To the Bitter End

[RanchBurner]

Any thoughts for a sequel in SC2 Soul Reaver? Even if it's non-dependent?

 

[Soul Reaver]

Any thoughts for a sequel in SC2 Soul Reaver? Even if it's non-dependent?

I don't actually own Starcraft II, so that's not really possible for me at the moment.

In any case, I would prefer to catch up on some of the gaming I've not had time for, and then work on other projects I've had on the backburner for the last few years (like a gamebook I'm writing). I kept them on hold so I could finish 'To the Bitter End', but I'm keen to pick them up again now that I finally have a chance.

 

[Soul Reaver]

Almost correct assumption. I mean that ability particularly, but I also mean all your (you are the Soul Reaver, haha) spell animations, a bit slow they are.

Certain spells are meant to take a long time to cast (like Sphere of Annihilation, Darkbolt Barrage, Summon Daemons, the Necorpus Gauntlets and using Blooddrinker). Their long cast times are things that the player needs to take into account when using them, and are part of their casting 'price'.

The Necorpus gauntlets are a bit of an exception, because they are only really useful for their actual damage early on in the game. However, the debilitating effect they have on nearby enemies while they're 'charging' can make them useful if an packed melee situation if Soul Reaver is backed up by his allies. This actually makes their long charge time something of an advantage.

However, I have also looked into casting times and found some interesting things. Soul Reaver's casting animation (and "cast backswing" value) is 1.67 seconds long (with the actual cast point at 0.5 seconds). By comparison, Cameron Aileron's is 1.07 (with cast point at 0.3), Kitharsis' is 06 (with cast point at 0.47) and Fei and Sera's are both 0.51 (with cast point at 0.3). Those backswing times are set to what they are due to the time it takes for the model to go through the animation that goes with the casting.

But I've found something interesting. The 'Cast Backswing' indicates how long the character stands performing their spell animation. You can actively interrupt a casting animation by ordering a character to move, attack, stop etc at any point after the cast point, so the differences in the times it takes for a character to actually cast a spell are neglible if a player makes use of that. The only thing the cast backswing value seems to prevent is the AI from interrupting the animation for you (eg, if there are enemies around). I have confirmed that if there's nothing around that would cause the AI to interrupt, the animation still plays fully even if the Cast Backswing is set to a value shorter than the time it takes for the animation to finish.

So I'm now considering getting rid of (or maybe reducing) cast backswing times for my next version. That will make characters more 'responsive' when they cast spells - they'll immediately start acting by themselves as soon as a spell is cast if the situation warrants it. This would reduce the need for the player to micromanage the characters by specifically ordering them to attack again the moment the spell appears.

Getting rid of backswing times does have potential disadvantages though (eg, the moment that Soul Reaver releases a Sphere of Annihilation, the AI makes him charge forward into its AoE without giving the player a 'grace period' in which to press Hold Position). I'll need to test it out and see if the advantages of getting rid of the backswing outweight the disadvantages.

 

[BlackKnightTGS]

So, this is finally packed into a campaign? Awesome, I remember playing Chapters I-III and VII back some years ago, were some of the first maps for WC3 I've ever played
This time, will (try) to finish it without cheats, as last time, it was too challenging for me. Hopefully, now I can get that satisfaction feeling after you've beaten something difficult
I'm also curious if there's any more background info/a plot twist about those Void Children somewhere in the final chapter...I have a feeling the final boss will be related to them, somehow. Either that, or Morganem probably.

Anywho, 5/5 Great work with this one.

 

[Soul Reaver]

So, this is finally packed into a campaign? Awesome, I remember playing Chapters I-III and VII back some years ago, were some of the first maps for WC3 I've ever played
This time, will (try) to finish it without cheats, as last time, it was too challenging for me. Hopefully, now I can get that satisfaction feeling after you've beaten something difficult
I'm also curious if there's any more background info/a plot twist about those Void Children somewhere in the final chapter...I have a feeling the final boss will be related to them, somehow. Either that, or Morganem probably.

Anywho, 5/5 Great work with this one.

Great to hear you're playing this to the end! I hope you enjoy all the new additions (like the Prologue, Chapter VIII and Epilogue).

If you're still finding it too difficult, there's now also an option to reduce the difficulty slightly if you need to. The difficulty is set to hard by default (and that's how it's supposed to be played) but you can change it for the duration of the current Chapter by typing "medium" or "easy" into the in-game chat window.

