New Content Discussion [SPOILER]

[Deleted member 304046]

Whose side I am on?

While there are number of characters that I root for, such as Vanessa, Brockta the Stomper, Iszhog, Lokar the Crusher, Amari (Arkain books only), Flammedus, Praxeus, Cora Redfist, Logan the Skirmisher, General Whitefield, Sir Edoarus the Executioner, Haran'tel-kazor, Lord Margazar, Urshan, Nysara, Vermon and perhaps Quiraness, as well as Salana to some degree, there is the single character that is above all the others.

And that character is none other than…


Inara

Yes, who else but her? I was, am and will always be on Inara's side. Almost no other character has me as invested in plot of the Arkain as her. She has dark and tragic story. She has certain flair and edge that others don't have. She should, no, she MUST kill Zoia and the Wolf Regiment. She should, no, she MUST be the strongest Orc, the strongest Dominion character, equal to Volarian, Corrupted Aedale and Rahandir Drakeskull at the very least. And it would be nice if she was the mascot for the entire Legends of Arkain. Alright, Gardon, the Ironfist/New Zyainor, other humans, Elves and Dwarves might take precedence over the Tribal Dominion, the Dominion might play the second fiddle to Gardon and others, and Gardon might be superior to Amari and the rest of the cast, even Aridon the Watcher. Very well, I concede and accept that the Humans, the Ironfist especially, might get prioritized over the Dominion and everyone else. If Legends of Arkain might be, or is more human-centric, then it's fine. Not my preference, but I can accept that for what is is. And yet, no matter how the story goes and whether it will go in favor of the Humans (Gardon most of all), Inara should still come out on top. In some shape or form she should be the ultimate victor in the entire Saga of Arkain. This is also the only way for me to give up on my anti-human, anti-Gardon, anti-Ironfist, anti-Regiment bias.

In short:

Inara > Gardon and The Ironfist/New Zyainor > Tribal Dominion.

The Tribal Dominion vs Ironfist/New Zyainor, who wins? Inara

Amari vs Gardon, who wins? Inara

Inara or Gardon, who is superior? Inara.

---------

But what about Aridon, Brian and the conflict between them? Whose side I am on? The answer is…


Largoth


I am on Largoth's side. He is dark, menacing, but can also have a certain sympathetic side. Whether pure evil, malicious and insidious or having some sympathetic traits and pathos, Largoth is a great character, who I prefer as the ruler of Arkain. And aside from him, I am on Lisara's side. It's time for the alluring and deadly Succubus, a dangerous femme fatale to be the boss rather than some overglorified and annoyingly romanticized males (Gardon, Aridon and Brian, though I have no real beef with the latter two).

In my mind, Tregakh the Dark One is the most tragic, sympathetic and perhaps the least hypocritical and two-faced of the Four. The most honest as well.


In short:

Aridon or Brian? Largoth and Lisara

Aridon vs Brian, who wins? Largoth and Lisara


Ranks of Superiority:

Inara > Largoth and Lisara > Gardon > Everyone else

 

[Shar Dundred]

Some very interesting posts here, thanks for sharing!

I don't have much time for a longer post atm but there is one. There is one thing that interests me and that I would like to ask however.

annoyingly romanticized males (Gardon, Aridon and Brian, though I have no real beef with the latter two)

What makes these characters "romanticized" in your opinion?

 

[Deleted member 304046]

What makes these characters "romanticized" in your opinion?

Well, that's me bit goofing and messing around, but to answer this question: Gardon is often seen as the savior of humanity, humanity's last chance against the demon threat, a dark and badass warrior, a hardcore anti-hero and the hero that Arkain needed, but he and his men use amulets on individuals such as Merlon, Claire and Salana, binding them to his will, he essentially enslaved the Elven Kingdom and he plans on annexing Kerrel against its will. He cares more about his supposed noble goal of protecting humanity rather than actually thinking about how his actions affect others, the actual people living both inside and outside his nation. I got the impression that he was neglected by his father back in Rodan and that's supposed to add sympathy to Bloodclaw, but I don't feel sorry for him.

Aridon might be seen as the Guardian of Arkain, who is just trying to protect it from the Dark One and the Demons, yet he enslaves an innocent race – Nerubians. It's the black mark for him and because of this he should not be seen in a positive light.

Brian might be seen as intelligent and effective mastermind, who wants to protect Arkain and its races, uniting them against Largoth's plans, yet he is aware that Gardon is brainwashing/using his influence on people (Elves) and does nothing about it. Also, correct me If am wrong, but wasn't the magic of those amulets taught to Gardon by Brian, meaning that Brian is (in)directly responsible for Gardon brainwashing/mind-controlling people. While Brian may not necessarily condone Gardon's questionable actions, he has no problems about it either.

When I say that those three romanticized, I mean in a bit of a joking or bombastic/boisterous way, just to make my posts more expressive, but Gardon, Aridon and Brian can be seen by others as being better and more noble than they actually are.

 

[Hardric62]

Guess this comment by Shar confirm the return of the Terror Fleet. Hope the new toy is a deadly one. Can't really call them shiny now, eh?

Whose side are you on in this
entire affair?

I'd say... Brian's, and more accurately, his students and their goals. I might like non-evil undead in fiction, but Aridon's viewpoint is decidedly dated, offers a stagnation that solves nothing, and is... quite exclusive to say the least. Dark One clearly not a nice cookie, and Demons? They're pretty far up their own backside I'd say. And now it's possessed by Dark One, Empire is blindly dooming an entire continent to death and slavery. Kingdoms clearly have problems, Elves are paying for theirs, and Dwarfs won't be immune to that eternally.

Brian is propping the idea the people of Arkain rise to their best on their own I'd say (he'll help them get up, but only by giving the opportunity), and be able to lead their way without any other expired godling with delusions of grandeur being able to walk over them. At the very least, i'd like for the people of this continent, and the world I guess, to be able to build their own world and future without these ghosts. Neutrailty, the Shin Megami Tensei Way (aka kill off any God or Demon or whatever who think the world is their private toybox, people of the world will make their own path, successes and failures included).

 

[Shar Dundred]

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.

A very strong point & a sentiment that I do quite like.

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.

The line between good and evil isn't always clear though that is still subjective.
At least that is mostly the case. Anyone who thinks that Redfist is a bad father is objectively wrong!
Cough.

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.

Gardon doesn't let Brian control his actions despite the fact that he takes advice from his former tutor.
Btw, nice necklace you got there!

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.

That's 2 out of 3. I am not gonna tell you which ones but take that as a lil spoiler-not-spoiler.

She should, no, she MUST be the strongest Orc, the strongest Dominion character, equal to Volarian, Corrupted Aedale and Rahandir Drakeskull at the very least

Volarian wouldn't appreciate you putting him next to Aedale like that I am sure!

And it would be nice if she was the mascot for the entire Legends of Arkain.

Feel free to draw an Inara cover.

In my mind, Tregakh the Dark One is the most tragic, sympathetic and perhaps the least hypocritical and two-faced of the Four. The most honest as well.

Whatever did poor Brian do to you?

Well, that's me bit goofing and messing around

Gotcha.
Btw, Lisara-Inara romance is not gonna happen, sorry to disappoint you.

When I say that those three romanticized, I mean in a bit of a joking or bombastic/boisterous way, just to make my posts more expressive, but Gardon, Aridon and Brian can be seen by others as being better and more noble than they actually are.

