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New Content Discussion [SPOILER]

Level 24
Joined
Jul 10, 2017
Messages
178
The last mission... was not what I imagined.
Keera is a rather curious heroine. Her abilities are like all auxiliary abilities of other heroes + avatar. It's a very technical hero.

It is a difficult mission, that cannot be denied. But what made it more complicated was the list of units. I found her faction quite uneven.

I understand: Elves, Banshee, Necromancer, Guards, Statues, Wagen and Stalker.
I don't understand: Seeker, Gargoyles, Wyrm and the dwarves (those cool tho).

Maybe it's me who got lost in the lore. But I thought that instead of gargoyles it could be those werebats. (She is hated but those are slaves)

I also tend to see that Ornasion faction ability can never be used in all the options that she shows. (There are no Icekeepers)

Kerra faction ability is good, but against demon, GG and friends? She doesn't weigh much in my opinion.

I didn't mind the doomlords (but find it funny where they were put) because they were useful in the end.

I'll give the mission another go. It is an Arkain Mission, I do not expect facilities but I did expect units that would make the job less painful.
 

Shar Dundred

Community Moderator
Level 72
Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
5,862
The unit roster is a mix of Rohir and Kezzar with some future Daviliad thrown into the mix (since
Daviliad doesn't exist just yet). Originally I intended to give you Icekeepers rather than Stalkers
but that would have made Keera's bonus less useful.
I might make adjustments to the unit roster since I am not entirely satisfied with it myself.
 
Level 19
Joined
Jun 26, 2019
Messages
359
Act seven chapter three.
-So the ironfist trio keeps working with Salana and are going to the capital to fight the "traitor" gardon... Sry for the outcome Salana you were a really nice commander. Also those three in the golden guard would turn the GG forces in the final mission on this arc.
-This one was the last golden guard commander on Dorten´s meeting right? We have all of them now. All of them dead i mean.
-The demoness is Nysara no doubt and the darkblade legion seems to be the most sane of the demon legions so far.
-This chapter was really tough. The undead roster for this one was weaker i think, we are fighting GG and demons but we only have weak elves, almost no kezzar nexus and Rohir nexus forces dunno why. Frost wyrms are fine though because we need some aerial support.
-The undead aren´t as sneaky as they used too, everyone was attacking my base despite being demon slaves and demons against the mighty golden guard. I was almost wipe out at the beginning because the periferial demon slaves bases send the attack waves just as the same time as the closer one. Meaning 2 to 3 attacks at the same time + my unlucky on finding demonlords.
-Killing the closer demon slave bases is a must, you need to disable that starfall, the demons can be dealt with spirit tower and 20-30 food defense force.
-Ornasion seems interested on black druid magic, they are pretty much undead but with trees.
-Ornasion and Keera interaction was pretty on point, same with Haran, everyone vibes around undead Ornasion.
-Once you clean all the periferial bases you need to send army after army, at least 5 times to deal with the GG preplace + all the buildings.

As I already said, this one was fine, really deep lore but gameplaywise didn´t achieve what the other undead chapters did, dunno why. I dont like playing as elves (alive or dead) but defense of home was really fun despite having only elves.

Ornasion has no qualms about murdering his demon kin though, in fact it seems he takes pleasure in it, must be due to the different political structure and mindset demons have, loyalty to oneself first, legion second.
Ornasion hated politics and wants to fight, also he was betrayed, he´ll destroy anything despite being demon human orc or sludges.

I wonder what this diplomatic travel is... It could be the dwarves but seems kind of early considering the invasion of the elven forest hasn't even begun (Gardon's that is). I'd say it's linked to the green dragons but I don't see the golden guard initiating the dialogue with dragons.
Well, gardon mostly knew where the black dragons were, perhaps his uncle Van Duncer knows where the green dragons are.
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
WC3ScrnShot_112722_000113_01.png


