

For days, the man walked through the forests and mountains that separated him from his target. He knew every route in the Seven Kingdoms, but no one was supposed to see him. Most likely, they already heard that his men were slain and thought him being dead. The king might even have celebrated this day with one of his concubines. He was everything but faithful. His wife was either too ignorant to see it or just looked the other way, not wanting to feel the agony of being cheated. It didn’t matter. Soon, she'd be dead along with her husband and the bastards who dare calling themselves advisors while they're actually just trying to gain more power. Sadly, this was how politics work. It would never change, but the man didn’t care anymore. He wanted to take care of those who wanted his death. Everything else didn't matter at all.
It was a dark, windy night when the man reached side entrance of the capital city. Three men were guarding it. The king, in all his wisdom, had decided that everyone who tried to enter the capital after midnight, was to be granted no entrance. If they still tried to enter, though, the soldiers were allowed to execute them. According to their banners, the guards were part of the king's personal army. That meant that they were more than ready to just kill anyone trying to enter. They were cruel bastards, but effective in battle. Making them guards instead of sending them to fight in the first line was just another proof of the king's stupidity and another reason why the people hated their king.
After the man left the forest and entered the street to continue his way, it didn't take the guards too long to notice them and prepare for a fight. They could be heard laughing, most likely already looking forward killing someone. The hood of the man hid his face, disabling them to see who he actually was. Just a few more steps and the man would've passed the gate, but the men surrounded him.
"See what we got here, boys. Some old fella trying to get through the gate." laughed the guy in front of the man, who also blocked the path to the gate.
"Never heard of the rules of the king, old man? No one is allowed to enter the cities after midnight. Midnight passed one hour ago, we are allowed to kill you right now. If I were you, I'd be begging for mercy!" another one said. The third man grinned and grabbed the hood of the man.
"Let us see your face before we kill you. Just so we know whose ugly face will never be seen again." he claimed. Then he removed the hood and fell to the ground, screaming both shocked and scared of what he just saw. It must've been the most terrifying thing he has ever seen in his whole life, a living nightmare.
"By the gods, what-" One move with the hand and both he and the first guard turned into ice. Another move. The ice melted in mere seconds. The second guard was about to beg for mercy – the man wondered if that simple minded moron was even capable of understanding the irony of this – but the man just moved his hand again and the guard exploded from the inside. Then he placed his hood back and entered the city. The few in the city, who were still not asleep, didn’t care about the sounds. They got used to the screams of those who were slain by the guards. The man continued his journey, unaffected by the gruesome deaths of these guards, and entered the dirty streets of the city.
No one minded the hooded man who was wandering through the streets, the few people who were still up were either had something illegal in mind, were too busy with their own business or just left the brothels and taverns and were on their way home. No one cared about one more hooded figure in the night.
It didn't take him long to arrive at the royal palace of the king. The man knew the palace like no one else – not even the king knew about all the secret passages that lead inside. The man only had to touch the stone walls. They still reacted to his touch, they opened and revealed the secret way. Only the man could open this secret door. He entered and the walls closed behind him again, as if the secret gate never had been there.

