-<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- _ _________ _ _______ ______ _______ _______ | \ /\\__ __/( ( /|( ____ \( __ \ ( ___ )( ) | \ / / ) ( | \ ( || ( \/| ( \ )| ( ) || () () | | (_/ / | | | \ | || | | | ) || | | || || || | | _ ( | | | (\ \) || | ____ | | | || | | || |(_)| | | ( \ \ | | | | \ || | \_ )| | ) || | | || | | | | / \ \___) (___| ) \ || (___) || (__/ )| (___) || ) ( | |_/ \/\_______/|/ )_)(_______)(______/ (_______)|/ \| _| ._________ _| _| _|_|_| _|_|_| _|_| _| _|_| / _| _| _| _| _| _| _|_|_|_| _|_| / _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| / _|_|_| _| _| _|_|_| _|_|_| _| / ________________/ ./ ____ ____ ____ ____ &^ ^& / ( ___)(_ _)( _ \( ___) |##|================/ )__) _)(_ ) / )__) (__) (____)(_)\_)(____) <<||---------------------------------------------------------||>> FAQ/Strategy Guide >>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>== For Microsoft X-BOX Version 1.0 By Chris Zawada Website: www.antseezee.com User: antseezee E-mail: antseezee@epix.net Created: 01/25/05 Last Update: 09/23/05 Copyright 2005 Chris Zawada -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- Author's Note ---------------------------- Usually when you engage in an epic battle, you'd expect some sort of nobility to arise from a common cause. Whether you're kicking some enemy butt, rescuing a woman, or simply paving the way for destiny and conquest, they all share the same root - being victorious. Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders is a fairly unknown smash-mouth hit for the X-BOX gaming system that went fairly unnoticed during a time of Halo 2 hypeness. Combining elements of Lord of the Rings, Gladius, and various strategy games, KuF is one heck of a mix of tactics unmatched by opposing games on the market. Not only that, but the entire experience is lavished with Live play, and the ability to save your army's level online. This guide will provide several strategies to completing the four single-player campaigns, along with providing multiplayer strategies, and any available cheats. Will you swipe your double-edged sword in the name of honor, or cower to the ground like a worthless rebel? Contributing/Feedback ---------------------------- If you have any contributions, feedback, or strategies you'd like to have added to the guide, contact me via e-mail. I'll be more than content to add your segment of information, and will also provide credit. If\you have any questions you'd like added to the Common Questions section, ask. I simply don't have the time to sit around thinking of questions. Provide me with what you want to know! Updates ---------------------------- =09/23/05= v1.1 Made minor change. Fixed map of Regnier's Bone Dragon mission. I'd like to thank Michael McEwen for correcting me on the location of the exit. It is in the upper left corner, not the upper right. I incorrectly sketched it on my notes. Thanks again. =03/12/05= v1.0 Finished the FAQ. Been a long month or so trying to complete the game, as its vast missions and complex tactics don't make anything easier. While the guide is complete, I'm planning on adding another major update with Live strategies. Read away. =01/26/05= v1.0 Started the FAQ. This guide is going to be fairly lengthy, which is why I expect to finish it by the end of 3-4 weeks. Live play certainly looks charming. - I've now added a Quick Search function to the guide. Press CTRL + F, and type in the designated (#.#) to be quickly forwarded to that specific section of the guide. ============================ - Table of Contents - ============================ 1) Introduction 2) Game Basics > Controls > Characters/Key Locations > Movement/Tactics Mode > Battle Mode > Management 3) Gerald's Campaign > The Village (3.1) > Raven Meadow (3.2) > Greywood Forest (3.3) > Glaucus (3.4) > Woodenshade (3.5) > Roserain (3.6) > Halmoral (3.7) > Stormdeen (3.8) > Outer Hironeiden (3.9) > Posterus Green (3.10) > Nymphbarren (3.11) 4) Lucretia's Campaign > Dryglade (4.1) > Wicktow (4.2) > Valley of Lichen (4.3) > Glaucus (4.4) > Aten (4.5) > Esse (4.6) > Halmoral (4.7) > Hironeiden (4.8) > Posterus Green (4.9) > The Holy Ground (4.10) 5) Kendal's Campaign > Greyhampton (5.1) > Colonock (5.2) > The Holy Ground (5.3) > Nymphbarren (5.4) > Woodenshade (5.5) > Raven Meadow (5.6) > Osmond (5.7) > Essex Forest (5.8) > Brimstone Forest (5.9) > Bronzewood I (5.10) > Bronzewood II (5.11) > Norwart (5.12) > Defensive Wall, Ecclesia (5.13) > Jungsburg (5.14) > Funero (5.15) 6) Regnier's Campaign > The Holy Ground (6.1) > Colonock (6.2) > Raven Meadow (6.3) > Ethindel (6.4) > Essex Forest (6.5) > Brimstone Forest (6.6) > Bronzewood I (6.7) > Bronzewood II (6.8) > Norwart (6.9) > Cloud Borune (6.10) > Gremium (6.11) > Funero (6.12) 7) X-BOX Live > Description > Strategies 8) Skills 9) Equipment 10) Special Abilities > Lists 11) Jobs > Classes > Mercenaries 12) Secrets 13) Common Questions 14) Copyright/Distribution/Reproduction Guidelines 15) Proper Credits -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 1) Introduction - ============================ Brutal real-time battles full of animated units and troops can get quite mesmerizing. In many cases, you'll be overwhelmed with formation tactics, organizational decisions, and when to use special abilities. This pretty much sums up Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders. It's a massive third-person real-time strategy game where you control the leader of a battle, inside an epic storyline, and attempt to be victorious by leading your troops to success. The action doesn't stop here though. Inside the fantasy story setting, you'll be able to play over four campaigns each with different motives for leading the conflicts. Not to mention, above average graphics, great musical scores, and a well-balanced gameplay system, there's not much to hate about this ever-loving game. The story isn't exactly simple. As a matter of fact, the first Kingdom Under Fire game was released way back in 2001 as a mediocre RTS game for the PC. It turned out to be a flop, but this game does take some roots from the predecessor. To sum the story up, there have been many great wars and battles since the beginning of time. Namely, most of them have been between two different factions, the Humans (which represent the solid moral values) and the Dark Legion (which represent the conquest moral values). With two Great Wars between these factions in the past, the relationship between both isn't exactly misty. Suddenly, one day, a group of Dark Legion massacre villagers in some nearby sacred land. This initiates war yet again between the Humans and Dark Legion. You must now take command of various characters across the campaigns and complete the game's storyline. Here's a brief excerpt from the instruction manual (credit to Phantagram): PROLOGUE ))} First War of Heroes - Xok's Knights {(( =========================================== Legend holds that when war threatens Bersia with destruction, seven knights will appear to bring salvation. The legend came true when the mysterious Khiliani, leader of the Dark Legion, took the eastern Hexter of Bersia in his campaign to destroy the world. Seven heroes rose up against Khiliani to rally for humanity and defend Bersia. The battle turned when a fallen hero, Rick Blood, was resurrected through the immortal power of the Ancient Heart. Together with the rest of Xok's Knights, he defeated Khiliani at the Altar of Destruction. This was the First War of Heroes, now known as "Xok's Knights." ))} Second War of Heroes {(( ============================ Rumors linger long after the end of the Second War of Heroes. What transpired between Neeble and the Ancient Heart? Did all of the war's participants truly vanish? Mists. Legends. Echoes of god and evil. No clear record of this war remains. Nevertheless, the site of its final battle - the Altar of Destruction - now is considered holy ground. ))} An Uncertain Time of Peace {(( ================================== Fifty years have passed since the Second War of Heroes. The legendary artifact that caused the Great War, the Ancient Heart, is a faint memory. The Altar of Destruction lies in ruins, and none who lived through the final battle remain. Children no longer listen to the battle songs of hope and death from an old man who says he was there. The adventures of the Ancient Heart and Neebler, the tales of Xok's Knights - doesn't anyone want to hear their stories? Were they just stories? And so, a peace crept into this world as a long winter changes subtly to spring. Why not? With the Dark Legion diminished, Humanity rose in power. No one believed the disaster of 50 years ago could ever happen again. There was no sign of war, and East and West Bersia have become allies. But, to some, it seems like a sunny sky slowly filling with clouds, peaceful and bright. Maybe you wonder whether the clouds might hold a passing shower or even a rainstorm? You also might feel, however, that the answer to a question you dare not ask draws near. Will the Dark Legion rise again? History has a tendency of repeating itself... ))} Your Mission {(( ==================== The Dark Legion has massacred a group of villagers living near a former battleground, which since has become sacred land. The short-lived peace in the world is over, and the Humans and the Dark Legion are now at war. Choose which race you would like to play, and select one of several character types within each race. From here on out, it's all about war. You start out with one infantry unit, but you can acquire more forces or develop them into more specialized and powerful units. Take center stage in epic battles - hear the cries of soldiers, and see the chaos of the fight. Command elite cavalry and infantry units of up to 1,000 soldiers. After the battle, use the world map to designate where your troops go next. While moving across the continent, you can visit castles, gain endorsements from feudal lords, hire mercenaries, replenish your troops, or change equipment. The time has come to fight. Which side will you choose? ---------------------------- _____________________ ##### GAME INFO ##### //////////|\\\\\\\\\\ Players: 1-2 (no 2-on-2 compatibility for Live play) Developer: Phantagram Released: 2004 Rarity: uncommon Special Features: Content Download, Scoreboards, X-BOX Live, Voice, Custom Soundtracks ESRB: Mature (17+) Cover Art on box: - Shows Gerald holding a bloody double-edged sword on a stricken battlefield -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 2) Game Basics - ============================ The X-BOX controller fits fairly well to the entire theme, although it has no where near the amount of functions available on PC controls. Regardless, the range of motion with the joystick and limit of functions helps create a user-friendly environment for those not use to strategy games. KEY representation for each button: Thumbstick = left/right thumbstick pads (black) Control Pad = left directional pad (black) A = A button (green) B = B button (red) X = X button (blue) Y = Y button (yellow) R = R trigger (black, underneath right side of controller) L = L trigger (black, underneath left side of controller) START = Start button (black, center) BACK = Back button (black, center) Black = Black button (black, right) White = White button (white, right) _____________________ /Action Mode Controls/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Thumbstick - moves character Control Pad - use abilities, call for support troops L/R - changes selected troop L (hold) + A - set waypoints (up to four per map) R (hold) - bring up mini map Y - performs special attack Y + B - use officer's ability X + A - use officer's ability B - special move (counterattack or evade) A/X - perform normal attack Right Joystick - rotates camera view START - pauses game, exits BACK - toggle mini-map _____________________ /Tactic Mode Controls/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Thumbstick - moves Control Pad - use abilities, call for support troops L/R - changes selected troop L (hold) + A - set waypoints (up to four per map) R (hold) - bring up mini map X (hold) - aiming mode (only archers, catapult, ballista) Y - move all troops at once A - confirm action B - cancel action; stop Black/White - change troop formation Right Joystick Click - change camera view Right Joystick - controls camera START - pauses game, exits BACK - toggle mini-map __________________________ /Castle/Base Mode Controls/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Thumbstick or Control Pad - moves cursor A/B - confirms/cancels selection Y - help START - pauses, enter menu ___________________ /World Map Controls/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Thumbstick or Control Pad - moves cursor A - confirms START - pauses game R (Hold) - brings up mini map _________________________ /Characters/Key Locations/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As with any conventional strategy game, there are usually "role" characters who progress the plot by engaging in battles, tumbling vast mobile troops, and basically kicking butt. Kingdom Under Fire is no different, as it features several main characters (which consist of different campaigns), plus additional co-play characters who help lead your army. This section will briefly describe each character according to their profile. I'd like to thank Phantagram for providing this information inside their instructions manual. ________________ <|> HUMAN ALLIANCE <|> .~`# Gerald #`~. /______________\ ROLE: Hero SKILL: Melee WEAPON: Two-Handed Sword "Six years ago, Gerald joined the Hironeiden Army as a mere soldier. Two years ago, showing exceptional valor during the Hexter invasion, he was promoted to Captain of the entire Eastern Defense Force. Clever and quick-witted, he confounds his enemies with unconventional, yet efficient, tactics. Gerald excels at analyzing a situation accurately and values skill over rank or bloodline." .~`# Kendal #`~. /______________\ ROLE: Hero SKILL: Melee WEAPON: Spear and Hammer "A General of the Second Division Ecclecian Holy Knights, Kendal was born in Azilla, a tributary of Ecclesia. He now defends the Holy Ground against the Dark Legion. As an Azillan, he must maintain strict faith in God. He has issues with this assignment of defending the Holy Ground, but his honor prevents him from objecting. A champion for his cause, as well as a precise tactician, Kendal can lead his troops to greatness." .~`# Rupert #`~. /______________\ ROLE: Officer SKILL: Melee WEAPON: Two-Handed War Hammer "A close ally of Gerald, Rupert has been through countless ups and downs since they joined the army together. His huge body and enormous power enables him to wield the 50-pound hammer while assisting Gerald. He puts on a rough exterior, but his sarcasm and frequent jokes with Ellen mask the affection he really feels for her." .~`# Ellen #`~. /_____________\ ROLE: Officer SKILL: Melee WEAPON: Bow "About two years ago, Ellen appeared from nowhere to join Gerald's Army. It might seem odd to find such a beautiful woman among the rough and crude soldiers of Hironeiden. But, be warned - that pretty face holds a quick and foul tongue. Should you attempt to get too friendly even after enduring the curses, insults, and abuse, her quick and deadly sword will make certain you mind your manners." .~`# Duane #`~. /_____________\ ROLE: Officer, Knight SKILL: Melee WEAPON: Morning Star "Duane is a knight from the honorable, but fallen house of Ecclesia Colonok. He volunteered to join the defense force of the Holy Ground to re-establish the honor of his house's name. For this reason, Duane continuously works to distinguish himself through extreme feats of bravery and skill on the battlefield." .~`# Thomas #`~. /______________\ ROLE: Officer SKILL: Melee, Magic WEAPON: Flail "Thomas is Kendal's friend. He is also the son of Walter who asked Kendal to drag Thomas along so he can learn the ways of battle." _____________ <|> DARK LEGION <|> .~`# Lucretia #`~. /________________\ ROLE: Hero SKILL: Melee WEAPON: Rapier "Lucretia is a Dark Elf and a Captain in the Vellond troop. Her mission is to investigate why Regnier invaded the villagers near the Holy Ground, while simultaneously providing aid to his troops. A bit short-tempered and prone to hysterical outbursts, Lucretia prefers quick and effective assaults over long, drawn-out battles. Lucretia, who considers the Dark Elves the most prestigious race of all, hates Morene because she is half-Vampire." .~`# Regnier #`~. /_______________\ ROLE: Hero SKILL: Melee WEAPON: Two-Handed Giant Sword "About two years ago, the mysterious and brutal Lord of Hexter, Regnier, appeared from nowhere to aid Valdemar in crushing the rebellions. Compared to Humans, he has monstrous strength. The Orcs and Ogres who recognize his terrible, overwhelming power serve him with total and absolute loyalty." .~`# Cirith #`~. /______________\ ROLE: Officer SKILL: Melee, Magic WEAPON: One-Handed Sword "Self-centered and pretty, Cirith takes a somewhat air-headed pride in her heritage as a Dark Elf. She plays the part of Lucretia's butt-kissing lackey, but her true intention is to spy on Rithrin." .~`# Morene Strident #`~. /_______________________\ ROLE: Officer SKILL: Melee WEAPON: Iron Chain "A cold-hearted beauty who is despised by Lucretia for her overwhelming good looks and her heritage as a half-Vampire, Morene works as a supervisor just like Leinhart. Morene's lovely face hides a cruel and unfeeling heart. She sheds no tears over the pain or death of others, especially those who suffer at her hands." .~`# Urukubarr #`~. /______________\ ROLE: Officer SKILL: Melee WEAPON: Bare Hands "Simple-minded Urukubarr the Ogre was once Chief of Gorzanik, the most powerful of all Orc-Ogre tribes. He now defends the land of Hexter. Recognizing Regnier's overwhelming power, Urukubarr pledged his allegiance to Regnier on the condition that Regnier rule Hexter. Urukubarr will serve Regnier with absolute loyalty - even unto death." .~`# Leinhart #`~. /________________\ ROLE: Officer SKILL: Melee WEAPON: One-Handed Sword "Sent by Vellond to watch over Regnier. Leinhart was mesmerized by Regnier's power and charisma and now works covertly as his right arm. Although supervisors typically get reassigned to new areas every year, Leinhart remains in place because of King Valdemar's trust of Regnier. ___________ <|> KEY SPOTS <|> -) Ecclesia (- The current patriarch of Ecclesia is Dimitri the Third, whose religious ideology dictates the "Extermination of unconvertible barbarians and unification of Bersian Continent under one faith." Dimitri has taken over Azilla as a tributary nation while Azilla was in chaos over the king's throne. He considers the Ancient Heart to be a devil's artifact and will excommunicate anyone who speaks of or attempts to learn about it. -) Azilla (- Azilla fell into chaos after King Curian disappeared following the Second War of Heroes. Azilla was annexed by Ecclesia years later. Its current king, Angelo, is merely a figurehead controlled by Dimitri the Third. -) Hironeiden (- Hironeiden currently is ruled by King Saul. Though this nation generally follows the principles of Ecclesian Church, the constant conflict with the Dark Legion has created some doctrinal deviations. In general, the people of Hironeiden consider the Ecclesians a bunch of religious idealists who don't need to fight for their survival. -) Vellond (- Vellond's current king, Valdemar, is a half-Vampire just like Richter. He somehow managed to unify the ever-conflicting nations of Dark Elves, Orcs, and Ogres. But, it's an uneasy unity. The Dark Elves seek an opportunity to replace the half-Vampire king, who in their opinion belongs to an inferior race. To prevent this, Valdemar has placed half-Vampire supervisors to watch over the Dark Elves. -) Hexter (- Hexter is a commonwealth of Vellond, ruled by Regnier, whose primary residents are Orcs and Ogres. Some wonder why Regnier doesn't try to overthrow Valdemar, as he has ability to defeat Orcs and Ogres. Regnier remains open to this idea, but for now he has Valdemar's courtesy and trust. ______________________ /Movement/Tactics Mode/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This mode is similar to the Battle Mode, except it's more focused on troop formation, and organization skills. You'll spend a majority of your time in this mode, preceeding the battles. _____________________________________ | ____ | | [1]____ | | | | |### | [3] | [4]| | | ------ |____| | | | | | | [2] [5]| | >> | | | |_____________________________________| | [6] | |_____________________________________| [1] - Hit Points - Shows the life bar of each type of units in your Army. Levels of each are also displayed nearby. [2] - Mission Info - Shows important objectives such as time left, goals to meet, or other random info. [3] - Direction - A pillar of light should be shining in front of your Army. Move it to a location and press A to move your troops there. [4] - Mini Map - An enlarged view of the battlefield via overhead. Can be toggled on or off as wished. [5] - Troop Arrows - Show where friendliest troops are nearby, or where enemy units are approaching. [6] - Skill Points - These are necessary for performing special skills, abilities, and magic spells. Can be acquired by landing successive hits, and are wasted by performing the skills. - As stated before, Movement/Tactics mode is primarily an organization stage to the battle. Rather than jumping into the action, it more has to do with organizing troops and preparing yourself. Remember that this mode is dedicated to preparing troop formations, so do it wisely. You can also use abilities in the meantime to heal troops, or perform special abilities. Troop formations will also be listed. Here's a brief preview of what each type is: [ ABILITIES ] |===========|==========================================================| | Type | Examples | Effects | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attack | Meteor, Lightning | pure magic attacks | | Restore | Cure, Curatio | heals friendly troops | | Status | Elemental Boosts | boosts status or provides resistance | | Special | Scout | creates fast-moving scout | | ... | Self-Destruction | sends Ghoul to suicide on enemy | | ... | Call Support | calls for aerial-support unit | |===========|==========================================================| [ FORMATIONS ] |============|=========================================================| | Troops | Formation | Effects | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Infantry / | Tight | Increases defensive & offensive power | | Spearmen / | ... | Lowers moving speed | | Cavalrymen | Wide | Decreases defensive & offensive power | | ... | ... | Increases moving speed | | Long-Range | Tight | Narrows attack area | | Attackers | Wide | Widens attack area | |============|=========================================================| - Remember that the Black/White button allows you to shift formations before the battle begins. ____________ /Battle Mode/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This is by far the most fun you'll have with the game, since it's purely live battles mixed in with the commanding of your troops. It's like Lord of the Rings on some form of Vodka to the fifth degree. Battle can get chaotic, which is why you have role-play characters to assist you along the way. _____________________________________ | ______ | | [1]____ |## | | | |### | [3]--- | | ------ | | | | | | | | | | | |_____________________________________| | [2] | |_____________________________________| [1] - Allied HP - This shows the Hit Points of the currently friendly selected troop. Note that your current troop selected is usually circled by a green line. [2] - Skill Points - As from before, Skill Points allow you to use magic spells, abilities, and neat little tricks. SP can be acquired by slashing and hitting normal troops during the battle. [3] - Enemy HP - This shows the Hit Points of the opposing enemy at hand. The enemy leader is usually circled by a red line. - Remember that Battle Mode is similar to real-time combat, meaning you'll have to move your Hero/Officer manually. Heroes are generally more powerful than your typical troops, so press the attack buttons, use special skills, and try to focus on taking out the "opposing" leader. The entire troop will be decommissioned if you knock out the enemy troop leader. ___________ /Management/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Just because you can swing your mighty sword with ease, or make it look sweet while doing so, this does not warrant instant victory. Matter of fact, items only continue to get harder and harder as you move on. In a sense, Kingdom Under Fire is similar to Gladius. You're given the ability to upgrade your troops and characters by training, purchasing better equipment, or upgrading skill levels. -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 3) Gerald's Campaign - ============================ As we all know, Gerald is one of the "good guys" during the game, at least considered so by most players. After selecting campaign mode, it's recommended that you start with Gerald's campaign. His settings are as follow: + Difficulty: EASY + Region: Hironeiden + Race: Human Press A to enter his campaign. You'll be greeted by an intro AVI showing some of the programmers and Gerald leading his troops to the battlefield ahead. Start off by moving the joystick to the upper left, and pressing A in the distance to meet the green checkpoint. *A blimp will fly over above. Apparently, some of your friendlies have been testing out new arsenal acquired during the conflict. Interesting...* ______________________________ /Mission 1 - The Village (3.1)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Engage Dark Legion troops near burnt village Move to the upper left again, and you'll notice a burnt village. An entire village of innocent peasants has been killed! However, you will notice a Dark Legion Squad to your lower right. Gerald gives the command to charge. When you first get in, don't expect major results. The battle will be tight, mainly because it's your first time through. The A & X buttons attack. The X attacks seem to be lighter swipes, while the A does more powerful stabs/finishing moves. Try pressing A + X + X + X to do a powerful slash combo. Try to kill as many of the warriors as you can. Press A + X if you need help from one of your officers. Keep moving around, and Rupert will notice some Dark Archers in the distance. Concentrate on knocking off the remaining troops, as you have to reduce the power of the Dark Infantry units. Now, charge after the Archers to the north, and they'll cross the border. Your mission should be accomplished because they retreated past political lines. You probably will only get a small amount of experience or kills, due to your first battle. *After the battle ends, Ellen notices that the village was burnt down at least a day ago, which could mean the Dark Legion troops you just engaged weren't responsible for the burning. It doesn't make sense as to why the Vells would go back to a burnt down village. Gerald wants to return to Hugh at the castle to discover what to do next.* *Gerald reports to Hugh that Greyhampton was attacked by the Vells. You managed to capture one of the Vells by the end of the battle. Rupert wants to interrogate the prisoner to figure out what he exactly knew. Hugh orders the head of the prisoner to be posted on the gate after all knowledge has been recovered. What a ruthless bastard. Anyhow, two weeks pass, and General Hugh summons for all officers to meet at the main castle.* - Start off by clicking the Operations tab. You can't train yet, as this debriefing is of most urgent priority. *Hugh has received word from the Capital. War is upon us. We have been called upon to reclaim the Holy Ground lost nearly 50 years ago. An army from the capital will join us in Raven Meadow. Because of our unique knowledge of the landscape, we will lead the crusade. The Ecclesian Patriarch is sending the Holy Ground Reclamation Army. They're going to pass in from the north, and proceed to Holy Ground. Tomorrow you shall march on the enemy.* - Finally, we're given the option to do some freedom searching. You can do some eavesdropping in the Pub to find out the morale of your troops. Unfortunately, many of them are not suited, and realize they're just small pawns in a large war. Go to Training, so you can get use to the game. You'll have three different settings to train through. The first is typical battle. Charge the Dark Troops straight ahead, and slash away. Just use a mix of the A/X buttons to finish off opponents. This is quite easy, and you'll be done in only a few minutes. The next part involves using special moves. Press Y + Y to do Gerald's special. It's actually somewhat powerful, ranging from powerful spinning sword moves, to valiant charges. Try focusing your attacks on the enemy leader. She looks like she has a black encrusted shield with insignias on it. The third phase involves troop formations. Press the White/Black buttons to move your troops into different groupings. Try pressing the Control Pad, and up to use the Scout ability. This is great for spying on enemy formations to discover their levels and types of troops involved. You should be completed with the Basics. You'll actually gain some experience in this minute training mode. - Unfortunately, you cannot train your troops for the battle ahead. Simply head to the Main Gate, as we're ready for Mission 2. On the World Map, head to the lower right destination known as Raven Meadow. _______________________________ /Mission 2 - Raven Meadow (3.2)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Protect Sappers and Catapults by engaging Orcs > Recapture lost Catapults > Breach the wall and chase fleeing units *Hugh will inform you that this area is Heck territory. They will have several border guards on patrol, so keep alert. Hugh wants your Sappers and Catapults to concentrate on destroying their barricades. The rear force will attack the main defense, and provide cover for the support units.* - Press START to begin. Hugh will give some orders to arm the Archers, and ensure that the Infantry get out front to provide cover. The first rain of arrows will do very little. By the time the Catapults are readied, it's too late. The Orcs have charged. Your infantry units counter-charge, and it's time to kick some green butt. - Start off by immediately rushing the Orcs ahead. Look for the Orc who is in shroud black armor on top of a horse. This is the enemy leader. Focus your attacks and special spin move (Y + Y) on him. Your fellow troops will actually do quite good in this battle, so keep your attacks focused on him. Fend off any Orcs who try to nail you from behind. Once the leader is dead, this unit should collapse. Unfortunately, your fellow units are being flanked. Look to where the objective arrow is pointing, and press A by guiding the column out there. You should see a huge mass of troops. Now, start to engage the other squad of Ogres. This battle will be much tougher, as there are actually TWO leaders. The first Orc is the same as before, armed on a horse with black armor. Focus your attacks on him. If you have enough SP, a Y + Y special move will instant-kill him. Now, focus on the other leader. Trust me, you'll be able to notice this behemoth. - The second leader is a huge Ogre, usually 3 times as big as the normal troops. First of all, he seems to have a huge life bar, but it can easily be lowered by doing Y + Y special attacks and rapid X, X, X attacks. Try to slowly nail his life bar down with quick jabs. He has a powerful swipe fist attack that can knock you away. If you get knocked down during the battle, rotate the left joystick back and forth to catch your breath. Keep focusing till he dies. *Your Paladins will cast some healing spells to regain lost life. However, your fellow Sappers are under attack!* Start off by flipping to open formation by pressing the White button. Rush ahead, and you'll notice that another formation splits away from the Archers. Rather than chasing them, take out the Archers first. The leader should have a Black Shield/longer life bar than normal. The group is small, and try going to Close formation when you're close to them. Once they're finished, you should note that the Paladins are still having trouble. Follow the next green directional location on your map. Make sure you're in Open formation to get there quicker. Suddenly, a group of Dark Elves will approach from the right. Engage this formation first, and make sure you're in closed formation. One of the leaders will introduce himself. He's outfitted in a black uniform with a Sabre. Focus your attacks on him, but be careful, as he's very block-prone. When he charges with a red swirl, be prepared to block on each telewarp-swipe he performs. Again, use special moves and counter-attack him afterwards. Once he's dead, rush back, and engage the troops near your Archers. Your Paladins may be getting nailed, but the Archers are defenseless. - This battle with the large group near the Archers will have two Dark Elves leading them. Unfortunately, BOTH are well-disguised, meaning you're going to have a crapload of trouble focusing on reducing losses. I tried my best in taking out the masses and hoping for the best. You're majorly overwhelmed though, so don't feel deprived if you take heavy HP losses. Make sure you get Ellen to help when surrounded. *When they both die, you'll notice your sappers have been lost. Fortunately you still have the Archers and Catapults.* Enter open formation, and rush towards the Catapults past the pine trees. When you reach the opening, all has been lost. The Catapults are burning, and the north side has been breached. Suddenly, a group of Dark Cavalary Archers rush your position. They will start to circle you. It's futile to chase them down on foot. Thankfully, switch to the Archers unit by pressing L or R. Now, aim steady, and get the reticle on them in the distance to attack the Dark Cavalry. After a few circles, the horsemen should be knocked down. Make sure you enter Closed formation while on defense. Now, you'll have to rescue the captured Catapults. Rush to the next area with all troops. When you're close, have your Archers stop outside the perimeter, and have them attack separately from the distance. Meanwhile, Gerald's unit should charge in. Focus on the horsed Orc with black armor, as he is the opposing leader. Again, a few swipes here and there, plus a special move ought to put him down for good. Once defeated, you should have recaptured the Catapults. Move all troops towards the wall perimeter. *When you're in position, the order is given, and the Catapults are launched. The exterior wall is breached. Rupert says to give em' hell!* When you charge through, proceed to the next point with all troops. You'll eventually reach a wide open field, along with up to 7 Vell units. This is going to get rough. First of all, get your Archers in the open so they can attack approaching units. Enter Open formation with all troops, and charge. Unfortunately, all of the Dark Legion troops are retreating, so it's going to be extremely difficult to get any kills whatsoever. In my case, ALL units retreated and made it out alive. *Hugh congratulates you on your valor, and says they will camp at Raven Meadow tonight. After a night in the camp, rumors pass around that you've been promoted for your actions on the battlefield. You're now "General" Gerald, how fitting. You meet up with an old time friend, better known as Walden. After some chit chat, you have to report with Hugh to find out what's going on.* - Enter the Operations screen. *Hugh commends you on your key decisions. One of the interrogated Darks barked up that Regnier's troops are headed this way. Apparently, the leader who fled from before is holding the plans to the attack on your units, and he's hiding in Greywood Forest. One of your scouts has verified the intel, and Hugh wants the plans urgently. He will lend you a Spearmen troop to get there safely during the morning. Walden exchanges a few wise-crack words to you, and it ticks you off greatly. Ellen recommends you visit the Barracks for some equipment/training.