New Content Discussion [SPOILER]

[Karmondia]

It is DONE! The traitors and their undead allies have fallen! I'm starting to upload the video right now, but it might take some time, because it's very large.

 

[Am.F]

It is DONE! The traitors and their undead allies have fallen! I'm starting to upload the video right now, but it might take some time, because it's very large.

That's half a million unit score, of course it's huge, and Congratulations on beating it

 

[Mvicio]

Next mission would be probably Salrian mountain mission or our favorite dish in the castle.

Excuse me but the Next orc mission should be either a new one or our beloved Roars of the forest with the new amazing secret weapon of the dominion. Either Human or undead is good thought.

 

[Apprentice Darkmoon]

New chapter ended:
-A corrupt forest and lunactic beasts... what is the worst thing that can happen? Ah yeah, being followed by the crazy inhabitants. That was a nice touch, force you to be even more carefully when travel thought the area.
-Neither Grofzag nor Zairmak had a dialogue when arrive in the second destroyed village. Is that normal?
-THAT is what I call surprise. After deal with the corrupt creatures I expect the two bearmen gladiators, but that was even better!!!

Spoiler

Hope we can use the bearmen chieftain in the future. I put in him some of the old stuff I left in the forest. Love how he rolls all the time XD.

A short chapter but awesome as always, Mr. Dundred.

 

[Mvicio]

Act Six Chapter Seven.

-This one was tough. The addition of the creatures following you makes it harder since you are weak for pincer attacks.
-I suppose you get the cristal golem since you complete the secondary objective in the previous mission, this will be hard without it.
-The bearman didn´t stop the creatures until you allied with them. I lost all my forces except the shamans to a pincer attack because i thought they´ll stop them. I mean, they are crossing your village, stop them bears...
-The timing for attack waves is supposed to stop during cutscenes? I was attacked first by murlocs and really short after by spiders. Either that or the movement speed or those races makes it a huge difference.
-After getting Borean and the gladiators the demons were a threat, since i lost most of my forces. Now i get why this is the secret weapon of the dominion, we didn´t had Thorns aura or Tranquility on our team. Now we´ll get Healing wards + inner fire + tranquility + bloodlust on our shieldbearers/ogres/gladiators making them inamovible objects.
-Since Borean don´t have any items (i though the crown of feathers or whatever would be an unique item) we´ll get to use him more, probably during the initial stages of Salria.

Nice chapter Shar!

 

[Shar Dundred]

I just noticed that I forgot to put the changelog in the newspost so I just added it.
There are some important changes to the last chapter.

-Neither Grofzag nor Zairmak had a dialogue when arrive in the second destroyed village. Is that normal?

The dialogue triggers when you visit one of the two villages, it doesn't matter which one.
I didn't add a second one though, no.

 

[Vindicator777]

I'm nervous about next chapter...

 

[Shar Dundred]

Now why would you be nervous about the next chapter?

 

[HappyMan]

Oi, here I am again, it's time to put you guys some of my own thoughts about this New and Crazy Super Secret Wapon of Tribal Dominion:

- The Orcs return after a long time being abandoned, look like it is their final time to shine as the Act Six is likely going to close the stage. I have a strong prediction that Rath and his Darkmind Clan will be the one who end this case.

- The enviroment and sound in this corrupted forest chapter really give me the creep, you have to always glance behind just to make sure that there won't have any giant spiders following you, right? Being stuck with enemies in the front and behind doesn't end up well. The only option you got here is run pass them as fast as you can, let them play with each other.

- The Crystal Golem is the key unit here if you want to go through this place without effort.

- Grofzag is not only a brave warrior but also a wise Orc, adding more allies is the necessary thing at this dark time of the Orc. I wonder if Gorthog agree with this, also, it give me a question: All of races in Arkain world speak in the same language?

- And yes not forget to mention, ALL OF ARKAIN, kneel down before The MIGHTY AND ONLY ONE: Borean. Seeing him rolling around is quite cute though.

That's all for now. Having new chapter to play make my day bright. Good work to Mr.Shar and anyone contribute in, have a nice day fella!

 

[nchp1903]

The new chapter is a short and chilled one, allowing me to have some break time after Lord of Shadows. Anyway, time to write my very serious review:

• Brought the Inferno Stone from Death's Approach to try to cheese, but it was impawsible because the trees were invulnerable
• It was a grizzly sight to see the large numbers of enemies overwhelming my forces. I bearly made it by crowd-controlling key targets (like Fel Stalkers) then running past them, stopping only at the Fountain of Health.
• Zairmak is still a bit too conservative for my likings. Grofzag is wise to seek out new allies instead of blindly following his forebears.
• Rolling Bearman. Rolling Bearman. Rolling Bearman. Rolling Bearman. Rolling Bearman. Rolling Bearman.
• No, the Bearmans didn't brainwash me.
• Later on, we'll unlock Gnolls and Centaurs, which had more than a few glass cannon units. Therefur, Borean's skill set, especially Tranquility (or Rain Dance) can be very useful.
• The last checkpoint, with two Infernals and Doom Guard forming an almost unbreakable bearicade Have to pull them out of their aggro range, then lock them down one by one with Roots/Sleep.

Overall, short but fun no-build mission. The next mission had better be A Dish Best Served Cold or I'll be furrious.

 

[Shar Dundred]

I think you had too many of those shrooms.

