= = = = = Feedback = = = = =

Zarzissh is basically unplayable due to upkeep. I couldn't deploy my Settlers before they deserted me on turns 2 and 3.
-- Granted, if I decided to go ahead and disband units, I probably could play "normally," but decided against this.

As it stands, at the moment...

Elizabeth: Can be played "normally" without any real issues. All she lacks is the small details, as her simplicity and freedom works wonders for her playstyle, even in the prototype.
Zarzissh: "Unplayable" due to upkeep, although this can be somewhat mitigated if one disbands their soldiers. Also, not sure if the Dragon Manifestations (and Spy Teams) are implemented yet.

Lissandra Can be played, although Lissandra relied on unique scripts and events for her "early game". Also, Elven Depression.
Arshack Can be played despite Arshack being practically useless and lack of the unique starting siege of Lotharsburg. Alas, meeting Gyrx will spam their "Introduction" event over and over...

I have not tried Ogrus, Gryx, Sedna, or Bericlar yet, and probably won't until the Prototype is further along.
-- Ogrus probably still starts off with negative Happiness, although is probably playable otherwise.
-- Gryx relies on custom scripts and spawns to play properly.
-- Sedna and the Tigerians is not really my preference to play...
-- Bericlar relies on custom scripts to get the most enjoyament out of him.


= = = = = Suggestions = = = = =

Make a road (or a least a path) from Zarzissh's starting location to the cave entrance, and maybe make the cave entrance more noticeable so new players will know where to go. As it stands, they are simply tossed on the island and "reached the promised land," but have no real direction.

* * * * *

At any rate, thanks again for all the hard work on the mod! It'll be interesting to see where the mod goes from here now the Reforged Edition is in play.

Thank you so much for the feedback :)

I am at turn 38 with Ogrus on the prototype. I decided to play very defensively and with very good alignment. This made it easy to make most of the map my vassal in the very early game, which was basically the source of all my mana and research. I was pacing well with gryx and arshack, absorbing cities only when I had stacks ready to garrison them. Then came Bariclar leading 3 stacks of summons. Elizabeth and I could only watch in horror as he mercilessly razed city after city, leaving naught but ruins and distorted landscapes. This gave my empire mood debuffs which added to the poor reputation of the hammer guild(empire mood debuff), making half of all my armies and cities rebel every turn. This may be the end of the Hammer guild. 10/10

p.s. I havent even found Zarrish yet, except diplomatically, and weirdly enough she signed a peace treaty with gryx. I assume she is in the fog in the north west still. This is where bariclar came from so he may have stunted her empire, or as sire said she may have a broken upkeep.

I used Barentz to view the map since I was defeated, and man I really appreciate the detail and the symmetry/artistry. Most of all, the cave entrances and exits are aligned so you can page between maps and easily tell what goes where. A little thing that is very appreciated.

@phatninja: Thank you for sharing your both entertaining and tragic story of the rise and fall of the Hammer Guild :)
Zarzissh's resources should be set correctly in the current update. I've also added in-game descriptions of class effects and added buildings, defenders and specific setting modifiers to about half of the cities.

= = = = = Zarzissh Run = = = = =

Played a short run as Zarzissh.
-- Turn 6: Arshack dies to Independents.
-- Turn 15: Bericlar's Avatar of Death lives up to its namesake, sniping my cities while I'm wandering around elsewhere. Of note, I'm noticing cities taken by Bericlar are automatically razed now, which makes Bericlar far more dangerous than the original version where he would take over something and sit there.
=== If this functionality is also applied to that Devourer Superboss and it continues to roam, things will get interesting indeed...
=== Also on Turn 15, my leader is defeated when trying to take over some Merfolk dwellings. I decide to call the run here as I want to see what Bericlar is like now...