Good luck, I'd like to hear how you get on!

 

[BlackKnightTGS]

Yes, the prologue was quite epic Though, I'm curious, how long did it take to make it? o_o seems like a ton of work was added to it. Wish I had your patience...

"easy" and "medium"? So, what do they do exactly? Nerf enemies health/damage/remove or weaken some of their abilities? Well, either way, real heroes play on Hard, so I'll leave it be. Just beaten the Juggernaut, things weren't as hard as I thought, but now I have a level full of Void Children ahead of me, so maybe I shouldn't speak too soon...

 

[Soul Reaver]

Yes, the prologue was quite epic Though, I'm curious, how long did it take to make it? o_o seems like a ton of work was added to it. Wish I had your patience...

"easy" and "medium"? So, what do they do exactly? Nerf enemies health/damage/remove or weaken some of their abilities? Well, either way, real heroes play on Hard, so I'll leave it be. Just beaten the Juggernaut, things weren't as hard as I thought, but now I have a level full of Void Children ahead of me, so maybe I shouldn't speak too soon...

I'm not actually sure exactly how long I spend on the Prologue alone. I spent around 2 years (working in my spare time) to make the Prologue, Chapter VIII and Epilogue though. The whole project took about six years, so yes, it was pretty time consuming!

Reduced difficulties only slightly reduce enemy health. It's 100% on hard, 90% on medium and 80% on easy (the difference is lower for hero units (ie, bosses) but I'm not sure by how much). Damage totals, abilities and AI remain the same, but since enemies will die a bit faster, it tends to mean you take less damage over the course of a fight. It might make the difference between a close victory or a close defeat if you're having trouble.

Congratulations for choosing to stick with Hard for now, and good luck with Chapter IV! Chapter IV is the wake-up call and intentionally gruelling. Feel free to check the official site for advice (or email me) if you get stuck... but basically: don't rush ahead if your'e badly hurt, and know when you need to hang back and rest.

 

[Map Designer]

so, here is a little praise.

The chapter with the prince is the easiest and fun to play, especially calling for the prince's aid. I like his spells, although I don't really I know all what they do. and then, mass attacking the orcs. It is decent chapter. well, maybe with the exception of the first clash with the evil prince.However, I like how you made the stand ready animation for the good prince in cinematics, meeting his evil brother, it looks Awsome.

Just got disappointed not seeing new comments here.
wish you the best man.

 

[Nationkid05]

fantastic work

so, here is a little praise.

The chapter with the prince is the easiest and fun to play, especially calling for the prince's aid. I like his spells, although I don't really I know all what they do. and then, mass attacking the orcs. It is decent chapter. well, maybe with the exception of the first clash with the evil prince.However, I like how you made the stand ready animation for the good prince in cinematics, meeting his evil brother, it looks Awsome.

Just got disappointing not seeing new comments here.
wish you the best man.

Map designer tis me Nationkid05
anyway i agree this campaign is fantastic and i hope for a sequal!

 

[dotaisthebest123]

Man,this campaign is one of the best campaigns and nice skills for the vampire lord and i really like the last skill.Man how did you make that skill?

 

[Soul Reaver]

so, here is a little praise.

The chapter with the prince is the easiest and fun to play, especially calling for the prince's aid. I like his spells, although I don't really I know all what they do. and then, mass attacking the orcs. It is decent chapter. well, maybe with the exception of the first clash with the evil prince.However, I like how you made the stand ready animation for the good prince in cinematics, meeting his evil brother, it looks Awsome.

Just got disappointed not seeing new comments here.
wish you the best man.

Thanks!

The Guardians have 5 different abilities:
- A heal spell
- An 'inspiring' aura that makes units nearby fight better
- A spell that protects a target unit (increasing armour)
- Ultimate 1: Summons a group of powerful golden knights to fight for you
- Ultimate 2: Call down an angel to 'judge' nearby units - friendly units in the area will be healed, enemy units damaged.

Map designer tis me Nationkid05
anyway i agree this campaign is fantastic and i hope for a sequal!

Thanks Nationkid05... unfortunately though I'm unlikely to create a sequel - this one took 6 years, and I'd like to move onto some different projects in the future.

Man,this campaign is one of the best campaigns and nice skills for the vampire lord and i really like the last skill.Man how did you make that skill?

Thank you!