 

[LISBOAH]

My review of Chapter Seven of Act Six
-Guess that the Forgottten Ones' corruption still lingers. I wonder if it will cause trouble to Ornassion and Queen Keera later on.
-Pity that the Heroes' max level is 10. We are at the start of the Second Orc Book, and both Zairmak and Grofzag are already at level 9.
-How can Crystal Golems be affected by Poison and Plague buffs?
-Liked the mechanic of the forest inhabitants chasing after us. Makes sense as they are territorial and are corrupted
-So Borean walks by rolling... that's something I never expected to see. Is one of his ancestors a Goron by any chance? XD
-Thorns Aura + Command Aura + Unholy Aura + Tranquility = Stonks

 

[Karmondia]

Here is my detailed review of this chapter:

 

[nchp1903]

Here is my detailed review of this chapter:

Here they stand beneath the warm and soothing rain...

And welcome to the Bearman Cult.

 

[Elempash]

Fairly easy. I guess act six is over at this point? Thought its 7 chapters per act.

 

[LISBOAH]

Fairly easy. I guess act six is over at this point? Thought its 7 chapters per act.

Probably not. Act Six will probably end with Gardon defeating Retka once and for all, as well as Rangul reuniting with Amari.

 

[Karmondia]

Amazing changes. Since (I assume) death of a legend will no longer happen, migrating all of its dialouge here was actually really smart, however, while it had good writing, there is one small thing that I want to bring attention to. Brian says he has noticed Larine's affection towards Gardon; "Am I seeing things, or is Larine...", but we, the player don't see it. Sure Larine says she is eager to celebrate after the battle, but that can be interpreted a number of ways. Don't get me wrong, in the end cinematic, it is clear that Larine wants to "celebrate", but only after Gardon enchanted her ring. Even one additional line where Gardon and Larine flirt with each other at the beginning would make Brian's remark make more sense. Other than that, it was an excellent mission. I'm really happy Whitefield survived, and the mission overall was a great one. When I have time, I'll do a video about it on hard. As for the interlude... the Orcs are much more interesting in the true story. Brian's shadow saw The Destroyer and his friends conspiring, so I don't think their plan will work, but I'm really interested. Obviously Amari is the future of orckind, so I guess Gorthog will die by the end of this. Anyway, one thing is certain; Legends of Arkain is only becoming better and better!

 

[Ѳbserver]

Excellent work, the new chapter is better (and slightly easier) than before, I had a great time playing it and it's great to have Whitefield on our side.
everything was under control at the start, I was looking forward to an hour or two of defending my bases against the endless assaults but Whitefield's "Betrayal" changed all of that, the Ironfist charged immediately to destroy the Magister's base and afterwards took control of the centre and the eastern trebuchets.
At this point I had about 10k gold on all my bases and had vision on all entrances, sooo defending the city was no longer an issue, from then on, every single enemy base fell one by one under the might of Gardon Bloodclaw.
This mission would be very hard without the trebuchets, they not only allow You to destroy half of each enemy's base but also grant vision on 75% of the map, as I said, extremely useful. I also witnessed something rather funny, Scarlett Retka, Leader of the Kajon Marauders, not just once but twice, marched all the way from her base to the central invulnerable trebuchets and cast her Ultimate right on top of them!!!!! I never imagined someone could be that mad.
Finally, I thank U Shar Dundred for making Legends of Arkain, it is one of the few things that I look forward to, every day. <3

 

[DD Mikasa]

Well well well this one was a doozy.


I wont concern myself with the gameplay aspect.


Firstly the major implications on the humans side.

At first I have to say, i wasn't really wow-ed by the way Shar decided to remove Salana out of the equation, what made it really interesting is what followed through, so essentially Gardon swaped Salana for Larine on the simple reasoning that forcing Salana to go against Renova might damage her mind and make her worthless to him so he found a new pet for that part.

Now what follows next is quite interesting, my first thought was the same as @Karmondia , Gardon testing his newfound pet to see how obedient she is, but then i realised that Gardon controls his pets through given commands which the ring or necklace makes sure they don't go against it, however it wasn't Gardon who initiated the whole thing...It was larine... My working theory is (and i know i am maybe looking to much into it) Shar is trying to tie this to his official timeline he wrote quite a while ago (now stated as obsolete)

There are some things mentioned there that might explain this sudden changes... First Larine has kids but there is no mention of her King consort, secondly Larine isn't on best terms with Vail maybe this might explain it... One has the man the other desires the man which would make those two not get along , this is kinda funny...In a messed up way funny, and remember the enchanted ring doesn't force Larine to be obedient towards Vail, only Gardon. I guess Gardon is keeping the family tradition of stirring up half-breed bastards the same as his brother across the sea.

EDIT: Brian is getting some more character development...And i find his new found sassy attitude...Quite charming not going to lie.
Now we go to the orc part.
As someone who doesn't like Rath all this talk of "when he returns" "if he returns" is rubbing me the wrong way, Harmos Droping a nuke on his head SHOULD NOT BE RETCONED.
Also its quite funny watching three conservatory orcs talking in such a eloquent way that would make even a social science prof. jealouse. For real though those Ephrog lines looked so out of place (even tho his fears stand correct Brian intends to make the union of phreak shows his personal army after all, he cares little about the orcs political power within his new union of phreak shows)

ALSO FINALLY Lera will be gone for good

...Sadge...

