New Content Discussion [SPOILER]

[Mvicio]

Lets go, this one was a blast!.
-Vanessa´s boni, i need some gold since i´m in one goldmine, also Oneeye dont have one boni?
-Sasrogarn keeps being useless, he couldn´t even defend our base from the aerial attacks.
-I split my 3 heroes into all the bases except for Brokta (he got the other unknown heroes, 2 witch doctors that healed him in his chockepoint), leaving zairmak with the goblins is the easiest one since he can repair all of them for free.
-Once Amari and his forces arrived (why couldn´t we build gnolls afterwards) everyone rushed to the south and destroy king salran base
-I think i didn´t have that conversation about his children, is it because i defeat him before the undead arrival?
-So bryan owes one to gardon for using the purificator to literally save the orcs (and also prevent being betrayed much harder later in the future)... that´s not good for the dominion.
-So the ANNOYING Boar regiment that was focused in killing beast and then orcs were undead all along or they were killed and use their forces to the army of bones? Anyway they are dead thats good, is the worst regiment to deal with.
-Once the undead arrives, focus on defeating Tremalon and top side bonelord since the centaurs are really weak unless you heal them. Seliors surprise was cool though, also Tremalon said about another threat... is it Volarion or Aedale?
-So in my playthough, Dorbric´s altar was left alone (the rest of the buildings were destroyed) so kept charging everytime against me and the undead, 1vs army that most of the times wins. I´m not sure if it was intended but was really cool
-The rest of the map is simple, keep your caster army + dragons next to the heroes and destroy the bonelords.

-Dorbric vs Brockta, and Brockta said that he would be defeated is Dorbric was his normal self. Also Meya tried to save another regiment (i suppose since they are all strong muscular men she wants them...) but Dorbric ignored it and charge anyway, a fitting end for the BULL regiment.
-Orgrem... he killed both Eprogh and Brockta and then retires... that was a huge lose for the dominion since the ogres are leaderless.
-Know the BONEKING is one of the most powerful entities of Arkain... i suppose thanks amari.
-Grella is pretty much Amari´s lapdog now, same as Lerrig to Genethas.
-Sasrogarn, Amari and Inara is a mission to defeat the dwarves... yeah sasrogarn is gonne.
-So Amari wants to know how Inara took control of 2 clans at once without opposition, also the cyclops overlord are nowhere to be seen, did she took control over the cyclops too?
-For the new age... right...
-I think the Moghtar with Gorthog will arrive sooner or later, perhaps during the next orc mission or during the redfist final battle.

Nice work Shar and Karskin!

The clan choices seem to grow more and more inconsequential. When you see how battered the orc clans and their leadership have been, it's not really a surprise. I went for the goldaxe but only relied on ogres, dragons and casters.

Since more and more races are joining the dominion, the orcs are getting less influence during the battles.

All of Grella's voicelines are almost copypasted declarations of Amari's greatness. The amulet seems quite effective. But Amari seems to grow rather short of genuine supporter (most trust her more than Sas... but we're far from the SOB days). Overall, the following chapters of the Dominion grow more and more interesting.

Yes, she only have the support of the dark trolls, her clan and the goblins, the centaur wants to remain neutral, the bearmen follow Grofzag and Zairmak and the Ogres right now... they want to kill Orgem. Inara will side with the winning side 100%

Vanessa carries the weight of her lie to her grave, now that she knows the Ogres are actively fighting for a war they could've avoided entirely, especially to the one whom she lied to having embraced the vulnerable arms of death or Aridon.

Well without the ogres support everyone will be dead right now and part of the army of bones, even if the purificator hit them, their west side would have fallen way before the undead arrival.

The culling makes no exceptions... not even for honorable Ogres.

How many undead heroes really died this time? 2 of the bonelords, Selior and perhaps Haran?

Darkfang is dead.

That was expected but thanks to Blen sparing Darkfang, Zoia is alive.

It's probably because their role was the same in the SOB, so it looks like they act the same whether they were shot or not but the shot's consequences aren't quite clear in the mission (especially since, while quite large, their army is quite small compared to all the undead you fight in the mission.)

Well, if they went to the offensive you would be overrun unless you were prepared, also you wouldn´t be able to collect the items from the bases, their army could be small but that would be more than enough to defeat one of the sides, attack the flanks of the other 2 (thus making easier to the humans to attack the orcs) or even reach your central base.

