New Content Discussion [SPOILER]

[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.

 

[Karmondia]

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.

Leave Woras' base for the last. Korbaz -> Elrin -> Woras and make sure to pull back to Elrin's base when Whitefield comes, because defending there will be easier, than in the other bases. Also, use Executors, they are infinitely better than Knights. You don't actually need a real unit next to the mercenary camp, you can just send Larine's hawk.

 

[nchp1903]

Also, use Executors, they are infinitely better than Knights.

Knights are fine if you ignore Charge tbh. Got baited by that ability multiple times, but after seeing them getting nuked to orbit by just a few spells while Charge is up, I finally manage to drop that habit.

 

[Jayborino]

Thank you everyone, I will try later today. I ended up making a bad assumption about going to Red first and therefore not being able to reinforce fast enough because not enough $$, then I tried to make up for it by going for teal without exploring around them first to find the Merc Compound for faster reinforcements.

 

[Elempash]

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.

I know im kinda late but still I hope my advice could be of help as i've been in a similar scenario.
Basically, they way i see it you have to try and focus down the leaders as once they die, the whole enemy base gets under your control and the defenders ... well they just disapper. This very fact justifies suicide charges, as Korbaz and Elrin are fairly fragile. You have to breach the base, and then keep moving deeper into the enemy base and target fire the hero-owner. Surely you would have to use a few units as your rearguard to keep the enemy reinforcements at bay so you can finish your job. Once you get at least one of them down it gets much easier.
Woras' base on the hand is hell. Cant even recall how I got it. Probably used the strategy above until it magically worked, but hey, it got the job done.
Hope this helps.

 

[nchp1903]

Basically, they way i see it you have to try and focus down the leaders as once they die, the whole enemy base gets under your control and the defenders ... well they just disapper.

Instead of teleporting or retreating, they just excuse themselves from reality. Weird, but funny.

A plausible explanation can be that they are routed into the Ironfist buildings to later be used as expandable reserve troops.

 

[Paul Emirique Ibanez]

Possible theory, I think we can expect a civil war between the orcs if Amari is made warchief. During SOB, Sas wanted to coup Amari being a choice for a new chief since it would change their traditions. But Sas was alone and nobody backed him up even Grozfag. And now we see that Destroyer is alive and Gorthog and possible Ephrog (if he survives) would probably deny the ascension of Amari to new warchief and side with Sas instead creating civil war before the formation of the new tribal dominion. Possibly Gorthog's new allies of course.

 

[merlockqueen]

there could for sure be a breif civil war but with no doubts amari would emerge the victor i do find their treachy to just grab up a bunch of factions for the new alliances miltary to be funny ahaha we will ensure she fails by making her alliance even stronger! also if they do do a civil war it would allow amari to slaughter all the leaders of their factions and install her own choices to lead them.

As well I just finished up to the currently out content my main thoughts would be I kind of agree with Jay about the merc camp mission its cool and new but Kinda janky since you really have no idea how to approach it as a player maybe some more starting vison since larine scouted out the region before we got there after all also on the killed leaders units dispersing maybe a debuff to weaken the troops but not despawn them since killing them for gold is very important. I personally didn't like having to micro through a bunch of buildings I shouldn't kill with infinitely spawning units but I do accept that as normal Arkain difficulty jank.

I do say for the rescue Gardon mission you should get Claire as a unique unit that can be revived by the alter, I mean we got that mechanic with herdon ferdon and the third guy. seems weird to see Claire's model in game and not have her fight with your army. as well I think the elites you train should have access to the ironist regen ability's its just seems very strange that they dont.

Addtionally I really think the random 100 pop farms that spawn armies in End of an uprising seems incredibly placeholder attm i think maybe having even a barracks labeled militia recruitment centers or something would be better or commander units instead of random farms. Also destroyers I dont think i could justify using them at 12 pop maybe thats just me since they have cheese poteinal in some missions im sure i just dont think i could justify 1 destroyer over 3 catapults or 2 golems+a caster for siege uses.


