Heroes4 - Your opinions about A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE - map rating = 11 Likes

+ - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Calling mapmaker retard, inhumane, trash, just because you didn't like the map? What YOU created for Heroes?

Reply

Continue - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

The most difficult for me was to beat chaos heroes because they had stronf fore magic but my heroes did't have magis resistance else. So I used cheat. I came in town and computer attacked me. 1 hero had sanctuary spell. And i used it in the begining of buttle. Then i walk down my shooters and hero from towers and move my another heroes from wall, so the computer shooters couldn't catch me. I wait while computer chaos mage and his shooters end their turn, and kick him with titans.

Reply

Don't think Equilibris will work - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Sorry, but if you want to give this map a try, you'll need the base game with both expansions installed (or the Complete version).

If the game will even allow you to open the map in Equlibris, it will probably mess it up in many unpredictable ways, the map is complicated and fine tuned to WoW. If you've got the expansions, just open your normal heroes4.exe instead of Equilibris and you'll be fine.

Reply

Possible, but not recommended - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

UPDATE: The map is playable in Equilibris, and it's possible to play it through to the end and complete it.

However, the map was fine tuned to the Winds Of War rule set, so the battles will sometimes play out different than they should, because of the modifications to spells and rules in Equilibris. Some things will be harder, but mostly it will be a bit easier than it should be, if Equlibris is used.

So I repeat the advice from my previous post: If you have Equilibris installed and want to play this map, it can be done, but you would be better off starting the .EXE file for the vanilla game in this case.

Reply

Thank you - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Thanks for the approval, Nikolaus!

Reply

Hello to Poland - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Thank you very much, DontPanic.

I agree with your statement regarding the underground: It could have been made clearer, since a lot of players missed the secret tunnel. But I don't want to modify the map any more, since I've forgotten what I did, and it's massively complex. But it may be worth repeating, in case any new players read this:

WHEN YOU REACH THE UNDERGROUND PRISON CELL OF THE WARDEN OF JUSTICE, THERE'S A SECRET WAY OUT OF THERE, WITH A TREASURE AT THE END OF IT. YOU ARE GIVEN CLUES, BUT WHAT IT MEANS IS: JUST SEARCH AROUND THOROUGHLY TILL YOU FIND THE SPOT. YOU WILL KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE FOUND THE SWITCH, BECAUSE A POPUP MESSAGE WILL TELL YOU SO.

Reply

Dear Mr. Disappointed - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Most of the information you requested is given through a popup window on day 5, labelled "TECHNICAL INFORMATION". Among other things, it tells exactly which Skills are disabled, and gives a rough idea of which Spells are missing. It even gives some insight into WHY these things where done. Trust me, nothing was removed without a good reason, the main one being: There are too many exploits and imbalances in the vanilla game.

To make it explicit: Summon Ship and Mass Exorcism (both Life), Mass Cancellation (Death), and Mass Dispel, Teleport, Steal All Enchantments, and Hypnotize (all Order) are the Spells that are gone. However, you CAN learn Exorcism, Cancellation and Dispel, you can use Berserk as a substitute for Hypnotize, and you will eventually find a way to learn Summon Ship. I disagree with the term "dead end": Even Order, which has 4 Spells disabled, still has 23 powerful Spells left to be learned - it's still on par with the other schools of magic, and it's totally worth it, even without Hypnotize!

I find no enjoyment in beating up players, like I say in the ending screen: I just made a map that I wanted to play myself, and because I found the learning process and all the research that went into the map creation interesting.

Reply

Hi Artail - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Fun story! At least you made some progress, and I'm happy to hear you still found some enjoyment in the map, despite it being too hard of a challenge. Practice makes perfect!