Well, after you called Lisara "a dangerous femme fatale to be the boss rather than some overglorified
and annoyingly romanticized males" it did sound as if you were calling out people for thinking that those
three were the perfect human (at least in Gardon's and VERY partially in Brian's case you can call them "human")
beings which I don't think anyone in the forums does.

Brian is propping the idea the people of Arkain rise to their best on their own I'd say (he'll help them get up, but only by giving the opportunity), and be able to lead their way without any other expired godling with delusions of grandeur being able to walk over them.

Brian's path is definitely very different from Aridon's idea. As far as Brian is concerned, Aridon failed as
"Watcher of Arkain" and is lying to himself about it.
From Aridon's point of view, Brian is still bitter about the fact that someone screwed him over by
stabbing Zindrach in the back, causing a rather deadly explosion, and cannot be trusted.
That someone did nothing wrong back then from Aridon's pov ofc.

At the very least, i'd like for the people of this continent, and the world I guess, to be able to build their own world and future without these ghosts. Neutrailty, the Shin Megami Tensei Way (aka kill off any God or Demon or whatever who think the world is their private toybox, people of the world will make their own path, successes and failures included).

It is important to remember that Demons in Arkain are also a part of it. Not just some ulterior evil that wants
to destroy the world or whatnot, they're a race of many different individuals. And yes, some have very warmongering
goals.
I am not trying to "redeem" them here or anything and they are being portrayed not in a way that makes them
look that appealing, I just need to point that out because some people tend to forget that.

 

[ShadowGamerXXX]

Whose side am I on in Arkain's story? Well, from the kingdom of Kerrel and a little from the kingdom of the dwarves, before they publicly lynch me (I already received the first announcement when I said that Sas is better than Gardon), let me explain, it's because they really are the only free ones that exist in Arkain So far, first of all let's clarify that even if the chains don't tighten so much, that doesn't mean you're free.
On the one hand we have the dead with Aridon... old man, your balance has failed since the Genethas pact and I even dare to say it has been a long time, you just know how to hide it too well... But it's over now and it's your turn to sit down in a corner like a scolded child and think about what you did, so in the end it seems that you will change your strategy.
On the other hand we have Gardon... No thanks, I still want my brain, he is not the savior of humanity, but basically someone intelligent, well positioned, he really does move for his own selfish goals, it seems that everything has to do with it. with demonstrating that he does not need the throne of the empire, that he will create his own empire with gambling and sluts, and to do that he does not mind turning almost all of humanity into zombies or beautiful torches for the courtyard of his castles and palaces .
The empire... No... Suddenly with Van Durce (Renald should be eternal...), but he doesn't convince me to be Baldgot's lackey, but ironically he is the least fucked up of all.
Now I don't want to be a demon slave either, I'm just saying that this isn't like hentai(?), which would be terrible because even a beastfel would have more rights than me and I don't have a shark mentality so that Mr. Monopoly from hell would beat me to it. Become your speculator.
On the other hand, both Kerrel and the dwarves are not toys of the gods (This can change later...), I think that really the last bastion of humanity is Kerrel (Let's make Renga not exist...) since they are the only a place where humans rule humans, because honestly Zyanor is ruled between Gardon and the queen of the black dragons, Brian must appear from time to time to give Gardon more or less guidelines, I'm not saying that Kerrel can with the rest of the nations led by gods, but they have my vote for being authentic and trying to fight to maintain their humanity and freedom, on the other hand, the dwarves do not support them so much, because isolationism does not serve them, suddenly if they were the greatest and strongest power from the continent if they could afford such a luxury, but now they literally have an ancient enemy in front of them and instead of looking for allies to reach a balance of power with Zyanor, they only lock themselves in knowing that the more time they spend e the gap between technologies and weapons with Zyanor will gradually close.
In short, I support freedom and being free to forge your own path, which is why I disapprove of things like mind control, manipulation of the dead and impersonation, I don't talk about dominance yet because I don't know what it will be like, if it is something like a coalition of semi-independent states, then I think it would be perfect for this collaboration of completely different races, but if it ends up being an empire based on Amari... In that case I'm just saying that you can't do it unless you figure it out and then use Gardon's amulets on the leaders of the different races... and they become Zyanor 2.

 

[Fan_of_Aeroblyctos]

I liked the new version of the map. It was as difficult, but way more fun.

My strat this time was:

group 1: heroes, infantry unit (3 food unit) and the ultimate of Keera
group 2: 10 gryphon riders
group 3: 8 seductresses
group 4: 3 obsidian statues because 2 is not enough. With so many casters, the one replenishing mana can be emptied.

I did not get the 3 demon lords, I did not like to be so worried about them all the time.

The strat is to spam silence on doomlords and heroes, it also cancels starfall.
To kill the demon bases, I used finger of death a lot (900 hp if you use it with both heroes and the Keera's one has a very quick cooldown) by hitting and running.
To kill the golden guard base, I used the gryphon riders to kill their castle and peons to prevent them from repairing (did the same with the elves).

The new bases popping each time you destroy a base is such a glorious idea, I liked it a lot!

 

[Ebanu8]

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

Woe to he who crosses the shadow mages of the Ironfist, pupils of the Shadow Master himself. Woe to those whose souls land into his grasp, for they shall never know an afterlife or peace.

 

[Deleted member 304046]

Volarian wouldn't appreciate you putting him next to Aedale like that I am sure!

Well, it is what it is. I can't help Volarian there. Nothing can be done about it.

Feel free to draw an Inara cover.

Not sure if I'm going to do this, but if there is a good 3D character creator and modeling program for me to use, I might try to make something with it. Would be cool to create an Inara cover that could be use as the main promotional image for the Legends of Arkain and it may establish Inara as "the mascot and the face" of Arkain. She would also function as "the cover girl". If I had skills, dedication and energy, I would consider creating Legends of Arkain: the Comic, starring Inara and Lisara as the main protagonists.

Whatever did poor Brian do to you?

Nothing that would make me have a strong grudge against him. I just found Tregakh's story to be sympathetic. He was tricked and betrayed, making him justifiably bitter and vengeful against the world. He also freed Selior from mental manipulation, that's a major plus for him. In Arkain Question Time it was stated that Tregakh spent his time thinking about all sorts of things and that he was at a loss to what the purpose of the Four was after literally saving the world. It is an endearing facet to him. He was more contemplative and thoughtful than the rest of the Four.

Gotcha.
Btw, Lisara-Inara romance is not gonna happen, sorry to disappoint you.

Yes, you got me.

It was very sad and dissapointing to hear that Lisara-Inara romance won't happen. They could have been the greatest romantic pair in the entire saga. Lisara would have been the best friend that Inara could ever have and vica versa. Then again, if Inara and Lisara became best friends and lovers, the story of Arkain would be much, much shorter, as both femme fatales would badass their way through everything, without any sweat. They would destroy everyone standing in their way, without significant difficulty. It's a great power fantasy, that's for sure, but there might be no story of Arkain to speak of at the end of the day.

Either Inara and Lisara don't meet and the Legends of Arkain develops naturally and various plot lines (Tribal Dominion, plans of Ebira, Kerrel-Zyainor Cold War, Empire vs Arkain, Aridon's seclusion, etc.) progress as intended by Shar or Inara and Lisara team-up, but the plot and story go off the rails and diverge into crazy wish-fulfillment and power fantasy. Inara and Lisara are tough, hyper-awesome fatales, the gritty female furies and the enticing vamps of darkness, but they are too competent and I guess other characters, who are flawed, imperfect, make mistakes and have to overcome obstacles are what make Arkain a compelling story.