Regarding the vampire's final skill, I'm guessing you mean Celerity? It was fairly involved, but it's based on Mirror Image. I allowed the mirror images to do damage (using one of the settings in the World Editor). I also manually apply various things to the mirror images when they're created (such as the special effects, and the 'locust' ability so you can't select them).

A trigger regularly checks if there are enemies near the caster - if there aren't, the images are ordered to follow the caster. Otherwise, they keep attacking (this helps ensure that you can't just start the ability, then retreat Fei from the battle while leaving the invulnerable images to do all the fighting)

A trigger also goes off whenever the caster (or any of the mirror images, who have a unique buff that identifies them to the trigger) attacks an enemy. If they do, the trigger after a brief delay selects a random nearby enemy, and instantly moves the attacking unit next to them, and orders them to attack again.

I'm sure there are some other abilities in the Spells section on Hive Workshop that do a similar sort of 'dashing attack' effect, so go take a look. I think there was one called Omnislash that I saw years ago that does that sort of thing.

 

[MetalKing1417]

Favorite level? Reunion. Pure concentrated awesome in the form of a hold the line type mission in the first part, then fighting the traitor prince, and ultamately turning the tide on your enemies. And the music is fittingly awesome.

Least Favorite Level? Heart of Ice. Paticularly the first part where you are escorting Kitharsis. While your campain is hard, and adverises as so, the dificulty is of the fun sort. Not so here. Kitharsis is a horid liability in this part and loses his key regeneration ability, essentially making any damage he takes pernament. This is compounded by the fact that his speed and damage is reduced and the never ending stream of Void Children you have to fight off to progress an inch.

 

[Ramza]

Man, that f*cking Kitharsis versus Kherek fight! :I
You could be fighting for half an hour, and those healing things keep respawning anyway. It's unending. And there is just no way to stop him from getting more of those heals once you do get close to killing him. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Soul Reaver]

Man, that f*cking Kitharsis versus Kherek fight! :I
You could be fighting for half an hour, and those healing things keep respawning anyway. It's unending. And there is just no way to stop him from getting more of those heals once you do get close to killing him. Am I doing something wrong?

The fight between Kherek and Kitharsis is basically a fight between two tanks, so it's rather normal for it to take a long time - you're not doing anything wrong.

You can win this fight basically by outlasting Kherek and doing more damage than you take, but I think I need to explain how the healing runes work:

Both Kitharsis and Kherek have their own, seperate "healing rune timer" - this timer invisibly counts down to when the next healing rune will appears. Once a rune appears, the timer will reset, but will take longer to count down the next time. So in other words, for each rune that appears for a hero, the next rune for that hero will take longer to appear.

This is complicated a little bit by the fact that a given hero can't have more than 4 runes in the arena at any one time. If there are already four runes out for a given hero, that hero's next timer won't start counting down until one of their existing runes is used up.

There's also a maximum number of runes available per hero in each battle - so a hero will eventually run out of healing runes completely.

What this effectively means is that you can simply 'wear down' Kherek. The more runes he uses, the longer it takes for new runes to appear. Eventually, it will take so long for Kherek to gain new runes that you'll kill him before another one appears.

That said, the same applies for Kitharsis - Kherek can also 'wear him down'.

Thus, the key thing is to ensure you're doing more damage to Kherek than he's doing to you. Avoid going toe-to-toe, Kherek is actually the better melee fighter. Kitharsis is faster though, so keep your distance as much as possible and try the following:

- Avoid Kherek when he's using the Mageslayer Ring's anti-magic shield, and be sure to keep your distance when he's using the Bracers of Might (as he'll tear you to shreds).
- Don't let yourself get cornered by Kherek's Hive Spawn ultimate.
- If you're hit by Corrosive Webbing and Kherek gets right next to you, you might as well fight back. Be ready to run as soon as the webbing wears off however.
- Use Dark Lash often. It does a lot of damage and has good range.
- When you've got a lot of distance, use Create Skeletal Minions and send them in to attack. Have all four mages cast Shadow Lightning on Kherek, it does quite a bit of damage, then set them to use Minor Haste. You can use Dark Lash from a distance to offer a bit of safe support and maybe improve the warriors' survivability slightly.
- Use the Bag of Sand when available for some easy, mana-free additional damage.
- Avoid using Dark Tendrils, the mana is better spent on Dark Lash.
- Sometimes (particularly if you're far away and Kherek is running to go grab a rune or if you're keeping him busy with Skeletal Minions for a while) you might get a chance to use your Tent or Shamanic Mask. While it might only provide a small bonus before you get rudely woken up, this can be worth it (particularly the mana from the Shamanic Mask when you're high on health but low on mana).
- Sandstorm isn't all that great (though I'm fixing this in the soon-to-be released version 1.0.02) so don't use it. Save mana for Dark Lash.
- For the 'ultimate' damage combination, ensure Kherek has used up his own Maiming Barbs ultimate and the Mageslayer Ring barrier. Then: Summon Skeletal Minions and have them cast Minor Haste on Kitharsis. Go toe-to-toe with Kherek and activate Unbridled Rage. Then activate the Rage Axes and start beating down on him. You'll do a LOT of damage. Retreat again once the Rage Axes wear off.