* - Enter the Barracks tab. First of all, note that the Archers unit from before has now joined your "control." It should be led by a man named Eldric. You can now modify the soldiers, leaders, and troops inside your two units with better equipment, teach them new skills by spending EXP, and what not. Start off by purchasing the Lv. 1 One-Handed Axe for your general Infantry troops (2133 gold). You may also want to upgrade skills on Gerald and your other Archers unit by upgrading the leader's individual Melee/Ranged abilities. Some of them may learn a new skill. You can spend the rest of the gold on either armor upgrades, or what not. Right now, the changes are not important. NOTE: Equipment will change at the Barracks from time to time. Don't assume the same item will be in place each time you visit. Apparently, it uses a random item generator. __________________________________ /Mission 3 - Greywood Forest (3.3)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Fend off Cavalry ambush > Chase and destroy enemy leader on horse *Ellen spots something ahead. We're then debriefed with a small overview map of Greywood Forest. Apparently, they want the unit to circle around clockwise to clear out the opposing enemies. Note that they believe Cavalry are in the area, so use the spearmen to your advantage!* Start off by quickly rushing east. Engage the Dark Elves with your main force and Gerald. Their enemy leader is well-disguised amongst the regular troops, so don't get too flustered. Meanwhile, switch to Walden's Spearmen with R, and attack the Dark Archers in the distance. Make sure you target them by clicking with the red-highlighted cursor. While he's engaging them, finish off the Dark Elves, then help Walden finish off the Archers. Both leaders are weaker Dark Elf versions; nothing extreme to worry about. *Ellen will then notice the rest of the troops baiting you towards some heavily clustered area. Ah, what the hell, charge!* When you reach the wide-open field, prepare for an ambush. A small group of cavalry will charge your position. A short sequence is shown with the spearmen quickly eliminating the threat. Unfortunately, another series of them come, and it's much larger. You'll also have to deal with the manually. Quickly take control of Gerald's unit, and move them BEHIND the Spearmen unit. The long-piked fellows will automatically disperse and eliminate the horses. Repeat the pattern on any survivors (the cavalry will just circle around). Ellen believes there are cliffs to the south with the remaining dark units, so charge southward. Move to open formation and move south. Another ambush is in place up ahead. You'll have to use a "stealth" meter to make it past them. Basically, don't raise the suspicion meter too far. Anyhow, take hold of Walden's spearmen, and move them west. Make sure they're in closed formation not to raise any suspicions in the enemy's mind. Now, move him south when he's about a few clicks west. Move along the cliff edge, and start to move Gerald's unit near the edge of the forest. The two infantry units will charge blindly towards Gerald. Meanwhile, send Walden on attack mode towards the archers, and they will be engaged. Meanwhile, finish off the two remaining Dark Infantry units, and help Walden finish off the archers. The leaders are again, VERY hidden, making it hard to concentrate on a certain opponent to kill. Walden will do just enough to distract the archers from laying fire down on you. Afterwards, charge west towards the fleeing enemy leader. You'll be in plenty of thick brush now. Move to open formation as the enemy unit starts to flee. Now, here comes the tricky part. The fleeing unit will run to the NW, meaning you'll have to intercept it somewhere directly north. There's an enemy unit of Lv. 2 Dark Fighters to the Northeast that tries to join up with him unless you cut him off. Simply charge in between and move upper left to prevent both armies from joining. Look for the Elf riding the black horse, and focus your attacks on him. Do your special Y + Y move, combo attacks, and help from officers to finish him off. *After the battle ends, Walden says that you couldn't have done this without his spearmen. What a prick. Anyhow, Gerald assures him that he will receive a reward, and Walden heads back to base. You should do the same before another ambush pops up.* - Head back to Forward Base. Again, Walden criticizes you for hogging the spotlight. Sounds like nothing much to me. Hugh rewards you with a night to rest. *Ellen reports that all ranking officers have been called to a meeting. The leader you captured must have spoken some truth. Head to the Operations room. Apparently, Regnier is on the move, and is as close as the Glaucus River. His only way across is via a floodgate, which is too controlled by the Darks. Hugh says an assault will begin in four days along with a briefing, sounds like an important mission.* *Four days later, Walden is surprised by a surprise attack on Glaucus. We're to move via the rear, where General Hugh shall lead the way.* - Start off by equipping any new items to your troops, especially Gerald, such as a powerful Sword or accessory. You may also want to teach Rupert the Frontal skill, not to mention upgrading your Melee/Ranged techniques on your Officers. Try to upgrade your units' levels above 5. Enter the Main Gate when ready. Head over to Glaucus. __________________________ /Mission 4 - Glaucus (3.4)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Engage lured Orcs at Hugh's position > Disarm traps near river border > Open Floodgate > Rescue General Hugh *Hugh wants to take the floodgate before Regnier crosses, and also before the enemy can respond. You'll have to meet up with a group of Sappers after clearing out the initial enemy units. Have your sappers clear out the traps near the river bank, then rush the gate, and release the water.* Start off by moving south, and sending a Scout out. You'll see about (3) Dark Orc units around level 5. Hugh says that he will lure the enemy troops to attack him, then you shall flank them from behind with the suns to your back to prevent blindness. Move everyone to the rendevous to the point to the east, and wait for the three Orc units to follow after Hugh's diversion. Move south, then charge when you see a white "light" flare shot in the air. Quickly engage the Orcs using your Special Move to wipe out whole realms of them. Make sure your Archers attack as well, and widen the attack area via one of the hills. The Ogres will fall quickly and swiftly. Now, Hugh says to go northeast and rendevous with the Sappers. They're our only way of removing the traps near the river. Move northeast, and meet up at the marked point on your map. Unfortunately, you will be intercepted by a group of Dark Archers (in the forest), and Orc Infantry directly in front of you. You'll have to engage the Orcs first and foremost, because the Dark Archers cannot be hit in the forest (trees block your own projectiles). Focus on the Orcs, then shift to Standard formation, and rush the group of Archers in the forest. Their unit is small, so be swift, and concentrate on the leader. Once dead, the Sappers will join under your command. Move southeast to where Ellen marked on your map. Try to have the Sappers lead the way. Now, here comes the tricky part. In order to remove the traps, you must have the Sappers lead the way, and they'll start to detect [SKELETON] areas, which are marked usually with mines underground. To remove them, press the control pad, and select the "Remove" ability. Much like Gerald sending out a scout, the Sappers can remove the traps. After remove is selected, pick the reddish area that has traps. The Sappers should only spend a few moments eliminating the threats. There are about 3 "solid" clusters of mines in the direction of Ellen's arrow, so clear them out, then charge with the main force. There are some dark Archers in the distance that must be eliminated. Go to Closed formation to fend off the attacks, and slowly charge in. Take out the Dark Archers (very small group of units). Now, Hugh will start to lead the rest of the Dark Legion troops after him. Highlight the Sappers, and select the "Open Water Gate" command. Highlight it over the dam, and they shall open it. *A brief cutscene shows a hugh gush of water wipe out the remaining Orcs/ Elves that charged after General Hugh. Unfortunately, Hugh has been overrun by a large group of the remaining units. Ellen demands that your troops stay at the Floodgate to prevent Regnier from crossing. Rupert says that you must save the General. You decide to save the General and accept all responsibility.* Charge valiantly towards his position to the West. Be CAREFUL though. There are still some mine groups there, and it's best to have the Sappers lead the way. Try to defuse any in the way without letting your men be slaughtered. When you reach the battle, engage the mixed fleet of various units. You'll meet a new Dark Elf female called Lucretia. Apparently she has heard about you, the great Gerald. Doesn't look so positive right now. She has various magic moves, but most of them can be blocked and countered quite easily. *After a few bytes from the sound battle, Lucretia will flee back to the unguarded Floodgate because of your decision. Looks like Regnier will be uniting with her. This can't be good. General Hugh also suffered a horrible wound, and he's being rushed out of the battlefield as we speak.* - The battle should end, and Gerald gives the command to head back to forward base. *General Hugh is disgusted at you for saving his life, rather than holding the river bank. Now that Regnier's men have crossed, the scale of this war has magnified greatly. Hugh curses you, and orders you back to the forward base. Ellen is also pissed that you didn't hold the rivergate, as she's willing to sacrifice lives for the utmost mission. Regardless, Gerald prepares for the battle ahead.* - Before we may begin, we now have the options to upgrade MANY available stats on our units. The Sappers unit from the previous mission should have joined your Army unit. Now, you should have a hefty sum of EXP. Try to upgrade the main infantry unit under Gerald, and make them Heavy Infantry. Get your troops a decent shield for defense, and your ground unit should be fairly powerful now. Remember that you need to upgrade Gerald's (or any of the other two officers) skills to reach the required minimums (10 Melee rating). Secondly, also try upgrading your default Archers into Longbowmen. Shouldn't cost too much, EXP/Gold wise. You may want to teach Eldric a third skill which will combine well for future classes, or simply upgrade him with a powerful magic (I chose Ice). Also, try to look for an upgraded weapon for the Sappers unit, preferably a pick axe with special effects (found one with +20% EXP bonus). I love Engineers/Sappers, so that can also be considered personal biasness. Anyhow, head to the Pub when ready. *A small conversation between Rupert and Gerald shows that Walden has a true disliking for you since day one in basic training. It also appears that Hugh is looking for you, or so Ellen says.* - Select the Operations tab. *Hugh doesn't seem as treacherous as you'd expect. Seems somewhat jovial now that he realizes you saved his life, but still consequences you for disobeying orders. You shouldn't have saved Hugh's life, but rather held the river bank. Regardless of the task at hand, Regnier is approaching, and a new mission is at hand.* - Select the Operations tab, yet again. *Regnier is approaching faster than a broomstick caught on fire. Apparently, the enemy is headed towards Woodenshade, where there are hunky trees protruding throughout the area. The idea is to lure the Dark Legion troops into the woods, then unleash fire upon them. You will be informed more in-depth as you move further into the woods.* - If you have any more selections to do, do them now. Head off to the Main Gate. ______________________________ /Mission 5 - Woodenshade (3.5)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Torch the trees to ambush Regnier > Retreat and protect the King > Proceed to the northwest by taking out enemy units *A brief emotional speech is yelled out by General Hugh. Apparently, Regnier is an insanely powerful Ogre who shoots out lightning and has eight horns. In more seriousness, he's just an Orc/Human, and we (the humans) have the ability to use teamwork and overwhelm them.* *The plan is to taunt and lure Regnier, who will approach from the northeast, into the thick woods directly south, where Archers will stand by and lay ablaze to the forest with fire arrows. Hopefully, he shall be consumed by the flames, and the Majesty himself will lay a hand in this battle.* *Finally, one more victory speech is spoken. The Majesty and leader of Hironeiden is here in presence to watch over the battle. Regnier's appearance is that somewhat of a human, but apparently he's an Orcish bastard. Hugh gives the command to charge, and thus they do!* - Right when the charge begins, you'll have to face (2) Heavy Dark Orcs units. Use basic Y + Y special moves, along with Officer help, and typical beatdowns. There's no "true" leader of the Orcs, so kill as many as you can. Your Heavy Infantry should match well to there's. Meanwhile, switch to the Longbowmen unit, and have them move down to the southern position with the Majesty himself. Now, your men and Hugh will engage the Orcs for some time. When he gives the retreat command, use the minimap, and press Y at the designated green circle to retreat. When you get down there, wait a bit for the Orcs to enter the forest. Now, for the tricky part. Select the Archers unit, and press the control pad. Pick the Fire Arrow option, but don't select a radius. Hold down the mini-map with the ability selected, and fire at the orange-marked section on your map (which represents the area to be lit). Try 2-3 times to get it lit. On my try, I failed, and did very little damage. Light it BEFORE they get there, otherwise, it takes too long to repeat-fire and hope for the best. When the two Dark Orc units break through, their health should be lowered. Finish them off using combo attacks. *Suddenly, Regnier will walk out of the fire as if it was nothing. Hugh and Gerald tell their men not to fear, that he's simply another Ogre. Not quite if you ask me. Anyhow, his fellow Orc units charge your men.* You'll immediately spawn in yet another battle. Your HP loss from the previous battle will be minimized, but not quite fixed. As before, you wouldn't expect Regnier to be much of a threat, but I tend to differ. He's actually a level 50 leader, that seems to be "undamaged" by the fire lit in the forest. Anyhow, continue battling, and General Hugh will soon realize that the battle is no match for his men. Regnier is too powerful to humanly take down. He wants you to retreat and protect the King. Take Gerald's unit, and head west to the marked point. Make sure the King follows. Hugh will stay behind and die with honor. ************************************************************************ # ODD GLITCH # Killing Regnier * * ************************************************************************ - Believe it or not, you can actually kill Regnier and his level 50 army. The way the battle is scripted, you're suppose to send ALL units to the green marked points. I accidentally left my Longbowmen behind, and noticed that General Hugh's health was hardly falling. So I actually started to have my Archers constantly rain down fire on Regnier's unit engaging Hugh. Well, apparently, the battle is scripted so both Hugh's unit and Regnier's unit "disappear" from the map after you get past a certain radius. I actually managed to knock Regnier's health bar down to nothing, and he died. My archers even got experience for killing him! After I retreated the Archers to the spot (Hugh just stood there), then the game acted as if I never killed Regnier. Bah, short story short, it's unavoidable either way. *When all of YOUR units reach the marked area, Gerald will ask where Esse is located. Ellen responds by saying to the Northwest. There are probably enemy patrols nearby, so it's best to "scout" the area ahead to see what to expect. Protecting the King is your utmost priority.* This next part is tricky somewhat again, although VERY manageable under the right circumstances. Start to move north, but use the scout ability on Gerald, and send out a scout to the Northwest. You'll find about 2-3 Dark Legion Ogre units in the forest. Lure them out by sending the Scout near them, then rush him back using the Mini-map. Now, select the Fire Arrow ability on the Archers, highlight the opposing unit, and watch them fry. Most of the troops will be killed, with exception to arrows block by trees or aimed at various areas. If a Dark Orc unit rushes you, simply have Gerald charge out in front to engage them. Then, have the Archers pull back, and loose away at the exposed targets. The King will rarely get attacked. Move directly north once these units are cleared. Send another scout up. This time, there will be five small Orc units directly north in the forest. It's a tad trickier to lure them down, because the units will stop chasing the scout after a certain proximity. You MUST lure the first grouping of three down, because Fire Arrows will get blocked when fired upon. Get them fairly close, then try to toast them. Move to the northwest past the forest into the small opening, then slightly north. Watch for the two Dark Knight units (we don't want to engage them yet). Instead, focus on eliminating the remaining Dark Legion units to the east of your position by using fire arrows. You can use the scout-lure strategy, but, the distance between you and them is slim. You do not have to kill these units in the forest, but it's recommended as they can only be added to the fight later on. To the far north are two Dark Elf Knight units. They're slightly tougher than the Vells before, but it's a battle nonetheless. BE careful, since the second unit will charge your King while you are distracted with the first group. I had to retreat back to where my King was, and help fend off the remaining Vells. You may want to use Direct Arrow with your Archers to quickly kill most of the troops around the King. Once these two Dark units are knocked out, you can now head northwest to Esse. When the King arrives, the mission should be complete. *Rupert is deeply saddened due to Hugh's loss. Moreover, the King greatly mourns his sacrifice, but nonetheless, you must head to Castle Esse.* - Move up to Esse. *Ellen criticizes Rupert for wanting to go back to save General Hugh, who bravehearted himself for a just cause. Gerald orders Ellen to give out some extra food to boost soldier morale, and Gerald heads off to see the majesty.* - Select the Operations tab. *Gerald is promoted to the General status, after Hugh's death. Doesn't look too good in the political spotlight if you ask me. Walden approaches Gerald and "congratulates" him on becoming General. While he's obviously jealous of his upgrade, it came at the worst time with Hugh's disappearance. Walden also managed to come across a patrol during his mission. One of the supposed scouts had a parchment which explained that Sappers were arriving via the southeast within the next two days. Sounds like a day for an ambush.* - Let's make some upgrades with the newly acquired EXP. First of all, you should have plenty of EXP, perhaps TOO much at this point. I upgraded my Heavy Infantry into Knights, managed to make sure all units were lvl 15+, and got my Knights a high +Melee damage two-handed sword. This ensures that they'll be set for quite some time. Head to the Pub for the next demographic. *Rupert greets you as the "General." Anyhow, Walden sends some scouts out, and the Scouts report that the Hecks are closer than you thought. Gerald decides to try and intercept the enemy forces with a perceptible ambush.* ___________________________ /Mission 6 - Roserain (3.6)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Disable enemy scout unit > Plant traps to disable first Darks wave > Finish off remaining Dark Units > Setup marked traps before timer runs out > Destroy remnants of troop transport *Gerald's plan involves ambushing the enemy's convoy along a southern route. Unfortunately, there is a cliff blocking access directly down. We must head around this, ignore enemy units, plant the traps, then ambush them. If we get recognized early on, the battle will be hectic.* ^^NOTE: You'll receive a lvl. 9 Cavalry unit, so this should be interesting. - You'll have a time limit on this one, before the convoy arrives, which should make it somewhat "pressure-orientated." Start off by sending a scout to the east. You'll soon discover that enemy scouts are rampaging the forests as well. Bring up your Cavalry unit and attack the enemy scouts. They should die within a few seconds. Now, send all troops in open formation to the tip of the cliff. Continue to send your lone scout ahead to ensure no other units exist. Now, around the corner will be about (6) Lvl. 12 Heavy Orcs. Normally, this isn't a challenge, but it's unexpected at the time. Now, a small argument will ensue between Rupert and Gerald. If you check your map, you'll notice that there is a small rectangular portion selected where the traps are suppose to go. Set them slightly to the right of the marked area, like an arc, and about 6 in total. Don't worry, you can plant them in the open. - Now, move your normal troops behind the traps, and pull your Sappers back. Send a Scout to lure the heavy Orcs towards your position. They should plow into your wall of traps, then finish them off with your infantry. Now, proceed south around the cliff edge with all troops. You'll receive word that there's another formation of Darks to the south - two units to be exact. Engage this main force with Gerald and the Cavalry. Meanwhile, ship out your Sappers unit to the south where the area is marked with four squares. Plant the traps in each of the four squares, then a few more in between to ensure maximum damage. Now, lead all units to the marked "ambush point." You shouldn't have too much trouble with those Darks from before, although Curatio helps gain some life at this point. The game will then reload, give a EXP bonus, and the counter should leave. The troops will march on towards your traps. - Now, a majority of the troops will walk over the traps. Take your Cavalry unit, and set them after the back Orc Sappers. We want to prevent the Dark Legion from being able to disarm these traps. Also, have Gerald's unit rush the Scorpion unit (which should divert from the traps). The Scorpion is a powerful being similar to a large arachnid, except when surrounded, becomes quite useless. Watch out for the leader of the transport, which is a large red troll. He has many earth pounding attacks, so try to concentrate on him, to take his unit down quickly. Rupert can lay down some devastating pain in rememberance of General Hugh. The mission should be over when all enemies are killed. *After a joyous victory, you soon realize it was a complete joke. You run into a scrambling soldier who says that Esse was overrun by the Darks! The transport you engaged was just a foolish trap. Apparently, Walden fled with the King to Hironeiden, and everyone else at Esse was killed. That bastard Walden gave us bait information, and is now trying to brown-nose to be the King's General. Anyhow, head west to Halmoral.* ___________________________ /Mission 7 - Halmoral (3.7)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy enemy units to the right of the river > Proceed to north tip and nail fire arrows on opposite shore > Cross river and proceed to marked point *The road to Hironeiden has fallen to the Hecks, who also slaughtered everyone at Esse. You must cross this river at Halmoral in order to approach the capital where Walden and the King is.* - This is the first mission where you get to setup your own custom units, besides Gerald's himself. I chose my Sappers and Archers unit. - Start off by sending a Scout north. You'll soon discover two smaller Orc units along the river, not to mention a Dark Legion unit far up north (which is marked specially). Engage the two small Orc units along the river with Gerald and the Longbowmen. *Gerald will have a misfit, and freak out while attacking the Orcs. Apparently, he has some sort of personal vendetta against these wretched beasts. Nonetheless, a good drink ought to solve that. Ellen calms him down.* Also, make sure to take care of the lvl. 8 unit that rushes from the north. You'll hardly lose any life. Watch for the two Dark Elf units to the far north that will flank downward. You can either plant traps, lure them down, and ambush them. Or, you can light the forests with Fire Arrows, and then finish off the remaining ones. Either way, focus on their leader to kill them quickly, as the elemental boosts will do more damage against your lack of resistance. Once they're both dead, send a Scout across the river. There are about 7-8 Dark Archers units. This is a whole crapload. Apparently, they have some form of knowing you were coming. *After a bit, Rupert suggests that your men use Fire to flush the Dark Elves out, but at the same time, that would also slaughter your men - or so you'd think.* - Move to the very top of the river. Look at a small lip that sticks out along the land. Now, set a point for your Longbowmen to stand, and launch fire arrows directly across on land. Some of the trees should catch on fire. This will scare off most of the Dark Elves stationed there. When they move south, WAIT for the flames to die down. Then, move across, and you have two choices. You can attempt to kill some of these Archers units for some needed EXP, or simply rush south along the western edge to the point. I'd rather kill some of the units. Be weary of the lvl. 25 ones though, as they're much tougher. - Head off to Hironeiden. *Gerald is anxious to see the King after the disaster at Esse. At the Operations tab, we soon learn that Captain Walden was captured while helping the King retreat to Hironeiden. Sounds a bit fishy if you ask me. Anyhow, the King understands that the Dark Legion threat is too much to handle alone. He wants you to escort some messengers to the Dwarves and Elves kingdoms in exchange for assistance in this war. As we know, they will not refuse knowing that they're next if Hironeiden falls. It's up to you General Gerald.* - Enter the Pub. *You inform Ellen and Rupert of the King's news. Rupert is eager to help out, and wants to escort the messengers to the Elven kingdom. Gerald will go along with Rupert for the time being for a little push-off towards the Heck-filled area.* - Don't forget to upgrade your army as usual. You should truly have Knights by now, and ensure that your Cavalry unit is upgraded to full strength along with the other units. It would be best to hire a Mercenary, and you can do so by visiting the Pub >> Selecting Hire Mercenaries. Now, there are various types, and because of Rupert's departure, you'll also have to fill a spot in Gerald's unit. Typically, one of the best officers you'll find out there is a Wizard, who is usually a gray-haired lookalike Dwarf who has a hood. This is the most primitive form of Wizards. You'll also find other Sorcerers such as the gray-haired man with a curl near the back of his head, or the man wearing a hood. Either way, try to get a magic user in Gerald's unit. It'll balance the lackof, therefore. You can check out the "full" list of mercenaries under the Jobs section. I personally took one of my former leaders, moved him to Gerald's unit, then created a Mercenary, and upgraded the previously futile unit to a Mortar unit. Make sure you get heavy Cavalry, or something with a speed rush. Proceed to Stormdeen. ____________________________ /Mission 8 - Stormdeen (3.8)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Flank west along the wall > Escort Rupert's unit to marked point in northeast corner *The path to the next area is via the Northeast. Unfortunately, it appears that many enemy patrols are in the direct path to it. We may have to circle around via the woods to avoid detection. Rupert will be leading Paladins to the destination. Their healing spells should let them survive over time. You'll be forced to use a Paladin/Infantry unit.* - Move a scout directly ahead through the flaming wall, and you'll be astonished by the overwhelming amount of enemies. Some of the units are lvl. 100. Anyhow, enter the crack in the wall, and head west. As you'll notice, there are several enemy units in the forest as well. Proceed under the Scorpion not to alarm it, although you probably should engage the lvl. 12 Orc unit patrolling. Once that's down, move onward west. Again, there are another 5-6 units up north that patrol in patterns. Your best bet is to continue west, but keep Rupert out of the action. You'll probably have to engage another 4 Dark units. You can attempt to lure them away, but they're fairly low level-wise, and shouldn't lure TOO many troops towards you. Concentrate on their leaders, as that's the easiet way of finishing them each time. After destroying 3-4 units, send a scout against the west wall, and proceed north. Keep your troops in safe measure. - Again, if you scout north, you'll discover a "line" of Scorpions against the northern wall. You'll have to lure them south with a scout, or attempt to distract them while moving on up. I personally slaughtered my way through the entire battle. Don't even think about trying to "distract" the troops and get Rupert to the end, as it can only spell more doom. Don't move to the upper NW corner all the way. Go slightly south from the last forest patch, and send your scout west. Now, try to lure the line of 3-4 Scorpions south so they're laying in the plains. Then, you'll move your troops horizontally east via the forest where the Scorpions were before to the point. HOWEVER, be very careful. There is a lvl. 21 Dark Archers unit right in the middle, south of those Scorpions. Your scout will keep getting shot whenever you try to lure the Scorpions down. - Here's the trick. Get within range of the Dark Archers so they set an attack command on you. Now, retreat to the far northwest corner with both units. The Dark Archers will chase Rupert's unit. He might take some damage, but just use Curatio. Now, charge with Open formation at the distracted Dark Archers who were lured over. Now you can easily rape them up close. Now, send your scout west and lure the Scorpions down. Move west, in closed formation, through the forest. You'll notice (2) Lvl. 6 Dark Fighters near the very north. DO NOT underestimate these fools. They'll start to cast Meteor on your units. Start off by giving Rupert's unit the command to charge the NE corner. Meanwhile, have Gerald's unit enter Open formation and charge the Lvl. 6 Dark Fighters to the south. All you need is for Rupert to get inside the green circle. You'll notice a special mage in the forest...which you can't attack. Anyhow, keep casting Curatio on Gerald & Rupert's units while they make the final charge. Once Rupert's in, mission accomplished. *Rupert says goodbye to everybody, and Ellen gets slightly tearful. Guess she has something for those big delts, huh?* - Head back to Hironeiden. *Two months pass by. Apparently, no word has arrived from the messengers. Not to say that Rupert is a lazy fool, but the King is somewhat impatient that the enemy has yet to attack Hironeiden. They're truly trying to starve us out. Ellen still worries about Rupert.* - Prepare your units. Once you're ready, head to the Main Gate. ___________________________________ /Mission 9 - Outer Hironeiden (3.9)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Hold off the oncoming Undead/Ogre/Scorpion rush *Gerald wants to check the outer wall of Hironeiden, as he is anxious to know why the enemy has gone "missing" recently. Check out the eastern wall and report back.* - You'll start off by being given the choice to add one free unit. Get something with range, either Longbowmen, or Mortars. Sappers/Pyros can work as an alternative, but it's much easier with Archers of some sort. *A brief FMV shows many of the soldiers speaking about how they'd love to have a juicy steak, or some mashed potatoes. As you know, the Dark Legion has been starving off supplies from Hironeiden for quite some time. Suddenly, Undead bash through the walls, and rain down terror. Gerald gives the command to retreat to the inner wall.* - This mission is all based around protecting the Wall HP. It's a small bar in the lower right corner. Try not to stray off too far, as you need to protect the wall from all entirety. This means the north and south sections as well. Start off by moving your units slightly east of the wall, preferably a 1/2 inch across the mini-map. Now, set your long range unit (preferably Mortars, although Longbowmen work) slightly behind your main attack force. Your Paladins should cast down Curatio from their abilities list on the Undead Ghouls that charge Gerald's unit. This will help reduce some of their health. It has a hefty SP cost, so be weary. Meanwhile, give your Mortars the attack command from the back row to pelt down the Undead that rush right into your trap. The Undead units of Ghouls are usually led by tall-looking Ghoul Ghosts, so concentrate your special moves on them. They're fairly weak when ganged up on. - A second series of enemies will approach. This time, some Orcs will be mixed in. Try to lay down Curatio on the Ghouls, although it'll be tough. I found it best to have your Paladins cover the south section, while Gerald hits the north. Your mortar should be in the middle, and reign down support fire to both columns. When the Scorpion rushes along with 2-3 other units, gang up on the Scorpion with a special move. They have a powerful claw which can rip the Wall's health down rapidly. Kill these at all costs. The Undead have plenty of life, but HE and mortar make them fairly easy to beat. The third wave is tougher. They'll actually spread out. Again, cast your spells, and try to get as many ranged attacks in. Make sure you take care of the Scorpion to the north first. - The fourth series of enemies and beyond will be a complete pain in the arse. You're going to see up to 12+ enemy units on screen. I tried to get my Mortars behind Gerald's unit, and simply pound away, inch by inch, at the enemy. Keep the pressure mounted down. Eventually, your Paladins should get overrun along the south, and the wall will start to take damage from suiciders. Keep focusing on killing the leaders and Scorpions you are entangled with. The battle will eventually get so chaotic that Ellen collapses, and prays for something good to happen. *Rupert returns, with a whole flock of Dwarves and Elves beside him. They should rain down a large line of explosive materials on top of the poor Undead. Mission accomplished, by a daisy too! Rupert mocks Ellen for crying out Gerald's name on the battlefield, and Gerald tells them to both shape up.* *The King thanks the Dwarves and Elves for saving Hironeiden from its greatest peril. The Elves reveal their position about how they want to gain control of the Ancient Heart. The King dismisses it as nothing more than blasphemy, or so the Patriarch says. The Elves believe the Ancient Heart has a greater power, and whoever controls it, can control ultimate power. The Elves and Humans must fight back for the Holy Ground, regain the Ancient Heart, and seal it away forever. Hironeiden must retake the Holy Ground, while the Elves and Dwarves search for the Heart, in exchange for their support of course. The King orders Gerald to ready the army within one month.* - Enter the Pub. *Rupert and Ellen both worry about the Elves, although they don't really mind the Dwarves tagging along. Seems like these small creatures have some problem with Humans perhaps? One month will pass by, and Rupert says it's time to leave.