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Round Table of Arkain

Level 20
Joined
Nov 17, 2019
Messages
208
I've just beaten "Pride of the Empire" on hard, and I must say; now I know what suffering truly is. :D The mvp was definitely Rath with his Avenge.
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Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
Yep. In the mission where you play as Merlon, you have to destroy the Dark Elves base without Destructors or Terrors, then bring Merlon over there to trigger the hidden scene where he gives Gardon the diamond instead. Then, Gardon shows his appreciation by upgrading Merlon's Amulet of Discipline, allowing Merlon to gain 100% Evasion.

It's sarcasm and made up, of course. This is just in case someone here hasn't finished SHB.
 
Level 20
Joined
Nov 17, 2019
Messages
208
Okay, so I have no idea, about whether I'm allowed to post this here or not, but I just wanted to let you guys know, that I have made two videos about Bloodbath. The first one is about completing the mission on hard, doing the optional quest, killing Progaderas, and also destroying the orc bases next to me:
The other one is a "speedrun" of the mission on normal. I've managed to beat the map in 11 minutes and 30 seconds:
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
So I've been watching a lot of Grant's MindHawk's Challenge Gauntlet series, and then I think that maybe some of the True Story maps aren't hard enough, so I should implement more challenge into it.


This is the result. An overedited mess that is the first mission - Pillage, that I myself suffered greatly to beat.

But then again, using spellcasters, Shamen in this case, to at least half of their potential was quite satisfying. Made me feel like a micro god.
 

Kasrkin

Hosted Project: LoA
Level 26
Joined
Apr 6, 2014
Messages
804
The first mission isn't hard enough, :xxd: now that sounds like something I would have said to Shar in the first few years we worked together. You know I thought the consensus was that people wanted the missions to be less insane but it seems we might have to reevaluate this measure as we head into the second book era.

As for challenges I can remember doing on missions over the years: Defense of Home with no allies on hard, the Siege of Toran with no Thanok support, Green Wave with no elves on hard, Possession with no possession, Lords of the Golden Guard with no destructors. But there have been major revisions over the years so their difficulty is not what it once was.
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
Challenges are quite a thrill to play, and it's good if they're like an optional difficulty for bored players who already finished the campaign once and wanted to play again, but with extra spice.
So I've been watching a lot of Grant's MindHawk's Challenge Gauntlet series, and then I think that maybe some of the True Story maps aren't hard enough, so I should implement more challenge into it.


This is the result. An overedited mess that is the first mission - Pillage, that I myself suffered greatly to beat.

But then again, using spellcasters, Shamen in this case, to at least half of their potential was quite satisfying. Made me feel like a micro god.
But as for this one, I failed to make a dialogue box that ask if the players want a challenge or not (triggering is hard), so I just made it permanent instead.
As for challenges I can remember doing on missions over the years: Defense of Home with no allies on hard, the Siege of Toran with no Thanok support, Green Wave with no elves on hard, Possession with no possession, Lords of the Golden Guard with no destructors. But there have been major revisions over the years so their difficulty is not what it once was.
These sound really painful however, especially the last one. But the other ones seem "doable" enough for me. Strangely, I never struggled on the original Defense of Home or Siege of Kome or Green Wave, but instead, the mission I could never beat is Between A Rock And A Hard Place of SOB. Daric's Elites with Blinking Bears are just brutal.

Also, now that I think of it, why are there Demons behind Redfist's house, and how did they get there without being noticed?
 
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Kasrkin

Hosted Project: LoA
Level 26
Joined
Apr 6, 2014
Messages
804
Also, now that I think of it, why are there Demons behind Redfist's house, and how did they get there without being noticed?
The chaos after the first voidwar even though the combined armies kicked the absolute crap out of the demons doesn't mean some didn't go unnoticed, and this still being relatively recent Empire integration the demon slave infiltration problem is still an absolute hell comparatively to the modern era where they can't just be anywhere they want to be. So portals can still be brought up 'easier' and Redfist and his men went out hunting demon remnants anyhow so they knew some were nearby.
 
Level 20
Joined
Nov 17, 2019
Messages
208
Oh no, it's Lugnar, Rangul's evil twin brother who was exiled for trying to usurp the place of the niatfeihc!
Is this story from the First Kro book of Legends of Niakra, Shar?
Edit: Damn, I changed the joke, so Shar's reply doesn't make sense. Original joke: Legends of Niakra, Second Night Elf book when, Shar?
 