The rest of the army was their special move using the bodies of all the salrians and imperials killed during this battle.

-The triad beings becoming one... and that could make unforeseen domino effect. I wonder if this new demigod finds new master... oh perhaps you should hark Master of Shadows. Shadow skeletons would be splendid sight...

Bryan betrayed the pact of Aridon and indirectly "free" them of his grasp... but i think the dark one will be his master if he finds a new one. Anyway he´ll come back in the future with another army of bones to fight probably the dominion (since amari merge them 3, it could separate them and make them slaves of aridon again so they can´t afford that)

Aridon didn't want them to raise any Orcs

So the corpses the undead had were from the centaurs, goblins, dark trolls and bearmen only? Or the allied races didn´t get raised?

 

[Plantpaladin]

Strategy
The map is built as a sandwich where the biggest danger is north(Centaurs) and south(Darkmind).
West(Ogres) sometimes needed some support and east(Goblins) never did.
Watchtowers were useful but North has lots of Siege.
Air raids are key to this scenario, used other units primarly to defend. Used both Airships and Red Dragons.

Used Gold Boni but Caster support could also work because I used witch doctors to heal after raids and other casters were nice
Went for south base first and hit it hard before the undead arrive. Focused Altars since heroes hurt air.
Managed to clear nearly all production so the undead could mop up.
Went northeast undead next with air, there is a gap between tower clusters. Air defense is fairly weak so managed to hurt them badly before they broke through north humans. Hurt northwest undead buildings after but ran away from bonelord.

Southeast undead had nasty air defense units so lost many taking down production.
Southwest undead is hardest to raid so bring in heroes and ground for full assult. Keep focusing production.
Bonelords is about bringing in whole team of heroes, west one got mirror image. Used Oneeye to loot main buildings after sicne he needs most items.

 

[Jorgonson]

Really enjoyed the new mission. I think it was quite a bit easier than the SOB version, but I liked the new difficulty as it allows you to actually move out rather than defending with your heroes and just sniping bonelords with red dragons.

The enemies definitely seemed stronger, but the allied bases were way more competent. Brockta needed 0 help the entire map, and for Pechan 10 towers at his fortress were sufficient. The south requires a bit more attention, but the high ground choke point combined with Borean’s heal leaves them pretty solid. Honestly only Flammedus’s base was in any real danger throughout my playthrough.

Story wise I liked it a lot. I think the general concept of the confrontation works really well. However, one nitpick is the whole combining the Bonelords idea that Amari had. It didn’t seem like she really had a plan there, and instead was just like “oh I can combine them? Tight. Guess this should be helpful…somehow”. I feel like the scene could have worked better if it was Brian’s idea, as he knows Aridon can’t control gods or arkanians. He could have suggested Amari combine them, believing that they would lose focus when cut off from Aridon

 

[Plantpaladin]

Is the speedrun tactic sniping bonelords? How long did it take?

 

[DD Mikasa]

Is the speedrun tactic sniping bonelords? How long did it take?

Its really not, Bonelords have a special armour type that makes all forms of attack (including chaos) deal 50% less damage. Only hero damage does full damage, i dont remember this being the case in SOB version of the map so the snipe with red dragons tactics could have been possible. Here id say focus on the red and blue bases first then destroy the Bonelords Leave the wolf and bull alone they delay the enemy bases long enough for you to do your thing.

 

[Jayborino]

I like how the Orc/Dominion storyline has changed. Since they aren't bothering with the Golden Guard or cannon, they get a new mission Still no idea how the Sasrogarn stuff will play out! Grofzag being Deathbreeze chieftain in Drums of the South narrows things down a bit, but I think the Gran plotline is going to be key to how this all wraps up. The 'hmmms' were very pointed, so I suspect he will secretly surveil how that situation goes with Sasrogarn.

Hard to tell what Inara's actual end goal is - good character to keep shaking things up. She's been a net good for the alliance by not letting Ironthunder break off, but also silly for not thinking the loose Gorthog thread isn't a problem for her to so brazenly lie. Without any additional subtext, you'd almost think she is a necessary evil for the Dominion, but some comments she makes make it apparent she has something more nefarious going on and we still don't know what.

Where my Cyclops at?

