New Content Discussion [SPOILER]

[LISBOAH]

Once Blen is killed by Rath/van Durce, he's going to get even worse. Future ain't looking too bright for his mental state.

Hopefully he either dies before hearing these news or he never learns about it at all.

Even if Aedale beats him like in the original SHB and SOB, he'll still think of new ways to be disappointed in her. Like an Asian parent, he'll never be satisfied with his kids.

He deserves worse.
Imagine him being forced the same fate of Marin in the Golden Guard + Evil Aedale ending in the SHB. Aedale paralyzes him and forces him to watch the Redfist getting slaughtered by the Dominion.
And then Aedale/Lisara says "You treated your children like trash, your daughter standing here has made a deal with a demon due to your poor parental skills and will be your executioner, the only daughter that you ever loved you has disowned you and sided with the very orcs you so despise, and you pretty much enlisted all those men simply to send them to their pointless deaths. What you are seeing right now is the culmination of your life's work, enjoy it. And now you will die, knowing full well that you won't even have the pleasure of meeting your first wife in the afterlife."

 

[nchp1903]

He deserves worse.
Imagine him being forced the same fate of Marin in the Golden Guard + Evil Aedale ending in the SHB. Aedale paralyzes him and forces him to watch the Redfist getting slaughtered by the Dominion.
And then Aedale/Lisara says "You treated your children like trash, your daughter standing here has made a deal with a demon due to your poor parental skills and will be your executioner, the only daughter that you ever loved you has disowned you and sided with the very orcs you so despise, and you pretty much enlisted all those men simply to send them to their pointless deaths. What you are seeing right now is the culmination of your life's work, enjoy it. And now you will die, knowing full well that you won't even have the pleasure of meeting your first wife in the afterlife."

The classic Cheveran treatment coming from the one and only Lisara. Being mindbroken truly is a terrible fate.

This may be debatable, but I think another terrible fate for him is when he "wins" during The End of Orckind.

After he killed Aedale and finished insulting her, he paused for a moment, and in that moment of post-bloodbath clarity, he reflects upon himself. Who is Volarian Redfist without his hatred for Orcs? What is his purpose now that it has been fulfilled?
So, he seeks new purpose, by killing the remaining human that is "tainted" by the Orc - Vanessa, despite her just wiping out the main bulk of the Dominion's force.
Still not satisfied, he then ordered his men to continue fighting to get rid of all non-humans. He was so consumed by wrath and hatred, that even when he's aware that he's stuck in a cycle of hatred, he can't do anything to escape it, but unable to embrace it either.
He had turned into a worse monster than the one he'd once hunted - Rangul.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

[LionLord]

Dark Blades :

• Isn't it weird that the Royal sergent is called the Greywolf when there is both a Grey Guard and a Wolf Regiment and he isn't part of any of them ?

Same.

 

[gaurdian of the flame]

oh man Night elves finally i have been waiting for that for some time now

 

[Championfighter25]

You know, an April fool's joke
about Volarian Redfist being the father of all red dragons would've been disappointing, kind of like all his children or of Maronogin crashing his yellow Lamborghini because a Pit Lord was dumb enough to act like a speed bump would've been unclassy, but it may have been a better idea than causing all those boiling tensions the night elven video caused.

 

[Mvicio]

Well. At least we know what race lives in the cold north. The Frozen night elves, either that or there is a forest there.

 

[Jayborino]

Yooooo, caught up through Act 5, videos coming out over the next few week. A few pages back I guessed that the classy monocle Dreadlord as Goldaxe chief with a few reasons to back it up - gottem! Happy to see it along with more context into what that faction is up to. It's basically capitalism the faction, which wins so long as everyone else doesn't die together. Arkain second void war wraps up only for the story to become an examination of a late-stage capitalism dystopia that continues through Act 20+

 

[Jorgonson]

Yooooo, caught up through Act 5, videos coming out over the next few week. A few pages back I guessed that the classy monocle Dreadlord as Goldaxe chief with a few reasons to back it up - gottem! Happy to see it along with more context into what that faction is up to. It's basically capitalism the faction, which wins so long as everyone else doesn't die together. Arkain second void war wraps up only for the story to become an examination of a late-stage capitalism dystopia that continues through Act 20+

I can see act 21 now: "Supreme Leader Gardon the people are demanding the minting of additional silver currency to prevent monetary deflation and the accumulation of wealth in the upper classes, what do we do?"

