Wrath of the Dragon - Chapter Two now live!

[The Nightmare Book]

Hm, description interested me... I'll try to post my own "review" today for that map.
Description already intrigued me, and I like it.

EDIT:
Completed for 85(?)%: killed all side bosses, main boss but didn't completed sheep quest
And what I can say at all? I feel it like a small WoW Dungeon, not a Diablo-like ARPG. I think that map genre should be a "dungeon crawler", but it's only my opinion.

Let's me take a list of encounted situations and suggestions:

1. Firstly I thought that custom skills are JASS/Lua-written onces, but used variant pleasured me. But I have one thing - in my walkthrough I never learned "Fireshield" spell, because your "Firebolt" & "Fire Strike"-like spells are too overpowered and wins all map. Seriously, most of my boss tactic was stun - run - stun. And summon unit isn't appropriate for first map. Maybe we can use it in next chapters, but not in chapter 1;
2. Where are all merchants? I saw merchant buildings but nowhere found any trader, so I can't sell my hearth/mana stones, only used/dropped alot. Maybe I didn't found him, or they really doesn't exist in your world
3. Is path in woods, that leads directly to transmutation eye or satyr camp was really designed? Or it's a random decor placement? Anyway it's a cool shortcut.
4. Main Story Boss (Butcher) is... Decent, I think? I didn't figure out how to kill him without abusing "player leaves boss room" thing - it's cool when he yells upon you and mysterious thing teleports him back xD
5. Does murloc boss have any spells? Or he just auto-attacks you?
6. I liked idea with neutral turtles. But strange that you don't used it anywhere than murloc zone. Or I didn't found?
7. I can kill mayor before mercenaries come to town for onslaught And kill any NPC without penalty;
8. And last thing - I liked "dungeon crawler" concept and I found it similiar to one-player WoW Dungeon idea.

Good map, overall.
In my opinion.

 

[JMitchy]

Hm, description interested me... I'll try to post my own "review" today for that map.
Description already intrigued me, and I like it.

EDIT:
Completed for 85(?)%: killed all side bosses, main boss but didn't completed sheep quest
And what I can say at all? I feel it like a small WoW Dungeon, not a Diablo-like ARPG. I think that map genre should be a "dungeon crawler", but it's only my opinion.

Let's me take a list of encounted situations and suggestions:

1. Firstly I thought that custom skills are JASS/Lua-written onces, but used variant pleasured me. But I have one thing - in my walkthrough I never learned "Fireshield" spell, because your "Firebolt" & "Fire Strike"-like spells are too overpowered and wins all map. Seriously, most of my boss tactic was stun - run - stun. And summon unit isn't appropriate for first map. Maybe we can use it in next chapters, but not in chapter 1;
2. Where are all merchants? I saw merchant buildings but nowhere found any trader, so I can't sell my hearth/mana stones, only used/dropped alot. Maybe I didn't found him, or they really doesn't exist in your world
3. Is path in woods, that leads directly to transmutation eye or satyr camp was really designed? Or it's a random decor placement? Anyway it's a cool shortcut.
4. Main Story Boss (Butcher) is... Decent, I think? I didn't figure out how to kill him without abusing "player leaves boss room" thing - it's cool when he yells upon you and mysterious thing teleports him back xD
5. Does murloc boss have any spells? Or he just auto-attacks you?
6. I liked idea with neutral turtles. But strange that you don't used it anywhere than murloc zone. Or I didn't found?
7. I can kill mayor before mercenaries come to town for onslaught And kill any NPC without penalty;
8. And last thing - I liked "dungeon crawler" concept and I found it similiar to one-player WoW Dungeon idea.

Good map, overall.
In my opinion.

First of all, thank you so much for trying the map and giving your feedback! You have no idea how much this helps me out!