Boar Regiment died like they deserved to: offscreen. Their reanimated corpses were promptly obliterated by a weapon of mass destruction, thank goodness. Shar has tied up my two biggest faction questions, Grey Guard and Boar Regiment.

I like how Anveen was filled with urgency in The Golden Truth, then somehow managed to be in zero places. More fodder for the Redfist map presumably, whomp whomp. Maybe I'll update the factions status thread here soon.

Amari casually creates a superbeing like "oh lol didn't know what would happen!" then shrugs and says it's a problem for our grandchildren. I understand she's been made less great in the True Story, but that was kinda weird. Perhaps more fitting would have been Maronogin advising her of the ability to do that and her having a bit more confidence in it being the correct course of action.

Wake up honey new Boneking just dropped. If they still love Aridon so much, how about walk and go chat with him in person rather than becoming The Joker. Bonelords/Boneking outcome is another plotline resolved in the short stories (EDIT: the timeline actually and it sounds like it is going to be changed).

 

[Paul Emirique Ibanez]

Hmmm, the centaurs in my game seems to be mass producing so many archers and the lack of centaur khan. Its good but definitely will not last long enough

 

[nchp1903]

The only time I've been too busy to play and decided to read spoilers for shits and giggles, this was literally the first post that popped up. Fml.

NOOOOOOO! BROCKTA IS DEAD!!!

 

[Zergy]

Sorry to spoil ya, Mate.

 

[DD Mikasa]

I like how Anveen was filled with urgency in The Golden Truth, then somehow managed to be in zero places. More fodder for the Redfist map presumably, whomp whomp. Maybe I'll update the factions status thread here soon

Considering she has failled to appear in any chapter besides the huge showdown between the Invading Orcs and Defending Humans i wouldn't be surprised if she failed to appear in the Redfist/Dominion showdown. I have a hunch she might appear alongside Van Durce kids though, their plot line still has to offer after all.

Gran plotline is going to be key to how this all wraps up. The 'hmmms' were very pointed, so I suspect he will secretly surveil how that situation goes with Sasrogarn.

I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled a I will isolate my island from anything and anyone move, alternatively he might die on the Redfist showdown (that would he lame though). Sadly he's abit isolated politically, he cant even ally with Gardon because Both Gardon and Amari work with Brian. My prediction is he might funnily enough ally with Moghtars.

 

[nchp1903]

Sorry to spoil ya, Mate.

Well, I got into a spoiler thread and not expecting spoilers. I'm the one taking the L here.

Anyway, I have to admit something: I whosyourdaddy'd the whole map to read the story.

Yeah, too many crashes on 1.31 when I use Airships, and ground forces aren't doing too great, especially when all enemy structures got Glyph of Fortification. There is no memory leak, not too many units, not even an error report. Running on compatibility mode won't fix it either, don't know why.

Doubt I have anything to add to story review, too, since I came up late. Now, I'm just curious about Sas' fate. He won't go down without a fight, but how will he die? By Inara, by Amari, or they just let the dwarves run their own course and snipe his ass.

I will retry the map legitimately later when I have the time though. Can't let this be a stain on my 100%-Hard-cleared record, as minor as it may be.

 

[Zergy]

Well, I got into a spoiler thread and not expecting spoilers. I'm the one taking the L here.

Anyway, I have to admit something: I whosyourdaddy'd the whole map to read the story.

Yeah, too many crashes on 1.31 when I use Airships, and ground forces aren't doing too great, especially when all enemy structures got Glyph of Fortification. There is no memory leak, not too many units, not even an error report. Running on compatibility mode won't fix it either, don't know why.

Doubt I have anything to add to story review, too, since I came up late. Now, I'm just curious about Sas' fate. He won't go down without a fight, but how will he die? By Inara, by Amari, or they just let the dwarves run their own course and snipe his ass.

We've been discussing this kind of Problem in the Bug report section, lately. Deepstraz has somewhat explained the problem that is present within versions 1.30 and Beyond.

 

[Shar Dundred]

We've been discussing this kind of Problem in the Bug report section, lately. Deepstraz has somewhat explained the problem that is present within versions 1.30 and Beyond.

That's not at all what @deepstrasz said.
He simply said which version he uses for testing purposes, it had no relation whatsoever to the crash reports from your particular case.