Meanwhile in the Tribal Dominion:

"Amari, what are we going to set the tariff rates at? I hate economics, wish we could just go back to killing each other!"
"I feel you Grofzag. Back to the matter at hand, I'm not sure economic protectionism is the right move for our nation right now."

 

[Kasrkin]

Ladies and gentlemen, we are almost back with our brand new addition to everyone's favorite slau-- army clash campaign!

 

[Jayborino]

#MakeGrofzagGreenAgain

(I know, I know, then it'd need to be another controllable faction, etc, etc!)

 

[Vindicator777]

I just hope Grofzag manage to meet his father

 

[Navy45]

Yes ! Playable Ravaging Fire clan ! Finally !
Oh and golems too.

 

[Karmondia]

Well well, it seems like Grofzag has inherited the memories of someone really... old... I must say, the story is getting REALLY interesting!

 

[Vindicator777]

New soundset for Okri fits really well

 

[nchp1903]

New chapter released means that I'll stop lurking and start posting actively again. Yay.

Although, I'm a bit sad and shameful to say that I failed to beat this chapter in the original SOB version, and now I fail it in the new version, even with Grofzag's new toy (golem).

When I close my eyes, I can still see Knights and Elites murdering my force, while the Demons are derping around near the bridge to soak up almost zero pressure.

I'll try my best to copy other's come up with a new strat tomorrow before writing an actual review.

 

[Navy45]

Just played through the latest chapter :

The additions are really good. The goblin observatory is invaluable for planning out excursions out of the base. The Monolith's quest is nice : it gives a reason to go around the map instead of just B lining it to the exit (and getting an even more op Grofzag is always a plus). Grofzag's leadership bonus makes golems a viable option (I didn't make any in the original).
With casters stuck on adept, Zairmak's bonus is pretty inferior in my opinion but hopefully it will have a time to shine. (By the way, will the first book era get access to leadership boni eventually ?)

If these memories are whose I believe they are... well it doesn't make Aridon look good.

I managed to win on normal in two tries (without items on my heroes). The only strategy I see is to rush the Royals after the first attack of the hawk regiment and focus on surviving until the economy comes online and then fill the dragon and hawk's attack ramps with towers. (I didn't want to help the demons but I suppose you can be more aggressive)

 

[Mvicio]

Review act 6 chapter 1:
-Poor Logan, i hope he gets a better ending in the True story than in the SOB.
-Those monoliths seems suspicious but there are a MUST, both for the stats, golems and lore.
-Having the Shamans without bloodlust hurts, hurts a lot but it makes sense since is ravaging fire clan and not ironthunder.
-In this mission both bonis are good but i choosed Grofzag. Maybe changing the typo to "every golem type unit has the buffs" would be better since you don´t ruin the surprise with the Crystal ones.
-Unless you clean fast the royals in order to get the monoliths and the gold mine you are done. You really need extra income and a safe place.
-Dealing with the regiments is stupid, the demons are really weak and they won´t help you that much.
-I hated this chapter in SOB, now is a bit better but still too much, the attack waves are constant and powerful during all the game.

About the misterious creature... i don´t have a clue who could be, it has to be one of the four but is either Brian or Zindrach (because the war comment).

 

[Navy45]

-Poor Logan, i hope he gets a better ending in the True story than in the SOB.

I mean... he can be saved in the SOB (I can't remember if he joins Gardon or stays in Salria but either way he is alive).