A power fantasy of two supremely badass and hardcore women or a relatable, compelling, human (figuratively speaking) drama with flawed characters. I prefer the former, but it's the latter that defines the spirit of Arkain and is preferred by Shar and the fans. And perhaps it should not be any other way.

Well, after you called Lisara "a dangerous femme fatale to be the boss rather than some overglorified
and annoyingly romanticized males" it did sound as if you were calling out people for thinking that those
three were the perfect human (at least in Gardon's and VERY partially in Brian's case you can call them "human")
beings which I don't think anyone in the forums does.

It's understandable. Did not mean to offend anyone here.

 

[Shar Dundred]

It was very sad and dissapointing to hear that Lisara-Inara romance won't happen. They could have been the greatest romantic pair in the entire saga. Lisara would have been the best friend that Inara could ever have and vica versa. Then again, if Inara and Lisara became best friends and lovers, the story of Arkain would be much, much shorter, as both femme fatales would badass their way through everything, without any sweat. They would destroy everyone standing in their way, without significant difficulty. It's a great power fantasy, that's for sure, but there might be no story of Arkain to speak of at the end of the day.

Either Inara and Lisara don't meet and the Legends of Arkain develops naturally and various plot lines (Tribal Dominion, plans of Ebira, Kerrel-Zyainor Cold War, Empire vs Arkain, Aridon's seclusion, etc.) progress as intended by Shar or Inara and Lisara team-up, but the plot and story go off the rails and diverge into crazy wish-fulfillment and power fantasy. Inara and Lisara are tough, hyper-awesome fatales, the gritty female furies and the enticing vamps of darkness, but they are too competent and I guess other characters, who are flawed, imperfect, make mistakes and have to overcome obstacles are what make Arkain a compelling story.

A power fantasy of two supremely badass and hardcore women or a relatable, compelling, human (figuratively speaking) drama with flawed characters. I prefer the former, but it's the latter that defines the spirit of Arkain and is preferred by Shar and the fans. And perhaps it should not be any other way.

Alright, we have reached the point where it is really time to stop.

 

[Championfighter25]

Whose side are you on in this
entire affair?

I've (with small exceptions) always been on team Ironfist and Brian.
Aridon, for all of his good intentions, keeps up an incredibly inconsistent idea of balance. For all the "balance of the world" ideas he think he might uphold, his actions show something completely different - a balance that is ultimately neglectful of a lot of things outside of Arkain and pretty Arkain centric.
Brian on the other hand is a lot less extreme and much more composed even if his apprentice (looking at you Gardon) can be quite extreme in his own right with his "the ends justify the means" mentality.
Of course, this is where things get morally gray. Still, and I know his sincerity and integrity is questionable, I think Tregakh had a point when he said the Dark Elves took up their mentality of being backstabbing scum who are ready to betray everyone they love from Aridon. Which you could argue makes Brian and the Ironfist ultimately the lesser of two evils.

On a side note, it's nice that the orcs and the other Dominion races are and will continue playing the role of a major wedge between all these factions. Without them, the undead would've remained stuck in their own ways and Zyainor probably control the territory of all 7 kingdoms by 20 Z. R.

 

[Kasrkin]

Well, I was late to the complete hard difficulty party but I did it.

Spoiler

Hell yeah

 

[Enki555]

And now the review of "Burning Forest":
-So, Lera fell in Lor... It's good Larine and Lera knew each other... perhaps conclusion of Elven Kingdom arc would feature Lera perhaps fighting side to side with Larine along with Saphira. Truly, elven kingdom seeing the best unification... and division. It's possible Larine would also meet Keera very soon... united beyond grave at last.
-Now, it makes sense that Rahandir leads faked splinter faction. It would be interesting to see who are in league with them; who will fight actively in Purificator mission. Krom, Saphira, and Mordin confirmed... perhaps more.
-O' Pentiss... I can see your world is sundered and everything you knew was false... truth hurts, and in the meantime... you will see him as your true master. Nice to see inside knowledge of dark elven teachings... O' Bhaazirel has been eyeing and desiring you ever since the time immemorial. Now that I think of it... it is possible Brian had some hand in creation of dark elves as how Aridon sired them was not detailed... so, Brian sent Cave Orcs to spy on elves... truly, he wants the best for you xD. The appearance of Miraezyl makes sense and... geez, Merlon has some serious arachnophobia don't worry tho, you won't see driders spawning from the eggs not anytime soon. Hopefully, Claire will warm your bed before your untimely fate.
-Krom is... more penned than I conceived. So, perhaps he is the second independent undead aside from Rahandir... makes sense. The millennia of undeath finally took toll on you, and only thing releasing you will be last death... tho it won't come to you for a while. Interactions between Krom and Brian was fulsome. Brian, ironically, gets along with his brother's creations more than his brother...
-Shadowmages are... interesting. We have nuker in form of shadow wave and debuff in mold of curse, and 3rd spell is... kinda hard to put; it suits 'em at the heat of combat but imo they should be sole nuker of Ironfist mages; necromancers raising army, banishers healing, shadowmages should be nukers; perhaps shadowlings spawning from the corpses by auto-cast attack modifier; something akin to orb of annihilation.
-Ah, I missed terrors so much; just leave em with 8 frigates with 8 or 9 of 'em, and they can quickly finish side quest; assuredly so. Yet your base has to suffer from another walking starfall, holy light and holy smite conjoined together... a nasty hell indeed. Also, flocks of spell-immune flying witches and dragonhawk lads... best way to survive is train 5 destructors and just nuke 'em; they r flying and most of the units won't target 'em. Let Larine spam her healing, mirage and hawk, and merlon just monsoon (not advised in face of GG as they have stun), and some cavalries to tank and shadowmages to nuke... you will be good to go. Golems r surprisingly fragile especially against such hordes, so... As long as Skyguard Battalion and Elven Army gone, mission will get much easier. O' yeah, use surviving terrors to nuke Holy Battalion base from afar (their range is sufficient) by positioning em to and fro at both sides of river. Then spamming destructors and killing dragonhawks and valkyries 1st then sniping roosts (their ranged dmg won't do much) ... then victory is urs as they are the only ones to hit 'em (quickly snipe workers and castle foremost). Lenira Nexus will also fall easily with hit-and-run. And, yeah, undead forces now make sense with fancy Splecir bodaches and frost wyrms making the patch of glade menacing and elegant are gone... those are still fine tho as banshees can turn the tide.
-Quite a refreshing map. Perhaps next mission after the one I haven't played yet is conclusion of elven arc... keep going!