 

[Apprentice Darkmoon]

My little review about the chapter and the cinematic:

Act six, chapter eight:
-I prefer this mission than the Lord of shadows. Thanks fallen order of frost and your cursed specters spellcasters.
-Brian's interest in Cora's orb was a nice touch. Perhaps he is already in alert about the influence of some "old friend" of his.
-Whitefield's new position in the mission was a surprise. Later I undertand why he was in a different base... Sorry, but half of the base fell by Cora's tides :C
-Pegasus and Eagle riders are new here. A few of them can we send to annoying the enemies. I used them to destroyed the towers in enemy bases.
-Regarding the Bonis: I choose Brian's for the little benefits of attack speed. Cora's boni regarding additional mana for spellcaster was even better in my opinion. Finally... of course I chose the Elves of the Ironfist, they're much better than simple bowmen.
-The final of the mission is a BOOM! So, not only Korras Retka's death, but also Scarlett's. Poor her, now her powers are in good hands... I hope so.
-So this mean that "Death of a Legend" is removed and the fate of General Greymoore will be different. I like it.

End of act six:
-Finally the meeting of the orcs.
-Fool Sasrogarn, no one cares about your opinion or whatever you say.
-I like how Ephrog is afraid of Amari. After all, he supports Sas to exile her. Better sleep with a eye open.
-So... more allies, and not from Amari's suggestions. Sadly Amari is well aware about these three's idea, and she'll use it in her benefit no doubt.

Nice job, Mr. Dundred! Keep going.

 

[nchp1903]

Time to drop my long ass review, because this new chapter has Gardon, and I'm a Gardon simp.

Spoiler: End of an Uprising

• This level is even more fun than I remember. Sure, it's easy as shit, but who cares? After suffering through a bunch of chapters being the underdogs, "The" Gardon Bloodclaw deserves this opportunity to assert his dominance upon rebel scums alongside his trusted allies. A perfect climax, if you ask me.
• Gardon now clearly states his respect, but not obedience towards Brian/Bhaarizel, maintaining his status of an unbound, independent man.
• Brian unironically laughs "Hehehe" is something I never thought I need.
• Forgot to use the Trebuchets in Thanok's base, but the might of a 180-supply-army is still too much for the Pyrrean Army to handle. Also, Trebuchets can damage trees with Attack, but not with Attack Ground, which is weird.
• Joining force with the Ironfist is the wisest thing that Whitefield has ever done. On top of being able to see through Retka and Van Durce's bullshit, he's a valuable asset in combat with his Command Aura and Holy Light. (Gardon with only starting items + War Aura + Command Aura + Dark Secrets LV3 can deal up to 130-140 damage per attack. Insane.)
• And of course, the Endless War/Automatic Repair + Unholy Aura + Regeneration Aura combo too. Cavalries and Danksteel Golems regenerates for approximately 4 HP/s, which is equal to 2 Ring of Regenerations, but for an entire army.
• Scarlett is a bit mad at the fact that the Trebuchets are invulnerable. So she ran through my defense, by herself, not once, not twice, but three times, to use Avenge on them. If my brother was Retka, I would be angry/suicidal all the time too, so she just like me fr.
• Merlon is late to the party, but it's fine. He needs to preserve his strength to reign terror upon the Elves later.
• So Salana now proves that one's mind can be severely damaged if Gardon overdoes his brainwashing, or met with an unanticipated event, such as her meeting Larine. Also, he can only 'enhance' items that are already magical by nature, so he can't brainwash Whitefield the same way he did with Salana and Larine. Bhaarizel noticed it too, so it may be somewhat related to shadow magic after all.
• Larine lets Gardon plant his 'seeds' of victory. Nice.
• Seriously, though, my claim stands correct. Instead of making her do a 180 flip like Thanok did to Claire or Birram did to Korjaha, Gardon just subtly influenced her then gave her what she wanted, or secretly wanted. The power of suggestion is a strong tool, after all, even in real life.

Spoiler: Lost Daughters

• I expected it to be about Amari and Okri, and was two third corrected because I forgot about Zora. Makes me wonder what will happen if she encounters Merlon and manages to yoink the Amulet of Discipline from him.
• Hortnog doesn't give half a damn that Rath is running to his death. Chad.
• Also, with Inara being a new character, she ""may"" not be killed off just yet. I think that once she's realized the depth of Rath's folly, she will pull back the Darkmind's force and retreat with the Ironthunder, leaving Rath to fend off the rest of the Grey Guards in vain.
• Okri has the opportunity to be my favorite character. Declares her intention to kill Destroyer in front of his face, but doesn't brainlessly run up to kill him while he's still of use, while fighting for true gender equality instead going full on "muh traditions" or "traditions bad". And I think if the circumstances were different, Gorthog would have paid more attention to Zarok, the tamed felhound, for sure.
• Ephrog finally becomes smarter, or he is just analyzing things, now that his life is at threat. Due to Gorthog's suggestion, now Rangul would still go to recruit the Ogre Legion, but for a different reasons. I wonder if this little plan will bite them in the ass later after Rangul dies, and Amari will use this as leverage to remove Gorthog and Sasrogarn from power. More Orc vs Orc action sounds fun.
• So Pigmen will be a new addition to the Dominion, but after the Bearmen's beautiful introduction, they don't seem, or sound, very impressive.
• Overall, this cinematic makes many Orc characters less one-dimensional while giving them more screentime, and I like that.

 

[Shar Dundred]

There are some things mentioned there that might explain this sudden changes... First Larine has kids but there is no mention of her King consort, secondly Larine isn't on best terms with Vail maybe this might explain it... One has the man the other desires the man which would make those two not get along , this is kinda funny...In a messed up way funny, and remember the enchanted ring doesn't force Larine to be obedient towards Vail, only Gardon. I guess Gardon is keeping the family tradition of stirring up half-breed bastards the same as his brother across the sea.

You may want to read the two "Heirs of Zyainor" short stories.

 

[DD Mikasa]

You may want to read the two "Heirs of Zyainor" short stories.

Might give it a try, honestly i am not really that much into the short stories i prefere the suffer for 1 hour and 30 minutes straight in intensive macro and micro gameplay so you can het rewarded with a 2-5 minute cinematic that explains what happened.

