Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Feedback for the mainline campaign An Orcish Incursion.

Moderator: Forum Moderators

SigurdFireDragon
Developer
Posts: 545
Joined: January 12th, 2011, 2:18 am
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

Re: Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Post by SigurdFireDragon »

1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
Lord (Normal) 160 Gold

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario?
5

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Clear

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Good on both points

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Avoiding carelessness

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
None

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
yes, one occurance of poor unit positioning cost me a loyal mage, so I reloaded.
Attachments
AOI-Linaera_the_Quick_replay.gz
1.12.5 Normal
(32.08 KiB) Downloaded 714 times
Co-Author of Winds of Fate
My Add-ons: Random Campaign, Custom Campaign, Ultimate Random Maps, Era of Legends, Gui Debug Tools
Erfworld: The comic that lead me to find Wesnoth.
User avatar
Aldarisvet
Translator
Posts: 836
Joined: February 23rd, 2015, 2:39 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Post by Aldarisvet »

Just funny playing only shamans to shydes strategy at hardest difficulty.
Quite a pity there is no storyline around Linaera. Still her appearence enlightens a bit an absoultely monotone campaign.
Attachments
AOI-Linaera_the_Quick_replay.gz
(21.93 KiB) Downloaded 709 times
facebook.com/wesnothian/ - everyday something new about Wesnoth
My campaign:A Whim of Fate, also see it's prequel Zombies:Introduction
Art thread:Mostly frankenstains
User avatar
Remellion
Posts: 51
Joined: December 25th, 2015, 3:18 pm

Re: Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Post by Remellion »

1. Played on High Lord (Challenging), 1.12.1 English / 1.12.5 French shamans-only.

2. Difficulty: 4/10? The challenge is in surviving the initial onslaught. Running out into the open field of villages in the first turn is probably a huge mistake, but staying in the forest for a simple defensive line works.

3. Objectives: Clear. A recurring theme of this campaign really, kill all enemy leaders.

4. Dialogue is excellent in English. The introduction is one of the more interesting I've seen in Wesnoth (adds some flavour to getting the new units.) Also, "Linaera la Véloce" is just an amazing name in French.

5. Challenges: As is usual by now, the main problem with these scenarios is the intial burst of orcs, 250 gold versus our 100. Fortunately our little patch of forest once again gives a terrain advantage, and the usual recipe of turtling through the first night works a charm. The map is actually a lot smaller than it seems, though, and Linaera can't really make great use of her teleportation ability, but a level 3 unit with great ranged magic is still appreciated. Our recalls are also far cheaper than the AI's level 2 recruits, so the battle ends up being straightforward.

Generic run: Turn 6 my hero got ridiculously lucky, but honestly I was expecting him to die. His job was just to get retaliation in, which he did and then some. After that it's just straightforward as the night ends quickly. The loyal mages all somehow survived, but once again it'd have been fine if they didn't. At this point in the campaign, my core units (Erlonas, a druid, a sorceress or two, horde of fodder fighters) are all that's really needed, and Linaera's help is appreciated in the next scenario too.

Shamans-only: A generic remark seems appropriate: my shamans are better than mages at everything except maybe the level 1 versions, and the Silver Mage. Better movetype, defences, a slow on every advancement, flying at levels 3/4, they have it all. Hence the loyal mages are considered somewhat expendable. Recalls are 3 enchantresses for breaking power, a druid for healing, and 3 fodder shamans. Turn 4 the fodder gets lucky, while on turn 5 two die. Still, they did their jobs of leaving my important units almost untouched, so the slows go all around and the night ends peacefully. (On turn 6 the druid could technically have died if the slowed warrior had retreated and a fresh one tried attacking, but the AI doesn't play that way.) In the ensuing exp farming mode, we get a sylph.

6. Fun level is subjective, but I'd say 7. The writing helps some, in giving Linaera some reason to fight with you, and the level 2 orcs make for very good exp farming if you can arrange it well. Getting a sylph is fun, of course.

7. Suggestions - There's lots of potential for story with the setting of this scenario, but exploring it is probably out of the scope of this campaign.
Attachments
AOI-Linaera_the_Quick_replay.gz
Generic run, 1.12.1 hardest
(33.54 KiB) Downloaded 669 times
UIO-Linaera_la_Véloce_revoir_la_partie.gz
Shamans-only, 1.12.5 hardest
(27.55 KiB) Downloaded 733 times
nikita1996
Posts: 49
Joined: July 18th, 2015, 8:07 am

Re: Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Post by nikita1996 »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
1.12.6 Hard

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
2. With 4 strong full-hp mages, we can kill orcish warriors easily, especially during the day. Even without those mages, I can win this game.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
It's clear but not very interesting.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
In this scenario, there are two ways of fighting: one of them is to go to attack the king directly and kill the enemy king with a small troop while the main troop is fighting with the first wave of the enemies; the other one is to defend aside the river and attack after the first wave of the enemies. I chose the first one, so I finished this scenario in only 5 turns! (24 turns totally) The major challenge to me is how to reach the king as soon as possible -- my troops are weaker than the enemy's first wave and I couldn't hold too long.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
5. Plain but it needs great strategy.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
I think it's fun enough. This scenario shouldn't be too difficult or changable because the last scenario is too hard -- the player needs to relax and collect more high-level characters.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
No.
Attachments
AOI-Linaera_the_Quick_replay.bz2
(17.74 KiB) Downloaded 732 times
Konrad2
Forum Moderator
Posts: 3330
Joined: November 24th, 2010, 6:30 pm

Re: Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Post by Konrad2 »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
1.14.0 Hard

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
It's clear but not very interesting.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Paying attention to the 'time' and surviving with everyone.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
5. Plain but you shouldn't be distracted.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
-

