I am playing at Normal difficulty, and I see no good way to defeat all the Soulscars. The first time, I tried to go across the river and defeat the northeastern town pretty early, but then they kept taking the second city I took.
If I stay with Shadya and Raelag in the two first captured cities to build up strong forces, the Soulscar heroes come from time to time, with forces alot stronger than mine (the few with lesser forces I just take out and get back to the city as soon as possible).
Can anyone give me a tip of a working strategy? I can recruit somewhat strong heroes and send them away, but they'll only meet the enemy heroes with huge forces and be defeated, and I will not have enough forces left to protect the two first cities with Shadya and Raelag.
Help me!
Need help with The Cultists!
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DaemianLucifer
- Round Table Hero
- Posts: 11282
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
- Location: City 17
I dont know if theres any universal strategy,but I can tell you what I did:
I split my initial forces between raelag and shadya and captured both towns on the second day.I built a capitol and captured the mines.With a new weekly population I split between these two I had shadya defend the cities,while raleag went on a conquest.I captured first the southeastern town,then the two above,then the middle one,and then the northern one.All this time shadya defended the first two cities.It was hard,but two cities weekly population was enough for this.
Also,check this thread.You might find something usefull.
I split my initial forces between raelag and shadya and captured both towns on the second day.I built a capitol and captured the mines.With a new weekly population I split between these two I had shadya defend the cities,while raleag went on a conquest.I captured first the southeastern town,then the two above,then the middle one,and then the northern one.All this time shadya defended the first two cities.It was hard,but two cities weekly population was enough for this.
Also,check this thread.You might find something usefull.
I'm stuck or at least bogged down in this scenario on normal difficulty as well. It's toward the end of the second month and I've captured four cities underground (are there more?), but I haven't been able to get any further because every time I move a force more than a turn away from my town more enemy heroes appear and I don't know where I'm trying to go. With the constant attacks, I never seem to really gain troops...well, I guess some troops increase but all my dragons, blood furies and raiders seem to die every week.
I've been up to the surface twice to find dead ends--one on an island, the other a road leading off the map. Do I have to go through the blue garrison? I'm afraid if I divert enough troops to take it that I'll lose a couple towns.
I've been up to the surface twice to find dead ends--one on an island, the other a road leading off the map. Do I have to go through the blue garrison? I'm afraid if I divert enough troops to take it that I'll lose a couple towns.
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DaemianLucifer
- Round Table Hero
- Posts: 11282
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
- Location: City 17
This one is tricky.You need excelent combat skills for starters.First of all,make sure you loose as little blood furies as posible.Slow/haste work perfectly for this.And almost never charge with grim raiders.They are much better as bystanders,packing a bite every now and then.Use hydras masively.Teleport assault is excelent with them.If you dont have it,then play defensively.Use empowered spells to take out enemy archers and casters before they get a go.
And yes,you have to go through the garnison.There are total of 7 towns on the map.The first two on that island,one to the very south west of there,one north from that one,one behind the garnison,one in the middle of the map,and one in the far north,accessed through the east.I think you took the middle two towns.That would be a problem to keep.Give up on one of those and take either the northern one,or the southern one.That way youll have a very small frontier where you can fend off enemy heroes easily and advance steadilly,while getting regular supplies from other towns.Buy as many enemy heroes as you can.Aside from getting logistics support,that way you prevent attacks from strong dungeon heroes,which are the worst.
Hope this helpes.
And yes,you have to go through the garnison.There are total of 7 towns on the map.The first two on that island,one to the very south west of there,one north from that one,one behind the garnison,one in the middle of the map,and one in the far north,accessed through the east.I think you took the middle two towns.That would be a problem to keep.Give up on one of those and take either the northern one,or the southern one.That way youll have a very small frontier where you can fend off enemy heroes easily and advance steadilly,while getting regular supplies from other towns.Buy as many enemy heroes as you can.Aside from getting logistics support,that way you prevent attacks from strong dungeon heroes,which are the worst.