* - Before heading off, Rupert has now rejoined Gerald's unit. You might want to reorganize the man you placed in his spot. Secondly, you should have a smaller amount of EXP than as before. You'll have plenty of gold, but try to keep a 1,000+ EXP reserve in case you need to make an "emergency" unit before a mission. Usually you'll want something left over to transform a current unit into something more powerful, like Bomber Wings. Anyhow, now's the time to upgrade Gerald's unit to the max, especially equipment wise. Secondly, give your Mortar items as much as possible to make them effective during combat. Don't worry too much about the Paladins. While they're useful during battle, I really don't prefer using them against the dead. Head off when you're ready. - Head northeast to the Posterus Green. *Rupert reports that there is a Heck camp to the southeast. It looks like a small village, but there are about fifteen units and some Scorpions. Looks like it's nukem time. Gerald is determined to kill these swines, regardless of whether or not victory is spelled by it.* ___________________________________ /Mission 10 - Posterus Green (3.10)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy the (10) Orc Camps > Head back to NW corner for extraction *The mission is simple. Gerald does not want the Hogs being able to build on Hironeiden land. Your mission is to destroy all of the Hog buildings by burning them down.* - First of all, you'll be locked to use your Archers and Gerald's unit. You can only have one free one. I selected to use my Sappers unit. If you don't have a Catapult unit, try placing in your Mortars, Sappers, or someone with close combat abilities. Getting another ranged unit will NOT help, as you can get flanked at times. Cavalry are useless on this mission, due to the heavy forests. - As stated before, this mission is more about "burning down", rather than slaughtering everyone. It's still a great experience boost if needed. There should be a lvl. 16 Orc unit in front of you. With your ranged units, attack and lure the unit towards you. Take it out. Shouldn't be too much trouble. Head east towards the opening where the spotted Orc Buildings are. Watch out for another lvl. 16 Orc unit to rush you. There are Dark Archers to the south of where you originally spawned, not to mention southeast of where the buildings are. Raze them down with fire arrows or have the Sappers burn them. Take out any units that lure near you. You'll find one northwest of the initial village. Burn that one down as well. Now, move to the far northeast corner, and you'll find another small establishment. Another two establishments are directly south of this one. You should have 5 Orc camps left at this point. Head to the center of the map where the large opening. Meanwhile, you'll probably get rushed by two Heavy Orc units from the south. Just keep the Archers back, and have Gerald focus on their individual leaders. - Two more camps are in the middle. Some Orc infantry will rush from the south, but it's nothing to worry about. You can try using your Scout to lure the Infantry into Archer fire/traps, then halt the fire, and counter-rush with Gerald's unit. Now, head into the thick forest south with all units. Only 3 camps should remain. Watch for a cluster of Orc units near the middle. Now, there are two more camps southwest of these two directly in the middle. They're along the far lower borders of the map, fairly unguarded. You can burn them down with the Sappers while your other units engage the Hogs. Now, proceed east. In the lower right corner should be the last Orc establishment, quite a large place if you ask me. Have your Sappers burn it down, and retreat slightly west. Wait for the Dark Archers to come from up north. Have your Archers counter with some fire arrows to repel them. *Gerald says it's time to return to Esse. Let's move!* - Head to the NW corner where you first started. Remember, there are still some scattered units throughout the forest. Mainly though, they're isolated, unorganized, and not threats to be worried about. When you reach the red zone, heads up for a heavy lvl. 24 Ogre unit. It'll be lead by a giant troll. Concentrate on the leader as usual, using your special, Rupert, and Ellen for assistance. He'll take some of your troops' life away quite quickly, but he'll eventually die by your hands. *Gerald and Rupert still aren't satisfied, seeing that Regnier still breathes life as a simple Orc. Ellen really doesn't give a crud about their mumblings.* - Head to Castle Esse. *Esse is still intact for some odd reason. Matter of fact, the Ecclesians are here, and it seems like something is up. Gerald goes to find out. It ends up that the King called in for the Patriarchs to help. Captain Walter is there to assist them. Apparently, the Patriarch Army is having trouble battling Regnier. Their Storm Riders are proving to be fairly useless, since it's during their rampant mating season. The Ecclesians never helped Hironeiden during its time of distress, but now the Reclamation Army wants help at the Holy Ground. In exchange, if you help them, they will provide assistance in rebuilding Hironeiden, not to mention holding no grudges. And thus, the deal is made between the Ecclesians and Hironeiden.* - Enter the Pub to discover more helpful info. *Gerald informs Rupert that Regnier is still at the Holy Ground, and Rupert let's a sense of Hugh's vengeance ride within him. Also, one of the soldiers feels honored to serve under Gerald's valor at the Hironeiden battle.* *The King orders Gerald to go give aid to the Ecclesians, according to the alliance. He wishes good luck to you. Gerald, Rupert, and Ellen express their opinions. Gerald has a particular interest in spurting the blood of the Hecks all over the place. Yeesh.* - As usual, upgrade your character. TRY at all costs to get a Bomber Wings unit ready by wasting away your Sappers. The Bomber Wings are almost necessary for the next mission as a support unit. - Enter the Main Gate, and proceed southeast to Nymphbarren. ________________________________ /Mission 11 - Nymphbarren (3.11)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Fight off initial wave of Dark Legion units > Protect Ballistae so they may engage Swamp Mammoth > Protect Ecclesian Infantry unit to NW > Proceed to SE corner to engage Regnier *Gerald gives quite possibly his best speech as of yet. The battle fought today will be supported by Storm Riders from the Ecclesians, not to mention the fact that we must assist the Ecclesians who have been overrun by Dark Legion forces. Today you must exact your vengeance against the man who took the life of General Hugh - Regnier!* - This mission is one of the huge party fests you're going to fight out. You'll automatically be assigned to use Gerald's unit, and the Ecclesian Storm Riders. A huge recommendation on my part is that you create a Bomber Wing unit from your own party, and add them into the remaining slot for a Support Unit. For the two free slots, add Mortars/Heavy Cavalry & Longbowmen. You will need Longbowmen to engage the flying units of the Dark Legion, so it's absolutely necessary. I prefer Mortars for their ground fire, although Heavy Cavalry are great on counter-rushes. - Let's start off by saying this mission is NOT like your typical one. You'll start off by receiving "Support" units, which are more of the less called in on demand. They're not active units. Select Gerald's unit, hit the control pad, and select one of the support units. Remember, Bomber Wings and Storm Riders are effective, but only with supporting units in position. Sending a Storm Rider against a group of Archers will only get you slaughtered. Same can be said about Bomber Wings. Get the enemy distracted on the ground with default forces, then drop in Support for extra power. Now, you'll also receive "bonus" units that are non-commandable, but help distract the main Dark Legion forces. They will move by themselves. Now, start off by rushing your Cavalry towards one of the frontline forces. The way the battlefield is setup is like this: ARCHERS <--- Let your initial forces engage the main infantry next to each Dark ENEMY ARCHERS Archers unit. Rush your Heavy Cav. in towards the Archers on sweeping ENEMY attacks, and have your ranged unit ARCHERS (preferably Mortars) lay down ENEMY rounds on the bulk of Ogres engaging your bonus units. Have Gerald's unit ARCHERS engage the southern flank. ENEMY - Once your forces have ripped apart the initial lines, a second wave of Dark Legion troops will appear. The problem, a Swamp Mammoth appears. This gigantic creature can absolutely crush you unless you have Ballistae to counter it. While this seems good on paper, it's tough to sketch out. Have Gerald's unit retreat to the back line where a marked zone is, as to where the Ballista unit is going to arrive. Meanwhile, move your Mortar up near the middle flank, and have them lay down fire on the infantry bulk engaging your troops. Send in your Bomber Wings and Storm Riders to attack the Orc troops in the center as well. AVOID the archers. Have your own Archers protect the opposing units by shooting out the Wyverns in the sky. The Ballistae will move by themselves towards the Mammoth, but it's best to lay down some ground fire with the Mortars on the Mammoth and opposing Dark Archers near the hills. Make sure you have your Longbowmen back to help shoot off the nearby Wyverns. - After most of the default Orcs are killed, watch for a quick rush of about 7 units from the southeast flank. They'll try to get your Ballistae from behind. Have Gerald's unit, the Longbowmen, and the Mortar lay down fire as you engage the large flank. Be careful not to kill yourself with bomber wing fire. After this initial flank is destroyed, rush towards the Swamp Mammoth, have your support units attack it, along with protecting the Ballistae. Now, comes part two. - Some Ecclesian soldiers are in the northeast corner. Their unit is marked with a green circle. You MUST keep them alive long enough, based on the bar in the lower right corner. Get Gerald's unit next to them if possible, and keep casting Curatio, while your Mortar takes care of the surrounding Archers. Bomber Wing the large groups of Orcs that appear from the northwest. *One of the Ecclesian soldiers said a horned demon was to the southeast slaughtering each and everyone of them. Gerald decides to split the forces. Half will proceed onward via the northeast into the Holy Ground, while his personal elite units go to combat Regnier to the southeast.* - Send all of your guys down to the southeast. Keep your support units backed out for the time being. *When Gerald's unit breaks the perimeter zone, a brief FMV is shown. Gerald gives one last emotional speech saying how this is the day we fight for our king and country. Of course, he's really doing it to avenge Hugh.* - Regnier is a powerful lvl. 50 foe that can't quite be beaten with sticks and stones. Keep on engaging him briefly and swiftly. After a minute or so in the battle, a FMV takes place. *A video shows Regnier kicking butt. He's about to whack Gerald in the head when Rupert attempts to save him, and kicks his butt. Regnier gashes steel into Rupert's chest, and he dies. Gerald collapses in the battlefields from emotions. He awakens to see the sky, and oh, a friggin' Battaloon (thank god for the powerful Ecclesians). Two days later, we're brought forward to Gerald and Ellen looking into the distance at the Holy Ground site. Apparently, Regnier has been defeated, or so we believe. One of the soldiers discovers something on the ground, preferably the Ancient Heart...we may never know, until the next campaign of course.* =-= It's a new age... =-= _ _ _ _+ | THE END -- Part I /_`-'_`-'_`-'_| \+/ | \_`M'_`D'_`C'_| _<=>_ | `-' `-' `-' 0/ \ / o=o \/\ ^ /`0 | /_^_\ | || || ______________|_d|_|b____ -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 4) Lucretia's Campaign - ============================ As we all know, Lucretia is one of the "bad girls" during the game, at least considered so by most players. After completing Gerald's campaign, it is recommended that you take up Lucretia's one. Her settings are: + Difficulty: NORMAL + Region: Vellond + Race: Dark Elf Press A to enter her campaign. *We're brought to a desolate land where we see Lucretia and her troops marching inside this location. Apparently, some Dwarves have decided to build a dragon tomb inside Dark Legion territory.* ___________________________ /Mission 1 - Dryglade (4.1)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Find Dragon Tomb > Destroy lone human infantry unit - Your mission is to continue marching south. Proceed onward. When you reach the green zone, Morene, Cirith, and yourself start arguing over the stupidity of the tomb. Anyhow, search for this now in this orange zone. You'll find the Dragon Tomb in the lower right section of the orange zone. *After its discovery, Morene claims that the Liches can now summon Bone Dragons thanks to this handy little artifact. Suddenly, a group of human infantry charge your Elf unit!* - The battle will be tougher than when you used Gerald, because of Lucretia's playing style, and how the Dark Elves kick butt on paper. For starters, Dark Elves are all about speed, agility, and quick attacks. They will not shred their enemies into pieces of mallard with one swipe. Rather, try to use the extreme combos and power moves to spin around the battlefield, almost doing "constant" damage. Again, Lucretia's special is based around the Y button, (Y+Y), and it involves a few spiral slashes with a leaping downward slash. Very powerful indeed. Another nice little combo is X+X+X+X+A+A+A+A+A+A which will do a plethora of slashes. Lucretia cannot block, but rather "invisi-evade" by warping from spot to spot. Use this often to avoid attacks. Just move around the battlefield slaughtering the Infantry unit. If you get ganged upon, use your officer's help. *After defeating the infantry unit, your Elves wonder how humans are this far into Dark territory. Suddenly, Morene says to come to the cliff. We're brought to notice that there are 4-5 Catapults, several infantry divisions, and just a huge group of humans marching towards this dragon tomb. You are to head back to your patrol base, and inform the leader of the humans' movement.* - Head NE to Scimeterdell. *Lucretia informs Rumen (her Captain), that an overwhelming amount of Hironeidens are marching into Heck territory. Rumen orders you to fall back to Arein to slow down the humans, in exchange for receiving reinforcements from the Dark Legion capital. Head off to Wicktow to intercept the humans.* - Head north to Wicktow. __________________________ /Mission 2 - Wicktow (4.2)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Ambush human forces in southwest > Rescue Rithrin to north > Take out Storm Riders with Archers > Finish off remaining humans in southeast corner *The mission is quite simple. The Humans must approach from the SW in order to pass through this area. You are to head to the middle western area, hold it, then Lucretia's unit must engage the Catapults in the back line before taking out any infantry. The catapults can do extreme damage and are your utmost priority.* *Another FMV is shown with the Dark Legion troops lined up against the humans with their catapults. Suddenly, heavy cavalry rush the Elves, and it's all looking bad. However, Rumen calls for the Axemen forward, and they easily mow down the cavalry. Then, both lines charge towards each other.* - Don't worry about the Catapults for now; they won't lay down any fire until you kill this infantry unit. Concentrate on the soldiers, and try to search for their leader. His armor is usually more exceptional than usual. Use elemental boost in between the battles to give you ice, fire, and lightning on attacks. After destroying this initial unit, Rumen wants you to rush the Catapults while she keeps the infantry busy. Rush the Catapult unit to the south. You'll find the leader as one of the most prominently dressed. Focus all of your blinding attacks on him, and try getting use to Lucretia's special move. Once he's down, the entire unit should fall. Go give reinforcements to Rumen's unit up north, and fend off the two remaining infantry units. *Everyone is glorified over the victory today. Unfortunately, some of the troops have taken damage, and must be healed under an illusionary Tree of Healing. Pretty tasty if you ask me.* - Follow Rumen's unit up north, and you'll discover another band of Vells being chased by humans. Go attack the humans by entering open formation. Cast Elemental Boost right before you hit them, to give you a clear-cut advantage. Engage the main infantry using a plethora of attacks. Be weary though. A group of human archers will appear slightly north of this initial group. Open the mini-map, and give the command to go engage the Archers. Their unit is fairly weak, and you'll find the leader to be the only well-suited one. Take him down, to bring the Archers unit down in a breeze. Then, charge back south, and the infantry unit from before should be dead. Rejoin Rumen's command, and follow her. *We soon learn that the man retreating with the archers was actually Rithrin. Apparently, he and his units were defeated at Raven Meadow by a man named Gerald. Sounds familiar, huh? Lucretia knows him from before - looks like they had a fling of some sort.* - As you move east, you'll run into a small group of Storm Riders. Highlight the Archers, and give them the command to attack those cursed birds. They'll go down fairly quick actually. Seems like the humans are very near to attacking full-breach. Keep following Rumen's unit. Eventually, you'll run into a series of three infantry units to the south, with an Archers unit in the back supporting them. Rumen wants you to flank west, attack the Archers in the back, then help her back in the front while she distracts. Move all of your units SW towards the marked point. Unfortunately, you'll note that there's a lvl. 2 infantry unit protecting the back flank from attack. Looks like it's gonna get tricky. Take out this infantry unit first, and wait for Rumen to engage ALL 3 infantry units. If you rush too soon, you'll be engaged by the infantry, and probably slaughtered. Right when all 3 are lured up, open charge the Archers. Concentrate on their leader, then help out Rumen finish off the 3 infantry units. Have the Archers lay down fire on the other unit while you're attacking one. *Since Rithrin came from Raven Meadow, and was heavily outnumbered, Rumen starts to ponder where the humans would be camping base-wise. The most obvious choice is fairly close to Raven Meadow. She wants Lucretia to take Rithrin and some Cavalry units. Go burn down their storage supplies, to help cleansen the way for Regnier.* - Head to the Valley of Lichen. Along the way, Lucretia is somewhat angered with the way Rumen is ordering her around. She's apparently serving the half-vampires too eagerly. ___________________________________ /Mission 3 - Valley of Lichen (4.3)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Kill initial enemy scouts with Cavalry > Take out enemy units near proximity of base > Take out enemy units inside base *Apparently, we know there's an enemy base around this area somewhere. Their base is somewhere to the northwest. You must light them up with a sizzling fire to help cut off their supplies to the main forces.* - Start off by moving south. Morene will notice some scouts in the distance. Send the Cavalry in open formation to charge and kill the enemy scouts before they reach back to their base. Now, move all of your forces into the open field. Suddenly, about 3-4 human infantry units will notice you. Cast Elemental Boost, and engage the first line. Have your Cavalry do repeat charges on the opposing unit by retreating in and out, charging, and attack. Have your Archers assist Lucretia's unit with ranged attacks, then focus on the third unit. Most of these units have disguised leaders, so it'll be tough for quick kills. Cast the Tree of Healing after the battle is through, then head south with all units. Move east into the forest, then head right. You'll run into another lone infantry unit. This time though, it has some Archers to the east supporting it. Have your Cavalry rush and engage the Archers, while Lucretia & Rithrin take out the infantry. Move to help afterwards. *Another incident breaks out on the battlefield. Lucretia wants to kill Morene badly, but Morene is more disciplined in her actions and stays away keenly. She says that there are Archers in the distance, and this incident is more important than a feuding quarrel.* - The two Archers units are in the southeast corner. They're higher than normal, level-wise. Hence, enter closed formation with the Cavalry and Lucretia's unit when approaching. The Cavalry should take the unit in the lower right, while Lucretia's attacks the Archers above the lower one. You'll find the Archers easy to slaughter for Lucretia, although your Cavalry won't do exceptional damage. Flank downward and finish them off. Now, cast a Tree of Healing. Head north. You're going to run into some tougher resistance. The enemy base will be in the northeast corner, however, there will be a lvl. 10 Knights unit, and lvl. 5 Archers in the back row. As usual, send your Cavalry at the Archers in the back row to distract. Hopefully you'll have enough SP to cast an Elemental Boost to take down the Knights quicker. If not, simply keep slicing and dicing throughout the battlefield. Call upon Cirith's Lightning attack to knock off their HP. They don't really have a leader, so it'll be tough to focus attacks. Once the Knights are down, rush the remaining Archers, and concentrate on their generic leader. After both of these units are destroyed, the enemy camp is now yours. Mission accomplished. *Again, Lucretia claims the rivalry between her and Morene isn't over. As usual, they use the b-word quite often, in almost a fashionable sense. It's time to head back to Arein.* - Head back to Arein, capital of the Dark Elves. *Each of the characters mention their memories of Arein. Morene wonders how a human castle was built here.* - Head to the Barracks if you want to upgrade troops. For now though, go to the Pub. *Apparently, Lucretia still despises Rumen for being such a bloodsucking loyalist. Rithrin makes mention of the Kaedes, which are High Elf Rebels who want their own nation, as opposed to the Dark Legion alliance of Elves, Orcs, and Half-Vampires. Rithrin claims Regnier really doesn't care; he wanted control of Hexter, that's all. Anyhow, Lucretia is to report to the castle.* - You can now hire mercenaries, which is fairly cool for only the fourth mission. Head off to the Operations room for now. *Apparently, Captain Rumen wants you to head off to the Glaucus River. Word has been received that Regnier will be crossing there, and a floodgate helps control the upstream river. If the humans were to attempt to cross there, and gain control of the Floodgate, Regnier would have serious problems. You are to watch over some Orc Sappers who will lay mines to protect the river, and ensure defense over the Floodgate at all costs.* - Now, let's upgrade some characters. Lucretia will be your prime importance, since she's the only one you control. Remember, it's better to get awesome early weapons, rather than later on when they'll have extreme costs. Remember, she's the only Dark Elf who wields TWO weapons at once, so you can double the power. Try to get (2) +DMG swords, or at least one that has Lightning added to attack. Don't worry about armor for now, none of it should be interesting. Get Lucretia to at least lvl. 10, and don't forget to upgrade your officers from the 7-9 range. Upgrade the entire unit to Dark Elf Knights. Get Rithrin's unit up to lvl. 10 as well. If you want, you can add a few levels to your Cavalry, although it's "really" not necessary. Let's hire one mercenary as well. You really have two choices as to which one to get. You can either get a Power Ogre, and try to build up a large melee unit. That, or you can sift aside, and pick up a Lich, which is capable of casting in-battle magic. The Lich "sounds" more exciting, but it needs some resources invested to become a powerhouse unit. Either way, try to get an Orc unit, since they have plenty more jobs to select from. Chief Orcs are a waste of time in my opinion, unless you want to get Orc Riders. I ended up getting a Scorpion, led by one of the Power Ogres. - Now, head off to the Main Gate when you're ready. Proceed NW to Glaucus. __________________________ /Mission 4 - Glaucus (4.4)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Fend off Human troops on south side of river > Chase Hugh > Lure Gerald to Hugh by taking away Hugh's health > Run back to Floodgate after battling Gerald briefly *The plan is quite simple. Regnier will be crossing the river soon. Our Orc Sappers have planted traps, and are guarding the rivergate in the NE corner. All you have to do is defend the Orcs from getting out of hand, or so you think.* - You'll only be using your Archers and normal Infantry on this one. Head west, and you'll notice that the Orcs were slaughtered by the humans. Apparently, the humans are here and ready to attack. Charge east, and engage the lone infantry unit. Your Archers may have trouble aiming towards the sun, so try to move them perpendicular, then aim down. Keep moving towards the river where the humans are probably attacking. When you get near there, you're going to notice that there are TWO infantry divisions to your east. Try to take them out if possible, and make sure you have Elemental Boost on, since their Heavy armor will attract quite nicely to your lightning. Keep pounding down on the attacks. Once both divisions are down, head north to where the gate is. Suddenly, Morene notices that some of your friendly Axemen are getting beat down by Hugh's unit, Gerald's leader. Send both units down, but try to keep your Archers in the forest. Hugh will then start to retreat towards some of his reinforcements, 2-3 groups of Heavy Infantry. Cast Elemental Boost again, and ENGAGE ONLY the units that approach the river. Don't get misled away from the gate. Keep your ground, and attack the units approaching it. Try to get the units' life down, then your Axemen will come in to distract them. Chase the other unit that tries to catch your Archers behind you. Now, once the first two attacking Heavy Infantry units are down, keep your Archers back here for recon. Meanwhile, send Lucretia's unit after the army in the distance. Help save the Orc Axemen from the remaining humans. Morene will you to go search the riverbank area. You MUST send all units to the marked spot. As much as you'd love to leave a unit or two behind at the Gate, you cannot. The game is scripted so that you send all units into the circle. Move them south of the gate. *A brief video shows Lucretia confident that the Floodgate is secure. Suddenly, the old human (Hugh) rushes in again. He tries to bait you guys, and does - into a line of Cavalry. The Axemen gloriously chop down the first line.* - However, quickly realign your troops for the second flank. Move Lucretia's unit behind them. The Axemen must stand still, so do your best to get them behind. Remember, Cavalry circle around a few times, so reorganize during the shuffle. Once the unit is down, you are told to kill the enemy commander. Send out a Scout via the abilities menu. You'll find General Hugh directly west of where you were standing, about 3 inches across the mini map. Once there, send all troops to attack Hugh. *Another video is shown with Hugh retreating. Your Dark Legion units cross the river, but suddenly, a majority of the Orcs are wiped out by Gerald who unleashes the fury of the Floodgate upon thee.* - Suddenly, you're entrapped on the other side. Cast Elemental Boost and attack General Hugh. Focus all of your attacks on him to lower his health. Eventually, Gerald will notice that General Hugh is getting overpowered. He'll retreat from his Floodgate position and attempt to save Hugh. When this happens, leave the battle from Hugh, and engage Gerald's unit. Some brief pesky talking will continue between the two. Quite a fierce battle if you ask me. Anyhow, when Lucretia says "ta-ta", move towards the Riverbank with both units. Gerald orders the retreat, and your mission should be a success. *The mission was a success, but Lucretia questions how Rumen knew the humans would be there.* - Head back to Arein. *Regnier has arrived. Apparently, they all share their opinions on Regnier and his origins. Some say he is Rick Blood, and immortal warlord from the past - cursed to reign the Earth as an immortal. Lucretia reports to Rumen at the operations room. Regnier orders for the Dark Elves to assemble at once and attack Hironeiden before they are able to fortify themselves.* - Head to the Pub. *More arguing between Lucretia and Rithrin occurs. Rithrin thinks Luci still likes him. I think not. They prepare to head out.* - First of all, you'll have another unit to deal with, some Orc Axemen. I'd probably leave them this way, since they're your only effective counter against Cavalry. Right now though, you may notice that the EXP rewards aren't as great as you'd expect as in the Gerald battles. Try to be conservative to an extent. Try to get Lucretia up three levels, and see if there are any accessories that will help your officers boost their magic abilities. Get Rithrin something nice, preferably a ring to accompany his skills. Finally, you can spend the rest on your fourth mercenary unit, or upgrade the Axemen to full capacity. Just do something with what you have, for now. Move to the Main Gate. _______________________ /Mission 5 - Aten (4.5)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Kill as many Knights, Heavy Infantry, and Archers units to fill the Elf pride meter *Thanks to the defense of Glaucus, Regnier is chasing the humans back to the west. The plan is to ambush the humans as they cross through the center of the region diagonally downward. Hit them from the SE corner and eliminate all forces.* - You'll be forced to use Lucretia's unit, but two of your own. I chose to bring my Sappers and Cavalry along. For this mission, I specifically got my Cavalry as high as possible (lvl. 25) just to give it a shot, and see if there would be a speed difference. They truly zoom around, but aren't as powerful as Lucretia's unit. The Sappers are an optional unit. Axemen, or another combat unit works. I found Archers to be somewhat useless because they couldn't finish units off, and act more like support. - This mission is quite a tricky one, because you're not suppose to let the humans escape to the red zone to SW corner. The idea is to get your units down there, and then fend off the humans as they approach. There is a "High Elf" bar in the lower right corner which is suppose to represent your pride. You must kill more humans to increase the bar, and fill it up. It decreases each time a human unit escapes. Get fast moving units to hunt down the humans, because each time they'll retreat when in proximity with you. Here's how I setup my units: ___ SAPPERS - The basic idea is to use your Sappers right near | <--- Traps the beginning to plant traps down the center |___ LUCRETIA pathway that leads into the zone, preferably | stacked into two rows. Then, move your Sappers |__ D. CAVALRY on the north corner of the zone as a distraction ZONE | to keep units from getting in this way. They'll | actually run away from the Sappers. - Now, Lucretia should be your main killer on this one. Have her strafe back and forth taking care of units in the center alley, not to mention left/right sides. Your Dark Cavalry should be attacking a unit all the time during the battle, but also acting as a temporary distraction. When you notice lots more enemies overunning a distraction point, send the Cavalry up as a way of "pushing" them back. Try casting Meteor/Lightning spells in the meantime to knock a unit's health down, plus traps, and burn the surrounding forests as barriers as well. Eventually, after about 12-15 Heavy Infantry units, Knights will start to spawn from the NE corner. I found it best to simply cast Elemental Boost before heading on in. Use Lucretia to finish these units off, but do OUTSIDE rushes with your Dark Cavalry to really knock down their health. Cirith's lightning attack does extreme damage on the Knights, and should be used when you're surrounded by a whole clusterload. Remember, this mission is all about filling your High Elf meter bar, so keep fighting and killing. A unit must be destroyed in order for a rise to occur. I filled my bar after killing the 4th Knight unit. Eventually, Lucretia will say enough have been killed, and that it's time to return home. *Regnier and Rumen have setup camp. Go join up with them.* - Head to the Forward Base. Enter the Operations Room. *Rumen has requested permission to promote Lucretia for her valiant actions. Lucretia questions Rumen as to why she's so loyal to the Half-Vamps. Rumen gives a long, drawn out speech about how the Elves are hardly fighting with each other now, but rather as a united race. This is the first time in their history that such an event has happened. She tells you to keep your troops sharp for the sacking of Esse.* - Move to the Pub. Then, build up your troops for the combat ahead. I personally just upgraded everyone a tad bit. Make sure your Cavalry is at least lvl. 20 or higher. For this next mission, you'll be given a Scorpion, so don't worry about it. Proceed to Esse. _______________________ /Mission 6 - Esse (4.6)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Keep at least One Scorpion alive till both walls are breached > Take out exterior Hironeiden forces > Destroy Outer Wall > Destroy Inner Wall > Chase after King *The plan is quite simple. Captain Rumen needs to sack Esse as a showing of Hironeiden being nothing but a fleeing weakling. To do so, you're going to need Scorpions to attack the southern wall of Esse with shockwave in order to knock it down. However, Catapults have been spotted nearby, and could easily destroy the Scorpions if you're not armed. Take out the units outside the wall, most importantly the Catapults, then knock down Esse's walls with the Scorpions. You can loot whatever you find inside the castle!* - You'll only have one free slot on this mission. Since you already have Lucretia, and a given Scorpion unit, I added my Dark Cavalry. - Right off the bat, never order your Scorpion to move. Your blue allied units will charge ASAP, but they will get mowed down regardless of what you do. Make sure you charge the Catapults in open formation. Engage the first series of Heavy Infantry that meet you about 3/4 of the way to the Catapult. I recommend casting Elemental Boost to take care of them quickly and efficiently. Next, try rushing the Catapult with Lucretia's unit. Be careful, as there's another Catapult unit directly behind it. Their leaders are dressed in normal slackey clothes, so try to swing around and find them by accident. The Catapults should fall quite quickly. When this occurs, you should NOW move your Scorpion unit forward to the southern tip of the wall, and start blasting away at a section with Shockwave. Eventually, the wall will fall. Cast a Tree of Healing for both your Cavalry and Infantry. Now, here comes the tricky part. Inside Esse are several units to deal with. Send ONLY your Cavalry in, but keep Lucretia right where the wall fell, and the Scorpion a few meters behind. The Cavalry should charge north, do a sweep through the lone units, and attack the Archers next to the one Catapult. When the rest of the humans catch up with your Dark Cavalry, retreat the unit back to the broken segment in the wall. - Wait for the pursuing units to chase you, then bam, attack with Lucretia. Also, manually control the Scorpion, and lay down a constant wave of Shockwaves on the humans for an easy kill. Repeat this strategy, charging in with the Cavalry, and pulling back to where they can get slaughtered by your awaiting units. There will be two more Heavy Infantry units along the right portion of the town which must be lured down manually by Scouts. Do this, and kill them as usual. Now that only Archers and Catapults are left, charge Lucretia's unit towards one Catapult, and the Heavy Cavalry towards the other. The Archers won't be able to do much, and by using elementals, you should bring them down fairly quick. Move back, and take out the remaining Archers. Once everything INSIDE Esse is destroyed, send a Scout around to make sure. If you're sure, send up your lone Scorpion to the rest of your units. - That was just the outer wall. Now, you must destroy the inner wall, and charge in yet again. Break it down using your last Scorpion. This time, the King can be seen in the distance. *Lucretia gives the command to charge after the Hironeiden King. Apparently though, he's not going without a fight.