 

[Apprentice Darkmoon]

My review about the new chapters.
Act seven chapter four
-The chapter received a big improvement. The new details about story are awesome.
-So... that is what happened to dear Lera...sobs
-I think Brian enjoys to show up and scares people. His conversations with some characters on the map are quite interesting to say at least.
-The elven army is the least problem you can have in this map. The new golden guard battlalions in the other hand... what a nightmare.
-I really appreciatted the new spellcasters. Shadow mages were key for me to deal with the enemies, specially one of the battlalions.
-I chosed Larine's heal aura cuz I really need to empowered the healing wave of the banishers. Next time I will try the Elves of the ironfist.
-I didn't attack the dark elves. Probably I will regrets this choice.
-So now Saphira tells something else in order to gain Bloodclaw's aid. Since Brian was present I had doubts about the plan... hopefully everything went well... for the undead at least.
-That final interaction between old beings... I assumed Brian knows something is a mess.
Act seven chapter five:
-I didn't expect the new allies, but also new enemies as well. Much appreciatted to say the least.
-I chosed Okri's boni.
-I was wondering when they will show up again. Those guys are still annoying.
-Well, I have a different idea of what could happen with the amulet. I don't expect that.
-I killed the dwarves.
-I think Amari is turned a bit darker, but I like it. After all, those who walk in the shadows have a dark side.
-I was really thinking that Amari will manipulate him with the amulet, but she is not Gardon.

I rather play the missions again in case I miss something. Great job, Arkain team, and nice pictures for the one who made them.

 

[Zergy]

Shar Dundred you blessed us with another 2 recognizable yet revamped missions in the True story of Legends of Arkain. I have to say you added more lore to fill out the gaps that the previous books left behind, good job Master of Arkain. Also, I'm glad that you added more variety to the orcs this time. Using 4 different clans' choices to add more flavor to a mission that sets up the true invasion! Plus the dark trolls as allies I did not expect them to be that stupidly angry but strong! Plus, the constant attack waves by red fist weren't there before, A nice touch to a sense of constant pressure. Dark trolls bring out the spicey heat in battle while battling the red fists militia Force. That Golden Guard officers male deserved his death, while his wife didn't deserved it at all... Sad, but that's the design of the story...
Further more, I'm looking forward to seeing more chapters (both True exclusive and revamped), more of VastanX art work in the game, but most of all the playable Pigmen and Murlocs as allies this coming invasion! SALRIA WILL FALL TO THE GROWING DOMINION...

​

​

 

[nchp1903]

Two chapters in one release is a surprise, but is also a welcomed one. Both are much easier than Dead Forest, but also more fun because I have more toys to play with.

Spoiler: Detailed review

Burning Forest:
- Brian came in, dropped the Shadow Mages, then left. Sigma male.

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.

• Also I guessed Curse and Shadow Wave right, yay. Didn't know how to use Shadow's Embrace properly though, maybe it would be better if I had Ice Queen's Crown on Larine for the Brilliance Aura.
• So Lera was killed off-screen by the Demon Slaves. I would say 'poor thing', if it weren't for the fact that we already had an Elven Archer among the Undead's rank.
• Pentiss is based af. She blamed her distant relatives (surface Elves) for being weak, not because of their actual weaknesses, but because they 'didn't try to poison each other in their sleep'. Then, when Brian appeared, the first thing that came to her mind wasn't 'How did he teleport here?' or 'This creepy mf is trying to kill me' or 'He is awfully similar to Bhaarizel'. It was the fact that Brian is a male. Her racism and sexism actually got more than a chuckle out of me.
• For the mission, I used Medicine of the Exile to turtle in my main base as long as possible, while my Terror fleet cleared the Holy Battalion -> Elves (I forgot the name) -> Skyguard Battalion. Once these three were destroyed, a full clear was only a matter of time.
• The Way Gates near the bridge actually made it less painful to micro the Terrors, so it's a nice addition to the map.
• Mirazeyl was smoking too much. She barely reacted when I attacked her base, and when she did, she always used her Carrion Swarm in the wrong direction.
• The ending still remained the same, but this time, Brian (and Gardon/Thanok) was more skeptical instead of just going along Aridon's script like a dummy. Would be funny if what Krom said was actually (mostly) the truth.

The Southern Realms:

• Pechan is a slick businessman, and is solid as a Hero too, with all of his abilities being useful (I know he's mostly a vanilla Tinker, but strong is strong), and a refillable Land Mine that can help defend in the early game.
• I tried going for Goldaxe at first, but getting the tier-3 Bodyguard out with the clunky and RNG contracts is a pain, not to mention that Goldseekers are not even available (also wrong description for Golddigger).

• New Bonis are interesting. Amari's one gives bonus damage to tier-3 units, so I think Berserkers will benefit the most with attack speed boost. Pechan's gives bonus HP to all Goblins (I still want some form of Auto Repair for them tho), and for Sappers specifically, 200 bonus HP means 167% bonus HP, which is a good way to make sure that they can Kaboom before dying. The most broken one, however, is Okri's Rage of the Exiles. This boosts attack speed for a ton of tier 1-2 units, including Skullblade Hunters. Once I had a bunch of those guys, they can permanently lock down an enemy Hero, be it a Captain, a Thane, or Paladin. Those guys are extremely cost-efficient, and in my opinion, the best basic infantry unit in the campaign, which are made even better due to this Boni.
• One more reason to pick Skullblade are Wyvern Lancers, which are ranged units with poison and a ton of HP for a 4-supply ranged units. Shamans-WD-Hunters-Lancers make an OP team comp.
• The Boar Regiment is already annoying af, but now they also have Barracks to replenish their troops. And the Bounty Hunters are the worst. They attack just slow enough for them to briefly enter Invisibility before each attack, which causes all friendly ranged units to drop aggro. Don't know if that is on purpose or not, but yeah, they're pests.
• The Bull Regiment are also turned into rage-fueled war machines, according to Ishzog, so I think they'll accompany the Redfist for a very long time. To their graves even.
• However, we have an allied Troll base, which is very nice, and they help defend the right flank really well. They got even stronger still, after Amari 'suggested' and 'convinced' and 'totally did not manipulate' Grella to put the Amulet on by her own will. It's the same type of Amulet as Merlon's so it should leave Grella's mind mostly intact, which is why Amari chose to be more hand-on with her approach. She also said that the Captain had fulfilled his one only purpose, so maybe his purpose was to provoke Grella to make her angry (which, I think is a normal reaction, and not because of her bloodlust or anything), so that Amari could swoop in at the right time to save her from herself, like the heroine and trustworthy friend that she is?
• Also, The Destroyer's appearance in that cutscene is interesting. From what I saw, seems like Ishzog had somewhat changed his backstabbing way, or did he only extend his trust to fellow Orcs that aren't weak?

 

[Elempash]

Uhm, could someone share their save file with me? My SDD died recently so I lost all my progress

 

[Navy45]

2 whole new chapters ? Is it Christmas ?! Oh right yeah it is.

Since I didn't come back to the Dead forest since the last updates, I decided to give it another go. I still feel like it is quite overtuned. Once you are rid of the Souleater, southern goldies and demon slaves, things become manageable. However, until that point, you are in a terrible situation where you get attacked by both the golden guard's elite and the Dark blades simultaneously without the ressources to tower spam one side. Your window to leave your base is ridiculously tiny at times. The only way I got through this part is by saving, attacking, loading if someone else attacks me, rinse and repeat.
Just a few questions :

• How does the AI choose its target ? Is it totally random ?Does it have to do with who you attack ? Where your bases are ? Where your troops are ? Or do they just always attack your base and sometimes they pass through another enemy base ? I have had times where the AI changed its target just by me loading a save (which sometimes meant a huge difference)
• All the enemy AIs seem to lauch their attacks at approximately the same time. I've had multiple case with the Darkblade count attacking my base by the north while the golden guard captain attacked the eastern side. Is it intentional ?