I also dont know what's planned but I would be a big supporter of giving us elven units when we fight for the elven capital highlighting that its a civil war added by the iron fist not just an Iron fist invasion outright.

PS. Claire thing again its my biggest want/gripe!

 

[Shar Dundred]

Out of all units of Arkain, you picked the Elite and Destructor to be buffed? Lawl.

 

[MyPad]

Imagine that you're a happy-go-lucky Flesh Golem, minding your own business and guarding your post. Suddenly, you see a girl clad with black armor moving towards you at an unnatural speed. You then see a group of soldiers, similarly clad in black armor, rushing along with her.

You would think to yourself that you can take them on; stall them long enough so that your accomplices can deliver them to their icy deaths, and you do so. Somehow, you notice that something's off. The infantrymen, they don't look right to you; they're the farthest they could ever be from a human.

"How could that possibly be?", you ponder, as they slowly sink their blades into your flesh. Little by little, your strength falters as you struggle to contain them. You see them nearing death's door, yet they fight with as much strength as they had at full health. You pray that somehow, it would all end. Your accomplices, you hope, will finish the job.

Suddenly, you hear a whirring in the Air. It appears to be ... a flying ship?! You look around your surroundings to see your accomplices - or what remained of them. You resign yourself to your fate knowing that you've carried out the will of the Divine One, and that the soldiers will fall. Suddenly, you hear a bell chime ... and are beholden to a dazzling light.

As you slowly crumble into oblivion, you get to experience the feelings that the living do when nearing the verge of death. You feel terror, ... fear, despair, a mix of emotions that you've never felt before. Your consciousness begins to transcend dimensions, allowing you to perceive far beyond your limited world. You recoil back in horror as you hear:

Shar, plz buff Elite and Destroyer

 

[merlockqueen]

I mean the Elite you only get like one mission as far i expect and its more for the unit to be consistent with the rest of the Iron Fist.
Secondly i promise to never talk about the destructor again.

 

[MyPad]

I mean the Elite you only get like one mission as far i expect and its more for the unit to be consistent with the rest of the Iron Fist.
Secondly i promise to never talk about the destructor again.

My previous remarks aside , IIR, Elites are considered to be a generic Tier 3 human footman unit, and I think an Ironfist version of the Elite would have a smaller health pool but crazy amped regeneration to compensate. Considering the point in time when the incident occurred, it would be improbable to have the latter (Ironfist version) yet as part of the rescue army, but it's ultimately up to Shar to decide on that front.

 

[Elempash]

Regarding the update for "Lord of Shadows"
Cant play rn, but does Claire make use of shadow warrior or either of leadership bonis?

 

[nchp1903]

She has the same stat as an Elite, has Hardened Skin instead Defend, costs 0 food, and doesn't benefit from bonis.

 

[jitao]

Thank you for the update, but i have question on the Rath vs Blen mission. Is the Iron thunder clan suppose to spectate the whole battle at the castle? Because we didn't see them until the ending of that mission.

 

[Apprentice Darkmoon]

Thank you for the update, but i have question on the Rath vs Blen mission. Is the Iron thunder clan suppose to spectate the whole battle at the castle? Because we didn't see them until the ending of that mission.

Rath tasked Lokar to cover him and his clan in case any reinforcements of the Imperials arrive in the area, that is why he didn't appear until the end, when a Darkmind warrior told him the truth.
Maybe the same will happen.

 

[jitao]

Rath tasked Lokar to cover him and his clan in case any reinforcements of the Imperials arrive in the area, that is why he didn't appear until the end, when a Darkmind warrior told him the truth.
Maybe the same will happen.

Ok thanks for the clarification, i must of missed it during their conversation.

 

[merlockqueen]

dont know if this is intetional but i stole a peon and it could build only a bestiary so i did and i got this little guy

 

[nchp1903]

The chapter is Bloodbath right? If so, then I'm sure that it's intentional.

 

[averagestudent.]

Shar can I ask something in the dark blade mission we have to fight with a pit lord was it intentional that the pit lord has a mirror image because I could have sworn to see 2 pit lords with the exact name so I was curious was it planned?