Hope this helpes.
Re: Need help with The Cultists!
(1) Expert Destructive + Sorcery + Empowered Meteor Shower.Simira wrote: Can anyone give me a tip of a working strategy?
(2) Don't stay, rush them.
I took the first 2 towns quite easily. Then gathered some troops for Kaelag and started exploring. But I stayed close to town in the beginning. If a strong opponent came near then I withdrew him into a city and used massive meteor showers. After a while he was strong enough and I bought a 3rd hero to defend the town that Kaleag left. After that I captured the town counter clock wise starting with the one up north. That city never got attacked so was a nice source of income. Also make sure you got enough troops on Kaelag after a battle cause the demons come after him when he captures a city.
Nil volentibus arduum!
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DaemianLucifer
- Round Table Hero
- Posts: 11282
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
- Location: City 17
You have two heroes in the begining so one can defend(I used shadya for this),and one can attack(I used raelag).Also,the demons appear when you capture the second town,then when you capture the fourth,then the sixed town.But they go straight for that town,so you just have to sit and wait for them to come and dieNAG wrote:I took the first 2 towns quite easily. Then gathered some troops for Kaelag and started exploring. But I stayed close to town in the beginning. If a strong opponent came near then I withdrew him into a city and used massive meteor showers. After a while he was strong enough and I bought a 3rd hero to defend the town that Kaleag left. After that I captured the town counter clock wise starting with the one up north. That city never got attacked so was a nice source of income. Also make sure you got enough troops on Kaelag after a battle cause the demons come after him when he captures a city.
*nods* exactly. But you need to have some spare forces. The towns you capture can give you some if you plan your attack at a good time. If that ain't possible then have another hero drop in some forces. But the meteor shower takes them out pretty fast. Focus on the mana stealers with your ranged and use Raelag to take out the succubus.DaemianLucifer wrote:You have two heroes in the begining so one can defend(I used shadya for this),and one can attack(I used raelag).Also,the demons appear when you capture the second town,then when you capture the fourth,then the sixed town.But they go straight for that town,so you just have to sit and wait for them to come and dieNAG wrote:I took the first 2 towns quite easily. Then gathered some troops for Kaelag and started exploring. But I stayed close to town in the beginning. If a strong opponent came near then I withdrew him into a city and used massive meteor showers. After a while he was strong enough and I bought a 3rd hero to defend the town that Kaleag left. After that I captured the town counter clock wise starting with the one up north. That city never got attacked so was a nice source of income. Also make sure you got enough troops on Kaelag after a battle cause the demons come after him when he captures a city.
Nil volentibus arduum!
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Lady Farquad
- Scout
- Posts: 179
- Joined: 28 Jun 2006
- Location: Hispanic heaven
I finally got through it last night. No, I haven't been struggling with it all this time; I just haven't had time to play. I was actually only about 3 weeks away from victory, but my confidence had been shaken by heavy losses to the first demon horde and what proved to be the last enemy dungeon hero. After that, it wasn't so bad, although I did lose one of the enemy cities and have to retake it. Is all the fleeing something new to v. 1.1, or something about the map? It was almost like playing HOMM2 again the way the enemy kept disappearing every time I reduced them to one stack.
It was one of the best campaign maps thus far. Usually large maps become tedious toward the end.
It was one of the best campaign maps thus far. Usually large maps become tedious toward the end.
I just started C4M3 on 1.2 heroic. Several differences I've noticed:
1) The blue heroes in the 2 SE towns headed to me immediately. Raelag was attacked at the end of turn 1 and turn 3.
2) Since I defeated these two heroes, I could take both towns during the first week, without any loss.
3) The starting blue heroes from other towns also rush towards me. The white cat woman (Y something) and Lethos also arrived on the 8th and 7th day, respectively. Lethos didn't have any significant army (neither does Raelag). I beat Lethos on Day 7 with 6 deep hydras and 22 minotaurs, with 1 dep hydra and 1 minotaur left!