After the initial bit, however, the level becomes quite enjoyable. The Kezzar casters are very fun to use (glad the firemage is still here in spirit). The golden guard base is very challenging to break but the spawns are very useful for that (even if they are quite useless before that point). Overall the siege is very fun to play.
Also I really like Keera's hesitation with attacking her people and Ornasion's disagreement with the way Aridon commands his forces. The relationship between the undead characters gets more and more interesting.

 

[Hardric62]

In this time of rejoicing and presents, I call to celebrate this early present of revamped maps, with new toys to enjoy for the Ironfist, and to break for the nascent Dominion... And to mourn a little for one day whose coming had to be delayed so they would miss this Christmas. A later for the Shieldbearers then. I'll miss my unkillable wall of death and armor for this mission, and can only hope they find many Golden Guards, Redfists, Royals and Imperials to bump on their Witch Doctor and Shaman--enhanced shieldwalls, wherever they are to celebrate this Christmas.
/youdidnotneedthistorealizethisisajokedidyou

 

[nchp1903]

R.I.P Shieldbearers indeed. They were my favorite units, and they will be missed. Although, SOB is barely halfway done, so they may still be unlockable somewhere down the line.

Also, since we're talking about new toys, how has no one in the Arkain universe ever thought about putting a Terror on top of a Destructor, or vice versa, to create a weapon of mass destruction? Also, how were Doom Barges made, and why are there only exactly 3 of them, under control of the Rohir Nexus?

The mind boggles.

 

[Vindicator777]

Two new chapters such a great Christmas gift indeed)

 

[Fan_of_Aeroblyctos]

Had a lot of fun beating these missions. the addition of the portals nearby the bridge is an amazing idea.

 

[Shar Dundred]

I uploaded a lil hotfix with these fixes:

Act Seven, Chapter Three:
- Fixed the requirements for defeating the Darkblade and Souleater Legions

Act Seven, Chapter Five:
- Goldseekers have stopped grabbing money from Maronogin-knows-where and are now trainable

 

[LISBOAH]

My review of Act Seven, Chapter Four
-Merlon's picture of him smoking and his smole forming a boat reminds me of Gandalf doing the same in Fellowship of the Ring
-Merlon is as smooth as a truck
-Why did Aridon tell the Dark Elves that Bhaarizel was one of his followers? Aridon doesn't seem to have a grudge against his brother, so why would be rewrote records to say that?
-A moment of silence for all the brave soldiers that died... simply for Merlon to have a date with Claire. A date that never occured.
-I completed the Gem and Skyguard optional quests. I stayed away from the Undead
-Why is Arganus just a very powerful unit rather than a Hero?
-That whole scene with Krom at the ends sounded so good... until I recalled that was pure BS. Rahandir and Krom betraying Aridon? That sounds just as likely as Sasrogarn being both brave and competent or Redfist forgiving the orcs!
-Imagine Gardon's reaction after knowing that "Brian" and Aridon are the closest things to gods in the world

-I think Brian enjoys to show up and scares people. His conversations with some characters on the map are quite interesting to say at least.

-Shows up out of nowhere;
-Asks questions that either ruins or questions someone's goals;
-Leaves;
Brian is a true sigma male.

 

[krawg]

hey man like the changes great work just a little issue when i got bats i can't select them their is only their shadow in the map cant target them at all anyways they still get killed and u can see their shadow attacking

 

[Shar Dundred]

What is your game version?

 

[Mvicio]

Act Seven, chapter four.
-This one chapter was LOADED with lore.
-Shadowmages are... fine but i only use banishers as ironfist, too strong to be left out.
-Good old terrors, the best name for the best artillery unit.
-So Pentiss now has doubts, and we know she didn´t had an undead short story unlike Krom and Rahandir. Also the bonelords will lose to the orcs and were supported by the Lenira nexus... too much coincidence?
-I hate killing Teran here, he and Salana were the only one that tried to join the war efforts.
-So Bryan was a servant of Aridon? Sure, that was a good lie indeed.
-Krom talking to Thanok was smooth, of course he would enjoy a fight against an ancient black dragon.
-Krom betraying Aridon can´t be happening, he was the first one he raised and his most loyal follower.
-Killed the dark elves, i hate them.

Act Seven, chapter five.
-Destroyer on the Vanguard, that´s what i´m talking about, let us play with the destroyer in any Salrian map pls.
-The Dark trolls allies was a nice surprise, they are able to defend themselves pretty much the whole map (except during the GG huge wave attacks)
-Also, was it bugged or Okri talking about characters (iszog and Sasrogarn) made no sense?
-Being able to build kodos, wyvern ryders and champions really is a surprise, also Amari´s boni buff the top tier units from all the clans and not cliffhunter units? Picked Bloodhand and Amari´s boni
-Killed the dwarfs, there wasn´t Grofzag, Vanessa or Hortnog to stop me from getting more profits.
-WHAT THE HELL AMARI? That was completely unexpected, why you did that?
-The destroyer being so much smarter than Okri about Amari, despite knowing her for about 20 minutes proves why he is the chieftain of the bloodhand clan.
-Redfist constant waves were a nuisance, but i liked that you used a Militia unit and Elves (that i suppose run away from Kome Castle)

Both of this were a HUGE improvement, congrats Shar and Karskin!

-Imagine Gardon's reaction after knowing that "Brian" and Aridon are the closest things to gods in the world

Bryan will lie 100%

She also said that the Captain had fulfilled his one only purpose, so maybe his purpose was to provoke Grella to make her angry (which, I think is a normal reaction, and not because of her bloodlust or anything), so that Amari could swoop in at the right time to save her from herself, like the heroine and trustworthy friend that she is?

Exactly, he used the same Captain that taunt her, after killing his wife, his soldiers and being defeated to taunt Grella even more (because he is a Golden Guard Captain and we know they are arrogant even on that situation) so she could stop her, making the amulet "good" to keep them in control whenever Amari need them to stay calm.

 

[Shar Dundred]

-Also, was it bugged or Okri talking about characters (iszog and Sasrogarn) made no sense?

I just checked, no idea what happened there. Gonna fix it.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Uploaded another hotfix, now the lore entries work as intended.
It is just small things but honestly why not.

 

[Navy45]

Played through the burning forest :
Not much has changed from the original design and that is not a problem. I like using ships as an help to defend against the ground assaults (I don't remember if the teleports on the sides of the bridges were in the original but either way, they are really useful). Overall, the naval and ground parts of the level feel really connected. It's a very good hybrid kind of map.
I really like the buff to Seabright's passive. 1625 hp golems are really nice (even if I'm not sure if they're better than cavaliers with banisher support).
Just a few changes I feel would be cool :

• While very useful, the Terror can be really anoying when you don't want it to fire (at this point, the enemy would probably win if they sent 1 unit at a time just because of the amount of friendly damage that's being dealt). It would be nice if there was a button to order them to cease fire or if they could only fire if you deploy them, kind of like siege tanks in sc2. (it would also help with them charging blindly across half the map because they lost sight of their target)
• It would be nice to have a gold mine in the sky golden guard base since assaulting it is quite an investment.

Also, not related to this level, but I thought it would be nice if mechanical units got a sinergy with another unit. Like a mage that can heal or buff mechanical units. Not necessarily for the ironfist but the Ardoz, the goblins or the golden guard could use the extra incentive to use mechanical units.