It takes a long time to kill Kherek, but eventually you can grind him down. Good luck!

 

[Ramza]

Wow, thanks for the info. I guess I was just too impatient then, so I'll give it another try tomorrow. I gotta say that even though some difficult games tend to piss me off a bit, I still much prefer them over easier games. I think the difficulty of this campaign is definitely a plus.

 

[Soul Reaver]

To the Bitter End has just now been updated to version 1.0.02!

I actually ended up doing a lot more for this version than I initially intended. Here's a changelog:

- Simplified ability hotkeys
- Cleaned up some code
- Fixed a problem with Kitharsis' Sandstorm ability (previously its damage was reduced by enemy armor. Now it does damage like any other spell/ability)
- Fixed cast time for Soul Reaver's Sphere of Annihilation (should have been 1 second shorter)
- Increased damage for Fei Serumen's Blood Corruption
- Revamped Fei Serumen's Ultimate Grace ability. It now has reduced dodge but provides a small amount of protection from spell/ability damage.
- Reduced 'cast backswing' time for some characters (ie, the taken for characters to begin acting again on their own after they start the effect of a spell)
- Reduced cooldown times on Kherek's Corrosive Webbing and Dustwalker's Wither spells
- Fixed some AI issues
- Improved a few triggers
- Fixed and tweaked some tooltips, spelling, dialogue and cinematics
- Added visibility blocking for closed doors (Warcraft III lets you see through closed doors for some reason. I've now made it that you can't)
- 'Idiot-proofed' Chapter I (there used to be various ways to mess up scripting, teleport through walls, or attack enemies through doors/walls without giving them a chance to fight back. This should be a lot harder to do now)

Before re-downloading, please note that saved games and replays are NOT compatible between versions, and if you've played an older version, you'll lose any progress you've made unlocking the Chapters on the Chapter selection screen.

 

[MogulKahn]

Great map. I remember playing this like 4-5 years ago, and I downloaded it on epicwar I think. Btw great map, and good job dude ! =D

 

[Odinelite]

i like this campain it has a smooth feel that makes me what to play it again.

 

[Magtheridon96]

~Description Fixed

There were a lot of unwanted """'s in there.

 

[Soul Reaver]

Great map. I remember playing this like 4-5 games ago, and I downloaded it on epicwar I think. Btw great map, and good job dude ! =D

i like this campain it has a smooth feel that makes me what to play it again.

Thank you both, I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed it!

~Description Fixed

There were a lot of unwanted """'s in there.

Thanks a lot for that - I didn't realize it had messed up. What exactly causes that? It seems to happen when I copy/paste from a txt file... but I don't particularly want to type out the whole Readme by hand either.

 

[Magtheridon96]

Oh that, it happens because of vBulletin.
In HTML:

" is "
< is &lt;
> is &gt;

The data is being passed over to some source that I don't know of, so &quot; is being read and interpreted as part of the actual content rather than a representation of a quotation mark.

 

[Sgt.Pierce]

I really love this map! This is very cool!! 10/5!

 

[defskull]

How can this map got a rating of 6/5 from mod, bhahaha (not because it's not good quality, but how does mod cheat the system by making it 6/5 ! LOL)

@OT
This map is fantastic.

 

[BunnyAng]

I loved this campaign. My favourite of all. Still, if this campaign has included voices in cinematics, prologues and so on this campaign would be perfect. Btw, loved the chapter where every companion splits up to go against their match like a duel. And the terraining is awesome. 5/5 from me.

 

[Soul Reaver]

I really love this map! This is very cool!! 10/5!