P.S. I forgot to take a screenshot of the pitlord

 

[Zergy]

Shar may I ask if you can possibly add a custom sound set for the Bearman Chieftain? I think Ursa warrior, from DOTA 2, sound set really suits him.

 

[jitao]

Like the changes of the latest undead mission especially having Loraine and level 10 heroes. Made this mission less of pain than i remember playing the vanilla version. I'm more excited for the revamped tribal dominion and blen vs rath mission.

 

[HuanJuan]

I like the new contents and stuff, but this pun is made my day:

 

[Navy45]

Won't be able to finish the new level for a couple days so here's a rant about portals.

The second demon portal wave is quite frustrating. If the player's army is not in the base when it begins, it will almost surely cause a hard reset by tearing through the base with chaos damage, especially since it starts roughly when the player starts making progress on the humans or the demons and has left the base. Even if you make towers to prepare, the new portals don't spawn where the first ones did so the towers are useless.

Challenging attack waves are a thing. But this is sort of a "lol, you're dead" moment that you can't really defend against unless you know about it or happen to be in a position to defend. I think there should be some sort of warning. Either undead sorcerers "sensing" the portals opening before they do or any character advising to stay on the defense until the portal waves are over.

I'll come back to the level when I can and give a proper review but, aside from the second portal wave, I really like the additions.
(By the way, destroyer transform appears on obsidian statues but the upgrade is unavailable which especially hurts the flying option on the mission)

 

[Apprentice Darkmoon]

My review of Act seven, chapter 1:
-I remember this mission VERY well. I used full flying units to do havoc during SUB, so I decided to play in ground this time.
-So not Sir Ross helping us to kidnap the angelic this time. I wonder what was his truth fate then.
-Honestly, Meya is a genius. Increase the posession of the banshees with the mental control power of the sucubi was really smart. And what a form to test this new power...
-The rivalry between the Rohir and the Scarec... if you ask me, I prefer support Meya rather than those skeletons.
-I wonder what Aridon would do to the poor angelic. I readed the short story about Saint Loraine's fate, and considering the flying ladies we saw in the Splecir's teaser... I can't wait to see what happen next.
-And now the Scarec nexus prepares to Salria. Rampage is on the way.
Now to gameplay:
-I kill the demons from the path of trees before using Meya's chosen. Once the necropolis is done, I used the chosen.
-There is a bug. The leaders hall doens't disappear once you investigate the boni.
-The unique unit we received from the Scarec and used in this mission is really useful to defend your base.
-I love how the plaguebringer's parasite ability spawn a little skeleton rather than some other monster.
-I don't know how but once I clear the east part of the demons base, the golden guard attacked me. Hopefully my job was done before that cursed captain breaks through my base.

Was good to have a new mission to complete. Hope more come soon. Great job.

 

[Morris]

I just started playing the latest chapter of Act Seven and thought to mention these while I still remember
Only leadership boni available in the leaders hall is Maya's, after I finished researching it, the building didn't self-destroy as it is intended.
Also, as soon as the mission started I went straight to possess the Angelic. After the deed is done, a series of altercations between the undead heroes and dwarven\human heroes started though I'm not sure that this was intended also since I didn't bring any of my units to them or having the possessed Angelic counts as losing cover to them?
Last but not least, Morph into Destroyer is shown for the Obsidian Statue but its associated upgrade isn't available for research.

 

[Enki555]

