Second Human Book of Arkain (Patch 1.29.2 or newer!)

[Moderator]

2016-04-10
Rufus:

Rufus Review Map Score Gameplay: 25 / 30 Aesthetics: 20 / 20 Total: 45 / 50 Rating Chart 45-50 5/5 Highly Recommended 35-44 4/5 Recommended 25-34 3/5 Useful 15-24 2/5 Lacking 0-14 1/5 Unacceptable Gameplay That was one damn good first quest, having your soldiers killed in "accidents". Very nice idea. This is not only a fun idea for the game history, but also a very special gameplay factor as you have to lose just enough soldiers in order to continue. The demons and the other creeps in the forest were pretty much balanced, and did not feel repetetive. I also like that you added mini "dungeons" for the player to deviate to in order to get an extra tome or item. Balanced item rewards. Doesn't give you too much power too soon. You don't always make it easy, but always interesting wich contributes to the rewarding feeling you get when you complete an objecctive. The demons in chapter 2 felt a tad too tough though... ( I had to cheat to get past this :/ ) Awesome that in mission 2, you can actually move backwards, giving the murlocs a second round. All hero spells are not very well-developed, but their kits works well. Aesthetics Excellent story. It is advanced politically, and the characters are trustworthy actors of themselves with good personalities. You can sense something wrong going on with the powers above, and the main-characters need to pay for their superiours ignorance and mistakes. Very well written and executed. The cinematics are almost as good as the story. The terrain is not great, but very close to blizzard looks. You don't think much about the terrain as you go through the game. It is just there as a sidenote. In chapter 2: I'm not sure how they realized the murlocs had sided with the orcs. The statement comes out of nowhere. LOVED the moment when lerrig and bloodclaw met. Won't spoil. Even though the terrain is not always perfect, you have used it well to tell a story. I'm thinking of the burning pit of bodies in the demons camp. I like how the admiral gained respect for bloodclaw over time. Bugs All chapters are available from the beginning. Perhaps they should be unlocked over time? Summary This project is like a blizzard campaign, just a tad more story heavy. The story of this project is amazing. Flawless and interesting. Could aswell have been a book as a campaign story. For its outstanding storyline and creative gameplay features, the author have made him self deserve a 5/5 rating on this map. Approved.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Cheats in this campaign are not disabled, but they aren't supported. If you cheat and encounter any bugs because of that, I won't fix that. There are no known major issues so far, this is just an ordinary announcement.

 

[Arad MNK]

Still waiting for the whole campaign!

 

[Sclammerz]

Might try this.

 

[Rufus]

Rufus Review Map Score Gameplay: - / 30 Aesthetics: - / 20 Total: - / 50 Rating Chart 45-50 5/5 Highly Recommended 35-44 4/5 Recommended 25-34 3/5 Useful 15-24 2/5 Lacking 0-14 1/5 Unacceptable Gameplay That was one damn good first quest, having your soldiers killed in "accidents". Very nice idea. This is not only a fun idea for the game history, but also a very special gameplay factor as you have to lose just enough soldiers in order to continue. The demons and the other creeps in the forest were pretty much balanced, and did not feel repetetive. I also like that you added mini "dungeons" for the player to deviate to in order to get an extra tome or item. Aesthetics Pretty damn excellent story. It is advanced politically, and the characters are trustworthy actors of themselves with good personalities. You can sense something wrong going on with the powers above, and the main-characters need to pay for their superiours ignorance and mistakes. Very well written and executed. The cinematics are almost as good as the story. The terrain is not great, but very close (if not a little better) to blizzard looks. You don't think much about the terrain as you go through the game. It is just there as a sidenote. Bugs All chapters are available from the beginning. Perhaps they should be unlocked over time? There was a strange visual bug occuring by the first kodobeast you encountered. It radiated some custom model that i think was supposed to be solid. I don't think it was meant as a special effect. Summary I will not rate this now as there is still much for me to explore. I intend to play at least to part of chapter 3 before I give a full review. So far though, it is looking good. Status remain Pending until I play it further.

 

[Daffa]

Still waiting for the whole campaign!

