Author: Oleg (Bulgaria), 27-10-2024 09:31 Like Unorthodox - The Ranger and the Sorceress Very nice, unorthodox map, but in the middle of 2nd month Crag Hack is coming with a huge stack and it's impossible to beat him without cheesing. From this point, not my kind, but anyway it was a worth try!
Author: Дмитрий (Россия), 02-07-2024 12:27 Bug - The Ranger and the Sorceress The game hangs when the gray player stands on (115,91,0)
Alex (Switzerland) writes:
03-07-2024 16:53
Did you mean (115,98)? - The Ranger and the Sorceress
(115,91) is a cell on water, unreachable by AI players.
Did you mean (115,98)? If so, then I think I know what's happening - the AI is trying to summon a boat, but the spell doesn't work because there's no place to put the boat. I had this issue in another location on this map, so I had to make that location unreachable by the AI. I'm afraid the fix for (115,98) wouldn't be so trivial.
Дмитрий (Россия) writes:
04-07-2024 15:34
Error - The Ranger and the Sorceress
yes, you are right, (115,98)
Author: wasilix, 17-06-2024 07:25 Like Playthrough - The Ranger and the Sorceress Finished this map a couple of days ago, and it's now time to post the review.
Liked it a lot, especially the beginning, but mid-to-late game isn't boring by any means.
Nice map layout - 2 separated heroes progress of each is needed to help another.
Cool idea with a magi hut and a movie :) That looked awesome.
My favorite was the puzzle fights part in the beginning.
After that the game gets a bit easier because opponents don't gain any upperhand against you and once you overcome their 1.5 weeks headstart they have nothing to show for it, and the game turns into the player trying to reach next tent/boss or take out next opponent while AIs are pestering him/her with small armies.
Some OP heroes are available (e.g., Alamar and Mephala). With invite hero / tavern abuse makes it easy to get resurrect and expert scholar to kick. Resurrect is available early on as is, but having Alamar would make things even easier in the beginning. Probably makes sense to disable him and any other heroes not intended for use by the player.
As for Mephala, she can make a solid improvement as a main hero against endgame bosses. There is not too much experience available on the map, so she probably won't be that overpowered, but still at level 30-40 she might be a good response to final boss' offense specialty.
AI players seem to be non-allied. Makes things a bit easier mainly because they get to distract each other when otherwise they'd be only pestering the player.
Final bosses are pretty strong, but can be abused with forcefield without too much trouble (should be disabled if not intended?).
Hint to players: I suggest you have at least 1 main hero with pathfinding. Whichever you choose you'll have to use him/her against teal (originally it's the logistics specialist's territory). There is a lot of legwork in swamps and without pathfinding it may be hard to be back in time to kick back other AIs.
The playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL02MwI3vxw6mTPN78pxsBDme0zjnLNkw1
Alex (Switzerland) writes:
20-06-2024 03:43
Thanks for the playthrough! - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Thanks for your feedback and for the playthrough! It was actually fun to watch someone else playing my map.
I'm impressed that you managed to defeat the Ogre (in the puzzles area in the beginning) without the Mage - I didn't expect this to be possible :)
And the same goes for Mordred - the idea was to make it possible only via mutual destruction. I mean, if you defeat him and survive, then you don't have to fight the Empress at all - you can just wait for 7 days and claim victory. Oh, well, I guess it's a fair reward for finding a way to beat him.
Blue, Orange and Purple are allied, but not with Red. Plotwise, Red is against everyone, so it would be weird if he was allied with other players.
Regarding rehiring OP heroes - yes, I've already been told about this issue by another player. I disabled some of them (e.g., Maleficent and King Stefan) but not everyone (e.g., Tazar and Terek). I don't have anything against hiring Alamar in the beginning - as you said, Resurrection becomes available early anyway.
I apologize for the broken Grail puzzle. I tested this scenario with a regular artifact, and only found out that it doesn't work with the Grail after publishing the map.
I'll upload an updated map with these improvements later.
wasilix writes:
20-06-2024 20:49
- - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Both ogre and swordsman fights are doable without a mage, but require a lot of luck in terms of damage rolls and lack of morale for the opponent :) However, if I knew that it wasn't required to do them this way I wouldn't be trying this way. Not my cup of tea to look for RNG that is this favorable :) Loved the puzzles as they are :)
Your idea with Mordred evades me. My approach felt the most straightforward and not really inventive... I don't really understand how he's supposed to defeat my army with what he has (not much at all). The Empress is strong though, I don't feel like I've given her enough credit by using the biggest cheat of all to beat her...