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

How can this map got a rating of 6/5 from mod, bhahaha (not because it's not good quality, but how does mod cheat the system by making it 6/5 ! LOL)

@OT
This map is fantastic.

Thank you as well. I guess the ability to vote 6/5 is one of the privileges of being a mod.

I loved this campaign. My favourite of all. Still, if this campaign has included voices in cinematics, prologues and so on this campaign would be perfect. Btw, loved the chapter where every companion splits up to go against their match like a duel. And the terraining is awesome. 5/5 from me.

Awesome, thank you. I personally am also pretty proud of how Chapter VII turned out.

Regarding voice acting for the cinematics - this is actually something I addressed in my FAQ as well. I do sort of agree: voice acting has the potential to be very cool, and I'd love to include it if it was done well. But voice acting really only is cool when it's done well. I think the voices people give to the characters in their imagination are far preferable to bad voice acting... bad voice acting could completely ruin the atmosphere of the game. As I don't have access to a sound studio and/or skillful voice actors willing to work pro bono, I'd prefer to leave the voice acting out rather than making a poor show of it.

Besides, there's a lot of dialogue in the game, and including voice acting for all of it would make the map balloon in size considerably. I'd likely need to find some sort of different hosting too to make that possible, and it might put some people off from downloading it.

Lastly, a lot of the cinematics would need either re-timing or even re-writing to accommodate the difference between the speed at which people can read the text at the moment, and the speeds at which people would talk/act for the voiced cinematics, so any such implementation would end up being very time consuming.

So my apologies, but for now I don't think it's possible (or a good idea) to record voice acting for the dialogue.

 

[Codric]

Loved the campain the heros and there skills epic and the storyline awsome

 

[Rainmaker]

Simply amazing. I played it before you bundled all the maps into a campaign file, and I got to chapter 5, maybe 6 but then the damn PC broke down and now I'm replaying it. Right now I'm at "Heart of Ice" and I'm beginning to remember why I hated it so much If you have the time, you should make a list of all abilities of Void Children and their effects; it's painfully annoying to get constantly raped by something you know next to nothing about Of course, that would be nice to see for every enemy in the game, but it's all up to your time and patience. Anyway, perfect campaign and a well earned DC. Can't wait to get to the final boss... although from what I've read so far, maybe I shouldn't be saying that XD

 

[mangousek]

Some parts are almost impossible to complete but otherwise nice campaign.

 

[useminename]

Sounds great

 

[darkfreedoom]

the prologue itself is awesome

 

[Lemexis]

That campaign is really amazing !
However I'm stuck at chapter VII - when you are supposed to go and fight dustwalker, the gate leading to his room won't open, because there are still undyings alive. But how am i supposed to kill them if they just revive every time ? I guess this is some kind of a riddle, but i really can't figure out what to do... :/

 

[Soul Reaver]

That campaign is really amazing !
However I'm stuck at chapter VII - when you are supposed to go and fight dustwalker, the gate leading to his room won't open, because there are still undyings alive. But how am i supposed to kill them if they just revive every time ? I guess this is some kind of a riddle, but i really can't figure out what to do... :/

The Undying can be killed permanently. They have an ability (called 'Undying') that lets them revive after being killed... but that ability has a roughly 8 second cooldown during which it can't trigger again.

That means that if you kill them, wait for them to revive, then very quickly kill them again, they'll stay dead.

It's hard to kill them fast enough using only physical attacks, but if you kill them once, then after they revive immediately hit them with Blood Plague, or the Kurusunami, or summon an Abyssal Mass to help out, you should be able to kill them a second time before their Undying ability has time to cool down.

 

[Lemexis]

Ok, thanks a lot for the quick answer !
And again, you really did a great job with that campaign, it's just perfect ! The songs are entertaining, the terrain is good, but the gameplay is just fantastic, you never get bored and there is always action ; and the custom spells are really nice !
I also find it a bit too hard at first (it took me more than an hour just to beat Kherek...), but victory has never been so rewarding ^^
Thanks for uploading that masterpiece !

