Round Table of Arkain

[RealRazvan]

Great work with the campaign, truly a masterpiece. I've been playing this campaign for many years now and I keep coming back to see what is new and to continue playing. There is though an issue that I would really think would make the campaign even more awesome than it already is. There is a issue with most maps that have an allied AI helping you that I am not sure if it is easy to fix or not but it is something that I would say would truly make this campaign perfect if it is not yet.

Many missions are very hard and grindy since the 100 supply cap is not enough to push many bases and you have to attack multiple times. (Let's say for example the mission Lord of Shadows since it takes a lot of time and it is very hard at the end). You would expect that your AI acts like the enemy AI but somehow it is different. Their attacks send only a few units, increasing it would make missions less grindy and more enjoyable and more cool and it would also improve the vibe of the campaign. Increasing the allied waves by a one, two or three units would improve the atmosphere of the campaign and make these missions slightly less grindy if you manage to combine your attack with the AI.

The second issue with the allied AI is that it is somehow buggy. Even if you follow them to attack the same spot at once, there is an issue with the AI that will make the AI retreat their troops after not doing much. This happens a lot but I don't think happens every time. The ai just sends their troops back to the base when we are finally managing to push. The enemy AI doesn't seem to have this issue like it sends their troops to attack and they don't retreat them (maybe not that often for me to see it). They even come to the aid of allied AI's making battles be 100 supply vs 200+. If we would do a comparison, the enemy AI is the very experienced player that focuses ranged units and siege units and constantly rebuilds and attacks with most of his army while your allied AI is the player that backs down from fights that it clearly won that refuses to press it's advantage and only sends a few units at once. For example, in the Lord of Shadows, on my attack after killing the catapults, the AI named Traitors send their hero a total of 7 times before my allies send their attack again while rallying their troops to defend their ally. My ally sent a total of 4 units to help sadly.

As a conclusion, I don't want you to understand this wrong though, I am not complaining that hard difficulty is impossible. I've been playing this campaign on hard for many years now and I still will do since I love the challenge. It is just that some missions are hours long where you need many restarts and to figure out when the attacks will come and when to attack and all the strategies and some missions are easy. I believe that if the allied AI would be improved the gameplay of the grindy missions where you face enemies with double your supply would be much better.

I will post below a photo so you can understand what I am talking about.

 

[Karmondia]

 

[ShadowGamerXXX]

Merry Christmas, I hope you are having a good time with your people, also that in these times of the birth of Jesus they are blessed by God and that they have received what they wanted... But even though these times are tight because of money or situations, not have someone to share with and who are sad, remember that you will never really be alone because God (or his equivalent) will always be accompanying you on these dates and better times will come, since there is no evil that lasts a hundred years and after the storm comes calm . Merry Christmas to all

 

[Zergy]

Regarding the Topic ("Which Arkain Character should rule the World of Arkain)
For me, I would go for Brain, Amari, Gardon, and that Fancy DreadLord.

Brian, one of the puppet masters pulling the strings of fate (Aside from Shar who is the true puppet master), has more influence on the story compared to his asshole of a sibling, Aridon (The Anime Cliche character). He, technically, controls both Zyianor and the Tribal dominion through his Apprentices, Gardon and Amari.

Gardon because he brings results, is an overall understandable, fearless, and strong leader, even though his methods and decision-making are questionable... But still, he brings results!!

Amari although her character was sprinkled with a hint of darkness now compared to before in the SOB (SECOND ORC BOOK), she has an understandable and respectable end goal. That goal is to bring rights to her community and break the flaws of their stupid culture. She is the embodiment of what feminism used to be compared to our corrupt woke culture today. I applaud you, Shar. You created a strong female lead who isn't a sexual fuck toy or some toxic feminist who thinks that their gender is better. I like her. She is strong, collected, and... although suspicious today, she brings her results quite clearly... In a silent dark matter...
And as for that Fancy Dread Lord? He is... Inevitable... A parasite in a way, but he would rather keep his hosts alive to benefit him in the long run. He will latch on to the most powerful and influential characters in the world of Arkain. Heck, I assume by the end of this True Story series this Fancy DreadLord will have a major influence within the kingdoms of the Dominion and Zyianor... He rules silently in the shadows, manipulating the economy as he tips his hat to you...

Fuck Aridon though, He claims to protect the world but when you study his actions and decision making it's kind of both suspicious and evil in a way. Plus, because of the latest release of the 2 new chapters and the added dialogue for lore from Brain, I can conclude that Aridon the watcher is such an asshole in a way. Imagine backstabbing your siblings claiming it is the right thing to do, only for you to come back and the reason is to watch over the mortal races??? What??? Biggest Bruh moment if you ask me, yet... It is a part of his character sheet.

Also more questions for Shar Again. This is regarding the Second Orc book and the allied races.
Question 1: I noticed from the 2nd Human Book that you mentioned that the orcs have allied themselves with the Murlocs, yes? And when you finally release the 2nd Orc Book, why you didn't add the Murlocs as playable units in the 2nd book though?
Question 2: This also goes for the Pigmen. The Wizard from Southern Realms Chapter in SOB mentioned them. Yet, you didn't add them, before? Why though? I would like to know your ideas and decision when you were currently making the 2nd orc book.
Question 3: What made you decide to finally add them to the True story?

 

[Mochi King]

I've been seeing this 'Imperator' being some sort of orc leader in the Golden Guard, but I haven't seen him yet. anyone know who he really is?

 

[Shar Dundred]

Question 1: I noticed from the 2nd Human Book that you mentioned that the orcs have allied themselves with the Murlocs, yes? And when you finally release the 2nd Orc Book, why you didn't add the Murlocs as playable units in the 2nd book though?

In the SOB timeline the Humans "prevented" the alliance from happening before the end of the war.

