Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
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Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
I recently finished a meme run: Heir to the Throne, on hard, with only shydes. Who needs loyal soldiers when you have an entourage of shydes?
Here is a synopsis/walkthrough of the campaign, with some comments that may be useful for regular playthroughs as well.
Campaign: Heir to the Throne, game version 1.15.14. I've actually played it many times since Wesnoth 1.6, but it's also definitely not my favourite campaign. In terms of writing and gameplay, there are better campaigns out there. HttT is just easier than most, and has plenty of meme run potential (someone did a scout-only run I think?)
Difficulty: The hardest, Lord (Challenging).
Ground rules:
Saveloading: Only from the start of each scenario.
Recruits: Only elvish shamans.
Recalls: Only elvish shamans, druids, and shydes. Nothing else.
Advancements: Shamans -> Druids -> Shydes. That's all we'll ever need.
Other units: I'll take whoever the game automatically gives me in a scenario, but we don't recall any of them. This essentially means the main cast are very important to level (Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar), while everyone else is completely expendable (including all other loyal units.)
Why shydes?
The reason this run is possible at all is because shydes are awesome.
- They have sustainability with +8 heal and cure.
- They have 6 MP (7 with quick) and the flight movement type, so have excellent movement and decent defense on almost any terrain. This includes water (The Ford of Abez) and caves (all the underground scenarios).
- Their unit line has a ranged slow, which makes it safer to approach enemies.
- They have impact damage to bash undead and pierce damage to poke mounted units (Test of the Clan).
That said, their main shortcoming is that they are squishy. 46 HP at level 3 and flat resistances (-10% arcane isn't really relevant) mean that they rely on their slow and on travelling in pairs to stay alive. Their melee attack is also unimpressive, so we'll be relying on Konrad and Kalenz for melee damage where needed (Li'sar too, but she'll be holding the Sceptre of Fire and be a general destruction machine).
Campaign strategy
On paper, the hardest scenarios on paper are: S6 (The Siege of Elensefar), S17 (The Sceptre of Fire), and S23 (Test of the Clan).
Elensefar has always been a challenge, the early campaign check to see if the player has enough veteran units and/or skill to pass it. Since we can only get shydes, we want to have a good number of them by this point to tip the odds in our favour.
The Sceptre of Fire is a randomly-generated map which can vary in difficulty. Our shydes don't move too well underground despite their flight, and can be flattened by troll warriors in one turn.
Test of the Clan is a brutal open field fight against highly destructive charging horsemen. Fragile shydes with poor melee retaliation don't do well; we need to engage well and accept some losses here.
So for the branching paths, the choices will be Muff Malal's Peninsula to level more shydes before Elensefar, and Swamp of Dread for the void armour and good xp. (Cliffs of Thoria was a bit too unbalanced on the easy side the last time I played it after the nerf, and besides, we're not going to recruit/recall merfolk.)
Li'sar will get the Sceptre of Fire, because that gives her a ranged attack while Konrad is just fine with a bow. Also everything will be trying to kill Konrad, so Li'sar will have free rein to roam around roasting things with fireballs.
Given that we only have one unit type, traits become a big factor in deciding who gets xp. Dextrous and resilient are the best traits here for more damage and tankiness, although we do still want a few quick shydes. Intelligent is not great here - with all our xp already going into making shydes, we won't have a shortage of levelled units. Ultimately though, it still comes down to whichever shaman is lucky enough to land killing blows.
There will be a lot of AMLAs, since most of our effective damage will come from the main cast + shydes. With some allocation and luck, we can get a number of AMLA'd shydes with good traits, as well as our main cast with maybe 2 or 3 AMLAs each (helpful against e.g. trolls, and especially for Test of the Clan). Kalenz in particular wants AMLAs, as he has less HP than the others and will appreciate the extra survivability.
A zip file containing replays of all the scenarios is included with this post.
Well then, let's get into it!
Here is a synopsis/walkthrough of the campaign, with some comments that may be useful for regular playthroughs as well.
Campaign: Heir to the Throne, game version 1.15.14. I've actually played it many times since Wesnoth 1.6, but it's also definitely not my favourite campaign. In terms of writing and gameplay, there are better campaigns out there. HttT is just easier than most, and has plenty of meme run potential (someone did a scout-only run I think?)
Difficulty: The hardest, Lord (Challenging).
Ground rules:
Saveloading: Only from the start of each scenario.
Recruits: Only elvish shamans.
Recalls: Only elvish shamans, druids, and shydes. Nothing else.
Advancements: Shamans -> Druids -> Shydes. That's all we'll ever need.
Other units: I'll take whoever the game automatically gives me in a scenario, but we don't recall any of them. This essentially means the main cast are very important to level (Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar), while everyone else is completely expendable (including all other loyal units.)
Why shydes?