Reply

Hi Goran - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

This map is not unbeatable, Goran! You probably gave up too easy. If you keep trying, analyze the situation, and come up a good plan, you'll eventually win. Everything on this map is thoroughly thought out and tested. And nothing has been tested and tweaked more than the last battle of Valhalla. You're not supposed to just walk into Valhalla and kick ass without even thinking about it on your first attempt. If you read the opening text on the very first day when you started the game, you were warned that the last battle would be hard, and in fact the "Mother Of All Battles". And that wasn't a joke, it's absolutely true. My goal was to make the last battle the climax of the map, basically the hardest single battle you've ever encountered in Heroes 4, while paying careful attention that it IS actually possible to win. And I wanted to achieve that not through brute force and an overwhelming number of enemies, but through putting the human player in a tactically demanding situation where they really have to think and use their intelligence and knowledge of the game to achieve final victory. In fact, Old Erik, whom you've already met and beaten recently, had a significantly stronger army than Rage and Fury. I've probably played through the last battle (not the whole game, just Valhalla) about 60-80 times personally, using various armies from the factions of Nature, Order, Death and Chaos, with both 2 and 3 heroes. I've beaten Rage and Fury multiple times with each, using about 4 fundamentally different approaches/strategie s. My friend who playtested the map for me several times, was very frustrated the first time he encountered Valhalla, but he never gives up easily, and after about 10-20 attempts, he was able to adapt and come up with something that worked. There are many thousands that have downloaded this map since it was released in 2012, and almost all of the players (about 50) that have given me feedback through personal e-mail, have been able to complete the map. You can read through some of them in the commentaries below if you want. Maybe you'll get a few ideas and pointers that will help you out.

I don't want to ruin the fun by spelling everything out, rather, I challenge you to crack this nut yourself. But I'll give a you few hints to get you started and headed in the right direction.

First of all, before you even enter Valhalla; PREPARATIONS:

First preparation: Try the battle once, then analyze the situation, and try rearranging the order of the troops in your army accordingly (different slots). For example, Rage and Fury are not always predictable, they may choose different strategies each time you play (that's one of the reasons you might have to try a couple of times even if you have a plan that works). But the Cyclopes are very predictable; they always try to kill the same target every time. So once you see through what they're doing, don't put your precious Faerie Dragons at that spot. Put your Sprites or Wolves there instead. If you can't find a way to preserve them, they can be sacrificed.

Second preparation: If you want an easier battle, just sit around and wait to accumulate more troops! Time is on your side. It seems most players think rushing to the last battle is most favorable. But I'll reveal a secret here: It isn't true. Yes, the Valhalla garrison WILL grow stronger every week. And Rage and Fury will eventually max out at level 70, which is the highest level allowed in Heroes 4. But the truth of the matter is; once you have 5 towns of your own faction, you'll accumulate troops much quicker than than Valhalla. So the longer you wait, the more the numbers will shift in your favor. It might be boring to sit around waiting, but it WILL make it easier. If you go for that option, you could take the opportunity to explore parts of the map that you may have skipped/rushed past, and complete all the quests, which I highly recommend anyway, since you will be rewarded with 4 really strong, unique items (including Relics) for each one completed. There are 7 quests, as far as I can remember. And also, if you (like a lot of others) missed this fact: There's a secret tunnel leading from the Warden of Jusice's prison cell (in the dungeon beneath Dragon Isle) to massive battle (biggest on the map) and a nice treasure. It isn't bugged, it works! Just search thoroughly until you find the hidden switch, and you'll be told so through a popup message.

Last preparation: Obviously you're playing as Nature. Did you take full advantage of all your Creature Portals? It might be tempting to hire Mantises, since they're level 4 and one of the strongest melee fighters in the game. But DON'T EVER DO THAT. It doesn't matter which map you're playing. Why? Because they're too damn expensive, that's why. Always buy either Water Elementals (magic attack) or Fire Elementals (ranged attack), depending on whether you prefer magic or another shooter. You only get 1 Mantis each week, while you could get 9 (level 3) Elementals instead. Easy choice, in my opinion. In the Valhalla battle specifically, having about 1000 Fire Elementals will be extremely helpful in one of the possible strategies, which is trying to eliminate Rage and Fury first. Having the same number of Water Elementals is equally helpful in another battle plan, trying to completely kill off all of the Cyclopes first.