The shadow mages are quite nice. However is their E spell just supposed to heal the caster ? That seems somewhat limited in terms of usefulness, especially with access to the banisher's healing wave. Also, their shadow wave can damage buildings which seems weird considering Amari's wave cannot.

About the lore :
Poor Merlon can only use his best lines when he's actually talking to Thanok. Those two are made for one another. Also Thanok told him he would be back on a ship as soon as Renova was killed. Sounds like abusive working time measurement if he ends up having to go to the gates of hell like the original.
Krom dropping lore bombs one after the other. Unless he's a master at poker (I'm sure his poker face is great), some of it is bound to be true. Still I expected him to go the extra mile and say the final head he would hunt would be Aridon's. Now that would be poetic.

 

[Zergy]

So whats your plans now, Master of Arkain? Since Christmas is fast approaching? Are you gonna continue making chapters for the next or enjoy another long Christmas break for a moment?

 

[krawg]

What is your game version?

1.3.1

 

[nchp1903]

Spoiler: Screenshot

After the hotfix, I replayed The Southern Realm again with the hotfixed Goldaxe Clan, and this time with a different approach. Originally, I think they are bad and clunky, and the only way for them to be useful is for me to savescumming with Contracts, allowing me to gain access to their tier-3 units, until now.
So, in WC3, or in long map like this to be specific, it's hard to keep up the 'tempo'. Meaning if I amass an army to launch a bug attack, meanwhile my income will suffer from massive Upkeep, which means after each attack, I have to play turtle for a long while with my small, sub-50-supply army and static defense to wait for the money to flow in again. But not with the Goldaxe. Their units' high defense stats plus Healing Ward allows them to stay alive longer so they can just keep looting enemy structures. When they eventually dies, the income from Contracts that ignores Upkeep makes sure that each dead Mercenary, Spearthrower, and Golddigger is instantly replaced and sent to the frontline to Pillage even more money that isn't affected by Upkeep. if I get lucky, I even earn a bodyguard while my supply is already 100, thus surpassing the supply limit.
So yeah, contracts provide big money, big money build big army, big army brings big money to build bigger army. Not even the Golden Guards and their 1000 Templars can beat this human-wave (or orc-wave) tactics.

When I have time, and when High Quality Production is fixed, I will try a Goblin siege team, or a New Guard - Bloodhand Berserker team.

 

[Navy45]

Just finished the Southern Realm, so it's back to the undending languish for more Arkain. But before that a quick review ^^
I played with the Skullblade clan with Okri's buff (endless stun archers/endless crit grunts : going for the horde strat). I feel like Amari's leadership is quite weak. A base 5 damage on elite units is not that strong since you can't get lots of them. I feel like a percentage increase would be better suited (especially since it applies to vastly different units).

• A solid level with very solid additions. The dark trolls covering the right flank is very nice. It helps play up the fact there are 2 attacks paths without just forcing you to abandon one. With a little help in terms of fortifications and after the bloodlust upgrade they can easily hold their own.
• The poor salrians have lost a lot of troops in the remake with the addition of the bull and redfist (or maybe the bull was in the original, I can't recall).
• The order of the arcane definitely has some powerful mages. Let's hope a few of them will survive (I wonder if the dominion could incorporate the remnants of the order after the invasion)
• Having the Destroyer is really cool. Alone, he's not that fun to play with but with other heroes, he's always good to have.
• Seeing the redfist militias made from Rath's campaign is very nice. Also it's fun to fight a redfist unit that's not a huge bundle of stats.
• I hope at one point we get to play with another dominion race with a few orcs for support rather than the other way around.
• Should'nt the centaurs in the ending cinematic be orange since they're not yet part of the dominion ?

Concerning the lore :
I didn't expect the amulet to be used so fast. Seems like a noble use at first glance. But the Destroyer, an ally of Iphzrog, stops Okri from interfering with a ritual that would ascertain Grella's alligeance to Brian's apprentice ? Really makes you think.
Also in the end cinematic, Amari tells captain Goldie that he "just accomplished his last purpose". Angering Grella so that Amari can activate her amulet ? Add the various Blackrazor troops that don't take part in the fighting but end up guarding the captured captain and witnessing the scene. Seems like the dominion politics are not very orcish anymore.

Edit : Forgot to mention it but Grella's attack doesn't have a projectile now that she's ranged so, at the moment, she just deals psychological damage by waving her axes around.

Edit + : Also, I just thought that it would be cool if Grella got a berserk or frenzy ability after the cutsscene where she decides to unleash her bloodlust. I doubt it would make her OP since she's primarely a spellcaster but it would be a nice gameplay indication of her abandoning her self restraint in battle.

 

[VastanX]

Just finished the Southern Realm, so it's back to the undending languish for more Arkain. But before that a quick review ^^
I played with the Skullblade clan with Okri's buff (endless stun archers/endless crit grunts : going for the horde strat). I feel like Amari's leadership is quite weak. A base 5 damage on elite units is not that strong since you can't get lots of them. I feel like a percentage increase would be better suited (especially since it applies to vastly different units).

• A solid level with very solid additions. The dark trolls covering the right flank is very nice. It helps play up the fact there are 2 attacks paths without just forcing you to abandon one. With a little help in terms of fortifications and after the bloodlust upgrade they can easily hold their own.
• The poor salrians have lost a lot of troops in the remake with the addition of the bull and redfist (or maybe the bull was in the original, I can't recall).
• The order of the arcane definitely has some powerful mages. Let's hope a few of them will survive (I wonder if the dominion could incorporate the remnants of the order after the invasion)
• Having the Destroyer is really cool. Alone, he's not that fun to play with but with other heroes, he's always good to have.
• Seeing the redfist militias made from Rath's campaign is very nice. Also it's fun to fight a redfist unit that's not a huge bundle of stats.
• I hope at one point we get to play with another dominion race with a few orcs for support rather than the other way around.
• Should'nt the centaurs in the ending cinematic be orange since they're not yet part of the dominion ?

Concerning the lore :
I didn't expect the amulet to be used so fast. Seems like a noble use at first glance. But the Destroyer, an ally of Iphzrog, stops Okri from interfering with a ritual that would ascertain Grella's alligeance to Brian's apprentice ? Really makes you think.
Also in the end cinematic, Amari tells captain Goldie that he "just accomplished his last purpose". Angering Grella so that Amari can activate her amulet ? Add the various Blackrazor troops that don't take part in the fighting but end up guarding the captured captain and witnessing the scene. Seems like the dominion politics are not very orcish anymore.

Edit : Forgot to mention it but Grella's attack doesn't have a projectile now that she's ranged so, at the moment, she just deals psychological damage by waving her axes around.

Emotional damage for grella.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Edit + : Also, I just thought that it would be cool if Grella got a berserk or frenzy ability after the cutsscene where she decides to unleash her bloodlust. I doubt it would make her OP since she's primarely a spellcaster but it would be a nice gameplay indication of her abandoning her self restraint in battle.

I actually considered giving her a different ultimate that would unlock after the cutscene but
decided to let her keep the Voodoo one.
Frenzy as T might be a good addition though.

 

[Navy45]

-Why did Aridon tell the Dark Elves that Bhaarizel was one of his followers? Aridon doesn't seem to have a grudge against his brother, so why would be rewrote records to say that?