The reason this run is possible at all is because shydes are awesome.
- They have sustainability with +8 heal and cure.
- They have 6 MP (7 with quick) and the flight movement type, so have excellent movement and decent defense on almost any terrain. This includes water (The Ford of Abez) and caves (all the underground scenarios).
- Their unit line has a ranged slow, which makes it safer to approach enemies.
- They have impact damage to bash undead and pierce damage to poke mounted units (Test of the Clan).
That said, their main shortcoming is that they are squishy. 46 HP at level 3 and flat resistances (-10% arcane isn't really relevant) mean that they rely on their slow and on travelling in pairs to stay alive. Their melee attack is also unimpressive, so we'll be relying on Konrad and Kalenz for melee damage where needed (Li'sar too, but she'll be holding the Sceptre of Fire and be a general destruction machine).
Campaign strategy
On paper, the hardest scenarios on paper are: S6 (The Siege of Elensefar), S17 (The Sceptre of Fire), and S23 (Test of the Clan).
Elensefar has always been a challenge, the early campaign check to see if the player has enough veteran units and/or skill to pass it. Since we can only get shydes, we want to have a good number of them by this point to tip the odds in our favour.
The Sceptre of Fire is a randomly-generated map which can vary in difficulty. Our shydes don't move too well underground despite their flight, and can be flattened by troll warriors in one turn.
Test of the Clan is a brutal open field fight against highly destructive charging horsemen. Fragile shydes with poor melee retaliation don't do well; we need to engage well and accept some losses here.
So for the branching paths, the choices will be Muff Malal's Peninsula to level more shydes before Elensefar, and Swamp of Dread for the void armour and good xp. (Cliffs of Thoria was a bit too unbalanced on the easy side the last time I played it after the nerf, and besides, we're not going to recruit/recall merfolk.)
Li'sar will get the Sceptre of Fire, because that gives her a ranged attack while Konrad is just fine with a bow. Also everything will be trying to kill Konrad, so Li'sar will have free rein to roam around roasting things with fireballs.
Given that we only have one unit type, traits become a big factor in deciding who gets xp. Dextrous and resilient are the best traits here for more damage and tankiness, although we do still want a few quick shydes. Intelligent is not great here - with all our xp already going into making shydes, we won't have a shortage of levelled units. Ultimately though, it still comes down to whichever shaman is lucky enough to land killing blows.
There will be a lot of AMLAs, since most of our effective damage will come from the main cast + shydes. With some allocation and luck, we can get a number of AMLA'd shydes with good traits, as well as our main cast with maybe 2 or 3 AMLAs each (helpful against e.g. trolls, and especially for Test of the Clan). Kalenz in particular wants AMLAs, as he has less HP than the others and will appreciate the extra survivability.
A zip file containing replays of all the scenarios is included with this post.
Well then, let's get into it!
- Attachments
-
- 1.15-HttT-hard-shydes-only.zip
- 1.15.14, Heir to the Throne, hardest difficulty, shydes only
- (1.18 MiB) Downloaded 144 times
Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
Images aren't working for me , so here are the images used for this post: https://imgur.com/a/0Zg7nqT
Scenario 1 - The Elves Besieged
- Attachments
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- HttT-The Elves Besieged replay 20210703-020644.gz
- (28.36 KiB) Downloaded 127 times
Last edited by Inky on July 10th, 2021, 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: fixed the image links
Reason: fixed the image links
Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
Whoa, that's so awesome, I gotta check it out! And I love how you have a detailed walkthrough of the first scenario with screenshots. If you make posts for the other scenarios as well I'd love to read them!
I fixed the image links in your post, you were using the direct link url instead of the url for embedding the image: the direct link looks like
I fixed the image links in your post, you were using the direct link url instead of the url for embedding the image: the direct link looks like
https://imgur.com/kC21yG5
and the corresponding link for embedding looks like https://i.imgur.com/kC21yG5.jpg
. I think there's an option called "embed post" when you view an image on imgur that copies that link.Screenshot playthroughs: Let's Play Dead Water, Let's Play Invasion from the Unknown and Let's Play After the Storm
Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
Thanks Inky, I'll keep that in mind! Part of the inspiration for this format was of course your three playthroughs in your signature, which actually made me go beat Dead Water back in the day, and in fact I'm rereading your AtS walkthrough right this moment
I'll do the other scenarios too since there are in fact a few things to say strategy-wise, but slowly (this is slow work, even with the replays at hand).
I'll do the other scenarios too since there are in fact a few things to say strategy-wise, but slowly (this is slow work, even with the replays at hand).
Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
The second scenario is just about as exciting as the first - that is to say, not very. We also get the first character in the campaign trying to sell us something we don't need - a non-shaman unit.
