I have already offered twice to show you how to win the level easily. I cannot really explain how to play the level because it involves quite a few concepts. It is just a matter of making good decisions and micromanaging units well. If played correctly, the level can actually be really easy. I appreciate that you have tried the level a fair few times though.

enabled lightning bolt then I managed to complete it. After 14 skargs, 1 gnarling, 1 juggernaut, 1 succubus and 3 arcanists got minced yet again I'd pretty much had enough.
The design and idea of the level is pretty good it's just too hard and far too irritating to spend the next month trying to beat it as is

It is meant to be constantly attacked, part of the challenge is micromanaging units. As I mentioned before, the level is not impossible lol. I have completed it many times before and have had it playtested too. The level is meant to expose the player to as much of the golden river as possible...it is the only way for the triggered waves to function. This level really ought not to be too much harder than levels 5-7. As I suggested, I can show you how I tackle the level if you so wish.

one thing I did find that contributed to the level being impossible was the torture chamber is constantly being attacked so the succubus was unable to convert any creatures. maybe move it up one so you could keep it walled off from the gold lake

The levels are meant to get progressively harder to be fair. Levels 9-11 focus a lot more on micromanagement though than the previous. The important thing is to lure enemies and heal your skargs regularly.

Level 9 can be won by taking out Mira's forces as soon as they appear, but splitting your priorities and deciding which is the greatest threat. Level 10 is all about microing your units. Take out small groups of units, do not try and attack near the lava, try and distract enemies by having them attack your core, etc. Level 11 is all about placing good defences and watching the minimap/responding to threats.

The levels are really not that hard once you get the strategy down. With that said though, they definitely should form Some form of challenge, and I have played through them a lot to make sure that they had something of that. In fact, I was actually considering making levels 10-11 harder at one point as I deemed the only challenges to be the colossi/eternals lol. If need be, I can show you how I tackle the levels.

I beat level 1-8 and enjoyed them a lot, 9-11 are just irritating and too hard, I could fiddle with the mutators but not really the best way to go about things.

It is possible if you play it correctly. Make sure that you read the description and only try these levels if you can defeat the earlier ones. They are not meant to be easy, but they are not too difficult either if played right. Start with the beginner campaign.

Bordline impossible, got fed up and deleted it.

Nice, well done. Sure, I can share them, but it is difficult to explain over something like a comment...would be easier to add so that it may be shown.

If you are interested, level 11 is somewhat similar to level 10 but more focussed on siege.

Done it ! After the demise of the collosi the golden horde attacks lessened and enabled more exploration. Also minions levels could be developed so the remainder was straightforward - you could consider beefing up the later parts. Overall a fun and challenging dungeon. If you would consider sharing details of your triggers I would be interested.

The collossi just marched in to my core. However, I'm getting there - update soon!

Perhaps, if you are still struggling with the level, I can try and show you how I go about it, which may help. If you made it to the two colossi though then you did pretty well since they are the 'final' test.

Yes, my intermediate/hard campaigns use a form of trigger I have developed over time. In short, they pertain to timer triggers (something happens after a set time), event triggers (something happens when you do something, such as destroy a core), and conditional triggers (something happens only if condition X is met). They largely pertain to the deployment of enemies.

Thus, in this level, you would never get attacked by both colossi at the start because a timer trigger controls when they are released. I tested it a few times to make sure that they did not come Too early, but not Too late either. All enemies in this level are released in a similar fashion, and this holds true for most of the intermediate/hard campaigns.

Lasted a lot longer, even dented two collosi when they attacked the dungeon core - but overwhelmed in the end. I'm interested in your comment below about triggers - have you found a way ?

The level is entirely possible. As you suggested, it centres around micromanaging your units and tactically choosing when to attack the golden hordes and when not to. This involves luring them into traps, picking them off one-by-one and possessing/using good battle skills to distract them. The same applies for the colossus. Healing/resting minions is also important. It is important to decline attacks and pick opportune moments.

The campaign is meant to be hard after all, and this is what the level tries to focus on: good gameplay. The fortunate thing is that the level does not take too long to complete, so dying makes it easy to restart without losing hours' of progress.

I found the torture chamber and artefact and was just about managing to fight off the golden hordes when the appearance of the Collosus finished off all my minions. Fun for a time but no prospect of winning so overall disappointing.

I'd be glad to play it again. Let me know if you want to watch a playthrough

The level has been made slightly harder now. I just playtested it and it is very possible...but careless attacks could lead to defeat.

I shall see about buffing and giving it a further set of testing today. Would you be interested in trying the revised level once I get around to it?

I didn't mean to infer ours was a speedrun, but I went at my usual pace, which is much slower, and had no difficulties, so it may be too easy

My playthrough was hardly a speedrun. My concern simply is that the level does not challenge the player sufficiently.

Unlike your playgthough, I took my time, and had little trouble on the last play beating off the attacks. I then waited a while before going up north

Hm, I do wonder though if I have left the level too easy still. The problem with the setup is that attacks can be somewhat random, even when controlled by triggers, since the units patrol in any old direction.

I managed to get all the way through with little trouble.