If it's okay I would like to ask you some questions in return! Firstly, was there a specific reason you didn't complete the Sheep Quest? Did you have trouble finding the objective? Should I make it more clear where to go/what to do? Also, did you complete both bonus objectives on the level too? (Lost Bear and Barthol)

Now on to your suggestions!

1. I completely agree with you on this point, I should have used a different way to describe the hero/spells in the description - it was never my intention to mislead people into thinking the hero's skills were all custom-written! I have updated this since I will also look at re-balancing the abilities themselves soon, hopefully, I will receive more feedback on this topic!
2. Again, you're completely right! There is a more permanent solution for a merchant in the next chapter of the campaign, but I agree it would be nice to have somewhere to sell your items in this first chapter to avoid having to drop things!
3. Not intentional! But if you like it, it can stay!
4. The boss is definitely beatable with a well-rounded build and minimal items, I made sure of this during testing! What level were you by the time you fought the boss? What skills did you have levelled and what items did you have?
5. Spikefin does not have any active abilities, just passive ones. He also calls more Tideborn to aid him when he gets to low HP, just to ensure the player is paying attention! If you think it would be appropriate for him to have active abilities, do you have any suggestions?
6. The turtles are the only neutral mobs in the level at the moment, yes - but you have given me some ideas to add more!
7. I figured most players wouldn't murder their allies, but yes I will make sure to add some sort of protection for important NPCs/penalties for it!
8. WoW dungeons were definitely a big inspiration of mine years ago when I started W3 mapping, so it's definitely apt that that inspiration has bled through into my modern projects! If you think it's more apt to call the campaign "dungeon crawler" themed instead of "ARPG", I will consider changing it.

Thank you so much again for your review and extra thanks for the rating, it means a lot to me! Make sure to check back later in the month for chapter 2!

 

[The Nightmare Book]

First of all, thank you so much for trying the map and giving your feedback! You have no idea how much this helps me out!

If it's okay I would like to ask you some questions in return! Firstly, was there a specific reason you didn't complete the Sheep Quest? Did you have trouble finding the objective? Should I make it more clear where to go/what to do? Also, did you complete both bonus objectives on the level too? (Lost Bear and Barthol)

Now on to your suggestions!

1. I completely agree with you on this point, I should have used a different way to describe the hero/spells in the description - it was never my intention to mislead people into thinking the hero's skills were all custom-written! I have updated this since I will also look at re-balancing the abilities themselves soon, hopefully, I will receive more feedback on this topic!
2. Again, you're completely right! There is a more permanent solution for a merchant in the next chapter of the campaign, but I agree it would be nice to have somewhere to sell your items in this first chapter to avoid having to drop things!
3. Not intentional! But if you like it, it can stay!
4. The boss is definitely beatable with a well-rounded build and minimal items, I made sure of this during testing! What level were you by the time you fought the boss? What skills did you have levelled and what items did you have?
5. Spikefin does not have any active abilities, just passive ones. He also calls more Tideborn to aid him when he gets to low HP, just to ensure the player is paying attention! If you think it would be appropriate for him to have active abilities, do you have any suggestions?
6. The turtles are the only neutral mobs in the level at the moment, yes - but you have given me some ideas to add more!
7. I figured most players wouldn't murder their allies, but yes I will make sure to add some sort of protection for important NPCs/penalties for it!
8. WoW dungeons were definitely a big inspiration of mine years ago when I started W3 mapping, so it's definitely apt that that inspiration has bled through into my modern projects! If you think it's more apt to call the campaign "dungeon crawler" themed instead of "ARPG", I will consider changing it.

Thank you so much again for your review and extra thanks for the rating, it means a lot to me! Make sure to check back later in the month for chapter 2!

No problem!

In fact I didn't think too much about sheep quest, so I tried to use my "fast explore", didn't find it and continued completing other map content. And yes - I have found those 2 bosses, there weren't hidden too much and I think that bear could have more hp, because neutral wolves just killed his 15% of HP, and my firebolts dealt with rest.