The inferno hero has arrived with some really powerful army. I would really like to try it out.
1) The blue heroes in the 2 SE towns headed to me immediately. Raelag was attacked at the end of turn 1 and turn 3.
2) Since I defeated these two heroes, I could take both towns during the first week, without any loss.
3) The starting blue heroes from other towns also rush towards me. The white cat woman (Y something) and Lethos also arrived on the 8th and 7th day, respectively. Lethos didn't have any significant army (neither does Raelag). I beat Lethos on Day 7 with 6 deep hydras and 22 minotaurs, with 1 dep hydra and 1 minotaur left!
The inferno hero has arrived with some really powerful army. I would really like to try it out.
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Gandalf_the_Green
- Lurker
- Posts: 2
- Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Like many other earlier posters mentioned, I too find this particular scenario particularly tough the first time round. The second time round, after getting more information on heroes skills, I employed a strategy which will be described in a short while.
With this strategy, I managed to take on Lethos (army includes ~20 deep hydras), the Inferno armies as well as conquering many Soulscar cities with Raelad and an army of ONLY ~11 Shadow Matriachs. My initial army consists of 30 Minotaur Guards (upgraded after taking the first town), 1 Shadow Matriach and 1 Shadow Witch. I had just completed the secondary objective of defeating Inferno armies. My total losses so far with Raelag in this scenario is only 1 Minotaur Guard (this loss happened in one early battle whereby only the Minotaur Guard stack is used, and the rest are not used, because there are just too few of them).
And here is the strategy I followed to achieved this:
(POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT)
Raelag is built with Expert Light Magic and Expert Summoning Magic.
Critical spells to use are Resurrection and Summon Phoenix, with Summon Elementals and Mass Haste being helpful as well.
During battles, the objective is to simply to keep the stack of Shadow Matriaches alive, while the Phoenix is going to be the offensive weapon.
Raelag will first cast Summon Phoenix, and after that mainly, Resurrect, to keep the Shadow Matriaches alive. Summon Elementals will provide fodder units to give additional protection for Shadow Matriaches, while Mass Haste enables every stack to get its turn faster.
Towards the end, all is needed to cast a Resurrection to ensure no loss of Shadow Matriaches before finishing off the final enemy stack.
END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT
Hope this is of some help.
With this strategy, I managed to take on Lethos (army includes ~20 deep hydras), the Inferno armies as well as conquering many Soulscar cities with Raelad and an army of ONLY ~11 Shadow Matriachs. My initial army consists of 30 Minotaur Guards (upgraded after taking the first town), 1 Shadow Matriach and 1 Shadow Witch. I had just completed the secondary objective of defeating Inferno armies. My total losses so far with Raelag in this scenario is only 1 Minotaur Guard (this loss happened in one early battle whereby only the Minotaur Guard stack is used, and the rest are not used, because there are just too few of them).
And here is the strategy I followed to achieved this:
(POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT)
Raelag is built with Expert Light Magic and Expert Summoning Magic.
Critical spells to use are Resurrection and Summon Phoenix, with Summon Elementals and Mass Haste being helpful as well.
During battles, the objective is to simply to keep the stack of Shadow Matriaches alive, while the Phoenix is going to be the offensive weapon.
Raelag will first cast Summon Phoenix, and after that mainly, Resurrect, to keep the Shadow Matriaches alive. Summon Elementals will provide fodder units to give additional protection for Shadow Matriaches, while Mass Haste enables every stack to get its turn faster.
Towards the end, all is needed to cast a Resurrection to ensure no loss of Shadow Matriaches before finishing off the final enemy stack.
END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT
Hope this is of some help.