It took the man mere minutes to reach the king’s quarters. He knew this place all too well. He used to wander through these passages almost every week for years. He knew every candle, every guardian, every door, everyone and everything inside this palace. Another move with his arm and the door opened silently, allowing the man to enter. The room was filled with gold, almost everything was made out of it. Even the bed. The man could see that someone lied in the bed, but it was only one person – the queen. The first target. One move would be enough to make her suffer the same fate as the guards, but the man wanted to take revenge and suffer like he did. Some movements and magic surrounded her. She woke up, most likely feeling how her feet started to ache. She looked at the man with horror. He didn't wear his hood anymore and she looked into his dead eyes. She tried to say something, but she couldn't talk anymore. The man had used his magic to silence her. She wouldn't be able to scream as the ache became real pain. She wasn't able to scream when the pain became even worse. Little, summoned insects fed upon her body, eating it from the feet up to her stomach. She still tried to scream when the insects reached her head. The magic also didn’t allow her to die and made her feel through every second of her torment. This was nothing but a tiny bit of the pain the man had to go through. He watched every second of her torment and felt nothing. No happiness, no pleasure, just nothing. It took hours until it ended and the man was quite sure that, very close to the end, the queen realized who he was. In the end, the summoned insects disappeared after they had eaten all flesh, all bones, nothing was left, no trace that she had ever even existed. The man left, unmoved by the cruelty he just commited. He felt no guilt. She was among those who were responsible for his betrayal, there could've been no doubt about it.
The advisors shared a similar fate as the queen, they died, one after another. In the end, only the king himself remained. The man knew exactly where to find the "Defender of Mankind". The quest rooms, one particular guest room. The man could hear laugher, the king had more pleasure in bedding his most exotic guest than his wife. Soon, all three would be united again - in death. He entered the room the same way he entered the others. Nine people had died tonight, soon it’d be eleven. The man closed the door behind him and then broke the king and his lover apart with his magic. They looked at him, both confused and shocked. The king of Rendar and his "company" – the elven queen. It was rumoured that, soon, she'd allow her daughter to take over so she could enjoy her immortal life without ruling the Elven Kingdom. That day would come sooner than she thought. She was a vile woman who only used the Humans to fight her battles for her. The man had many good friends among the Elves, her daughter was said to be more popular than her mother but not to be trusted. The man had met her once. He didn't like her back then. Only time would show, but tonight, the Elves would lose their queen and the people of Rendar would lose their king. The man rose his hand to gather his magic and then pointed at her. A loud crushing. An ice meteor had fell from the sky – it landed directly on the elf and crushed her body completely. The king stared at her, not believing what he just saw. He tried to call the guards, but he was silenced by the same spell the man used on his wife.
This king would die a slow, gruesome death, he would suffer the same pain as the man did. First, the man entangled the king in this bed. Then, he froze the arms of the king while also burning them at the same, creating a magical symbiosis that was both effective and really painful. The king tried to scream but the spell prevented him from doing so. The man removed the insects once they were done eating the feet and used dark magic to make the king feel pain from both the inside and the outside. Feeling endless waves of pain, the king didn’t realize how his blood became corrupted by the dark magic – he was too busy fighting the pain. He had no chance. The man opened his mouth and an unnatural, strange sound, that made the king look at him filled with even more fear than pain, was the last thing, the king would ever hear. His blood began to burn in black flames, slowly killing the king in agony. The deed had been done.
The king and everyone else responsible for the betrayal of the soldiers were dead. Still, the man felt nothing. He left the palace the same way he entered it and also left the city. In a few hours, the people would realize that their king is dead and since he didn't have any heirs, chaos would reign for the next few years. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. The man disappeared in the forest and, for the first time since days without rest, he stayed at one place. His journey was over, but the man somehow knew that his story wasn't over. This thought was confirmed sooner than he had expected.
"I've been watching your progress with great interest. We should meet, in person." A voice said inside his mind.
"Who are you?" asked the man, his voice sounded strange, not human at all.
"My name is Aridon, I am the guardian of this world. Come to me, Rahandir Drakeskull, and hear me out. You won't regret it."