Like for a millenia sadly. Let's just watch

 

[Rufus]

10:22, 8th Apr 2016
Rufus:

Rufus Review Map Score Gameplay: 25 / 30 Aesthetics: 20 / 20 Total: 45 / 50 Rating Chart 45-50 5/5 Highly Recommended 35-44 4/5 Recommended 25-34 3/5 Useful 15-24 2/5 Lacking 0-14 1/5 Unacceptable Gameplay That was one damn good first quest, having your soldiers killed in "accidents". Very nice idea. This is not only a fun idea for the game history, but also a very special gameplay factor as you have to lose just enough soldiers in order to continue. The demons and the other creeps in the forest were pretty much balanced, and did not feel repetetive. I also like that you added mini "dungeons" for the player to deviate to in order to get an extra tome or item. Balanced item rewards. Doesn't give you too much power too soon. You don't always make it easy, but always interesting wich contributes to the rewarding feeling you get when you complete an objecctive. The demons in chapter 2 felt a tad too tough though... ( I had to cheat to get past this :/ ) Awesome that in mission 2, you can actually move backwards, giving the murlocs a second round. All hero spells are not very well-developed, but their kits works well. Aesthetics Excellent story. It is advanced politically, and the characters are trustworthy actors of themselves with good personalities. You can sense something wrong going on with the powers above, and the main-characters need to pay for their superiours ignorance and mistakes. Very well written and executed. The cinematics are almost as good as the story. The terrain is not great, but very close to blizzard looks. You don't think much about the terrain as you go through the game. It is just there as a sidenote. In chapter 2: I'm not sure how they realized the murlocs had sided with the orcs. The statement comes out of nowhere. LOVED the moment when lerrig and bloodclaw met. Won't spoil. Even though the terrain is not always perfect, you have used it well to tell a story. I'm thinking of the burning pit of bodies in the demons camp. I like how the admiral gained respect for bloodclaw over time. Bugs All chapters are available from the beginning. Perhaps they should be unlocked over time? Summary This project is like a blizzard campaign, just a tad more story heavy. The story of this project is amazing. Flawless and interesting. Could aswell have been a book as a campaign story. For its outstanding storyline and creative gameplay features, the author have made him self deserve a 5/5 rating on this map. Approved.

 

[furyuS]

Your campaigns are great, one of the bests for me, certainly 5/5!
And please dont stop with developing them

 

[Lady Shinku]

Always love a good warcraft 3 campaign from time to time

 

[thinhdqt129]

arkain live again!

 

[EmperorA]

Really nice campaign, and hard The second mission was the hardest, but I figured out about the hydromancers' power and won( I used those waves to focus down the demon gates haha. )

 

[clockwork2]

Maaaan looking forward to when this comes out, for those of you who haven't played the Demo I won't spoil what my agents found out.
(Long live General Gardon and the Ironfist!)

 

[grouper586]

Really nice campaign, and hard The second mission was the hardest, but I figured out about the hydromancers' power and won( I used those waves to focus down the demon gates haha. )

Hi,how about the fourth mission?I found it very difficult to get through it……

 

[EmperorA]

Hi,how about the fourth mission?I found it very difficult to get through it……

What I did was to take down the undead bases at first and then get the giant catapults. And, of course, tower up a little.

 

[Shar Dundred]

Thank you all.

Version 0.11 released

Version 0.11

- Decreased file size
- Campaign Buttons are no longer visible from the beginning

 

[Fear1]

4th IS fricking impossible[not]
JK its just so TIME consuming to beat
almost 100/100 food army enemy

 

[HAYDANES]

Good day to you sir!
I'm one of your fans of Legend of Arkain series. I would like to ask if could you please create a melee map of their races--> Imperial Army, Orcen Horde, Undead Nexus and Blooddrinker Legion. I think it would be great. I guess it would be best if it's created once the series is finished though. I hope you'd give a reply soon. Thanks again for your maps and may they all get completed in due time...

 

[BlarTheGreat]

Anyone else get a glitch or bug in chapter 3 where warcraft crashes randomly...it crashes for me when ever i try to destroy the orange base...

 

[FARADAY]

CH 4 is way too hard and nearly impossible. My full army is finished by trebuchet once i reach the front gate only.... Hahaha... funny...