Also quite impressed with the way you tied up the whole salana/larine question, awesome writing by your part.
Now dont stack lera with 4 gems of health will ya...We'll have to go up against her.

 

[Shar Dundred]

The heirs stories (Vol I and II) are fairly short and I think you will not regret it - give them a try.

 

[nchp1903]

Just finished binge-reading the Heirs of Zyainor, and I can confirm that it was quite a good read. I personally find Zurae and Parlea quite interesting and, to an extent, relatable.

Also, Gardon is capable of smiling and is a better father than Rangul. Who would have thought.

 

[Vindicator777]

As someone who doesn't like Rath all this talk of "when he returns" "if he returns" is rubbing me the wrong way, Harmos Droping a nuke on his head SHOULD NOT BE RETCONED.


...Sadge...

Poor Rath, he has good intentions

 

[LISBOAH]

My review

Act Six, Chapter Eight:
-Funny that Cora mistrusts Brian, but has reservations talking about her orb.
-Nice to see that Whitefield realized that he was on the wrong side
-Something weird in the final cinematic. Right after Gardon killed Retka, Scarlett unleashed a rain of meteors upon where her brother was, and then she moved away from where she was standing.
-Will it be explained how Scarlett knew about Chaos magic? Because she apparently is the only character with access to it.
-Cora is more like her sister than she probably is aware of. Seeking more power, listening to voices from the back of her head...
-Well, Salana is a dead woman. She will never side with Larine, and she is too popular, so she has to go.
-Wait, so Larine's attraction to Gardon was natural and not the result of Gardon's magic?

End of Act Six
-Rangul trusted more on Rath than Vanessa because he was an orc. Now he's suffering the consequences. Rath only sought bloodshed and revenge, he never truly cared about Rangul's vision.
-Good old Hortnog always having his priorities straight
"whenver" --> "whenever"
"treahcerous hide" --> "treacherous hide"
-It' your fault Rangul. You were too rash in starting this invasion. You pretty much left your own homeland defenseless. If Genethas didn't have removed the engineers, the orcs could have been pushed back by Cleavehand, and they would have been wiped out by the demons coming from the rear.
-Gorthog wants to pick more warlike allies, because they are more similar to the orcs. Sure, because their warlike way of life has been quite fruitful. Just ask the Darkmind Clan and the orcs that were living in the orc islands, oh wait...
-And Amari is fully aware of their plans. They might even be doing exactly what she wanted them to do.

 

[Hardric62]

-It' your fault Rangul. You were too rash in starting this invasion. You pretty much left your own homeland defenseless. If Genethas didn't have removed the engineers, the orcs could have been pushed back by Cleavehand, and they would have been wiped out by the demons coming from the rear.

Thing is, it can also be understood why he is so rash because, welp, it's Do or Die with this invasion, he needs success fast to survive. And the Orcs did need a successful invasion in the first place to survive: Even without Redfist burning it all, his observations of when he started it all are still right: The moment the war on the mainland ended, Orcs were next on the victor's menu, they need a more denfisble foothold to survive. YOu can still dock points for where the execution got botched, but the wider context hasn't been misread by Rangul in my opinion. Heck, if anything, the Redfist's assault only further stressed this need and how urgent the situation is. Just as Vanessa, Amari and Grofzag are showing changes are needed to be done along the way to make this work.

 

[MyPad]

Spoiler: Review for the current chapter (Act 6, Chapter 8)

Gameplay:

• So many enemy forces going through a choke point. A perfect position for Cannon Tower spam + Golem spam in the early - mid game.
  
  
• Irritar the Traitor's attack wave deals a lot of AOE damage. Expect heavy losses when not microing your army properly.
  
  
• An interesting change on the attacking wave from the Side Quest enemy base (if I'm not mistaken) comes with a larger sized army capable of mowing down a part of the Ironfist base where they would have struggled a bit to do so before.
  
  
• General Whitefield's kit is geared towards supporting your army, with his Ultimate skill deleting the medium health enemy units. Still, it is a shame it deals less damage than the demonic nova variant (which is also a regular hero skill) though I understand it to be due to lore reasons.
  
  
• Completing the Side Quest is tantamount to having won the mission already. After completing it, I had fun poking and whittling down Retka's base, kiting their forces as well. Of course, I had the 5 Blamigos (Bloodclaw amigos) gank Retka in the end, with the Destroyers providing additional damage.
  
  
• When Scarlett Retka surrenders (Korras Retka is defeated), some Pyrrean Army posts are still hostile to your forces. It can be inconvenient when they engage.
  
  
• Trebuchets not only provide an enormous range of vision, they also disrupt the formation of enemy armies. This can be quite useful for reducing their army comp by virtue of chip damage.
  
  
• Overall, this chapter felt a lot easier to play than the original SHB counterpart.

Story:

• While King-to-be Gardon may be ruthless, he is more pragmatic than what you would expect (aside from sparing Scarlett Retka initially). We also learn that Gardon does not fight the demons for the Emperor's cause, nor the Kingdoms'; he does so for the sake of humanity.
  
  
• It is ... bizarre for Gardon to mention the transgressions the traitor Korras Retka has done to the Kingdoms and the subsequent retribution for the Empire while in the midst of judging him, given the fact that he faced off against one of the Golden Guard regiments.
  
  
• After the battle, it must have been a hell of a cold night when Larine wanted to warm up with Gardon. Unfortunately for her, Gardon is still thinking about securing the Elven Borders as a staging ground for humanity's assault against the demons.
  