Question 2: This also goes for the Pigmen. The Wizard from Southern Realms Chapter in SOB mentioned them. Yet, you didn't add them, before? Why though? I would like to know your ideas and decision when you were currently making the 2nd orc book.

The Orcs didn't have the Pigmen "on their radar" in the SOB until after the war.

Question 3: What made you decide to finally add them to the True story?

You will see.

I've been seeing this 'Imperator' being some sort of orc leader in the Golden Guard, but I haven't seen him yet. anyone know who he really is?

He never was an Orc, I have no idea where that claim came from. Imperator used to be a Hive user.
Anyway, he is no longer part of any Arkain campaign and was never part of its lore - as is the case for
most Hive Workshop references.

 

[Mochi King]

-It just got me thinking, if the small remainder of the regiments and the elemental orders (order of air, order of earth) survive, will they join the ironfist under gardon? in SOB, the order of lightning will be under ironfist, but there are also other orders out there. the order of flame seemed to be against allying with zyanoir.

-In the first mission with amari and okri, is the amulet made by gardon to control others to his will? if so, does that mean amari is familiar with how the magic on the amulet worked, which is also why she is able to use it herself?

 

[gaurdian of the flame]

-It just got me thinking, if the small remainder of the regiments and the elemental orders (order of air, order of earth) survive, will they join the ironfist under gardon? in SOB, the order of lightning will be under ironfist, but there are also other orders out there. the order of flame seemed to be against allying with zyanoir.

-In the first mission with amari and okri, is the amulet made by gardon to control others to his will? if so, does that mean amari is familiar with how the magic on the amulet worked, which is also why she is able to use it herself?

well for the regiments the falcon and pheonix regiments well for sure join with the golden guard and stand against gardon or at least the falcon well don t know much about the pheonix and for the wolf and bull regiments well to be honest i don t think they will survive the orcs onslaught in salria or at least the bull well be destroyed since their leader dorbric i know it s mostly written wrong and sry for that anyway he will mostly try to avange cleavehand and blen deaths or die trying since both of them died at the hand of the orcs about the wolf regiment they will either die too or take heavy loses that will prevent them from doing anything in the war between gardon and van durce about the dragon and boar regiments they both lost their leaders and took heavy loses and they will mostly be destroyed with the bull regiments and about amari no she can t use it by herself but the amulet was mostly created by brian magic this is maybe she is familiar with it also final thing about the regiments part this is just a Personal expectation in the end the only one who knows what is gonna happen is shar and also sry for any grammer mistakes english is not my main languge

 

[Shar Dundred]

Here's the current "Top Ten Rulers of the World of Arkain"!

 

[Zergy]

MORE QUESTIONS!!! I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS!! FER Master Shar Dundred!

Question 1: I have been reading your old posts from the Arkain news network and I have red about the Dragon lancers (Now a siganutre unit for SkullBalde) units used to be trainable in SOB. Why removing them in the SOB overall?? I could have used them for my nefarious strategies. Hehe...

Question 2: The Tribal Dominion consists of many different races yes? Most of them are either Blizzard created or Real world cultural creatures or monsters. A list of Fantasy creatures that I would like to ask if the orcs have any interests in recruiting them. Just say yes or no. Or in other words? Do they exist in the continent of Arkain or the World it self???

*Satyrs
*Those Ratmen that serves Progdarus
*Minotaurs or Tauren
*Mangnatuars
*Fauns
*Sasquatches

Question 3: Ever since the FOB (First Orc Book) you replaced the Forest trolls with proper orc units. But, Im wondering if they will ever show up again in the Dominion or do you consider them as excitinct during the 2nd Void war??? Or do I have a choice in saving them so that they could be reuinited with their fellow Dark Trolls.

 

[Mochi King]

well for the regiments the falcon and pheonix regiments well for sure join with the golden guard and stand against gardon or at least the falcon well don t know much about the pheonix and for the wolf and bull regiments well to be honest i don t think they will survive the orcs onslaught in salria or at least the bull well be destroyed since their leader dorbric i know it s mostly written wrong and sry for that anyway he will mostly try to avange cleavehand and blen deaths or die trying since both of them died at the hand of the orcs about the wolf regiment they will either die too or take heavy loses that will prevent them from doing anything in the war between gardon and van durce about the dragon and boar regiments they both lost their leaders and took heavy loses and they will mostly be destroyed with the bull regiments and about amari no she can t use it by herself but the amulet was mostly created by brian magic this is maybe she is familiar with it also final thing about the regiments part this is just a Personal expectation in the end the only one who knows what is gonna happen is shar and also sry for any grammer mistakes english is not my main languge

thanks for the response. though i agree with the bull being destroyed and the phoenix joining the golden guard, i feel like the falcon will help gardon since its general is actually close with gardon. for the wolf, there's a possibility that they will be destroyed since zoia prolly feels too much humiliation from them already. but its also possible she'll join gardon since he likes his methods more and dealing with the remaining orcs is prolly a waste of her time already (but she'll only leave when the bonelords rise). regardless, i do agree with a lot of these.

 

[tottipeter]

Hi Shar,
Tomorrow is last day of the year so happy new year
Then I wish from you to gave all of us arkain players a gift we who started the journey of the best story in warcraft that you created and I thank you for gave us arkain world

 

[Mvicio]

I agree. Thanks for all the christmas presents Shar. I Hope you gave us a new year with burning orcs and purifien demons.


Cheers!

 

[LISBOAH]

Since everyone is doing it...
Thank you, Shar, for making such fun campaigns with a ton of interesting characters and lore.
Looking forward to keep playing and learning more about the world of Arkain in the upcoming year of 2023!

 

[MyPad]

Looking forward to a new year for the world of Arkain.

 

[Apprentice Darkmoon]

My best regards and wishes for all member of the arkain team and fellow community members whom enjoy this campaign.

 

[Plantpaladin]

Most epic custom campaign there is. Creating its own lore and storyline instead of taking an existing Warcraft event makes it feel fresh.