I finally got a full clear although only on Normal difficulty. My beef with Hard difficulty is the attack wave timer which goes like Slaves -> Souleater -> Golden Guard -> Darkblade or sth similar (and oh god it only gets worse if I don't cheese the Honor and Glory by using Stalkers to kill their Peasants), leaving me no time to cripple a base, because each Demon base has 5 Gates, and each Human/Elven base has like 10+ production structures with Improved Masonry 2.
Anyway, time for a detailed gameplay review. As for story and predictions, I don't have much to add to what others already said, at least for now.
* Undead:
  • Total Destruction is not useless per se, but I still went for Royal Retinue for the cheese to go smoother.
  • I kinda expected Keera to have Maiev's voice set, because her "For the Watcher!" line would lowkey make sense. And everyone speaking like a Banshee hurts my head a bit.
  • Deathlords and Stalkers are pretty much the protagonists here. but their collision size are too thicc, make it hard for them to engage and/or retreat in tight pathways. I can send Wagons to clear the trees but random air raids can pass by and sack them all.
  • Also, I vaguely remember that Frost Wyrms are supposed to deal Magic damage, or is it just me? Although, splash Frost Attack and Freezing Breath is never not useful, so they're still an S++ tier.
  • The only source of magic damage are now the Destroyers. Although, it doesn't take a genius to know that massing Destroyers is a bad idea. (A few for Devour Magic is nice though.)
  • Dark Archers are okay. Better than Poachers, but not as useful as something like Icekeepers or Crypt Fiends. That, and the fact that Sharpshooters are basically the same units but with higher base stats make me sad.
  • Keera's kit is extremely good. 50% lifesteal, spammable Finger of Pain with low cooldown and mana cost, Mana Burn to shut down spellcasters, Blink to quickly engage and disengage, and Vengeance, while overlapping with Pentiss', it also pairs extremely well with the Undead's ability to generate corpses. And then we have... Mana Shield. So, this is a defensive spell that helps her survive longer, right? Wrong. If I actually want Keera to survive longer, what I'll do is to disengage with Blink, or to go even deeper with Blink to take out key threats with Finger, then drop an Avatar of Vengeance to draw aggro. On the other hand, if I turn on Mana Shield, then Keera got nuked by something like Hit or Forked Lightning. Boom, mana gone, no Finger to deal with Siege Tanks and Destructors, then she'll die anyway. Brian's Cloud and Dark Secrets got more use than this smh.
  • As for the unit roster, I think something is missing, but I can't exactly put my hand on it. However, I do know that the lack of interesting spellcasters also contributes to that feeling, because I'm kinda bored of using Necromancers and Banshees (without Meya's boni) all the time.
* Enemies:
- The Golden Guard A.I are also a bit goofy. For example, when I built a Necropolis + Haunted GM in the middle base, they did something like this:
  • Destroyed both then leaves.
  • Only destroyed the Necropolis, then leaves with the Haunted GM still intact.
  • Destroyed both, then continues to attack my other bases.
  • Also don't know why, but after I successfully suicided into the GG's Castle and Peasants, they stopped building ground troops altogether.
  • The Prides of Humanity are the strongest units on the map, but they got shredded by the weakest Undead unit that doesn't have any use anywhere else - Gargoyles. Ironic.
  • The Elven Ranger is hard to deal with because of Forked Lightning and Starfall dealing insane damage. If I didn't have good micro and accidentally let my Deathlords and Ornasion got stuck behind, it would either a waste of an Unholy Regeneration cast, or a bye-bye to my squishy DPS units.
  • Also, Souleater infernal spam is absurd. If no Wyrm for Frost or no Stalker for Poison, they can mow their way to my Black Citadel quite quickly.
  • If I don't cheese the Glory and Honor, their attack waves will stack with those of the GGs sooner or later, and the Paladins can nuke my Deathlords and Heroes with Holy Light spam. So I can't see other way to beat this level without dealing with those two early tbh.
 
It took quite some time, but the new undead chapter (A7C3) did not disappoint in delivering a costly siege of the East. A bloody, save-scummy chapter that reminds me a bit of the orc chapter "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" this was.

As Ornasion, you realize that your base, while well protected, is not sufficient for the attainment of your current objective. Keera, the former Queen of the Elves, is distraught over the prospect of putting the lives of her people, even when they have forsaken her kingdom. Keeping that in mind, you weigh in whether you should assault the demon camps first or put the elven traitors to the sword.

You consider multiple approaches, situations, favorable engagements where you will gain the most advantageous position. You send out a Stalker to scout the nearby base camps and wait for the most opportune moment to strike. You send shades to further scout the target areas; they report that the golden-clad pinkskins from the West have begun mobilizing and decimating two base camps belonging to the demon slaves.

At the next mobilization of the golden-clad pinkskins, you launch your attack to the demon camp situated to the west of your base camp. Taking care not to lose key soldiers, you successfully cripple the demons in that demon camp. At the same time, you notice a flying attack force heading to your base camp. Hurriedly, you defend the base camp from the attack. Luckily, you've fended them off at the moment.

Having left a few Demon Gates standing, you plan on utterly destroying the remains of the demon camp to your west while overcoming a bastion of the golden pinkskins situated further east at the same time. You've also weighed in the cost of performing that tactical move; relocating your base camp to a safer position appears far more promising than sticking to that position. You think things out, play them through your mind; you would tear apart their attack force, and assault what remains while they are weakened; determine the most optimal ensemble of undead forces at your disposal in the fulfillment of this particular goal and minimize losses as well. Then, after countless bloodshed and heaps of bodies amassed, you've begun re-establishing your main base camp at the newly conquered base camp. Just in time too, they've razed your previous base camp to the ground...

Shuddering for a moment, Keera appears lost in her thoughts. You bring her back to the reality of the situation, not by force, but by understanding. You tell Keera to steel herself; lives of Demon Slaves are your master's to take. Mobilizing your army, you wait for the opportune moment to strike.

In the heat of battle, the Elven leader or commander of the Demon Slaves, a ranger, summons down falling stars from the heavens. You consider for a moment to rush your army towards her and tear her apart as swiftly as the stars fall. You also consider a tactical retreat, which will turn the momentum of your battle significantly towards your side. Quickly assessing that few of your troops can stop her accursed incantation, you decide to not risk losing the bulk of your army; you are not Rath after all.

By surgically removing the artillery and ranged units of the opposing armies, you stand to gain a lot of resources and a readily available strike force to further whittle down the defenses of their base camps. A slow and uphill battle it was, and you become all the more powerful for doing so.

By now, you've successfully removed most of the adversaries of your master present at the battlefield. You begin to do the same as before, only for tragedy to strike. Your strike force is heavily underpowered and has sustained a great deal of losses!

You begin to imagine multiple situations, approaches to the conundrum that is the Golden Guard's defenses. One by one, each strategy that you can come up with would not produce the result that you had in mind, that of the eradication of their defenses. Your army, powerful as it is, cannot hope to stand against their might, against the ships they look up with pride. Then, as swift as lightning, an idea struck.