 

[VastanX]

The last mission is quite entertaining. The new golems are pretty cool to use and the new upgrades are great.

Ideas.

• Would you consider reducing the timer of the demons when you destroy the two bases? I'd rather endure waves of demons than waves of the dragon regiment.
• Could you give the golems (any of them) the boulder ability?
• Bloodlust....please?

 

[nchp1903]

Well, this chapter had broken my mental, so I had to commit an atrocious deed just to get a win:

Spoiler

 

[Championfighter25]

The inclusion of the regiments' unique units this time made this harder than before for me. I had to play it on easy.
The lack of bloodlust also made to resort to mass Necrolytes. Luckily, the Zairmak boni helped.
I didn't find the golems as good as before this time.

As for the monolith, I have a few theories:

• They have been placed there by very powerful members of the Order of the Earth probably centuries ago.
• They may be the remains of power of a currently dead god.
• Maronogin may have done a few things to place them there, specifically so that Grofzag could be the only one to have an affinity towards them. As to why he would do this, I think he probably sees a lot of potential in Grofzag and wants to help him (and thus the orcs too). While currently a weak argument, Zairmak also telling Grofzag he should be very careful makes me think this magic may have a much darker side than your typical earth magic.

 

[MyPad]

The current mission (Between a Rock and a Hard Place) is infamous for its sheer difficulty among the playerbase, as you defend a vulnerable position. Trying to survive on one gold mine is tantamount to losing, since your towers won't amount to much against Daric's mercenaries and their Defend ability. Like its SOB counterpart, you'll have to rely on exploiting the AI in your favor.

Place some sacrificial great halls outside your main base. Depending on multiple factors, the AI may choose to disengage after destroying the structure. If it does, create a back-up save immediately and proceed with your game plan.

Spoiler: Team Comp

Falcon Regiment

• E(l)laine the Beasttamer is one of your highest priority targets in focusing down. With Starfall and Forked Lightning, she can easily decimate your troops if left unchecked. As either Grofzag or Zairmak, you should focus on interrupting her as much as possible.
  
  
• While Axethrowers aren't a suitable matchup against the rest of the human armies, they will be crucial in sniping the hawks that otherwise get to hit your tanky units for free. Keep an eye out for the hawks.
  
  
• Do not fail to account for your melee army composition. Ensure that they are sufficient in numbers to act as a protective wall for your casters.

Dragon Regiment

• Similar to Elaine, Sir Edmund should be suppressed as much as possible. His skill sets allow him to deal significant AOE damage to your units, support his own and possibly revive them. You should drain him of his mana whenever you can as Zairmak.
  
  
• Due to the relatively Defend-less army composition, you can get away with spamming Towers against them. However, look out for the presence of Sir Edmund, as his Shockwave may decimate your own towers. Watch out for your resources as well.
  
  
• Having an army of Necrolytes goes a long way in denying Sir Edmund the corpses of his fallen comrades. Take advantage of the skeletons you summon every chance you get.

Daric's Mercenaries

• Unless you allow yourself to use greedisgood, DO NOT attempt to engage. Stay in the defensive as much as possible.

Phoenix Regiment

• Forius the Incinerator can be quite a pickle to deal with. His Flamestrike + Summon Phoenix combo ensures that most of your army is roasted alive if you're not careful with your positioning. A Finger of Death + Hurl Boulder + Firebolt from Zairmak, Grofzag, and a warlock can spell his end.
  
  
• Like the hawks, the phoenixes (or phoenii?) are dangerous when allowed to get free hits on your units. Depending on your army comp, they will likely have more than a few chances to do so.
  
  
• Only consider assaulting their base if you feel confident that you can secure it in the first attempt.

General

• Always target the Town Hall, Peasants, and the Altars when possible. Leave no Peasant alive to rebuild.
  
  
• If you can, try destroying the Barracks as well, after the above.
  