 

[Enki555]

Merry Christmas, everyone!
Arkain has been one of the things coloring the otherwise rough year. Special mention to Mr. Shar and Arkain community who have been making things lit!

 

[Nayala]

My picks for the "who should rule Arkain" poll:

Spoiler: Picks

I just went with humans/allies. Orcs or demons would want to enslave humans, and I'm tired of Aridon's games.

• Gardon (obviously)
• Aveen Elvir (I don't know too much about her, but she seemed ok)
• Blen (not best at politicking, but loyal)
• Cora Redfist (probably a bad idea...)
• Harmos (honest and smart)
• Sir Praxeus (maybe too idealistic for the job, but a good man and an interesting character)
• Salana (I'm biased)
• Salomar (similar profile to Praxeus)
• Lord Marin (a very underrated character, one of my favorite Arkain characters)
• Whitefield (one of the revelations from the True Story)

I was tempted to have Renald in the list, but his arrogance and the way he handled Gardon made me pick others instead.

 

[HuanJuan]

LoA: TTSoA, Bloodbath
I miss some units from some Nexus unit selection. The map works fine, nothing need to be changed, and there was a conversation here or in another thread in this forum, where Shar said why there is units for Player control, and why the player does not have some units - like Poisoner and Disease Team -. Your answer was understandable, and there is nothing wrong with it. It's just my 5th run on the campaign now, I noticed some things. There is nothing wrong with this chapter - I even had some questions about it, thank you very much Shar, you answered them all. So here is what units I kinda miss from this map.

Spoiler: Units that I miss when I select Ejara Nexus

So I selected this nexus, and I had a few expections about unit selection. Nerog is here, because it's understandable - The player was first seen them in the Deaths Approach chapter. Crypt Drone is here, first debuted in the same map as Nerog. I miss here only the Crypt Knights from the same map as the others are Debuted. Crypt Knight's are having some special ability(passive or active), or they are like what they are seen - A skeleton riding an Undead Nerubian - ?

Spoiler: Unit that I miss when I select Ardoz Nexus

Contraptions instead of Ghouls. Are they trained in the same place as the Ghouls? Little dog-like contraptions are only some sort of mechanical units, or they are something more?

Spoiler: Unit that I'm not sure where it belongs

FrostBringer: Undead version of the Wind Rider. Or, they are really are nothing more than an Undead Wind Rider, or something more?

These units are going to be playable by Player, or they are just exist, for more "Undead Diversity" if the player goes against the Undead?

 

[ƬƖƦЄƊ]

Not a single orc or undead...

Xeno...ss

 

[Shar Dundred]

Here's the current top 10 of the "Who should be ruler of Arkain" poll (11 actually because Destroyer and Aedale share a place).

There has been so far 116 participants in the poll - thank you all very much!

I am very curious to see how this develops. I have plans for the result.
The poll will remain open-ended but I for one really am looking forward to see what the
results will be on the 7th of January.

 

[LISBOAH]

Here's the current top 10 of the "Who should be ruler of Arkain" poll (11 actually because Destroyer and Aedale share a place).
View attachment 418387
There has been so far 116 participants in the poll - thank you all very much!

I am very curious to see how this develops. I have plans for the result.
The poll will remain open-ended but I for one really am looking forward to see what the
results will be on the 7th of January.

So we have:
Bhaarizel's Faction: 3 The Four: 2
Aridon's Faction: 2 Humans: 4
Imperials: 2 Elves: 1
Elves: 1 Orcs: 2
Maronogin's Faction: 1 Undead: 1
Golden Guard: 1 Demons: 1
Orcs: 1

Seems about right.

 

[nchp1903]

I simply cannot imagine Aedale as a leader. Of a demon warband is a maybe, but the entirety of Arkain is a no-no for me.

Although, Gardon still (rightfully) remains at the top. I'm proud of this community.

 

[Shar Dundred]

So we have:
Bhaarizel's Faction: 3 The Four: 2
Aridon's Faction: 2 Humans: 4
Imperials: 2 Elves: 1
Elves: 1 Orcs: 2
Maronogin's Faction: 1 Undead: 1
Golden Guard: 1 Demons: 1
Orcs: 1

Since we're at statistics: 44% voted Gardon - #GardonForPresident

 

[Kasrkin]

Since we're at statistics: 44% voted Gardon - #GardonForPresident

In a stunning turn of events it seems like the independent party will win!

Our correspondents on the west coast have heard rumors that Governor Dorten is furious.

 

[HuanJuan]

In a stunning turn of events it seems like the independent party will win!

Our correspondents on the west coast have heard rumors that Governor Dorten is furious.

What about Birram? He is going to stay as a councilor, or is he going to step up the ladder?

 

[ChiekChiek]

Blen in top 5? Shar is gonna love that

 

[Shar Dundred]

Well, I said I was going to see what the poll looks like on the 7th - now it is the 7th!
Here it is:

Very interesting result!

On there other side, here's the people that have received not a single vote - aka the ones
that nobody wants to rule Arkain at all!

Not too many surprises here in my opinion - what do you think?

 

[Mvicio]

Not too many surprises here in my opinion - what do you think?

Blen is surprisingly high on the list, the orcs (both Amari and Destroyer) are good picks but i don´t know how Aedale would be a good leader. Neither Ornasion.

About the picks with no votes... Cheveran enslaved people, the ironfist trio is a hard No, especially Herdon. The pyromancer seems kind of crazy, the dark elves with no votes seems right but where is Pentiss?¿ She is the worst of the 3. All of them makes sense since Toraes was kind a fool and We know next to nothing about Kenos and Orie.

 

[LISBOAH]

Blen is surprisingly high on the list, the orcs (both Amari and Destroyer) are good picks but i don´t know how Aedale would be a good leader. Neither Ornasion.