* - There are really three units to worry about with this one. Captain Walden will immediately charge you with his Knights. Cast Elemental Boost, and fend off the attacks by focusing on all of the Knights. Meanwhile, command your Dark Cavalry to charge after the "Magic Infantry." Don't worry about the Paladins, they'll just heal till engaged. Walden should go down fairly quick, as long as you use Cirith's lightning stream and elemental attacks. Once he's down, charge after the Paladins with Lucretia. Try using a large magic attack on them, and simply chase after their leader. They should fall quickly, although their magic resistance will be higher. Finally, finish off the Magic Infantry by focusing on their leader wearing a cloak. *Apparently, the leader of the charging unit from before is alive. It's Captain Walden. He says his name, and Lucretia dismisses him as nothing more than a typical human. Kill him. Now we "really" know what happened to Walden, rather than assuming he switched over in Gerald's campaign.* *Walden managed to save the King by distracting Lucretia. Gerald wasn't with the King though, which means he was kicking butt somewhere else. Lucretia heads back to the Operations room to find out what's wrong. Apparently, Regnier's Altar of Destruction is planning to be invaded by the Ecclesians. Regnier will hand over some of his army so you can keep a stranglehold on the Hironeidens, while Regnier goes with the rest of his army to save the Altar of Destruction.* - Enter the Pub for a good ole drink. *Another small discussion occurs between Rithrin, Morene, and Lucretia. Morene isn't so confident that we alone can destroy the Hironeidens, without aid of Regnier.* - Now would be a good time to hire a mercenary capable of commanding a Dark Elf Cavalry Archers unit. While you probably have found no need for them now, you'll most likely need them in the final mission. Hire a Dark Elf mercenary who's fairly high in level, with the ability to learn Melee/Riding/Ranged. Get the job requirements for Dark Elf Cavalry Archers, create the unit, then upgrade some of the bows for + Ranged bonuses. Now you have some mobile powerful Archers. Give Lucretia a 2-3 level increase as well. Head off to the Main Gate. Proceed to Halmoral. *Scouts have discovered a small camp of Hironeidens. Rumen orders you to take some Sappers, raze their camp, while Rumen attacks the humans' capital. An ideal hit n' run tactic. Seems kind of skimpy since you're only being given a sappers unit.* ___________________________ /Mission 7 - Halmoral (4.7)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Take out a few surrounding enemy patrols > Destroy Hironeiden Base Camp by releasing floodgate in NE *The plan is quite simple. Scouts have spotted the Hironeiden base south of the NW corner. You will infiltrate from the NW, must send Sappers down to burn their base, then retreat out once the mission is accomplished. You'll meet up with Rumen afterwards.* - Let's start off by saying that this mission WILL be tough, but more of a fighting endurance challenge, because you have an enemy suspicion meter to deal with, several high level Hironeiden patrols, and the base directly south which is heavily guarded. Proceed east using your Scouts for guidance. Two lvl. 20+ Infantry troops will be marching around a few clicks east, and you may want to actually engage them since they're fairly weak. Excellent EXP too. Cast a Tree of Healing after the battle ends. Keep proceeding east. Eventually, you'll reach a solid cliff, with some units on the other side. Eventually, your suspicion meter may also be broken after a bit, so watch for a continuous stream of about 4-6 Heavy Infantry units to charge you. Simply combat most of them with Lucretia's unit. Keep the Sappers out of battle, except when you're stacked up by two units, in which you can call on them for some quick melee hits here and there. The problem is you won't have a break in between battle to cast the Tree of Healing, or Elemental Boost, so be swift in your blows. The leaders also seem impossible to find, so these scenarios will be based on kills. - Simply put, this mission feels like a EXP booster. After knocking off the four to five units, send a scout past the canyon cliff, but NOT up into it. There are a crapload of Archers/Mortars stacked, almost 5 units in one spot to be exact. Go past this Canyon, and you'll be dead before you reach freedom. Send the scout diagonally south past the river, then cut in around the camp. You should notice the remnants of (2) lvl. 29 Knights units. They're also fairly smart, as they will not seek to chase your scout. This calls for plan B. *Morene noticed the Knights inside the enemy camp, and suggests an alternate plan. There's a floodgate for this river to the northeast which could wipe out any possible reinforcements in the woods, if the base was attempted to be burned down. You have a choice to make. Engage the Knights and burn the village, or attempt to wipe everything out by releasing the Floodgate.* - I personally chose to go for the Floodgate. If you check it out with a scout, head to the SE corner. There's a curl-around ledge that leads up to this canyon. You'll have to fight through two Infantry units, which aren't as bad as those Knights. Also, don't go right up via the river. You'll discover that's where the hidden reinforcements are. If you attempt to burn the camp and kill the Knights, the reinforcements from the river will be triggered and flank you from the rear. Hence, listen to Morene this time, and take your units to the SE. Travel them up until she mentions something about traps. Start deactivating the traps with your Sappers. Keep doing this along the right hand side. Your Sappers will start to take extreme damage though, probably from Mortars to your left. Keep deactivating the traps, and then charge in with Lucretia's unit. She can lay waste to the Mortars quite easily once the traps are cleared out. You can try casting a Tree of Healing while the Sappers disarm the traps, to help them sustain the damage. Send your Sappers north right along the canyon edge, and pick the Open Water Gate command. You'll have to pick the gate manually, because it's unselectable from the mini-map. Do this, and then after about 25 seconds, a FMV will play. We'll watch the Hironeiden base get swallowed in water, along with all of their reinforcements. - Head to the Forward Base. *Apparently, Hironeiden is putting up quite a fight to Rumen's troops. Even Rithrin can contest to this. Rumen wants to see you ASAP. Lucretia believes the Dwarves and Elves won't show up together in Hironeiden's aid, because of their differences. Apparently, Rumen wants you to take a small break, and re-order an assault on Hironeiden.* - Start off by entering the Barracks. A given is to get Lucretia to at least lvl. 20 with the new exp. Try to look for a new Sabre for her as well. Get your officers up to par, especially Cirith with her lightning abilities. Get Cavalry to lvl. 25 at least, with a Cavalry Archers unit by now. Upgrading Rithrin's unit is helpful as well. Enter the Main Gate when ready. Move to Hironeiden. _____________________________ /Mission 8 - Hironeiden (4.8)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Engage initial forces outside Hironeiden > Take out the Inner Wall > Charge into Castle *Apparently, the siege of Hironeiden is not going so well. Most of the forces of Hironeiden are spread outside the inner wall, which is the goal to breach. If we can break the inner wall, then the castle can be penetrated, and the capital raided.* - For this mission, you're given some freedom, and permitted to take (2) free units along. I chose my Dark Cavalry Archers, along with the given Scorpion unit. *Lucretia gives one more confident speech claiming of how the human capital will fall, or so we think.* - Let's start off with a quickie. This is a HUGE battle that is about to take place. Basically, there are 15 Hironeiden units spread throughout the map. Most of them are miscellaneous formations, with exception to some Archers near the Northern Hironeiden forces. Start off by sending your Dark Cavalry Archers after the lone infantry units. Have Lucretia battle some of those lone ones as well. Have your other Scorpion lay down Shockwave attacks on the bunch of troops to the north (the ones with the Archers). Remember, Scorpions are impervious to these sorts of attacks. Now, ignore the Magic Infantry for now. They're not TOO bad, unless you attempt to engage them in melee attacks. I found it easiest to actually kill the units along the left border or south flank with the Cav. Archers/Infantry. Keep doing this, and Morene will mention that you're under attack from Archers on the wall, and Catapults beyond the castle wall. NOW, bring your own custom Scorpion unit to the wall, and Shockwave a section of it down. *Apparently, you're suppose to be losing heavily by now. Your forces are outnumbered greatly, and you're up against Hironeiden's greatest. The pessimist will be proven wrong!* - Charge through the broken section of wall. Immediately focus Lucretia's unit on the first Catapult straight ahead. Then, move your Cav. Archers to take out the Catapult to the right. The Catapult units are weak, only lvl. 5, and there are hardly any forces inside the wall. Once the Catapults are down, clear out the remaining troops with your Cav. Archers, but also move Lucretia back to the main battlefield. Remember most of your troops that got slaughtered from before? Take out the rest of these Hironeiden forces for extra EXP, that will be useful for the next three missions. Concentrate on the Magic Infantry, and look for a robed leader. Be careful though, he can cast meteor, and take a chunk of your health away quickly. After both Magic Infantries are down, charge after the Archers, then fend off the remaining infantry units for lots of EXP. Head back in the wall, and guide all of your units towards the remaining 3-4 units near the Castle. Concentrate on the first group of Knights with an Elemental Boost and some well-wished luck. - However, the luck won't be enough. Soon enough, Bomber Wings from the Dwarves will appear on the battlefield and save the day as they start to nail your troops. Sadly enough, you can actually win by moving your Cav. Archers around and shooting the weak lvl. 8 Wings out of the sky. Still, the game's script says otherwise. You receive a retreat command from Captain Rumen, and thus you retreat. *The cursed Dwarves and Elves have started to help out the Hironeidens. This is not good news as Lucretia was close enough to victory on that last turn. Still, nonetheless, the command for all Dark Legion forces to retreat has been issued.* - Head to the Forward Base if you want to upgrade some of your characters. I chose not to, and went immediately to the Posterus Green. _________________________________ /Mission 9 - Posterus Green (4.9)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Save 50% of your fleeing forces > Retreat to marked zone *The plan is simple. We are retreating due to the overwhelming alliance of the Dwarves and Elves amongst the humans. Rumen wants you to give cover to the fleeing forces by engaging any forces that attempt to engage us. We must survive with at least 50% of our forces remaining.* - You'll be given a Wyverns unit, a Cavalry Archers one, and one free choice. I chose to have a second Cavalry Archers unit, as I created one about two missions before this one. They're very important to being successful. A normal Archers unit works in their place as well, but Cavalry Archers are TOO useful on this map. - The mission is quite simple. You'll start out in the NW corner of the map, where a line of "Vellond" troops will be retreating. You must escort these troops and manage to reach a minimum of 50% saved forces, before you can retreat off the map yourself. Don't worry about limited forces or anything, as Hironeiden and your own forces will keep respawning the entire mission. To start off, most of your retreating forces are Dark Fighters, so don't expect much help from them. The Wyverns unit is a support air-attacker, meaning you have to call it in manually when Lucretia is not in battle. Have the Wyvern attack as many Bomber Wings (it has an air-to-air attack), and stay away from Archers. Your (2) Dark Cavalry Archers should try to shoot down the other fleeing Bomber Wings, and avoid melee combat with Heavy Infantry/Troops. Finally, Lucretia is going to be ranged-killer, as I nickname her. Have Lucretia attack any units "blocking" up the road, or shooting arrows. Have her kill Archers, engage small lone infantry groups, and most of all, AVOID Bomber Wings. - The key to winning this mission is to be sound with your ears. Whenever you hear, "The Cavalry Archers are victorious," quickly switch to their unit, and give them a new command. You have to be an efficient micro-manager, and shift your Dark Cavalry Archers after anything when they're not moving. Keep attacking Bomber Wings since they're practically the Air Bombers in this mission. Move your Wyvern around as well, and have it attack large groups of units (2+) engaging your forces. The poison gas will spread and do splash damage to surrounding units. Again, make sure you cast Tree of Healing for Lucretia to keep her life up. Sometimes the Bomber Wings will go off course and attempt to attack only Luci's unit, since the hero dead means a mission over. I gained most of my % near the beginning, and you'll notice it starts to lower slower and slower as the battle goes on. Keep doing this. Don't worry about staying near the beginning. I stationed most of my troops near the exit, or middle. Prevent large groups of Archers from flanking both sides of the route, because your melee fighters can get overrun with arrows and they'll stop moving. - Once you reach the 50%, you're suppose to retreat to the small rectangular marked zone in the lower right corner. Make sure ALL units retreat here. If you have a Cavalry unit out somewhere, and they're not in, the mission will not end. Lucretia can die if you don't retreat here, so be careful. Another item, if you want to gain some extra EXP, simply don't retreat, and keep fighting the infinite spawn of Hironeiden troops. I managed to amass 10,000 EXP in this mission alone combined, which is fairly good compared to your typical 2K-3K. *Lucretia is fearful that she almost lost her life saving them. Morene is impressed with her stability under pressure.* - Retreat to Esse. *Cirith comments on how painful it is to get your butts kicked in Hironeiden after scorching yourself this far. Rumen has been ordered to head to the Altar of Destruction, along with the Hironeiden Army heading that way. Regnier's Army and the Vellond Army are there too. We're not gonna be the only ones fighting bravely. Morene seems to know a hunch over the other High Elves. Meanwhile, Rithrin makes mention of the Kaedes. Apparently, he and Cirith have been debating joining up with the rebels against Valdemar's order. Lucretia curses them both for even conjuring the thoughts. On the day for moving out, both Rithrin and Cirith have disappeared.* - You'll have to replace the missing person for Cirith, since her lightning attack was oh so devastating. First and foremost, get a SWAMP MAMMOTH. You will need one for this final mission, not only as support, but for pounding down plenty of wrath upon the Hironeidens. Upgrade your given Scorpion unit to the requirements, get a Swamp Mammoth, and buy a cheap item that gives some resistance against Explosion for the unit leader. Now, upgrade Dark Cavalry Archers to at least lvl. 30, and make sure they have good melee/ranged attacks. Get Lucretia's unit up to lvl. 25, and ensure she has the best equipped sabres. Finally, you may assign whoever you wish in Cirith's empty spot. I actually added a Power Orge (large Troll creature) for more physical damage, although you'd probably be better off tossing in a merc Lich, with a lightning attack. Either way, I chose to go the "grunt-style." This is the final mission for Lucretia, so spend what you can. - Head off to Scimeterdell. *Apparently, Rumen has some more serious news. She has finally discovered that Cirith and Rithrin were both secret members of the Kaedes. They took some of their units, and met up with the Patriarch (who is the head honcho of the Ecclesians, in case you didn't know). This greatly angers Rumen, and she believes Lucretia knew all along. She tells Morene to watch her carefully, and tells her to take her troops.* - Proceed to the Holy Ground. *Lucretia is still baffled as to why Cirith would leave without knowing something secret. Perhaps the Patriarch knows something she does not? Morene says she'll explain along the way.* ____________________________________ /Mission 10 - The Holy Ground (4.10)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Eliminate initial Ballistae > Find Dark Fighters unit for recon information > Find Rithrin > Kill Patriarch's Army *The mission is simple. Patriarch troops will be scattered amongst the Holy Ground, and our objective is to defend it.* - For this mission, the developers went truly freelance, and gave you the ability to toss in 3 units. One of them must be a Support unit. I chose my Cavalry Archers, Dark Cavalry, and Swamp Mammoth. *Morene informs Lucretia that the Ancient Heart is hidden here somewhere. Regnier wants to gain control of it for unstoppable power, while Morene says you must first find Rithrin. There is a dense fog amongst the battlefield.* - For starters, try sending out a scout. Send the scout west, and lure the lvl. 20 Paladins toward you. The Swamp Mammoth and Lucretia can take care of them with ease. Again, you'll start to get hit by arrows. Lure the high level Archers to your NW down by running away from them, and let the Swamp Mammoth lay down a wrath of artillery shells. Some more Paladins may interfere. Move your scout to the NE corner. Eventually, a stream of Storm Riders and Bomber Wings may pass by overhead. Send your Cavalry Archers to shoot them down. Once your scout reaches the upper corner, a FMV will play. *Apparently, there is a three-way struggle for the heart. Regnier actually sold his soul to the Ancient Heart, which is located somewhere near the Holy Ground. Whoever controls the heart gets to control all of the minions in the empire. One of those minions is Regnier, with his mightyful power. The Kaedes made an agreement with the Patriarch to help get control of the heart, in exchange for their alliance. This would allow them to retake the Dark Legion regime, and become their own High Elf nation. On the other hand, we want to gain the heart to sustain the Dark Legion's power, and Regnier wants to keep the Ancient Heart so he can control himself to unstoppable power. That's why he left so early before, because he had to relocate the Ancient Heart. Anyhow, so much for the plot twist.* - Bring all of your units to this NE corner where the scout was last located. Suddenly, you'll run into an engagement of about 4-5 Paladin/Spearmen/Archer units. Scatter Lucretia into the mix with Elemental Boost, have your Cavalry Archers get out of range, and lay down cannons of the Mammoth upon the large group of enemies. Be careful though. The Paladins may use regen magic during the battle, which is why you should make use of a powerful Officer ability, preferably a rolling stomp, or lightning attack. It's best to retreat the Dark Cavalry in/out, casting a Tree of Healing, and to avoid the Spearmen. Try get your troops to move along the north middle ridge. More Bomber Wings will drop in, ALONG with Ballistae in the distance. I recommend charging your Cavalry at the Ballistae, along with Cavalry Archers for support in the distance. Meanwhile, move the bulk of your forces along this border. Lucretia can take care of the Paladins, but I must warn you, be CONSERVATIVE with her. Lucretia's level is probably not too high, because of the sole Melee skill, which means she's weaker than most of the typical opponents. Don't make her lose most of her critical life. ***NOTE: If you still hear a Ballista firing in the distance, this means there is one Ballista remaining to be destroyed. The most commonly missed one is along the east border of the map, slightly up from where you start. - Once the Ballistas are destroyed, head slightly north of the exact center of the map. Make sure it's a physical unit. *Your unit will notice a fellow Dark Fighters unit battling some Paladins. Go save this unit before their health reaches zero. Apparently, they were one of the Kaedes units, and were awaiting to rejoin Rithrin.* - They'll only be fighting lvl. 30+ Paladins, so use an Elemental Boost, and seek out their leader. It shouldn't be too much of a problem manhandling the fool. Cast a Tree of Healing if your units need some health. *The unit leader tries to persuade Lucretia to join the Kaedes and Rithrin to the northwest. Morene walks up and kills the babbling fool, as she is an opposer of the Kaedes. Here, all along, Morene was sent to your unit to watch over Cirith, who was apparently a spy, an actor, and a supporter of gaining the Ancient Heart's power. That foolish woman!* - Go seek Rithrin to the northwest corner. Again, be careful not to overpursue with Lucretia, as her permanent health bar is probably below 50% by now. A solid strategy (which many people have suggested) is to send only the Swamp Mammoth to the northwest corner, along with a Scout for viewing distance. You can also send your Cavalry Archers if you want some added ground-to-air support. Anyhow, the Mammoth can take so much melee/ranged damage, it's not even funny. Matter of fact, it works out quite perfectly. Eventually, when you reach far enough, we'll see Rithrin die at the hands of the Patriarch. Now, spot for the Mammoth with your Scout, and engage the (2) Paladin units. Watch for the Magic Infantry unit, as it will occasionally cast Meteor down on the battlefield. Your Archers can provide ranged fire, and you're probably better off just keeping Lucretia out in the background. Once the Magic Infantry unit dies, the battle will be done with. *Lucretia sings one last love poem to Rithrin's dead body. All this for nothing, chaos, destruction, a lost loved one, and...no friggin' Ancient Heart. Oh well.* =-= Hexter and Ecclesia Campaigns Unlocked =-= .-------------------- | | ,-""-. /) THE END - Part II | / c/-} // | ( ,--)T-. // | `/ ,_) )\__,-/ | / /. \'_,-"< | / / ) _`).__ | _/,' ( ""-."-. |'-/ _/`-----. ),' |o!O '"-'"""----" -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- =========================== - 5) Kendal's Campaign - =========================== After completing the first two campaigns, the rest of the KuF story is exemplified in the hard campaigns. Note that they're much harder than usual, but they also provide room for customizing your unit selection. Kendal is the last good leader you'll play as. + Difficulty: HARD + Region: Ecclesia + Race: Human Press A to enter his campaign. You'll be greeted by an intro AVI showing some soldiers marching along, with Thomas telling Kendal that they found something in the village. On the map, you'll note that there are several of your friendly units amongst the battlefield. Move your 3 units ahead, while the rest of your NPC troops move as well. *Suddenly, one of the Scouts spots hundreds of Darks. Fight for king and country!* ______________________________ /Mission 1 - Greyhampton (5.1)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy Dark Units When the battle begins, note that you'll have control of Kendal's unit, an infantry unit, and some Archers. Not much to work with, but at least you have about 15 NPC troops to support you. Right off the bat, your southern flank will get hit hard by a high level infantry troop. Have all of your units proceed along the southern flank. Engage the high level infantry, then concentrate on the Scorpions. Once you're halfway through, Magic Infantry will start to ambush Kendal along with your other units. The ONLY healers you have on this mission are fellow NPC Paladins (who cast Curatio rarely) and your lvl. 6 Infantry unit. The leader has Curatio! Keep him close by, and cure Kendal's unit while they battle. Make your way to the lower right corner, then flank the Magic Infantry units from behind. Focus on the Lich leader of each, and make use of Kendal's joystick + Y move. Your Archers should be able to lay down Fire Arrows on the Undead as well. Now, move north to engage any remaining Scorpions or Magic Infantry units. The bulk of your troops will probably be fighting the Magic Infantry in the center of the map, so go rescue them. Once you've rid of the Magic Infantry, there will probably be about 4-5 more Scorpions spread across the map. You may also find a wandering infantry unit knocking out your rear flank Archers, so keep an eye out for them as well. As long as you recognize that your normal Infantry troop has Curatio, then this mission should be a breeze. Finish off the remaining units, and you'll be victorious. *Thomas comments on how you were victorious on the battlefield. Kendal orders for Duane to pick up all of the dead, and have the Chaplain say a prayer. How noble of him. Apparently, you have orders from Ecclesia to march to where the Holy Ground is.* - Head all the way south to your Forward Base. *Duane and Thomas both reveal how they volunteered for the Ecclesian Army. Thomas is the son of a high-ranking officer in the Ecclesian Army, while Duane is more of a cousin to one of the high Partriarch members. Connections, connections. Looks like Kendal's the only one who earned his rank. You're to move out at dawn to assault the Holy Ground. Prepare yourself.* - Well, for starters, Kendal's campaign is taking a much more direct approach. No more of this social crud. We get into battle, and we get out. Head to the Barracks. Unfortunately, you'll probably have hardly any EXP at this point, nor any worthwhile gold to exchange. I personally upgraded Kendal to lvl. 11, each of his officers close to 10, and made the one extra Paladin leader unit to lvl. 6. You'll be needing Paladins in this campaign. For the most part, you won't be able to upgrade anything until a few missions from now. I also recommend saving your gold for some hefty Kendal weapons when they pop up. Save your game, and go to the Main Gate. ************************************************************************* * IMPORTANT DECISION: You will now have a choice between two different * ********************* missions, either Colonock, or the Holy Ground * * where Kendal wants you to go. I personally chose * * Colonock, because Kendal's units seem too low of a* * level to fight. For the most part, you're only * * given two high level infantry units, and they're * * not effective on the Holy Ground where you are * * grossly outnumbered. * ***************************************************** ___________________________ /Mission 2 - Colonock (5.2)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - Apparently, your enemy reinforcements are being slaughtered by the Darks. Cavalry have been spotted in the area, so feel free to use Spearmen. I chose to bring my Spearmen and normal Infantry along. This way, you can cure or counter Cavalry. For starters, the battlefield is extremely bare. You should see a Ghoul unit, plus two Scorpions in the distance. This is a deathtrap if you charge them. Instead, send a scout to the west to look for the enemy reinforcements. Now, eventually, the Ghoul unit will start to move towards Kendal's unit. It will not attack him though. Instead, it will try to cast spells. Interfere the Ghoul unit and concentrate on the Lich leader involved. Meanwhile, be careful as some Orc Riders will approach from the west and start to ambush your troops. Finish off the Ghoul unit as quick as possible. Cast Curatio with the infantry troop a few times, then send the Infantry troop to distract one of the Scorpions. Try to have Kendal's unit knock out the other Scorpion, THEN put the Spearmen in front. You will take damage from the Orc Riders, but taking out the Scorpions should be your prime threat. Then, position the Spearmen in front of Kendal's unit, and watch them fall like flies. Another Orc Riders unit will approach from the west, but that should be handled in the same way. Heal yourself from the combat. Send a scout to the northwest. Eventually, you're gonna get ambushed on all sides by 3 Scorpions, one more Ghoul unit, and some Orc Axemen. - I found it best to have one infantry unit distract a Scorpion, and Kendal should take on another. Your Spearmen should distract the Orc Axemen, as both of them will neutralize each other off. Again, Kendal can easily take down Scorpions. Keep pressing X + X + X + A, and keep doing combos. The Scorpion shouldn't be able to get an attack off. Once they're both down, finish off the Orc Axemen, and help your Infantry kill the last Scorpion. The mission should be a success. *After the battle is complete, you head back to the forward base. The Patriarch has arrived to inspect your doings. He introduces you to General Gerald of the Hironeidens, who helped open up the western path so that he could arrive here. You both are pleased to meet each other. Kendal thinks it's a tad too dangerous for the Patriarch to be here, but the Patriarch claims God will take him when the time is right. Oh, you're right about that.* *Thomas is glad to see his father, Walter. His father dismisses him, and tells him to be more serious in a time of war. Kendal has some questions for Captain Walter. Both Walter and the Patriarch had a dream at the same time, hency why the Ecclesian forces are here. Walter says some astonishing things will occur at the Holy Ground, so be prepared.* - Head off to the Barracks. Upgrade Kendal's unit to Heavy Infantry. Also, I highly recommend teaching Holy to Duane, so you can start to use Curatio without being forced to bring your Paladins/infantry unit. Try purchasing any items that will benefit either Kendal, Duane, or Thomas. I managed to get a total of +80% HP regeneration on Kendal with his equipment. Try to do the same (it varies due to the random item generator). Now, I also recommend upgrading your Archers to Longbowmen, because you'll be facing air units at the Holy Ground. You'll probably be low on EXP, so just upgrade your Paladin leader unit, or your Spearmen if you wish. __________________________________ /Mission 3 - The Holy Ground (5.3)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - For starters, air units are prevalent on this map, so get a ranged unit regardless of the cost. I recommend doing something fairly tricky. Upgrade your current Longbowmen into Mortar by teaching & upgrading the correct skills. Get the Mortars to a minimum. Hire a low level mercenary who knows Ranged attacks. Now, upgrade that unit to Longbowmen as well. You should hardly have any EXP left. Enter the battle. You have four free units to select from. Pick your Longbowmen, your Mortars, and one more close-range unit, preferably Infantry or Spearmen. - When the battle begins, you'll be given (2) lvl. 18 Infantry units. You cannot control them, but they are there nonetheless. To start off, in total, the battle will consist of (1) Orc Axemen, (2-3) Orc Infantry, (3) Scorpions, and about (3) Dark Archers units. You have to BE organized in the Holy Ground battle. For starters, be aware of when your ranged units are in melee. Your Mortars should be ripping units to shreds, but make sure your Longbowmen are targeting the Wyverns. Once the air units are down, get the Longbowmen out of there; they have extreme weakness to Scorpion attacks. If you don't pull them out, they'll probably die quite easily. Focus on the Dark Archers next, which should be grouped together. Your Mortars can do extreme damage against them. Meanwhile, use both the normal Infantry unit and Kendal's to heal each other. Once this initial wave of creatures down, send a scout further through the Holy Ground. - You should see a Dark Archers unit slightly northeast of where the initial combat was. Bring your Mortars up, and have them engage the Dark Archers. The Archers will try to fire back, but won't charge. Once their health is primarily down, stop firing the Mortars, and charge Kendal's unit in. This is the last unit, and will yield a mission accomplished. *Kendal heads back to the Forward Base. He wants to thank General Gerald for the extra troops during the battle. Gerald says he felt uncomfortable being Ecclesian territory and all. Kendal explains his sympathies towards General Hugh's death, and Gerald tells him about the score he wants to settle with Regnier. Regnier is supposedly an unstoppable and mysterious force. Gerald heads off. Duane wonders why the Dwarves and Elves would join together against the Darks.* - Now would be an ideal time for Cavalry, since the Spearmen you have can just be converted back and forth (depending on when you need Cavalry or Spearmen). Take your Spearmen's leader, teach him the Riding skill, then convert them to Cavalry. Avoid changing into Heavy Cavalry, as the Liches on the next mission will eat your life down with Lightning attacks. Upgrade Kendal to a 15 or 16, and get him some Knights. Finally, spend the rest of your EXP fine tuning your Longbowmen to be more accurate. Head off to Nymphbarren when you're ready. ______________________________ /Mission 4 - Nymphbarren (5.4)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units > Take 4 high ground points back - As usual, we're facing a plethora of enemy forces. The area is key to holding the Holy Ground, and many high locations are already being occupied by Dark forces. We must take the high grounds back, but also repel the enemies. You'll be given the chance to assign 2 units, and enemy air units are present. I chose to bring my Longbowmen and Cavalry. - You'll start off by noticing that you have two friendly infantry units on this one. I found it best to keep them alive as much as possible, since they prove a worthy distraction once you reach the middle of the map. Start off by Cavalry charging the infantry engaging both of them. Your Longbowmen can lay down fire as well. Kendal's unit should take out the Dark Elf fighters behind them. Now, you'll start to notice Ghoul units appearing. Have you Cavalry charge these guys, while Kendal's unit attacks them using Thomas's fireball and melee attacks. There is no Lich leader. After about 2-3 waves, a message will pop up saying there is a Lich leader somewhere. Proceed north, and you'll find his lvl. 23 unit. It keeps summoning Ghoul units, so you can stay and fight them for EXP, or simply take out the leader. Gradually make your way up there, eliminating the Ghouls as you move. If you rush up there, your units will get flooded by Ghouls from behind. Have your Longbowmen help out the blue units which should be in the middle (engaging Orc reinforcements). After taking out the head Lich, finish off the remaining units at this north hill. Now, head back south, and you may notice another Lich unit + Orc reinforcements moving north. These are the forces that guarded the south camp. Retreat your Longbowmen to your position, since the blue forces are probably dead, and your men are taking heavy damage. The Cavalry should charge the infantry chasing you, and Kendal should be casting Curatio while all of this is happening. Meet back in the middle, and head for the southern base. The encampment with enemy positions should be like this: \ [LL] / [Lightning Lich] \ [OA] ___/ [Orc Axemen] \ [ML] __/ [Meteor Lich] \__________/ - Focus on the Meteor Lich first, as this one will constantly cast spells if you do not engage it. Cavalry charge, lay down ranged fire, and finish off the Lich leader with Kendal. Then, have Kendal's unit attack the Orc Axemen, but do not charge them with Cavalry; they'll get slaughtered. Meanwhile, your Archers can continue to lay down fire. The Cavalry can charge attack the other Lich unit which has lightning, and help distract it. Finish both units off, then head for the middle. You'll find (2) Dark Elf Fighter units. Be careful, their quickness can overrun your units. Instead, engage them with Cavalry and Kendal's unit. Thomas's Fireball makes them look like a joke. Watch for Dark Archers on the back flank. Charge them with Cavalry. Make the final charge for the last point in the southeastern corner with your other infantry units and Kendal. They're Axemen, led by a Heck leader, so be careful. *The Patriarchal armies have been spotted retreating. Apparently, while you were distracted, they decided to chase our holy priest. He's retreating to Jungsburg, where you plan on flanking the enemy from the rear. Ew.