 

[Zergy]

That's not at all what @deepstrasz said.
He simply said which version he uses for testing purposes, it had no relation whatsoever to the crash reports from your particular case.

Ah, thank you for the clarification, Master Shar and I do apologize if I'm spreading wrong information. But, I do hope that you are in the mood to hear from me that I bring some good news about the latest map when it's running at 1.30.

It's complicated to say here, so I have to make a video for evidence of my findings, basically, I finally found the main problem that is causing the crash on 1.30. Expect an Ogre Emessary to deliver you the details from me within the week.

 

[Jayborino]

I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled a I will isolate my island from anything and anyone move, alternatively he might die on the Redfist showdown (that would he lame though). Sadly he's abit isolated politically, he cant even ally with Gardon because Both Gardon and Amari work with Brian. My prediction is he might funnily enough ally with Moghtars.

Gran is mentioned in Drums in the South as having a relationship with the Dominion at the very least. He’s not present but Amari seems surprised by that so there’s a connection there and he doesn’t get totally cut off.

 

[Kasrkin]

Spoiler: Bonelords Spoiler

Thought we made it a bit too obvious that Brian advised Amari on the Bonelord situation with the purificator 'test' firing in the mid mission cinematic.

 

[Apprentice Darkmoon]

Since the ogres are without a leader, can we expect another ogre to rise and take leadership? Or maybe the Cyclop leader will become the new head of both ogres and cyclops alike? Did he will become a new playable hero?
The Red day will feel so empty without Brockta's presences.

 

[Jayborino]

Spoiler: Bonelords Spoiler

Thought we made it a bit too obvious that Brian advised Amari on the Bonelord situation with the purificator 'test' firing in the mid mission cinematic.

Can you clarify what you mean? Maronogin explicitly warns her, then she says thanks to Brian when the cannon fires. The 'advising' came from gold guy. The cannon shot a big cannon blast. I guess it showed her they reanimate, but that'd be way better guidance towards what the timeline says eventually happens, which is to split them up to the point that they can't reform. Was there anything re: Brian from earlier in the True Story talking about merging beings together? That would be an interesting payoff if so.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Can you clarify what you mean? Maronogin explicitly warns her, then she says thanks to Brian when the cannon fires. The 'advising' came from gold guy. The cannon shot a big cannon blast. I guess it showed her they reanimate, but that'd be way better guidance towards what the timeline says eventually happens, which is to split them up to the point that they can't reform. Was there anything re: Brian from earlier in the True Story talking about merging beings together? That would be an interesting payoff if so.

Spoiler: One Bonelord?!

Brian and Amari having had an offscreen talk is obvious due to events in the latest chapter I believe.
If you keep that in mind and remember what Krom told Brian about Aridon's control of Arkainians...
Let's just say Brian had Amari test a certain theory.

They expected the Bonelords to meet their end rather than what actually happened however.
Neither of them could have foreseen this.

Both broke their pact basically

 

[Shar Dundred]

Now that the shock of the last chapter has passed and the deaths have been revealed, there remains one question:
Who is next?

 

[Mvicio]

Probably orgrem and 100% Sas

 

[Plantpaladin]

Gorthog vs Intara vs Orgrem? Sas and Amari forced to take sides?

 

[Vindicator777]

Who is next?

Amari and Inara

 

[Jarl Bob]

Now that the shock of the last chapter has passed and the deaths have been revealed, there remains one question:
Who is next?

hope not sas : (

 

[Karmondia]

Now that the shock of the last chapter has passed and the deaths have been revealed, there remains one question:
Who is next?

Amari and Inara

hope not sas : (

I also don't want Sas to die. Yes, he is a coward, self centered weakling, but still... I feel bad for him. Amari dying instead of Sas would be a HUGE twist, though I doubt that will happen. I hope Inara dies, she deserves it.

 

[Jongyi233]

Amari dying would be a huge twist. She is the least interesting character of the main three.
I hope none of the dwarf dies bcos they are a lot more interesting than orcs for me.
Sas surviving and overcoming his flaws would be a dope story

 

[Vindicator777]

I also don't want Sas to die. Yes, he is a coward, self centered weakling, but still... I feel bad for him. Amari dying instead of Sas would be a HUGE twist, though I doubt that will happen. I hope Inara dies, she deserves it.

Atleast Sas doesn't get so much hate in True Story compare to SOB.