I've already given a hint to the two most obvious angles. Here's a third option: Have you noticed the Cyclopes weakness? Even though Cyclopes are level 3, and Titans are level 4, Cyclopes are the strongest shooters in Heroes 4. But although their attack is immensely strong, they only have 8 stones. So in the Valhalla battle, where they throw 2 stones each turn, if you can survive their pounding for 4 turns, they'll be out of stones, and turn into the least dangerous piece on the battlefield. Trust me, it can be done, if you play your cards right.

There are other ways too, like if you can find a way to temporarily keep the Cyclopes occupied and out of the battle for a few turns. You don't necessarily need to kill them quite yet. And it isn't true that they're immune to everything. There are lots of spells that might work. Just right-click the Cyclopes to see which Wards and such are in play at any given time. One player that reported back to me solved the whole situation in a very simple way, by merely adding a very weak third hero, whose only task was to keep throwing a specific level 1 spell every single turn.

So there are many ways, just be creative. I challenge you to try again, since you're probably a pretty good player to have made it this far, almost completing the map. Most likely you've already spent dozens of hours on "A Grandmaster's Challenge". Why not spend another hour or so and try to solve my little puzzle?

Yours sincerely, Erlend Philip Wood (MAP CREATOR)

Reply

Couldn't finish it! - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

First of all, thanks for your comprehensive response! You are a kind man :)

On start, one confession: I have played thousands and thousands of hours of HoMM4 and had no clue (until today) that you can cast some spells on creatures even if heroes have Mind shield. Shame on me!
I have read responses here and prepared for the game, as you announced it as super hard and saw that displacement and wasp swarm remarks, but due to the fact noted before, I didn't even try to cast spell. Money was not a problem during the whole game, I had few armies and heroes which sole purpose was to rob Keeps, Lairs, Temples and Dungeons. So I was able to afford Mantisa, as you said, they are one of the most powerful melee fighters.
Knowing all this, I will keep trying and combine different approaches, thanks once more!

Reply

Regarding Mantises - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

The problem with Mantises is NOT that they cost a lot of money. They're certainly worth the Gold they cost, but that's not what I meant when I called them expensive. It's the fact that you only get 1 Mantis per week, whereas you get 9 Elementals per week. So you can recruit 9 times as many Elementals. I agree that Mantises are super strong, but having a very large army of Fire or Water Elementals will be a lot more helpful in completing this map.

Reply

Regarding Mantises - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Valid point, but I don't like those creatures due to one reason only: lack of movement. This was a very challenging map regarding movement. Yes, I had Elves so I could use elementals here. Maybe next time :)

Btw, I managed to finish final battle. Yaaay! :)SPOILER ALERT!!!

I used displacement for Cyclops and attacked heroes with Titans and Venom spawns. After that, Devils cleaned the ground. Was a bit lucky there, since UI heroes kept their army inside the fort, otherwise, they would slaughter my troops, like many times before.
I must complement once more your map, great great work, I simply adore maps with strong heroes and even more solo quests would be great (I enjoyed working with Warden, who by the end became a very powerfull hero). If you create another map, consider creating one man quest :)

Thanks once more and all the best!

Reply

Thanks for the thorough feedback, Mama's Boy. - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Congratulations on beating the map with Nature. If you're planning on replaying it with Life, you are probably going to find it a lot harder. Life is the hardest faction to play on my map, Nature is the easiest. The reason is there are only 3 Life towns, and therefore Life can recruit a much smaller army, while there are 5 Nature towns, and they also have Creature Portals. I advise you to read the sign post right next to you when you start a new game, to get a better idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the different factions, making it easier to choose. The numbers are pretty accurate.

Actually if you want a slightly easier experience, I recommend playing with 3 heroes, not 2. I know some good players have beaten this map with as many as 5 heroes in their main army, but to me that's just overkill. But by all means stick with 2 heroes if you prefer a greater challenge.