So you say Tazar was available? :) Well, that would be hands down the best main hero then unless he has bad secondaries. Definitely would make sense disabling him and other armorer specialists.
And you have nothing to apologize for in regards to the graal. It was surprise to me that it was vanishing from the inventory (something new to learn :) ), but it's not a big deal at all. Wouldn't have time to benefit much from it anyway.
Thanks for watching the playthrough :) And thanks for making the map, I enjoyed it a lot!
Author: wasilix, 02-06-2024 20:50 Like Another question - The Ranger and the Sorceress Hey! I progressed a little bit and noticed that it's not trivial to move heroes from one part to another (maybe I just don't get it), however I see many quests in both areas requiring some sort of movement between them.
My only idea right now is using a tavern to move heroes/artefacts around. It doesn't offer an explanation how to move army though (for example, the quest guard at 105:94 asking for titan).
Is the tavern trick intended for use? Do I miss something obvious? Or it's only meant to be done at a later point in time?
Alex (Switzerland) writes:
02-06-2024 21:33
Use the tavern trick - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Hey wasilix,
You are correct - the tavern trick is exactly how you are expected to move heroes between the areas; congrats on figuring it out!
Moving the armies is not needed to complete the map. Yes, there are 2 quests which expect you do to this, but they are both optional. Hint: this is a special case of the tavern trick.
wasilix writes:
02-06-2024 21:46
- - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Thanks! I assume the special case is a surrender option. A bit hard to set up for an extra unicorn glade :) I don't know if another quest's reward is more valuable, this one isn't worth the trouble :)
Alex (Switzerland) writes:
02-06-2024 22:04
Correct - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Yes, that's correct. The setup is not trivial, but Tactics makes it a bit easier. I agree that it's not really worth the trouble (I skipped this one during testing), but this is just something to keep it mind if an AI hero shows up nearby.
The other quest (asking for an Enchanter) gives a Spell Power boost. You can postpone it until the endgame, when your heroes finally meet on Red's territory.
Author: wasilix, 28-05-2024 21:54 Like Is spellbook bug supposed to be used in initial fights? - The Ranger and the Sorceress Hi there!
The maps looks awesome, thanks for the upload! I played a few fights, and since this is a SoD map I have to ask if spell scrolls are meant to be used without a spell book. If I recall correctly there is a related bug. I'm playing with SoD_SP and unable to cast spell from the scrolls. Curious if their use is intended or not.
PS: so far have no idea how to deal with shooters nor efreeti. They look ridiculous :D I know that you posted a link, but I don't want to spoil it just yet :)
Alex (Switzerland) writes:
28-05-2024 22:05
Defeat Mage to get a Spellbook - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Hi wasilix,
You will get a Spellbook when you defeat the Mage guarding the Magic Well. As far as I know, spell scrolls don't work on the battlefield without a Spellbook (however, they do work on the adventure map, but this isn't relevant for this map).
The Mage will "join" you once you defeat him. I did not expect most puzzles (Medusas, Griffins, etc) to be solved without the Mage.
Alex (Switzerland) writes:
28-05-2024 22:10
Does not rely on the spellbook bug - The Ranger and the Sorceress
To clarify: the scrolls are not supposed to be used without the Spellbook. I didn't even know there was some bug that allows that.
The scrolls are only necessary for 2 battles: Lich and Efreet.
wasilix writes:
28-05-2024 22:13
- - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Thanks!
Author: 32167, 27-05-2024 00:03 Like nice map - The Ranger and the Sorceress This is my favorite type of map! It is very beautiful and quite complicated. There are no inadequately overly powerful AI heroes there, but I get a decent beating from them from time to time...
I have two final fights left to fight. Now I’m thinking about tactics ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Thank you for uploading!
Alex (Switzerland) writes:
27-05-2024 02:34
Hint for Mordred - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Thank you :)
Regarding the penultimate fight against the hero in the town - look up Mordred from the Arthurian legend.
Then again, people here can be very creative, so I wouldn't be surprised too much if someone comes up with an alternative way.
Author: Andor (UK), 26-05-2024 14:07 Mehh - The Ranger and the Sorceress Despite not enjoying this types of maps I sometimes indulge them, sometimes they are worth my time sometimes not as it was this time.