  
• Woe to Salana, the soon-to-be fallen Elven Ranger. Her fate was decided the moment she lashed out against whom she perceived as traitors without restraint. From what I take from the cutscene, Gardon might even have been slightly remorseful for being responsible for her aggression when mentioning the apparent overdose of dark magic enchantment on her necklace.
  
  
• While not explicitly in this chapter, a New Age will be coming soon. A New Age of Destroyerino.

 

[Karmondia]

Wait, so Larine's attraction to Gardon was natural and not the result of Gardon's magic?

Yes, but that is not really obvious, since Gardon and Larine don't share too many scenes together. Brian notices that Larine fancies Gardon, but I feel like it's not communicated to the player all that well. That is why I say they need a little more dialogue at the beginning of this chapter, (flirt a bit or something) because right now, the entire thing comes out of nowhere, except for Brian's comment, which in the context of what we have seen prior, doesn't make too much sense.

 

[Shar Dundred]

-Will it be explained how Scarlett knew about Chaos magic? Because she apparently is the only character with access to it.

Well, she is dead.
Since I am not sure atm if this piece of information will make it into the game anytime soon, I'll
just write an explanation in the spoiler below.
The term used by characters ingame is actually not entirely correct, in fact it was brought into
"public use" by Retka using lies and deceit (well, or "propaganda") to hide the fact that his sister was using demonic magic.
Otherwise people would have withdrawn support from him or never have supported him in the first place.
Retka was being a politician more than anything with this one.
It ended up being so effective that even his enemies believed it was some special kind of magic rather than, well,
demon magic. That and Scarlett not "just" using this kind of magic.

I had the 5 Blamigos (Bloodclaw amigos)

I love that term.

While not explicitly in this chapter, a New Age will be coming soon. A New Age of Destroyerino.

That one too.

 

[Elempash]

3 sets of hotkeys for 3 sets of production. Spam units > spam rally point at the enemy base and micro heroes. That was my best and it WORKED!
Did you consider using the frostmourne whisper sound effect while Cora's tripping? Think it could be funny and fitting

 

[Mvicio]

Lets talk about the final chapters of the act.

End of the uprising:
-This was a lot easier this time, you just have to be on the defensive with 1 army and maybe 2 heroes, then repair the ironfist side trebuchet, wait until most of the forces are dead and kill with your main army. Around that time Whitefield should change sides and the push with all your might against the order of the waves. Then repeat with the exterior trebuchet until you can kill Retka and then is pretty much a victory.
-So cora don´t trust Bryan at all it seems, nor bryan nor anyone to touch the orb. She is pretty much corrupted like all his sisters.
-I suppose Whitefield importance comes to an end right now, he´ll be the defender and recruiter of Pyrru and Toran while sending more forces to Gardon. That´s okay
-Bryan is surprised about the political marriage, even the lord of shadows with dozens of spies can´t know everything right?
-Scarlet is dead, no choice, we already knew that, i hope we get to use Avenge or some "Chaos" magic.
-I thought Larine got his tent warmed by Gardon before killing Renova, she is bolder now.
-A pity about Salana, she´ll be joining the undead really soon.

Lost Daughters:
-THis chapter was awesome.
-Having the Destroyer there with all of them was a nice touch, i thought maybe he would be imprisoned.
-Both Vanessa and The destroyer are influenced by iszog. A new age has come.
-This time it makes much more sense with the alliance, in the SOB all of them just join because they just want to enter the war i suppose.
-Okri vs The destroyer will be after the Second books, however i would love both of them fighting together against maybe the bonelords, just because they want to kill each other in a duel.
-If Amari knows about the gnolls, she should know that they won´t join the war so easy, she must have a plan.
-The reunion between Gorthog, Eprogh and the Destroyer was neat, of course The destroyer would know about the ogres since they are great warriors. Gorthog just enslave the fishmen/murlocs instead of recruiting them and Eprogh shows why he is the second in command during the invasion, just this once.
-I think the Pigmen won´t join the dominion until the end of the war, but the fishmen will and will follow Amari soon enough.
-Also the addition of the Bearman will help Amari, since they are warriors but pacifist nonetheless.
-Amari knows about the plan to join more races, but she´ll use this to her advantage. She´ll send Vanessa to the ogres to prevent Ephrog doing the negotiations, instead they´ll deal with Vanessa. Gorthog wants to enslave races, not allies, so she´ll show the pigmen/fishmen how he deals with this allies, He´ll probably be betrayed in his fight against Dorbric.

Really nice end of the act Shar!

Hortnog doesn't give half a damn that Rath is running to his death. Chad.

Hortnog is always a Chad.

-Wait, so Larine's attraction to Gardon was natural and not the result of Gardon's magic?

It seems so, during the starting meeting of the act maybe? Also the ring empower that love 100%

-And Amari is fully aware of their plans. They might even be doing exactly what she wanted them to do.

Getting more and more forces for bryan so any reason is nice for her.

The term used by characters ingame is actually not entirely correct, in fact it was brought into
"public use" by Retka using lies and deceit (well, or "propaganda") to hide the fact that his sister was using demonic magic.

So she could use demonic magic and had a little more sense than Aedale. How did Scarlet get his hands on demonic magic? An eye?