  
• Your casters are high priority targets; keep them away from catapult range, moving them as much as possible.

Spoiler: ?????????

I wanted to bring this up before, but I couldn't, so here it goes.

In Act 2 Chapter 5 (Defense of Home?), where General Salana has to put an end to the treachery of Lord Larantos, Lord Larantos had actually spoken with Maronogin. With Maronogin mentioning access to the Royal Treasury as well as his ... ties with the Souleater Legion (I doubt I got this part correctly), it stands to reason that it might plausibly be him. As a further hint to the identity of the mysterious individual, there are 9 question mark symbols, equal to the number of letters "Maronogin". Furthermore, before the cutscene unfolds, Lord Larantos can be seen speaking with what appears to be an elf wearing a golden cloak. Having the context of the Act 5 Epilogue in mind, there's no room for plausible deniability that she (the elf) is under Maronogin the Wealthlord.

@Shar Dundred I think it would be a nice touch if the identities of the mysterious speakers would be revealed in past missions as a nice reward for players who have progressed further into the storyline, though I think it would require one to few string variables to hold their name.

 

[Kasrkin]

It's possible to finish the mission very quickly if you dive straight for dragon regiment but everyone wants the stat boost for Grofzag and the items in the royal base. Not that I blame anyone for that I want the same thing.

Spoiler

 

[Shar Dundred]

Perhaps it is time to add Mastery Training to that mission...
No apart from that I am not going to make things easier, what do I look like, a generous ruler?!

@Shar Dundred I think it would be a nice touch if the identities of the mysterious speakers would be revealed in past missions as a nice reward for players who have progressed further into the storyline, though I think it would require one to few string variables to hold their name.

Hmm... An interesting idea, not gonna lie.

 

[Mvicio]

Maronogin may have done a few things to place them there, specifically so that Grofzag could be the only one to have an affinity towards them. As to why he would do this, I think he probably sees a lot of potential in Grofzag and wants to help him (and thus the orcs too). While currently a weak argument, Zairmak also telling Grofzag he should be very careful makes me think this magic may have a much darker side than your typical earth magic.

Zairmak is an ancient being, maybe he really knows how this magic works and don´t want Grofzag to be corrupted. Also having control over golems (an element) is something the orcs haven´t done before. The humans have their orders but Grofzag is the first orc to summon golems.

Maybe controlling the inanimate is what this power truly is and that is really powerful and dangerous. Also there is an unknown faction in the distant north...

I mean... he can be saved in the SOB (I can't remember if he joins Gardon or stays in Salria but either way he is alive).

He´ll be alive after the Second books era no doubt, the faction he joins is the question. Either Redfist, Tribal Dominion, Zora´s pirates, Zyainor, there are many options. I think he´ll join the tribal dominion, either that or he hates the orcs with BURNING passion after they kill Cassius.

Perhaps it is time to add Mastery Training to that mission...

I expected the enemies having leadership boni aswell.

 

[LISBOAH]

Sorry for the delay, but only now did I finally had time to play the new mission
-Logan is still the smartest member of Daric's group. Daric is simply leading his men to a pointless quest to hunt down the orcs that are fleeing, while the demons are invading. Even worse, they are focusing on the wrong orcs! They should go after Rath's Darkmind clan! They are the ones still causing trouble to the Imperials, burning villages and slaughtering armies!
-LOL. Grofzag's conversation regarding the monoliths makes our heroes' mechanic leveling up canon
-The only optional quest I completed was the one with the Monoliths, because why would I destroy the bases protecting me from the demons? Who do you take me for, a member of the Darkmind Clan?

 

[nchp1903]

-The only optional quest I completed was the one with the Monoliths, because why would I destroy the bases protecting me from the demons? Who do you take me for, a member of the Darkmind Clan?

I always try to do a full clear for bragging rights though. Also, trading about 50 supplies worth of troops for 250 gold coins seem kinda worth to me.

(But to be honest, I kinda want the Castles to drop better items.)