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Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
Oh no, it's Lugnar, Rangul's evil twin brother who was exiled for trying to usurp the place of the niatfeihc!
Evil Rangul (or Lugnar) be like: Not committing war crimes and actually cares for Amari.
Is this story from the First Kro book of Legends of Niakra, Shar?
Edit: Damn, I changed the joke, so Shar's reply doesn't make sense. Original joke: Legends of Niakra, Second Night Elf book when, Shar?
Niakra sounds unironically like a good name for a Zerg Broodmother, so thanks for the idea. Quite an ambitious crossover is about to happen.
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
I remember sending 300 peons to distract him and his friends while the Raiders run in to ransack his base. It was a fun 'strategy', albeit a bit inhumane.

But if anyone asks 'why', then I'll just say I was roleplaying as Sasrogarn, so I used the same strats that he would have used.
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
In Legends of Niakra, we'll have cool characters like: Aridone, who's gone insane from dealing with the orcs; Selior Cleavedhead (pun intended) who's immune to emotional damage; Bland Greymoore, who's definitely not going to die; and Radisrek who would never backstab his Demon friends.
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
I think that maybe some of the True Story maps aren't hard enough.
It seems that I choked on my own words. My attempt to make the next mission - Hunt for Riches - harder, went atrociously wrong.

Basically, every 2 minutes, a random challenge from a set of six will run (with some manipulations to reduce the chance of two of them happening in a row). But in the video, I use other triggers to activate them manually, since I discovered that Random Integers work really weirdly, and is a pain to record footage. As for difficulty, right now, it's broken to the point of unbeatable (at least for me).
  • Shamen can't be recruited.
  • Mordin starts at LV 10 with maxed out abilities and a Cloak of Flames.
  • Demolishers gain 2 HP/s as compensation.
  • Challenges include:
  • Deserters: 0-4 random units will be removed. 50% chance that trained units (except Demolishers) will also be removed.
  • 'Improved' Masonry: Structures instantly lose health. Newly-built structures have a chance to be: instantly destroyed, reduced to 10% HP, or ownership switched to Neutral Hostile.
  • Stampede: Detect buildings in Main Base/Expansions, then Neutral Hostile Dummies cast Stampede.
  • Mirror Images: Spawn weaker Sasrogarns with Chain Lightning/Feral Spirits periodically. Has timed life.
  • Redfist: Spawn the best dad with timed life. Still didn't let him use Firebomb or Avenge because too overpowered.
  • Nothing: Self-explanatory. Nothing happens to give the player windows to retaliate and rebuild.

The more I work on this, the more I appreciate the little details on those maps, such as unit placements, A.I, terraining, and balancing. When I first opened those maps in Editor, I thought the triggers would contain lots of complex scripts, but it turns out, Shar made it simple and easy to read, yet so good, and each map needs hours of player put into it to be fully mastered.

Don't know what else to say, but by all means, keep up the good work.
 
Level 20
Joined
Nov 17, 2019
Messages
208
Hi guys! It's me again! This time, I've brought you something a little different. So, we all know why Duke Volarian Redfist became a tyrant. The orcs murdered his wife, slaughtered his men, and kidnapped his daughter. Well... today, the orcs are not going to do that. Unfortunately, the player has to burn down the village of Fishbarn, since it is a main objective, and there is no way to spare the humans at the end, because they are attacking the boat, and the mission only ends, if the player kills them, but other than those, (where the player HAS to kill humans in order to progress), I am NOT killing any humans today. That means that Lady Stephanie survived the raid, and not only that! The Mansion Guard, and most of the Toranite Militia survived it as well! I killed the demons too, so if anything, Redfist should be thanking me...
 

Kasrkin

Hosted Project: LoA
Level 26
Joined
Apr 6, 2014
Messages
804
And thus begins the career of General Redfist as he enters the Imperial military once more oh and the Redfist sisters and sons are all butterflied away.

You broke history, well done.


Actually thinking on this more this would have even more of an impact than Redfist being a strategic boon to the Imperials stationed on Arkain before the second voidwar, and of course no Aedale to be a pawn for greater powers. He could mitigate the breakdown of relations between the Royals and Imperials but while not stopping it completely it could certainly help.