1. About custom spells - it's my bad! I didn't properly understood what you mean under "custom skills". Also I think that "Firebolt"-like and "Fire Strike"-like spells are slighlty overpowered, but "Flame Elemental" & "Fire Shield" spells are underpowered, IMO;
2. About boss - maybe I'm just dumb, but I was level 9, have 2 rings (HP & MP regen), Mana Stone, transfigurated spear & cloak from bear. Anyway completed map without any deaths & save/loads, so I think that current difficulty is doable;
3. About Spikefin - I noticed that he calls Tideborn adds, that hidden behind him. But if you clean up room without trigger a Spikefin (he has a small agrro radius, I think?), his call doesn't work, because his murlocs are dead;
4. I didn't played other missions so I can't tell much, but for now I think that stags could be used in same way. Or even guards in cities - it's a small feature, but I think that player should have impact from killing civilians;
5. About allies: when I play any RPG map or game, I try to do some bad things - steal, kill, pillage, etc. I think that our hero couldn't be "only goody in all world", because it's prevents player from full game freedom. But anyway, it's my opinion - you may decide that campaign doesn't need it;
6. I don't think that you should change genre. I said what your map resemblers for me, but I can be wrong

 

[JMitchy]

Map has been updated to v1.1 with several new features and fixes! Please see the description in the OP for a Changelog.

Edit 31.10.21:
Happy Halloween, chapter two has just been uploaded! I did say I'd get it out by the end of the month

You may be wondering why I haven't uploaded chapter two in campaign format bundled with chapter one. This is simply because I ran into far too many issues trying to get it to work as a campaign using the reforged campaign editor and quenching. In the meantime, I will continue to upload the chapters individually in a sort of episodic format until a more permanent solution can be reached in regards to turning it into a full-blown campaign.

Regardless, simply launch chapter two as you would any other custom map for WC3 on the latest version and you should have no issues as long as you have also previously completed chapter one!

Please let me know what you think of the new chapter. Thank you and enjoy!

 

[Wazzz]

With a couple of chapters on offer so far, Wrath of the Dragon allows you to follow an adventure similar to that of Rexxar's campaign. Learning how best to use your hero's abilities is key, and although the overall gameplay is relatively simple, it is easy to pick up and fun to play. I will be looking forward to seeing what comes next in this series

 

[Thunder1]

can i play it on 1.31

 

[JMitchy]

can i play it on 1.31

I’m not 100% sure, sorry! The campaign has been designed and developed with the most recent version of w3 in mind, so for best results you should try playing on 1.32 if possible. If you have any luck getting it to run on other versions please let me know!

 

[Ravager16829]

can i play it on 1.31

I think some maps with "Recommended version: Current" are only intended for 1.32.10.
However, some people have tried this method: Map Adapter.

 

[Thunder1]

I think some maps with "Recommended version: Current" are only intended for 1.32.10.
However, some people have tried this method: Map Adapter.

thanks

 

[JMitchy]

Just applied a round of hotfixes and adjustments to both levels! If anyone's had trouble with the final boss of level 2, it should be a little bit easier to deal with now. Please see the changelog in the OP description for more info

 

[The Nightmare Book]

Didn't finished chapter 2, but killed all bonus elites except 2 on swamp and last spider-one (venomchip?).

• Why didn't finished? Well, when I killed "spider duo" elite, I saw that the small neutral spider starts follow my warrior hero. It's cute enough, but he isn't pathinble - so he managed to stuck my hero in cavern walls. Maybe give him a "Ghost(Visible)" ability to prevent those issues? Because I can't kill him - he's invincible;
• Damn, but those spider elites sometimes hits really hard. It's not an issue - I like it anyway, but I think that our warrior hero a bit tankweak, I think?
• And story question - does those spider mutuated by evildoes of main villian?

Anyway, good chapter.
But that small asshole...