 

[Yae Miko]

I would love if each of the campaigns have custom soundtrack. Will it ever come true? haha

 

[Kasrkin]

I would love if each of the campaigns have custom soundtrack. Will it ever come true? haha

Unfortunately besides a few random snippets we'll probably never have a complete soundtrack, campaign size is already getting up there. If we ever had music made for the project I'm putting my vote in for some variation of rock or orchestra maybe both.

 

[nchp1903]

Just in case character/faction theme songs are a thing, I'm gonna drop this song right here, because it might fit Van Durce/The Golden Guard.

 

[Vindicator777]

This song for Sasrogarn theme

 

[nchp1903]

This song for Sasrogarn theme

Nice song that will definitely go to my playlist.

A bit too badass for Sas though. Could be used for Grofzag, or maybe for an epic battle between the Dominion and Salrians, but definitely not Sas.

 

[Shar Dundred]

I expected the enemies having leadership boni aswell.

You are getting one more act to enjoy having the edge. Enemies will get boni from Act Seven on.
Unless of course you want an enemy leadership bonus that triggers the Bulls to attack your early on.

 

[Mvicio]

You are getting one more act to enjoy having the edge. Enemies will get boni from Act Seven on.
Unless of course you want an enemy leadership bonus that triggers the Bulls to attack your early on.

Why would the bulls attack me? They are on the defense and following Logan's orders. Who wants to fight the Demons (true sigma male)

 

[LISBOAH]

Why would the bulls attack me? They are on the defense and following Logan's orders. Who wants to fight the Demons (true sigma male)

It would be hilarious to see the reactions if they did that.

 

[nchp1903]

Spoiler: Scoreboard

Finally got a win on Hard difficulty. Attempted to do a full clear without copying Kasrkin's strat, but only managed to destroy the Dragon and the Bull.

Also, late game Falcon is just absolutely brutal. Not even Godzag with 5 Bladebane Armors can withstand such bullshit.

Spoiler: Falcon

 

[Fan_of_Aeroblyctos]

Feedback on the last mission

I found this mission quite difficult. Even if my heroes had good items giving them tons of armor, It took me time to find a good order.

I had a lot of fun playing it, thanks a lot!

The elf hero with starfall and her army generally attacked me from the left by waves, and sometimes from the upper path, which would be the "natural" path for the red army.

The purple army attacked me constantly by waves

The Daric's mercenaries army attacked me constantly by waves

The red base never attacked me.

The teal army never attacked me.

The blue army never attacked me.

What I did was:

0) choose the golem upgrade

1) quickly destroy part of the blue base, only what is necessary to build a gold mine there without being attacked by the remaining of the base. Since no wave come from there, you are good to go. You need to be fast as the Daric's mercenaries are quite powerful and constantly attacking you from the left, so you need to go back to your base. It is good to do this early since the few allied units can help you against the first Daric's waves.

optional) I did not do it in my first runs, but I would do this quite quickly: go to every obelisk quickly to get the hero and crystal golems upgrade quickly. You don't need to kill the units surrounding the obelisk IIRC.

2) only build golems.

3) when waves attack, always kill the siege units first with finger of death and long range hero. After each enemy wave, heal at the fountain.

3) as soon as you get 100 food golems, build towers on the left to help you against Daric's waves, something like 24 towers. Towers are very weak, but at least they help you win a little bit of time. At some point I tried to win this mission focusing on towers, but they are too weak and the enemies too strong. Maybe it has to do something with the hard mode? If you have a lot of towers, I think that a few crystal golems allow you to sustain the Daric's waves, but you will always have to rebuild a few towers after each wave.

2) destroy the elven base in the left upper corner, just destroy what is necesary to build a gold mine there.

Spoiler: Scoreboard

View attachment 398840

Finally got a win on Hard difficulty. Attempted to do a full clear without copying Kasrkin's strat, but only managed to destroy the Dragon and the Bull.