To conquer the Golden Guard's defenses, you would have to bring low the pride of the arrogant pinkskins. Among your forces, you stumble upon a key unit that can easily dismantle their ships, the Gargoyle. Quickly amassing Gargoyles, you would strike swift and true towards the Prides of Humanity, and forcibly prostrate them before your master. Going in as quickly as they can leave, the Gargoyles do manage to cripple the Golden Guard long enough for your forces to take a foothold in their territory.

With most of their standing forces gone, you waste no time to destroy all their key structures, the workshops which assembled their terrifying airborne ships, the barracks which trained soldiers the likes you have not ever seen, the altar in which their Captain rests, and the Castle which cements itself as the foundation of their arrogance, an impenetrable fortress. After countless days and nights, you've finally seized control over the area that once stood as a bulwark of the Golden Guard.

As you celebrate your victory, you draw your attention towards Keera, who is conflicted over the nature of what will and must be done. You offer her your counsel, hoping to comfort her. As she sorts out her own feelings towards her people, you and her part ways in good spirits.
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
It took quite some time, but the new undead chapter (A7C3) did not disappoint in delivering a costly siege of the East. A bloody, save-scummy chapter that reminds me a bit of the orc chapter "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" this was.

As Ornasion, you realize that your base, while well protected, is not sufficient for the attainment of your current objective. Keera, the former Queen of the Elves, is distraught over the prospect of putting the lives of her people, even when they have forsaken her kingdom. Keeping that in mind, you weigh in whether you should assault the demon camps first or put the elven traitors to the sword.

You consider multiple approaches, situations, favorable engagements where you will gain the most advantageous position. You send out a Stalker to scout the nearby base camps and wait for the most opportune moment to strike. You send shades to further scout the target areas; they report that the golden-clad pinkskins from the West have begun mobilizing and decimating two base camps belonging to the demon slaves.

At the next mobilization of the golden-clad pinkskins, you launch your attack to the demon camp situated to the west of your base camp. Taking care not to lose key soldiers, you successfully cripple the demons in that demon camp. At the same time, you notice a flying attack force heading to your base camp. Hurriedly, you defend the base camp from the attack. Luckily, you've fended them off at the moment.

Having left a few Demon Gates standing, you plan on utterly destroying the remains of the demon camp to your west while overcoming a bastion of the golden pinkskins situated further east at the same time. You've also weighed in the cost of performing that tactical move; relocating your base camp to a safer position appears far more promising than sticking to that position. You think things out, play them through your mind; you would tear apart their attack force, and assault what remains while they are weakened; determine the most optimal ensemble of undead forces at your disposal in the fulfillment of this particular goal and minimize losses as well. Then, after countless bloodshed and heaps of bodies amassed, you've begun re-establishing your main base camp at the newly conquered base camp. Just in time too, they've razed your previous base camp to the ground...

Shuddering for a moment, Keera appears lost in her thoughts. You bring her back to the reality of the situation, not by force, but by understanding. You tell Keera to steel herself; lives of Demon Slaves are your master's to take. Mobilizing your army, you wait for the opportune moment to strike.

In the heat of battle, the Elven leader or commander of the Demon Slaves, a ranger, summons down falling stars from the heavens. You consider for a moment to rush your army towards her and tear her apart as swiftly as the stars fall. You also consider a tactical retreat, which will turn the momentum of your battle significantly towards your side. Quickly assessing that few of your troops can stop her accursed incantation, you decide to not risk losing the bulk of your army; you are not Rath after all.

By surgically removing the artillery and ranged units of the opposing armies, you stand to gain a lot of resources and a readily available strike force to further whittle down the defenses of their base camps. A slow and uphill battle it was, and you become all the more powerful for doing so.

By now, you've successfully removed most of the adversaries of your master present at the battlefield. You begin to do the same as before, only for tragedy to strike. Your strike force is heavily underpowered and has sustained a great deal of losses!

You begin to imagine multiple situations, approaches to the conundrum that is the Golden Guard's defenses. One by one, each strategy that you can come up with would not produce the result that you had in mind, that of the eradication of their defenses. Your army, powerful as it is, cannot hope to stand against their might, against the ships they look up with pride. Then, as swift as lightning, an idea struck.

To conquer the Golden Guard's defenses, you would have to bring low the pride of the arrogant pinkskins. Among your forces, you stumble upon a key unit that can easily dismantle their ships, the Gargoyle. Quickly amassing Gargoyles, you would strike swift and true towards the Prides of Humanity, and forcibly prostrate them before your master. Going in as quickly as they can leave, the Gargoyles do manage to cripple the Golden Guard long enough for your forces to take a foothold in their territory.

With most of their standing forces gone, you waste no time to destroy all their key structures, the workshops which assembled their terrifying airborne ships, the barracks which trained soldiers the likes you have not ever seen, the altar in which their Captain rests, and the Castle which cements itself as the foundation of their arrogance, an impenetrable fortress. After countless days and nights, you've finally seized control over the area that once stood as a bulwark of the Golden Guard.

As you celebrate your victory, you draw your attention towards Keera, who is conflicted over the nature of what will and must be done. You offer her your counsel, hoping to comfort her. As she sorts out her own feelings towards her people, you and her part ways in good spirits.
Didn't think that a strategy analysis with snippets of story can be such a fun read, and you even roasted poor Rath along the way. Tremalon of the modern age fr.
 