I picked Ornassion because of his dislike of scheming and backstabbing, which can help keep his other colleagues in check. it's important to have balance in a ruling council.

 

[nchp1903]

Sadly, Borean didn't get into the Top 10. Turns out, being talking, rolling bear is not a good enough reason for him to rule entire continent. Who would have thought.

On the other hand, Blen is in the fifth place. I thought more people would dislike him after A Dish Best Served Cold, and yet he remains. Zoia won't be happy about this.

 

[Nero32]

A question. A see that on Patreon page, there is line, saying: "I would like to see if Arkain is capable of gaining some money which would be invested into art commission and voice acting.". I see that arts is being made, and if I'm not mistaken, Okri now has a new voice. Question is, is her new voice is the part of Pateron thing, and will all characters have their voices change? And will they voice all their lines, In both gameplay and interludes?

And I've been ignored. Nice Shar, very nice of you...

 

[Shar Dundred]

Blen is surprisingly high on the list

While I wouldn't put him that high in my personal list, I am not THAT surprised to be perfectly
honest. He was the first protagonist of Arkain after all.

I do however find it interesting that Aridon managed to get the place right after Gardon, Brian and
Amari. While he personally 100% disagrees with being on a lower rank than them, I would have
expected Rahandir to be above him and that is something I find actually interesting.
The 0 vote picks do not really surprise me - though I did expect some other faces there as well.

Sadly, Borean didn't get into the Top 10. Turns out, being talking, rolling bear is not a good enough reason for him to rule entire continent. Who would have thought.

Ikr

On the other hand, Blen is in the fifth place. I thought more people would dislike him after A Dish Best Served Cold, and yet he remains. Zoia won't be happy about this.

She definitely isn't.

 

[Mochi King]

I do however find it interesting that Aridon managed to get the place right after Gardon, Brian and
Amari. While he personally 100% disagrees with being on a lower rank than them, I would have
expected Rahandir to be above him and that is something I find actually interesting.
The 0 vote picks do not really surprise me - though I did expect some other faces there as well.

yeah, that's aridon's personality alright. but i have to agree that rahandir is a more worthy leader than aridon imo. there's something about aridon that i really dislike. I also believe bhaarizel is worthy cuz he really does feel like a leader.

edit: is this where we can ask questions regarding the arkain content?

 

[Shar Dundred]

edit: is this where we can ask questions regarding the arkain content

Yes but I cannot guarantee I will answer. It depends on the questions.

 

[Zergy]

At least answer this Shar. Do you consider the Forest Trolls as an extinct race in Arkain? Or do they still have a chance in reuniting with their Dark Troll Brethren?

 

[Shar Dundred]

A question. A see that on Patreon page, there is line, saying: "I would like to see if Arkain is capable of gaining some money which would be invested into art commission and voice acting.". I see that arts is being made, and if I'm not mistaken, Okri now has a new voice. Question is, is her new voice is the part of Pateron thing, and will all characters have their voices change? And will they voice all their lines, In both gameplay and interludes?

Neither have been in any relation to the Patreon page so far.

And I've been ignored. Nice Shar, very nice of you...

If not getting an answer instantly results in this reaction along with you trying to get my attention by using the "angry reaction" smiley a few times... very mature.

At least answer this Shar. Do you consider the Forest Trolls as an extinct race in Arkain?

No but they will not play a major role in the current events.

 

[Mochi King]

Yes but I cannot guarantee I will answer. It depends on the questions.

alright, at least i got the confirmation. you don't need to give an answer immediately to these tho. i just wanted to know cuz i was curious while i was playing the games again. alright, BIG list of questions incoming.

"Who's stronger" questions:
-Zelech vs Harmos, who would win?
-Destroyer vs Dorbric, who would win?
-Harmos vs Zelech, who would win?
-Gardon vs Amari, better wielder of shadow magic?
-Grandmaster Arcanum vs Rahandir Drakeskull, who would win?
-Kersidar vs Ornasion, who would win in single combat?
-is maronogin the strongest dreadlord currently known? are there other demons as old as maronogin and as or more powerful?
-was there a stronger dragonclan? like are the golden and silver dragons stronger or are they all equal with different ideals?
-Is the Blackguard stronger than the bloodfist or shocktroopers from redfist?
-is it possible for zyainor to defeat the empire of rodan? does gardon know how strong the empire truly is?
-Kenos Harros vs Zairmak, who would win if both were fully prepared?
-Blackthorn vs Daric's Mercenaries, who would win in an open field?
-how does the seabright ship compare to the doom barges in burning forest?
-how strong is councilor birram? how would he fair against other magi like harmos and zelech?
-garan (gardon's son) vs daric, overall better tactician/strategist?
-does zurae (gardon's daughter) have the same potential as aedale? what about parlea (one of the twins)? both of them seem to have good potential, but not sure if its as high as aedale's.
-how good is velina with the bow? could she become a potential ranger-general if she didn't become a grave warden?
-how much potential does hotar have as a swordsman?