= = = = = Bericlar Run = = = = =

I also decided to do a "Bericlar Speedrun" to see how he plays. I had the map explored at the start (keeping fog of war), and started my playthrough.
-- I ended up winning at Turn 48, defeating Lissandra last. She was on the mainland while my armies were busy ravaging the Isle, but luckily I had a summon nearby who easily dealt with her (she was by herself). This is probably my fastest playthrough (I think I had 70-90 turns on the original map), but also the Protoype is still missing features, such as all the hostile Independent spawns.
=== Elizabeth: Before Turn 18
=== Gryx, Zarzissh: Turn 24
=== Arshack: Turns 24-37
=== Sedna: Turn 37
=== Lissandra: Turn 48

I stopped by the Raven Isle and had a Node Serpent break through the prison seals and explore it proper, but it looks like no one was home. I guess it enjoyed its exercise running around in the spiral.

As for Bericlar himself, while it is somewhat saddening that the novelty "Bericlar Empire" strat is no longer an option, the availability of his summons (25% Cheaper) and spells (50% Cheaper), more than makes up for that. There is also the Avatar of Death which gotten over not being paid (Draft, High Morale), and is a powerhouse in its own right.
-- I'm sure once the Junkersdorf event is added back in (Necromancy Rewards), Bericlar will become even more powerful by transforming his summons into Undead so he can keep them healed.
-- It's also amazing to see Bericlar automatically raze cities now, as well as causing a "Warp Domain" effect after doing so. It definitely pushes him into "Evil Alignment" (rip Sire the Riftwalker), but also really emphasizes his "Force of Nature" playstyle. However, the effect seems to trigger again if any of Bericlar's units just walk over the recently razed city, so that may need to be looked into.

Overall, Bericlar is still fun to play and I imagine will be more so once all the story, gameplay, and items are reimplemented into Reforged.

= = = = = Bugs = = = = =

I did get a crash while playing as Bericlar. I tried to summon an Eldritch Horror on the Elven Capital after razing it, and the game crashed. I'm guessing its because too much stuff was happening at once, but I didn't get the chance to try and replicate it.

Bericlar's automatic "Warp Domain" effect after razing a city can trigger multiple times if one of his units walks on the tile.
-- The Santuary of Bliss (surface) is not automatically razed as Bericlar.

= = = = = Feedback = = = = =

Tried an Elizabeth run, and holy crap Ogrus is suddenly a super businessman. By Turn 16 he has almost every city on the mainland surface under him, and he just keeps going.
-- Arshack died early again (Turn 9).
-- I ended up beating Bericlar in a magician's duel. I used minimal summons and mostly used my spellcasting to fight him. I "lost" my first bout (I beat Bericlar, but one of his minions still lived so he lived too), but quickly finished him off on the second run. Elizabeth's stronger spells help out a lot, and she definitely has potential to be a better spellcaster than Bericlar as the game progresses.
-- I also ended up defeating Zarzissh on turn 27. Spells and Heroes work wonders!
-- I tried to confront the Dragon Superboss, but it decided to go off on its own quest instead of fighting me. Turns out, Sal-Galgaloth is an independent dragon that doesn't need anyone interfering with its business. Due to its movement speed (and being non-hostile), I left it roam.
-- Alas, I had to call it on turn 41 upon reaching a soft-lock or a really long loading time. I detailed it on the bugs below.

= = = = = Bugs = = = = =

Elizabeth
-- Once learning Age of Magic, the mana costs seem to bug out and suddenly cost next to nothing. I can cast Chain Lightning for a single mana...
-- Had a seeming soft-lock (or a really long loading time) on Turn 41. I tried to reload, and I ended up having to close the game and relaunch. Alas, it happened again upon going from Turn 40 to Turn 41, and even when trying to exit the game, the game continued to bug out. I had to force quit and end up abandoning the run.

@Sire: Again, thank you so much for all the effort you put into testing and writing the guides :)
I just uploaded a new update that restores the custom items for the leaders and should improve Arshack's AI performance at the beginning of the game. I have also removed Age of Magic from Elizabeth's skills and and added the missing city to Bariclar's scripts.