Yeah... i stop playing.. waiting something realistic coming on...

 

[clockwork2]

Well the main problem is that, though I did cheat, the shades will IRONICALLY get caught if you try to sneak them to the catapults. A slow sustained assualt taking down the enemies' bases is a safer bet. Longer then cheating but eh.
EDIT: Killing the traitor was IMMENSELY satisfying.

 

[KJmaster208]

ch3 and ch 4 is hard to defeat them even your allied have your cover but id think it is possible. for my opinion it will take like 1 or 2 days to bet ch3 and ch4.and im still currently waiting for ch5

 

[Mr.Tic]

I have played through and I it is good imo, I just don't like Gordon that much. I would like it more if he had some more useful abilities; he doesn't have much mana to use his first skill, same for the second one, third one is a simple self heal on long cooldown and seems much inferior to other heroes' abilities. The passive ulti is probably the only thing making me want to have him around...
Compared to the admiral hero, Gordon is severly underpowered - this is just my personal opinion
I can't rate it still, but if I could, I'm not sure how high I would.. I mean, everything is good except the difficulty. The trebuchet chapter for example is just ridiculous on Easy, not even the Shades help as much as one would expect them to, the sheer number of the enemies everywhere is intimidating just to see, let alone defend from and attack at the same time.
I would probably care not to use cheats if I had like 2 gold mines a million each in my base, in addition to extroadinary patience.
Please consider making the chapter(s) more suited to the selected difficulty as well as making them not long and tedious where it doesn't have to be. Again to the trebuchet chapter - why sooo many guards around the trebuchets...

Hopefully you take others' opinions into consideration, don't take this post as a rant, but as an (at least) an attempt to make consctructive criticism You seem to be good at making those campaigns and would hate to see you quit because of critics. Keep it up!

 

[clockwork2]

Well I have to agree with Mr.Tic, his self heal ability could use some work. Hit has taken a much needed upgrade and boasts some small viability I guess, still needs work.

 

[PUNKNOTDEAD]

Thanks for this campaign i really enjoy it and i cant wait to see the second books for the 3 races. Greetings from Argentina

 

[Blake8]

Last mission took me sooooo many tries, and like 4+ hours to complete with constantly saving and reloading files....wish Shar would make it a easier....cause at this point it becomes pure frustration and very little fun...

 

[deepstrasz]

I usually rate completed works but I'll probably make an exception at some point since I like your other three books.

If you would ever want to finish it (anything actually), don't rush it, work on it when you feel like doing so. Time not only helps solve some issues you might encounter working on it but will also give you ideas and space to think properly about what you should do for your work.
It really helps to do things straight to the point. Shorten your ideas into something that really matters and makes sense. Let the less important stuff be told by characters or visible events. Show the world what they have to be shown, the essence.

 

[KJmaster208]

Last mission took me sooooo many tries, and like 4+ hours to complete with constantly saving and reloading files....wish Shar would make it a easier....cause at this point it becomes pure frustration and very little fun...

Well shar said this a challenge campagin,if you want easier? do normal or eay instead

 

[Mr.Tic]

Well shar said this a challenge campagin,if you want easier? do normal or eay instead

Lol I played on easy, but still couldn't do it without cheats x.x
Even with unlimited resources it took me a long time.


Edit
I've read that Shar is leaving the campaigns and the community here. Well I wasn't a member here for long enough to "know" him, but it's a pity nevertheless... Allegedly the campaigns will be permanently removed from hive by him as well.

 

[Miggy542]

Hey, excuse me Shar Dundred but when I started playing the second book the dreadlord Largoth mentioned that I skipped the first book, do the choices in the first book apply towards the second book

 

[Daffa]

Human First Book choices apply to Second Human Book.
In order to get this requirement done however, is that you play the Epilogue of the First Human Book.

 

[HassaN99]

can't wait for the whole campaign!

 

[Miggy542]

Ok now I understand

 

[RamzaBeouIve]

I got feedback from chapter 1 & 2 not finished the whole campaign yet but I cannot delay this message of mine.