 

[rexxar]

i don't know why but its sending me back to the campaign screen when i want to play

 

[Soul Reaver]

i don't know why but its sending me back to the campaign screen when i want to play

This typically happens when you haven't got the latest patch for The Frozen Throne installed. You can find it here: http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/warcraft-iii-patch-downloads

 

[Fat_fast]

I remembered the 1st time I went to hive for a great map and yours the first one i played, it was astounding and more that words could ever describe. Although I've not played it yet but from what i've seen and read, this will be a fight worth living for!!! Best regards

 

[Winddale]

Great Campaign. Loved the Storyline, and I was sad to see it end. Although, the Ending is very good... 5/5

 

[Shadurak]

Hey, man.
Just want to say that this is an awesome campaign. I played it back when you put up one map at a time and I remember the looong (but totally worth it) wait for Chapter 6. I was very happy when it all came together in a campaign file. Great job.
However, I am currently stuck at the duel between Sera and Kathryn. It is the ONLY fight I cannot win. I even cheated to be able to fight Maelstrom (and he was super easy, by the way). Maybe because Soul Reaver is so OP and Sera is kind of UP, but that's beyond the point. Can you give me some advanced tips for beating Kathryn? I ran out of ideas already and it will be much appreciated.
Edit: Also, I am having trouble with the new "simplified" hotkeys. I know it's easier for other people, but I prefer them as they were. Is there any way I can change them back? I really miss I for "Iron Will" and L for "Lightning Storm", not to mention F for "Mass Fireballs".

 

[Joinma]

I almost finished this campaign with 20% hp left on the last boss but it took me a lot of time so I gave up.
This campaign is pretty balance especially in serra vs her counterpart. I used her fight to the end and with very good tactic (you can say "the best perfomance"). I beat her counterpart with 600 hp left on my serra.
The others is just fine (you can say they are stronger than their counterpart) and final boss does really has insane hp (200,000 in total). It was a good fight. I may play it again if I have time. This is very good campaign and by far the most difficult and well balance campaign & maps in warcraft 3 that is reasonable.
Thanks for the difficult campaign.

 

[Soul Reaver]

I almost finished this campaign with 20% hp left on the last boss but it took me a lot of time so I gave up.
This campaign is pretty balance especially in serra vs her counterpart. I used her fight to the end and with very good tactic (you can say "the best perfomance"). I beat her counterpart with 600 hp left on my serra.
The others is just fine (you can say they are stronger than their counterpart) and final boss does really has insane hp (200,000 in total). It was a good fight. I may play it again if I have time. This is very good campaign and by far the most difficult and well balance campaign & maps in warcraft 3 that is reasonable.
Thanks for the difficult campaign.

Thank you very much! Making the campaign difficult but possible was definitely one of my aims.

Keep at it with the last battle - he can be defeated! If you've been frugal with your Mana Splinters, you should be able to use them to make the final part of the battle more manageable.

 

[Rainmaker]

Any advice regarding the final Void Children in the Reunion chapter? I don't remember ever getting my heroes raped so badly... I think one of them has an AOE damage over time spell which shaves off ~50% of everybody's HP in a matter of seconds. I didn't stand a chance. So yeah, tips would be most welcome

 

[Soul Reaver]

Any advice regarding the final Void Children in the Reunion chapter? I don't remember ever getting my heroes raped so badly... I think one of them has an AOE damage over time spell which shaves off ~50% of everybody's HP in a matter of seconds. I didn't stand a chance. So yeah, tips would be most welcome

For the sake of clarity: the red Void Child hero is the Hatred, the blue one is the Despair.

First of all, have everyone Hold Ground to stop them running right at the Void Children (since this will get them blown up by the spells you're about to cast).

Secondly, cast Face of the Heavens (Sera's Ultimate) over your location (a bit in front, since you'll likely be moving forward in the coming battle) - it will massively increase your chances of surviving this.

Cast Sphere of Annihilation so that it hits both Void Children once they're in range - this requires pre-empting their arrival a bit. As they're stunned, cast some damage spells, and have Cameron start casting Cataclysm so you can dump that on them too before they recover from the stun. At this point, feel free to charge into the fray.

Both the Hatred and the Despair have devestating channeled abilities. The Hatred, if it starts channeling, will summon a stream of fireballs that cause powerful AoE damage if they impact on any characters - these will keep coming as long as the Hatred is channeling. The Despair is even worse - its spell automatically hits every opponent in a huge area for heavy damage every few seconds. The counter for both abilities is the same: as soon as you notice the ability starting, hit them with a stun-causing spell or item to interrupt the channeling and ruin their spell.