Last edited:

Shar Dundred

Community Moderator
Level 72
Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
5,862
It took quite some time, but the new undead chapter (A7C3) did not disappoint in delivering a costly siege of the East. A bloody, save-scummy chapter that reminds me a bit of the orc chapter "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" this was.

As Ornasion, you realize that your base, while well protected, is not sufficient for the attainment of your current objective. Keera, the former Queen of the Elves, is distraught over the prospect of putting the lives of her people, even when they have forsaken her kingdom. Keeping that in mind, you weigh in whether you should assault the demon camps first or put the elven traitors to the sword.

You consider multiple approaches, situations, favorable engagements where you will gain the most advantageous position. You send out a Stalker to scout the nearby base camps and wait for the most opportune moment to strike. You send shades to further scout the target areas; they report that the golden-clad pinkskins from the West have begun mobilizing and decimating two base camps belonging to the demon slaves.

At the next mobilization of the golden-clad pinkskins, you launch your attack to the demon camp situated to the west of your base camp. Taking care not to lose key soldiers, you successfully cripple the demons in that demon camp. At the same time, you notice a flying attack force heading to your base camp. Hurriedly, you defend the base camp from the attack. Luckily, you've fended them off at the moment.

Having left a few Demon Gates standing, you plan on utterly destroying the remains of the demon camp to your west while overcoming a bastion of the golden pinkskins situated further east at the same time. You've also weighed in the cost of performing that tactical move; relocating your base camp to a safer position appears far more promising than sticking to that position. You think things out, play them through your mind; you would tear apart their attack force, and assault what remains while they are weakened; determine the most optimal ensemble of undead forces at your disposal in the fulfillment of this particular goal and minimize losses as well. Then, after countless bloodshed and heaps of bodies amassed, you've begun re-establishing your main base camp at the newly conquered base camp. Just in time too, they've razed your previous base camp to the ground...

Shuddering for a moment, Keera appears lost in her thoughts. You bring her back to the reality of the situation, not by force, but by understanding. You tell Keera to steel herself; lives of Demon Slaves are your master's to take. Mobilizing your army, you wait for the opportune moment to strike.

In the heat of battle, the Elven leader or commander of the Demon Slaves, a ranger, summons down falling stars from the heavens. You consider for a moment to rush your army towards her and tear her apart as swiftly as the stars fall. You also consider a tactical retreat, which will turn the momentum of your battle significantly towards your side. Quickly assessing that few of your troops can stop her accursed incantation, you decide to not risk losing the bulk of your army; you are not Rath after all.

By surgically removing the artillery and ranged units of the opposing armies, you stand to gain a lot of resources and a readily available strike force to further whittle down the defenses of their base camps. A slow and uphill battle it was, and you become all the more powerful for doing so.

By now, you've successfully removed most of the adversaries of your master present at the battlefield. You begin to do the same as before, only for tragedy to strike. Your strike force is heavily underpowered and has sustained a great deal of losses!

You begin to imagine multiple situations, approaches to the conundrum that is the Golden Guard's defenses. One by one, each strategy that you can come up with would not produce the result that you had in mind, that of the eradication of their defenses. Your army, powerful as it is, cannot hope to stand against their might, against the ships they look up with pride. Then, as swift as lightning, an idea struck.

To conquer the Golden Guard's defenses, you would have to bring low the pride of the arrogant pinkskins. Among your forces, you stumble upon a key unit that can easily dismantle their ships, the Gargoyle. Quickly amassing Gargoyles, you would strike swift and true towards the Prides of Humanity, and forcibly prostrate them before your master. Going in as quickly as they can leave, the Gargoyles do manage to cripple the Golden Guard long enough for your forces to take a foothold in their territory.

With most of their standing forces gone, you waste no time to destroy all their key structures, the workshops which assembled their terrifying airborne ships, the barracks which trained soldiers the likes you have not ever seen, the altar in which their Captain rests, and the Castle which cements itself as the foundation of their arrogance, an impenetrable fortress. After countless days and nights, you've finally seized control over the area that once stood as a bulwark of the Golden Guard.

As you celebrate your victory, you draw your attention towards Keera, who is conflicted over the nature of what will and must be done. You offer her your counsel, hoping to comfort her. As she sorts out her own feelings towards her people, you and her part ways in good spirits.
12/10, would read again & recommend to others in the nicest way possible.

@Kasrkin: Read. Now.
 

Kasrkin

Hosted Project: LoA
Level 26
Joined
Apr 6, 2014
Messages
802
It took quite some time, but the new undead chapter (A7C3) did not disappoint in delivering a costly siege of the East. A bloody, save-scummy chapter that reminds me a bit of the orc chapter "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" this was.

As Ornasion, you realize that your base, while well protected, is not sufficient for the attainment of your current objective. Keera, the former Queen of the Elves, is distraught over the prospect of putting the lives of her people, even when they have forsaken her kingdom. Keeping that in mind, you weigh in whether you should assault the demon camps first or put the elven traitors to the sword.

You consider multiple approaches, situations, favorable engagements where you will gain the most advantageous position. You send out a Stalker to scout the nearby base camps and wait for the most opportune moment to strike. You send shades to further scout the target areas; they report that the golden-clad pinkskins from the West have begun mobilizing and decimating two base camps belonging to the demon slaves.

At the next mobilization of the golden-clad pinkskins, you launch your attack to the demon camp situated to the west of your base camp. Taking care not to lose key soldiers, you successfully cripple the demons in that demon camp. At the same time, you notice a flying attack force heading to your base camp. Hurriedly, you defend the base camp from the attack. Luckily, you've fended them off at the moment.

