This is the most sophisticated map of all the small maps and the smallest of all the sophisticated ones /jk.
You could call this map a “compressed giant map”, since it’ll take you as much time (if not more) to fully complete it. The map consists of many “reversible” and unusual for standard maps quests. The difficulty level: extremely impossible.
Make sure to carefully read the description of the map and enjoy your new experience.
The story begins with the wounded phoenix delivering a letter to you:
“Dear Warbeast,
I and Marlin mastered the spell of the army modification. Unfortunately, the Grim Reaper sent Cheshire to steal the knowledge. They tried to replicate the spell and it partially worked. After that the Grim Reaper was able to enslave all creatures, including angels and demons (which the haunt the holes).
Your great mission is to return the grace and banish the enemy.
At the beginning point of the game there is a hidden gift for you, you’ll be guided by the black towers. In the far north you’ll find the unique skill, but be careful and think of the worthiest to give it to or it’ll go to waste.
And the most important thing, release Marlin from the warlocks’ captivity. He has the magic power that will help you win.
Keep in mind that the enemy is incredibly strong, and you have very slim chance of winning.”
Author: Sulim81 (Poland), 28-11-2023 22:48 :) - Battlejuice When can we expect releasing second part?
Author: wasilix, 26-11-2023 16:29 Like - - Battlejuice Sure, with pleasure. Just email it to me :)
Author: 32167, 26-11-2023 14:20 Help, help, help - Battlejuice Could you help with testing the second part of the map?
Author: 32167, 26-07-2023 19:18 Thanks a lot! - Battlejuice Hey!
It’s very nice to hear that you liked the map : )
I watched your playthroughs on the days you uploaded and couldn’t believe it’d be possible to play that (seemingly) effortlessly!
Author: wasilix, 26-07-2023 09:01 Like Playthrough as promised - Battlejuice Hi there!
As promised, I uploaded the playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-6ti9nJ XMI&list=PL02MwI3vxw6kr7RUjU27D3chxWVOvL nvK (as usual remove spaces from the link to work).
Was able to finish the map without using tripwire artefacts. Unfortunately, it's the version before the update, but I managed to do just fine even though some heroes were released before I was ready to deal with them. It's my 2nd map finish, improved by a couple of weeks and finished on 5-1-3.
Overall a great map! Especially loved the beginning portion, where you are incentivized to be as fast as possible. The decision point between triggering traps or going without CoUK was difficult at first because I wasn't sure I'll be able to win without it, but in the end I'm happy I didn't use the traps.
As far as I can tell it's more or less the way the map was envisioned to be played by its author. It can 100% be done without CoUK, and actually not very difficult past a couple of months. You need to make right decisions in the beginning though to make it work.
The map doesn't seem to be balanced around CoUK, so I'd highly recommend giving it a try without it. I wish CoUK could be broken into more than 3 pieces :D But maybe it can? Through quest seers for example? :) How about collecting not 3, but 10 pieces? :) That'd be great :)
This map is a puzzle, and I spent a lot of time in the editor looking at the map and trying to figure out where the hell I am supposed to go. It's on purpose very difficult understand because of large number of map objects and huge AD ambush events spread around the map. To make it even more fun there are many events that are not ambushes :)
Forgot to mention, but the map is beautiful too :) Love the map's thumbnail.
Awesome map once again, would play another one of yours.
32167 writes:
28-11-2023 23:29
:) - Battlejuice
I think in about 2-3 weeks.
Sulim81 (Poland) writes:
28-11-2023 23:45
:) - Battlejuice
Great Christmast gift :)
Sulim81 (Poland) writes:
19-12-2023 18:12
Reminder - Battlejuice
Three weeks time line is passing :)
wasilix writes:
19-12-2023 20:28
- - Battlejuice
Hey, don't rush the artist :)
Sulim81 (Poland) writes:
20-12-2023 03:59
:) - Battlejuice
World is so commercial today, even artists must follow deadlines :) . More maps, more maps, more maps ...... :)
Author: 32167, 21-07-2023 21:46 ultimate version of the map - Battlejuice This is ultimate version of the map. Few major scenario flaws were fixed. As a result of this, the strategy of the map playthrough has changed dramatically.