Other than interrupting one of these abilities, focus on killing off just one of the two Void Children first. The Despair dies quicker since it has less health but is harder to reach, and to be honest it doesn't matter too much which one you go after first. Spam abilities and use Ultimates like Unbrided Rage, Psychic Onslaught and Nature's Wrath to help out. Celerity is an option too, though it can be a bit unpredictable (be sure to activate Blood Frenzy if you have it).

Lastly, keep in mind that you have an Anti-Magic Amulet. If the Despair hits you with a Sorcerous Seal (which will keep you from attacking and casting spells), the Anti-Magic Amulet can remove it.

Good luck!

 

[Deolrin]

You rated it one.

 

[Soul Reaver]

Now updated to version 1.0.03!

No radical changes this time around. Just two things:
- Fixed a bug with Eryion Xanatha's Energy Pulse. Previously its debuff was being removed if the Soul Mirrors cast their mirrored versions of the spell on an affected target. That's been fixed now.
- Went over the entire game script to fix some spelling/grammar errors and rewrote a few sections to improve flow and/or clarity

Note that as with all version updates, old save games (and Chapter progress!) made in an older version of To the Bitter End are incompatible with this newer version.

 

[Rainmaker]

Thanks for the tips, beating those 2 Void Children was actually fairly easy with your help. But now I have a new, bigger problem: the Sera vs Kathryn duel in Chapter 7. I don't even know where to begin... What to do about that spell where she blinks around like a madwoman? I don't know even how exactly that does damage, but I know it's unavoidable; even if you use the Elven Cloak, she still somehow knows where you are, which is stupid. Another thing, what do her minions do? Are they dangerous enough that I should go out of my way to kill them? Between getting blocked by them, stunned, slowed in like 10 different ways, rendered unable to use spells (her shield + those damn orbs) and constantly beaten to a pulp, I'm really unable to come up with any idea what to do.

So yeah... any help? Sorry about the wall of angry text, but this part is really pissing me off, more than anything else so far. I've never cheated or decreased the difficulty over the course of this campaign and I'd hate to resort to that now.

EDIT: Another thing I've been curious about (kind of off topic): how do you imagine Kherek's voice sounds like (You Know, Starting Every Word With A Capital Letter )?

 

[Soul Reaver]

Thanks for the tips, beating those 2 Void Children was actually fairly easy with your help. But now I have a new, bigger problem: the Sera vs Kathryn duel in Chapter 7. I don't even know where to begin... What to do about that spell where she blinks around like a madwoman? I don't know even how exactly that does damage, but I know it's unavoidable; even if you use the Elven Cloak, she still somehow knows where you are, which is stupid. Another thing, what do her minions do? Are they dangerous enough that I should go out of my way to kill them? Between getting blocked by them, stunned, slowed in like 10 different ways, rendered unable to use spells (her shield + those damn orbs) and constantly beaten to a pulp, I'm really unable to come up with any idea what to do.

So yeah... any help? Sorry about the wall of angry text, but this part is really pissing me off, more than anything else so far. I've never cheated or decreased the difficulty over the course of this campaign and I'd hate to resort to that now.

EDIT: Another thing I've been curious about (kind of off topic): how do you imagine Kherek's voice sounds like (You Know, Starting Every Word With A Capital Letter )?

Yep, the battle against Kathryn is pretty horrible. There are a couple of weaknesses you need to exploit to beat her.

First, it helps to understand her abilities:

Envenomed Daggers:
These debuff you and hurt you over time if Kathryn hits you in melee. They severely slow your physical attack rate, so going toe-to-toe is pretty much doomed to fail. The only way to avoid them is to not be standing in melee.

Venom Storm:
Area of Effect attack that causes a lot of damage over time after hitting you. Not much you can do about this one if you're hit by it, but you MIGHT be able to dodge it if you're lucky (see below).

Wytchbane:
Creates a glowing orb that will automatically zap you for heavy damage if you cast any spells within its (very large) area of effect. Basically, be aware that it's there, and only cast spells if it's well over a screen's distance away from you. Better to keep running than to cast spells if you're in its range. Don't try to destroy it as it's too tough to take down quickly. It expires after a while anyway.

Blighted Fate:
A curse that slows you down and reduces your physical accuracy. Very annoying as it allows Kathryn to catch up to you, and combined with the debuff from her Envenomed Daggers renders you pretty much impotent in physical combat. Your best hope is to be far away from Kathryn when it hits you, as it'll mean it'll probably expire before Kathryn gets too many hits on you.