Orcs are likely still fucked cause they took Vanessa but now there is the duo Redfist couple who are first voidwar veterans.
 
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Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
Hi guys! It's me again! This time, I've brought you something a little different. So, we all know why Duke Volarian Redfist became a tyrant. The orcs murdered his wife, slaughtered his men, and kidnapped his daughter. Well... today, the orcs are not going to do that. Unfortunately, the player has to burn down the village of Fishbarn, since it is a main objective, and there is no way to spare the humans at the end, because they are attacking the boat, and the mission only ends, if the player kills them, but other than those, (where the player HAS to kill humans in order to progress), I am NOT killing any humans today. That means that Lady Stephanie survived the raid, and not only that! The Mansion Guard, and most of the Toranite Militia survived it as well! I killed the demons too, so if anything, Redfist should be thanking me...

You really tried to finish this mission as a pacifist. For being an absolute madlad, and for liven up this thread, I think you and your playthrough deserve more recognition.

Also, you might or might not have inspired me to upload my own runs.
 
Level 27
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
480
As a follow-up to this post of mine, I finally finished tweaking the challenges. I had to give the Orc some health regen to get through the early game (because their sustain sucks without Witch Doctors or Scepter), but nonetheless, here is the final product:


Also timestamps are in description.
 
Level 20
Joined
Dec 19, 2013
Messages
1,084
because their sustain sucks without Witch Doctors or Scepter
I always thought it was funny how orc sustain goes from absolute ass to god tier...They have like three sources of sustain (if you aren't counting Ranguls scepter of healing which is a pretty much a free WD heal ward)
 
Level 9
Joined
Dec 1, 2021
Messages
62
I like how Blizzard gave them the Shadow Hunter and the Voodoo Lounge with with healing salves in the Frozen Throne to compensate for their awful early sustain. I guess Shar wanted the player to really feel the need for the scepter, which is why you don't have any healing in CH2 of the first orc book. It also kind of makes sense that the player gets the shop in CH6, as that is the first time in the campaign when you don't play with scepter carrier Rangul.
 

Kasrkin

Hosted Project: LoA
Level 26
Joined
Apr 6, 2014
Messages
804
We've had so many issues with the shops over the years, I can't tell you how many times I've shown Shar an AI hero selling their items just because they brushed by a shop no matter how many times we think we've fixed it.

Does Legend of arkain will ever have own page on tvtropes? I would like to read a character sheet.

The mods page for wc3 was actually deleted years ago I have no idea why, but the original pages for the mods that were on the site are still there but they're just no accessible from the game's own page anymore. Example
 
Level 12
Joined
Jun 19, 2016
Messages
155
We've had so many issues with the shops over the years, I can't tell you how many times I've shown Shar an AI hero selling their items just because they brushed by a shop no matter how many times we think we've fixed it.



The mods page for wc3 was actually deleted years ago I have no idea why, but the original pages for the mods that were on the site are still there but they're just no accessible from the game's own page anymore. Example
Sad. I can only imagine how big page could be on tvtropes with all these factions.
 
Level 22
Joined
Apr 9, 2017
Messages
1,681
If the tvtropes page is ever done, just the laconic section alone will be legendary:

"A bunch of gods gets angry at each other , which indirectly leads to the creation of more gods that get angry at each other, which leads to them getting even more angry at each other than they originally were, which angers a lot of other people too."

Something like that. :p
 
Level 7
Joined
Aug 18, 2018
Messages
128
Hello may I ask about the secret chapter in the second orc book. Do I need to replay the whole campaign until the interlude: The Duke to make the choices appear? I already chosen humans to be slaughtered in the prelude choices
 
Level 7
Joined
Mar 11, 2020
Messages
94
I hope he will be playable same with Thanok.
i hope so for thanok destroyer and general claire :D i hope they are made to be heros also i hope to see leadership boni for all races it would be cool

just finished your true stroy the progress so far is so good damn u gave alot of character to all factions i hope to see an ironfist change they are weak as hell keep the great work my man this is the greatest campaign in the hive or ever made just would like to let you know that you have fans from all around the world i hope to see the leadership boni in all the true the story its one of the features that made the sub so good, looks like innocent blenny is hiding some family drama peace :D
 
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