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
No.
Attachments
AOI-Linaera the Quick replay.gz
(21.42 KiB) Downloaded 629 times
Hestelvar
Posts: 36
Joined: July 29th, 2016, 7:41 pm

Re: Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Post by Hestelvar »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
Fighter (Easy)
1.14.3
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
6. (8. When only using the shaman line without the assistance of Linaera and company.) Another difficulty spike, I feel this novice campaign would greatly benefit from a smoother difficulty ramp.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Reasonably clear. As a minor quibble I would suggest changing "Defeat Krughnar and break the siege" to "Defeat Krughnar to break the siege" as breaking the siege is not a separate objective.
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialogue and storyline of the scenario?
Great description of elven magic. It is nice to finally have an ally for dialogue purposes. However Erlornas’s tolerance of Linaera’s presence seemed out of character. After the earlier scenarios I expected him to take a harder line. Perhaps some of Erlornas’s and advisor’s lines could be swapped. The story is improving with each scenario. I think story adds immeasurably to the Wesnoth experience, up until now it has not been a strength of this campaign.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Lots of level 2 orcs. Holding the riverbank through the first night without losing key units. My own rash advances when the orcs retreated during the second day - resulting in heavy losses. Babysitting three loyal level 1 mages. In short everything.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8. Excellent. Easily the most enjoyable scenario in the campaign so far.
(7) What, if any, are the changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
When we see the line “Erlornas surveyed the siege from atop a small tree-covered hill overlooking the tower valley...” The siege is not visible. The map should scroll to Linaera or the orcs.
Station orcs near the besieged tower.
Reduce the difficulty level slightly. In one or more of the following ways: limit the number of goblin knights, limit the number of level 2 orcs, reduce orcs starting gold.
Consider making the map slightly bigger. I think this would encourage the use of Linaera for unconventional (assassination) tactics.
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
Several. Holding the riverbank involves exposing some units to attack from three hexes. There is no elvish unit that can withstand the onslaught of three level 2 orcs at once if they get lucky, and luck is only a matter of time.
Remarks:
Linaera is a leader and can recruit mages (with Erlornas’s gold) when standing on a keep. However in this scenario Erlornas is also able to recruit mages. This is interesting but I’m unsure whether it is deliberate or desirable.
Much as I enjoyed this scenario, for a novice campaign at easy difficulty, it flirts with being discouraging. Without save loading or exceptional luck, beginners will lose leveled units through no tactical fault of their own. While for some this adds to the challenge and immersion, I’m not certain it is appropriate at this level.
The fact these considerable challenges can be met by a variety of strategies, give this scenario the kind of replayability that has hitherto been conspicuously lacking in this campaign.
Attachments
AOI-Linaera the Quick Shaman Only replay.bz2
(18.39 KiB) Downloaded 680 times
AOI-Linaera the Quick replay.bz2
(18.5 KiB) Downloaded 608 times
LordWolfDan
Posts: 216
Joined: September 30th, 2018, 7:31 am

Re: Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Post by LordWolfDan »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?

- Easy, 1.14.5

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)

- 4

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?

- Pretty clear, having an mage ally against orcish warlord was welcome.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?

- The intro of this scenario has to be my favorite part of this campaign.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

- None much, keeping my experienced units alive

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)

- 6. It was fun to have mage allies, managed to level up one mage to White mage and one to Red mage, leaving me one up-to-be-leveled mage.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

- None to think about

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?

- Nah
User avatar
mxb2001
Posts: 32
Joined: January 26th, 2019, 7:03 pm

Re: Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Post by mxb2001 »

[quote="Content Feedback" post_id=286112 time=1205252820 user_id=123454]
(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
Normal no cheating

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
10

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
clear

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
This one was neat. Nice touch with the teleporting mage.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Not ripping out my remaining hair in madness as I had to start over a dozen times. Nightmare scenario, almost unwinnable until you get lucky with the rolls.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
9

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Bigger map, more choices of where to fight, room for tac manoevre...

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
The silver mage dying over and over...

[/quote]
01/01/01
User avatar
josteph
Inactive Developer
Posts: 741
Joined: August 19th, 2017, 6:58 pm

Re: Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Post by josteph »

mxb2001 wrote: January 27th, 2019, 5:08 pm (5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Not ripping out my remaining hair in madness as I had to start over a dozen times. Nightmare scenario, almost unwinnable until you get lucky with the rolls.
This is a hard scenario but it's not as hard as you say. Try asking for advice on the S&T forum viewforum.php?f=3, make sure to attach your replay to the post.
User avatar
Tom_Of_Wesnoth
Posts: 208
Joined: January 14th, 2015, 4:03 pm
Location: Wesnoth 2020 and Wesnoth 2007

Re: Scenario 5: Linaera the Quick

Post by Tom_Of_Wesnoth »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
1.14.7 on High Lord/Challenging.
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
5 or 6. The lack of good terrain looks intimidating, but if the player is aggressive, they can reach the hills and castles in the middle. If they're defensive, they can just hold their home island. The orc puts out a fair few level two units, but the player should have plenty of their own by now.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Crystal clear.
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Some of the world-building going on is pretty interesting, with Erlornas sending out some magical invitation, and the mystic stuff going on. But some of it is nonsensical - the orcs are besieging a castle surrounded by a chasm, when the defenders can freely teleport away for supplies? That's not much of a siege.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
The terrain isn't too favourable to the player, but this can be handled. Playing defensively, you won't have many villages.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
6. Getting to use a Silver Mage is pretty nice, you don't see that all too often. Other than that, it's a pretty basic scenario.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
The mage's tower should be flagged as a village so that the Silver Mage can teleport back there if she wants to.
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
No.
If presented with the opportunity, I would take great pleasure in becoming a world ruler.
Post Reply