Also, late game Falcon is just absolutely brutal. Not even Godzag with 5 Bladebane Armors can withstand such bullshit.

Spoiler: Falcon

View attachment 398841

On hard, I did not have the feeling that the falcon army got better with time, did it?

 

[Navy45]

Enemies will get boni from Act Seven on.

Is this a permanent design decision to have it start at act seven or will there eventually be boni in earlier missions ?

 

[nchp1903]

On hard, I did not have the feeling that the falcon army got better with time, did it?

I did a trick where I continuously rebuild a Great Hall outside of my base to make them dump 90% of their attack waves there. Guess in the end, they just pull everything to kill me because the A.I is tired of my bs.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Not even Godzag with 5 Bladebane Armors can withstand such bullshit

A unit with 7 armor has 30% damage reduction, while one with 35 armor (aka 5 Bladebane Armors) has 68%.
While armor in WC3 has definitely value on "lower counts", it loses value as it goes higher.
So your 5 Bladebane Armors are not as powerful as you seem to think.

Is this a permanent design decision to have it start at act seven or will there eventually be boni in earlier missions ?

It is a design decision, same for earlier missions not featuring Leadership Boni.

 

[nchp1903]

A unit with 7 armor has 30% damage reduction, while one with 35 armor (aka 5 Bladebane Armors) has 68%.
While armor in WC3 has definitely value on "lower counts", it loses value as it goes higher.
So your 5 Bladebane Armors are not as powerful as you seem to think.

Diminishing return (is that what it's called?) is always such a sad thing to see in any game. But at least it gives me the illusion of power, so it's not all bad.

Might try the mission again with full Claw Grofzag though. Gotta cleave 'em all.

 

[Fan_of_Aeroblyctos]

I am proud to say I managed to kill Daric's base in hard mode. It was not easy, but oh man it is sweet to be only attacked from the purple base.

If you are interested on how to do it, you can build catapults and put them behind the tree line between your base and Daric's base. it allows them to attack without being attacked in return.

The thing is to attract a Daric's units from the base nearby them. Catapults will attack them and in return, then they'll try to attack the catapults, and to do so, they will enter your base. In your base, there has to be a lot of towers to welcome them, and a comfortable army of crystal golems. Once you've defeated them all, quickly go the the almost empty base to focus the castle and the peons, to kill them all.. Repeat with barracks and they you are good to go. I had 6 beastiaries to build units quickly.

 

[nchp1903]

Spoiler: Kill Count

This new chapter is quite a beautiful massacre (Impale+Starrain+Flame Strike ftw) compared to the last one. And it's even more fun with two additional Leadership Bonis.

R.I.P the Unyielding though. His sacrifice during the charge against the Priestesses won't be forgotten.

Also, I just checked the older books for any mention of Mirazeyl, and I found her in chapter 9 of SHB. I guess now that she's officially mentioned by name by Pentiss, she will bear more significance in later chapters that include Dark Elves.

Spoiler: Mirazeyl

 

[Enki555]