Having left a few Demon Gates standing, you plan on utterly destroying the remains of the demon camp to your west while overcoming a bastion of the golden pinkskins situated further east at the same time. You've also weighed in the cost of performing that tactical move; relocating your base camp to a safer position appears far more promising than sticking to that position. You think things out, play them through your mind; you would tear apart their attack force, and assault what remains while they are weakened; determine the most optimal ensemble of undead forces at your disposal in the fulfillment of this particular goal and minimize losses as well. Then, after countless bloodshed and heaps of bodies amassed, you've begun re-establishing your main base camp at the newly conquered base camp. Just in time too, they've razed your previous base camp to the ground...

Shuddering for a moment, Keera appears lost in her thoughts. You bring her back to the reality of the situation, not by force, but by understanding. You tell Keera to steel herself; lives of Demon Slaves are your master's to take. Mobilizing your army, you wait for the opportune moment to strike.

In the heat of battle, the Elven leader or commander of the Demon Slaves, a ranger, summons down falling stars from the heavens. You consider for a moment to rush your army towards her and tear her apart as swiftly as the stars fall. You also consider a tactical retreat, which will turn the momentum of your battle significantly towards your side. Quickly assessing that few of your troops can stop her accursed incantation, you decide to not risk losing the bulk of your army; you are not Rath after all.

By surgically removing the artillery and ranged units of the opposing armies, you stand to gain a lot of resources and a readily available strike force to further whittle down the defenses of their base camps. A slow and uphill battle it was, and you become all the more powerful for doing so.

By now, you've successfully removed most of the adversaries of your master present at the battlefield. You begin to do the same as before, only for tragedy to strike. Your strike force is heavily underpowered and has sustained a great deal of losses!

You begin to imagine multiple situations, approaches to the conundrum that is the Golden Guard's defenses. One by one, each strategy that you can come up with would not produce the result that you had in mind, that of the eradication of their defenses. Your army, powerful as it is, cannot hope to stand against their might, against the ships they look up with pride. Then, as swift as lightning, an idea struck.

To conquer the Golden Guard's defenses, you would have to bring low the pride of the arrogant pinkskins. Among your forces, you stumble upon a key unit that can easily dismantle their ships, the Gargoyle. Quickly amassing Gargoyles, you would strike swift and true towards the Prides of Humanity, and forcibly prostrate them before your master. Going in as quickly as they can leave, the Gargoyles do manage to cripple the Golden Guard long enough for your forces to take a foothold in their territory.

With most of their standing forces gone, you waste no time to destroy all their key structures, the workshops which assembled their terrifying airborne ships, the barracks which trained soldiers the likes you have not ever seen, the altar in which their Captain rests, and the Castle which cements itself as the foundation of their arrogance, an impenetrable fortress. After countless days and nights, you've finally seized control over the area that once stood as a bulwark of the Golden Guard.

As you celebrate your victory, you draw your attention towards Keera, who is conflicted over the nature of what will and must be done. You offer her your counsel, hoping to comfort her. As she sorts out her own feelings towards her people, you and her part ways in good spirits.
This reminded me of the Skantarios AARs.

@Shar Dundred I'll get it done don't worry about it.
 
Level 20
Joined
Dec 19, 2013
Messages
1,083
The unit roster is a mix of Rohir and Kezzar with some future Daviliad thrown into the mix (since
Daviliad doesn't exist just yet). Originally I intended to give you Icekeepers rather than Stalkers
but that would have made Keera's bonus less useful.
I might make adjustments to the unit roster since I am not entirely satisfied with it myself.
I feel like stalkers are pretty underwhelming, ofc they can be decent worker snipers, but you'll need to break the enemy's castle for that speciality to come to fruition. The huge damage discrepancy (was it 25-50 or smth like that) does not help at all either. I think that unit needs a tweak to be more useful. The rest of the roster is kinda decent, sure the lack of a AoE dispeller hurts and the tier 3 melee unit is extremly weak in this chapter since their high armour stat gets utterly nullified by the fact that Demons do chaos damage but those aren't anything new, we've had to constantly deal with odds like that. I just feel like Stalkers might need a damage buff.

-The undead aren´t as sneaky as they used too,
I mean is pretty much implied that Aridon abandoned the working in the shadows approach at the last chapter of book one "Blood bath". And besides he needs more rotting corpses at his disposal now that Brian has a huge conglomerate of races on his finger tips, The empire is nothing but a puppet of Largoth and Gardon holds almost 2/3 of the continent and the Demons...Well you never know when they'll get funny Ideas and start pillaging and plundering shit again (that being said the watcher hints at the fact that someone is pulling the strings of the demons too) So yeah Him hiding on his mountain and dispatching small taskforces to nudge the mortals towards his vision isn't a possibility any more.
 