Lore questions:
-How big are the armies? We know the Golden Guard has many battalions and the Empire has many regiments, but how big are they really? and how big are the nexi?
-the amulet of discipline is actually the same as what korjaha the hunter had and was forced to serve orders. Amari used this amulet in order to control grella's bloodlust. What about Merlon's amulet then? though we know the amulet forces its wearer to obey the commands of the one who put the magic, merlon doesn't seem or look forced to follow gardon's orders. i mean, it was mentioned that he was in a pub or something.
-Did Tregakh in Largoth possess the emperor or is he manipulating him?
-How well-versed are the grave wardens in necromancy?
-was general whitefield like a replacement for general greymoore? in SHB, blen was killed. But in SOB, blen would be part of the ironfist.
-what happened to the rest of the grey guard?
-did lord marin have a similar idea as pechan in making mechanical workers? if so, will they appear in future missions?
-in the goldaxe clan, are all orcs actually demons or are there only some members who are demons?
-in the true story, was the entirety of the order of bleeding killed or did some survive?
-how come the elites of the ironfist don't have the endless war upgrade?
-are there other regiments similar to the regiments we see in the true story that is still in the empire?
-is the demon god and the dark one allies by any chance?
-Will we be able to play as councillor birram any time soon?
-would aedale regain her self if blen was still alive?
-in the FUB, rahandir said that gardon being worshipped by his soldiers sounded familiar. was he referring to aridon or something else?
-in FUB, saphira mentioned that she saw gardon before, did gardon recognize her as and someone who died and became undead or did he just ignore her?
-why did largoth wonder if the undead will win the war? does he not know that the undead can consume the world if aridon wanted or is he overestimating the power of tregakh?
-does theoden of kome die in SHB?
-are the forgotten former servants of tregakh the dark one?
-is nazraseeth the guardian (from FUB, Dark Secrets) a servant of bharizeel?
-does aridon only have undead within arkain or does he also get from other continents?
-what happened to the ironfist necromancer in FUB(the mission, possession)? was he transferred elsewhere?
-was the red drake that hotar (gardon's son) killed a drake from the dominion? if so, would this be a problem for their alliance?
-what is the Black Fist from The Student tale of arkain?
-i may be a bit paranoid, but are all of gardon's children somewhat possessed by magic? i noticed in the stories that they wanted to serve the nation of zyainor and serve both the ca'laer and ca'lea, which sounds a lot like a soldier would say than a child.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Hmm... 40+ questions... And it has been a year since the last Arkain Question Time...

Alright, screw it, tell you what. We may be doing another AQT after either Act Seven or
Act Eight are done.
No promises when yet though!

We were at 534 questions last time, I wonder if we will reach the thousand this time.

For the time being, I'd like to "pause" answering those questions if you don't mind.
I will say however that some have already been answered and others will be answered when
you take a look at the Tales of Arkain and the faction and character sheets.

 

[Mvicio]

Time to start thinking about more Arkain Questions it seems.

 

[Hinata28]

alright, at least i got the confirmation. you don't need to give an answer immediately to these tho. i just wanted to know cuz i was curious while i was playing the games again. alright, BIG list of questions incoming.

"Who's stronger" questions:
-Zelech vs Harmos, who would win?
-Destroyer vs Dorbric, who would win?
-Harmos vs Zelech, who would win?
-Gardon vs Amari, better wielder of shadow magic?
-Grandmaster Arcanum vs Rahandir Drakeskull, who would win?
-Kersidar vs Ornasion, who would win in single combat?
-is maronogin the strongest dreadlord currently known? are there other demons as old as maronogin and as or more powerful?
-was there a stronger dragonclan? like are the golden and silver dragons stronger or are they all equal with different ideals?
-Is the Blackguard stronger than the bloodfist or shocktroopers from redfist?
-is it possible for zyainor to defeat the empire of rodan? does gardon know how strong the empire truly is?
-Kenos Harros vs Zairmak, who would win if both were fully prepared?
-Blackthorn vs Daric's Mercenaries, who would win in an open field?
-how does the seabright ship compare to the doom barges in burning forest?
-how strong is councilor birram? how would he fair against other magi like harmos and zelech?
-garan (gardon's son) vs daric, overall better tactician/strategist?
-does zurae (gardon's daughter) have the same potential as aedale? what about parlea (one of the twins)? both of them seem to have good potential, but not sure if its as high as aedale's.
-how good is velina with the bow? could she become a potential ranger-general if she didn't become a grave warden?
-how much potential does hotar have as a swordsman?

Lore questions:
-How big are the armies? We know the Golden Guard has many battalions and the Empire has many regiments, but how big are they really? and how big are the nexi?
-the amulet of discipline is actually the same as what korjaha the hunter had and was forced to serve orders. Amari used this amulet in order to control grella's bloodlust. What about Merlon's amulet then? though we know the amulet forces its wearer to obey the commands of the one who put the magic, merlon doesn't seem or look forced to follow gardon's orders. i mean, it was mentioned that he was in a pub or something.
-Did Tregakh in Largoth possess the emperor or is he manipulating him?
-How well-versed are the grave wardens in necromancy?
-was general whitefield like a replacement for general greymoore? in SHB, blen was killed. But in SOB, blen would be part of the ironfist.
-what happened to the rest of the grey guard?
-did lord marin have a similar idea as pechan in making mechanical workers? if so, will they appear in future missions?
-in the goldaxe clan, are all orcs actually demons or are there only some members who are demons?
-in the true story, was the entirety of the order of bleeding killed or did some survive?
-how come the elites of the ironfist don't have the endless war upgrade?
-are there other regiments similar to the regiments we see in the true story that is still in the empire?
-is the demon god and the dark one allies by any chance?
-Will we be able to play as councillor birram any time soon?
-would aedale regain her self if blen was still alive?
-in the FUB, rahandir said that gardon being worshipped by his soldiers sounded familiar. was he referring to aridon or something else?
-in FUB, saphira mentioned that she saw gardon before, did gardon recognize her as and someone who died and became undead or did he just ignore her?
-why did largoth wonder if the undead will win the war? does he not know that the undead can consume the world if aridon wanted or is he overestimating the power of tregakh?
-does theoden of kome die in SHB?
-are the forgotten former servants of tregakh the dark one?
-is nazraseeth the guardian (from FUB, Dark Secrets) a servant of bharizeel?
-does aridon only have undead within arkain or does he also get from other continents?
-what happened to the ironfist necromancer in FUB(the mission, possession)? was he transferred elsewhere?
-was the red drake that hotar (gardon's son) killed a drake from the dominion? if so, would this be a problem for their alliance?
-what is the Black Fist from The Student tale of arkain?
-i may be a bit paranoid, but are all of gardon's children somewhat possessed by magic? i noticed in the stories that they wanted to serve the nation of zyainor and serve both the ca'laer and ca'lea, which sounds a lot like a soldier would say than a child.