Sisters of Pain:
Kathryn's first ultimate. Does a lot of really annoying things: firstly, the sisters can stun you with their attacks, and steal life to boot. Secondly, if you seriously hurt Kathryn one of the Sisters will disappear but restore a large amount of Kathryn's health. If you kill a Sister, then she'll still restore a small amount of Kathryn's health. You need to be ready to counter this ability, and your best bet is the Nature's Wrath Ultimate, which you should specifically save for this occasion. As soon as Kathryn summons them, cast Nature's Wrath. This will pretty much lock down the sisters. Activate the Blackoak Bow and finish the Sisters with that, Arrow Storm, Piercing Shot and (if necessary) Divinity Arrow. They should all be dead by the time Nature's Wrath expires.

Dagger's Caress:
This is the 'jumping' ability you were asking about. It does damage every time Kathryn 'dashes' past you. When it finishes, Kathryn will dash back to the position she was at when the ability started. You're right, it is largely unavoidable (although if you keep moving she might miss once or twice) and Kathryn is invulnerable while it's active, but it does have one advantage: Kathryn can't do anything else while using it. You can exploit this in a few ways. Firstly, put some distance between you and where Kathryn started the ability - that way, when it ends, you're in a good position. Secondly, you can go grab runes in the corner of the room (which are normally too dangerous to go for). Thirdly, you can cast recovery spells freely: Healing Touch can mitigate the damage, and you'll have enough time to cast Face of the Heavens if you need to.

Now some strategy tips:

1) Make use of your environment and STAY AWAY from Kathryn. You move faster than her if you're not debuffed. Run in a sort of big figure 8 pattern around the room, with the pits in the 'holes' of the 8. This makes it harder for Kathryn to chase you and means she'll occasionally miss with her spells.

2) Do NOT let Kathryn go toe-to-toe with you, not even with Face of the Heavens going, and especially not when she's using her Bracers of Might item (the one that makes her hands glow orange and boosts her damage). Always focus on keeping your distance. You have two ways to get away in a pinch: the Divinity Arrow lets you stun her, and the Elven Cloak can be used to get a breather. Make use of them if you need to.

3) When you're running around the pits, take potshots at Kathryn with your physical attacks while she's on the other side of the pit. It takes only one good Deadly Marksman hit to take a big chunk out of Kathryn's health.

4) Kathryn is fragile, so if you damage her, it'll hurt her a lot. Use Piercing Shot as often as you can get a clear shot and she's running right at you, as it takes a big chunk out of her health. Arrow Storm works quite well too as an opener before Piercing Shot, but if you use it, try to use it so she's just wandering into its maximum range when you fire it. Don't interrupt the firing animation until it's done or it won't do full damage, and don't count on it to buy you time as the stun isn't any longer than Sera's firing animation.

5) Healing Touch is a valid option if you've got nothing else to do - this works well if Kathryn is running away to get a rune and she's out of range.

6) The runes in the corners of the room are very dangerous for you to grab as there are no alternate exists, which means Kathryn will almost certainly trap you. Only go for them if you're using the Elven Cloak, Kathryn is running to get a rune of her own, or if she's too busy using Dagger's Caress.

7) Face of the Heavens isn't as good as it is in a lot of other battles, though it's still valuable. The cast time can be problematic, since it may give Kathryn time to catch up to you. If you do cast it, cast it near the middle of the room, then continue your figure 8 running. Don't stand and fight. You'll regain HP whenever you pass through the Face of the Heavens light but that bonus would be wasted if stood still in it and Kathryn catches up to you.

It can be done, so good luck!

As for Kherek's voice: his mouth/vocal chords are not really suited to speaking, so he talks very deliberately... and due to his size and strength, very loud and deep.

 

[Soul Reaver]

AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!
AWESOME is the only word that describes this!!!!!

Thank you makoi511! I'm glad you enjoyed the campaign so much.

If you haven't already, remember to rate it (the rating screen is on the first/front page).

 

[Map Designer]

I just watched the prologue cinematic and its so much fun! and the music when the orc is talking to blood mage 1:30 I llllllllllllllllllove it!

"Then let us waste no more time"
wise decision

Edit: and I'll add that music to my battle set

 

[Shadurak]

Ah, yes, the awesome, awesome music. Thank you, SR, for introducing me to E. S. Posthumus. It has quickly become one of my favourites.

 

[Soul Reaver]

Agreed. ES Posthumus are excellent musicians and I love their music. I wish they were better known.