Well, well; my review abounds:
-Only Meya's boni? There should be both Kazardius and Krom's boni too. Krom's boni would be increasing hp or speed of all skeleton units while Kazardius's would be smth like Blessing of Ca'rach increasing dmg of Korzar and frost wyrms. Also, the bug is boni hall doesn't disappear once research finishes as mentioned before.
-When Lorraine dies after possession, interactions betwixt Golden Guard and Undead plays.
-Now demon race is expanded well. I wonder... will there be fallen Marilith in Kezzar nexus? Blooddrinker should've brought some before their fall. I would say undead Marilith with her fallen succubi sisters make it diverse and feel like proper nexus.
-Plaguebringer's plague shouldn't deal friendly fire. Destroyer upgrade should be present.
-Bastion is fine unit and synergized well with Kazardius's aegis.
-So, we might pretty soon see Valkyries of Helheim and Hel; a.k.a Dead Mountain and Aridon. Would be nice to see frosty seraphs arriving to elven forest christening newborn Daviliad nexus as token of Aridon.
-This is, thankfully, pretty manageable mission. Proper way to win is, however, have both ground and air forces roster and sleek behind the innermost demon gates while avoiding frontal ones. Quickly build forward bases in newly destroyed settlements. After Golden legion takes out frontal gate they will attack your bases starting with main one. By this time, new stronghold in heart of demon demesne will be ur last base and only few gates will be present. Then win. My roster comprised of 6 frost wyrms, 5 annihilators, 4 plaguebringers, 5 skeletapults, 2 obsidian statues and heroes; and pretty much stood toe to toe with most armies. As for Demonlords: try to use skeletapult to shoot unit behind trees and one will move towards golden base, but one will block the pass; Use vulture rider to make him move too; tho he will be charmed, at least demonlord will be sent to his death xD. A good way to lessen early pressure.
-There seems to be a hint of Scarec mission in the future. Perhaps we will see Arnos & Dornos and maybe playable Bonelords soon. Maybe in the same place with Dwarves and Golden Guard brought reinforcements to further spice the mission.
-So next mission is our favorite revenge mission tho i'm looking forward to elven forest incursion from undead pov. There are more undead characters I expect to see; fallen Selior, fallen Morganur, and fallen Prideblade. Keep going.

 

[nchp1903]

Orgus really do be talking mad shit for someone who doesn't have a single building left.

Anyway, the review:

Spoiler: Gameplay

• One of the longer but easier mission for me, at least when compared to Lords of Shadows or Between A Rock and A Hard Place.
• The first time I played this mission in SUB, I used Vulture Riders spam to cheese all the Demon Gates and it took like 3 hours. Now I just used ground units and the overpowered Heroes (Fallen Soldiers + Black Ray + Death Grip + Black Arrow for infinite stun, Meya has Corruption Aura, which is the best Aura imo, Korzar for consistent Chaos damage,..) and the Demons became my bitch. Also, once I figured out the Demon base were actually made up from three different players, plus the fact that Frost Wyrms can neutralize their production, the mission becomes trivial.
• Also, second Portal attack. Should have seen that one coming.
• We no longer have spooky bois as spellcasters (Skullmancers and Bonemenders), but Plaguebringer with Parasite spam is just stupid(ly strong). Using Plague to max out their effectiveness is good, but even if you don't, it's still worth building for Parasite and its stats. Compared to Annihilators, it has a smaller collision size, which gives them an edge when fighting in tight pathway.
• Plague Bomb's description is vague. I think it's supposed to be stackable poison that can also work on buildings, or is it a Burning Oil with missing ground texture?
• The Bastion is an absolute unit. Sure, his Barrier clashes with Kazardius' but he has FIVE damn passives. With that being said, I deserve an award for letting him die in the very first attack.
• Like the screenshot above, I ignored Loraine until the end, because I remembered from my first playthrough that the Dwarves and Golden Guards bring even more deadly units to attack my expansions than the Demons themselves.
• Meya's Chosen is basically a Shade that can't die to splash damage or Immolation, so keeping her around for a while for scouting is good too.