 

[JMitchy]

Didn't finished chapter 2, but killed all bonus elites except 2 on swamp and last spider-one (venomchip?).

• Why didn't finished? Well, when I killed "spider duo" elite, I saw that the small neutral spider starts follow my warrior hero. It's cute enough, but he isn't pathinble - so he managed to stuck my hero in cavern walls. Maybe give him a "Ghost(Visible)" ability to prevent those issues? Because I can't kill him - he's invincible;
• Damn, but those spider elites sometimes hits really hard. It's not an issue - I like it anyway, but I think that our warrior hero a bit tankweak, I think?
• And story question - does those spider mutuated by evildoes of main villian?

Anyway, good chapter.
But that small asshole...

Thanks so much again for your feedback mate, it means a lot and I'm glad you enjoyed it! I will get that issue fixed ASAP, I would really love to hear what you think of the final boss of the level if you're ever able to give it another go

• This made me laugh, I definitely never encountered this whilst testing and never thought that cute lil' Maeviss would be such a troublemaker As I said I will get this fixed ASAP so that no one else encounters the same issue. I doubt I would have ever found this issue on my own so thanks a lot for letting me know about it!
• Yeah the damage output from enemies in this level is deliberately higher than the first mainly due to the fact you're now controlling 2 heroes instead of one. If you can recall, can you tell me what level your heroes were at by the start and end of the level? This will really help me out in regards to balancing the map properly! Overall, if it's general consensus that Allistar is a bit too squishy in this level, I could maybe look into giving him extra health and armour in his baseline stats to compensate a little bit.
• A story question! I'm really glad it's interested you, I wasn't expecting any questions like this but I'll be happy to answer! In regards to the spiders themselves (and other incensed/mutated wildlife in the Wildlands), they've basically been mutated as a result of the nearby Mage-Tower overloading and discharging arcane energy throughout the nearby area (this is explained to a degree in the intro cutscene, but that is a little longwinded - I am currently looking into adding a lore/journal system sometime in the near future that will allow players to check important information about the world, characters and events in their quest log written from Lucian's perspective). The mystery of the story so far is what exactly happened in the first place to cause the Mage-Tower to overload, what the connection is with the Mercenary attacks during the first level, the identity of the mysterious "Master" from the first level, and how it all fits together. Without getting into spoilers, the next couple of chapters will begin to answer a lot of these questions!

Thanks again for trying out the map dude! Your feedback has been super helpful. As I said, I will get that Maeviss issue fixed and uploaded ASAP. I hope you're able to give it another go once I do!

Edit: Just applied and uploaded the fix. Maeviss should no longer be causing any problems!

 

[A]mun]

I only clicked this because of the color and font choice of the icon, such a classic feel to it.
Judging from the screens, you managed to catch the same feel of classic warcraft campaigns.

So how can i play this on reforged which is lacking custom campaign support?

 

[JMitchy]

I only clicked this because of the color and font choice of the icon, such a classic feel to it.
Judging from the screens, you managed to catch the same feel of classic warcraft campaigns.

So how can i play this on reforged which is lacking custom campaign support?

No need to worry about that! Since reforged doesn’t currently have custom campaign support neither does the campaign (yet)!

I’m planning on getting all the chapters uploaded individually until such functionality is restored to w3. So for now, simply download and run each chapter individually as you would with a non-campaign custom map!

 

[StormKnight]

No need to worry about that! Since reforged doesn’t currently have custom campaign support neither does the campaign (yet)!

I’m planning on getting all the chapters uploaded individually until such functionality is restored to w3. So for now, simply download and run each chapter individually as you would with a non-campaign custom map!

At this point i'm not sure when will that feature come, if it takes too long and it isn't restored i highly recommend you make a 1.31.1 compatible version so people can play smoothly through the custom campaigns feature.

 

[JMitchy]

At this point i'm not sure when will that feature come, if it takes too long and it isn't restored i highly recommend you make a 1.31.1 compatible version so people can play smoothly through the custom campaigns feature.

