WHAT TO DO if you can't beat a scenario in a campaign:

Share and discuss strategies for playing the game, and get help and tips from other players.

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Elvish_Pillager
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WHAT TO DO if you can't beat a scenario in a campaign:

Post by Elvish_Pillager »

First, if it's from an official campaign (Or The Dark Hordes, which was once official), the Wiki page has many walkthroughs on those scenarios.

Then, if your issue is not with an official campaign, or if the walkthroughs failed to help, do a forum search for the scenario in question. Virtually all scenarios of any difficulty have been discussed in depth.

Finally, if there is no adequate walkthrough or previous discussion, you should post your problem in a new topic, with details and preferably a replay of how you go wrong. However, expect to be told that you need to go back for more advanced units and gold.

And if you post a topic along the lines of "I can't beat this scenario, help!" with no more information, expect to be given a link to previous discussion, and the topic locked.
Last edited by Iris on October 25th, 2013, 8:37 am, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Retiring obsolete sticky.
Tux2B
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Post by Tux2B »

What might help is having a page on the wiki linking to threads speaking about those campaigns.
I may help doing that if you agrea, but I'll need some help, of course (usual lack of time)
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irrevenant
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Post by irrevenant »

I was kind of hoping from the title that this thread might have a little more by way of general advice. You know:
* Look carefully at the scenario objectives - maybe it's not as hard as you're making it
* Consider if you've levelled up enough units/carried enough gold over from previous scenarios.
* Revisit the basics: are you meeting the foe at the opportune time of day? Do you have the terrain advantage?

That sort of thing...
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Levelling up enough units.

Post by jonadab »

Consider if you've levelled up enough units/carried enough gold over from previous scenarios.
This one is very hard to overemphasize. If you are having trouble with a scenario, go systematically through the list of types of units you can recruit, and see what each of them can become if it levels up a couple of times. Would any of those types of units help you beat the current scenario more easily? If so, that's your problem: go back and level up your units before you get to where you need them.

A good example of this is the Siege of Elensefar. Having trouble with that level, you could of course search the fora and read tons of discussion about it, but also you could use reasoning along these lines...

Hmm... Okay, I can recruit Elvish Fighters, let's see, those level up to Elvish Captain or Elvish Hero, so let's look at the descriptions for those... hey, that looks like it would be nice to have one or two of those. Hmm... what about these Elvish Archers... Oh, hey, Rangers have more hit points; maybe those would survive better against these grunts here. Maybe I should have levelled up an archer or three. Hmmm... What about these Shamen? They're basically worthless in combat... what do they level up to? Druid? Oh, hey, look, those have a "cures" ability, what's that? (click) Oh, say, that would sure be nice on this scenario with all these thrice-becursed Orcish Assasins poisoning my units all the time. Wow, maybe I should go back and replay the earlier scenes and get me some level-2 elves for this one (and maybe a couple of Knights, too).

Similar reasoning works at the Fords of Abez, when you find that your units can't move worth squat in the water. Hmmm... you look through the stats of the unit-types your units could level up to, and you discover that if you can get one of your Druids levelled up again to Shyde before you get there, it could then actually move over water quite nicely. So you check into higher-level mages... nope, no joy there, movement-wise. So you might have to not recall the mages for this scenario; bummer. Okay, but what about your other units... the Gryphon Riders move great over water, but they're so wimpy... say, what if a couple of those were levelled up... and so it goes.

By the time I finally finished the Heir to the Throne campaign (medium difficulty), I'd gone back a few scenarios for better units half a dozen times, and I ended up with half a dozen Dwarvish Lords and a couple of Thunderguards, a Great Mage, an Archmage, and a White Mage, two Shydes, a couple of Avengers and a Sharpshooter, a Champion and a Marshall, three Outriders, four Gryphon Masters, two Paladins, two Grand Knights and a Lancer, a couple of Rogues, and two Merman Warriors with Storm Tridents, and all the principle characters were at level 3 or higher. Even then, at times I could have put more levelled units to good use, especially more levelled mages. It also would have been very nice to have more Avengers and more levelled horsemen of one sort or another. The only unit on the above list that I would do differently if I went back is the Sharpshooter; if I had to do over again I'd make it another Avenger instead, because those extra hitpoints are terribly useful.

That list is, of course, specific to Heir to the Throne, because it depends heavily on what kinds of units you can recruit and what sorts of terrain and enemies they're facing, but the idea should be applicable generally: experienced units are worth more than gold. Don't kill the enemy leader yet if by waiting another couple of turns you can mop up three or four extra kills for your units. Have you been trying to finish as soon as possible? Go back, and finish each scenario with the best *units* possible. Better units will earn that gold back for you, by making quicker work of your enemies.
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Post by Minor_Joey »

Do you have to restart the whole campaign to level up units or can u just redo a scenario with the guys u alredy have. if u get wat im saying....
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Ranger M
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Post by Ranger M »

Just keep the begginning of scenario saves, and go back one or two to get the right units when you discover you need them.
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Post by Minor_Joey »

Ahhhhhh.... Now it should be easier for me to beat the campaigns.... I haven't been able to beat Heir to the Throne, even on easy. :P
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Post by appleide »

Minor_Joey wrote:Ahhhhhh.... Now it should be easier for me to beat the campaigns.... I haven't been able to beat Heir to the Throne, even on easy. :P
medium might be a little easier than easy, because there are more units for you to kill, so you can level up more.
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Minor_Joey
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Post by Minor_Joey »

Yea that makes sense.
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Post by shinryuu »

I would personally prefer an option to make the campaigns less focused on high-level units... I can steamroll an AI one on one, but I get slaughtered in the campaigns.
Still, that's just my preference, and changing it would be a bloody nightmare.

Back on topic tho, between those couple of things you basically can't lose. Or rather, you can lose, but if you've done them it's solely your fault, and not how you're playing the game :P
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Post by Tmoiy »

shinryuu wrote:I would personally prefer an option to make the campaigns less focused on high-level units... I can steamroll an AI one on one, but I get slaughtered in the campaigns.
But the point of campaigns are to build up a story with continuity of characters and training veterans. They wouldn't be much fun if you could roll through one without leveling any troops.
Kersus
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Re: Levelling up enough units.

Post by Kersus »

Consider if you've levelled up enough units/carried enough gold over from previous scenarios.
This seems to be the key to the campaigns. Its far less about strategy/tactics, or anything other than having the right higher units and enough gold to bring them in. If you don't have enough gold or high units, no amount of superior tactics will help.
But the point of campaigns are to build up a story with continuity of characters and training veterans. They wouldn't be much fun if you could roll through one without leveling any troops.
Of course not, but knowing what units you need in the next few steps is essential, which of course the main character would not know these things, but... its a game. Certainly no good story can flourish without the death of veterans, but in the game it may mean hitting a roadblock you cannot pass.

K
nukchebi0
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Post by nukchebi0 »

I tend to reload if I start losing high-quality units. Stupid Scepter of Fire level. My two Grand Knight lag behind and get ambush near a village. They died like 10 time before the damage worked in my favor.
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Post by Zhukov »

nukchebi0 wrote:I tend to reload if I start losing high-quality units. Stupid Scepter of Fire level. My two Grand Knight lag behind and get ambush near a village. They died like 10 time before the damage worked in my favor.
Holy crap! Just why the hell are you using Grand Knights in an underground scenario?
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Post by Clonkinator »

Yeah, using mounted troops in a underground scenario is usually always stupid. Exception: If you fight against undead, a paladin might be useful even in a underground scenario.
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