I too favour ranged units (and casters), but I often find you need 1 really strong melee unit to mop up the enemies that make it across the battlefield and threaten your fragile shooters. Otherwise you'll often take nasty losses. Have you tried experimenting with Formations? You can change it in the character screen. The Loose Formation which is always on by default is rubbish, only useful when facing Cyclopes and Black Dragons because of their area attacks. I always change it immediately to Square Formation. It gives you much better control over your defenses, because now the 4 troops in the rear are almost fully protected from ranged attacks. I would put your Faerie Dragons all the way in the back because of their size, ranged units in the middle row, and 3 tanky heroes in the front row. Now the enemy shooters just keep pounding fruitlessy at your wall of potion-drinking heroes. Very funny.

REGARDING POSSIBLE FUTURE MAP CHANGES:

1. The first thing I would do, is to remove the time limit (3 years). It was an early design desicion that I now regret.
2. I would remove the Cheat option (available in the Game Help building).
3. I would rebalance resources and Gold to make it somewhat harder to accumulate huge amounts. That would also make the Upkeep system (paying to keep captured towns loyal) work better.
4. I would make the Thief armies and the Warden of Justice appear earlier so they play a more significant role in the campaign. I would also rewrite the warning messages to make them crystal clear, because almost nobody playing my map understands what is going on: While you are on Zanfas' Island, Red Player releases 2 saboteur armies consisting of 7 Thief heroes in each, one in the west and one in the east. They move quickly and steal all your mines and other belongings (give them back to their original owner), and are completely invisible, because they have Grandmaster Stealth. Only a hero with Grandmaster Scouting can see someone with Grandmaster Stealth, so that's why you need the Warden of Justice. He is the only one on the map with that skill.
5. There is a hidden tunnel leading from the Warden of Justice's prison cell (beneath Dragon Isle) to the Treasure of the Knights Templar (and a major battle), but hardly anyone finds it, even if hints are given (you need to search the cell thoroughly until a message appears). I would rewrite it in plain English to make it obvious.

* I see no reason to disable the Pathfinding spell, in fact I think it is important and should stay. It compensates for the Pathfinding skill being disabled (which was done for other reasons). I want to allow as many playstyles as possible, so I don't want to remove ANYTHING from the game unless I really have to, only exploits.
* I was ambivalent about whether to allow Town Portal or not, as I'm aware it can be abused in certain situations, but I decided to let it go as it also has some legitimate uses. I might disable it if I update the map.

Reply

Thank you for your reply ! - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

I had already restarted with Life. 2 heroes, crossbowmen, ballistae, and monks. So far so good, we will see :D
Thanks for the formation tip. I did not think of this before. I will see if I can make it useful for me with just 2 heroes.
I like all your possible future map change ideas.

Ad time limit:
I think it is a good feature. This was the first map I played with a time limit and it made me think very hard about what to do with my time.
I like the psychological aspect of it. But in practise, I ended up winning in about 18 months. So 36 months seems like a massive stretch.
I think removing the time limit makes sense if you also increase upkeep costs and increase the rate at which enemy heroes get stronger.
This would work as a hidden time limit (until a point of no return - too strong enemy or bankrupcy).

Ad cheating:
I think removing it is a good idea. The kind of people who would play this map would not cheat anyway.

Ad rebalancing resources:
On my first playthrough with Nature, I was forced to regularly farm all creature banks on the map to prevent myself from going bankrupt.
Later on, I dedicated my Warden of Justice to do this.
While fighting the Red player, there is already so much upkeep cost that you are literally bleeding money and trying to win the map before losing by going bankrupt.
My only salvation was that I managed to save up about 1 million gold beforehand (by farming creature banks over and over).
I think there may be some room to increase upkeep for enemy towns, but do it carefully.