 

[Tuwnew]

I would love to see Sas redeeming himself by killing Orgen, getting respect from Amari.
But being killed by Inara anyway lol

 

[nchp1903]

I wonder if any Dwarven leader from Possession, other than Orgen, is still alive. If so, they, alongside Orgen, maybe with Horgar as reinforcements too, will show up here, alongside a few Dwarven paladin, who's learnt a thing or two from Praxeus' brief visit.

Maybe we can be extra evil and put Orgen on a mountain far back of his base, surrounded by towers, with massive increase attack range and can one shot any Hero because, well, lore accurate.

I have a feeling that Sas will die/be disposed of, not in the way Amari wants, but she will still try to go along to take advantage of the situation anyway. After all, that's what she's good at.

 

[Karmondia]

Amari dying would be a huge twist. She is the least interesting character of the main three.
I hope none of the dwarf dies bcos they are a lot more interesting than orcs for me.
Sas surviving and overcoming his flaws would be a dope story

Atleast Sas doesn't get so much hate in True Story compare to SOB.

I would love to see Sas redeeming himself by killing Orgen, getting respect from Amari.
But being killed by Inara anyway lol

A Sasrogarn redemption story would be awesome... I feel like much of the hate against Sas stems from the fact that he had weak abilities in the First Orc Book, and you had to control him in Siege of Kome, which is a very challenging level. People started meming about Sas, and the creator embraced it, making him a joke character. I feel like a vocal minority hated Sasrogarn, but I (and I assume many others) just thought he was sort of a one note character like Blen, whose personality just needs to get fleshed out, not completely overwritten. Then, the Second Orc Book came, and his loving relationship with Vanessa ceased to exist, his achivements building up the orcish fleet and rescuing Vanessa from Kome got attributed to Grofzag, and he became a weakling coward, an ineffective leader, to make Amari the only viable leader candidate for the Dominion. Then the True Story made him to be a coward from the beginning, which was good for story consistency, but now he became such a coward, it's a wonder he survived in orc society, which respects strength above all else. Overall, I would be really happy, if Sasrogarn got some sort of a redemption arc... even though I don't think he will. He will most likely die, even though him surviving would make the story very interesting (for me at least).

 

[Shar Dundred]

I disagree that "only a minority" disliked Sasrogarn back then.
In fact back in the day unfortunately many people that didn't "hate" Sasrogarn were people who felt that Amari was a Mary Sue/Wonder Woman/Idontcarewhat along with some - a minority within the minority - going as far as to call Arkain SJW because of Amari being a main character and therefore wanted Sasrogarn to win.
I don't think I have to even point out why that is nonsense, we are long past that and I know you people are smarter than that.

Naturally this doesn't imply that anyone who doesn't like her is one of these people. Everyone has their own preferences and that is totally fine.
Unless you disagree that Meya is beautiful and Redfist is the best dad of all universes.

I do find it interesting how quickly this turned into an Amari VS Sas discussion.
It does show the involvement of people in the latest events which I quite like to see.
It goes without saying that the "theme" of those two facing off is still around.
Not on the next map but it is still around.

 

[Jongyi233]

I disagree that "only a minority" disliked Sasrogarn back then.
In fact back in the day unfortunately many people that didn't "hate" Sasrogarn were people who felt that Amari was a Mary Sue/Wonder Woman/Idontcarewhat along with some - a minority within the minority - going as far as to call Arkain SJW because of Amari being a main character and therefore wanted Sasrogarn to win.
I don't think I have to even point out why that is nonsense, we are long past that and I know you people are smarter than that.

Naturally this doesn't imply that anyone who doesn't like her is one of these people. Everyone has their own preferences and that is totally fine.
Unless you disagree that Meya is beautiful and Redfist is the best dad of all universes.

I do find it interesting how quickly this turned into an Amari VS Sas discussion.
It does show the involvement of people in the latest events which I quite like to see.
It goes without saying that the "theme" of those two facing off is still around.
Not on the next map but it is still around.

With due respect, I would still argue Amari still is the weakest/ not as interesting character as caliber such as Gardon, Van Durce, Aridon etc. Even Zoia, Inara is more entertaining than her.
She is good at everything she does, have almost no weaknesses, win every enemies including bonelords, everyone who opposed her are villainized etc (Like she and her orcs outright steal human lands in Salria and Salrian her somehow bad for fighting against them etc). This was way worse in SoB where she has only one dimensions and got carried hard by more interesting orc characters. True Story somewhat redeemed it by making her more than orc goody two shoes, but other characters shines more than her, making her least interesting character to me.