The dark elves probably had records or stories mentioning Bharizel (you don't forget a divine gift like that). Aridon probably thought that it would be easier to say it was under his orders than going through the trouble of erasing the name from the race's memory. Also, grudge or not, Aridon tends to be fairly unwilling to share... pretty much anything, be it secrets or people. You could guess that he'd rather have the dark elves stay monotheists (after all, he only controls them through their fanaticism)

 

[nchp1903]

I actually considered giving her a different ultimate that would unlock after the cutscene but
decided to let her keep the Voodoo one.
Frenzy as T might be a good addition though.

I think adding a new ability for free to Grella, who's already quite strong is kinda overloaded. Maybe turning Awakened Bloodlust into a Boni that the player can research, with an effect like: "Make Headhunters' Berserk stronger, and gives all Troll units (Witch Doctors, Batriders, future units...), including Grella, the base version of Berserk."

If this is to become a thing, then the mid-mission cinematic can be moved further down, so if the players manage to survive that long without a Boni, they will feel more rewarded when they see the new one unlocked.

I'm not saying this so I can have something new and fun to play with, and definitely not because one of the already-available Boni, The New Guard, is very niche.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Maybe turning Awakened Bloodlust into a Boni that the player can research, with an effect like: "Make Headhunters' Berserk stronger, and gives all Troll units (Witch Doctors, Batriders, future units...), including Grella, the base version of Berserk."

It already is and does that among other things.
You basically get 2 leadership boni in this chapter.

 

[Zergy]

I think adding a new ability for free to Grella, who's already quite strong is kinda overloaded. Maybe turning Awakened Bloodlust into a Boni that the player can research, with an effect like: "Make Headhunters' Berserk stronger, and gives all Troll units (Witch Doctors, Batriders, future units...), including Grella, the base version of Berserk."

Having Grella's Bino about being berserk is fantasic idea and i hope to see when invading Salria. But may i suggest that the boni should be "Replace Head Hunters with BoneSlpitters and increase the HP by 200 to Witch doctors, Troll batriders and Bone, Splitters.

 

[Shar Dundred]

I will specify the on screen message next update to tell you what it does.
Since the player does not get to read the tooltip here, it'd make sense here.
Grella might still get Frenzy just to throw more shock damage at enemies.
Since she currently throws no axes, her damage dealt is result of the shock at the dark trolls abandoning their peaceful isolation.

 

[Enki555]

The Southern Realm review abounds:
-Picked Goldaxe and... kinda regretted not having picked tankier clan but it can't be helped. Capitalized on money and greed is of course good but not in this map as each new base means more death waves. Playing defensive and getting the third contract done when attacking Bull base helps but after destroying Bull base... things get much ugly as GG base is far stronger with two heroes with avatar (things I hate beside from Paladins... oh these pesky resurrections... pls stay dead) and nuke stuns. Coupled with unfortunate attack from Salrian Border Guard, Order of Arcane, and, worse, GG is enough to obliterate poor Dark Trolls; you fought well tho. And these Boar soldiers... the one at north of Bull base is enough to take out quarter of ur forces if not careful. Things just as worse as paladin bubble, ress, walking starfall(s) (again...), two avatars, and u name it are invisible pests. Also, Redfist waves... they get stronger as the time passes... Redfist's zeal knows no bounds it seems... Yeah, the map got far more interesting and interesting dynamics happening behind the scenes along with enhanced mechanics. The roster was: 7 or 8 goldseekers, 6 or 7 wyvern riders, 4 wd's, 3 shamans, 4 demolishers, 2 goblin machines and some tanker grunts (forgot the name) with 4 heroes, and it was fine but could've used much better roster (uh, my sleepy head...).
-Ah, we see Order of Arcane... not gonna lie; arguably the strongest and versatile order in Kingdoms (hydromancers r strong but... arcanists are terrifying). Starfall, slow, binds along with their archmage is enough to cripple all; especially against orcs who have no dispel (shamans' 1st make 3rd unusable); fortunately, Pechan just came in handy to ruin the stars.
-Grella now getting penned as she quite needed to be; she is now not bland character I put below average on Tier list. Interactions between Destroyer and Okri and Pechan... quite a fun to watch. Yeah, "the amulet"... Dark Trolls just got steroids... (hopefully, it won't cause any side-effects at least not anytime soon.) And, Grella: "Forests will always burn and barrens have no boughs to shelter you from corvids, winds, flames, powers, hosts, principalities, things to come and so on. Only by being one with the forces, you can survive or otherwise perish." A harsh lesson but you made a right choice. Justice over mercy. To me, Amari is truly a True Neutral: way she blessed coup-de-grace to crestfallen GG commander... although seemingly merciless, still freed him from his shame... if Amari indeed had your wife's shadow and you might serve her for while if your shadows are together (but in the end, just as she did with Logan, she could free both of you). Yeah, GG commanders harvested by both Undead and Shadows... a dark portent spelling grim airs for those who paint their garbs gold... Tbh, the character development is getting greater, and I will give all-stars on that one.
-Pillaged the Dwarves... and I smell Bloodstone vs Dominion showdown on the horizon (mbe after 5 or 6 missions later). Me, in general, looking forward to Risen Resistance as this was the map I liked the most from SOB. (End of Elven Revolution, Centaur skirmish, Recruiting of Ogres, Gnoll Island skirmish, Pirate-war, and... at least one undead mission... long way to go tho xD.) Can't wait xD.

 

[Zergy]

I will specify the on screen message next update to tell you what it does.
Since the player does not get to read the tooltip here, it'd make sense here.
Grella might still get Frenzy just to throw more shock damage at enemies.
Since she currently throws no axes, her damage dealt is result of the shock at the dark trolls abandoning their peaceful isolation.

Do you plan to add a projectile animation to Grella by the next update or is she still going to use her mind powers to damage foes from the distance?

Oh oh and I have suggested ideas for future Tribal Dominion Leadership Boni.

Amari-Needs to be revamped or rework by later chapters because currently her boni heavily focuses on Orc champions that will be inevitably replaced later by new Allies. Also known as the Ogres Maulers and Shieldbearers(My favorite ground army combo). So may I suggest a Future Boni that focuses more on the heroes of the Dominion and their stats base?

Champions of the Dominion:
"Permanently increase all hero HP by 500, Mana by 200 and attack damage by 5"

For Borrean or that Bearman Chieftain- Since the secret weapon of the Domion is officialy revealed, I have to say his boys are pathetic in combat. The Bearman Gladiator gets outclassed by Ogres in the Brute force contest and eventhough they have ridiculous armor stats they can't tank as much as Shieldbearers do. Plus, their spell casters, eventhough 2 out of the 3 spells are for healing, their healing output is pretty meh compared to the Witch Doctors. So I would suggest this kind of Leadership Boni to better suit the Bearmen combat capabilities.

The Last Tribe's Wrath:
"Increase the Attack damage by 5 or 10 and attack speed by 10% for Gladiators and Herbalists"

Lore for the Last Tribe's Wrath:
"The Koydoss tribe have witnessed both their own home, The pearl of Lor, and their kin getting consumed and corrupted by an unknown evil. Believing that they are the last of their own kind, the Chieftain of the Koydoss tribe has taken a risk in allying themselves with unlikely allies. Now, the Tribe has entered a war that they have never witnessed before, but they must fight for the sake of their own kin's survival or they will face exticntion..."