Ad thief armies and the Warden of Justice:
The warning message about the thieves army was rather mysterious to me, but I managed to figure out what it means anyway.
I did not think the thieves would arrive so early, however.
Since my towns only had very low level lords in them, the thieves army captured a couple mines and then attacked my towns.
I figured out which town it is (Eastern Preserve), loaded the past turn and hired a small army. I looked around the map and saw some mines were no longer in my control.
By some deduction of where they might be (somewhere between the town and the closest lost mine), I found the thief army without any scouting skill whatsoever.
I bumped into them with pure luck, and easily defeated them (I think I was forced to let them pay ransom and flee, but they did not come back anyway).
In the eastern part of the map, the thieves appeared a lot later for some reason (several weeks or so after the western thieves were gone).
They started taking control of the Death area and eventually attacked the castle. I tried to apply the same method.
This time, no luck, I could not bump into them. So I hired small garrisons in both Death towns and also created one small army to run around the area and try to retake the mines.
This was enough to keep the damage to my economy in check.
Eventually a month or two later, I sent my Warden of Justice to find them, used him to recapture the mines one last time, and found out the thieves have disappeared!
I never found the thief army in the east. I think they might have gotten killed by some neutral army or something, not sure.

By the way, I busted Warden of Justice from the prison with Town Portal.
I understood the message, but I simply saw no path anywhere from where I was standing so I did not bother with it.
I inspected the walls visually, but I found nothing strange.
Maybe you could think of replacing one length of the wall with some rocks or something to make it visually obvious.
I thought it was bugged or something, and that even if there was really an other way, Town Portal is faster anyway.
I feel bad about that now. I am not used to scripts that trigger when you enter some spot in the map, so I did not consider this.
Well, that is another reason to disable Town Portal. I think the players will be forced to escape the prison manually after that.

In summary, I did not break the Warden of Justice out in the intended way, and by the time Warden of Justice got to the areas struck by thieves, the thieves were completely gone.

But I dont think you should make the warning messages more obvious at the cost of fantasy and imaginative writing.
If you want to make the messages more obvious, make sure the text does not break immersion. I think you can make the text obvious and immersive at the same time.
I think the map would benefit from having more backstory and seriousness in general.
For the most part, everything is sensible and there is a hint of a story - I like that.
But as someone else has said already, I think names Crap, Shithole, Mama's Boy, etc. are a bit unprofessional and immersion breaking.
If this map had a bit more background story elements, it would be perfect. I honestly believe that this is the most efficient way you can improve the map at this point.
I know, the map is supposed to be for the best players who are unlikely to care about some story, but I think everyone would appreciate this.

Maybe give the two starting towns and the main hero some respectable names, and give the player more motivation to hate the Barbarian Empire.
For example, but you could make the hero start off by fighting some berserkers as if he was an innocent resisting abuse from oppressors.
While writing this, I remembered this legend about William Wallace. You could reenact something very similar. It would add a lot more depth to the game.
-------------------- -----
Wallace had hated the English all his life, and he had his first fight with them when he was quite a boy. One day he had been out fishing and had caught a good many fish. On his way home he met some Englishmen.

"What have you in that basket?" asked one of them.

"Fish," replied Wallace.

"Fish? Where did you get them?"

"I caught them."

"Give them to me," said one of the Englishmen. "What need have beggarly Scotsmen of fish?"

"No," said Wallace, "I will give you some if you ask nicely, but I won't give them all to you."

"What insolence," cried the Englishman, drawing his sword. "Give them to me at once!"

Wallace had only his fishing rod with which to defend himself, but he was very strong, and with it he gave the Englishman such a blow on the head that he fell dead. Wallace then seized the dead man's sword, and he used it so well that the others soon ran away. Then Wallace went home quietly with his fish."

source : http://www.mainlesso n.com/display.php?au thor=marshall&book=s cotland&story=wallac e
-------------------

Reply

Disable Town Portal - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

I agree with Mama's Boy, disable Town Portel. See, my message about playing with Life: I did not cross the whirlpool - why should I? It would cost me hundreds of champions, monks and crossbowmen - but I took the continental road ( Town Portals) to Valhalla.