Spoiler: Story

• Krom, despite being a spooky skeleton boi, doesn't seem to like the Scarec or their Unholy Crusade and seems to doubt Aridon's order, suggesting that he has more free will than I initially thought. He seems to be unfazed after killing Isillion, so perhaps living for hundreds upon thousands of years must have tired him.
• So Ornasion took a bunch of dead succubi to add to his force. Kezzar Nexus didn't have their own spellcasters before, so I think the succubi will fill that role. When he's angry, he can probably think of them as mini Ebiras for punching practice.
• Sir Ross no longer plays a role here, so I think he either died off-screen, or already turned into a Rohir Officer.
• The Bastion and the Scarec's sudden appearance in Salria is now properly explained. It's gonna be sad to see him and The Unyielding being killed by the Dominion though, so I hope that they won't participate in that battle.
• I save the best part for last. From the in-mission conversation, we heard that Isillion once offered Meya eternal youth, but she refused, saying that she already got what she wanted from the Undead. So, probably, when she was alive, the Demons enticed her and her family to open up the Demon Gates, but that's not my point. The point is, the Undead brought her attention, some poor sods to be toyed with, and 'eternal beauty' but not 'eternal youth'. She doesn't associate 'beauty' with' youth', but rather, she associates 'beauty' with herself. She don't just want to be beautiful, she wants to be THE standard of beauty itself. So it's only natural that Loraine, despite the implication of being a beautiful, saintly virgin that uses pure and light magic and stuffs is considered hideous by Meya, because Loraine looks nothing like her.

Spoiler: Bugs

• Meya's Boni doesn't pop up a flavor text message when finished researching like other Bonis. Also, it buffs Banshee, which is a pretty lame unit imo, compared to all cool Scarec stuffs.
• No Destroyer Form upgrade, despite Morph to Destroyer is available.

 

[Shar Dundred]

-There is a bug. The leaders hall doens't disappear once you investigate the boni.

Only leadership boni available in the leaders hall is Maya's, after I finished researching it, the building didn't self-destroy as it is intended.

-Only Meya's boni? There should be both Kazardius and Krom's boni too. Krom's boni would be increasing hp or speed of all skeleton units while Kazardius's would be smth like Blessing of Ca'rach increasing dmg of Korzar and frost wyrms. Also, the bug is boni hall doesn't disappear once research finishes as mentioned before.

Meya's Boni doesn't pop up a flavor text message when finished researching like other Bonis. Also, it buffs Banshee, which is a pretty lame unit imo, compared to all cool Scarec stuffs.

The Leadership Hall not disappearing & no flavour text being displayed is a bug, yes, one that will be fixed with the next update.
Kazardius will buff his summon and Frost Wyrms in the next update as well. I wanted him to buff other bodiless members of the
Splecir Nexus fist but I agree that the Ca'rach buffing the undead dragons makes more sense - maybe it will be even more than
that, let's see!
I think it is quite clear why Meya buffs Banshees - btw @nchp1903, you seem to underestimate the utility of Curse quite a
bit - rather than have her buff Scarec units. The Rohir and Scarec nexus are not on friendly terms, their ideologies and goals
being too different. I think the chapter made it quite clear how they feel about each other.
Regarding Krom: He is not a member of the Scarec Nexus. I currently have no plans to have him provide a leadership bonus for
this chapter.

-When Lorraine dies after possession, interactions betwixt Golden Guard and Undead plays.

Gonna be fixed as well.

Plague Bomb's description is vague. I think it's supposed to be stackable poison that can also work on buildings, or is it a Burning Oil with missing ground texture?

It is a Burning Oil whose effect seems to bug out. Gotta look into that.
Might just make it green fire if the Plague Cloud is being difficult.

She don't just want to be beautiful, she wants to be THE standard of beauty itself. So it's only natural that Loraine, despite the implication of being a beautiful, saintly virgin that uses pure and light magic and stuffs is considered hideous by Meya, because Loraine looks nothing like her.

Meya's beauty is without equal after all!

 

[LISBOAH]

Finally I can give a review
Act Seven, Chapter One
-"can't even deal with a bunch of horsemen" And you can't even deal with Gardon when he was at his weakest
-"or amongst themselves. Again." That's because your High Lord supported a rebellion that took over two kingdoms.
-Just let the Saint talk, Captain! She was warning you about the undead, but you couldn't even let her talk!
-If only they knew that the gods are long dead, and neither of the "New Gods" care about the light.
-"They are properly" --» "They are probably"
-We only have access to Kazardius' Black Ray's Level 1. Because he is already level 9 at the start of the mission
-Cleared the forest path before possessing Loraine. All I had to was place more defenses in my base (due to those portals) and send attack waves after the Golden Guard sent theirs

 

[nchp1903]

And you can't even deal with Gardon when he was at his weakest

That's where you're wrong, because Gardon's never at his weakest. He was just too lazy to use more than 1% of his power. In fact, the Gates of Hell was built to defend the Demons from him.