The Murloc Hero Leadership boni- Since they are a comming new edition to the Dominion. May suggest this kind of Leader ship Boni.
The Murloc Hordes(If Murloc hero is the Iconic Murloc):"Incease the HP by 300 and armor by 2 to all Murloc Units."

The Bigger fishes(If the Murloc Hero is a Naga. Oh I hope you use Najentus model): Increase Behemoth and Gugarnauts' attack damage by 5 and HP by 500. Or Allows you to train or replace Murloc Behemoths with Murloc Gugarnauts. Gugarnauts can cast ice Shard and Crushing waves and summon a Sea Elemental.

Pigmen- another new edition to the dominion and the leadership Boni should focus on the Aggressive side of this allied race. I feel like the pigmen are either Fragile hard hittera or a well rounded frontline brutes.

The call to WAAAAAAAAAAR!:
"Increase the Attack damage by 10 and Attack rate by 10% to all pigmen units."


Lastly Brockta- Oh boy my favorite allied race. Ogres where my favorite unit and race ever since Warcraft 2. Big strong brutes that can pulvirize frontlines in matter of seconds! I can't wait for the Brockta and his Ogre legion's Chapters in the true story! So heres my idea for a Leadership Boni.

The Brutal Might of the Legion:
"Increase the attack speed by 10% and HP by 400 to Ogre Maulers and Ogre Magi"

Well thats all Ive got what you guys think of these ideas?

 

[nchp1903]

7 or 8 goldseekers, 6 or 7 wyvern riders, 4 wd's, 3 shamans, 4 demolishers, 2 goblin machines and some tanker grunts (forgot the name) with 4 heroes, and it was fine but could've used much better roster (uh, my sleepy head...).

Goldseekers are more like the janitors, as in letting them clean up shit is better than putting a bunch of them in your main attack force. Just use Mercenary + Lv3 Barrier (yes, I skipped Last Reserve) + Healing Ward instead. Ain't nothing getting past a wall of 20-armor Mercs with 16 HP regen per second.

Although, one Goldseeker should be good enough to disrupt Starfall with Ensnare, so it's something to keep in mind.

Or you know what? Just pick Skullblade, do random shit, and enjoy your free win.

For Borrean or that Bearman Chieftain- Since the secret weapon of the Domion is officialy revealed, I have to say his boys are pathetic in combat. The Bearman Gladiator gets outclassed by Ogres in the Brute force contest and eventhough they have ridiculous armor stats they can't tank as much as Shieldbearers do. Plus, their spell casters, eventhough 2 out of the 3 spells are for healing, their healing output is pretty meh compared to the Witch Doctors. So I would suggest this kind of Leadership Boni to better suit the Bearmen combat capabilities.

The Last Tribe's Wrath:
"Increase the Attack damage by 5 or 10 and attack speed by 10% for Gladiators and Herbalists"

I can think of a few ability for Bearman units that can make them more useful.
Thick Fur: Their thick layer of fur protects them from both magic and attacks alike (Hardened Skin + Elune's Grace).
Spirits of the Forebears: Call upon Bear Spirits to restore nearby allies' vitals (Scroll of Regeneration).
Right to Bear Arms: Allows them to use magical weapons, which give increased attack damage, and each attack can apply Poison/Slow (Slow Poison/Frost Attack)
Heavy Payload: Allows the training of a special siege unit: Furapult, that can hurl one Bearman unit into the enemy's formation. (Meat Wagon's Disease Cloud)

 

[HuanJuan]

disrupt Starfall with Ensnare

Are you serious? You can disrupt a spell with Ensnare?! God***it!

 

[nchp1903]

Are you serious? You can disrupt a spell with Ensnare?! God***it!

I had the same reaction as you do when I first found this out. More than 10 years of WC3 and only heard of this just a month ago.

 

[Plantpaladin]

A playthrough of Burning Forest
Phase 1:: Defend
-Get Seabrights passive and start building arcane towers, golems, destructors and terrors.
Park the terrors in the river to keep them away from destructor attacks.
-Keep your starting army alive long enough to be replaced, you only got one gold mine.
-Use attack ground on terrors to keep them from killing too much of your own stuff.
-Use Seabright once the angels are dead, you dont want him to get stunned while casting ulti, you can also combine his aoe slow with terrors.
-You can park Larine at water once the air waves start coming in, with some micro she can solo 3 destructors and use frigate help for bigger waves.
Surving the waves are probably hardest part of mission.
Phase 2::Elven Army
-Elven Army has strongest AA in mission. Run away from starfall. Kill their fliers over forest and use terrors on archers.
-Focus down the Altar->Castle->Workers ->Dragonhawk Roost.
-Unless gold starved(which you shouldnt be), dont bother with building your own base there yet, harder to defend.
Phase 3:: Island options
-Use terrors and arcane towers to kill the wave towers.
A::Get a fleet to fight your way through the enemy fleet to get your terrors into position to support the destructors
B::Only use Destructors to destroy the castle and peasants on first attack and workshops on second attack. This will stop the attack waves.
A will lead to fewer lost destructors B will be cheaper.
-Come back for item later if you choose option B
Phase 4:: Holy bastion
-Expand now to old elven army base(you should be out of gold)
-Larine can aid in defending base when you procced to wreck the Holy Bastion with destructors and terrors.
Phase 5::Cleanup
-The rest is just cleanup, get items and whatever sidequests you want before hitting the final base.

 

[Mvicio]

Champions of the Dominion:
"Permanently increase all hero HP by 500, Mana by 200 and attack damage by 5"

Thats even better than Vail's boni which was already the best one of allí humans and you can stack it. Having a 4K HP amari against the duke would make the things really easy.

The Last Tribe's Wrath:
"Increase the Attack damage by 5 or 10 and attack speed by 10% for Gladiators and Herbalists"

I would say the Bearman should Focus on survivability They are a single tribe and They are joining: The whole population of Dark Trolls, centaurs and gnolls, most of the Ogre Legion, several settlements of murlocs and pigmen and the remnants of all the orc clans.

I think It would be better 200 HP and 2 armor to all Bearman units plus their leader have thorns aura and Healing rain, making them the tankiest faction on the dominion while the ogres and orcs would be heavy hitters.

The call to WAAAAAAAAAAR!:
"Increase the Attack damage by 10 and Attack rate by 10% to all pigmen units."

Thats a good one.

The Brutal Might of the Legion:
"Increase the attack speed by 10% and HP by 400 to Ogre Maulers and Ogre Magi"

Too strong but increasing attack speed or replacing some weaker units with a stronger ogre variant would be cool.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Do you plan to add a projectile animation to Grella by the next update or is she still going to use her mind powers to damage foes from the distance?

Yes.



I would like to give you all another Christmas gift - if you are ready for it, that is.
If you are, read the hidden tag below - but I warn you, it is just a hint and will cause great
anguish trying to figure out what it could mean!
I will not reply to any questions regarding this until the time is right - and no, I will not tell you
when that is.

Super Mega Christmas Spoiler Hint

There will be another playable faction...

 

[VastanX]

Yes.



I would like to give you all another Christmas gift - if you are ready for it, that is.
If you are, read the hidden tag below - but I warn you, it is just a hint and will cause great
anguish trying to figure out what it could mean!
I will not reply to any questions regarding this until the time is right - and no, I will not tell you
when that is.

Super Mega Christmas Spoiler Hint

There will be another playable faction...

Can you tell the color of te new faction?