Just finished this mission on heroic 1.2... a few observations hopefully to be useful for you:
1) There seems to be one major hero for every AI town. (a total of 7) Different from previous patches, they will ALL come to you starting from Day 1. You can expect them to arrive all within the first 3 weeks. (Day 1 and 3 for the SE town heroes)
2) Most of these 7 heroes (all lv 22) can cast resurrection and implosion, but after defeating and recruiting them from tavern, they can't cast these lv 5 spells. Seems to be an inherent bonus for heroic AI. Implosion can be a killer, so don't face them with just only a few units, thinking your spells / phoenix will kill their troops in time.
3) These 7 major heroes has a priority of weak heroes, then a weak town. Therefore, you can easily distract them by having a weak hero nearby to lure them away from your poorly defended town. Or, you can use a secondary hero to lure them away from a weakened Raelag or Shadya taking shelter in a town. This also works against you. If you dispatch a very weak Shadya or Raelag, they will come directly at you and you might need to run back because there is no way you can kill all their troops before they kill all yours.
4) These 7 major heroes are rather timid. They don't assault your castle (with Raelag / Shadya hiding) while they actually have a slightly bigger army. However, they will assault when their power is overwhelming. Even so, you still win the fight because you have really great spells.
5) Since patch 1.2 I have never seen any AI hero flee. Nobody flees here, either.
6) The Red Inferno heroes have no interest occupying your 2 SE towns. They will pass the portal, and try to occupy another town of yours if you have one. Therefore, you DO NOT need any defense in your homebase after the portals are "secured". (taking out the 7 major heroes and nearby towns)
***
Personal Opinion:
Patch 1.2 has made this mission harder on heroic. The blue heroes are very aggressive now, and they are more likely to bring whatever they can afford to throw at you. Sometimes they gather huge stacks of neutrals on the way, making things even harder.
But it is still possible. I won this mission without resurrection (plain Desutrctive), but by playing a little bit more conservatively than before. The blue AIs are nothing after they lose their 7 major heroes.
But in general, one still has to be very quick. I owned 4 towns in the middle of week 5, and that's after I lost 2 to blue and red earlier. So you know how fast things can happen. It wasn't easy at all.
1) There seems to be one major hero for every AI town. (a total of 7) Different from previous patches, they will ALL come to you starting from Day 1. You can expect them to arrive all within the first 3 weeks. (Day 1 and 3 for the SE town heroes)
2) Most of these 7 heroes (all lv 22) can cast resurrection and implosion, but after defeating and recruiting them from tavern, they can't cast these lv 5 spells. Seems to be an inherent bonus for heroic AI. Implosion can be a killer, so don't face them with just only a few units, thinking your spells / phoenix will kill their troops in time.
3) These 7 major heroes has a priority of weak heroes, then a weak town. Therefore, you can easily distract them by having a weak hero nearby to lure them away from your poorly defended town. Or, you can use a secondary hero to lure them away from a weakened Raelag or Shadya taking shelter in a town. This also works against you. If you dispatch a very weak Shadya or Raelag, they will come directly at you and you might need to run back because there is no way you can kill all their troops before they kill all yours.
4) These 7 major heroes are rather timid. They don't assault your castle (with Raelag / Shadya hiding) while they actually have a slightly bigger army. However, they will assault when their power is overwhelming. Even so, you still win the fight because you have really great spells.
5) Since patch 1.2 I have never seen any AI hero flee. Nobody flees here, either.
6) The Red Inferno heroes have no interest occupying your 2 SE towns. They will pass the portal, and try to occupy another town of yours if you have one. Therefore, you DO NOT need any defense in your homebase after the portals are "secured". (taking out the 7 major heroes and nearby towns)
***
Personal Opinion:
Patch 1.2 has made this mission harder on heroic. The blue heroes are very aggressive now, and they are more likely to bring whatever they can afford to throw at you. Sometimes they gather huge stacks of neutrals on the way, making things even harder.
But it is still possible. I won this mission without resurrection (plain Desutrctive), but by playing a little bit more conservatively than before. The blue AIs are nothing after they lose their 7 major heroes.