Dark Heart and Mind

Dark Heart and Mind

I sat in the corner and sighed. I had no idea how long it had been since they threw me in this prison. I was alone for hours. Sometimes, the guards passed by, but they wouldn't dare say a word. I didn't know why, but they only looked at me, grim expressions in their faces. They despised me, they couldn't understand that I wasn't one of them. I've never been one of them. I was raised far away from them, by an Orc as an Orc among Orcs who couldn't accept me either. Only the one who raised me, the one I even called father, and the one I called brother really accepted me. Others tolerated my presence, but I never got anything from them without fighting for it – but that was a common thing among Orcs. I was happy that I had so many opportunities to prove my worth. I had forgotten everything that was before.
My orcish foster father said that he'd unite the Orcs one day. That he'd create a future for his people that would make them get the life they deserved. While pillaging was part of the culture, it shouldn't be the limit. He wanted to see the Orcs in their own kingdom, he kept telling me. I loved listening to him and discussing his plans with him. He also insisted that I'd have a respected position in that future. I had forgotten so much.
I was more than happy to fulfil every single order he had for me. It wasn't the first time he sent me to infiltrate the Empire, not the first time I got information for him since the Humans always believed that I was one of them. However, on the last mission, they caught me. I still have no idea how they could have found us, but they had. The Imperial knights rushed the camp we had built just a few hours ago and killed everyone inside, excluding me. I managed to escape while the Orcs sacrificed themselves for me. In the end, it was in vain. I reached a Human village and tried to get through unnoticed. While doing so, I overheard many talks between the Humans. Before, I had never really cared about their small-talk, I was only interested in the things I knew. I realized that the Humans and the Orcs weren't so different.
However, before I could start to ponder about this, the knights found me. They had noticed me when I escaped and rode after me. This time, there was no escape, no battle. They caught me. There was a mage in brown clothes who accompanied them. He just had to wave his hand and I couldn't move anymore. I was helpless, when they enchained me. The mage had a short talk with one of the knights before he and half of the knights were on their way. The knights said, there was someone who wanted to talk with me.
I was thinking about this capture, when I suddenly heard noises and looked up. From far away, I could see light. A tall figure, bearing a torch, was coming my way. I could already hear the heavy armor from afar. When he came closer, I noticed the dark armor he was wearing and knew who it was. It was the very person I had been brought to after the knight captured me. I had never seen anyone else with this armor. It was black with some golden ornaments on it, but that wasn't all of it. Being a magic user myself, I could FEEL the magic of this armor. Dark magic. He put the torch aside and looked at me. The torch allowed me to see his face. It was completely cold. He didn't say a single word, he just looked at me.
"What is it?!” I asked him. I wasn't scared of him – unlike the Imperials. I had heard several tales about him, claiming that he was the most intimidating, living Human. But I was no Imperial, I grew up among Orcs. Orcs don't fear their enemies. He didn't reply. Instead, however, he opened my cell and entered. From this close, I could see how tall he was. Had he been an Orc, he would still be tall in comparison to others. Even taller than my foster father.
"You have only a limited amount of time until the Orcs will be here, Imperial. You should run, you cannot hope to have the power to withstand them!” I told him after some time of silence. When I said "power”, he seemed to be amused. He smiled. He claimed that I had no idea about TRUE power, that I was naïve to trust on others. He came closer and as much as I tried to deny it, his presence started to intimidate me. I blamed some spell of his armor. He removed his helmet and came closer until his face was almost touching mine. I could've tried to use this opportunity to try and kill him to escape, but I couldn't do it. I had to listen to what he told me next, what he whispered in my ear. I had to listen to the dark and sinister secrets, that he told me. My eyes widened, the longer I listened to him,the less horrified and the more fascinated I was by this secrets. It didn't take long until I LONGED FOR knowing more. He whispered of things, unable to describe. I forgot everything I had known, he was filling my mind with things so monstrous and so wunderful at the same time, I couldn't have dreamt of. He talked for hours and the more I listened to him, the more obsessed I became with learning more. More knowledge, more power, there was nothing else I could think about. I completely forgot everything else. It didn't matter anymore that I was imprisoned, it didn't matter that he should've been my enemy, I just wanted power and knowledge, no matter how dangerous it was, I WANTED it. When he stopped talking, I begged him to continue. He told me, that he would tell me more next time we met, but also that he had to go now. Then, he just left.
I knew that he had changed me. He had darkened my thoughts by simply talking with me. Sometimes, I could still hear his whispers afterwards.
The moment he left, I forsake all the plans Rangul had. There was only one thing left in my mind: Power. I longed for it. It was like an addiction and I wanted to see it satisfied. I would find my own ways of gaining power and then seek him out again.

i haven t found any place to post questions so here goes. I have an issue with the first undead book.I cannot play past level 5. i played a campaign with no cheats and it didnt work. i tried cheating and that didnt work either. Any help?

 

[Carmar]

i haven t found any place to post questions so here goes. I have an issue with the first undead book.I cannot play past level 5. i played a campaign with no cheats and it didnt work. i tried cheating and that didnt work either. Any help?

Welp, I can't get past chapter 5 too. I tried playing it on 1.29.2 and apparently it works? Thanks Blizzard

 

[deepstrasz]

Welp, I can't get past chapter 5 too. I tried playing it on 1.29.2 and apparently it works? Thanks Blizzard

The recommended version is 1.29 though, so yeah, it should definitely work on that.

 

[Carmar]

The recommended version is 1.29 though, so yeah, it should definitely work on that.