Chapter 1
- It would be good to scatter more rune of mana after killing certain creeps.

Chapter 2
- The endless waves of demon is a bit annoying and didn't the map mentioned in the load out that enemies were trying to hold their position building the demon portals but still they're swarming to attack the base. I suggest that the demons should not sending forces to attack but a settlements of Orcs and Murlocs that band up together or separately invading while Demons are standing their ground waiting for reinforcements like 45 or 30 minutes which will be a threat to the player and must be decisive which action to take defend or attack with a few troops (depending on the player skills to gather enough forces to take out the enemy team.) before the time limit.

- Now if you are going to ignore my 1st suggestion I recommend instead of Hydromancers you should put a disabler utility support unit for those damned Doom Guard skill "Rain of Chaos" Sadly the two heroes doesn't even have a stun or mini-silence skill.

Chapter 3
- I'm frustrated because of the long road with catapults and bowmen which is annoying. Please, I don't feel the excitement like your last campaigns anymore. Chapter 3 is hard I don't like the way the enemy transport gateway which is the ark, that made me construct wall of towers to defend while my troops are pushing on. Using Redfist blizzard to eliminate the catapults, towers and bowmen, only to delay the inevitable destruction. I cleared out all of the enemy bases even the north-western part of the map.

- Those farmers which will turned into ally once they're freed from the champion stationed there should make it worth to be freed because they're sending troops only to be trampled and won't make any progress to help me destroy Rektan Noble base.

Chapter 4
- WTF?! No hero to support my troops. I recommend a hero to play in this part like that Shadowy Knight or Cora Redfist.

- This is the very first time I cannot annihilate an enemy base with my strategy. The trainining time for the enemies are messed up, Its too fast they recover like hell and tough to kill, unlike the 3rd chapter the enemy there are militias which is okay for them to train quick. But frost wyrm, Abomination, Knight, etc.? Oh come on! I wanted to erase the blue force from the map to make it easier to defend my base. TOWERS aren't enough to halt the enemy troops they have blizzard and rain of fire. Make it easier.

- The Trebuchet is impossible to reach with the shade on the center to reveal my shadow units. This units cost like hell and the upkeep is 5! I recommend to reduce the troops stationed up there because they will surely be wiped out by the shadow units only to delay to reach the top and that shade is making it imposible to destroy it.


My 1st suggestion about having a time limit is a good method to rack the players mind and about the disabler think about considering it and chapter 3 and 4 need to be balanced. happy to play your campaigns. You could catch up to or surpass Turnro the Great, Forsaken, and Sclammerz.

 

[clockwork2]

Chapter 3, I can't deny what this man said. Sheesh that wall of towers, progress was slow. I think by and large the militia is just a distraction really.

 

[Joinma]

I have finished first 4 chapters. Here is a walkthrough.
Chapter 1 - Basic micro old school. We fight against traitor in chapter 1.
Chapter 2 - Clear demon gate behind player's base, Push slowly with many couples of knight and priest with 5-6 catapults supporting them. Push slowly. Done. Catapults killed everything.
Chapter 3 - I had to build 30+ towers around where enemies landed from warping to secure the area. Push slowly. I had to build 10+ towers again at the north of the map before the bridge to prevent being back-stab while attacking North-East base. The chapter took a lot of time to beat. Probably, because there was no plan dealing with rebels rather than directly attack them. Catapults killed everything again.
Chapter 4 - No heroes for player in this chapter. At least, Thanonok, elite unit, could be a mini hero in this chapter, but, no.
I built 10+ towers at two entrances. Surprisingly, I encountered 1 destroyer and it lost in 1vs1 versus a crossbowman. After this, I attacked
First, I attacked North-west undead base. Same old, executioners + priests with 4-6 catapults. Catapults killed everything again. (about 80 food army)
Second, I destroyed three big catapults. Using many many shades killed many many guards. Send them in until all enemies' small catapults at the top had gone then send another army of executioners + priest + catapults.
Those 2 free big catapults didn't help me much. That was when I realized their strength came from their armies and heroes.
Third, I attacked Human base with executioner-priest - Hydromancer for slow with about 4 siege golems. Catapult was not effective here because their knights were fast and easily destroyed my catapults.
Fourth, I built 10+ cannon towers before West undead base to lighten their number. I attacked this base with an army of executioner - priest, many necromancers to counter their necromancers (9-10), 6 catapults to prevent them from recovering.
Fiftieth, I used shades to kill skeletons that can use death coil, depleted mana from units that can use holy light killed traitor and clear 2 big catapults.
Sixth, After open the south gate and clear the room. After the room, I built cannon towers again(about 8-10) then lure enemies in. Using necromancers (now 12) to clear all corpses and killed spirit legionnaire with catapults. I don't think I need a new hero at this point anymore but game still gave me one. No idea why. I am not sure if he ate 5 food or not but he was not much useful at a point where you can win 2 + trebuchets vs 1 without heroes. It was probably a joke or something...
All of these, I must push slowly, keep grouping because there was no 1vs1 in this campaign.
So I ended chapter 4 ... How long did it take... 3 hours and 6 minutes on first try... okay...