= = = = = Feedback = = = = =

Played a short session as Elizabeth, managing up to Turn 27. Zarizissh was defeated around Turn 11 (unknown causes), and I defeated Gryx around Turn 24 or so. However, Bariclar's minions showed up, led by the Avatar of Death, and began ravaging my lands. I suppose he wanted revenge for what I did to him in my previous playthrough...
-- After losing Four Winds, Silent Meadow, and another city, I decided to call the run. While Elizabeth does have strong magic, I had low mana (using it to also build stuff) and couldn't cast spells constantly to kill off all the summons. Bariclar himself was nowhere to be found...
-- I imagine facing off against Bariclar sooner rather than later may be wise as Elizabeth, even though it'll trigger his death event.
=== Now, if those spawns also destroyed cities, it'll definitely be a nightmare to deal with. That said, a part of me wouldn't mind if Bariclar's spawns actually did that considering what they actually are, but I think Zarizissh's spawns should probably act like they did in Enhanced and just take over the city and camp out there. All this is provided if the "Death Reprisal" events are the same as they were in the Enhanced Edition.

In other news, the buffed AI Arshack seemingly did well, as he took over some surface cities and contested them with Ogrus. I didn't pay too much attention on what was going on as I was busy pillaging through Gryx's lands before Bariclar showed up.

I will say I miss Elizabeth having Great Stoning (or at least I think she had it before). Granted, this does make it easy for the player to trivialize things by manipulating the AI, and Elizabeth probably should be casting spells every combat round instead of just running around the map letting Great Stoning do all the work.
-- As it stands, Hailstorm is practically useless due to the RNG aspect of the spell. Having Recharging Mana Currents would be better for Elizabeth since it helps her with the Elementals, even though Bariclar also uses the ability. Alternatively, just replace Hailstorm with Great Hail, so players can at least manually target the spell instead of hoping something hits.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = EDIT: Feedback 2 = = = = =
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Played a short Arshack session (Turn 16). Definitely felt the increased resistance around Lotharsburg, which slowed down the early game snowball quite a bit, which was nice. In the end, I decided to simply call the game due to the Gryx intro bug, and the fact that Ogrus was sniping my undefended cities (since I like to focus on economy instead of army building...)
-- As an aside, I am playing somewhat casually/carelessly and am not using "Save/Loads" like I probably would in a regular playthrough. (Also, not using Save/Load is pretty important for testing purposes...)
-- I noticed Ogrus has Great Stoning now (guess he got it instead of Elizabeth). Yeah, Ogrus definitely seems stronger than he was in Enhanced Edition. I look forward to playing him properly later.
-- Also, I rememberd just how powerful Arshack actually is. I forgot that I'm supposed to do the "Arshack Solo" with him, as if he isn't soloing, the AI will target the weaker units instead. // Man, once the "Rift Items" are added back in, I can't wait to see an unshacked Arshack rampage across the map once more!

Turn 5: I lost the Bloodlust Tribe outpost, as it wasn't automatically taken in the event (not sure if intentional or not).
Turn 6: Elizabeth slain by Independents
Turn 7: I lost Junkersdorf and one of my heroes.
Turn 16: Called the playthrough due to Gryx intro bug and Ogrus sniping my undefended cities.

= = = = = Feedback 3 = = = = =

Sedna (Turn 33)
-- I'm guessing she's not fully functional yet, but I enjoyed a bit of peaceful city building and the like (No Blood Haze for player Sedna). However, I did notice the classic longer turn timers due to Independents and other factors. Maybe this was do to me just using Sedna and her hero stack to explore around, as I couldn't do much city management aside from waiting for resources.

For the big question in the room, any reason why Casting Catalysts and certain Mana Nodes give penalties? I noticed two of the "Desert/Badlands Orc Settlements" being unable to grow do the negative population modifiers from the Casting Catalysts.

= = = = = Bugs = = = = =

Arshack still seems to have the repeating "introduction" event with Gryx.

Bloodlust Tribe is not taken from Arshack on Turn 3. Not sure if intentional or not.

EDIT: Lissandra
-- The Fog covers the bridges at Goldfalls, although there is some open space elsewhere in the water to pass by safely.