Shar Dundred

Community Moderator
Level 72
Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
5,862
I feel like stalkers are pretty underwhelming, ofc they can be decent worker snipers, but you'll need to break the enemy's castle for that speciality to come to fruition. The huge damage discrepancy (was it 25-50 or smth like that) does not help at all either. I think that unit needs a tweak to be more useful. The rest of the roster is kinda decent, sure the lack of a AoE dispeller hurts and the tier 3 melee unit is extremly weak in this chapter since their high armour stat gets utterly nullified by the fact that Demons do chaos damage but those aren't anything new, we've had to constantly deal with odds like that. I just feel like Stalkers might need a damage buff.
I feel like you underestimate their poison damage. That can be very devastating.
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
the lack of a AoE dispeller hurts
We have the Destroyers with Devour Magic, which are good af. As for the Stalkers, I actually think that if they have smaller collision size, or even a Hold Fire button (to drop aggro more smoothly), they'll be even better.
I mean is pretty much implied that Aridon abandoned the working in the shadows approach at the last chapter of book one "Blood bath".
That, and the fact that Ornasion is the one leading the charge means that he won't listen to any stealthy strategy, or in other words, cowardly approach.
 
Level 5
Joined
Jul 11, 2022
Messages
19
The biggest bottleneck for me was the lack of decent AOE damage considering the tight corridors of this map.
At least we got the stuns with demonlords, but outside of Ornasion's flame strike I really missed the tools humans and orcs have.
Perhaps enabling frost ghosts could help, I do enjoy them greatly.
 
Level 7
Joined
Feb 7, 2020
Messages
38
I found this mission very difficult in hard difficulty.

And I loved it.

I think that the 3 demons we resurrect are necessary to win this mission. And building many towers to hold the fort when you attack one of the bases.

I did :

1. middle down base (demons):

their ranged units are weak, so it was easy to kill the gates one by one with gryphon riders/retreating and so on.

2. left down base (guard)

they are weak after they attack

3. right middle base (slaves)

weak after they attack

4. left upper base (guard)

weak after they attack

5. right upper base (demons)

First I destroyed the gate closer to the center of the map. Then I launched an attack with base melee units and gryphon riders, and immediately sent 4 wyrms to freeze the 4 remaning gates to prevent the arrival of reinforcements.

6. golden guard base.

That was soooo difficult to kill.

For the golden guard base, the only strat that worked for me was to destroy, little by little, the periphereal buildings with gryphon riders attacks. By making two groups, I could attract them from one side of the base, then retreating, then attacking from the other side, then retreating, and so on.

However, at some point, that technique did not work anymore for the buildings nearby the castle. So I made one or two suicide attacks on the castle, then on the peasants, to prevent them from rebuidling anything. Then I could attack with base melee units and the gryphon riders. and 2 obsidian statues.

Someone mentioned wyrms+necros+base melee units, I think it would be better.
 
Level 20
Joined
Dec 19, 2013
Messages
1,083
We have the Destroyers with Devour Magic, which are good af. As for the Stalkers, I actually think that if they have smaller collision size, or even a Hold Fire button (to drop aggro more smoothly), they'll be even better.
Well i be dammed i totally forgot that Destroyers have an aoe dispel...I always seem to forget about that...

I feel like you underestimate their poison damage. That can be very devastating.
With all due respect Shar...Arkain is a game where you overwhelm the enemies with constant pressure and either massive numbers or a few OP units (i.e Dragons)...Stalkers poison its...Well its decent when deal with the elven slaves and worker sniping as i mentioned...In an outright fight...Well i doubt a infernal/doomguard will die faster from the poison at least not fast enough before they have done enough damage to your frontline. Ofc it could be just me whining about a perfectly balanced unit but i dunno, i felt they underperformed.
 
Level 4
Joined
Jan 10, 2021
Messages
16
Stalkers's poison is ok for me. I prefer they had less collision size due to the 3 death lords you get and narrow choke points of the map. Stalkers need to be paired with dark archers/banshees to reach their full potential. Slow poison, cold arrows and curse stacked on a single unit practically halves their dps.

That said, this mission made me rage like a little boy on normal difficulty. Took a few tries to figure out the optimal army comp and pathway to completing this level.
 
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Level 29
Joined
Mar 28, 2015
Messages
2,678
Review to Chapter Three from Act Seven:
-The grammar mistakes I have found still haven't been fixed;
-I hope we get to use the Undead Elven units that our allies have later on in the campaign;
-The new undead elven allies are quite useful in keeping the main Golden Guard base occupied, though I have to constantly ensure that their bases are not destroyed since they lack proper defense and they don't rebuild lost buildings.
 

Shar Dundred

Community Moderator
Level 72
Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
5,862
-The grammar mistakes I have found still haven't been fixed;
Gotta fix the euqally one, the trying one is not a mistake though.
-The new undead elven allies are quite useful in keeping the main Golden Guard base occupied, though I have to constantly ensure that their bases are not destroyed since they lack proper defense and they don't rebuild lost buildings.
They regen their health though. They can die but damage dealt to them can be reversed.
 
Level 16
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
183
Checked the new update and was worth it: With sorcerers and seductresses, this established Kezzar as the heavy hitters and disablers more so than any other nexi. Closed pathing of Glory Battalion relieved the hell and much grateful. The difficulty now makes sense and was quite a joy to replay. The hard work is now finely rewarded and nicely fit the theme of new nexus birthing from the fallen traitors... I know it sounds lil bit greedy but what about new Kezzar units spawning from the bases of fallen demon legions? Since, it's both Ornasion and Keera's moment, perhaps new units such as fallen helhound, fallen marilith etc can spawn just as skyhunter, glaive thrower, fallen guardian were new units. As for fallen battalion's bases, Rohir units could spawn as they were definitely not elves in life (pun). Just as frost wyrms shatter all heavy units like brittle ice, they had the most difficulty against spell-immune units and ranger units (darn valkyries); good price we have to pay tho. Nice update!
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
While the Sorcerers are just Undead Firemages, they actually bring something fresh to the table, and Seductresses are super nice to have with their AoE Silence to deal with the pesky elves. Now if only I can go above 10 APM to actually micro them all...