* - The previous mission should have totaled in almost 10000 EXP, which is exactly what we're looking for. You can finally get some decent units now. For starters, get a Paladin unit. We are the holy empire after all, so it makes fitting sense. Upgrade one of the other units where you had just default infantry. Secondly, get Kendal up to level 22. You may find some unit items he can use as well, so consider spending a majority of the gold on his unit/the Knights. Get Mortars if you don't have them, and up to lvl. 30ish. Finally, give small 4-5 level upgrades to your Paladins, your Cavalry, and your Longbowmen. This is all you'll need to survive for the rest of the game, except for special missions, or support units. Head off to Woodenshade. ______________________________ /Mission 5 - Woodenshade (5.5)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units > Make use of Sappers to help disable traps - This mission is a complete pain in the butt, because it goes opposite of everything you'd expect. Rather than some ambush, you must destroy all enemy units on the map. Unfortunately, there are also traps inside the forest, so you'll need sappers to clear em' out. Unfortunately, I did not even upgrade my Sappers unit in Kendal's campaign, but regardless, bring them along. Also take your Longbowmen. - Right when you start off, there will be (2) Orc Sapper units directly north. While this may be the smart route to charge at them with, I prefer to differ. Go west, and you'll eventually hit a large mine field. Send your Sappers across with Remove highlighted (so they do it automatically). Send both your Longbowmen through and Kendal's unit. Suddenly, (3) Ghoul units will hit you from behind. Have the Longbowmen hit them with ranged attacks, while you combat them up close with Kendal. Keep having your Sappers disarm traps in the vicinity. Now, once the Ghouls are down, head along the left wall, and move north. There's a Lich on the map, but for now, we'll keep fighting the Ghouls since that's extra EXP. Once you reach the upper-left corner, head towards the middle but have your Sappers lead. They may find some random traps spurted in the forests. The Lich unit should be in the center of the map, and it casts Meteor. Charge it with Kendal's unit, and take it out. One Lich down. Now, a new message will appear saying to search for more enemies. Some traps may spawn in the forest you're in, so have the Sappers lead the way. Head to the NE corner. - Now, head to the center of the map. You'll find a crapload of traps near the middle right and middle portions of the map. This is where your low level sappers come in handy. Continue to disarm traps. Eventually, head north of the marked zone on your map. You may notice some Orc Infantry charge from the west. Lure them back so the Dark Archers behind them come towards you. Have your Sappers distract the Orc Infantry, while you charge one of the Archer groups. Finish one off use Thomas's Fireball, or concentrate on the leader. Then, cast Meteor on the other Archers unit, and charge that one. Once both ranged units are out, go help your Sappers out. Retreat the Longbowmen out so they can range attack. Do the same for the Sappers, unless you desperately need the help. Then, you'll be ambushed by (4) Orc units, 2 being Sappers, the other 2 being Power Ogre infantry units. I found it best to concentrate on the leaders if you can find them. Try have your Archers do Direct Arrow on the four units. It will be tough, but make use of your recently upgraded officers, and Kendal should be strong enough at this point to not take too much damage (if you reached the recommended levels/equipment standards). The Power Ogres can be interrupted using Kendal's stomp block (B), or simply the power swirl attack. - You now have a choice of which mission you want to select. Either way, you'll be tackling on both. We must help the Patriarch as of the moment. Before doing anything though, head BACK to your Forward Base. The Patriarch battle requires some essential unit upgrading, so let's go back to the Forward Base. Change your Cavalry back into Spearmen. Also, upgrade your Longbowmen to at least lvl. 30, since they're becoming your only sufficient air defense nowadays. You can upgrade Kendal to lvl. 25 if you wish (I did not). Remember your Sappers from before? Teach the leader Gunpowder, then get the requirements to make your Support unit into a Bomber Wing. Try to get the Bomber Wing to at least lvl. 30 (mine was 35). Now you should be set. The idea was to get Spearmen, a support unit, and better Longbowmen. You can purchase better equipment for your others if needed. Now, head up to Raven Meadow to save the Patriarch. _______________________________ /Mission 6 - Raven Meadow (5.6)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - If you followed my instructions above, you should be set for this battle. The idea is that your fellow units are under attack. You'll eventually be hit by Cavalry on the outside as well. Combat the Cavalry with your Spearmen, use the Longbowmen to shoot down Wyverns, and have Bomber Wings bring down the heavy Orcs. I chose my Longbowmen, Spearmen, and Bomber Wings for support. - The battle will begin like any chaotic mess. Most of your NPC units will be scattered and not highly effective. For starters, don't worry about protecting them. The Archers, Catapults, and your infantry are scattered where they can't help each other. Start off by having your Longbowmen focus their attacks on any Wyverns. These should be your primary threats. You may notice a lvl. 45 Orc infantry troop right in the middle, so try plucking your Bomber Wing to lay down some artillery fire. Meanwhile, Kendal's unit can help out by fighting any other Orc infantry units. DO NOT charge the Archers with Kendal's unit, otherwise, they'll get pinned down. For every Archer, there is usually a second Archer unit right next to them, meaning you'll get crossfired. Don't put the Bomber Wings near the Archers as well. Instead, focus on taking out the interior dark troops. Then, refocus your efforts when you get ambushed by the 2-3 Orc Cavalry units. Put the Spearmen in front, and try to jam the units. If this happens, use Kendal's special move to finish off the horses. - Your primary focus should be on killing the Cavalry. Now, use your Longbowmen to attack the other Dark Archers. Launch fire arrows at them to cause the Hecks to scatter. You may also be able to cast Meteor on one of them with Kendal's unit. Once you knock off one Archers unit, then you can charge the other with Kendal. Once the Archers are down, use your Bomber Wings to destroy the remaining Scorpion/Orc Infantry units in the NW corner. This battle is fairly tough because of the Archers, but try not to have your Bomber Wing die. You need every ounce of EXP possible. *After the battle ends, Kendal makes comment that you can now visit Esse for some added relief. Still, there are many battles to be fought.* - Head over to Esse. Start off by changing your Spearmen back into Cavalry, if not Heavy Cavalry at this point. Also, make Kendal at least lvl. 24. As usual, give his officers a slight boost in their individual skills. You can do the same for your Longbowmen/Mortars. There's really not much left to do. You'll have to switch some units around after the next battle. Move back to Raven Meadow, then head east to Osmond. _________________________ /Mission 7 - Osmond (5.7)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - Apparently, some Dark Legion forces are putting up resistance. Wall Archers have been spotted. Looks like it's time for some explosive materials. Bring your Mortars and Heavy Cavalry along. - Start off by having your Cavalry charge the Dark Archers along the right side, which are shooting your NPC troops. You'll have tons of NPC troops on this one, but as usual, their levels are much lower than usual. Your Mortars should lay fire on the lvl. 45 Orc Infantry directly below those Archers, and Kendal's unit can help take out Archers on the left flank. Keep repeating this strategy. Your Mortars should stay behind for now, and lay down fire near the back lines, where a bunch of Ghouls and Orc Infantry will assault. Some of your NPC Mortars will go up the left flank. Assist them with Kendal's unit and the Heavy Cavalry. Protect them from the infantry charges, as the Mortars are your only hope of breaking the wall guards. - Keep assisting all over the map. Once the left flank is secure for the NPC Mortars, start to Cavalry rush the majority of Ghouls in the middle/right flanks. They can easily be defeated thanks to your own Mortars and fellow NPC Mortars. Once you've cleared out the initial wave of enemies, start to approach the wall. All you have to do is wait for your NPC Mortars to blow it down, or make use of your own Mortars. There are Wallguard Archers positioned at key points, but they shouldn't be too much trouble. Watch for the Orc Axemen that rush out near the siege of the wall, don't cavalry rush into them. Eventually, one more flank of Ghouls will rush out with a Lich, and for the most part, the enemy should get decimated on this map. - Head back to Esse. The next mission is going to be a biggie, since we have permission to use 3 free troops, and 2 support units. Let's change our Heavy Cavalry into Storm Riders. This way, we'll have Bomber Wings and Storm Riders for air-to-air attacks. I also increased Kendal to lvl. 25, my Mortars to lvl. 40, and got the Paladins up to a smiteable lvl. 30. Now head over to Essex Forest. _______________________________ /Mission 8 - Essex Forest (5.8)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - The mission is simple. We have to proceed northwest to Jungsburg. This is the last point before we reach there. We must destroy all enemies before moving onward. Make sure you have Storm Riders and Bomber Wings. I chose to bring my Mortars and Paladins, although you may be better off substituting Longbowmen in for the Paladins. I just wanted another healer besides Kendal. - Immediately charge up the middle with Kendal's unit, and go after the Dark Archers. Have your Paladins assist in the middle by engaging the Orcs. Your Mortars can lay down fire along the middle as well. Your Bomber Wing should attack the right where there are no Archers. Meanwhile, watch for (2) Ghoul units to hit you directly up the middle. Both have Liches, and both have spells, so focus on the leaders. Your Paladins should cast Curatio on Kendal's unit while fighting the damn Ghouls. The Paladins can now assist either the left/right flank. I chose to charge with Kendal's unit on the left where your NPC troops are facing Hecks. - Eventually, you should narrow the playing field, and victory looks near. Suddenly, a huge bombardment of Orc Infantry will spawn in the top-middle. Be careful, as I charged with Kendal's unit and almost died. You'll get overrun. Have your Paladins lay down some Curatio and take over the battle. Watch your rear flank where your NPC troops are, they're probably be attacked by the Undead. Have Kendal and the Mortars fight down there, while the rest of your units take out the topmost units. There are a few dark Archers left around near the top that must be destroyed. Really, this mission isn't too much to handle, just don't get caught in the top-middle during the quick counter-rush. - Head northwest to Jungsburg. *Sir Duane has a big spurt out explaining why he's really here. Apparently, he had bribed the Patriarch just so he could rebuild his family fortune, and he ponders every move of Patriarch, running from here to there. Duane is fed up with all of the religious crud, and wants the hidden corrupt truths to be spoken. Kendal threatens to punish Duane for speaking out about his religious views, and how the others do not want to hear them.* *At the Operations room, Kendal ponders why the holiness passed by the capital of Ecclesia. It makes no sense for the Patriarch to lead the Darks into the capital. Kendal comments on how he thought Thomas wasn't old enough to drink. Thomas is confused as to why the whole religious objectives are being abandoned. Quite frankly, let's kick some butt.* - Go to the Barracks. Upgrade Kendal to lvl. 27. Get your Mortars up to lvl. 45. Also, downgrade your Storm Riders back to Spearmen. You'll need them for up ahead. Proceed to Brimstone Forest to the west. ___________________________________ /Mission 9 - Brimstone Forest (5.9)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - Ah, the good old expansion battles - these are more like it. You have a chance to use 3 different units, plus your two support ones. The mission suggests that both air and cavalry units are present. Don't fall for a fool's trap. Get your spearmen, as you'll need them for this one. Don't worry about having one less support unit, you really don't need Storm Riders with your Longbowmen present. I chose to bring my Paladins, Spearmen, and Longbowmen, with Bomber Wings. I left the other support spot open. - For starters, you're going to get rushed directly up the middle unless you do something. Move all troops to the right of your spawn point, and line up the Spearmen, Paladins, and Kendal's unit in the front. Now you have a small wall. Have the Longbowmen lay down Direct Arrows, or normal fire on the (3) lvl. 36 Orc Infantries that charge you. This is absolutely necessary as the Orcs are tough to defeat. Bomber Wings help when attacking them, but there are (2) Dark Elf Archers behind the charging infantry, which makes it risky. Besides, you'll damage your own troops. Instead, fight off these initial Orcs, and make use of the Curatio in either Kendal's unit or the Paladins. Most of your NPC troops on this mission will do well in holding back the other units, but getting rid of the initial charge should be your biggest challenge. Continue up the right, and have the Longbowmen help take out the Wyverns. After about five minutes, the Orc Riders and Cavalry Archers will rush in. Use your Bomber Wings to chase down the Dark Elf Cavalry Archers, but be careful that the Bomber Wing doesn't go into mounted Archer positions. - If you're pinned down by the Dark Elf Archers, have your Longbowmen launch a fire arrow to scatter them about, or retreat one of your melee units, and reflank them manually behind the Archers. Once the Archers down, the battle is yours. Line up the Spearmen in front of where the Orc Cavalry are rushing, and they'll get tangled up. Finish em' off. You'll also discover a few Ghoul units scattered about. I found it best to cast Holy Explosion on the battlefield with the Ghouls, then charge the Paladins in. They'll get extra SP and be much more effective against the Undead. Finally, finish off the rest of the Wyverns with your Longbowmen. They might be scattered around the map. - Move back to Jungsburg. Let's fix up some units. Upgrade Kendal to lvl. 30. Morph your Spearmen back into Heavy Cavalry, then into Storm Riders. You should have Longbowmen, Mortars, Storm Riders, Bomber Wings, and a Paladins unit. Now head off to Bronzewood. _________________________________ /Mission 10 - Bronzewood I (5.10)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - This mission is going to be a pain in the butt, simply because you're going up against a Swamp Mammoth. Regardless of the task, bring your Mortars, Longbowmen, Bomber Wings, and Storm Riders. - For starters, the initial attack from the Dark Legion is going to be (4) high-level Orc Infantry troops, the Swamp Mammoth, plus a horde of about (3-4) Ghouls. Your NPC troops are going to die quickly on this one, because the enemy you're facing is almost always lvl. 40+, while most of your units are just starting to tap the 40 range. Keep your ranged units back, and start to fire at the initial wave of Orcs. Meanwhile, have the Bomber Wings lay down fire on the frontline force, and Kendal must engage a "few" frontline troops. Don't get too engaged though, because some Ghoul reinforcements will help the initial Orc line. When you start to see about 3-4 dots moving towards you on the radar, this is the Dark Archers flood. Be VERY careful. Each of the Archer units have a leader capable of casting Blizzard, which does tremendous damage on this mission. Have your Storm Riders kill the Wyverns that attack your lone units. Try to kill the opposing Archer units with your Mortars, and fire arrows from the Longbowmen. Don't worry about the Swamp Mammoth till the end. About halfway through the battle, you'll get more NPC troops that help kill on the right flank. Whatever you do, have Kendal charge only the lone Archer units, otherwise he'll get caught in crossfire. Target the Swamp Mammoth with the Mortars, Longbowmen, and Bomber Wings once all initial archers are down. Aside from that, there's not much more to do. The Dark Archers will spawn quite a bit, up to 8 in total, so keep laying down fire, keeping your support units AWAY from them, and counter with charges from Kendal, or Mortar bombs. It took me 5 retries to get through this mission. ^^ NOTE: I've tried alternate strategies using Cavalry, but the above setup seemed to work best. If you don't have Longbowmen, you'll find the battle too difficult to kill the Wyverns. Ballistae are useless on this map, too bulky, and don't do enough damage. Until you get a Battaloon (last mission), wait a while. *After the battle, Kendal is astonished to find General Gerald here. Apparently, Regnier managed to siege and surround the Patriarch. Gerald sought after Regnier to kill him, since he represents the keen power of the Dark Legion. Ellen then reports that the Patriarch managed to escape. Regnier commanded that he be let free. Perhaps the Patriarch took something important from the Holy Ground, but traded it for the safety of his own life. Perhaps the Ancient Heart? Both of them are shocked, and want to proceed to Ecclesia where the Patriarch went.* - Head to Ecclesia. *Duane reports that Regnier has been seen retreating to the north. The Patriarch wants to speak with Kendal at once. Apparently, the Patriarch did manage to snag the Ancient Heart from the Holy Ground, and was retreating back here with it when Regnier caught him. Captain Walter betrayed the group and fled with the heart to the north. The vision they shared was the Ancient Heart, but Walter took it out of greed. Head to Norwart immediately so we may vanquish this fool.* - Enter the Barracks. Let's start off by making some hasty upgrades. For the most part, make sure Kendal is lvl. 33-34, and that the rest of your units get a slight upgrade in skill. You should be heading off to Bronzewood II, rather than Nowart, so keep this in mind. *Apparently, the Vellonds are heavily distracted. A rebel faction called the Kaedes has risen to take over power of the Dark Elves, while they combat against the Half-Vampires. This distraction will help open up an opportunity for your army to chase Regnier.* __________________________________ /Mission 11 - Bronzewood II (5.11)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - Apparently, you're heavily outnumbered in this area near your great capital. You must make use of the forest for cover, and be weary of enemy air units. I chose to bring my Longbowmen, Mortars, Paladins, Bomber Wings, and Storm Riders. - This mission is extremely easy, as long as you don't MOVE from your spawned position. Basically, all of your units should spawn in the forest. Move them slightly forward, but under the cover of the trees. Now, make sure your ranged units are near the rear. Your Paladins and Kendal's unit should be up front. Suddenly, you're going to face at least around (18) units ranging from Ghouls, Orc Infantry, Orc Axemen, and Dark Archers. First of all, keep the battle slightly away from the ranged units, so they can keep reigning their fire down. Kendal should do most of the work, by concentrating on each of the leaders. At one point, you may fight 5 units at once, but concentrate on the leaders, and have the Paladins cast Bless & Heal when you're facing some of the Ghouls. If your Mortars get flanked from the side, don't worry. They should be able to hold out for the time being. - Waves of Dark Archers will start to spawn near the back rows. Try to distract one of them with the Paladins, or charge with Kendal's unit. There will also be Scorpions near the sides that have to be avoided. They can be destroyed easily with your Mortars, so concentrate on firing at them. Not to mention, you have unused support units which you should command to assault the Orc infantry. This mission is much easier than it initially looks. A wave of Wyverns will spawn near the second attack, so tell your Longbowmen to concentrate firing on them. - Head back to Ecclesia. You should have a ton of gold, so try buying the optimum equipment for your current troops. Change your Storm Riders back to Heavy Cavalry. Get Kendal up to lvl. 35, and make your Paladins a reckoned force. Now you're set to charge into Norwart. *Along the way, the Patriarch says that Walter and he both had the same vision - to destroy the Ancient Heart. Walter betrayed that vision, but is in the best interest of the Ecclesians to banish him forever. The Patriarch orders for Captain Walter to be executed, for betraying the religious state.* ____________________________ /Mission 12 - Norwart (5.12)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units *Kendal explains the mission briefing with determination. The Patriarchal Guards have been spotted in the northwest. We are to escort the Patriarch himself after the guards from the southeast corner. You must protect him at all costs, since he will be retrieving the Ancient Heart. Don't let any Darks get past you.* - I chose to bring my Heavy Cavalry, Longbowmen, and Bomber Wings. - Initially, you'll be outnumbered about 5:1 on the battlefield, but will have several NPC troops assisting on this one. Note that the Patriarch's life bar is displayed in the lower right corner. Pay attention to who he fights, since he will not always follow your command. Anyhow, the initial wave of Dark Legion fighters will be primarily Heavy Orc Infantry, with a few Dark Elf Knights, and some Dark Archers on the back row. Keep your units TOGETHER one this one, because you'll be able to slaughter anyone with ease. Press Y when issuing the commands to move all troops. Start off by helping the left-most flank, then slowly work your way over to the center and right flanks. The enemies mostly consist of Power Ogre leaders, Orc Horsemen, or Dark Elf leaders. None of these units will be Ghouls, so do not worry. Use Curatio to heal the Patriarch's troops or your own. When you attack with all units, your Cavalry will crush the initial health down, then Kendal combats it even better, with the Longbowmen attacking on the side. - Once the initial wave is down, you should notice several units still on the map in stationary positions. Make your way whereever the Patriarch is battling. Try to help the nearest NPC unit. I found that fighting along the northern flank was quite effective. Eventually, reinforcements will pop up from the north and southern flanks. Remember, manually control the Longbowmen to shoot at the Wyverns, while Kendal protects the Patriarch. Swoop down and kill ALL enemy units on this one. Don't run straight for the zone (although you can) because you need every ounce of EXP for the final mission. Once you've knocked out all of the units, make the final charge to the red zone where we find Walter's unit. Start to battle him. His HP will hardly go down, so don't worry about it. Along the way, he explains about how the Patriarch betrayed the current beliefs. He was the ONE who wanted to keep the Ancient Heart, while Walter attempted to destroy it. *Suddenly, a FMV is displayed showing several human soldiers duking it out. Inside the Cave, one of Walter's men manages to destroy the Ancient Heart, Suddenly, the cave starts to rumble. A giant Encablossa, or alien artifact, rises out of the ground. The Orcs and Humans stop fighting. Suddenly, the Encablossa Mother sucks in all of the soldiers and uses them as a vital energy source. Hundreds of Encablossa units are spurted out. Get the hell out of here!* ^^NOTE: This is one of the first missions where you can EXP glitch, and make use of it well. Simply press START during the movie sequence, and hit Exit to World Map. You'll actually keep the EXP you earned from the first half of the battle, and then you can do the mission ALL over again. This is great for EXP boosting to increase Kendal's level. - After the movie ends, give the ALL RETREAT command. You will die if you attempt to fight the Encablossas. Simply retreat to the zone back in the southeast corner. If one of your manually controlled units gets caught in melee, manually retreat him. All of your units must reach the marked zone, otherwise the battle will not end. Make sure you enter open formation. The Encablossas have extremely high HP, and altered speed. *Apparently, Walter was the one who tried to destroy the Ancient Heart, but the Patriarch used you so he could retrieve access to it. General Gerald got pushed back to the east by the giant monster as well. Things are not looking good. Kendal wants to retreat to Ecclesia so he can regroup.* *Duane and Kendal ponder the existence of the giant thing in the air. It's been slowly expanding since their retreat. One of the guards reports that some Patriarchal Guards were discovered. Kendal wants to interrogate them personally. The guard ends up revealing that Walter managed to gain control of the Heart, and destroyed it, but that thing still appeared in the air. The soldier believes the Darks made a duplicate of the Heart, thinking the Patriarch had it all this while. Gerald has arrived. Regnier had captured him, but released him on his own free will. Regnier apparently rescued Gerald from the monsters. He escorted Gerald to Kalishire, and told him to bring a message to Ecclesia. The curtain is expanding to engulf the world.* *A scout reports monsters on the northern flank. They're coming in fast and hard. Regnier mentioned that the monsters can go anywhere not touched by light. You must hold out till dawn! Gerald will defend the eastern wall, while you guard the northern. It's nukem time!* - Before doing anything, let's make some needed upgrades. First of all, Kendal will be doing a crud of fighting during the next mission, so change Duane to his own unit. Put your Paladin leader in Duane's spot, this way you can heal DURING the battles. Upgrade Duane's unit to a fair level (35) if necessary. Upgrade your Heavy Cavalry to lvl. 45. Finally, get Kendal up to 39. Now, change your Longbowmen into either a Ballista, or one of your former Mortars into a Ballista. Make sure you have a backup pair of Longbowmen. _____________________________________________ /Mission 13 - Defensive Wall, Ecclesia (5.13)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Fend off enemy units until sunrise > Protect wall's HP *Kendal gives a frankly short speech. Unknown monsters are approaching from the north, and you must hold out till sunrise. Hold the northern wall at any cost.* - For starters, the northern wall is going to have some HP, so it's essential to guard it, otherwise, the mission is a complete doom. You'll only have 2 free units to bring. I chose to bring my Longbowmen and Ballista. There's going to be a combination of Flyers and Creatures, so be prepared. You'll have a timer near the top, showing how long you have to hold out (seconds wise). You don't have to use a Ballista on this map, but I did because it was the easiest unit to get a high level on (58), which gave it a ton of HP. This meant I could use the Ballista as a distraction to help keep the Encas off of the wall. - This mission is probably the most difficult in my opinion out of all of Kendal's missions. The pure and simple fact is that you're outnumbered, and the enemy understands flanking. For starters, you'll only be outnumbered unit-wise (1.5:1), however, the enemy will purposely guide itself away from battles and try to hit your back rows where your ranged units are. Combine this with the fact that two waves of Enca Flyers will try to hit the wall, and a wave of Enca Spitters (as the final wave). Anyhow, to start it off, do not rush Kendal TOO far north. Just move him up about an inch on the mini-map, along with the Ballista and Longbowmen slightly south (in front of the wall with the 3 NPC Infantry units). Take out the 4 Enca Flyers using your Longbowmen. Try to keep your Longbowmen where they are, because you NEED them to take out the second wave of Enca Flyers (which should fly by secretly as you're distracted using Kendal). Meanwhile, your Ballista can do whatever it wants. Use Kendal to take out up to 4 waves of Enca troops, otherwise, this is more pressure for your mates along the wall. - Use the Paladin Officer in your party to heal you during the battles, otherwise, you WILL NOT survive. The Enca troop leaders are generally the biggest Enca in the group, but that's difficult to tell because of the varying camera angles. If you do find one though, concentrate on killing it. They're extremely weak. You should be able to do fairly well (up to about 550 seconds) when your Ballista should die. Don't worry, it primarily served as a distraction. The higher a unit's level, the more HP it has. Anyhow, keep Kendal on the middle flank. You should notice 4-5 Enca Spitters coming out of the north. KILL these at all costs. Charge the nearest one, and try to get one of the nearby Spitters to be distracted and fire at you as well. These Spitters will eventually destroy the wall unless you can manage to hold them off. Believe it or not, they're just as difficult to kill, so try the same strategies from before. If you notice the wall's HP going down drastically, check to make sure you got all of the flyers with the Longbowmen. The Longbowmen will eventually enter melee combat as well, so don't worry about them. I found both Fire & Direct Arrow to have very little use, since the Encas primary weakness seems to be nothing! The only other reason could be a fellow Spitter unit which you may have let go, that is closer to the wall than expected. Concentrate on these guys at all costs. - The idea is to basically holdout on this mission, by having your two other units distract (except Longbowmen which are necessary for the Flyers). This mission took me about 12 tries, so don't feel frustrated at first. The mission does not end right when the counter reaches 0. Matter of fact, it takes another 30 seconds of survival in order to get through. The enemy will eventually flee to the west. *Kendal is surprised that he managed to hold them off. The curtain had expanded greatly over the night. Nonetheless, Kendal plans to retreat to Gerald's army, where they can both meet up in Jungsburg.* ______________________________ /Mission 14 - Jungsburg (5.14)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Reach the southern marked zone *Along the way to Jungsburg, the night has fallen. Monsters are everywhere! Get inside for safety!* - This mission is extremely easy, as long as you use some common sense. For starters, don't fall into the foolishness that Kendal mentions. You don't have to fight these lvl. 60 beasts; you'll just be slaughtered. Instead, run away from them to the zone. For starters, make sure you still have your Heavy Cavalry from the previous mission. That's all you need. At the deployment screen, just deploy (1) Heavy Cavalry unit. Press START. It'll say that some slots are unfilled, hit OK anyway. You can still do the mission with one unfilled slot. - When the battle begins, the field should look something like this: E - Encablossa K - Kendal C - Cavalry ____________________ | E C K _ E | - Simply guide Kendal diagonally east, but have the | \ \ | Cavalry lure some of the units on the right to the | \_ \___ | middle. From there, Kendal should be able to run | E E E\ E || straight down, then cut a left into the zone. Make | \ || sure he's in open formation. Your Cavalry should then | E E E| E /| bunch all of the Encas into the middle, and ride down | ______/ / | into the zone right when Kendal hits it. | E E| E E / | | | / | |____MARKED ZONE_____| ^^NOTE: A FMV should occur. When you see a "+30,000 EXP" message appear, quickly press START, and Exit to World Map. This is another mission where you can EXP glitch, and keep doing it over for 30,000 EXP each time. *A movie will show Kendal arriving to Jungsburg to see the entire place in rubbish. The Encas made it, and obviously we're going to die. However, one of Regnier's officers tells them that if they want to live, they can follow him. Kendal is hesistant to do so, based on his beliefs, but has no reason not to.* *The message Regnier had been trying to send to Ecclesia was reinforcements of a Battaloon in order to destroy Encablossa. He needs your help, but Kendal is reluctant to help such an evil foe.* - Head to Kalishire. *Kendal begins speaking with his nemesis, Regnier. Apparently, Regnier explains that because the Ancient Heart was destroyed, the Age of Darkness is going to overcome the land of the Age of Light. If we don't destroy the Encablossa, then everyone will die. Duane criticizes Regnier for his Orcs worshipping Encablossa. Regnier counters by saying that the Orcs were deceived into worshipping Encablossa because of a foolish Lich named Killiani. Of course, the Lich was killed by Nibel, but now that the heart is destroyed, Nibel no longer plays any part in the world's role. Regnier reveals how he knows everything. Apparently, he was one of the great soldiers during the Second War of Heroes who was sucked into Encablossa, but came morphed out as a hybrid rather than a pure evil bastard. Unfortunately, because the Ancient Heart was destroyed, Regnier's immortality will soon dissapate, leaving him open to fatal wounds. Regnier proposes that we destroy Encablossa's Ancient Heart, in order to awake Nibel.* *The plan is simple. Regnier wants to use your Battaloon to reach high enough to get inside to where Encablossa's heart is. Some mages will summon the soldiers inside, so that they may slay the heart, and release all the pain and suffering. A Bone Dragon will pierce Encablossa's outer hull in order to fly through.