 

[Enki555]

Here am I:
Chapter 6: -That was one hell of mission it has been in SHB. In normal, manageable. In hard... had to use cheat to destroy Rohir, Traitors, and half of Order of the Frost base. Even taking out Zirr nexus is difficult with their frost wyrms and lorekeepers obliterating my army if not careful. Even army composed mostly of elites can't take out later bases and shades in the human base really made it too tense to snipe them one by one by shadow creatures. Elites of Ironfist should be given a different model and upgrade Endless War; maybe that should balance the map a bit. Brian's Cloud should be replaced imo as it requires him to channel in the middle of fight without any use. It can be channeled spell hugely reducing the movement of units in the area and can synergize well with shadow corruption. Brian's shadows are awesome as always, and... if there are sufficient models created in the future, perhaps whole techtree of Brian's Shadows can be sired. Especially in Kent clash, three shadows with taunt can disturb the positioning of troops in the chokepoint blocked by elites, but make the forward base near Kent's as first attack is likely to fail with Kent spawning revenants if he is not focused. And yeah, even Rahandir is annoyed by Pentiss; her fanaticism really makes her look suspicious. She would make even successful succubus than Ebira had she been Demon; not only her tongue is pure silver but also she has much backup plans like her creator Aridon. I wonder if Brian is willing to take another apprentice...
Chapter 7: -That was also almost impossible in Hard. Fine in normal. Good tension with forest creatures hounding from behind which makes good blend with situation. In Hard, there should be more restoration rune as it is possible to lose most of the forces in just first half of the map. And finally Bearmen hero, and he is Pango of Arkain
Chapter 8: Pretty fine mission. The key is to get trebuchets asap and ignore Whitefield's base for a while and quickly destroy Rebels' base outside the entrance. Beware of Destructors, and quickly build air defense from the start in Royal Army base. Cora again mvp with Larine's healing keeping her up. Gardon and Brian can tank together in the frontline; make sure to build executors, golems, and overseers sufficiently well xD. There could be more use to Eagle Lancers tho; they r just golden-human version of dragonhawk riders; maybe giving them searing arrows could help? They r Golden Guard afterall. And... alas, Scarlett is siphoned . I wonder if Aridon has use for her in undeath. And now... at least Cora's corruption is clearer and makes sense. it was wise to shew whispers in the orb and made her plan to siphon clear. So, Chaos magic is demonic in nature? Ebira could've chosen her... So, Larine is naturally attracted to Gardon? Perhaps they r truly compatible. Well, it is she who knew (double pun intended) Gardon first and therefore she has more privileges than Vail . Ah, Salana... how unfortunate. I actually wished her to be first to elope with Gardon... but maybe that did happen? After special enchantment maybe? So, we will see interactions between Larine and Saphira instead. I wonder if Lera can side with Larine; I'm certain she knew her... perhaps her trauma with Larantos incident can convince her...
Lost Daughters: -Much better storyline. It didn't make much sense that Amari could offer that many races especially Fishmen, Pigmen, and Ogres whom she didn't know. Now that three orcs suggested them, perhaps we will recruit Pigmen and Fishmen in the future missions; allowing them to participate in Salria arc. Can't wait for next update; I rlly hope it is undead mission: very possibly fallen queen's re-coronation in elven forest as next arc is tied to Elves or maybe end of Darkmind saga. Or possibly Scarec crusade in the mountains being precursor to Salria arc. Good luck.

 

[Karmondia]

As I said, here is End of an Uprising on Hard. Took my time with this one, because this mission is insanely fun. Weirdly, sometimes Scarlett decides to run out of her base alone, only to then go back. I have no idea why, but it's really funny.

 

[HappyMan]

Hey fella! Hope I still not miss the party!!

Act Six - Chapter Eight: End of An Uprising (An epic chapter indeed)

- Command 3 faction at once is quite difficult, but gradually you will get used to it.

- The Ironfist is fearful monster in battles, Regeneration Aura of Overseer dudes are enough to give your enemy terrific experience, not to mention Gardon's sword aura and Endless War ability.

- Brian, I will call him the Master of Defense from now on, he can stop an attacking wave ALL BY HIMSELF.

- Glad that Whitefield choose the right side. He is definitely going into my favorite character list because why not

- Poor Gardon, he must be very depressed and furious at the same time when he know that his "uncle" betray him. Although he may know the truth behind it.

- I think I remember seeing Commander Royan in "A Golden Welcome", he following the rest to the room with Renald. I guess we are going to take down High Lord's officers one by one through the next chapters, eh?

- Scarlett's fate is settled. What a shame for a potential character to have her time to develop, what will happen with Kajon Marauder? They will join Gardon or be dismissed?

- Most of Ending is following "Death of A Legend" in SHB, a perfect and even better one too. Nice job, I love to watch long and chilling cinematic Especially the last one, need to have at least a romance scene in Arkain, right?


- - -

Act Six - Epilogue: Lost Daughter (Aww, too bad it is the end of Act Six and need a while for the next Act to come, I need to control my hunger for Arkain)

- Rangul, you may be a wise Orc but your daughter Amari is more than that. She have far and long sight, the Orc race alone cannot stand again dangerous threats.

- The reunion of family is here. It go well more than I thought. Hello Sas! Your lost sister is back, surprise!? We have a lot to talk. Also the Destroyer, I still not have any clue how he and Okri would go? Will she manage to kill him or something happen unfortunately before that?

- There would be more races to join, this is really interesting. Good idead, Gorthog! Although someone else will take care of that, you don't have to do anything!

- Destroyer know about the Orges and many things, as Okri said, he is truly smarter than he look, don't judge an Orc by his look!

That's all, thank you for the gameplay Mr.Shar. Have a nice day, fella!

 

[Karmondia]

Missed me? Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have ANOTHER video for you! It's End of an Uprising again. Yes, you have heard it right! I love this mission so much that I decided to try it again. This time, I'm not using any of the trebuchets on the map. So... no bonus vision, no extra siege damage... and also this time, I destroyed Scarlett's base too. I didn't take advantage of her cowardice, and killed her before her brother. That means she only surrendered after her base was completely wiped out. Since all of this was done on hard, we could call this "extra hard" or something.