Sulim81 (Poland) writes:
25-07-2023 23:12
Done - Battlejuice
Thank you for new version, I spent once again several hours with pleasure. Good idea with spreading CUOK behind two enemy trap-heroes, still was able to collect them and do CUOK rush, but it took me much longer and was a litle more complicated than previus version.
32167 writes:
26-07-2023 01:12
Thanks for your comment - Battlejuice
I'm happy you liked the map (again) :)
Author: wasilix, 10-07-2023 10:43 Like Very nice - Battlejuice Hey! Started playing your map a couple of days ago, and basically only progressed about 2 weeks. Very nice and indeed sophisticated map. Playing it is like solving a puzzle, which I personally like a lot. I'm not big into try-hard Chinese-style maps, but I really want to give this one an honest shot. If I manage to finish it, I'll record a playthrough for sure.
Definitely doesn't seem to be a map to be played blindly. So far fights were really great. Didn't go too far yet, about to open a 2nd book guard, still undecided in which order I want to trade the books in.
Thank you for the map!
Sulim81 (Poland) writes:
10-07-2023 10:56
Puzzle - Battlejuice
Puzzle, this is the word which I was looking for. I had to replay the whole map or just a part several times in order to find proper order.
32167 writes:
10-07-2023 22:31
Thanks a lot - Battlejuice
Thank you very much! It would be really nice to see your playthrough! Closer to Friday I'll upload the final version of the map. It'll be filled with even more quests. The AI armies will less powerful, but they'll be more skilled magically.
Author: Sulim81 (Poland), 09-07-2023 20:02 Great - Battlejuice Great map, huge challenge.
32167 writes:
10-07-2023 22:25
Thanks - Battlejuice
Thanks, i'm glad to hear that you liked the map. In moment like that you really get inspired to create even more interesting maps!
Author: 32167, 04-07-2023 15:06 Need advice - Battlejuice Hello, I have an idea to give a player an opportunity to keep one of four magic books before releasing Merlin from jail. Without it the game seems to become either too difficult or too time consuming. What do you think?
Author: 32167, 03-07-2023 16:01 map adjustments - Battlejuice The map has undergone some drastic adjustments. The opportunity to capture one more (hidden) town at the starting point was provided. The AI irrational behaviour was fixed (I hope). Now Boatman can carry out all of the boat related manipulations and you can slay AI heroes on any territories (air, earth, water, fire). You can check for yourself. I'll be grateful for any feedback!
Gulo (Xian,China) writes:
05-07-2023 14:23
Good Job. - Battlejuice
Have played.Bugs are repaired and new bugs haven’t found. The change of requestgate in south of begin town is reasonable, I think it’s best change because if powerful enemies stay in town of Domino1, human player will no place to go. This would happen in mouth 3-4, at that time player has not enough army to pass events of 6666*6 of Devil. Thanks for your share.
dujik writes:
06-07-2023 12:58
Hidden town? - Battlejuice
At the beginning i found holy grail but not the hidden
town(s). Is that after i manage to past the elementals
since i am stuck there.
32167 writes:
06-07-2023 15:00
Thank you a lot - Battlejuice
Thanks a lot for your help. I'm currently working on the ultimate version of the map. It'll be a little less difficult and a little more fun to play.
P.S. I'll let this version be for the people who like it the hardcore way
32167 writes:
06-07-2023 15:09
The tip - Battlejuice
You'll be able to access the hidden town after you eliminate the enemies (of all elements). To achieve this goal you might want to look for the hidden event behind the Black Towers.
32167 writes:
06-07-2023 15:14
The tip (2) - Battlejuice
Oh, and I forgot to mention. The town is hidden in the Far North area (the most remote part of the area). You can also find even more interesting things in this area.
Author: 32167, 03-07-2023 15:50 map adjustments - Battlejuice Hey, I followed your advice and added some adjustements to the map. I added the hidden town in the Far North area, the windmills were added at the starting point to make AIs move. I also added one way monoliths to give AIs an opportunity to leave the area of the "Onslaught" town. Ai can now summon boat. AIs now are obligated to capture the southern towns with taverns. All the AI heroes will be getting random army and one or two items which you can exchange for any army you like. The version has already been uploaded. Thank you very much for your help!