I'm sure you put double if not triple the work in doing such maps compared to traditional one but still.
Basically you are running around blind most of the time despite the occasional tips. You get lost, stuck not do things at the right time.
By month 2 I am told to I can retake the first castle just to find out I can t pass the damn Trees because ofk you are some sort of magician of the invisible objects..
2 weeks into month 2 Tan pays me a visit with much better army than I was able to muster by then and that pretty much sums up the balance of this map. Waste of time.
But I'm sure some try-hards out there will enjoy it.
Alex (Switzerland) writes:
26-05-2024 16:15
Sorry to hear this - The Ranger and the Sorceress
There are no hard time constraints on this map; yes, it's better to develop quickly, but the same applies to almost every map.
As you pointed out, this isn't a traditional map, so sometimes you have to apply unusual strategies. That's what I like about quest maps - sometimes they teach me something that I didn't know before, and later I start using that on other maps as well. Here, the "fake Town Portal" is, perhaps, the most important example - that's something I came up with on my own and wanted to share.
I added hints for what I suspected not to be obvious - e.g., that you might want to recapture and rebuild the first castle (otherwise it would be understandable if the player ignored it, since all buildings are disabled in it in the beginning), or that it would be useful to dig holes on the coast around Torre (so that enemy heroes cannot land). These are not mandatory - I'm sure some expert players can win the map without doing the above - but it does simplify the game.
There's no way around the Dendroids guarding the first castle - you need to defeat them. Despite their numbers, this shouldn't be an issue though - as soon as you get Expert Earth Magic, fighting them should be an easy task. They do have an important function - preventing the first Red hero from following you. Plus, you get a lot of experience (advancing your secondary skills) once you defeat them.
Tan doesn't get any special treatment - his only advantage is having 1 week ahead of you (or 2 if you choose to solve all the puzzles in the beginning). It is expected that his army can be somewhat better than yours; however, you can even get Resurrection by the time he arrives (there's a hint about it in Torre as well).
There's no requirement that you hold the second town (Dom) all the time (in fact, it's going to be problematic once you go to the swamp area), so I put a Sanctuary next to the town.
All of that being said, I agree that some quest maps are not for everybody. I love "The Lone Knight", but got too frustrated with "Wayfarer". I tried avoiding the things that annoy me on other maps (e.g., micromanaging your every move, forcing you to replay battles until you get high Morale, etc.), but I guess this is subjective anyway.
Andor (UK) writes:
26-05-2024 19:22
Reply - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Like I said, try-hards :D.
2 weeks advantage is a big disadvantage, couple that with having 2 castles to level up at the same time without knowing when you'll be attacked and by what makes it a huge disadvantage..not to mention wasting a couple of days to find out you can't pass the trees. But sure, after trying your luck a couple of times or watching some guy's YT tutorial you might be able to play this map properly. I for one like to enjoy my maps while I relax and I am sure it's balanced to some degree.
But that's just what I like.
Author: Alex (Switzerland), 22-05-2024 23:12 Walkthrough - Week 1 - The Ranger and the Sorceress Just in case anyone gets stuck in the beginning, here's a walkthrough for the first week: https://youtu.be/D9LS5TKsRqU
Try to solve the puzzles yourself, though :)
32167 writes:
22-05-2024 23:20
? - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Is it possible to play the map in HOTA?
Alex (Switzerland) writes:
22-05-2024 23:28
Not tested for HOTA - The Ranger and the Sorceress
I don't know - I haven't tested it for HOTA.
Some game parameters (creature stats, secondary skills, spells) are different in HOTA, which might lead to some puzzles becoming unsolvable.
Most puzzles in the beginning are optional, but it would be frustrating to get stuck later in the game if some quest becomes impossible in HOTA.
32167 writes:
23-05-2024 01:31
-- - The Ranger and the Sorceress
I was able to go through the first too weeks without any tips. Dom, Pochatok and Torre have been conquered.
The beginning of the game is very nice, I'll definitely continue playing on the weekends :)
Author: 32167, 22-05-2024 23:03 Like :) - The Ranger and the Sorceress Is the underground level of your map a stereogram? Wow!!!
Alex (Switzerland) writes:
22-05-2024 23:10
Interesting guess, but no - The Ranger and the Sorceress
Not exactly - it's a cutscene :) You'll see it once you reach the Hut of the Magi.
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