Iron First always attacked without a plan, yet, they won. Probably, that was why it took too long to beat.

 

[Branden2123]

Have to say I genuinely enjoyed every map made in this series and I sincerely hope that at some point in time you continue the series; at the least, I want to know how the story ends.

Chapter 1: Fun, only thought was maybe make it so that if you attack the Golden Gaurd then they become hostile so as to force you to manage your units better.

Chapter 2: Make the goldmine on the same level as the castle or closer so as to make the harvesting more efficient.

Chapter 3: Any ramp, even if it is in the militia base to kill all of those bastards on the mountains would be incredibly satisfying.

Chapter 4: I enjoyed this chapter the most and I would probably rank it in my top five of all the maps throughout all the books. The difficulty was fun and the bunkering I had to do to save up for the resources was challenging and a lot of fun. I would suggest is to increase the range of the trebuchets and make it so that your ally, Iron Fist, attacks pink and grays base instead of becoming useless after you kill the mayor. I would also recommend that you amp up the defenses of Pink/Gray's base as I steamrolled them once I got to that part and was able to defend with no upkeep in order to harvest gold for as long as I needed; I think frost dragons or some type of air would make the last two bases harder to take.

Oh, and the easter egg was amusing to find as I waited for units to be trained.

Once again, I hope you continue the series at some point in time.

 

[David Sashy]

I love this camping series! The best i Know! Very nice! 6/5!

 

[MURDER KING]

all the Arkain product stops here, no news from a while.

 

[DD Mikasa]

all the Arkain product stops here, no news from a while.

Hmmm "MAYBE" you are not up to date with the latest of news but this project is dead

 

[MURDER KING]

Really, but is not yet buried.

 

[DD Mikasa]

Really, but is not yet buried.

Last time i talked with Shar he made it pretty clear to me that its dead like so dead that even Jesus himself won't be able to bring it back to life

 

[Shar Dundred]

Lies. I said Aridon, never mentioned Jesus.


I think I'm gonna update this in a few hours or something to
make Dark Secrets more useful...

 

[DD Mikasa]

I think I'm gonna update this in a few hours or something to
make Dark Secrets more useful...

Restore it to its former status?Or you just tweaked the numbers again?

 

[Shar Dundred]

Patience is a virtue, time might tell.

 

[DD Mikasa]

Being a fan of this project i think i have showed enough patience... xD

 

[Shar Dundred]

Version 0.12 released

Version 0.12

- Dark Secrets now increases damage and gives the hero a life-stealing attack instead of regeneration over time
- Players can no longer skip the Prologue (required to import the choices from the First Book)

 

[Boriss]

Hi there, Shar. Back in business? And how goes SC2? got the last expansion yet?

 

[MURDER KING]

Shar sometimes or always has surprises and he keep them for himself.

 

[Blake8]

Version 0.12 released

Version 0.12

- Dark Secrets now increases damage and gives the hero a life-stealing attack instead of regeneration over time
- Players can no longer skip the Prologue (required to import the choices from the First Book)

I don't believe the vampiric potion ability that you're basing the dark secrets ability on gives a % attack bonus, rather it just gives a flat bonus...you should change that in the spell description