Author: Gulo (Xian,China), 03-07-2023 05:19 Questions - Battlejuice 1.I noticed the powerful blue heroes can move, but the weak blue heroes will stay at Swan Pond and block all other heroes who exit from Red Monolith on the island. The question is Swan Pond and there has no way to go through. 2.Three Conflux towns will not be taken by computer player, I don’t think too much about this, perhaps before the heroes nearby can move ,they have be eliminated.3.Without fire book, it’s very very hard to defeat Lamia and Azazel, and the pink enemy is clever, he will take your town and stay in town. I think it need to power the human player. That is, pink will take all your town and Lamia and Azazel will block progress.I haven’t come up with a solution yet.
Author: 32167, 02-07-2023 19:02 Thanks for your feedback - Battlejuice Hello, thank you very much for your feedback.
1) I'll add 5 more pink monolith exits, just in case ;)
2) I'll also add a quest to fix a problem with fire magic book.
And about your first comment, I'll add the oportunity of summoning and destroying the boats and make the AIs move from the island. I'll add the hidden town for the balance at the starting point in the game.
I noticed in your pic that the AI didn't capture the southern towns, which are very important for the story. I'll fix it.
Thanks again!
Author: Gulo (Xian,China), 02-07-2023 10:50 Two suggestions - Battlejuice 1There are five Pink Exits not four. 2Players can remain Fire magic book before free Merlin and this made defeat Lamia and Azazel easily.
Author: Gulo (Xian,China), 01-07-2023 09:49 Very amaze map! - Battlejuice I can’t believe this small map can give me so many challenges and takes about eight hours to finished.The design is really nice but the AI of computer is bad.At beginning,I had to run to avoid powerful enemies.But one enemy’s hero left 34k Lich and I eliminated them and became powerfully. Then I got Armor of the Damned. When I had 30K Lich, the event of 6666*6 Arch Devil was not impossible , then I had more than 100k Lich, the map became easy, I finished it in Months 9. Two suggestions:1,There have four Pink Monolish one way exits,Players can use four heroes blocked it, the fifth hero only with one Shackles of War can repeatedly move at the entrance and easily reach all 99 in one week.2,The Red Monolith one way exit works bad, many enemy heroes exit from it, but they couldn’t summon boats, and stayed at island , not moving again.That is all, and thanks for your share.
wasilix writes:
13-07-2023 20:15
- - Battlejuice
Rereading the map thread and looking at some suggestions now...
I'm not sure about leaving a book to a player. I didn't reach Merlin yet, so I'm don't really know much about it. Not having books and/or magic skills though definitely makes things quite challenging.
I more or less got a grasp of 1st 6 weeks or so, managed to clear everything and be ready to go to Orrin by 2-3-1 with a decent army, still not sure I'm doing it right, and constantly concerned that I'm on the right track.
Love how you use full backpack on enemy heroes to set tripwire artefacts. Very nice idea! I'm too scared to take them, hopefully I won't regret not taking a cloak and running for my life with it :) I think I reached my 1st serious enemy (Lamia) at this point, that I may have to beat at this point, which looks quite a task. I haven't tried it yet, so I won't say that it's not possible, but she definitely looks scary enough :) If I were to keep a book, I'd most likely keep water, with which Boatman would be quite a badass. Pretty sure Lamia would be an easy kill in that case.
I'm a bit concerned that I barely use Gelu... I mean I don't need skellies, do I? Man I wish I could Gunnar and/or Kyrre :D They have great skills, but stuck. What a ruse! :D
A couple of things to note:
1. Pandora at 38:24 can be bypassed through the library.
2. Archers at 27:3 are set to Aggressive. Should they join the player will have 175 sharpshooters, which is pretty good at this stage. Although to be honest they will be hard to keep alive most of the times.
3. Weirdly when I came to Orrin on 2-3-2 he was sitting in a town that was almost completely unbuilt (only had fort and griffins). He picked up a few gold pieces around and didn't kill anything. It seems as if AI put him in a castle to free up a spot (e.g., for a prison hero??) and then never bothered with him. Looks like a weird behaviour, but maybe it's intended?