Definitely something I want to get done eventually! For now, I'm gonna focus on getting the levels themselves completed first and worry about the headache of getting it converted to a 1.31.1 campaign afterwards.

 

[Archian]

I will take a look at this project during this weekend if I have time.

 

[krawg]

just finished first one starting 2nd really good i must say tho i think i have a little bug' breakers blood stained Pauldrens 'dont combine with' bearhide cloack' dont know if that is normal and on 2 map they are not transmutable the rest great so far

 

[krawg]

finished 2 nd map some items dont combine even tho they say they do maybe that's because of the previous issue the rest was good boss fights are fair the campaign could have great potential with some tunning lots of healthstones and mana stones at start selling them would make a massive buck anyway keep the great work

 

[JMitchy]

finished 2 nd map some items dont combine even tho they say they do maybe that's because of the previous issue the rest was good boss fights are fair the campaign could have great potential with some tunning lots of healthstones and mana stones at start selling them would make a massive buck anyway keep the great work

Thanks so much, I'm glad you've enjoyed playing! To answer your question, the two items you mentioned are not intended to be transmuted together so that's not a bug but I appreciate the feedback, I could definitely make it clearer which items can be combined together! What were the items in chapter 2 that you couldn't combine?

Thanks again! I'll probably start work on this campaign again soon(tm), I had no idea anyone was still playing it - I'm super happy to see it's still getting downloads!

 

[krawg]

Thanks so much, I'm glad you've enjoyed playing! To answer your question, the two items you mentioned are not intended to be transmuted together so that's not a bug but I appreciate the feedback, I could definitely make it clearer which items can be combined together! What were the items in chapter 2 that you couldn't combine?

Thanks again! I'll probably start work on this campaign again soon(tm), I had no idea anyone was still playing it - I'm super happy to see it's still getting downloads!

thanks for responding the items are (Bearhide Cloack) and ( Breakers bloodstained pauldrons) they were no longer transmutable in 2 mission could not transmute first one even tho i found no other items the spear and attack speed one i transmuted

 

[JMitchy]

thanks for responding the items are (Bearhide Cloack) and ( Breakers bloodstained pauldrons) they were no longer transmutable in 2 mission could not transmute first one even tho i found no other items the spear and attack speed one i transmuted

Ahh I see the confusion! Not all items that say they "can be transmuted" can actually be transmuted with each other. Those two items you mentioned can be transmuted, but not with each other; you'll need to find a different item to transmute it with. Another thing to note is that not all the items available in a level have a 100% drop rate - so it's absolutely possible to not be able to transmute items due to being unlucky with drops.

That being said, I can absolutely understand how this is confusing, so I'll take this feedback onboard and work to make the way the system works clearer!

 

[ap0calypse]

I thoroughly enjoyed both acts so far! I've always loved these 'simple' RPG-styled maps/campaigns, by which I mean those that aren't cluttered with fancy, overly complicated systems.

Some personal issues I found were:
Generic:

• No easter eggs that I could find (and I burned down entire forests to find some).
• Sometimes the backtracking can feel very slow. The movement speed isn't that fast and the distances can be quite far.
• When the final boss of an act is defeated, the act suddenly stops. I always try to complete everything before that, but it's possible to miss sidequests and items because of this (easily solved by loading an earlier save of course).

Act 1:

• Parts of the map felt a bit empty, especially the upper-right side. There's a long road leading to nowhere, an empty camp with nothing interesting and a little peninsula with boars. While I do like all of these as scenery (especially the piglets), it's a bit disappointing to find there's nothing there.
• Nothing more! All in all, it's a great first act

Act 2:

• Again, parts of the map felt really empty (and again it's the right side ). Since most of the map is a long network of tunnels, this isn't that important here.
• Speaking of those tunnels: the slow backtracking really hinders this map in particular, since some of the little neutral spiders can block the way (and our fat heroes block each other).
• This act felt a bit less inspired, with the only story-moments happening at the very beginning and at the very end only. In between was just walking and killing bosses (which is kinda cool).
• The start- and end cinematics for the quest "A Dying Wish" played at the same time for me. I defeated the troll before I started the quest, then encountered the ranger and the dialogue was skipping all over the place.