What makes character like Gardon, Van Durce and even Aridon relatable is, they have moments of their failures, their humanity, doubts (such as unwillingness and remorse having to kill each other, Aridon being shaken to his core when his might is challenged). Things actually go wrong for them and they actually take L. They have 'humanity' in them. Amari does not have one yet.
Amari don't have that moment yet as she is kind of like Rey from Star War Sequels and don't have any moment where consequences of her actions caught up to her. To summarize, she don't have anything interesting things going on unless you are die hard fans of the orc.

However, it may be that Gardon, Van Durce (especially Van Durce) got so much characterization that they overshadow her. And to be fair, there are a lot of narrative to come and maybe we will see some humanity in Amari in the future arcs.

 

[Jayborino]

???? Amari’s plans directly led to nearly every chieftain getting killed. They suffer a massive defeat to the Bonelords and a massive civil strife around what Orc culture should become. Not to mention she let her guard down and got betrayed right at the start in Mission 2. Not liking Amari as a character is fine, but you can’t make something up to backwards justify it, you’re telling on yourself.

Gardon, on the other hand… when has he failed at all? It’s been exclusively an upwards trajectory for him and his faction against all odds besides getting captured one time, quickly being freed, and then becoming King of an entire region for it. When he succeeds, the character gets credit for good strategy, work, and sacrifice - I’m unclear what is different between him, Ornasion, or Amari in this regard.

Shar brings up a great point about how and when the prevalent Sas opinion started to shift, it was odd at the time of the SOB. In any case, I think we are past that now. I think the storyline with him now is very interesting and I’m inclined to agree with Tuwnrw’s prediction.

 

[Jongyi233]

Okri and others face massive defeat at the hands of undead while Amari is away. And nobody is skeptical of her except gran gorehowl for these 'failures'. And Amari wins the first confrontation against the bonelords with the help of Gardon firing Purificator (which is honestly a deus ex machina if you ask me but I also don't see how to deal with bonelords without some sort of deus ex machina since they are too OP).
Personally, I like a lot of female character such as Jaina from WoW and Rhaenyra from HotD not only bcos of they are strong female character with flaws but there are also things that feel human about them.
And yeah, I don't like Amari bcos for me, there is nothing likeable or relatable about her. But this is just my personal views and there is nothing wrong with how Shar intends to go with her narrative. I still think her character will get time to shine in remaining arcs.

And we all know that how Gardon got demoted, his forces and rank being stripped. And he was forced to be a kinslayer when he have to destroy Goldenguards. And we all know he is going to take a big L for trusting undead. He got what he wants but alienate a lot of his former allies in the process (dwarves becoming enemies, betraying Salana Woodhunter, alienating kingdoms when he rebuild Zyainor etc)

 

[DD Mikasa]

I disagree that "only a minority" disliked Sasrogarn back then.
In fact back in the day unfortunately many people that didn't "hate" Sasrogarn were people who felt that Amari was a Mary Sue/Wonder Woman/Idontcarewhat along with some - a minority within the minority - going as far as to call Arkain SJW because of Amari being a main character and therefore wanted Sasrogarn to win.
I don't think I have to even point out why that is nonsense, we are long past that and I know you people are smarter than that.

Naturally this doesn't imply that anyone who doesn't like her is one of these people. Everyone has their own preferences and that is totally fine.
Unless you disagree that Meya is beautiful and Redfist is the best dad of all universes.

I do find it interesting how quickly this turned into an Amari VS Sas discussion.
It does show the involvement of people in the latest events which I quite like to see.
It goes without saying that the "theme" of those two facing off is still around.
Not on the next map but it is still around.

