HoMM IV - A Wind of Thorns

[Jymbob]

You all seem to love this campaign.
I have tried it over and over many times by now but just cant seem to get through the fourth map even on the easiest diffeculty.
Could I get some hints on what to pick in map 2-3? (skills, artifacts maybe)
On map 4 I stand with all the extra Nagas, golems and halflings for the wizard and all the cyclops, nomads, centaurs and berserkers for the barbarian, yet it dosent seem to be enough against waves of rangers with dosen of fairy dragons, phoenixes and whatnot.

[wimfrits]

Some hints:
- life magic is key if you focus on hero preservation
- upon enlisting the 2 secondary heroes in map 4, choosing the same magic for them as your primary heroes have, yields some magic parchments your primary heroes may have use for. E.g. life magic gives you a parchment of regeneration
- combat and magic resistance help Chataya
- save and load at (skill) level up points to make sure you get the skill you need
- capturing an enemy town reinforces the remaining enemy towns

If all else fails:
- you can combine the main heroes by using either the 'fleeing trick' or the 'town portal trick'. By blocking all 4 entrances to nearest town A, the hero flees/tp's to town B instead of A. The 2 heroes together should be able to withstand anything the AI comes with.

If that fails:
- there is a 'divine intervention' script in place; if you manage to capture 1 town of the enemy but do not progress after that

[Jymbob]

- life magic is key if you focus on hero preservation

I am able to combine the two sisters in map 4, one have light and water magic the other combat and tactics. A strong combo I think.

- upon enlisting the 2 secondary heroes in map 4, choosing the same magic for them as your primary heroes have, yields some magic parchments your primary heroes may have use for. E.g. life magic gives you a parchment of regeneration

Ok, didnt knew that, didnt use any of them in combats.

- combat and magic resistance help Chataya

When fighting such huge battles I find the combat skill to be less usefull, combined to casting beserk, forgetfullness or regeneration or having tactics.

[wimfrits]

When fighting such huge battles I find the combat skill to be less usefull, combined to casting beserk, forgetfullness or regeneration or having tactics.

A few levels in combat improve survivability of Chataya so that she can cast a bit more. Some magic resistance enables her to berserk fairy dragons without being berserked herself
Also, make sure that heroes have both magic and non-magic skills. So that they can put every skill boost structure to good use.

As for the secondary heroes, I mean Neylin and Jhogo, the 2 'free' heroes that you can recruit along the way. Especially Jhogo is useful in combat as he starts with the combat skill

[Jymbob]

Thx for the hints, I made a "last" attemp at map 4:
On week 5 Chataya was visited first by a lvl 24 summoner with a band of phoenixes, scores of elfs and fire elements, dozens of sprites, wolfs and griffins.
Chataya had: 45 genies, 375 halflings, 100 golems, 116 imps, 11 vampires and 7 bonedragons. Shes a master in water and light magic with a bit of combat thrown in.
I'm honestly not a bad player but my crew and forgetfullness, blind, regeneration just barely got me a victory over his army and the ability to summon 16 griffins or 5 fairy dragons each turn.
Next day a lvl 16 general with a decent army of light folks decided to take on and easily killed poor Chataya and her surviving genies

[wimfrits]

Sorry to hear it's not working out for you.
Based on what you're saying, I don't think you should settle for that kind of army loss. It's better to avoid a too strong army and maybe play a defensive battle or get Meltemi and Jhogo in.

[Jymbob]

Yay, I made it now. I think maybe my mistake was to clean things and go north too soon. To speed things up I only used genies and harpies with the sisters. But once I got up and got noticed by my enemies they started to come down to me.
So I reloaded and took it much slower and waited going north until the sisters were joined, then it went much smoother.
Now its on to map 5, good story so far (made a save just before the choice I had to take, so I can load back and play the dark side too)

[wimfrits]

Congratulations!!

[Steven Aus]

Where is the dwarf's mug (I'm guessing it is the Mug of Maranthea) guarded by the dragons? That's the only part of map 3 underground that I haven't completed.

[wimfrits]

I think the dwarves mentioned losing it somewhere pink. But you can only find it after they told you they lost it.

[Steven Aus]

I wouldn't like to see this campaign on Champion. I am on the lowest difficulty and still the armies are huge.

Is there a reason you gave (at least two of) the druids Mind Shield? When they've got a whole lot of Fairy Dragons you really need a way to shut them down.

Is it possible to win with choosing Harpies, Cyclops, Mages and Genies? I know that Cat Reflexes scroll helps a lot, especially with Harpies and Cyclops that don't get retaliation.

Have you won without combining the armies?

[wimfrits]

Some tips:
Take your time controlling your direct environment. Once you take the fight to the enemy, be ready for retaliation
Don’t be afraid to use up the reinforcements from the previous area. In the mean time, build up your towns without buying creatures. Buy your new armies when the reinforcements are no longer sufficient
If you cannot defeat a enemy on open ground, retreat to your castle. Cyclops or Venom Spawn on a tower are awesome. Heroes as well
If an enemy hero has mind shield, take out the hero asap. Yes, you will probably suffer losses doing so
You might want to consider leaving Cyclops in the castle and let M travel with harpies only for cyclops preservation and higher map movement speed. C’s movement will be better w/o Magi
(If applicable) choosing a magic specialisation for the secondary heroes gives you spell parchments that can be read by the primary heroes
Combat and magic resistance will help a lot
Cat reflexes indeed is great for increasing army attack. Alternatively, regeneration will greatly increase M’s survivability
C generally has more time before being invaded. Getting N to govern the castle and flagging the BD dwellings early allow for rapid army growth

[Steven Aus]

Is Naga better than Genies and/or Golems better than Magi in map 3?

[wimfrits]

Is Naga better than Genies and/or Golems better than Magi in map 3?

I don't think so. Whatever suits your style. Magi can poison enemy heroes w/o magic resistance. Genies' cloning is tactically awesome. Just remember that the reinforcements main purpose is to sustain you while you build up a new army, so don't be afraid to spend them.
Also, note that in this map your heroes themselves will become your main army

[Steven Aus]

It seems that most if not all long campaigns involve being deceived, and then having to go against all the work you did initially. Like this one. ;-) I must admit, it is a little annoying. =)

[wimfrits]

Sorry..

That means you made it through. That's good to hear!

[Steven Aus]

I ended up choosing Golems and Nagas from Our village. Plus I took the Barbarian sister over to get the spells from Our village, including Endurance, which made a big difference in the Druid map.

I had Town Gate and Teleport from "Our village" city (I had levelled the Order mage sister to Master Order and Life Magic) - as well as the Cat Reflexes spell from a scroll in the Druid map. Nagas are deadly if you can keep them alive, and retaliating against three units when one of the enemy attacks - ouch. =) Plus when on the attack two attacks really hurts the enemy.

[wimfrits]

Plus I took the Barbarian sister over to get the spells from Our village, including Endurance, which made a big difference in the Druid map.

That's not at all supposed to happen as you very well know. Good that you managed it anyway

Since you seem a completionist.. did you solve the secret wand quest in the druid map?

[Steven Aus]

No I didn't. Does it happen when collecting all the Animate Dead wands from the special patches of ground? I don't think I quite got all of them.

[wimfrits]

It wouldn't be secret if I told you. But let's say that trees can be quite magical