It's been a while since last commentary:
(Elves of the Deep)
-Ah, finally Ejara getting some personality. I chose broodmothers and they didn't disappoint. Combined with necromancers, they can easily hold out two dark elven armies at once (while I used heroes and some units to skirmish, I left six broodmothers, seven necromancers, few driders and crypt fiends, two icekeepers along with handful lashers, and two obsidian statues; they performed marvelously). Reign of spider kingdom is glory of this mission.
-Phew! How long did it take to relive horrors of too serpentine corridors? Yet being wise as serpents had been a boon; make sure to trap the most in chokepoint while making Ornasion and Haran tank the frontline, then spam starrain+impale+flame strike+raise dead+parasite; and they are all dead.
-Be warned: you must remain beholden to precious lumber at the first part. Getting Scarec forces asap is only way to win the mission faster. After Zundali and Sligera attacks ur main base, make sure to use Scarec and heroes quickly storm the former and, if successful, the things get breezy really quick. Make the base well-equipped.
-Nice to see custom skeleton unit; he really helped to push bases and he is the best tank alongside our heroes. The Unyielding he certainly is and it was satisfying to keep him alive till the end, and it would be perfect if he becomes playable on the next mission when he survives as a reward. Just got an idea xD.
-Are werebats... dark elven men sanctified to be gargoyles of heavens?
-Now that's a good twist and link that Mirazyel is the enforcer who spoke first against Quiraness. Her background was vague, and now it makes perfect sense. So, driders are dark elves chosen and ascended as reward. Imo they should have new upgrades regarding their half-arachnid dignity.
-Just a minor bug; during Pentiss's speech, all dark elves were invisible eventho Mirazyel spoke, albeit withouten portrait.
(Between a Rock and Hard Place)
-Pretty much everything stated in the forum. Yet have some personal theories regarding mysterious monoliths: I got an impression that it was created by one of the Gods of Arkain who was in war with others thus leading death of pantheon (it was stated Grofzag saw visions of land splitting; probably result of gods warring). That god was probably the one who carved lands of Arkain. It was maybe then used by Order of Earth in secret before fall of Lor, but recently been exposed by one interested in empowering Orcs. My guess is either Maronogin or Brian. I feel the former would make a perfect ally for the latter (he already agreed to help Ironfist and is even a chieftain of Goldaxe).

 

[HappyMan]

My opinions about the newest chapter: Elves of the Deep

- A quite easy mission in my thought, you can overcome horde of enemies without any trouble with narrow terrain, combination of destructive spells from heroes and load of skilled ranged units, not to mention that you can get powerful reinforcement with just a little of effort: the army of bones leading by Unyelding, a very good and useful unit indeed.

- The Dark Elves society is truly a harsh faction when you can be betrayed at any time, living as a male dark elf is even worse. I am wondering how is the Dark Elf 's reaction about the ground when most of thing is different from their home. Do they know anything that happens on the ground?

- Bug report: in the final scene, Pentiss is just standing there speaking alone.

A great work as always, love your project, Shar Dundred. Let Arkain keep growing and growing better.

Replay Act two, Chapter five: Defense of Home and I would love to give some of my opinions here:

I know it's been a while since the update of chapter with unique models for Captain Herdon, Lieutenant Tormin and Sir Ferdal, thanks to johnwar and icons by r.ace613, they are my favorite characters, especially Lieutenant Tormin. I will just share my thoughts that since they get their own role in a team and different fighting styles so how about adjust their states to somehow fit with them and make them more specific than ordinary Elites units:

- Sir Ferdal: he is the tanker and defender with big shield so increase his hitpoint and armor will be good but lower his attack damage, give him the Defend ability because he lack of it. It would be weird when he have a giant shield but doesn't use it at all.

- Lieutenant Tormin: the duelist need to be fast and quick right? So let increase his attack rate and moving speed, lower his hitpoint and armor.

- Captain Herdon: I don't know what to do with him when he seems to be fine. Maybe Defend ability because he has a shield too.

Those are my ideas to improve the experience of players. It will be your decision anyway, hope my opinions help you somehow, best at your work, Mr. Shar.

 

[Navy45]

Elves of the Deep :

• If there's one thing that never gets old, it's slaughtering hundreds of lowborns in choke points. Between impale, flame strike, starrain, the frost ghosts' frost nova and frost armor, the enemy is almost unable to retaliate.
• The Unyielding is a nice addition. It gives a permanent feel to the secondary objective and more scarec characters is always a plus. (or technically it's the first since the bonelords have yet to appear in the True Story)
• Concerning the leadership boni, the broodmothers is a really good range unit and a decent alternative to necromancers (I suppose you could use both but it seems like corpses would be lacking. Concerning Pentiss' leadership, I have trouble telling how much of an impact it has but it seems somewhat subpar to me. I suppose if you don't use broodmothers it would still be usefull (unless you go full icekeepers)
• Is it normal that Quiraness' daughter never attacks herself ? So far she doesn't seem to be leading the lowborns so much as watching them die from the backlines. (the level doesn't seem so hard that one hero attack would make it impossible)
• Concerning Pentiss' abilities, the slow aura has the icon of an active ability. Also isn't starrain supposed to be Star Rain ?