Scenario 2 - Blackwater Port
- Attachments
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- HttT-Blackwater Port replay 20210703-161305.gz
- (23.86 KiB) Downloaded 120 times
Last edited by Remellion on July 12th, 2021, 11:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
- beetlenaut
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Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
I used the same rules once except for allowing sylphs. I thought shydes only was impossible because you would need sylphs for the damage on a few scenarios--particularly the last one. However, I failed to consider that one sylph costs as much as 2.8 shydes, so you can end up with a much larger air force than I did and deal enough damage through sheer numbers. Good job!
Campaigns: Dead Water,
The Founding of Borstep,
Secrets of the Ancients,
and WML Guide
The Founding of Borstep,
Secrets of the Ancients,
and WML Guide
Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
In scenario 3 we finally get a standard Wesnoth battle - 1v1 against some very ordinary orcs. Two scenarios late, but we have us some gameplay!
Although this is a meme run, I still tried to include little bits of advice and information for less experienced players on normal runs. Hopefully it makes up for the lack of entertainment value until we get a squadron of shydes up.
Although this is a meme run, I still tried to include little bits of advice and information for less experienced players on normal runs. Hopefully it makes up for the lack of entertainment value until we get a squadron of shydes up.
Scenario 3 - The Isle of Alduin
- Attachments
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- HttT-The Isle of Alduin replay 20210703-203321.gz
- (23.83 KiB) Downloaded 140 times
- Paulomat4
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Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
Great read Remellion, really enjoyed it. Please keep it up.
Creator of Dawn of Thunder and Global Unitmarkers
"I thought Naga's used semi-automatic crossbows with incendiary thermite arrows . . . my beliefs that this race is awesome are now shattered." - Evil Earl
"I thought Naga's used semi-automatic crossbows with incendiary thermite arrows . . . my beliefs that this race is awesome are now shattered." - Evil Earl
- lhybrideur
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Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
Very nice to read. I cannot wait for the other scenarios.
Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
Great work, I love reading these! Poor Haldiel and Elrian, we barely knew them...
You mentioned in the first post that someone did a scouts only run, I think that might have been me However I did allow recalling of the loyal units (I didn't think the poor little scouts would have made it on their own) so it's not as interesting as your challenge run.
I recently saw someone on the wesnoth discord post about finishing HttT with only merfolk recruits/recalls, on the easy difficulty. That got me wondering though, could it be possible on normal or even hard? Well, only one way to find out!
You mentioned in the first post that someone did a scouts only run, I think that might have been me However I did allow recalling of the loyal units (I didn't think the poor little scouts would have made it on their own) so it's not as interesting as your challenge run.
I recently saw someone on the wesnoth discord post about finishing HttT with only merfolk recruits/recalls, on the easy difficulty. That got me wondering though, could it be possible on normal or even hard? Well, only one way to find out!
Screenshot playthroughs: Let's Play Dead Water, Let's Play Invasion from the Unknown and Let's Play After the Storm
- beetlenaut
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Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
I've done scouts only too. I've also done horsemen, mages, and shamans. I did a no-recalls run as well. (It sounds like a lot, but they were years apart.) I usually allowed recalling loyals. Horsemen is the hardest because of the underground levels.
I'm going to say right now that merfolk only on hard would not be possible. There are a number of scenarios with a lot of heavy hitters, and no strategy or tactics can keep you off of terrible terrain. You would have 30% or worse all the time.
Campaigns: Dead Water,
The Founding of Borstep,
Secrets of the Ancients,
and WML Guide
The Founding of Borstep,
Secrets of the Ancients,
and WML Guide
Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
Thanks for all the comments! Glad to see that even this very well-trodden campaign playthrough can still provide a little entertainment.
And now for the Bay of Pearls, filled with delicious pearls fish orcs xp.
For some reason I'm always afraid of the sea battle in this scenario, but I can consistently win it barring very bad RNG. Probably a hangover from when I was new to Wesnoth and attacked with the mermen at night.
And now for the Bay of Pearls, filled with delicious pearls fish orcs xp.
For some reason I'm always afraid of the sea battle in this scenario, but I can consistently win it barring very bad RNG. Probably a hangover from when I was new to Wesnoth and attacked with the mermen at night.
Scenario 4 - The Bay of Pearls
Diverging campaign path
- Attachments
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- HttT-The Bay of Pearls replay 20210703-221838.gz
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- Paulomat4
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Re: Heir to the Throne (hard) - Shydes only playthrough
Funny that Shydes go on different speeds, depending on how deep the water they are flying over is.
Creator of Dawn of Thunder and Global Unitmarkers
"I thought Naga's used semi-automatic crossbows with incendiary thermite arrows . . . my beliefs that this race is awesome are now shattered." - Evil Earl
"I thought Naga's used semi-automatic crossbows with incendiary thermite arrows . . . my beliefs that this race is awesome are now shattered." - Evil Earl