But in general, one still has to be very quick. I owned 4 towns in the middle of week 5, and that's after I lost 2 to blue and red earlier. So you know how fast things can happen. It wasn't easy at all.
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theGryphon
- Spectre
- Posts: 716
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
Now you know what I mean 
I was playing on heroic 1.2, and Lethos's army was full. Nevertheless, I kicked his ass on my third try with this map. Thanks to a +50% earth magic artifact I got from one the first two blue armies. Btw, AI kept resurrecting with almost zero mana I guess, and it was so annoying. I recruited Lethos in week 3 and a couple others later but they didn't have that spell.
Anyways, after Lethos it was not that hard, except that I had to quickly build dragons and castles in the two towns on the island and rush the AI. I left Lethos at home and conquered with both Shadya and mainly Raelag. I left the left bottom town to last for Shadya and conquered the rest with Raelag. Lethos did a perfect job protecting the island. A huge, I mean huge (lots of devils, throngs, zounds, etc) demon army arrived the day before I got to the town on upper right, but I was fast enough to capture all towns before he invaded the towns on the island. I could've gotten him with Raelag with all my armies recruited, but there was no time for that. I guess I was lucky somehow.
This mission was real tough and thus fun. I liked it.
@Gandalf
How could you get a lvl 5 light spell, resurrection? That must have helped a lot.
Cheers!
I was playing on heroic 1.2, and Lethos's army was full. Nevertheless, I kicked his ass on my third try with this map. Thanks to a +50% earth magic artifact I got from one the first two blue armies. Btw, AI kept resurrecting with almost zero mana I guess, and it was so annoying. I recruited Lethos in week 3 and a couple others later but they didn't have that spell.
Anyways, after Lethos it was not that hard, except that I had to quickly build dragons and castles in the two towns on the island and rush the AI. I left Lethos at home and conquered with both Shadya and mainly Raelag. I left the left bottom town to last for Shadya and conquered the rest with Raelag. Lethos did a perfect job protecting the island. A huge, I mean huge (lots of devils, throngs, zounds, etc) demon army arrived the day before I got to the town on upper right, but I was fast enough to capture all towns before he invaded the towns on the island. I could've gotten him with Raelag with all my armies recruited, but there was no time for that. I guess I was lucky somehow.
This mission was real tough and thus fun. I liked it.
@Gandalf
How could you get a lvl 5 light spell, resurrection? That must have helped a lot.
Cheers!
I believe in science and that science can explain everything.
Because God has made it all work in such a beautiful way...
Because God has made it all work in such a beautiful way...
Yes patch 1.2 has restored the supposed difficulty for quite a few missions, such as Haven M5, Inferno M3, Necro M5, and this Dungeon M3. The AIs are simply functioning better, not idling around all week long.
Last edited by maltz on 06 Aug 2006, 20:09, edited 1 time in total.
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Gaidal Cain
- Round Table Hero
- Posts: 6972
- Joined: 26 Nov 2005
- Location: Solna
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Gandalf_the_Green
- Lurker
- Posts: 2
- Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Concerning the Level 5 Light Magic spell, Resurrection, like Gaidal Cain said, I managed to get from a dragon utopia (in the map before the Cultists, upper left dungeon).
The dragon utopia in the Cultists map was taken before I reached it. However, after several weeks when I went there again, it sort of got'repopulated' and I could take it - I sort spent a few weeks on clearing out the surface islands. With Raelag (now that he has got Resurrection), I got Town Portal. And with Shadya, I got Resurrection.
Hope this is of some help.
The dragon utopia in the Cultists map was taken before I reached it. However, after several weeks when I went there again, it sort of got'repopulated' and I could take it - I sort spent a few weeks on clearing out the surface islands. With Raelag (now that he has got Resurrection), I got Town Portal. And with Shadya, I got Resurrection.
Hope this is of some help.
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