And we get a peek of Daviliad's air unit and basic infantry: Skyhunter and Fallen Guardian (idgaf about Glaive Throwers).
Guardians' base stats make me feel like they're either an already-upgraded 2-supply unit, or a 3-supply one with an unupgraded passive. As for Skyhunters, I hope they have some deviations compared to DH Rider to make them less boring. I mean, they were Elves working for Demons, and now reanimated as Undead, there are a lot of abilities that can be given to them.

Also, there's a bug where the Souleater base is only counted as 'destroyed' only if all of their Gates/Shrines AND Darkblade Shrines are destroyed.
 
Level 24
Joined
Jul 10, 2017
Messages
178
Now we are cooking with fire.

  • Very good decision with the spellcasters.
  • How you rearranged the forest makes the map even more chaotic and I love it.
  • I must say that the undead gain a lot when you create these instances of "waves" of allied minion. I think the nexus show the best of them when you remember that they are hundreds of thousands. It's a good point of view as undead (when you use them) and as live faction (when you have to hold them).
 
Level 17
Joined
Apr 10, 2022
Messages
133
After played the chapter once again:
-The spellcaster are awesome. The seductresses are really appreciate in the mission. You can deal with the elves and demons at the same time, not to mention the Silence to avoid those cursed felhounds to mana burn you. The sorcerers and their rain of fire helps a lot to deal with the archers and crossbowmen, and their stun to stop that stupid ranger and her starfall.
-Allies are useful once you destroyed two enemy bases. I create a lot of ziggurats in order to defend them. Something helpful (and dangerous) is build your new base in front of the GG's citadel to avoid them focused in your allies.
-Even if the deathlords are strong and useful, I just rised one and keep it alive the entire match. My suggestion is that if you losed one, search another and rise it. Don't rise all of them at the same time.

I'm still intrigued about the mysterious succubus and what comes next. My expectations are high about the future missions, specialy two: Horse and Rider and Long live the queen.
 
Level 26
Joined
Aug 18, 2022
Messages
637
I finally made it to the end of this new undead mission... (Dead Forest)
In the previous version of the map: did someone possessed a peasant or worker (or somesort of unit) from the Demon Slaves or the Golden Guard? I wanted to know if in this map is disabled to build any type of buildings with possessed peasants or not. I was corious about the Demon Slave's tech tree and stuff. Sadly I didn't saved the previous version, and I forgot to try it out before I downloaded this new version.
It is going to be a challenge to complete this map in higher difficulties for me. Thank you very much Shar! Hope we soon se another updates about LoA.
 

Kasrkin

Hosted Project: LoA
Level 26
Joined
Apr 6, 2014
Messages
802
I finally made it to the end of this new undead mission... (Dead Forest)
In the previous version of the map: did someone possessed a peasant or worker (or somesort of unit) from the Demon Slaves or the Golden Guard? I wanted to know if in this map is disabled to build any type of buildings with possessed peasants or not. I was corious about the Demon Slave's tech tree and stuff. Sadly I didn't saved the previous version, and I forgot to try it out before I downloaded this new version.
It is going to be a challenge to complete this map in higher difficulties for me. Thank you very much Shar! Hope we soon se another updates about LoA.
Demon Slaves' tech tree is just the modern elves tech tree and possessed building is usually disabled outside of special occasions, but I wasn't doing anything so I decided to check.
WC3ScrnShot_120322_162158_01.png

WC3ScrnShot_120322_162920_02.png
 
Level 26
Joined
Aug 18, 2022
Messages
637
Demon Slaves' tech tree is just the modern elves tech tree and possessed building is usually disabled outside of special occasions, but I wasn't doing anything so I decided to check.
Thank you, so it's doesn't changed. I was dreamed about see how the "Keeper" and other type of elven units are "working" on the battlefield against their former masters, but that day doesn't gonna come yet.
 
Level 16
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
183
Seems I've been prophet of Arkain (pun-intended): Brian and Pentiss... now it is canon! If memory serves right, SHB Merlon and Larine's mission happened at western part of forest in close proximity to Elven palace (Keera already claimed eastern part) and Keera mentioning smth like "soon, this part of forest will be ours again." signifying undead will progress further as there r still many GG forces on way to palace. So, next one could be another scrapped SUB mission or Merlon and Larine's mission; both will be fire.
 

Shar Dundred

Community Moderator
Level 72
Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
5,862
Because I am a cruel person, I will use this opportunity to tell you that the next time you
control the Ironfist, it will have a new mage at its disposal without actually releasing the chapter.
Special thanks to @johnwar for the incredible Shadowmage model and to @r.ace613 for its no less amazing icons!
1670363751540.png
 
Level 29
Joined
Mar 28, 2015
Messages
2,678
Because I am a cruel person, I will use this opportunity to tell you that the next time you
control the Ironfist, it will have a new mage at its disposal without actually releasing the chapter.

Brian: Behold our newest weapon!
Pentiss: On the behalf of the Divine One, I would like to thank you so much for this gift. We will surely put it to good use once we kill you all.
 