On a related note, the more I think about it, the more I feel like Larine and Gardon need some extra dialogue at the start of the mission. Their thing is quiet sudden, and them having some extra dialogue in the beginning would really set up the end cinematic, (and make it clear that the "bed warming" was mostly consensual).

 

[Paul Emirique Ibanez]

Adding pigmen and murlocs to the tribal dominion would be a great addition to the dominion but how would you fit more of them in the production building

 

[Elempash]

If memory serves, Dominion used to have only 3 production buildings.

Adding pigmen and murlocs to the tribal dominion would be a great addition to the dominion but how would you fit more of them in the production building

And it was enough to host all of their unit roster. I see no issue adding another one in case that's not enough.

 

[nchp1903]

Maybe giving the production structures many 'pages' can be an acceptable workaround, Like 2 separate Barracks, and one has about 8-9 units, and each can upgrade into the other.

Also, I feel like Orc lacks the Leader-type unit that Undead and Human have (Sergeant, Overseer, Ghost, etc) so Pigmen and Fishmen can probably fill that hole.

 

[Vindicator777]

Maybe giving the production structures many 'pages' can be an acceptable workaround, Like 2 separate Barracks, and one has about 8-9 units, and each can upgrade into the other.

Also, I feel like Orc lacks the Leader-type unit that Undead and Human have (Sergeant, Overseer, Ghost, etc) so Pigmen and Fishmen can probably fill that hole.

Orcs have Destroyer's long lost cousins - champions

 

[nchp1903]

Champions are nice, no doubt, with a big body to tank and deal consistent AoE damage. However, having a new unit that buffs an entire army by just running around with their passive aura seems too good to pass up. Equal rights for the Dominion, and all that stuffs.

I have an idea here: Darkmind Standard-bearer. Since Rath has led all of his strongest warriors to their demise, the ones that (somehow) survive now serve as support troops. They have higher stats and movement speed than other Leaders, but can only provide an aura with small radius via planting their banner in a targeted area.

 

[Paul Emirique Ibanez]

I think if Destroyer still lives until the tribal dominion is formed, the champions would stay and get a buff damage and armor same as the ogres. Hopefully

 

[DD Mikasa]

I think if Destroyer still lives until the tribal dominion is formed, the champions would stay and get a buff damage and armor same as the ogres. Hopefully

Having champions while you have shield bearers and ogres and furbolg galdiators is an overkill and a over clogging of the orc unit roster.

Orcs already suffer from the "to many choices" to the point that it will overwhelm the player and most of use simply decided to stick with the same army make up. Why add more crap that its not going to be build, yeah the= champions are neat because you can over buff them with bloodlust+frenzy and watch them tear through enemy armies with their cleave passive but shield bearers do that just as well while tanking even more than a champion.

Also just because it was mentioned that a fraction of what will be the Tribal dominion wants to recruit new races to their dominion that doesn't mean they will get permanent units on the orc roster (murlocs from the siege of Kome come to mind here).

The orc unit tree is fine as it is, its existing units might need a few tweaks/improvement adding new units or re-introducing old ones seems pointless to me.

 

[Hardric62]

Champions, or Brutes I guess, could have a place... Except I think this would likely as an unit part of the Reactionary Faction of the Orcs with Destroyer and Gorthog, when they eventually stand in opposition of Amari and her vision of the Dominion. Because they sure as heck not getting Bearmen, or Shieldbearers.

 

[Tchakuryo]

As always, I had a lot of fun. Took me a long time to finish the mission on hard difficulty, but finally managed it. I am very eager to see the following chapters.

 

[nchp1903]

Having champions while you have shield bearers and ogres and furbolg galdiators is an overkill and a over clogging of the orc unit roster.

Orcs already suffer from the "to many choices" to the point that it will overwhelm the player and most of use simply decided to stick with the same army make up. Why add more crap that its not going to be build, yeah the= champions are neat because you can over buff them with bloodlust+frenzy and watch them tear through enemy armies with their cleave passive but shield bearers do that just as well while tanking even more than a champion.

You speak facts. During SOB, I myself feel kinda overwhelmed by the new units being introduced in every new level, and when I fail to use to their fullest, I fall back to spamming the same optimal units like Shieldbearers.

I would like to have something that limits the number of unit types that one can have in the same level to help force me out of my comfort zone, but I'm not sure of other players will share this sentiment.

 

[Deleted member 304046]

While Shar is working on the next chapter of the True Story, I wanted to share a theory of mine in regards to Blen Greymoore.

Shar has said that none of the former fates of Blen will be repeated in the True Story, if I recall correctly. Those fates are:

• The Human Books – Is tortured by the Golden Guard and dies because of it.

• The Orcs Books – Either is killed by Rath or survives and joins Gardon.