* - This is it. Start off by leveling up some of your characters. Get Kendal up to lvl. 42. Get your Mortars and Bomber Wings to at least 50 each. Finally, spend the rest of your EXP on your Cavalry. Now, buy any equipment that you feel can make you fight at maximum performance. This is the last battle after all. You'll be given a Battaloon, so no worries there. Head to Funero when you're ready. ___________________________ /Mission 15 - Funero (5.15)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Wait for outer skin to be pierced > Guide Battaloon to NE corner > Move all troops to marked area > Destroy 4 Encablossa Corners > Destroy central Encablossas - The mission is simple. You must protect the Battaloon at all costs, and must also be present at the summoning area when this occurs. Nonetheless, bring your Bomber Wings, Mortars, Heavy Cavalry, and Longbowmen. This will keep you set for what's up ahead. - To start off, move your support units north of your spawned position. Put them away from where you spawn at least. Now, about 3-4 Enca Spitters will come from the right. Start to engage them with the Mortars, Longbowmen, and Kendal's unit. The Heavy Cavalry can swoop in to lay down extra damage. Keep fighting them, and wait about three minutes. A message will eventually say that the outer skin has been pierced by the Bone Dragon. Now, guide your Battaloon diagonally up to the NW corner. Try to avoid flying directly over the Enca Spitters (go in between them so their shots lag). You'll take heavy damage, but can make it through quite easily without actually moving Kendal's units to fight any of the troops. Just move it in the NW corner of the map (it won't be marked). A FMV should show the Battaloon flying through the hole. - Now, you must escort ALL troops to the marked zone on the map. It's about halfway across, near the middle. Go east with all troops, but ignore the enemies out here. It's not necessary to fight them. Guide them diagonally up to the destination. You will have to manually retreat the Mortars, Longbowmen, and Heavy Cavalry, so be aware of their positions. You shouldn't lose much HP with their high levels. The Cavalry act as a good distraction to cover for your retreating troops. Once all troops are in the map, you'll be spawned into the belly of Encablossa. It's time we got this damn heart. - Unfortunately, you'll be tossed into the stomach acid of the Encablossa. Quickly sprint out as lasers from the roof of the creature will start to pelt your troops. Avoid the flyers, and engage them with the Battaloon or Longbowmen. Once you're out of the liquid, proceed to the NE corner. Thankfully, your health bar will be refilled. In each corner of the map, you'll find units called Encablossa that are supposedly key organs to the creature. You must whack these solid objects (they don't fight back, don't worry), until they get released from the organism. There are usually 3-4 Enca Spitters guarding each, so concentrate on each of the spitters using a combination of your support troops and splitting the ranged attackers. Finish off the other 3 corners using the same strategy. When you reach the third corner, be weary of a flank. Some Spitters will ambush your ranged troops in the back line. Retreat your Cavalry out, and have them charge to engage the rear flankers. Then, drop your Bomber Wings in with the Battaloon help to finish em' off. Kendal and your Longbowmen can keep executing the Encablossa Limbs. After finishing off the fourth corner, the Ancient Heart will reveal its true limbs in the middle watery depths. Charge the middle, take out the Spitters, then finish off the 10 Limbs. The Encablossa will die. *The Encablossa crumbles to the ground in ruin. After the age of light and Nibel returns, it's discovered that Ecclesia is in complete ruins. The nation never recovers from the disaster, and thus, the Hironeidens take over Ecclesia. The western empire becomes one. Gerald ended up ruling for 20 years, before retiring in a small suburb in the streets of Esse. He dies peacefully in the hands of his wife. Unfortunately, all of the soldiers who entered the Encablossa never returned. Farewell, Kendal, you fool. The game also puts up a brief message saying asking how the Patriarch knew of his "vision" as to where the Ancient Heart was located. This is why you should do Regnier's Campaign last.* =-= County Carnival mini-game unlocked =-= ,-----. #,-. ,-.# THE END - Part III () a e () ( (_) ) #\_ - _/# ,' `"""` `. ,' \X/ `. / X ____\ / v ,` v `, / / ( <==+==> ) `-._/|__________\ ^ / (\\) |______@____\ ^ / \\ | ( ) \ ^ / ) | \^/ ( | |v <(^)>| | v | | | | ZOT |_.--.__ .--._| `===' `===' -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================= - 6) Regnier's Campaign - ============================= Normally, Regnier's campaign is designed to be played after Kendal's, which is confirmed via the ending of Kendal's that ponders a question to the player. Obviously, Regnier's campaign is even more difficult, but you get to have a really big sword. Woohoo! + Difficulty: HARD + Region: Hexter + Race: Half Human/Orc Press A to enter his campaign. You'll be greeted by an intro AVI showing many human soldiers marching on the Holy Ground. Suddenly, we see Regnier standing, probably taking in the nice summer breeze. Then, both the Orcs and Humans charge into battle. __________________________________ /Mission 1 - The Holy Ground (6.1)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Head to the Holy Ground marked zone > Destroy the Patriarch's units in the NE corner - Start off by helping out the Orc units above you by moving the Orc Riders in, Regnier's unit, and your Dark Archers for support. If you need healing, have the Archers cast Tree of Healing. The units should be fairly easy to kill. There will be Mortars on the back flank. Try rushing the Orc Riders at them to distract them, then support the units by concentrating on their Dwarven leader. Once the initial grouping is cleared out, head west. Your NPC Orc Infantry should be able to distract one of the Paladin groups. Head north, and take out the flank of Mortars/Paladins. Go past the cliff ridge, and Regnier will have a vision. Suddenly, three Paladin units will approach from the northwest. To make quick use of them, hold down B in the battle with Regnier to charge his sword full of fire. Then, start to swing, and do the Y charge attack when surrounded by groups. This will easily bring down their health. You can cast Enrage to heal the Orc's single unit strength, or simply cast Tree of Healing to affect all units. Once the three Paladin units are down, continue west, and finish off any units that approach. You must reach the marked zone of the Altar of Destruction in the southwest. - Suddenly, Regnier will have yet another vision of Nibel speaking to him. He senses the Patriarch Army moving to the northeast. Move all troops out of the canyon to the right, then proceed north. You'll eventually start to hear Rithrin's voice in the background, and the Patriarch mentioning how his deal is off. Some Paladins and a Storm Rider will try to interfere with you. Engage them both, and make sure your Dark Archers target the Storm Rider specifically. Once the battle is finished, Enrage yourself for some healing power, and rush to the NE corner. Right when you reach the upper corner, (3) Paladin units will spawn, along with an Archers unit for support. The Patriarch will retreat as usual. Start off by engaging the Patriarch Guards. Turn on your Fire Sword, and start wreaking havoc. The Guards have extra resistance due to their equipment, but it won't be too long before they collapse. You should rush your Orc Riders at the Archers in the middle, and have your Dark Archers (with elemental boost) support you on each unit. Help the Orc Riders in the middle, then have the Riders retreat out and fight one of the other two Paladin units in the back row. Make sure to cast Enrage before charging in. Finally, Regnier can handle the remaining Paladin unit. Regnier makes mention that we must chase after the Patriarch. *Regnier says that the Patriarch has the Ancient Heart. He tells Leinhart that it does truly exist, and is beckoning to his heart (he's a messenger after all).* - Head to Arein. *Leinhart reports that Rumen's unit was pushed back after trying to finish off the Hironeidens (by the Dwarves and Elves). A spy was caught trying to contact the Patriarch from Rumen's unit as well. Rumen has rejoined the main unit, but apparently, Lucretia has abandoned the army. The Kaedes have revolted and are causing massive chaos inside the Dark Legion empire.* - Enter the Barracks. For starters, one of the biggest weaknesses of humans is their low resistance to lightning. I highly recommend hiring a Lich from the Mercenary menu, then teaching him Lightning. Switch Leinhart over, and put the Lich in his spot. This will allow Regnier to combat the best infantry units. When you have more EXP, change Leinhart's troop into Ghouls, since he already knows Melee and Curse. Upgrade Regnier to lvl. 15. Upgrade Regnier's unit into Orc Heavies. Upgrade your Orc Riders into Orc Axe Riders. Now comes the most important part. Upgrade your Archers to at least lvl. 15, and try to increase their ranged attack. They will be your overall healers during the battle, and lay down key ranged fire. You may have found them EXTREMELY effective in the last mission. You can also spend some of the gold on obtaining a better weapon for your main troops, if not Archers, and Riders if you wish. Head to the Main Gate when you're ready. Move west to Colonock. ___________________________ /Mission 2 - Colonock (6.2)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - We'll be given up to 3 free slots to use, which is just enough since we upgraded a majority of our troops. I put in my Ghouls, Orc Heavy Riders, and Dark Archers. Remember, I switched Leinhart to his own troop, which most people would probably not do. - The battle is actually fairly easy. You'll start off by engaging a huge series of ranged units (Archers, Mortars, etc...). Simply charge the Heavy Orc Riders at the ranged units behind the initial ones, to keep their protectors busy. Regnier and Leinhart can do slim pickings on the ranged units in the frontlines. Meanwhile, your Archers can use Elemental Boost and continue to lay down fire. Your NPC Archers on this one will be helpful, as they'll continually cast Meteor. Once the initial wave is down, move to the middle of the map. You'll start to face Paladin units, but they'll have troublesome leaders. Some may cast spells. Focus on the leaders who appear to wear brown cloaks, or have two-handed swords. If there are Mortar units firing down on you, rush your Heavy Orc Riders at them. Your Ghouls can help tie up some time as well by distracting some Paladin units. - Move north a tad more, and you'll reach the final wave of enemies. Remember that the Lich Officer's Lightning attack is very powerful, and can almost reduce each unit's life bar by about 25%. Eventually, the Paladins may start to cast Curatio on Leinhart's Ghouls. If this is the case, have your Archers in the back row cast Tree of Healing, and provide support fire. Regnier can finish off the remaining units in the NW corner. One lvl. 20 Paladin unit will flank your troops from behind near the end, so keep a heads up. For the most part, this mission is fairly basic. *Apparently, Regnier is the lovely and great Rick Blood (what an awesome name). He wants to keep seeking out the Patriarch, to prevent him from possessing the Ancient Heart. Here we go again.* - Head to Arein. We're going to need a support troop on this one. You can change one of your older troops, or simply hire a mercenary and create a new one. I chose to hire a mercenary. Try to pick up a Power Ogre like Urukubarr. Then, equip him with a necklace that adds some resistance to Explosion. Now, you can spend the rest of your EXP/gold on Regnier's troops, your Archers, or Cavalry. Then, head off to Raven Meadow when you're ready. *Regnier has a vision of the Patriarch speaking to Kendal. The Patriarch is understanding how to wield the Ancient Heart more and more.* _______________________________ /Mission 3 - Raven Meadow (6.3)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - Enemy air units are present, so definitely bring your Dark Archers along. Plug in the Swamp Mammoth as the support unit, along with your Heavy Orc Riders. - Start off by charging Regnier's unit west, and engage the first lvl. 20ish Archers unit you see. Their leader should be on a horse. Focus most of your attacks on the units to your west with your Mammoth, Archers, and Orc Riders. You may notice a ton of units directly north, but attempting to ambush the supported Mortars can get difficult. Keep moving west, and there should be one more Archers unit to the south. Eliminate that as well. Now, once the west flank is clear, start to move north to where your NPC Dark Elf Fighters are being slaughtered. Use your Dark Archers to take down the Storm Riders. Charge Regnier's unit to where the bunch of 3 units are. Bring your Heavy Orc Riders too, once they've finished engaging the Paladins near your NPC Scorpion. Cast Elemental Boost on the Dark Archers, and have them support the northern flank as well. - You'll then be ambushed by another series of reinforcements on the west flank. Bring Regnier back down, fight them off, along with the Swamp Mammoth firing at the large groups of stacked humans. Protect the Mammoth from the Storm Riders though. Don't worry about the north flank for now. Again, you may face another series of higher level Paladins from the western middle flank. Have Regnier support, and keep the Mammoth firing down at the large infantry groups. Make sure your Dark Archers cast a Tree of Healing near all of the Orcs to save some SP. Now, proceed north to where you should have just a NPC Scorpion left. There are 4-5 units total. Have Regnier help eliminate the ranged units. Don't worry about the Paladins, they should retreat thinking you're Undead creatures. The Orc Heavy Riders should do some real damage on the infantry charge. Again, after nailing most of these enemy units, reinforcements will spawn on ALL sides of your troops. Simply work your way down, killing all in the NW, down to where your NPC troops are being engaged. You too will receive NPC backup, so do not worry. Watch though, one of the higher level Paladin units will be equipped with powerful magic. For the most part, all of your units should contribute to a large portion of the EXP earned; excellent balance. *The Patriarchal Army has been heading for Ecclesia. Regnier says that's where we're going as well. Not to mention, the Vellonds are on their tail.* - Head to the Pub. *Leinhart wonders how the Patriarch could have known of the Ancient Heart's true location. Regnier knows that a third party is involved.* - Head to the Barracks. Get Regnier to lvl. 20. I upgraded my Orc Heavy Riders to lvl. 35. Give your Archers a slight boost as well. The rest should go into your Swamp Mammoth/Regnier's Officers. Move over to Ethindel. *For some odd reason, Kaedes troops in the region start to attack Regnier's troops. We will kill them all, regardless of their position.* ___________________________ /Mission 4 - Ethindel (6.4)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - The enemy has air units here, so bring your Archers along. If you had the EXP/gold to spare, you could hire a mercenary and create a Wyvern for your extra support unit, but I just left the one slot open. The enemy also has Cavalry, meaning you're forced to bring your Axemen into play. - For starters, you're going to spawn inside the entrance to a cliff ledge, so an ambush is roaming up ahead. Secondly, there are about 6 units directly ahead of you. There are no ranged units, but most of them are high level Kaedes Elves, 30+. Be careful, many of them will be smart enough to flank your Archers in the back row, unless you engage them. Have the Heavy Orc Riders distract some of the units on the right, while you take care of the others on the left. Make EXCLUSIVE use of Regnier's fire sword ability, as this is highly effective against the flammable Dark Elven skin. Lightning also has peculiar effects, and works just as well. Make sure you have your Archers lay down a Tree of Healing, since both units will be losing a significant portion of health. Meanwhile, your Swamp Mammoth should just sit in the spawn and lay down balls of fire. - After the initial wave is down, start to move out of the canyon entrance, and engage any lone/roaming units. A second series of opponents will hit you from both the east and west sides; be prepared. You'll face roughly several Scorpions, a few Dark Fighter troops, but most of all Cavalry from the right flank. This is where the Orc Axemen come in handy. Position your Axemen so that they're to the right of Regnier, then wait for the Cavalry to strike. They should move swiftly, but timed perfectly into your ambush. It helps if you keep your Dark Archers against the left-middle border of the map, so they can fight off the Wyverns prevalent on this map. It helps to send a scout to the center of the map so you get headstart on the enemy Cavalry rush. Once the Cavalry rush is down, or entangled, you should be able to finish them off. It's essential that the Dark Archers cast Tree of Healing once, to help keep Regnier's endurance up. *Leinhart explains to Regnier that this entire battle was just a distraction. The Kaedes actually want the heart so that they may control you. The Ancient Heart holds manipulative powers over Regnier, and whoever controls it can command him at their will. If the Kaedes get control of Regnier, they can take over Arein, and restore the original Dark Elves reign of power.* - Head back to your Forward Base. Upgrade Regnier to around lvl. 25 if possible. Also, give Leinhart's Ghouls a boost, your Archers a slight boost, your Heavy Orc Riders, and spend the rest on equipment. Enter Essex Forest. _______________________________ /Mission 5 - Essex Forest (6.5)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - Enemy air troops have been spotted in the area. You'll have some NPC units on this one, so it won't be too bad. I chose to bring my Dark Archers and Ghouls. You can use Cavalry instead, but I chose the Ghouls because of their high HP for distracting. - This battle starts off in a good old fashion. You'll have several NPC units with you, up to 10 in total. Many of them range from several different Wyverns, Dark Archers, and Orc Infantry. Your enemy's patterns are similar, except you'll notice that the humans have their (2) Catapult units directly up the middle fairly unguarded. There are also (4) Archers in total supporting the Catapults, with Heavy Infantry on the frontline combating your NPC units. Charge at one Catapult with Regnier's unit, while charging the other one with the Ghouls. The Ghouls should be able to hold off. You may get hit by Infantry reinforcements that protect each of the catapults. Make use of your Officer's Lightning Lich attack on this one. It rips the Infantry to shreds, plus also kills Archers in a heartbeat. The Catapults may be tough to beat, simply because they have an insane amount of HP, and the soldiers managing each creation are spread out. You have to seek each of them out. Use the A attack to stab them through, for an instant kill. Once the Catapults are down, help your Ghouls out. Your Archers should be attacking the enemy Bomber Wings/Storm Riders while all of this is happening. - Now, engage the left flank with both the Ghouls and Regnier. You'll find it much easier to take down the Archers. At one point, one Infantry unit is going to have a leader capable of casting Vine. Beware as this rips your Archers to shreds. Try to group everyone together for a quick healing if possible. Spread your units out again, clear out the right flank, then help your NPC units finish off the remaining humans. You'll notice that you have plenty of NPC Wyverns left, which is a good sign that you took out the humans' ranged abilities early on. *Leinhart understands that Regnier is doing this entire quest on a personal battle, in order to regain his mortality (and die from this cursed place). Leinhart is willing to fight to the death for Lord Regnier.* - Head back to forward base. One awesome (yet expensive) item you should look for is Valdemar's Killer Whale. This sword is perfect for Leinhart's Undead unit, with a +12 Melee, and +12 Curse upgrade. Grab it ASAP. Aside from that, you'll probably be broke. Go give Regnier a 2-level upgrade, along with his officers. Head to Brimstone Forest. ___________________________________ /Mission 6 - Brimstone Forest (6.6)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - Enemy air troops have been spotted. As usual, bring your Archers along. I chose to bring my Ghouls again, since we'll be doing some forest fighting (where it's fairly tough to navigate). You have two options for support troops. I just brought my Swamp Mammoth, although a Wyvern could help (but won't be able to fight in the forest). Orc Riders do quite a bit of damage on this map, but I preferred Ghouls for a distraction. - This battle looks difficult simply because of your opposing units level, but can be done quite easily as long as your Archers don't get in melee situations. Start off by sending a scout north into the forest. You may notice a HUGE lvl. 33 Infantry unit. Lure it down (along with the other Paladins/Infantry) towards your troops. Have your Ghouls flank along the right, and engage one of the groups of Paladins/Infantry. Meanwhile, tell your Swamp Mammoth to lay support fire down where the Ghouls are battling. Now, have Regnier fight that HUGE infantry unit coming down. There's no leader for them, so concentrate on repeat casting Lightning with your Lich Officer, and slashing away. They'll die after about 5 casts plus multiple swings. Have Regnier chase one of the Paladin units (the one that was casting Meteor on you) in open formation. He will catch the unit eventually. Have your Archers lay down support fire. The Archers should cast Tree of Healing to the Ghouls. - Finish off the lone remaining Paladin units all the way up the halfway point on the map, then reorganize your Swamp Mammoth into position. Send a scout north. You'll probably notice a lone Paladin unit. It's a trap. As soon as you kill this unit, explore a tad more. Suddenly, you'll be surrounded by 3 Catapults to your left/north flanks. There will be several Paladin units to the NW & NE corners, (2) large infantry divisions, a few Mortars, and possibly an Archer or two. Here's what to do. Concentrate your Swamp Mammoth on one of the infantry divisions. It will not do much damage against the Catapults, nor will it really distract them. Have Leinhart hold off the rush from the right flank, while Regnier combats the main infantry division, and makes use of lightning attacks. Your Archers must be your main healers on this one. Try to keep them out of battle. Some of the enemy troops will cast Meteor or Vine, so be careful. After defeating the main infantry divisions, try to engage one of the Catapults with Regnier. These pesky devices were hurting your troops during the infantry battle. Unfortunately, none of the Catapult units on this map have leaders, meaning you'll have to focus on killing each and every soldier. This is a painstaking process. Repeat the same for the other one, then cut back, and try to eliminate the third one. Remember, Tree of Healing will be key here. - Now, once the partial left flank is done, cut back right. Several more Paladin units will spawn from the north and south, in the northeast corner. Get rid of the ranged unit in the upper right, along with the Mortars to the south. I lost my Ghouls at this point, but since they did not kill much, I wasn't too worried abut the experience loss. Try to keep your Archers out of battling at all, since the Paladin leaders' spells usually are fire-based. Cut back with Regnier and finish off the Paladins. Your Swamp Mammoth will draw quite a bit of fire on this one, and may need a Tree of Healing twice during the mission. Remember, this is doing it one support unit down. If I had Wyverns, it may have been a tad easier taking out the Catapults. - Head to Forward Base. Upgrade your Heavy Orc Riders to lvl. 40. Get Regnier to lvl. 30. Give your Archers a slight boost as well. Now, delete the magic skill on your Archers' leader, and replace it with Riding. Upgrade Riding high enough so you can morph the Archers into Dark Elf Cavalry Archers. Once you're set, head off to Bronzewood (one with the Patriarch). After all, we're trying to stop the Patriarch. _______________________________ /Mission 7 - Bronzewood I (6.7)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Defeat the Patriarch unit before it reaches Southern Gate - The mission is simple. The Patriarch is on the move towards Ecclesia, and is attempting to get inside the gates. We cannot allow this to happen. You must use speedy units to catch up to him, steal the Ancient Heart, and retreat. For this mission, you'll only have two slots, so bring the recently promoted Cavalry Archers and your Orc Heavy Riders. - This mission is a pain in the butt, simply because the Patriarch keeps retreating, and you have to get his health down BEFORE he reaches the gate. To be honest though, this one can be a breeze, as long as you manually guide your Heavy Orc Riders after the Patriarch unit. For starters, you'll notice the Patriarch's Army in a line formation, with some Spearmen in the front line. Send Regnier's unit north, then cut east towards the Patriarch. The Cavalry Archers will probably get tangled up by some melee units, but should also try to chase down and fire at the Patriarch unit. Have your Heavy Orc Riders constantly charge through the Patriarch unit. They'll take the unit's life down by about 1/8th each time. Repeat this strategy, and keep chasing the Patriarch in open formation. The same can be said about Regnier. You should be able to destroy the Patriarch's life bar before he hits the castle wall by just constantly retreating the Heavy Riders out of battle, and then charging back in. When the Patriarch is about to die, he commands the heart, and Regnier loses control of his powers. *The Patriarch manipulates Regnier, and he has no control over what he does. Suddenly, we're brought back to a flashback showing the armies of Regnier facing off against Urukubarr. This is how he earned Urukubarr's respect, by defeating him in battle.* - All you have to do is concentrate your attacks on Urukubarr either with your Fiery Sword, or by doing the X + X + A combo. The stabs are effective, but doing slashes eats away at his life bar. Once Urukubarr goes down, the battle should end. *After the battle ends, Leinhart questions your command. You don't remember a darn thing. You ordered all units to halt, and the Patriarch ended up retreating into the Ecclesian Castle. However, some Patriarchal Guards were seen retreating to the north, perhaps with the Ancient Heart. Everyone is chasing after the Patriarchal Guards with the heart. Regnier wants to follow them as well.* - Head to Bronzewood II. ________________________________ /Mission 8 - Bronzewood II (6.8)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy units - You'll only have two free slots on this one, so choose wisely. I chose to bring the same units from the previous mission, my Cavalry Archers and Orc Heavy Riders. - Well for starters, you're going to be outnumbered 2:1, but if you strike the key points in the enemy's formation, then you'll win easily. Take a quick recon of what you're facing. It's primarily Paladins, a few large Infantry units, and ONE Archers unit. Now be weary. Attack the Archers unit with all of your troops. Be careful though. One of the backline Paladins will cast a Blizzard spell that causes Regnier to be frozen, along with most of the troops. You'll also take extra damage. Have the Cavalry Archers cast Tree of Healing on you while this occurs. Once the Blizzard goes away, kill off the Archers unit, then focus on the surrounding Paladins/Infantry. Make use of the Lich Officer's lightning ability, and have ALL units attacking the same unit at once (for quick/easy kills). Your NPC troops will do fairly well on this one, and will tie up most of the other units. Help the northern flank out, where your NPC Ghouls are probably dead by now. Finish off the high-level Paladins, retreat back south, and finish off the remaining troops. There's one unit of Spearmen tossed into the humans' forces, but it usually gets tied up, and won't be a factor for your Riders. - Head back to forward base. By now, it would be best if you got your Officers to at least lvl. 20, since most people would neglect them. Regnier is in tip-top shape around lvl. 30. Once you're ready, head north to Norwart. *The Patriarchal Guards and Patriarchal Army have engaged in battle. Regnier is infuriated, and wants to kill them all while regathering the heart.* __________________________ /Mission 9 - Norwart (6.9)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy all enemy unit - As usual, you can toss in 2 free units and one for support. I chose to bring my Orc Heavy Riders and Dark Elf Cavalry Archers. I tossed in the Swamp Mammoth for extra measure. - Right off the bat, look slightly south of the middle of the map. Do an all-out charge on the Mortars unit. Once it's dead, charge south, and take care of the lvl. 40 Archers. Send out your Heavy Orc Riders west near the south border of the map, and tangle up the Mortars in the forest for the time being. Take care of any surrounding units. Your Swamp Mammoth should lay support along the northern flank, where your NPC troops are probably getting pounded. Once Regnier and the opposing units have taken care of the southern flank, start to help out the north side. As usual, lightning is a killer on Mortars and Archers. You may discover a few Mortar units that "spawn" out of nowhere. Quckly distract them with the Heavy Cavalry, otherwise you'll get pelted while fighting large groups of human infantries. - By now, most of your NPC troops are dead. The north side is still fairly strong, so keep the Swamp Mammoth in for support. One of the Paladin units along the north flank may try to purposely target your Archers, so move them around, and lure the chasing unit into your large group where Regnier is battling. Finally, proceed west to finish off the remaining units. *Regnier makes mention of how we march westward to finish off the humans. Suddenly, Encablossa appears out of the ground. Regnier curses the humans for the unthinkable. A FMV is then displayed showing Encablossa sucking in all of the fighters on the battlefield for an energy source. Leinhart freaks out, and knows nothing of what is going on. Regnier is prompt, and says to take refuge somewhere quickly.* - Head to Jungsburg. *Jungsburg was completely wiped out by the monsters. Regnier says we must hurry before the night falls; they are nocturnal monsters. Leinhart ponders how Regnier knows such things. He says it's a wisdom of the Tower...inside Encablossa.* - Head to Cloud Borune. *Scouts report that some humans were seen being chased by the Encablossa creatures. Regnier laughs in pity as he knows he'll die a horrible death, since Gerald wanted to kill him too. As they're about to move, Regnier says he needs the human.* _________________________________ /Mission 10 - Cloud Borune (6.10)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Rescue Gerald > Escort Gerald to southern marked zone - This mission is a slight pain, because you have to keep Gerald's unit alive the entire time, while defending against the Enca creatures. I chose to bring my Heavy Orc Riders, Dark Elf Cavalry Archers, and Swamp Mammoth for the back lines. - Start off by having your Dark Elf Cavalry Archers charging straight up to Gerald's position, along with your Heavy Orc Riders. The Archers should lay down fire on Gerald's unit where he's overrun by the Enca creatures. Meanwhile, have the Orc Riders support him up close. Your Swamp Mammoth should try to get up there if possible. It barely takes any damage from these darn evil beings. On the other hand, I used Regnier to take care of all of the units next to the Swamp Mammoth, and those that were trying to block my path to Gerald. Lightning has some use against the creatures, but isn't as effective as it was on humans. Make use of Regnier's A (STAB) move, this almost yields an instant kill. The range on the attack is also perfect for looking for the enemy leader. You can usually crush the leader within seconds. If Regnier starts to lose health rapidly, retreat the Cavalry Archers southward, and heal him with a Tree of Healing. ^^NOTE: The Tree of Healing does heal Gerald on this one. Didn't think it would when I had to heal my Orc Riders, but it does, so use it to help Gerald stay alive when he's overrun. - Once you take care of 3-4 Encablossa units, flank Regnier westward, north, and then eastward to where Gerald is. This way, you can save him ASAP. Lightning is HIGHLY effective against the Enca Spitters though (you'll find a unit in the middle of the map). Try taking it out to reduce unblockable damage attacks. Once you take out the initial units around Gerald, a SECOND wave of Enca creatures will spawn, along with some Spitters. It will get tough, but help Gerald out as a huge mass of creatures will approach him. The Swamp Mammoth should fire on the bulk, while Regnier takes care of any support/ranged units. While you can retreat at this point, I recommend you fight on for the extra EXP/gold. The enemies will not INFINITE respawn; they're just tossed in to add a retreating flavor. Use the same strategies as before. Once the second wave is down, have Gerald follow you south to the zone. You only have to get Gerald's unit into the zone, not all of your units as well. *Regnier is going to take Gerald to Kalishire with them. Leinhart notices something different about Regnier. He understands that the Ancient Heart has been destroyed, and that perhaps...Regnier's immortality is to faulter soon enough. He needs Gerald to finish the plan.* *Hah, Gerald curses out Regnier claiming to destroy him at any cost. Leinhart acts like an impudent fool, and Ellen questions your motives for helping them. You explain the entire theme of Nibel and Encablossa, and how the world changes from the Age of Light to the Age of Darkness. Regnier explains how he needs a Battaloon to get inside Encablossa, hence why he needs the Ecclesians to cooperate. For penetrating the skin, he will gather a Bone Dragon. Both forces must unite in order to destroy the inner heart. Regnier orders Leinhart to escort Gerald and Ellen to Ecclesia so that they may accept the offer.* *Leinhart wonders what will happen to Regnier when he morphs into a mere human. The Vells have tried summoning a Bone Dragon, but failed. Regnier still has faith though.* - Enter the Barracks. Upgrade Regnier to lvl. 35. Also, upgrade your Swamp Mammoth to something reasonable, mid 40s. By now, you'll be low on EXP, so head to the Main Gate. *Regnier wants Leinhart to stay behind to wait for the Ecclesian Army, while Regnier goes to summon the Bone Dragon. Oh boy.* - Head north to Gremium. ____________________________ /Mission 11 - Gremium (6.11)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Find all 10 Dragon Tombs > Escort Bone Dragon to NE corner - The mission is simplistic, yet difficult when construed. You have to find (10) Dragon Tombs, but you do not know of their locations. When all tombs are discovered, this will let you summon a Bone Dragon. You'll only have two free slots, so bring along speedy units. I chose my Heavy Orc Riders and Dark Elf Cavalry Archers. - Talk about annoying missions - holy crud. For starters, this mission will have INFINITE respawning Enca creatures/Spitters. This means you should not fight them till they drop, because they'll keep on coming. In order to find the 10 Dragon Tombs, you have to be within a reasonable vicinity of them. You simply cannot let them be within inside your view radius. I've constructed an ASCII map which should greatly help. The dragon tombs ALWAYS spawn in the same spots; they are not random locations: _______________________________ | / / /| - The X's mark where each of the dragon | X EXIT _ __ | X | tombs are. They actually sneak one in |___/ _________/ | \__/ | slightly lower of where you spawn. This | / | | is the last one I could not find for | / X | _____| quite some time. Anyhow, when you start | | X ___________/ / | off, you have two choices. You can quick | |___/ | rush, screw the EXP, and try to find all | X | 10 points, or you can fight for a bit. | _________ X \_____| I recommend gaining some EXP from this | / \ | mission, so you can build up Regnier for | | START | the final mission. Anyhow, use your Dark | X _/ X X | X | Orc Riders to scout out the 10 points. |___/_____________|_____________| ^ I'd like to thank Michael McEwen for correcting me on the location of the exit of the map. It is the northwest corner, not the northeast. - Try to move Regnier and the Cavalry Archers in the northwest corner of the map, where the EXIT is marked. After all 10 points are discovered, the Bone Dragon will be summoned in the center of the map. You will the have to manually guide it (use the directional pad to select it), and place it at the EXIT logo, along with ALL other units. Use Regnier to combat the Encablossas, while you use the Dark Cavalry Archers to heal you with the Tree of Healing. Be forewarned, the Bone Dragon is EXTREMELY weak to Enca Spitters, and can die unless you heal it, or get it out of the way. Remember, all units have to be in the NW corner where it's marked. The mission should then end. If the Bone Dragon dies, you must do it all over again. - Head back to Kalishire. *Regnier starts speaking with Kendal about the whole perspective, as to why the Encablossa rose, Nibel, the age of darkness, yada yada yada. It's the same cutscene as in Kendal's campaign as well.