 

[MyPad]

For a bastion stationed to protect Saint Lorraine, the Golden Guard do quite a terrible job at it when Saint Lorraine gets player controlled, especially when they were instructed to not allow any harm to fall upon her. As soon as she was tainted by one of those chosen by Meya, the Golden Guard and the Dwarves (if you go through their base) spared little to no effort in suppressing her movements, instead opting for the nuclear option.

In my playthrough, the possessor puppeteered Saint Lorraine's body to go through the Dwarven base. Needless to say, the Dwarven force did not take to this kindly ... not at all. -- It's a good thing Warcraft 3 offers resurrection based teleportation technology.

Amusingly, this kind of absurdity in the above scenario serves to enhance my overall experience with the mission, being the first time I've actually played this mission in the Legends of Arkain.

For my first playthrough, I went with a mix of ground and air units, passing through the tree line at the east part of the map. The army comp I fielded comprised of Golem based skellies (forgot the name), Vulture riders, Plaguebringers, and Obsidian Statues.

Suffice to say, the demonlords stationed there were a pain in the army comp to deal with. After getting through them, I tried to attack the north east part of Isillion's base without rousing the Golden Guard's attention. After doing so, I tried to take the rest of the base, but the Golden Guard just had to be controlled by wc3 AI.

When I finished the mission (by letting the Dwarves take out the last building, the only contribution they ever made that I'm aware of in my playthrough), only the center camp of the Golden Guard remained. They only knew what the threat was; they did not understand just how hopeless they were in standing against them. They .. got .. Scarec'd.

Only after I finished the mission did I realize that I could've used the Skeletapult to clear the trees and buildings faster. {Then again, clearing it the old fashioned way by using workers did effectively grant me unlimited resources, so there's that}

 

[Karmondia]

Hear me mortals, the crusade against flesh has begun! The humans, dwarfs and the demons have all been destroyed.

Overall, this mission was pretty fun. I really enjoyed playing this faction, and the map was very well designed.

 

[Navy45]

Finally got back to finish this chapter.

• Really like the additions, Kazardius's dragon should make the air only path more fun. Being able to control when the imperials start attacking is quite useful to get your attack route set up.
• Happy to hear Kazardius will get his own leadership bonus. Ironically, Meya's bonus is not that useful unless you go Scarec mode and crush the livings.
• St Lorraine is a very strong hero but I like that, if you choose to get her, you have to be extra carefull to avoid detection as the enemies attack you.
• Plague bombs of the Skeletapults deal damage to ally undead units. First, the description only states enemy units. Secondly, this means that the plaguebearer, the unliving embodiment of plague and bones takes damage from plague bombs which just sounds weird.
• I think that happened on the original version of the map as well but, once you have cleared the most part of one side of the demon's base, the living forces pass through your base as it becomes the quickest way to the remaining demon buildings, which means you get detected even if you always avoided their forces. Usually it doesn't stop you from completing the mission but it kind of takes from the satisfaction of making it through the level undetected.
• In addition to my rant about portals, I feel like having to stand around waiting for portals at the start of the mission kind of hurts the rythm a little bit. I feel like these could happen a little quicker (and maybe have less demons to balance it out)

 

[nchp1903]

I think it is quite clear why Meya buffs Banshees - btw @nchp1903, you seem to underestimate the utility of Curse quite a
bit

Thanks to your recommendation, I have discovered that all the puzzle pieces are falling into place:

Spoiler: Banshee

- Kazardius and Krom can permanently lock down a Heroic unit, so they aren't much of a threat. As for how those Banshee works, well:

• Demons have strong DoT spells: Can be easily countered by Anti-Magic Shell.
• Demons have strong auto attacker: Can be easily dealt with by Curse. Resistant Skin don't mean shit if it is spammed continuously.
• Banshees, and other spellcasters are balanced around the fact that they squishy: Not anymore. Barrier + Military Edict + Devotion Aura can make a Banshee goes up to 16.5 armor., and Meya's boni increases their HP by 200, which is 55%. (If compared to another HP boost Boni - Trained by Thanok, which increases an Elite's HP from 1050 to 1250, and the fact that they cost 7 supply, then this is actually a much bigger bonus)
• Military Edict increases FLAT damage, not percentage damage: Banshee's small collision size and low supply cost allowing one cast of Military Edict to buff the damage of your entire army of around ~50 Banshees by almost 200%. And they absolute shreds through the Demons, who have unupgraded Heavy armor, which is even further decreased by Meya's Corruption Aura. (Not to mention Healing Energy, which is like Power of Death on crack).

Beautiful synergy, ain't it? Guess I'm a Meya believer now. (Not that I doubt her before though.)

- Also, funny picture of poor volcano man being stunlocked.

 

[HuanJuan]

Thanks to your recommendation, I have discovered that all the puzzle pieces are falling into place:

Spoiler: Banshee

View attachment 407164
- Kazardius and Krom can permanently lock down a Heroic unit, so they aren't much of a threat. As for how those Banshee works, well:

• Demons have strong DoT spells: Can be easily countered by Anti-Magic Shell.
• Demons have strong auto attacker: Can be easily dealt with by Curse. Resistant Skin don't mean shit if it is spammed continuously.
• Banshees, and other spellcasters are balanced around the fact that they squishy: Not anymore. Barrier + Military Edict + Devotion Aura can make a Banshee goes up to 16.5 armor., and Meya's boni increases their HP by 200, which is 55%. (If compared to another HP boost Boni - Trained by Thanok, which increases an Elite's HP from 1050 to 1250, and the fact that they cost 7 supply, then this is actually a much bigger bonus)
• Military Edict increases FLAT damage, not percentage damage: Banshee's small collision size and low supply cost allowing one cast of Military Edict to buff the damage of your entire army of around ~50 Banshees by almost 200%. And they absolute shreds through the Demons, who have unupgraded Heavy armor, which is even further decreased by Meya's Corruption Aura. (Not to mention Healing Energy, which is like Power of Death on crack).

Beautiful synergy, ain't it? Guess I'm a Meya believer now. (Not that I doubt her before though.)

View attachment 407166
- Also, funny picture of poor volcano man being stunlocked.

Why are you having Progaderas is the map, and I don't have it in the map? Because I killed it before, and the campaign remembers it, or just by pure accident?

 

[nchp1903]

I think if you kill him in Bloodbath, he will reappear here to take revenge, at least that's the case with the Undead Books. But if you killed him before, and he still doesn't pop up in this map, then I have no idea.

My advice? Go back to Bloodbath, whosyourdaddy your way through the entire map, then return to Hunter and Prey to check if the issue still persists.

 

[Paul Emirique Ibanez]

Finally the undead campaign will not be a cliffhanger like the second undead book.

 

[KingSlender]

something i really wish would be installed into all campaigns is the option to choose whether a spell caster unit spawns with their auto-cast turned on automatically

 

[Zergy]

Who needs the Scarec Nexus when you have the Zirr Nexus to Overwhelm Ornasion?

 

[merlockqueen]

Is the Banshee possession different in chapter 7 mission 1 or is my brain just misfiring i don't recall it having to stun enemy units for 4 seconds before it takes their bodies

 

[Paul Emirique Ibanez]

Is the Banshee possession different in chapter 7 mission 1 or is my brain just misfiring i don't recall it having to stun enemy units for 4 seconds before it takes their bodies

well it is different since it can possessed heroes

 

[nchp1903]

Is the Banshee possession different in chapter 7 mission 1 or is my brain just misfiring i don't recall it having to stun enemy units for 4 seconds before it takes their bodies

I remember there are two versions of Possession in the editor. The one that's usually found in melee map (no stun, leaves the caster vulnerable af) is used by the Ghosts in Act 4 Chapter 1 Possession, and the one used by the Banshees is the other one. As for Meya's Chosen's Possession, that one is custom-made.