Reply

My Life playthrough attempt - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Hey there.

I just thought about stopping by and letting you know how my Life playthrough was going :D
I got to the part where I reached the middle island.
Since it is my second playthrough, I managed that a lot faster this time.
However, patrols on the island are so much stronger than me that it became incredibly tedious and time consuming to keep winning without losses anymore.
So I got bored and quit shortly afterwards. That was probably still back in January.
Haven't played it since.

I am sure it's possible to win, but it would be way too tedious to do so.
However even now, several months later, I remember playing this map with nostalgia!
Cheers!

Reply

Hello Thomas. - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

* Thanks for the interest in my map, but from what you describe, I don't think this is the right map for you. I have some suggestions for you though. Please read till the end.
* There are several reasons this map was designed for 1 player only. The first is that the map was intended to be very hard. The second is that the computer is really incompetent and stupid and cannot compete with a human on equal terms. By that I mean that if all starting locations are created equal, and you can choose any one for either a human or a computer player because it doesn't matter, the map would be very easy to win, because the computer is just moving randomly about and doesn't have a clear strategy. The third is that the map is Extra Large, which makes the computer even more helpless. The computer may play reasonably well on a Small or Medium map on Champion difficulty, but on a XL map it is just Lost In Space unless it has some advantage. The only way to make the map as challenging as I intended, was to make it 1 player and make sure all the enemy heroes and towns are custom made and on steroids.
* You have to start in the upper left corner for similar reasons. The map was carefully designed so that the human player will have to fight his way through different sectors which are progressively harder to conquer. It's part of what makes this map unique and gives it its flavour. It wouldn't be possible to make it that way if the player could start anywhere.
* It's VERY hard to change. The map wasn't designed for that. You would have to change 1000 things and really know what you're doing. Even I who designed it would probably have to spend weeks to make it work right, as I can't remember everything I did several years later, and there are a lot of complicated scripts, probably more than almost all other maps available. So just forget about it, it's just not worth it. Choose a different map unless you are a very good player and want to play this one on your own. There are lots of good maps designed for 2 or more humans out there if you look around a bit.
* If you are struggling to find a multiplayer map, you might want to try the sites Heroesportal.net and Celestialheavens.com as well. At those sites you can choose how many players you want in the search box. But this site has the best selection of maps, of course.
* I've got an idea: If you were really interested in my map, but want to play multiplayer with up to 6 players, why don't you just try the Zanfas' Challenge map? It's already in Heroes 4 so you don't even need to download it. In case you didn't know, A Grandmaster's Challenge (my map) is just a heavily modified version of Zanfas' Challenge. But Zanfas' Challenge is made for 6 players, and also very easy unless you only play with human players. All equal-opportunity multiplayer maps have that weakness.

Good luck and happy hunting, Austria.

Reply

Thanks for the balanced feedback. - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

* Artifacts (and spells, I would add) are indeed important, and I tried to design the map so that the most essential ones would become available as they are needed (through various methods). For example, a lot of the best artifacts can be acquired from Quest Huts at key points throughout the game. You always get those artifacts (or Relics) as long as you complete the quest. A lot of thought went into which ones you get at which time. It's not just random. Another way to get important items (and experience) is by defeating the enemies' main heroes. They are not the regular stupid heroes of HOMM4 carrying all kinds of crap, they are custom made and carry quality artifacts that are handpicked.
* SORRY about the names of the main hero and the two starting towns. Unprofessional it may be, but to me they are hilarious. That's just because I have a twisted sense of humour, and also because I wanted to overexaggerate the humble beginnings of the hero. They are VERY humble, he lives in a Shit Hole... But the rest of the names are actually either neutral and informative, like Southern Stronghold (a Barbarian town in the south) and Blue Archmage (an Archmage hero belonging to Blue Player), or appropriate, like the capital of the final enemy, Valhalla (the place you go to fight after you die in Norse mythology).