* - Prepare one last time, because, you're NOT coming back. Pump Regnier up to lvl. 37. Don't pump TOO much into your Swamp Mammoth, because you'll only be able to use it for half of the mission. Instead, pump up the rest into your officers/Archers/Ghouls. You should have a ton of gold from the last battle, so spend most of it on the best equipment possible. Upgrade everything you can to give bonuses to all troops. Head off to Funero. ___________________________ /Mission 12 - Funero (6.12)/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Destroy outer skin using Bone Dragon > Proceed to marked area with all units > Destroy 4 Encablossa Corners > Destroy central Encablossa structures - The objective is simple. Penetrate the Encablossa's outer skin using the Bone Dragon, then proceed to a teleportation area where you'll be warped inside to destroy the Encablossian Heart. You'll have 3 free slots, plus 2 support units. I chose to bring my Ghouls, Heavy Orc Riders, and Dark Elf Cavalry Archers. I tossed in the Swamp Mammoth for good measure. - Wow, this mission can be a real pain in the butt, since you have to do twice the work as compared to Kendal's last mission. Anyhow, start off by immediately moving your Bone Dragon NW of your position slightly, to keep it out of harm's way. Now, have your Ghouls distract almost all of the Enca Spitters while you manually retreat Regnier, the Heavy Orc Riders, and Cavalry Archers through the canyon sifts. Keep pushing them forward till you're almost around the last corner. Engage and kill the lone spitter here. Now, there will be 3 Spitters out in front of the Encablossa lvl. 39 unit in the NE corner of the screen. Start to engage them, and kill them gradually. Meanwhile, move your Bone Dragon diagonally upward across the path you just took. Now's a good time to retreat your Ghouls to the middle canyon, and start engaging the Encas yet again. Your Ghouls should be almost dead, and let them die - don't worry. By now, you should have 1 out of the 3 Enca Spitters guarding the Encablossa down. Move the Bone Dragon in, and have it engage the lvl. 39 unit placed in the corner. - It should slowly start to toll away at the life bar. Meanwhile, your Ghouls will be dead, and a whole load of Spitters should be approaching your position. Hold them off using your Heavy Orc Riders, and Regnier. You MUST distract all of them while the Bone Dragon proceeds on with the destruction process. After the Bone Dragon penetrates the skin, the Battaloon will start to arrive. Keep holding off the Spitters to keep it protected as well. During this whole mission, you should pretty much use your Swamp Mammoth as a partial distraction too. It takes too long to wait for it to arrive in the NE corner, so march it to the extraction zone (upper part of the middle canyon). It will barely lose life thanks to its sturdy shell. Now's a good time to retreat your troops to the marked zone. Any units that die will be revived, so do not worry. Simply retreat out of battle to the marked area. Your troops will be summoned. - Now you're inside Encablossa. Unfortunately, your Swamp Mammoth was too big and could not be summoned inside. Nonetheless, the same process is to be done to kill Encablossa. Proceed to each of the four corners, and kill off the Spitters. Destroy all Encablossa units here, as they are vital organs to the creature. As you progress to each new corner, some Spitters will ambush you from behind. I retreated my Heavy Orc Riders out of battle, and charged them at these Spitter units because they have dangerous magic. By distracting them, you should be able to take out the threats in the corner, then have your Cavalry Archers heal, or Regnier reinforce them. Once all corners are destroyed, head to the middle, and destroy all vital organs. Repeat the same strategies as before. Note that the Cavalry Archers are VERY effective in destroying Encablossa limbs. *A FMV plays showing Encablossa crashing to the ground. Soon afterward, we're told about what happens to the Dark Legion empire. Arein ended up splitting into a dozen tribes, with civil war reigning throughout. Even the Half-Vampires split into two factions, and King Valdemar was murdered. The region of Hexter also split into several factions, but the strongest tribe prevailed, and ended up ruling over for some peaceful years. The last item we see is Leinhart looking over the province of Hexter. Perhaps the Half-Vampires took it over? One question is posed at the end. How did the Ecclesians know of the Ancient Heart? Obviously, if you played the Kendal Campaign (which you should have), then you'd know.* =-= Risky Raiders mini-game unlocked =-= __,='`````'=/__ '// (o) \(o) \ `' _,-, //| ,_) (`\ ,-'`_,-\ ,-~~~\ `'===' /-, \==```` \__ / `----' `\ \ \/ ,-` , \ ,.-\ \ / , \,-`\`_,-`\_,..--'\ ,` ,/, ,>, ) \--`````\ ( `\`---'` `-,-'`_,< \ \_,.--'` `. `--. _,-'`_,-` | \ [`-.___ <`_,-'`------( / (`` _,-\ \ --`````````|--` >-`_,-`\,-` , | THE <`_,' , /\ / END - Part IV ` \/\,-/ `/ \/`\_/V\_/ ( ._. ) ( .__. ) | | | | \,---_| |_---./ ooOO(_) (_)OOoo Zeus -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 7) X-BOX Live - ============================ Online multiplayer can be both an exciting experience, or a complete letdown if you're not prepared. Kingdom Under Fire is one of the first battle-like RTS's that I've seen with online multiplayer. While it may be somewhat laggy at times, it's well worth the effort put forth, as you get to incorporate RPG elements with one heck of a strategy game. This section will describe the basic X-BOX Live process, and individual game strategies. _____________ /Starting Off/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= After you sign in to your account, you can create up to four different "profile" characters, which will each contain different armies you build. You must select from four leaders, either Gerald, Lucretia, Kendal, or Regnier. Afterwards, you'll now be at the main Live menu. You have the following choices to choose from: ))- Troop Management ((- ------------------------ This is where you create your troops within the profile. Each profile automatically starts you out with 1,000 EXP to freely spend on 9 different units (one with your Hero, 8 others with leaders). Depending on your race, you'll either have all humans, or 4 Dark Elves & 4 Orcs. There are some KEY changes though from single-player. >> NO EQUIPMENT - That's right, no equipment at all. This means you cannot gain any modified skill bonuses, increase resistance, or accumulate gold. This is a huge setback believe it or not. >> NO HERO OFFICERS - While you do have officers, there are none in the hero's unit. You can no longer get out of a jam by pressing X + A, or Y + B. You have to do it yourself. >> ALL ABILITIES AVAILABLE - With exception to your Hero unit, which is forced to be infantry, all other leaders can learn any or all abilities available. It's not like mercenaries where they were restricted on what they could learn. - Now that you understand the basics, it's a tad more "strategic" on Live play. For the most part, using Fire on Dark Elves is going to do insane damage, because the Dark Elves have no way of repelling the damage. It becomes more perspective-based, such as knowing the weakness of each race, who to use what against, and to focus on taking out the ranged threats at hand. The Troop Management screen is practically the Barracks, except downgraded a lot. ))- Quick Match ((- ------------------- Searches for the quickest available match that would fit your player, but also be an optimized connection. This however can pit you against players larger than your size. ))- OptiMatch ((- ----------------- Allows you to search for either Even-based matches, or All-Matches. Even-based matches even it out so you face players that are equal to your level, if not close. All matches allows you to play anyone who is hosting a game, but this also means you'll face people that are up to lvl. 99. ))- Friends List ((- -------------------- Let's you view your current friends online. ))- Scores ((- -------------- Let's you view your own current rank, the rank of your friends, or all ranked players. Ranks are based on overall scores, which are accumulated from earning EXP in battles, earning victories, and so forth. ___________ /Strategies/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Obviously one of the more sought after sections, I plan on revealing some keen Live strategies employed. This is helpful for those who want to gain in rank, or promote themselves beyond recognition. Unfortunately, I haven't clocked in enough time on Live play for KUF to bring any significant advice. I'm willing to accept strategies, and plan on posting my own strategies within the next update. -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 8) Skills - ============================ \=======/ ] Melee [ SLOTS: 1 ^^^^^^^^^ "Increases hand-to-hand combat damage. Melee skill increases defensive capabilities more than other skills." - This is the most commonly used skill of troops during Kingdom Under Fire. It basically governs how well you do with melee attacks up close and personal. You'll be upgrading this skill quite frequently, and the EXP cost is at a toned medium. \=======/ ] Scout [ SLOTS: 1 ^^^^^^^^^ "An expert scout will run faster and see further." - Scouting is an exclusive skill to Gerald. It allows you to view opposing armies by sending a lone spy out to determine the enemy's size, status, and levels. By increasing the level of the scout, he will become faster and much more efficient. You'll be using this frequently to get a heads up of who is on the battlefield. \========/ ] Ranged [ SLOTS: 1 ^^^^^^^^^^ "Ranged skill increases damage for ranged attacks. Non-arrow attacks are affected by other skills as well." - Not quite as popular, but still a useful skill for your long range units such as Archers and Longbowmen. Ranged basically is the Melee skill for ranged attacks. Upgrade it on Officers or Archers for maximum effectiveness. \=========/ ] Frontal [ SLOTS: 1 ^^^^^^^^^^^ "Increases attack strength of spearmen, axemen, cavalry, and riders. Slightly increases defense." - Again, this skill is more useful for any spearmen, or specialty units inside your Army. Not really a truly important skill unless you're attempting to get extremely powerful Cavalry which are necessary later on. \===========/ ] Gunpowder [ SLOTS: 1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "Increases the explosive damage of mortars and sapper mines. Slightly increases defense." - Gunpowder is a unique skill, similar to ranged attacks. As you can see, it helps increase the strength on explosive weapons such as mortars and sapper mines. Unless you have these units, you may find it futile to upgrade. \======/ ] Fire [ SLOTS: 2 ^^^^^^^^ "Required to cast 'Meteor'. Higher skill increases the number of meteors." - Pretty much a fire-based attack. Launchs numerous projectiles from the sky which rain down destructive damage. Effective aginst pretty much ALL units, but no real extra damage unless used upon Dark Elves. \===========/ ] Lightning [ SLOTS: 2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "Required to cast 'Thunderstorm'. Enemy's defense and speed decrease when hit." - Lightning is a much better spell to upgrade on characters in my opinion. Not only does it lower status values on units, but it's HIGHLY effective against high-armored units, such as Knights especially. You'll find this great to use later on when it comes to taking down heavily armored units. \=====/ ] Ice [ SLOTS: 2 ^^^^^^^ "Required to cast 'Chilling Touch'. An ice magic is a great way to immobilize enemy troops." - This spell acts more of like a paralysis effect, as it allows you to halt troops for quite some time. Great against oncoming rushes and what not. \======/ ] Holy [ SLOTS: 2 ^^^^^^^^ "Required to cast 'Curatio' and 'Bless and Heal'. Heals all friendly troops and damages undead troops." - This is going to be ONE of the most used spells by your officers in the game. Holy spells allow you to cure troops that have lost HP, and it's really necessary during long battles where you and your Heroes will lose health. Get it ASAP on your officers. \=======/ ] Earth [ SLOTS: 2 ^^^^^^^^^ "Required to cast 'Vine'. A deadly poison by earth spells is feared by many." - Poison is basically an endurance spell that gradually lowers health by any opposing units inside the radius of the spell. Seems extremely good on the outside, but only useful at high-end areas. \=======/ ] Curse [ SLOTS: 2 ^^^^^^^^^ "Required to cast 'Darkmist'. A dreadful curse that lowers attack and defense rate by blinding targets." - To be honest with you, I never used Curse magic at all during Campaign play. Simply put, this is more of status-change magic, and would probably serve more useful during online games, where you're facing high HP opponents. Try casting Silence to really limit a person's thresh-hold on casting magic spells, or even using SP for that matter. \==========/ ] Teamwork [ SLOTS: 1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^ "Reduces sapper work times. Greatly increases attack of catapults and ballistae. Slightly increases defense." - Useful for those of you who enjoy the nitty-grit human classes that involve machinery or complex traps. I personally dislike upgrading this skill, as it does not help Dark Legion beasts greatly, nor are these units very effective anyhow. \========/ ] Taming [ SLOTS: 1 ^^^^^^^^^^ "Increases attack power of beasts (Dirigibles, Scorpions, and Swamp Mammoths). Slightly increases defense." - Certainly a skill worth upgrading, as it greatly increases splash damage by your Swamp Mammoths. The offensive factor in how powerful your beast is. \========/ ] Riding [ SLOTS: 2 ^^^^^^^^^^ "Increases turning speed of cavalry and riders. Slightly increases defense." - Very effective in making Cavalry/Riders speedy units. It should truly only be upgraded to about 15 points, but anything more is a waste of experience. -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 9) Equipment - ============================ Before you can jump in and use any equipment, it's imperative to understand how the equipment system works. First of all, you can only buy items via the Barracks shop. Each character in the game, plus your general troops can be equipped separately with different items. This section will briefly describe equipment, but cannot go into detail for certain reasons. - Depending on the class, type of character, or restrictions, most characters can equip up to 3 different items. This usually consists of a weapon, a secondary item (another weapon, a shield, a bow), and their armor. Undead creatures wear no items, while a typical infantry soldier may wear all 3. This is determined by the game. - Items can only be purchased at the Barracks shop, where a set cost is put forth. After purchasing an item, you can sell it for a maximum of HALF of what you paid. - Unfortunately, Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders uses a special "random item" generator, that purposely creates random items using special modifiers. The resistance amounts on armor, the skill bonuses on weapons, and so forth all change based on your character's level and/or current location. Not purchasing a weapon early on could be a huge mistake, as the item is not guaranteed to be there in the future. Thus, a good tip of advice is to purchase a good item whenever you see one. - Because of the random generated items, there is no way of listing them at all. However, certain story-like characteristics accompany certain ones. For example, Leinhart is capable of equipping an item with the prefix Valdemar. Rupert can equip Hugh's Flask, and so forth. While these items are not unique per say, the character is limited to these type of prefixed items. Costs vary based on the item's level. I may plan on creating a prefix item guide in the future, but for now, the higher the cost of the item in gold, the better it is generally. -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 10) Special Abilities - ============================ __________ >> |GENERAL | |ABILITIES:| \----------/____________________________________________________________ | Name | Description | |^^^^^^^^^^^------------------------------------------------------------| |Curatio | Heals all friendly units within range | |REQ: Holy (1) | - One of the more useable spells during the game. | | | Pretty much your only source of healing your HP | | | bar. Necessary for survival. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Meteor | Summons a gigantic meteor from the sky to target | |REQ: Fire (5) | location. | | | - Useful all-around damage spell that does pure | | | magic damage in which MOST enemies have no extra | | | resistance towards. Meteors increase by level of | | | spell. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Thunderstorm | A chain of blue lightning bolts attack everything | |REQ: Lightning (5)| in its path. | | | - Similar to Diablo II's chain lightning attack, | | | TS links to opposing enemies based on proximity | | | and does extreme damage to those with HEAVY metal| | | armor - preferably Knights/Paladins. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Blizzard | Summons a blizzard storm on a target location. | |REQ: Ice (5) | - Much like a wide-proximity based attack, BS let's| | | you freeze enemies based on a small %, and also | | | does minor ice damage. Many troops seem to be | | | impervious to this though. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Vine | Summons tendrils on a target location. The number | |REQ: Earth (5) | of tendrils increases with earth skill. | | | - Similar to sharp grass blades, Vine slices and | | | dices opponents who walk over this furious plant.| |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Tree of Healing | Summons Tree of Healing to slowly cure nearby | |REQ: Dark Elf | allies. | | | | | | - Absolutely love this ability as it heals all Dark| | | units for about 15 seconds, that are next to the | | | tree. Takes time to build up full health rebuild,| | | but is not instantaneous. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Elemental Boost | Adds elemental effects to non-magic attacks. | |REQ: Dark Elf | | | | - Very useful in turning the tides of battle. This | | | makes common warriors into lethal weapons. Only | | | problem is that it costs a tad of SP, and does | | | dissapate after a bit. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Curse | Forbids a hostile troop from casting spells for | |REQ: Curse (5) | limited time. | | | | | | - Meh, not as great as you think. This only stops | | | spell casting, not SP spending, or officer | | | abilities. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Dark Mist | Lowers offensive and defensive strength of targeted| |REQ: Curse (5) | troop to near zero. | | | | | | - Creates a temporary weakness on your opponents. | | | Strike the leader while this is casted. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Enrage | Orc soldiers enter a state of frenzy, immediately | |REQ: Orc | healing themselves. | | | | | | - This is a last resort healing spell. It eats up | | | a decent amount of SP, but can cure the OWN unit | | | when necessary. Does not cure over a radius. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| __________ >> |LEADER | |ABILITIES:| \----------/____________________________________________________________ | Name | Description | |^^^^^^^^^^^------------------------------------------------------------| |Scout | A scout is a great way to safely search an area | |REQ: Scout (1) | and to lure enemy troops. | | | - Probably one of the more underrated abilities, | | | scouting is more commonly used during Live play | | | where you want to get input on what you're going | | | up against. Pretty much a speedy lone troop. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| __________ >> |OFFICER | |ABILITIES:| \----------/____________________________________________________________ | Name | Description | |^^^^^^^^^^^------------------------------------------------------------| |Onslaught | Charges around the battle field swinging its | |REQ: Melee (1) | primary weapon. The officer must have both a sword | | | and shield equipped. | | | - Reminds me of Braveheart without the blue face | | | paint. A real heroic booster for your troops, but| | | not overwhelmingly effective as well-executed | | | button combos. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Reckless | Jumps in near the leader and blows away everything | |REQ: Melee (1) | around it. | | | | | | - You'll truly only find this ability on Power | | | Ogres, and even then, it only does mediocre | | | damage. It does knock over all opponents, and | | | even causes minor earth splash damage. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |The Wrath | Charges around the battlefield attacking | |REQ: Melee (1) | relentlessly. | | | | | | - Very reminiscent of Onslaught, this is the same | | | but Orcish version of the attack. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Lawn Mower | Performs a powerful whirlwind attack with a two | |REQ: Melee (1) | handed war hammer. | | | - Much like the WW Barbarians from DII, this attack| | | knocks away enemies that run into the path of | | | Rupert. Doesn't really guarantee a high hit rate,| | | but useful on enemy leaders. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Thrust | Dashes around the battlefield attacking everything | |REQ: Melee (1) | in its path. | | | | | | - Common to female Elves and Dark Elves, Thrust is | | | quite dangerous as there's no real way to block | | | it. The officer warps back and forth through a | | | target for a timed interval, or until they | | | collapse. Very useful during LIVE play. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Arrow Shower | Summersaults and shoots multiple arrows in mid air.| |REQ: Ranged (1) | The number of shots increases with higher Range | | | Skill. Female Dark Elf Exclusive. | | | | | | - Sort of like Ellen's special, except enhanced. | | | This is quite useful as it gets a better height | | | range to hit more targets - that is, if your | | | Ranged skill is high enough. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Rapid Shot | Fires multiple homing arrows. The number of | |REQ: Ranged (1) | shooting arrows increases with range skill. | | | | | | - A very useful ability in my opinion. Ellen is a | | | real-life saver as this guarantees hits on all | | | enemies surrounding your hero. Unfortunately, the| | | shots tend to only "stun" opponents for a small | | | interval of time. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Cover Shot | Shoots piercing arrows to protect the leader from | |REQ: Ranged (1) | enemy attack. The officer must have a bow equipped.| | | | | | - A downgraded human-like version of Ellen's Rapid | | | Shot, not much of a difference in my opinion. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Dwarven Cannon | Fires a dwarven cannon multiple times. | |REQ: Gunpowder (1)| | | | - Only does minute damage in a concentrated radius.| | | Not impressive. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Great Stomp | Performs a rolling jump attack with an axe in both | |REQ: Melee (1) | hands. | | | | | | - Similar to the Reckless attack of the Power Ogre,| | | the Great Stomp is the Dwarven version of it. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Heal | Heals the troop leader during combat. | |REQ: Holy (1) | | | | - This is another life-saver spell during Kendal's | | | campaign. Gives you the ability to heal during | | | battle rather than receiving aid from another | | | unit or by retreating out. Highly recommend you | | | obtain. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Curse | Decreases SP of all hostile units within its range | |REQ: Curse (1) | during combat. | | | | | | - Talk about pure madness, this can literally turn | | | a special-skilled army into nothing but mere | | | mortals. Unfortunately, it doesn't make your | | | opponent any weaker, just limits their abilities.| |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Fireball | Shoots homing fireballs out. The officer must have | |REQ: Fire (1) | either a magic staff or magic booster equipped. | | | | | | - This is the one spell where the basic officer | | | ability is STRONGER than the upgraded version! | | | Fireball is tremendously devestating, but try to | | | to keep your Fire skill under 5 to be able to use| | | it. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |KaleidoFlamma | Summons an enormous pillar of fire. The officer | |REQ: Fire (5) | must have either a magic staff or magic booster | | | equipped. | | | | | | - The only reason the upgraded version sucks is | | | because the blast radius is centered around your | | | officer, and splash damage seems to be minimized.| | | Loses concentrated energy. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Electric Shock | A lightning bolt attacks a small group of enemies. | |REQ: Lightning (1)| Must have either magic staff or magic booster | | | equipped. | | | | | | - Nice small electrical shock. This spell becomes | | | AMAZING against humans in its higher form. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Lightning Bolt | Multiple lightning bolts attack a large group of | |REQ: Lightning (5)| enemies. Must have either magic staff or magic | | | booster equipped. | | | | | | - Absolutely amazing. Get Lightning on a Lich | | | Officer, and your leader will kick more bootay in| | | battle than a player on 5th street. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Chilling Touch | Summons and shoots an ice spear out during combat. | |REQ: Ice (1) | The officer must have either a magic staff or magic| | | booster equipped. | | | | | | - A minimal attack that does some freezing damage | | | with frontal attack power. Fortunately, not too | | | many enemies are susceptible to ice attacks. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Ice Spear | Summons multiple pillars of ice during combat. The | |REQ: Ice (5) | officer must have either magic staff or magic | | | booster equipped. | | | | | | - A tad more destructive, as the radius is greatly | | | increased. Still, just a pile of ice. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Poison Sting | Attack a small number of enemies with poison | |REQ: Earth (1) | needles. The officer must have either magic staff | | | or magic booster equipped. | | | | | | - Sadly enough, this ability has the equivalence | | | of a Dirigibles' bomb attack. It does no concrete| | | damage! | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Poison Gas | Poisons a large number of enemies with a gas. The | |REQ: Earth (5) | officer must have either a magic staff or magic | | | booster equipped. | | | | | | - This is more like it. You get a wide radius of | | | damage that slowly degenerates from the life bar | | | of your opponent. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Chiroptera | Summons a swarm of bats to overwhelm enemy troops. | |REQ: Ranged (1) | | | | - Personally not my favorite. Just an overall stun | | | attack that causes temporary distortion. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Mutual Pain | Shoots multiple bone daggers out. The number of | |REQ: Ranged (1) | daggers increases with range skill. | | | | | | - Kind of hated this ability as it does very little| | | damage, nor does it affect many different troops.| |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| __________ >> |ARCHER | |ABILITIES:| \----------/____________________________________________________________ | Name | Description | |^^^^^^^^^^^------------------------------------------------------------| |Fire Arrow | Shoots flame arrows to start a fire at a target | |REQ: Ranged (1) | location. | | | - Very effective when facing huge enmasses of | | | opponents. Lead the attack with a pool of flames,| | | then Direct Arrow shoot later on as the opponents| | | rush towards you. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Direct Arrow | Shoots arrows directly at a low angle to double the| |REQ: Ranged (4) | damage at a cost of range. | | | - VERY powerful attack when used correctly. Try to | | | fire it when opponents rush at you, or are | | | standing within proximity. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| __________ >> |SAPPER | |ABILITIES:| \----------/____________________________________________________________ | Name | Description | |^^^^^^^^^^^------------------------------------------------------------| |Remove | Removes a trap or a mine. | |REQ: Teamwork (1) | | | | - The most used ability on a sapper; this allows | | | you to remove any planted traps. You can auto | | | trap remove by using this ability, and picking | | | any area on the map. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Open Water Gate | Opens a water to flood a river. The flooding river | |REQ: Teamwork (1) | causes damage to anyone crossing the river. | | | | | | - This is truly only used on two missions, and a | | | non-critical ability. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Set Fire | Set fire on the ground or a forest which spreads | |REQ: Teamwork (4) | along the direction of the wind. Allies can take | | | damage from fire as well. | | | | | | - This can be useful, or a betrayal at certain | | | times. Best not to use, unless you know Dark | | | Elves are nearby that need to be toasted. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Trap | Lay traps that are only detectable by sappers and | |REQ: Teamwork (1) | scouts. | | | | | | - These setup infantry spike traps that cause great| | | damage when stepped upon. They do not cause too | | | much damage though. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| __________ >> |PALADIN | |ABILITIES:| \----------/____________________________________________________________ | Name | Description | |^^^^^^^^^^^------------------------------------------------------------| |Bless & Heal | Dispels harmful magic effects and heals all allies | |REQ: Holy (10) | within range. | | | | | | - Sort of like Curatio mixed in with an antidote, | | | this also fixes any Curse spells currently on | | | your troops. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| |Holy Explosion | Temporary HP regeneration. | |REQ: Holy (1) | | | | - Slowly regenerates life on the casted troops. | | | This does not damage Ghouls. Curatio is what you | | | should cast instead. | |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 11) Jobs - ============================ _______________ __________________________/HUMANS JOB TREE\__________________________________ ____ ____ ____ | | | | | | |Inf.| ========== |Arc.| =========== |Sap.| |____| |____| |____| / | \ | / | \ / | \ | / | \ ____ / ____ ____ ____ ____/ ____ \____ | | |Hvy | | | |Long| |Pyro| | | | | |Spe.| |Inf.| |Cav.| |Bow.| |Tech| |Ball| |Cata| |____| |____| |____| |____| |____| |____| |____| | | | / | | | | / | ____ ____ ____ / | | | |Hvy | | | | |Kni.| |Cav.| |Mor.| | |____| |____| |____| | | | \ | | | \ | ____ ____ \ ____ ____ | | |Sto | \ |Bomb| | | |Pal.| |Rid.