If i remember correctly, the whole Sas hate train started after more background lore related to his less than orcish behaviour came to light (so that would be the second book) up untill that Sas wasn't really hated sure some people voiced their annoyance at his less that stellar spell kit but other than that most were fine with him. Amari funnily enough suffers from the same problem her brother does she lives under the shadow (no pun intented) of another character (Rangul for Sas and Brian for Amari). I never liked her to begin with due to her wholly subserviant demenour towards Brian and lets be frank the reason why many people didn't like her either was from the way she was presented to us... She's an apprentice of the Shadow Lord himself, that means She's going to be compared to Gardon and as someone whose been in this thread for a long while i know thats a race you cannot win even all this time with people coming and leaving this thread Gardon remains the staple character of the Arkain universe (i am still rooting for Lera though)

 

[Navy45]

Personnaly, I quite like Amari. I feel like her being compared to Gardon is a bit unfair since he's had much more developement in the True Story. He's been around since the First Books era and has consistently been either main or secondary character. Meanwhile, Amari only had two appearances in the first book era.
Another thing is that Gardon, in the true story, is much closer to his original books self, so we basically know him already. On the other hand, I would argue that Amari in the true story is very different from the original books. She's basically way more secretive/manipulative than in the original, where besides never mentioning Brian, she was quite earnest (but there was way less conflict in the dominion of course)
Another thing I thought about is that Amari seems to be a sort of mirror of Gardon in a way. Gardon is ready to warp his entire society to achieve victory, while Amari does everyithing to achieve victory in a way that warps her entire society. Just thought it was funny.

Overall I think that Amari still has a lot of room to really grow, depending on how the conflicts in the dominion resolve themselves.

Of course, I still hope Sasrogarn proves her wrong about his worth though.

 

[Plantpaladin]

I do find it interesting how quickly this turned into an Amari VS Sas discussion.
It does show the involvement of people in the latest events which I quite like to see.
It goes without saying that the "theme" of those two facing off is still around.
Not on the next map but it is still around.

Does not on the next map apply to next map overall or next orc map?
I think Amari was right about bringing in more new allies to replace the orcs getting killed.
The Redfist and Bonelords would've hunted them anywhere.
Amari comes off as a more traditional hero than Gardon.

Are we gonna get Reworked Golden Crusade?
Otherwise I guess next map is Reworked End of the Invasion since we got a cannon teaser.

 

[DD Mikasa]

Are we gonna get Reworked Golden Crusade?
Otherwise I guess next map is Reworked End of the Invasion since we got a cannon teaser.

My take is that it might be either the Stand off between the Demons and Iron fist or an Undead map (its been awhile since we had one of those) I expect for things to change after the shocking defeat of the Bonelords. Funnily enought it might end up being a new map that focuses on the remaining surviving Van Durce kids as well.

Amari comes off as a more traditional hero than Gardon.

Thing is when most people compare Amari to Gardon they dont do it on the premise on how they tick the boxes of the hero archtypes Both of them are Anti-hero archtypes for Amari coming of as more of an hero than Gardon when both of them are anti-heros it adds to the point of her feeling bland when compared to her human counterpart.

I think Amari was right about bringing in more new allies to replace the orcs getting killed.

I mean that was her saving grace back on the second Orc books while Rangul was stubborn and wanted to carry the entire invasion by himself and his orcs Amari wanted a more diverse force HOWEVER in the True Story she share's/used to share that spot with Gorthog which doesn't make her anymore unique.

 

[nchp1903]

Gardon has this "you've done your job, now let me do my thing", which I like more, plus the fact that he's an edgelord with cool armor, plus the fact that his personality being shown towards guys like Renald and Praxeus, and how it contrasts his zeal when he goes against guys like Retka, makes him more human

Meanwhile, Amari is more cool and collected in the way that she rarely shows anger, and she shows more respect to Brian and his teaching than Gardon does, even in gameplay, where her entire kit is based on shadow magic, which makes her less relatable. But on a scale of moral, she's slightly higher than Gardon. She never actually backstabbed anyone, just tracking information with her shadows.

As for Grella, maybe to her, the amulet is just another tool in the arsenal to unlock the Troll's potential, so it's fair game, and not a form of manipulation. Gardon is different in the way that he knows using those trinkets are bad, but does it anyway.

And she still has a friend - Okri - to have a heart-to-heart with, unlike Gardon who doesn't really have any real bond. Merlon? Maybe, but still subtly influenced by the amulet, so not fully himself. Larine? Like Merlon, but with the ring instead. Veil, Birram, Thanok? Just partners, who eventually plays a role in rebuilding Zyainor. He can only turn to his strong drinks during times of real turmoil.