• Harmos
• Dorbric
• Harmos
• Equal, but skill wise, Gardon
• Arcanum
• Ornasion. Kersidar was strong when there's any allies around.
• Being a former leader of Souleater, maybe yes. There weren't known any older Dreadlord than him.
• The Dragons are all equally strong. But it wasn't enough for the Gold and Silver ones, because they didn't bred enough, and now they are extinct.
• Blackguards were strong.
• Zyainor can beat the Empire, given the circumstances.
• Zairmak can equal Kenos with skills, but my bet is on Zairmak.
• Daric's Mercs gets the win.
• Seabright was strong, if that was the Zyaise flagship.
• Birram was strong, but his techniques were so mysterious. Further fleshing of him should unravel his skills.
• Garan maybe equal to Daric, if their ages were the same.
• Zurae and Parlea will be equal to Aedale, given the push they needed.

She maybe inherited the skills of Larine.
* Hotar was strong.

• The Imperial Army was strong and numerous, as we can see. They can churn countless men from the Empire. The Imperial Regiments were those identified right now, while Golden Guard was what we call Crusaders if they were Catholic. Regarding the Nexuses, they are large, given the corpses they had in hand.
• Yup. The Amulet Amari gave to Grella was the same Amulet that was forced to Korjaha by Birram. But Amari did tweak the controls. In regards to Merlon's amulet, look at him, he doesn't do dissenting opinion.
• If we can see the Second Human Book, Renald path, Largoth was controlling the Emperor, which was a cocoon.
• Not as equal as the Nexus ones.
• Nope, Whitefield was just a new character, as Blen was really killed either way.
• Absorbed by the Golden Guard.
• Marin had the originals, Pechan was just stealing his ideas like what Pechan did to the Dwarves, according to him.
• Goldaxe Clan was multiracial economists. As we can see Jadira, Hortnog, Maronogin, Dogran, they didn't discriminate races.
• Order of the Bleeding was built to resist and blow Genethas as the Demon Slave he was. Well, Genethas just exterminated them all, no witnesses.
• Elites will be OP had they have the Endless War.
• As of this time, the ones in Arkain were the official Imperial Regiments.
• Nope. They are on their throats. They were the first to quarrel before Aridon did the dirty work.
• As far as we can see, nope.
• Aedale will still be corrupted, Blen or not, had she took the artifacts.
• Well, maybe yes, maybe no.
• She heard the news about the Butcher, well, we know she doesn't have favourable to say about him, being an Elf she was.
• Because Tregakh cannot underestimate Aridon, as he did once, but ended up dead like the Demon God.
• That depends. If you play as Gardon, he survived and built up the Knights of Kome. If playing as Renald, nope.
• As we read the Wiki, the Forgotten were servants of another of the gods, the ones the Four defeated. Because Largoth didn't gave anything to help them if they were his, and Tregakh just steals whatever he wants, he didn't create creatures.
• Killed or converted off-screen. Because Necromancers tend to "disappear" one they got powerful.
• Maybe a feral Red Dragon.
• The Black Fist were the most zealous of Zyaise soldiery.
• They were old enough by the time the Zyaise story were set, except for some of the siblings. They were not influenced by their dad, they just are what children sometimes do what their parents want.

Hope I answered your questions.

I honestly vote for the entire leadership of the tribal dominion to rule over Arkain.
I can't trust on neither Bloodclaw not Aridon's undead. At least in the dominion I wont be slaved with twister dark magic o be bound to the will of a lich. Of course Amari can use my shadow later, but at least I'll be alive for a long time.

That was a nice choice. Using a multiracial faction had better chance of winning.

I picked Ornassion because of his dislike of scheming and backstabbing, which can help keep his other colleagues in check. it's important to have balance in a ruling council.

Well, being a straightforward and frank wasn't bad. Dorbric, Destroyer and Ornasion, the straight men trio.

yeah, that's aridon's personality alright. but i have to agree that rahandir is a more worthy leader than aridon imo. there's something about aridon that i really dislike. I also believe bhaarizel is worthy cuz he really does feel like a leader.

edit: is this where we can ask questions regarding the arkain content?

In strength and skillset, maybe Rahandir was stronger. Then remember, he was autonomous and truly independent from Aridon. He reanimated himself. But also remember that Aridon's a GOD. The Death God himself, in the flesh, err, bones.

Well, I said I was going to see what the poll looks like on the 7th - now it is the 7th!
Here it is:
View attachment 418586

Very interesting result!

On there other side, here's the people that have received not a single vote - aka the ones
that nobody wants to rule Arkain at all!
View attachment 418587

Not too many surprises here in my opinion - what do you think?

Most of these were either minor characters, doomed to irrelevance, or players doesn't care if they were there or not.

 

[Hardric62]

Hinata28, your... unique habit of dropping this forum for months before posting a wave of posts in several threads and repeating the cycle, often answering posts over one year old in an equally... unique way for some of them aside, could you kindly at the very least fuse your posts to avoid triple-posting, please?

 

[Kasrkin]

Merged triple post

 

[Mochi King]

• Harmos
• Dorbric
• Harmos
• Equal, but skill wise, Gardon
• Arcanum
• Ornasion. Kersidar was strong when there's any allies around.
• Being a former leader of Souleater, maybe yes. There weren't known any older Dreadlord than him.
• The Dragons are all equally strong. But it wasn't enough for the Gold and Silver ones, because they didn't bred enough, and now they are extinct.
• Blackguards were strong.
• Zyainor can beat the Empire, given the circumstances.
• Zairmak can equal Kenos with skills, but my bet is on Zairmak.
• Daric's Mercs gets the win.
• Seabright was strong, if that was the Zyaise flagship.
• Birram was strong, but his techniques were so mysterious. Further fleshing of him should unravel his skills.
• Garan maybe equal to Daric, if their ages were the same.
• Zurae and Parlea will be equal to Aedale, given the push they needed.