Probably same is done to some other blue heroes (that's if blue initially had 8 heroes on the map), because after 2-3-1 three blue heroes came through the red portal within a few days whereas I only removed Orrin so far.
Great map so far! Quite a puzzle... Respect to Gulo for finishing it in 8 hours, I think I already spent about as much in total :D
32167 writes:
14-07-2023 14:41
some details - Battlejuice
Thanks! I won’t make a final decision on the ultimate version of the map till I get you feedback then. I uploaded the intermediate version, where the player can keep the book for a longer time, to the other popular game related website.
Tripwire artifacts are the double traps, but you’ll see later
The later gameplay will depend on these tripwires triggering the chain of either good or bad events.
(Spoiler) Lamia is a hero, needed for testing your army, to prevent you from triggering the chain of events with a weak army. It’s better to kill her the way that would allow you to cut losses in the most effective way.
Gunnar and Kyrre could be released from closed area later if you used the scholar from the Far North the right way.
And, yes, you won’t need skeletons (and etc.) anywhere in game for the scenario.
AIs do go inside the castles to release other characters from prison. It doesn't really matter, later AIs have to occupy the southern underground towns anyway. There are taverns inside and AIs will get random magic skills, army, and artifacts. I’m interested in knowing whether they will go outside or keep sitting inside the towns (and break the planned part of scenario).
I looked up your playthroughs on YT and really liked them! As soon as I finish the giant map I’m working on, I’ll immediately start playing Portishead. I’d start playing earlier, but I’m afraid of getting distracted for 3-4 weeks.
Sulim81 (PL) writes:
14-07-2023 15:30
Is it intended way? - Battlejuice
Frankly speaking I did totally oposite, I took COUK immediately after releasing Kyrre and Gunnar and went directly to underground through portal. Two heroes were released, but they were just wandering around capturing my two Cove towns, which was not a problem as I already started to conquer underground towns with CUOK. After several fights it was like a snowball effect, not to mention, that I was able to sneak to upper ground later on and take also black orb. Released heroes were not really interested in me or they were just veeery low in movement points. I was getting stronger and stronger and after some point game just became easy.
32167 writes:
14-07-2023 18:25
Thanks for your help - Battlejuice
Hello, I actually considered this scenario as one of the alternative ones. However, it’s chaotic and dangerous. In this scenario AIs behaved in an unexpected way. I’ll fix it in the next version. Before capturing Onslaught those two heroes will be allowing the entrance to the underground and the whole map for their allies. With this version, using the scenario mentioned above would be a lot more difficult. Thanks for helping me make the map better!!!
wasilix writes:
15-07-2023 08:00
- - Battlejuice
"Tripwire artefacts are double traps" - Wow... Okay, man, your map keeps surprising. I didn't expect that :) So far I'm hoping to do the map without triggering them.
In regards to Lamia, I tested my strength against her at around 2-4-1. Without too much trying, it seems that I'm still not ready. I came with 15AD, 120AAs and some haspids, which seemed like a decent army to take her on. I didn't take into account her having Titan's Thunder (+9 to combat stats). I'll try to re-doing some or entire map (depending on whether I want to give Eagle Eye to Boatman, or Dessa should be enough). Some invaders have Clone, if I manage to learn it from them (lol if they never cast it) it will be quite a boost for Boatman, and he should deal with Lamia without any trouble after that. That's the plan for now, at least.
Thanks for the compliment of my playthroughs :) I liked Portishead a lot. Looking at your map, you should be a pretty good player, and shouldn't have trouble with finishing it. Hopefully I'll finish yours, but it'll take some time for sure.
Cheers and thanks for the reply!
Author: Stoyan (Bulgaria), 28-06-2023 20:43 Finished :) - Battlejuice Hello map is really nice one !
Finished in 14 months..
Thanks to the creator for the good job !
32167 writes:
29-06-2023 12:33
- - Battlejuice
Hey, I'm glad you liked the map. Thanks for your feedback!
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