 

[MyPad]

Interestingly enough, Saint Loraine must have an additional classification or a different target mechanic (maybe she's only targetable by Air or something else) for Meya's Chosen's Possession to only work on her.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Is the Banshee possession different in chapter 7 mission 1 or is my brain just misfiring i don't recall it having to stun enemy units for 4 seconds before it takes their bodies

Been like that in the True Story from the get go & was introduced in one of the Second Books.

Interestingly enough, Saint Loraine must have an additional classification or a different target mechanic (maybe she's only targetable by Air or something else) for Meya's Chosen's Possession to only work on her.

She has an additional classification, yes.

 

[merlockqueen]

Been like that in the True Story from the get go & was introduced in one of the Second Books.

She has an additional classification, yes.

Gottya just my brain crossing wires from other warcraft content than.

 

[VastanX]

Play the last mission.

Apart from the faction upgrade building not disappearing and the obsidian statues say they can transform into Destroyers but they can't. It's a good mission.

Suggestions.

• With 2 heroes that we don't use frequently. Could the castles of the enemy factions give some treasure to improve these heroes? I feel that killing the fire lord for the fifteenth time is not enough for that topic.
• The passage on the right (the one in the forest) is so crowded with units that I'm surprised not even 1 treasure spawned after killing the giant doom lords.

 

[HuanJuan]

Play the last mission.

Apart from the faction upgrade building not disappearing and the obsidian statues say they can transform into Destroyers but they can't. It's a good mission.

Suggestions.

• With 2 heroes that we don't use frequently. Could the castles of the enemy factions give some treasure to improve these heroes? I feel that killing the fire lord for the fifteenth time is not enough for that topic.
• The passage on the right (the one in the forest) is so crowded with units that I'm surprised not even 1 treasure spawned after killing the giant doom lords.

I'm unsatisfied with that passage too, but that's how it is. There are beefy enemy units, capable to put heavy resistance too (1-2 units). If they are going to drop some loot in the future, I ain't gonna say no for that that's sure. Also, I feel missing the optional Scarec Nexus quest here from the Second Undead book.
As everyone knows: The True Story is still just a demo. I enjoyed this map too.

Keep it up devs!

 

[nchp1903]

The passage on the right (the one in the forest) is so crowded with units that I'm surprised not even 1 treasure spawned after killing the giant doom lords.

If they are going to drop some loot in the future, I ain't gonna say no for that that's sure.

Same here. And luckily, I think this is very likely to happen in the future because of a few reasons:

• There are a lot of chapters left, and playable heroes (mainly Human and Undead) almost reach level 10. Since their level won't be uncapped to >10 (bc I know from other campaigns that this is balancing hell, with either one hero wrecking an entire base, or the enemies are so strong that non-hero units are useless), they need other ways to scale their power to match the late game content, through droppable tomes/unique items or Bonis such as Heroes of Zyainor.
• We already saw some experiments with scaling through unique items before in Forged in Iron and Blood, with the Gardener's Tool, which requires you to have a decently keen eyes for oddities on the map. Would be even better if future items like this has snippets of lore or references to Tales in their flavor text, which encourages players to seek them out more.
• The reasons why the Demon Lords didn't drop any items are because the Undead already had access to lots of good item already (Firehand Gauntlet, two Crown of Kings, Orb of Corruption, character-specific unique items like Rahandir's fucking infinite Ankh...). Unless there are chapters in the future that allow two or three races to be playable, then I suspect that the future item drops will mainly be reserved for the Dominion or Golden Guards/Dwarves.

Also, please let Borean get some good stuffs. Because rolling bear.

 

[Navy45]

I just reread the post introducing the last update and I just remembered it teased something special that will be introduced on Act 7 and will remain throughout the entirety of the legends of Arkain series. I must say I have no idea what it could refer to. Maybe a new mechanic like leadership boni. Maybe something related to the scrapped mechanic of the orcs, seeing as we are getting closer to the first dominion chapters.

Also I'm curious whether this addition will be available only for future chapters or if it will be implemented in chapters before act 7 (hard to say if it would make sense without knowing what the addition is)

Anyone having any ideas ?