Reply

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the map. It took a lot of hard work to create. - A GRANDMASTER&#

1. Yes, I copied Zanfas' Challenge and used that as the basis for a heavily modified version. But I give the original map credit in both the opening and ending screen. I don't know who created it, it came with the game.
2. Much better that way. A Necromancer able to raise hordes of Vampires for free is by far the easiest hero type to play. Don't even need towns to recruit from, the army just grows and grows and is pretty much unbeatable once it gets past a few Vampires.
3. Again, Hypnotize was removed for a reason. It's the most ridiculously overpowered spell in the game, to such an extent that it ruins ANY challenge of combat. You hardly even need an army, just make the enemies fight each other. I beat 1,2 MILLION Vampires that way once.
4. True, I probably overpowered a lot of things. My goal was to make a map that would challenge the best players. Not many are available.
5. I didn't hamper travelling in any other way than putting a limit to the Scouting skill for design reasons, which in turn affects Pathfinding and makes it max out at Expert level. All the different kinds of Boots are available, as well as the Town Portal and Pathfinding spells. You can also cast Mire to slow enemies.
6. A handful of artifacts was removed, not because I don't like them, but always for specific reasons. For example, some items had to be removed because they duplicate spells that I also removed for good reasons. A lot of thought went into the design, and I never removed anything unless I had to. With regards to artifacts, yes I removed a few, but I also added almost all the Relics. They are not normally available.
7. Congratulations on finishing it. It's pretty big and takes a long time, so I'm surprised you did if you really think it was that bad.

Cheers, Erlend.

Reply

Correction. - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

5. Sorry, I remembered it the wrong way around. Pathfinding was indeed disabled, which in turn affects Scouting, limiting it to Advanced level. My bad.

Reply

1.2 MILLION - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

What was that map? I want to play)))

Reply

Regarding 1,2 million Vampires - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Hi, LordL from Russia. The map I mentioned with 1,2 million Vampires is quite popular here at this site. It's called "All Alone In The Dark" by Asger Folmann. I met the (neutral) Vampire army somewhere in the lower level dungeons, I think. But although the map itself was quite tough, I never had to fight anything close to those crazy numbers anywhere else, so I think it must have been a bug in the game, the Editor, or an unintentional mistake by the author. Either way, it was still good fun!

Reply

reply - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

Tnx

Reply

How to win with Death - A GRANDMASTER'S CHALLENGE

*For several pages of GENERAL advise on how to beat the map, I recommend visiting the "Game Help" building. It has a large sun on the roof and is located right next to your first city (Shit Hole). You need to save up some Gold first, though.
*You may get some ideas if you read through all the map comments at www.maps4heroes.com.
*You should have at least two heroes in your main army. You can't win with just one. The map has been tested with 2 and 3 heroes, but some players use as many as 5.
*Pay attention to the message given on day 5, regarding what kind of troops the computer players build. You should choose the same, because it will allow you to recruit twice as many creatures once you capture their cities. Playing as Death, you should choose: Cerberi, Venom Spawn and Devils. The Necromancy skill has been disabled for this scenario, so you won't get any free Vampires that way.
*Once you have captured your second city (Crap), leave your Imps and Skeletons at home for city defense. Otherwise you will just lose them in large numbers. When you are able to recruit Devils; leave your Cerberi as well.
*Nature is probably the easiest faction to play on this map. 2nd is Chaos, then Order 3rd, Death 4th, Might 5th, and Life 6th. There are players that have won with Life.
*Unless you are able to win most battles without losses, you are doing something wrong. In that case, I doubt you will finish. Find a good strategy that allows flawless victories. Magic is hugely important.
*I recommend you spend the first 6 months in your home sector (desert), building up your heroes and armies before you challenge the computer Alliance. You have plenty of time; if you visit everything, you will finish the whole map in about 2 years +. The time limit is 3 years.

Best of luck!

Reply

Regarding The Reclusive Hermit's Quest

The Reclusive Hermit will only help Life aligned Players. If you try to visit with a different alignment, he will tell you so.

Reply