Level 29
Joined
Mar 28, 2015
Messages
2,678
Are you on Brian's or Aridon's side now btw? :p
If this is about the whole Elven situation, then I am in neither.
Gardon and Brian don't want the Elves to leave the continent, but they will probably kill all that stand in their way.
Meanwhile, Aridon might not seek to take control over the Elven Kingdom, but his idea of civil war might cause a lot of chaos. Unless he's causing a civil war to make it easier for Gardon to take over.
 
Level 29
Joined
Mar 28, 2015
Messages
2,678
And in general?
Aridon's method of protecting Arkain seems to have worked well for the past millenia. However, I'm not sure if it will still work once Tregakh's attention focus on taking over Arkain.

Bhaarizel is clearly preparing the continent for Tregakh's eventual invasion, by recreating Zyainor and turning the various races into the Tribal Dominion. However, the problem is that his "pawns" aren't unified, unlike the Undead Nexuses under Aridon are. I highly doubt that most humans from Zyainor will ever agree to fight side by side with the orcs, trolls, centaurs, etc. Not to mention that the Dwarves and the Kingdom of Kerrel being both independent and hostile might prove to be a problem later on. Tregakh might use both of these kingdoms to make his invasion easier.
 

Shar Dundred

Community Moderator
Level 72
Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
5,862
Thank you for that, as you know I am always interested in these things (as should be clear by now).

I'd also like to throw this question into the ring for everyone to answer: Whose side are you on in this
entire affair?

The lines might have blurred for some of you recently, I am intrigued to see which camp has how many
supporters - and why!
 
Level 24
Joined
Jul 10, 2017
Messages
178
Whose side are you on in this entire affair?

Is there a side? I see Arkain as a great conglomeration of points of view. Nobody wants to dominate the world and the typical things that villains want. Apart from Gardon and his tireless crusade against the demons and Redfist against the orcs... everyone else just wants to survive the situation they are experiencing. Not even the demons want to conquer the world and if they do, it's for a collateral cause. The major cause of Arkain's events is survival... and Aridon.
 
Level 17
Joined
Apr 10, 2022
Messages
133
Because I am a cruel person, I will use this opportunity to tell you that the next time you
control the Ironfist, it will have a new mage at its disposal without actually releasing the chapter.
Special thanks to @johnwar for the incredible Shadowmage model and to @r.ace613 for its no less amazing icons!
View attachment 415242
New Toys! I wonder how these mages accept Brian's dark teachings. Perhaps these guys are Birram's followers? some renegade mages from the kingdoms? Actually mages of the Ironfist?
I wonder what spells they'll have at their disposal too. Shadowbolt (The fire stun of the Firemages and the Sorcerers) is probably one.
 
Level 16
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
183
New Toys! I wonder how these mages accept Brian's dark teachings. Perhaps these guys are Birram's followers? some renegade mages from the kingdoms? Actually mages of the Ironfist?
I wonder what spells they'll have at their disposal too. Shadowbolt (The fire stun of the Firemages and the Sorcerers) is probably one.
My prediction is: Shadowbolt, Shadow Corruption (less aoe and duration), and Summon Shadow Elemental (lesser shadow spawning from the corpses)
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
Whose side are you on in this
entire affair?
Hard to say, since pretty much every faction is morally grey and do what they think is the most rational and right (or least bad, kinda the same) thing to do.
However, as much as I like Undead as a playable race, I don't think stabilization through stagnation is a good thing. I, however, hope that Aridon will eventually botch, which will in turn be a good things, forcing him to be more adaptive and to give more individuality to his subordinates instead of just sticking to his visions or to just use brute force.

Logic asides, my heart wants neither Brian or Aridon to succeed, but rather I want the Ironfist to win, by making their own decisions, with little or no influence from those semi-deities. They're badass, and they're willing to make use of knowledge in whatever way they see fit (mind control, corrupted druidic magic, Brian's shadow magic...). That, and Gardon being an absolute menace to all opposing factions. Ruthless, efficient, and badass, and considering what the man's gone through, I can't help but rooting for him.

Also, oot but have you ever visualized about how Gardon would look like beneath his armor? True, there's nothing wrong with being fully armored all the time, but I'm just curious.

Because I am a cruel person, I will use this opportunity to tell you that the next time you
control the Ironfist, it will have a new mage at its disposal without actually releasing the chapter.
I'll leave a wild guess here to see how many of the abilities I get right.
Initiate: Curse or Black Ray/Mind Attack.
Adept: Dark Arrow/Black Arrow (I personally like Orb of Annihilation, but that'll be too OP) or Shadow Wave.
Master: Dark Armor (that one skill from the Bonemender/Skullmancer that I forgot the name of) but stronger, or Starrain, or stronger Mind Attack.
 
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Kasrkin

Hosted Project: LoA
Level 26
Joined
Apr 6, 2014
Messages
802
I'd also like to throw this question into the ring for everyone to answer: Whose side are you on in this
entire affair?

The lines might have blurred for some of you recently, I am intrigued to see which camp has how many
supporters - and why!
Whatever side allows me to shed the most blood obviously! So I must support Aridon and his endless proxy wars in the name of balance, but fuck that, it is ultimately meaningless to support the guy who wants his corner of the world to stay the damn same forever. For conflict with any sort of meaning I'd support Gardon, Taray, or Gran. Maybe those poor bastards holding on in Lor as well only really surviving because they're not a real priority for the demons. For the merc life I'd sign up with Maronogin if he'd have me, always seemed like a class act that took care of his own.

For the righteous crusade against evil I don't have to say who's shield wall I'm joining. It's not your first guess.
 
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