| \_________|Wing| |Batt| |____| |____| |____| |____| ____________ {[ Infantry ]} ------------ REQ: Melee (1) "Main melee troop capable of taking heavy damage, but weak against cavalry. Infantry can block arrows with shields when moving slowly." >> Infantry are one of the key units you ALWAYS start out with as a leader. They're basically toned down warriors. Unfortunately, human infantry are weaker than Orcs, meaning they'll need a good leader to motivate them during battle. Emotions get the best of them. Infantry can be upgraded with different one-handed weapons, but their defense is lower than you'd expect. Often, cavalry can mow these guys down like turkey, so try to get one support unit with infantry. Thankfully, they're fast, efficient, and reminiscent of Scots fighting for freedom. ___________ {[ Archers ]} ----------- REQ: Melee (1) Ranged (1) "Archers attack with normal arrows, fire arrows, and powerful direct arrows. When entangled in melee combat, archers can not use their bows." >> Archers are going to be an absolute glory to have during battle. Not only do you get the advantage of a ranged attacker, but they're perfect support units on the outside as your infantry engages forces. Unfortunately, they suck quite a bit in close combat, and can brutally get shot down if not helped. Note that these are the most basic form of Archers, and often require to be fairly close to the target, as opposed to Longbowmen who can shoot farther away. Archers have trouble hitting enemies in forests, or facing the sun. ___________ {[ Sappers ]} ----------- REQ: Melee (1) Teamwork (1) "Sappers can set traps, open dams, and dismantle enemy traps. Sappers can be substituted for infantry but they do not carry shields for defense." >> Sappers are one of the most useful Live classes, and also one that's useful for setting up ambushes. They can plant traps, which explode upon proximity. They can also defuse traps, and detect them when normally undetected. Unfortunately, their lack of defense makes them prone to dying quite easily, but they're great for providing a numerous amount of services here and there. ____________ {[ Spearmen ]} ------------ REQ: Melee (1) Frontal (3) "In defensive stance, spearmen can immobilize enemy troops in their front. Spearmen are especially effective against cavalry." >> Spearmen are really more of the less "support" units you'll use on occasional missions, but rarely use implicitly. For starters, they're basically warriors equipped with long wooden poles in order to counter cavalry rushes, and units that can slaughter opponents in a jiffy. However, no shield, and no overwhelming attack power makes them an iffy unit during combat. Their only use is for battling cavalry pretty much. __________________ {[ Heavy Infantry ]} ------------------ REQ: Melee (10) "Heavy infantry are more stronger than regular infantry but their heavy metallic armor makes them slower and vulnerable to lightning attacks." >> An upgrade from the default infantry, heavy infantry represent some of the more modern warriors in past times. By using semi-cloth and semi-metal equipment, Heavy Infantry get decent protection while still wielding a shield and one-handed weapon. The increase of heavy armor also makes them lightning prone for beginners, but even this can be overlooked. A slight loss of speed is also gained, but these are much better than default infantry. ___________ {[ Cavalry ]} ----------- REQ: Melee (5) Frontal (2) Riding (2) "Cavalry deal great damage to enemy troops when charging through them without getting entangled. Effective against infantry but weak against spearmen and axemen." >> Quite possibly one of the most useful units in the entire game, Cavalry are truly a force to be reckoned with when used correctly. Basically, Cavalry are designed an rushing tools, especially perfect for slaughtering infantry. Soldiers riding horses gives them extreme speed, and the ability to "rush attack" on the first charge. From here on, they have a height advantage, and can still combat fairly well in the battlefield. Cavalry are awesome against normal soldiers, but horrible against Spearmen, and prone to arrow attacks. They can also get overrun quite easily if not supported with another unit. Regardless though, this type should be one of your premiere units in your entire army. ______________ {[ Longbowmen ]} -------------- REQ: Melee (3) Ranged (7) "Longbowmen have greater range and better armor than normal archers." >> I personally love Longbowmen. They're basically upgraded Archers with better range, better accuracy, and more damage. What more is there not to like? Because of this, you'll find yourself using Longbowmen in many missions, such as when you skimmer enemy troops, light forests with fire arrows, or do direct arrow shots on rushes towards your troops. Remember though, Longbowmen are not designed for close combat, and should always retreat at the sign of any flanking rush. ____________________ {[ Pyro Technicians ]} -------------------- REQ: Melee (4) Teamwork (4) Gunpowder (5) "Pyro-technicians are sappers that can set fires and lay explosive mines." >> These are practically upgraded sappers. With the ability to work faster on tasks, lay down explosive traps (as opposed to spiked traps), and set fires much more quicker, what is there not to like about these guys. Really though, Pyro Technicians don't offer anything too exciting to the battlefield. ____________ {[ Ballista ]} ------------ REQ: Melee (6) Ranged (6) Teamwork (10) "Ballistae attack with harpoons that do damage to a narrow but lengthy region. Ballistae can also attack aerial troops and are effective against slow moving large air units." >> While Ballistae aren't truly overwhelmingly useful in the human campaigns, they are great for engaging precise damage when needed. These air-launching projectiles are perfect for slow-moving creatures that need to be taken out in a jiffy. By launching large harpoons, piercing damage is done in extreme locations, as opposed to random explosive objects dropped down from above. Unfortunately, they are fairly slow, and their usefulness only seems to be appropriate against the slow-moving air units, not making them a universal defense. ____________ {[ Catapult ]} ------------ REQ: Melee (3) Ranged (4) Teamwork (4) "Catapults launch large stones and fire pots. They are slow, but can inflict tremendous damage to all enemies on ground and collapse castle walls." >> Catapults are like artillery, just not as quick. Imagine having one giant mortar cannon that you can fire at your will. These large contraptions launch out stones and special fire pots when selected. It basically acts as a giant bomb when dropping on the enemy. Effective in hitting SLOW-moving ground rushes, or stationary opponents. However, the time it takes to attack and reload varies from 15-30 seconds per shot. They need excellent guards up front as well, not to get overrun. Their accuracy isn't the best either, and it appears that friendly units in the vicinity of the fire will take minor splash damage. They are also prone to getting stuck in thick terrain, such as forests, hence why it's best to use these on open maps. ___________ {[ Knights ]} ----------- REQ: Melee (15) "Knights using two handed weapons are even more powerful than Heavy Infantry." >> These are the best human units in the game, in my humble opinion. Knights are practically fully armored warriors, armed to the teeth with two-handed swords. While they do suffer from lightning quite horribly, they're otherwise unstoppable. A solid group of Knights can yield huge melee damage, and do powerful shots to even common characters. There's often debates between whether Paladins or Knights are better, and I simply prefer Knights because of their ability to offensively rip apart units. While they don't have the magical abilities or a defensive shield, they certainly make up for it on the battlefield. _________________ {[ Heavy Cavalry ]} ----------------- REQ: Melee (7) Frontal (5) Riding (5) "Heavy armored cavalry are stronger and tougher than regular cavalry, but they are vulnerable to lightning attacks." >> An upgraded form of Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry are very much like Heavy Infantry. The addition of heavy armor gives them the much-needed defense when overrun by traditional troops. However, they're more prone to lightning attacks, and you'll truly get ripped apart by somebody who is prepared for the situation. Still, it's better to have heavy units when the time counts, mainly because these horses can survive the beating in close quarters. ___________ {[ Mortars ]} ----------- REQ: Melee (5) Ranged (7) Gunpowder (10) "Mortar troops have great destructive power and longer range than archers, but they are slower due to the heavy weight of the cannons." >> Regardless of what the game thinks, Mortars absolutely kick butt in my opinion. These are like several mini-catapults bunched into one unit, with decent mobility, and extreme ground attack power. Mortars can rip apart enemy rushes by laying down fairly accurate fire, which can be highly upgraded by getting a Dwarf Mercenary to lead them, with some skill bonus items. These are quite possibly the best support ranged unit in the game. Unfortunately, they tend to have problems hitting air units, unlike Longbowmen which are more accurate. ____________ {[ Paladins ]} ------------ REQ: Melee (15) Holy (6) "Holy infantry slightly less effective than Knights in melee combat. Paladins can cast holy magic to heal allies and damage undead units including ghouls." >> Supposedly the best "version" of an infantry warrior, Paladins are religious fanatics that obey the very utmost belief in God. By using a combination of well-fancied armor, magic resistive plating, and a sword/shield, they're capable of handling any situation both physically and mentally damaging. Their holy-orientated theme gives them the ability to cast spells such as Curatio, or Bless and Heal which give curing statuses. They also do extra damage against Undead creatures. Sadly enough, they do lose quite a pop on melee attacks because of the switchover from two-to-one handed weapons. I honestly prefer Knights in battle. ________________ {[ Storm Riders ]} ---------------- REQ: Melee (10) Riding (10) Frontal (8) "Giant eagles trained for battle. Storm riders can not attack ground troops in forest areas. Effective against infantry and cavalry, but weak against archers." >> These giant eagles are whored beyond belief in the Ecclesian empire. Their ideal purpose is to act as the "air force" of the humans, by attacking both ground and air units using powerful claw swipes, pecks, and spearful blows. While their damage may not be extreme, Storm Riders are great for pelting down on the back lines of troops, where you may often get slaughtered. Storm Riders are still prone to Archer shots, and their bulkiness prevents them from attacking ground units in the forest. ________________ {[ Bomber Wings ]} ---------------- REQ: Melee (9) Gunpowder (12) Teamwork (8) "Small Dwarven bombers with explosive air to ground only attack. Weak against archers and aerial units." >> These support units are basically bombers you call in to do the dirty work when the going gets tough. Acting like advanced artillery, Bomber Wings drop down a flurry of bombs from the air in attempt to damage only ground units. The damage is extreme, and acts similar to Meteor, but with explosive damage. Unfortunately, it can also damage your friendly troops, cannot engage other air units, and is prone to getting shot down by Archers. Try to send Bomber Wings in onto large infantry groups BEFORE they reach your units. ______________ {[ Battaloons ]} -------------- REQ: Melee (9) Ranged (9) Teamwork (9) "Battaloons are flying battleships with unrivaled power. They can attack both ground and aerial units." >> Basically a large flying fortress capable of launching large Ballista-like projectiles that do damage to ground/air units. You're only permitted to use them during the last mission of Kendal's campaign, and their usefulness tends to diminish on either hand. Not much to worry about, but they have plenty of HP, plenty of ways of navigating, and fairly unique for a flying machine." ___________________ __________________________/DARK ELVES JOB TREE\_____________________________ ____ ____ |Dark| |Dark| |Arc.|====|Fig.| |____| |____| | | | ____ | |Dark| | |Kni.| | |____| | | | ____ | |Dark| | |Cav.| | |____| | _/ | / ____ / |Dark| |C.Ar| |____| ___________________ {[ Darkelf Archers ]} ------------------- REQ: Melee (1) Ranged (1) "Dark Elf Archers fire several rounds of arrows unlike humans archers. Their attack can be fused with elementals." >> Darkelf Archers are truly the most basic archer you can get, for quite a cheap price. For starters, they're ranged attackers, and don't do quite so well in close quarters. Their agile abilities allows them to fire several arrows right after each other, as opposed to human archers who fire in slightly longer intervals. Their attacks can be fused with magic, to make it extremely easy in taking down heavily armored foes. Unfortunately, they're somewhat limited in range, and truly only support units. _____________________ {[ Dark Elf Fighters ]} --------------------- REQ: Melee (1) "Dark Elf Fighters are slightly weaken than human counterparts, but they can use elemental melee attacks. They can block arrows and are weak against cavalry." >> Meh, fighters are nothing to be impressed about. Weak on defense, although they have shields, and not too impressive on offense with their sabres, there isn't much to look forward to with these fighters. Thankfully though, when combined with Elemental Boost, they can do some decent damage to opposing troops. These troops lack discipline in combat, hence why a good leader is needed to rip others to shreds. ____________________ {[ Dark Elf Knights ]} -------------------- REQ: Melee (7) "Dark Elf Knights are better trained and have improved armor compared to Dark Elf Fighters. Elemental boost increases their attack powers." >> Now this is more like it. Dark Elf Knights have a much better defense than their previous form, and can even wield some fearful damage by themselves. Great resistance, and all-around a decent class. Sadly enough though, they're still only par to Heavy Infantry, without the horrible lightning resistance. ____________________ {[ Dark Elf Cavalry ]} -------------------- REQ: Melee (3) Frontal (4) Riding (4) "Dark Elf Cavalry can charge through enemy troops without being damaged. They are effective against infantry but weak against spearmen and axemen." >> Cavalry are fairly decent in taking down smaller groups of infantry without supreme support. They do the most damage on their initial charge, but they have a lack of range because of the puny sabres they use. You're better off doing repeat charges against infantry for maximum damage, but their horses give them slightly decent protection. Watch out for spears/axes though, or you'll get ripped to shreds. ____________________________ {[ Dark Elf Cavalry Archers ]} ---------------------------- REQ: Melee (6) Ranged (6) Riding (7) "Dark Elf Cavalry Archers shoot arrows on their left side while moving. They're less effective than regular archers, but their mobility makes them perfect for hit and run attacks." >> Probably the best Dark Legion you'll use during the game, Cavalry Archers are perfect for sustaining damage to isolated troops, and then sprinting off when the going gets tough. They can attack for close-ranged damage, and have extreme speed. Very useful during Live play, although somewhat iffy during the single-player campaigns. Try to get one of these units ASAP though for maximum efficiency. _____________ __________________________/ORCS JOB TREE\__________________________________ ____ ____ |Orc | |Orc | |Inf.|===============|Gho.| |____| |____| / | \ / | \ ____/ ____ \____ |Orc | |Orc | |Orc | |Rid.| |Axe.| |Sap.| |____| |____| |____| | | | \ | | | \ ____ ____ ____ \____ |Orc | |Orc | |Scor| |Dir.| |A.Ri| |Hv.I| | | | | |____| |____| |____| |____| | | | | ____ ____ ____ |Bone| |Swa.| |Bla.| |Dra.| |Mamm| |Wyv.| |____| |____| |____| ________________ {[ Orc Infantry ]} ---------------- REQ: Melee (1) "Orc infantry are tougher and can take more damage than other infantries. They can block arrows but are weak against cavalry." >> Orc Infantry are quite useful, as long as you're not facing a ton of horsemen. Their short, stubby body makes them prone to Cavalry rushes in which they'll be slaughtered in seconds. Their equipment is also limited, often involving odd-shaped sticks, clubs, maces, or axes. Not the best when it comes to offense, but their high HP makes them perfect in engaging all types of problems at hand. ______________ {[ Orc Ghouls ]} -------------- REQ: Melee (10) Curse (8) "Ghouls are created from dead orcs by Liches. They have strong melee and deadly self-destruction attacks. Ghouls are weak against holy and ice magic." >> Orc Ghouls are tremendously powerful when used in rapid rushes from various directions, and when you have Paladins AWAY from their attention. Get a group of infantry to distract Paladins so the Ghouls can lay down massive suicide/melee damage on opposing troops. These guys act like giant trolls in a sense. Liches can also cast magic and various spells to strengthen their power. These are categorized as Undead creatures. ______________ {[ Orc Riders ]} -------------- REQ: Melee (3) Frontal (4) Riding (4) "Orc riders are similar to cavalry. They can charge through enemy troops but are vulnerable to spearmen in defensive stance." >> As usual, any sort of Cavalry is exposed to being taken down by Spearmen. Orc riders aren't as dominating as Dark Elf Cavalry, because they're not as "dominating" on a horse with their small size. Their weapons are also very limited on range, making it tough to get lengthy attacks through. ______________ {[ Orc Axemen ]} -------------- REQ: Melee (2) Frontal (3) "Orc axemen throw axes to halt enemy troops in front. Axemen are effective against cavalry." >> These troops are quite interesting as they "act" like spearmen, but actually have small ranged attacks with throwing axes. Rips cavalry of any sort to shreds, but not too trusty in close combat. They can hold their own though, and are still useful in holding off any "Braveheart" rush of any kind. _______________ {[ Orc Sappers ]} --------------- REQ: Melee (1) Teamwork (1) "Orc sappers can set traps, open dams, and dismantle enemy traps. Sappers can be used as infantry but they do not carry bucklers." >> Orcs sappers are pretty much the same as Human Sappers, except they cannot upgrade into the "explosive" Pyro Technician. Considered fairly dumb, Orc Sappers are capable of getting certain tasks done, but you'll rarely discover them used in missions to the utmost priority. __________________ {[ Orc Axe Riders ]} ------------------ REQ: Melee (5) Frontal (5) Riding (7) "Heavily armored Orc riders are stronger and tougher than regular riders." >> Pretty much Heavy Cavalry in a sense. Again, Orc Axe Riders have limited range on attacks, but can be TRULY effective when paired up with Dark Elf Cavalry Archers. Having a combined army of these two is like wielding the battlefield inside your own palms. They're slightly prone to lightning attacks because of the heavy metal plating on the Orcs and horses. ______________________ {[ Orc Heavy Infantry ]} ---------------------- REQ: Melee (9) "Heavily armored orc infantry are the toughest melee fighters." >> Truly an awesome sight in combat, heavy-armored Orc fighters show off their inner spirit with powerful backstabbing attacks. Extreme HP gives them time to survive on the battlefield, although they're very prone to mortar attacks due to their bulky, clustered formations. Always give these guys ranged support one way or another. ____________ {[ Scorpion ]} ------------ REQ: Melee (4) Teamwork (5) Taming (2) "Giant scorpions capable of creating shockwaves that damage everything in its path. Scorpions are impenetrable to arrows but are weak against siege and fire attacks." >> Scorpions will become one of your most used creatures for the lower levels simply because they're perfect to use against ground units. By bashing on the ground like a hollow drum, their powerful Earth attacks shatter Cavalry and Infantry units (to an extent). Unfortunately, there's such a time interval between Shockwave attacks that you need somebody to distract the troops while doing so. Their only weakness is their head, so a head-on attack usually plops them down. Always give these guys a support unit, to help "protect" them. Multiple Scorpion units are effective, but you'll rarely be given the chance to use them. ______________ {[ Dirigibles ]} -------------- REQ: Melee (5) Teamwork (6) Taming (7) "Dirigible is a huge aerial bomber unit. It drops poisonous pouches to troops below. It is weak against Storm riders and Ballistae." >> This is pretty much a toned-down Bomber Wing. While it does drop semi-poison bombs, the damage is minimal, and truly only effective on massed troops. With no way of countering aerial troops, they can easily get mowed down by arrows or any anti-air defense of that sort. It's best to use these creatures in hit-n-run formations, while distracting the actual opponent with infantry charges. _______________ {[ Bone Dragon ]} --------------- REQ: Melee (9) Ranged (9) Curse (9) "The legendary flying undead dragon. The Bone dragon fires massive fire balls that are effective against ground and air units." >> While you only get to command this during the last mission of Regnier's campaign, at least it looks pretty darn cool. The Bone Dragon launches out projectiles similar to mortar shells from its mouth, and can attack either air or ground units. Not effective in a lower level form though. _________________ {[ Swamp Mammoth ]} ----------------- REQ: Melee (5) Teamwork (7) Taming (10) "An enormous monster about 50 feet tall that spits out corrosive larvae from its sides. It is weak against explosive and siege attacks." >> Swamp Mammoths can be decisive artillery units on the battlefields, IF given proper support. Always give these guys aerial protection from Wyverns, and preferably troops on the ground to distract your opponents in the distance. Their massive fireballs DO extreme damage, and it's unblockable, even unresistable in certain cases. Ballistae are effective against them. _________________ {[ Black Wyverns ]} ----------------- REQ: Melee (10) Riding (10) "Black Wyverns breathe corrosive gas to inflict damage to an area on ground. They are able to attack aerial troops but not ground troops in forests." >> Similar to Storm Riders, except they do more damage. Black Wyverns are excellent for attacking ground units that aren't clustered as well. Their corrosive gas does nice constant damage, and the ability to counter against other air units makes them a charm to have a defensive support unit. Just don't count on them like the ultimate weapon. ____________ /Mercenaries/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Probably one of the most unique classes you'll encounter during Kingdom Under Fire is the ability to hire mercenaries. Much like your typical officer and leader, Mercenaries are skilled humans in themselves capable of leading armies. However, the special ability of certain mercenaries is that they can do things otherwise considered impossible. Hiring a Wizard allows you to cast magic spells DURING battle, as opposed to pre-battle. Plus, many of them are eligible for certain skill upgrades, while others aren't. The starting level of the character must be taken into consideration, as a lower level requires more investment, but can yield more possible upgrades. The cost will be cheaper though. This section will describe the different "types" of mercenaries, as they are generated randomly. ^^ NOTE: It's typically better to have a mercenary leader "lead" the type of character he is. If you hire a Paladinish Mercenary, try to lead a group of Paladins behind him. Seems like the unit becomes more powerful overall. Dwarves should lead anything related to Gunpowder, default helmet Knights to infantry groups, and so forth. ** MERCENARIES ORGANIZED BASED ON AVATAR (face) APPEARANCE ** __ __ }\ Cross Crusader Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Smith - RACE: Human - TYPE: Soldier __ __ }\ Semi-Horseshoe Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Byron - RACE: Human - TYPE: Soldier __ __ }\ Spok Eyebrows Wretched Face /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Rian - RACE: Human - TYPE: Sorcerer __ __ }\ Bird Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Edward - RACE: Human - TYPE: Paladin __ __ }\ Dwarfy Soft Cap /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Kahrig - RACE: Dwarf - TYPE: Soldier __ __ }\ Dark Bird Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Brendan - RACE: Human - TYPE: Paladin __ __ }\ Gold Pharoah-like Mask /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Harold - RACE: Human - TYPE: Paladin __ __ }\ Small Radical Spiked Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Mattew - RACE: Human - TYPE: Soldier __ __ }\ Twin Bullhorn Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Rygar - RACE: Human - TYPE: Knight __ __ }\ Twin Curved Horn Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Garbrand - RACE: Human - TYPE: Knight __ __ }\ Short Blonde Elf /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Elia - RACE: Elf - TYPE: Soldier w/ Magic capabilities __ __ }\ Small Cracked Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Gabriel/Andrew - RACE: Human - TYPE: Soldier __ __ }\ Hooded Man with Blonde Braids /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Seth - RACE: Human - TYPE: Sorcerer __ __ }\ Dwarfy Skull Cap /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Denar/Goiran - RACE: Dwarf - TYPE: Soldier w/ Magic capabilities __ __ }\ Long Blonde Elf /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Eldriel - RACE: Elf - TYPE: Soldier __ __ }\ Blonde Elf w/ Mask /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Isen - RACE: Elf - TYPE: Soldier __ __ }\ Gray-Haired Man /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Alan - RACE: Human - TYPE: Sorcerer __ __ }\ Twin Skull Bullhorn Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Gavald - RACE: Human - TYPE: Knight __ __ }\ Red-Face Black-Eye Ogre /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Urgog - RACE: Orc - TYPE: Power Orc __ __ }\ Skull-Face w/ Green Hood /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Ghuluth - RACE: Undead - TYPE: Lich __ __ }\ White-Face Black-Eye Ogre /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Rulkmorg - RACE: Orc - TYPE: Power Orc __ __ }\ Orc w/ Red Feathered Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Parak - RACE: Orc - TYPE: Chief Orc __ __ }\ Orc w/ Twin Spiked Red Feather Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Erork - RACE: Orc - TYPE: Chief Orc __ __ }\ V-shaped White Elf Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Endith - RACE: Dark Elf - TYPE: Elite Dark Elf __ __ }\ Square-shaped White Elf Helmet /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Khelzahaal - RACE: Dark Elf - TYPE: Elite Dark Elf __ __ }\ Sheik Helmet w/ blue curled ribbon /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Vowiel - RACE: Dark Elf - TYPE: Elite Dark Elf __ __ }\ Orc w/ Lone Spike /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Viol - RACE: Orc - TYPE: Chief Orc __ __ }\ Skull-Masked Lich /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Kzakar - RACE: Undead - TYPE: Lich __ __ }\ Twin-Bullhorned Helmet w/ Red Feather Orc /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Hunak - RACE: Orc - TYPE: Chief Orc __ __ }\ Hatless Skull Lich /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Gresthel - RACE: Orc - TYPE: Lich __ __ }\ Dark Elf Man /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Kelmoreth - RACE: Dark Elf - TYPE: Elite Dark Elf w/ magic capabilities __ __ }\ Dark Elf Man w/ Skin-Tight Mask /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Muzaramm - RACE: Dark Elf - TYPE: Elite Dark Elf __ __ }\ Dark Elf w/ radiating Sun Mask /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Rothhaal - RACE: Dark Elf - TYPE: Elite Dark Elf __ __ }\ Bull-Horn Masked Orc /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Horg - RACE: Orc - TYPE: Chief Orc __ __ }\ Orange Orc /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Thaknarb - RACE: Orc - TYPE: Power Orc __ __ }\ Red-Nosed Skull Cap Orc /{ ^^^ ^^^ - NAME: Vrark - RACE: Orc - TYPE: Chief Orc -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ================================= - 12) Secrets - ================================= Often, many players ponder the secret elements that are hidden within strategy games. Whether they be some odd cheat, some nifty glitch, or what not, players want to expand the boundaries beyond reality. This section will cover any available secrets discovered during KUF. __________________________ /Two Unlockable Mini-Games/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In order to unlock the two mini-games, complete both Kendal's and Regnier's campaigns for County Carnival & Risky Raiders, respectively. County Carnival is similar to the first-person view of a human archer, in which you must nail down as many Orcs, Ghouls, and Wyverns as you can before a 90 second time limit ends. Combine this with a special "fireball" attack when you're overrun, the enemies being launched from Catapults, and powerup barrels, it's fairly fun. Risky Raiders is a tad more tedious. You play the role of a piloting Orc on a Wyvern. You must pick up some captured Orcs inside a humans' camp, by swooping down, and allowing one to climb on a chain. You must then fly back to your base, drop the orc into your encampment, and rescue as many as you can before time runs out. Along the way, you'll face air-to-air Bomber Wings, Storm Riders, and various Archers. Not as fun as the first mini-game, but unique nonetheless. ___________ /EXP Glitch/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= - I'd like to thank Good Chimp Gone Bad for coming up with this amazing glitch. This experience glitch basically allows you to accumulate massive amounts of EXP in order to further develop your characters during single-player campaigns. Unfortunately, it only applies to missions where there is a FMV, or video playing, and then you must complete the second half of the mission. A good example would be the Norwart mission (where Encablossa) transforms. Basically, when a movie plays, quickly press START, and then Exit to World Map. You will gain all experience you earned from the first half of the mission, but the mission will not be complete! You can keep repeating this strategy to accumulate EXP from a mission without completing it. -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 13) Common Questions - ============================ )) Gameplay (( ---------------------------- << What is Kingdom Under Fire exactly like? >> - The simplest analogy I can come up with is Dynasty Warriors 4, set in medieval times, in a fantasy Utopia setting, with Live play. Simply put, this game is almost like Dynasty Warriors, as you command units on a mini-map. Whenever they engage in battle, you have control over the "hero" of the group, who can fight much like a wielding swordsman. By using special abilities, casting spells, and doing some micro-management, your ultimate goal is to end up victorious on the battlefield. DW4 focuses more on executed combos between your leaders and the opposing enemies. KuF tosses in some strategic elements, compiles over 4 different campaigns, and has accessibility to Live play. To be quite frank, this is the ultimate game you can get for the bang of a low $20 price. Definitely a [9/10] in my book. << Are there any other KuF games? >> - Right now, yes. There was an original KuF game released back on the PC as a part RTS/strategy-type game, but it flopped greatly. It's slightly above average, and has a few flaws that prevent it from standing out. It's still extremely cheap, and can easily be purchased on eBay. Thankfully, Phantagram recently announced the title KuF: Heroes for the XBOX. While it's not sure if it will be moved to the XBOX 2, Heroes is certainly go to enhance, if not improve on the original gameplay elements seen before. << Who is your favorite hero? >> - I'm going to have to say Kendal. As much as Regnier kicks butt as a hero, and the other two characters have their perky social enactments, I simply enjoyed Kendal's silence, and improvisation on the battlefield. He let his actions speak for his mouth. Most of all, was the fact that we rarely saw Kendal's face during the battlefield, meaning he wasn't an attention whore, or someone willing to capture all of the valor. He worked hard, and was rewarded justly - by dying inside Encablossa (or so we believe). Regnier was simply too majestic, as most people enjoyed his overwhelming power. Gerald was frankly somewhat stupid, although determined to accomplish certain tasks. Lucretia was just a...hehe, you know. << Are there any ^spoilers^ you can reveal about KuF: Heroes? >> - Well, for starters, I'm sure some reincarnated form of Kendal/Regnier will appear in that game. If you completed the Hard campaigns, you would know what happens to both characters. But as the storyline mentions, there is a "tower" inside Encablossa that was supposedly the exit for these two great warriors. Did they reach the exit, or did they actually croak? << Any tips for Live play? >> - Always match yourself against an even opponent. DO NOT try engaging in all-match compatibility. First game I ever played during KuF live play was against a lvl. 99 player. The in-game menus do not let you view the armies of your opponents, as this can be considered cheating (and you'll get a recon of what you're going up against). Do you know how it feels to be raped by lvl. 99 Bomber Wings in your first game? << What's this EXP glitch I keep hearing about? >> - You can read about it further under the secrets section. Basically though, it can truly only be beneficial on Kendal's and Regnier's campaigns. Near the end of both campaigns, there are certain missions that have FMV's shown during the mission, in which you must complete a second half of the mission afterwards. If you press START during the video, and hit Exit to World Map, you will retain all experience from the first half of the battle, yet the battle will NOT be marked a victory. You can keep repeating the battle to keep boosting EXP. This is very effective in Kendal's Campaign with the mission where a "+30000 EXP" message is flashed. Do it right after for instant gains. << What's better, Paladins or Knights? >> - The only use I've found in Paladins was taking a Paladin leader, and using him as an assisting officer. Their in-battle Heal ability is effective in curing yourself during a battle, rather than relying on a ranged unit for Curatio, or retreating out to heal. Paladin units themselves are very weak when it comes to melee attacks. Their HP is lower than Knights actually, hence why it's better to use Knights during melee situations. They can handle melee shots, can dish out more damage, and last longer. Really, the only use of Paladins is for using Curatio on Ghoul units, but even that can be fixed by simply laying down a constant stream of Mortar fire. << What's one unit I should never use in the Human/Dark Legion campaigns? >> - For the humans, I'd simply have to go with Ballistae. While these babies are supposedly good as anti-air defenses, they frankly are not. They're slow, bulky, have horrible turning range, meaning an aerial unit above them will rape them. The only use I've seen for Ballistae are as distractions during a battle (I recommend using them for one of Kendal's missions to hold back some Encablossas). Aside from that, it's much better to have Archers as an air defense. For the Darks, Scorpions simply suck. The shockwave attack does minimal damage unless you need them for objective-based missions. The melee damage of Scorpions is also slow and somewhat lagged. There's no point in upgrading either of these units. << How come I cannot use a Battaloon or Bone Dragon? >> - The game restricts you from using either unit because they're "unique" classes that are obtained naturally along with the game's storyline. You can only use the Battaloon in the last mission of Kendal's campaign, and the Bone Dragon in the last mission of Regnier's campaign. As for Live play, I believe you cannot get either unit as well. It would be too overpowering if one of these units was obtained by a lower level player, as it would give tremendous advantage over someone without a counter. << Has any DLC been released? >> - No, not yet, and probably never. It just seems like Phantagram abandoned the idea of DLC, because not too many people purchased this original KuF classic. To be quite frank, Halo 2 crowded this game's premiere, as it was released just a month before. << How come there's no co-op, or 2-on-2 matchups? >> - Both were removed from the final product. Two-on-Two Live matches had to be removed for latency issues, where it got beyond even being able to play a smooth game. You can only do head-to-head matches on Live. As for co-op, no idea as to where that game mode went. You can however play the two unlockable mini-games to make up for them. << Holy Explosion doesn't work on Ghouls. HELP! >> - The game made a slight mistake when it said that Holy Explosion does damage to Ghouls, because it does not. Holy Explosion only casts temporary regen on your troops, which slowly increases their life bar. If you want to damage Ghouls, cast Curatio on them. << Are there any freezing glitches? >> - I've heard a few complaints about a mini-map glitch that automatically freezes their game (and causes a loud buzzing noise). While this has never happened to me personally, I believe it has to do with DDEs (dirty disk errors). Try checking your X-BOX hard-drive, and deleting any old game titles that you do not currently own. This usually fixes the problem for a few weeks. It could also be your CD reader going bad. -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ====================================================== - 14) Copyright/Distribution/Reproduction Guidelines - ====================================================== This FAQ/Strategy Guide/Walkthrough is my own published work, and copyrighted by Christopher Zawada. Whatever you do, DO NOT edit this FAQ in any way. DO NOT steal anything from this FAQ. If you want to use some information in your own guide, simply ask me. If you want to place this guide on your website, either link to the CheatCC game page, or download the file and place it on your own web server. Basically, you can post this on your website as long as its in ORIGINAL form, and not linking directly to CheatCC. Aside from that, all proper credit is due when necessary. Also, don't even think about selling FAQs. Trying to prosper off of other people's work will get you in big time trouble (coming from an eBay seller myself). Any site out there has permission to host my FAQs (following the above terms), however, these are a list of current sites that host my FAQs officially: - http://www.cheatcc.com/ - http://www.antseezee.com/ - http://www.ign.com/ - http://www.neoseeker.com/ -<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>- ============================ - 15) Proper Credit - ============================ I'd like to thank the following people for their help in making this FAQ possible: )) Rootsecure.net (( for providing an ASCII generator to help create the guide's title. Always loved you guys since day one. )) Good Chimp Gone Bad (( for providing the amazing EXP glitch that no one would have ever discovered. What an amazing discovery that can help the struggling players out there. )) Ascii-Art.de (( for providing four decent ASCII drawings which I used for the endings of each campaign. Colorful, fruity, and mighty delicious. )) Buy.com (( for having this amazing game on sale for only $18.99! What a great deal, and probably the best valued game I've purchased new. Heck, it was barely 6 months old. )) Michael McEwen (( for descriptively telling me a critical mistake on Regnier's Bone Dragon mission. I mistakingly posted the exit location in the upper right, when in reality, it was in the upper-left corner. Thanks again. "Some people make sacrifices to make other people happy." - Chris Zawada "Freeeeeeddooommmmmmmmm!" - William Wallace (Braveheart)