Also, as promised, I beat Risen Resistance legitimately. No air unit (just 100+ dead Goldseekers), and most importantly, no crash.

I would like to think that Selior had haunted my games the last few runs, because in this one, I crushed the Zirr Nexus super quickly to prevent his revival, and the game ran smoothly from there on out.

Spoiler

 

[Plantpaladin]

With updates to ANN and faction status of the Golden Guard next mission is probably End of the Invasion 2.0.
Maybe one where some people we care about die to the demons. Show Gardon that there was a cost to using the cannon to aid orcs. Undead is a bit angry but I doubt that Shar is gonna make "Undead Betrayal" this early.
If the cannon falls there will be nothing left to hold the demon invasion back.

 

[Navy45]

The mention that the next level will be "brutal" makes me think we'll come back to Ornasion. According to "siege of the dead mountain", there are still Souleater warlocks trying to prepare a ritual to destroy the dead mountain. Unless they've been dealt with behind the scenes, I recon it is high time to deal with them.

 

[Shar Dundred]

All I will say for now is that the next chapter is featuring a combat scenario that has NEVER
EVER before been seen in the ENTIRE HISTORY of the Legends of Arkain!

 

[Jayborino]

I think next map will immediately precede the Old Hatred story since we haven't had an Undead map in this act and we know those events have to happen.

 

[Mvicio]

All I will say for now is that the next chapter is featuring a combat scenario that has NEVER
EVER before been seen in the ENTIRE HISTORY of the Legends of Arkain!

So It would be either undead or Gorthog vs something (either the regiments/mercenaries or the dark one draenei fórceps)

Since you said the Next map wont follow the orc story.

 

[DD Mikasa]

Most likely it is going to be an Undead (Oranssion) map, its been a long while since they got the spotlight and much has changed regarding their outlook in the whole war, they are still under "siege" by the demons trying to conjure smth to drop on their montain, they lost arguably the strongest of their nexuses and they situation on their camp looks hella grim. Lets not forget we might have a potential "mutiny" since they appearance of a heir of zyanor as well. I wonder how their story going to shape up. Also Rahandir has beset by doubts (wink wink). That angelic really did a number on him.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Soon soon soon...

 

[Jayborino]

The madman... he actually did it. He made us siege it again.

 

[Apprentice Darkmoon]

My review of the new chapter:

• Well... Was only time until things between the dark elves and Ornasion get worse, and what a way.
• I can understand Meya's boredoom... I think. Well, I can't wait to see her reaction after learning about the Bonelord's fate and the their fall on Salria.
• Hesthration (or whaterver his name is writing) is the perfect example of "Desperate times, desperate manners". He can hide and waiting but decides to die with his remaining forces. A pity, at least the demon corpses will be put to good uses.
• So... that is what happen with the knights... a pity Aridon doesn't take the corpses for himself. Idiot...
• I feel bad. Never had the chance to use the Drider hero, and now is impossible u u. I also want to use Urshan or perhaps Morganur if he was reanimated as a undead dreadlord too. I know I'm asking too much.
• Ebira is... well, just like other demons. In the end everything that happened to the demons is because they're too idiots to stand as one instead of thinking of how to betray each other so they can earn more power. Oh well, at least Ornasion won something: Revenge.
• Meya's explanation about the nexus and their rules was something, well, shocking. Not only me, but Ornasion seems to regret that the undead are not different than his former kin. At least the dark woman had her prisoners.
• Now I want to know how Pentiss will get away with this attack. Obviously Ornasion wants her head.
• No Galareth and Urshan interaction in the end? Hmmm.

Gameplay:

• First I destroyed the base of the demon slaves to claim the gold mine. Once I have a strong army, the dark elves were easy to deal with.
• I help my allies to destroy the bases of Hesthraion's underlings. Then they proceed to attack him.
• Try to always have your base with towers, the enemy will send attacks. Be careful with the Frost wyrms.
• The new unit we receive in this mission is awesome.
• I was expecting reinforcements like, perhaps Saint Loraine or another undead hero like Margazar or Keera?

Oh well, I can't believe everything that happened, but I enjoyed every single moment.
Good job indeed.

 

[Karmondia]

My very detailed review of the new chapter:

 

[HuanJuan]

My very detailed review of the new chapter:
View attachment 452121

Yep, that's my reaction too.