She maybe inherited the skills of Larine.
* Hotar was strong.

• The Imperial Army was strong and numerous, as we can see. They can churn countless men from the Empire. The Imperial Regiments were those identified right now, while Golden Guard was what we call Crusaders if they were Catholic. Regarding the Nexuses, they are large, given the corpses they had in hand.
• Yup. The Amulet Amari gave to Grella was the same Amulet that was forced to Korjaha by Birram. But Amari did tweak the controls. In regards to Merlon's amulet, look at him, he doesn't do dissenting opinion.
• If we can see the Second Human Book, Renald path, Largoth was controlling the Emperor, which was a cocoon.
• Not as equal as the Nexus ones.
• Nope, Whitefield was just a new character, as Blen was really killed either way.
• Absorbed by the Golden Guard.
• Marin had the originals, Pechan was just stealing his ideas like what Pechan did to the Dwarves, according to him.
• Goldaxe Clan was multiracial economists. As we can see Jadira, Hortnog, Maronogin, Dogran, they didn't discriminate races.
• Order of the Bleeding was built to resist and blow Genethas as the Demon Slave he was. Well, Genethas just exterminated them all, no witnesses.
• Elites will be OP had they have the Endless War.
• As of this time, the ones in Arkain were the official Imperial Regiments.
• Nope. They are on their throats. They were the first to quarrel before Aridon did the dirty work.
• As far as we can see, nope.
• Aedale will still be corrupted, Blen or not, had she took the artifacts.
• Well, maybe yes, maybe no.
• She heard the news about the Butcher, well, we know she doesn't have favourable to say about him, being an Elf she was.
• Because Tregakh cannot underestimate Aridon, as he did once, but ended up dead like the Demon God.
• That depends. If you play as Gardon, he survived and built up the Knights of Kome. If playing as Renald, nope.
• As we read the Wiki, the Forgotten were servants of another of the gods, the ones the Four defeated. Because Largoth didn't gave anything to help them if they were his, and Tregakh just steals whatever he wants, he didn't create creatures.
• Killed or converted off-screen. Because Necromancers tend to "disappear" one they got powerful.
• Maybe a feral Red Dragon.
• The Black Fist were the most zealous of Zyaise soldiery.
• They were old enough by the time the Zyaise story were set, except for some of the siblings. They were not influenced by their dad, they just are what children sometimes do what their parents want.

This answered a lot of my questions. Thanks Hinata ).
now, i have a few more questions. im wanna ask as much since i'll prolly go on a hiatus from hive and war3 since college is starting, but here are my last set of questions:

-is nazraseeth the guardian (from FUB, Dark Secrets) a servant of bharizeel?
-does aridon only have undead within arkain or does he also get from other continents?
-do the grave wardens have the potential to convert to aridon when they're strong enough?
-did theoden of kome survive the undead assault in SHB finale?
-how can we distinguish the ironfist elites to the other kingdom's elites besides armor? or does gardon just have more elites than the others (since thanok is one hell of a trainer)?
-if the entire world's forces faced off against aridon, would aridon still win with his nexi?
-How strong is the emperor's elite guard vs the golden guard as an unit and as elite soldiers? can individual soldiers beat individual elite guards?
-since black dragons are equally strong, how come the black dragons have a dragon queen of their own while the others don't?
-are the blackguards just stronger bloodfists or are they a separate group? and what exactly are bloodfists? are they like former elites that became stronger thanks to thanok's training?
-are the ironfist soldiers canonically stronger than golden guard soldiers individually? i just wanna confirm this since the soldiers themselves are kinda underwhelming against golden guard and redfist units like the figher and cavalry. ironforged and knight of kome was unique to ironfist, but they feel more like a different faction than the ironfist itself.
-is the alliance between zyainor and the tribal dominion fragile enough for gardon to start a war with them, or does gardon genuinely want them as allies instead of servants?

P.S.
though aridon wants to protect some kind of balance for arkain, his methods are no different, or even worse than gardon's. and given how much he already has, it just makes me question if he's really doing it for arkain, or just playing god at this point. though, im not sure, im a mortal so i can't understand a god's mind.
also, since shar has liked the post, im gonna assume that shar approves of hinata's answers.

 

[nchp1903]

though, im not sure, im a mortal so i can't understand a god's mind.

I'd like to think that this also works the other way around, meaning that Aridon being an immortal, he only sees thing in a big picture and that he's helping everyone. In reality, none of the mortal (Demon included) appreciate what he did, and the fact that Aridon has a bunch of overly obedient servants makes him less likely to receive any kind of negative feedback.
If anyone can turn his head around, I'm guessing it's either Bhaarizel or Tregakh.

 

[Jorgonson]

Bit of a non sequitur but I wanted to see what people think about this

Maybe this is just some "wanting Amari to be the most moral faction leader" copium but I think people are reading the whole Grella Amulet situation as a darker turn for Amari than it is. We don't know everything about how the Amulets of Discipline work, but we have seen generally how they function through Salana and to a lesser extent Merlon.

It seems like rather than being direct mind control, they instill a sort of "directive" into those wearing them, with the wearer's previous personality kept intact except where it conflicts with that directive. In Salana's case, this seemed to have been "find and kill traitors, no exceptions", and with Merlon it was probably something like "Take no issue with Gardon's extreme approach to most situations" (it was mentioned that before they were assigned to work together he disapproved of how Gardon handled things). In addition to this directive, it seems the wearer gains a powerful affinity for and unwillingness to work against the person who gave it to them (though this may be something that Gardon adds and not inherent to the shadow magic). We know that the amulets aren't direct mind control (and that they can't be changed once their magic is applied) because otherwise, Gardon would be able to turn Salana to his side, which he would've done if able. Rather than their magic being able to broadly get the wearer to do what someone else wants, they seem to have very specific uses.