 

[LISBOAH]

My review of Act Six, Chapter Two:
-The Shieldguard unit, that comes with the reinforcements after we open the gates, doesn't have the Spell Resistance upgrade researched, and we are unable to research it.
-Pity that the Beetles' Burrow ability doesn't allow them to heal while burrowed, unlike the Crypt Fiends and Driders.
-In the last part of the ending cinematic, Pentiss is giving her speech to an empty room.
-In the ending cinematic, Ornassion says "We (Demons) are the strongest race". Is this the correct tense, since Ornassion is now an undead bound to Aridon's will?
-Nothing much else to say, since this mission is pretty similar to the one in the Second Undead Book. Poor Ornassion just got out of a race of schemers and is now forced to fight with another race of schemers.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Uploaded a mini patch to fix the final Pentiss scene - her monologue was fun but she should
either talk to people or see a doctor and I am not paying for the latter.

 

[Mvicio]

Review of act 6, chapter 2:
-Well this one was easy, especially after the last one. Having 3 AOE heroes in tiny corridors really helps.
-About the bonis... I´m not sure, maybe because the undead never had bonis or something like that i fell kind of strange using then.
-More units from Ejara nexus have time to shine, those broodmothers are really strong right now with parasite.
-I loved the description for the scarec nexus secondary. They wanted to start a holy crusade inside the caves
-So Myraziel was a normal elf before the dark elves join the war efforts. In 1-2 weeks (in arkain time) she´ll be the monster that we saw in the past.

-Now that's a good twist and link that Mirazyel is the enforcer who spoke first against Quiraness. Her background was vague, and now it makes perfect sense. So, driders are dark elves chosen and ascended as reward. Imo they should have new upgrades regarding their half-arachnid dignity.

We knew nothing about her, only that she was chosen. I thought he was a mutation because of the flower or some really strong elf that was captive during Quiraness Reign. This is better.

In the ending cinematic, Ornassion says "We (Demons) are the strongest race". Is this the correct tense, since Ornassion is now an undead bound to Aridon's will?

He´s adapting to his new unlife. Also he´s right, if all the demons worked together they would storm the dead mountain and defeat both humans and orcs in Arkain. That´s not gonna happen though.

-The Shieldguard unit, that comes with the reinforcements after we open the gates, doesn't have the Spell Resistance upgrade researched, and we are unable to research it.

Since you already use them (during Bloodbath if you chose) and you´ll be using them during the next undead mission it doesn´t matter that much.

Nice chapter Shar!

 

[DD Mikasa]

So i am abit late on this one, but regarding the orc chapter introduced before the elves of the deep.

Am i getting to old and my hands have become boomer hands or the chapter had a spike up in difficulty considerably?
It seems like the three bases that send attacks are uncontainable they keep on sending wave after wave that are considerably larger than the old version of the map this coupled with the weird decision not to give us access to tier 3 spellcaster spells and upgrades makes this chapter borderline unwinnable.

The old strategy of migrating the base to the royal base does not work since they have gotten considerably bulkier and the cheese of taking out the bull and phoenix so the demons can tie up the falcon and purple base does not work either.

Now while i am not complaining that the old cheese of migrating bases or cheesing the phoneix and bull don't work anymore i still think the large waves of the attack and the removal of access to tier 3 upg need to be looked upon, either tone done the waves or give us access to tier 3 upgrades, the one that make orcs an actual playable faction, the introduction of the new golem unit still doesn't make up for the lack of the upg or the huge waves of attack.