Hello again. Another update is now online. The Gryx meeting Arshack bug should be removed in the latest version (among some other changes). I have also created a new skill related to Sedna, but I'm still unsure about the balancing. I welcome any feedback/impressions :)

= = = = = Feedback = = = = =

Played a bit of the new separate scenario, Whispers of the Void. While I have dabbled in it a bit, this was the farthest I got (Orc Warlord, Turn 36 or so). I called the run after sending my hero party to the center and learning there is no way back or option to attack the other starting areas.
-- Having some form of notice that the teleporter is one-way would be nice. As it stands (economy build), I would probably just sit in base slowly chipping away at the hostiles until everything is fully cleared and I get enough to hold the center indefinitely as soon as I capture it. Until then, the others can fight over it.
-- It is a classic scenario concept (build units and send them to the central meatgrinder). I also needed to try and get back into the vanilla AoW III mindset, as I've practically just been playing Fate of Emrilia and been too used to its mechanics.

= = = = = EDIT: Feedback 2 = = = = =

Finished the Whispers of the Void scenario and got the greatest victory screen (Turn 62) ever as Fyra the Traitor (although I did change her class to Necromancer and changed up her traits). Definitely worthwhile to play! :D

Victory aside, Necromancer definitely has it easier since as soon as one gets Control Undead and Greater Animate Undead, all one has to do is get one of the Titans and its easy to snowball from there. That said, Necromancy is OP in vanilla AoW III anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter.
-- A part of me does still wish there was a way to return back to base or to attack the other areas so there is an alternative to victory besides capturing the single seal in the middle, but then again the whole premise is the central meatgrinder. I'm not sure how in-depth the side-scenario will go, but at the moment it is a fun side distraction if someone wants something a little different.

= = = = = Feedback = = = = =

new minor update, woo

Played a bit as Arshack (Turn 23). Ended up losing my solo Arshack to Ogrus' army and decided to call the run. Nothing really special happened, I was just playing casually and over-expanded without any real army.
-- I imagine once all the features are in, I can make Arshack even more unstoppable with all the items, and keep up the rearguard/garrisons with the Orc Reinforcements (provided that will still be a thing).
-- As an aside, I never saw Bariclar, but did notice an Avatar of Death being used for a hostile Independent leader near Junkersdorf. That was an interesting encounter.

Actually, I did notice having mana issues with Arshack, mostly because I was using the city enchantments a lot. Since Arshack suffers a mana penalty, it can be difficult trying to maintain them all if one continues to keep casting the various enchantments.
-- Meanwhile, I was swimming in gold and had more gold than I knew what to do with. Later in the run I started looking at the various inns for mercenaries, and I imagine that may be a good gold sink for Arshack once the custom mercenaries are added.

Another thought that comes to mind is the early-game independent rush, in that the Independents actually "sally out" to attack your armies at the beginning of the match. While I don't mind, this can throw off newer players as they are immediately attacked as soon as they start the scenario.
-- Also, it would be nice to have Arshack's armies all bunched up together instead of being spread apart (at least at the various attack locations), so they don't get potentially sniped off one by one.

Lastly, Hempshire (Human) is still under Arshack's control, but I'm assuming its intentional at this point and won't longer make a note of it for future writeups.

Tried the new update as Elizabeth, and I immediately get rushed Turn 1 by the Four Winds independents who attack and kill Elizabeth (who is by herself and away from her capital).
-- While I did manage to take a lot of them down with me, it was not a fun experience. Probably not the best starting impression, especially for newer players and since Elizabeth is supposed to be a "starter character."

Was tempted to try other characters, but since I imagine this will affect the Elizabeth AI, I'll probably hold off until other stuff is added/fixed.

Also, in terms of Time to Beat Scenario, it's a bit hard to gauge since the Death Events are not added in yet. Granted, the two most impactful were Zarzissh and Bariclar, but since they are not added yet it is easy to keep the momentum going instead of having to fall back to defend against potential "Death Events."
-- Also, there's a difference between just trying to Finish the scenario (primary objective only, defeat all enemy leaders), and trying to Complete the scenario (seeing everything the scenario has to offer, including secrets, super bosses, and the Abyss).