Yeah but when playing through on 1.29, the dialogue(?) doesn't show up on screen but they do show up on logs so that is kind of weird. Plus I'd have to go through the entire human and orc book again with no camera zoom Its all good tho, I'll just stick with the True Story Demo for now and I already love the unit and level redesign, especially the tunnel in the scepter of healing mission!

 

[deepstrasz]

Yeah but when playing through on 1.29, the dialogue(?) doesn't show up on screen but they do show up on logs so that is kind of weird. Plus I'd have to go through the entire human and orc book again with no camera zoom Its all good tho, I'll just stick with the True Story Demo for now and I already love the unit and level redesign, especially the tunnel in the scepter of healing mission!

Maybe the subtitles are disabled in the game's options. Try ticking stuff there until the dialogue appears.

 

[LeDarkin]

I'd like to give a review of Legends of Arkain First Book: (review may contain spoilers)

Global enjoyment: Was about time that I end the first book and I quite didn't understood all the hype
around this serie. I'm going to do the second book aswell of course, but what can be catchy about this
serie is the intriguing lore and the people that like to stick really hard to a very basic gameplay.
Now does it mean it's bad, absolutely not and we're judging this book not all of them. Very enjoyable
until the last chapter that got me quite disapointed because I was like, that's it... ? I suppose
the end was made to lead us to the second book. Playing the undead made me a bit confused about their
role in the story that is quite shadowy before you played them and even after. +0.5

Scenario: As always it's a great universe. You want to be curious about the plots and who are the characters.
The undead are playing it smart, striking in the shadow and at the right timing. It feels right like this, they
are very mysterious. Aridon is a very interesting character described as one of the most powerful entities on
Arkain except... we haven't seen much of him except that he is brilliant at elaborating and planning (was it meant
that way?). Behind him we have some pretty random characters the exception being Largoth that made the entire plot
of the book (the idea of entering the mind for a chapter was really great). Krom looks cool but is just a servant
in the end like most undead, Rahandir, Saphira and the death knight that was sent to death. It just works, EXCEPT
the end, let's say I expected more from this chapter. +1

Terrain: I noticed that their are improvements among the chapters of the first book, less wide areas, less empty
but still. For a map that is from 2015 there is a lot to improve but let's recognize that on this one you got
a simple terrain with defaults on it. Let's also mention that there is no more of these stack of 100 farms and
huge bases that are awful to deal with. +0.5

Techtree: Improvements among simplicity, there is not much to say because there was nothing incredible that
twisted your faction. It remained enjoyable. +0.5

Heroes: Now as I said Aridon is one of the most powerful entities in Arkain but just doesn't feel like it. It's
the problem of most characters like let's say Malfurion, they possesses great powers but the game don't let
us exploit everything. Krom is great, like really awesome and for one reason: his Q lol, it's that powerful
that the rest of his kit becomes meh. Fleshtearer is fun to look at, his kit makes sense it's actually good.
Largoth is restricted so let's say this one can eventually be justified. Rahandir got a very satisfying Q
(the Qs are good on this campaign lol). Overall all the heroes are pretty nice (even the ones that don't got changes). +0.75

Difficulty: A PLEASURE that it wasn't painful like some of the previous book parts. Great progresses were made, I was afraid
going difficult but it was good, it was playable and I was very suprised. There is one exception with the last mission that
is just not enjoyable with the dreadlord that summons 20 infernals. +0.75

A good campaign, I prefered the human book but this one is objectively better. 4/5

 

[Filas]

I just wanted to humbly share my opinions on these Books of Arkain. Everything is on point to me. Story, maps, missions, characters I just love it all and most of it I like the difficulty. Just the right ammount of difficulty. Sure sometimes it is frustrating but all the more rewarding is the win. People above said it all but I just wanted to say thank you so much for making these. They are work of art and I'm so happy I still have 3 books ahead of me. Thank you

 

[Shar Dundred]

The content of this post only affects those who use the most recent version of Warcraft 3
which was published on this very day.

Due to issues in the newest versions of WarCraft 3 which has been released today, portraits
for several custom models no longer appear on the newest version.
In order to fix this issue it would be required to use the newest version of the WarCraft 3 editor to
change a setting available only in that newest version. Which would ruin backwards compatibility.
I have decided against doing such a thing to keep the compatibility and due to this version no longer being maintained.

This post serves to inform those who use the newest version of WarCraft 3.