This explains why Salana's mind breaks: her primary directive conflicted strongly with her artificial loyalty to Gardon. She couldn't do what she was programmed to without working against Gardon's interests, hence her just letting herself be killed (at this point the only way to not contradict her directive or her loyalty).

We can now speculate as to what Grella's amulet does, and it looks like it's exactly what Amari tells her. When the dark trolls unleash their bloodlust, it's presumably all of them that do so (remember the purple base in The Southern Realm going berserk) which tells us it isn't the amulet making Grella become more violent. Given the specific use of the amulets, I think that Grella's directive is probably something like "restrain yourself when told to do so", as we see it used this way.

Another piece of evidence that Amari doesn't have sinister intentions behind giving Grella the amulet is the whole scene with Golden Guard Captain #87. Amari goes to great lengths to prove to Grella that she'll be kept in check. If someone was your slave, you wouldn't have to prove to them that you have good intentions for them.

 

[Mochi King]

Bit of a non sequitur but I wanted to see what people think about this

Maybe this is just some "wanting Amari to be the most moral faction leader" copium but I think people are reading the whole Grella Amulet situation as a darker turn for Amari than it is. We don't know everything about how the Amulets of Discipline work, but we have seen generally how they function through Salana and to a lesser extent Merlon.

It seems like rather than being direct mind control, they instill a sort of "directive" into those wearing them, with the wearer's previous personality kept intact except where it conflicts with that directive. In Salana's case, this seemed to have been "find and kill traitors, no exceptions", and with Merlon it was probably something like "Take no issue with Gardon's extreme approach to most situations" (it was mentioned that before they were assigned to work together he disapproved of how Gardon handled things). In addition to this directive, it seems the wearer gains a powerful affinity for and unwillingness to work against the person who gave it to them (though this may be something that Gardon adds and not inherent to the shadow magic). We know that the amulets aren't direct mind control (and that they can't be changed once their magic is applied) because otherwise, Gardon would be able to turn Salana to his side, which he would've done if able. Rather than their magic being able to broadly get the wearer to do what someone else wants, they seem to have very specific uses.

This explains why Salana's mind breaks: her primary directive conflicted strongly with her artificial loyalty to Gardon. She couldn't do what she was programmed to without working against Gardon's interests, hence her just letting herself be killed (at this point the only way to not contradict her directive or her loyalty).

We can now speculate as to what Grella's amulet does, and it looks like it's exactly what Amari tells her. When the dark trolls unleash their bloodlust, it's presumably all of them that do so (remember the purple base in The Southern Realm going berserk) which tells us it isn't the amulet making Grella become more violent. Given the specific use of the amulets, I think that Grella's directive is probably something like "restrain yourself when told to do so", as we see it used this way.

Another piece of evidence that Amari doesn't have sinister intentions behind giving Grella the amulet is the whole scene with Golden Guard Captain #87. Amari goes to great lengths to prove to Grella that she'll be kept in check. If someone was your slave, you wouldn't have to prove to them that you have good intentions for them.

I do agree with this. Gardon is someone who would use any means necessary, while Amari does this to a less extent as shown in the books. But the difference between them imo is how each of their factions work. Since Gardon is in the world of politics, he needs to use more forceful methods. While Amari has the advantage of the others being in a pinch. Amari wanted to unleash the Dark Troll bloodlust when necessary, but stayed true to her word when Grella cannot control herself properly.

tl;dr both use shadow magic, but gardon is forceful, while amari is moral.

 

[Jorgonson]

Good point that the lack of unity in Gardon's faction makes him feel the need to be more heavy-handed with his use of shadow magic. Say what you will about the orcs, but their factional cohesion is on point. However I kind of doubt that his utilitarian extremism is necessary, and his methods do come back to bite him a fair bit. Given that his domination magic and alliance with the black dragons causes the dwarves (and potentially the green dragons) to join his enemies, you could argue he ends up alienating potential allies and unnecessarily making new enemies with his questionable tactics. I think that without the whole Salana situation Gardon probably could've convinced the dwarves to join him, as the Empire pulling out of Arkain would leave them in just as much danger as everyone else.

This effect really compounds with the whole scheme to bring back Zyainor. By doing this he gains the black dragons as allies but ends up making friendly post-war relations with Kerrel and Rengar impossible. It's interesting to wonder about what would've happened if instead of bringing back a hated empire he just kept his junta in Toran and Pyrru (Kerrel and probably Rengar would likely recognize his legitimacy, dwarves wouldn't care), splitting Lor and Isalmur with the other kingdoms after the war. This could lead to a closely diplomatically tied Arkain, which could then either try to incorporate the Tribal Dominion or isolate them effectively. I think this would be a better future for Arkain, but perhaps not a better future for Gardon.

However I guess to get to this point, they would need to win the second voidwar in the first place, and we don't really know how necessary the black dragons are going to be for the war effort. I think we can safely speculate that if the narrative going forward is that Gardon is morally grey (and not a common megalomaniac), we'll see a lot more emphasis on the black dragons in the True Story, and how they were pivotal in beating Van Durce/The Demons. Maybe there will even be some new demonic air units (would flesh out the faction a bit more in gameplay), and the human armies need a way to counter them. That last part's total conjecture though

 

[Thandrall]

Hey all, I was wondering if anyone knows about how Legends of Arkain would be going in Reforged now that Custom Campaigns work on it? I know Shar has said he wasn't going to use any of the newer map editors, but so far doing the first mission seems fine in Reforged, you got the whole base game units are high rez and custom models are low rez, and I doubt Shar would have time to make high rez models for everything, as that would take a long long time to do I think. Either way, can't wait to get back into Arkain, I took a break from War3 back when the 3 big missions that where the last missions of the first books came out.