• The Undead Books – Ambiguous(There were also no plans of raising Blen as an Undead and it would also obviously require him to die, which would be too similar to the other books)

With those options out of the way, we know that there is animosity between Blen and Zoia. The Wolf Regiment had also inflicted harm on Inara, even though she thinks that Blen is responsible (common theory is that Zoia wanted an orcish assassin to kill Blen so that his death would not be traced back to her). In the forthcoming acts and chapters of the True Story there might be a resolution to Blen-Zoia's plotline and it would be a missed opportunity if Inara didn't exact revenge on Zoia and the Wolf Regiment for what they had done to her. My theory, as unlikely as it may be, is that Inara and Blen might join forces (at least temporarily). What could happen is that Blen kills Rath, but is attacked by Inara afterwards. Confused, as he hadn't seen a female orc in a fight before and as to why this one orc, who he didn't even seen or known before, would want to kill him so much, Blen would try to stand his ground, but Inara would be too vicious as an opponent and would have the upper hand, while expressing her (misguided) hatred for Blen. Blen would soon learn what exactly happened to Inara, coming to the conclusion what Zoia's intentions were. Blen, who might possibly sympathize with Inara for what was done to her, would try to reason and reach out to her, though Inara would not believe Blen's innocence. However, she would relent and spare Blen's life (perhaps after some words from Lokar). In exchange, Blen would have to cooperate and help Inara find Zoia in order to kill her, as well as to prove that he is telling the truth. Blen, already betrayed by the Empire and almost being one step away fron being killed, agrees. Blen would spend quite some time with Inara and Lokar with the Ironthunder Clan. Seeing Orcs, who were either innocent victims driven into revenge (Inara) or were more reasonable and restrained (Lokar) might influence Blen's views on the Orcs somewhat. Upon arriving at Salria with Inara and Lokar, Blen, while regarded with suspicion and doubt by some (Sasrogarn and Zairmak), would prove himself by fighting alongside Inara and the Goblins against the Wolf Regiment. Confronting Zoia, Blen and Inara would defeat her. Zoia might end up being killed by Inara, while the remaining Wolf Regiment forces would be given an ultimatum: either leave Salria and leave Blen and the Orcs in peace or die right here and there. In the end, Blen would be given a chance to settle in Salria. Having nowhere to go and perhaps developing a some sort of respect for the Orcs/Dominion, Blen would take that chance, perhaps joining the Blackthorn organization at a later point in time.

Not sure if any of this is plausible, but it was fun to speculate about Blen's fate.

 

[Jayborino]

Please share Forged in Iron and Blood strategies please. I feel incredibly stupid now after recording an hour on it and making zero progress. Considering all of the nightmare maps of this act in particular, I feel especially lame being stuck on this one and not the more notorious ones which have been fine for me thus far.

To be a little clearer, I guess I'm a little confused at how it seems like a bunch of you all played this and gave thumbs up, which makes me think I've become extra bad these days or am somehow accidentally playing on Hard.

First, the briefing/intro tells you two things that turn out to be blatantly misleading. 1) Red will attack you, which IMPLIES the other two won't since one is remarked on as having a strong defense and the other having the special towers and otherwise weak army (she doesn't though because Hydromancers that the AI can build endlessly for free is busted). As such, I went for Red first because they're the offensive one, right? WRONG, they all are. 2) Don't destroy production, wink wink nudge nudge, except after being misled by the intro already I'm starting to think that maybe I need to just destroy the production structures, so that I'm not deep in enemy territory and they are spamming out 50 supply at a time between me and potential reinforcements.

Second, the Merc compounds needing a unit near them and being unable to set rallies is unnecessary. Faction colors are already inconsistent from mission to mission. In this one already, Coast Guard and Royal Army are all Ironfist faction, so Jadira's thing does not need to be Yellow or that specific type of building because it disallows hotkeying and rallying. Make them rescuable and therefore more usable. There's not really a good reason to have no altar either IMO.

Basically, this map gives a lot of mixed messages to a blind playthrough and I spent A LOT of time being mostly confused, getting close to a boss, getting surrounded and overwhelmed by AI bases with 20 production structures stacked with another base's attack wave, and reloading to do it again a few times. I gave up on Red but found the generator and went for Teal instead where the results were exactly the same. I didn't reinforce much but I tried to do that more in a try off camera and they just got trapped between my army and the AI spam rebuilding. Maybe I should semi-AFK to farm up cash from attack waves? The only other playthrough I can find is someone who uses cheats. What am I missing here and am I the first person to bring up concerns on this one? This is why I feel like maybe I'm going crazy.

 

[nchp1903]

I think the lack of Siege damage makes any strat that involves crippling their production is impossible, and the lack of Gold Mine makes turtling also impossible. So here's how I did the level on Hard, if you don't mind using cheese strat.

Spoiler: Cheese

• So, the plan is, we need to kill the filthy Hydro spammer and Knight spammer first. For that, we need Larine's Shadow Cloak at LV3, which means Larine needs to hit LV8. Do that by farming pre-placed Marauders around the map. Also, near the first Merc Camp are two crates, which contain an Ankh and a Healing Scroll, can be useful later on.
• Now, we do the math. Shadow Cloak lasts 40s and costs 85 mana. LV8 Larine has 35 Intelligence, so she regenerates about 1.75 mana/s or 70 mana/40s, which is not enough to spam Shadow Cloak. So that's why we need this item:

• The Sobi Mask is dropped from the Berserk Elemental, tucked far away from our starting point. Now you can use this to kill Elrin, or even Mirage once in a while to quicken the process. Same with Korbaz, but you have to snipe the two Chaplains first, and keep Larine at max range, so that Korbaz's Storm Bolt can't hit her before she enters stealth.
• Remember to grab the Hoe from the neutral Gardener, just to the right of Korbaz. Unique item is nice.
• Woras is an asshole, however, with LV3 Regen Aura so this won't work. Instead, we can go for a more direct approach. Grab about 20-ish units and pull out units from his base, then leave a few behind, while the rest press on. Every time his bullshit production overwhelms you, just leave a unit or two behind to buy time.
• Use everything on Woras. Lightning Bolt, Blizzard, Mirage, Hawk, etc,... until he dies. You can see that my Cora dies here, so that's where the extra Ankh comes in handy.
  
• Now pull back to Elrin's base and enjoy an easy win.