One more thing I'm wondering for the next act(s) is how the level progression of the heroes will be.
Allistar isn't a problem: I've mainly leveled his support-abilities (Devotion aura lv. 6 and Roar lv. 6), but his other abilities (mainly the Smash) seem very promising.
For Lucian, I've already mastered 2/3 of his main DPS skills (Molten Blast lv. 6, Eruption lv. 6 and Fiery Minions lv. 5). Flameguard and the intelligence boost seem a bit lacking in comparison. Though Flameguard gets a nice lv. 6 bonus, since Allistar will be in front taking the damage it might not be that great. The intelligence boost will be a nice auto-attack damage boost, but nothing more (mana isn't an issue). So in the next acts, I fear that leveling Lucian won't really be gratifying, nor will it empower him much.

Overall, great job! You've created a campaign that is enjoyable to play and I'll be keeping an eye out for the next acts

 

[JMitchy]

I thoroughly enjoyed both acts so far! I've always loved these 'simple' RPG-styled maps/campaigns, by which I mean those that aren't cluttered with fancy, overly complicated systems.

Some personal issues I found were:
Generic:

• No easter eggs that I could find (and I burned down entire forests to find some).
• Sometimes the backtracking can feel very slow. The movement speed isn't that fast and the distances can be quite far.
• When the final boss of an act is defeated, the act suddenly stops. I always try to complete everything before that, but it's possible to miss sidequests and items because of this (easily solved by loading an earlier save of course).

Act 1:

• Parts of the map felt a bit empty, especially the upper-right side. There's a long road leading to nowhere, an empty camp with nothing interesting and a little peninsula with boars. While I do like all of these as scenery (especially the piglets), it's a bit disappointing to find there's nothing there.
• Nothing more! All in all, it's a great first act

Act 2:

• Again, parts of the map felt really empty (and again it's the right side ). Since most of the map is a long network of tunnels, this isn't that important here.
• Speaking of those tunnels: the slow backtracking really hinders this map in particular, since some of the little neutral spiders can block the way (and our fat heroes block each other).
• This act felt a bit less inspired, with the only story-moments happening at the very beginning and at the very end only. In between was just walking and killing bosses (which is kinda cool).
• The start- and end cinematics for the quest "A Dying Wish" played at the same time for me. I defeated the troll before I started the quest, then encountered the ranger and the dialogue was skipping all over the place.

One more thing I'm wondering for the next act(s) is how the level progression of the heroes will be.
Allistar isn't a problem: I've mainly leveled his support-abilities (Devotion aura lv. 6 and Roar lv. 6), but his other abilities (mainly the Smash) seem very promising.
For Lucian, I've already mastered 2/3 of his main DPS skills (Molten Blast lv. 6, Eruption lv. 6 and Fiery Minions lv. 5). Flameguard and the intelligence boost seem a bit lacking in comparison. Though Flameguard gets a nice lv. 6 bonus, since Allistar will be in front taking the damage it might not be that great. The intelligence boost will be a nice auto-attack damage boost, but nothing more (mana isn't an issue). So in the next acts, I fear that leveling Lucian won't really be gratifying, nor will it empower him much.

Overall, great job! You've created a campaign that is enjoyable to play and I'll be keeping an eye out for the next acts

Thank you so much for this! I'm really glad you enjoyed playing what I've done so far and this is absolutely excellent feedback!
I'm looking at starting work on the next chapter(s) again soon and I will definitely try to take as much of your feedback as possible onboard.
Hopefully, I'll have something to share in the not-too-distant future - thank you so much again!!