@Sire: Thanks for the warning, I will fix this.

I've just uploaded a small update and added an AI-Blocker which hinders the forces of Four Winds rushing to Elizabeth during the first round. Elizabeth also has some elemental units under her control and Four Winds gets less knight units at start. This should solve the problem.
Bariclars death event is the next thing on my list and will follow soon.

@Sire: You are absolutely right that the question of how long it will take to beat the card in its final state is difficult to answer. In fact, I mean finishing the game, not completing it.
One of the events that I've added now is the awakening of Sol Galgaloth, which I have set to round 150. The event should occur early enough that it has a chance of actually happening, but late enough that Zarzissh has a chance of winning the game by then and prevent it. The same challenge will apply to all other engame-events (World-Destruction-Machine, the All-Devouring, Frostling Invasion and so on)
So it's not about an exact number, but a rough estimate (Round 50? 100? 200? Even more?).

Thanks again for all your help and feedback! :)

Played a little bit a Elizabeth. Things seem to be more difficult now, especially with the proper city garrisons and some custom units in place. Even AI Ogrus and his vast business network is engaged in some wars.
-- I stopped at Turn 44 for now, but I'll pick up the save later.

= = = = = Feedback = = = = =

Turn Report
-- Turn 21: I vanquished Gryx with Elizabeth's party (which is the starting Elementals and an extra Sorcerer hero)
-- Turn 24: Had a valiant defense against Bariclar's summons at Four Winds. (I had to do a lot of kiting and using Elizabeth's spells to slowly defeat him, took 15 combat rounds.)
=== However, Ogrus lost Lothar's Gift to another Bariclar group, led by the Avatar of Death.
=== Bariclar sighted on the waters of Four Winds...
-- Turn 25: Bariclar is defeated in a magician duel. I sent two Air Elementals to engage him, and then used Skin of Oil and Fireballs to finish him off.
-- Turn 29: Zarzissh surrenders to me. Huh. Don't think this is intentional, and I even got Zarzissh as a hero. Guess I'll enjoy this for what it is worth! (I was moving to take him out after Gryx.)
-- Turn 30: Looks like Zarzissh also had it rough from Bariclar, since some of his cities were razed. It doesn't seem possible to rebuild the lost bridges, meaning if one of Zarzissh's cities get taken by Bariclar, there's no way to rebuild.
-- Turn 32: Bariclar the Outcast wants to join me. I imagine its one of the alternative selves (as I remember recruiting one once while actually playing at Bariclar).
-- Turn 44: Currently waging a costly war against Arshack around Lotharsburg. No idea where Arshack himself is (as it is usually easier to just kill him instead of dealing with his armies), so I'm stuck liberating Lotharsburg the hard way...

Observations
-- Still seems like Four Winds sends out hostile parties. A part of me wonders if this was meant to be be guardian troops, but they sent out parties seemingly at one at a time. Luckily, there was no turn one attack this time.
-- Guess the Custom Mercenaries from some of the inns don't restock themselves and instead just get regular soldiers instead. (Tested with the Puking Horse Inn.)
=== Speaking of the Custom Knights, not too sure on the decision to make them based off of Alignment, but at least the best one is the Evil one and its easy to be Evil in Emrilla. (I wonder if any players will naturally try to be Good Alignment, and that's not trying to get the Riftwalker.)
-- What about all the neutral treasure sites, mana nodes, and so on? Many of them do not have the standard AoW III guards or start out already explored. A part of me wonders if this is intentional (to focus more on fighting each other), but I will miss the treasure hunting aspect and getting cool gear if doing so. Lack of standard items pushes players to go more standard army or a summon composition instead of hero parties.
-- Any reason why some of the map options before starting the scenario are not locked, like in the Enhanced Editon? While I haven't tried, it seems possible to settle anywhere instead of just on the razed cities.

= = = = = Bugs = = = = =

-- Gryx's spawns still seem to continue after his defeat.
-- Sire the Riftwalker still has the redundant +30 Regeneration on his Champion levels (Regrowth heals him back to full after each combat anyways).