Paladin ultimate

[impy]

Since Disciples 3 turned out to be a disappointment, you will have endure another of impy's posts I only played paladin character once, I prefer "mean machine" warrior or versatility of mage spells and was suprised to find out how this character which does not excel in might&magic struggles in the beginning. Slower access to +tatack/defence/frenzy etc and weaker spellcasting. Therefore my next challenge is devoted to him.

Paladin ultimate level 1
1) impossible no loss game
2) no kiting
3) no paladin's skill resurrection is to be used
4) no pet dragon is to be used
Impossible no loss game is certainly doable as we know. No kiting raises a difficulty a lot in the beginning. No paladin's resurrection will prevent a strategy where single stack is recklessly sent forward (royal griffins..), so you have to play more careful, and also prevents single stack strategy (black knights...). No pet dragon = dragon stays at level 1 until end of the game, that is a different cup of tea. Lack of money, especially in the beginning, no mana recovery, later in the game no lighting ball etc..I believe it deserves to be called ultimate level 1

Paladin ultimate level 2
on the top of the previous
5) no wanderer scrolls can be used
6) no level 5 creatures can be used
This cute little addition prevents another common strategy - calling up red/black dragon early on via colossus scroll which makes beginning of the game significantly easier. No wanderer scrolls also means increased difficulty of end game boss battles. Lack of 5th level creatures, either as heavy hitters or tanks, will not make your middle game any easier

Paladin ultimate level 3
on the top of the previous
7) no target spell can be used
8 no creature summons can be used
9) no known uber powerful strategies can be used
10) no timeback spell
No target spells means good bye to buffed up paladin unit soaking up most of the damage. No creature summons will make otherwise very attractive units ( royal griffins, demonologists..) lot less attractive. No creature summons means creatures summoning creatures, not hero phantoming a stack. And uber powerful strategies. I had to put it here, because i feel sad when some newbie comes to this forum asking for advice with higher difficulty and straight away he gets recommended black knight strategy or druid combo, which are so powerful that they ruin the difficulty level completely. Yes, they might be enjoyable, but you can leave your brain on Ibiza beach while playing. So uber powerful strategies in my opinion are - using droids & droids combo, pure necro + elwin; be it vampires, bone dragons, black knights.., dryad combo, 100% crit shooters army, low level army with +damage artifacts. Did I forget any? Tell me. Other common tactics have been taken care of by set conditions as you noticed.

Now before you say I'm mad here is a guide to show you it can be done and how.


As you progress through early game fights with more or less struggle you will inevitably encounter a stack which, given the conditions, is extremely difficult to beat and will test you to the limit. It is fight for Verona scroll, which you will experience around fight 50. Note: It is only "coincidence" grand strategy medal 3 kicks in after 50 no loss fights, just after you defeat all weaker armies on starting 4 island, just before you hit Verona scroll fight. This fight is so difficult, that in order to succed you cannot waste a single fight beforehand as an opportunity to improve your character. All fights from the beginning should be considered a preparation for this fight.

Verona scroll fight.
DAMAGE. Standard melee damage is out of the question. Enemy will hugely outnumber you and inflict serious retaliation damage, and you have only limited resurrection resources - paladins+inquisitors. You can however send forward stone-skined paladins to intercept and slow down the enemy for a very short period of time if desperate. Only melee damage will be therefore provided by royal snakes. Spell damage is not on either. Spells are weak at this level, mana is limited. Crowd control spells are much better choice. Great majority of your damage will be ranged.
YOUR ARMY. From ranged units, the higher level the better preferably with really.useful extra skills. My choice is beholders and/or evil beholders with priceless paralyzing ability. Inquisitors are natural choice due to resurrection and damage boosted by Holy warrior medal. Paladins - tank, resurrection, extra turn ability. The last units would be royal snakes, preferably with snake boots, capable of delivering huge damage per leadership, and have poisoning ability. So my ideal set-up would be paladins & royal snakes in the middle, beholders, evil beholders and inquisitors on the wings.
ENEMY ARMY. Enemy shooters represent a danger. Even if it is otherwise a weak unit (thorn hunters..) certain damage is pretty much unaviodable which does not go very well with your limited resurrection options. It will draw the attention of your rangers in order to eliminate the danger and/or force you to cast spells - fear etc. It is logically the best if there are no shooters in enemy army, then you have all the time in the world to deal with melee units. One weaker army of 300 thorns does not automatically means stop, but higher level units - archmagi, royal thorns are a dead end. Fast units are not welcomed either. Anything faster than speed 3 (werevolves...) represent increased danger, over speed 4 (griffins...) is very bad, consider restart. It is not only about enemy reaching your ranks faster at the beginnig of the combat; frequently you'll find yourself running around while shooting which is ok only if enemy is slow. So the best opponents are speed 2 units (teddy bears, most of pirate units...) It is also preferable if majority of enemy units are lower level (1-2) regardless of numbers. It increases chance of beholder paralyzing them, and they can be easily feared.
STRATEGY. Take care of any units with speed over 2 first . Check how much damage you can afford to receive by looking at your paladin & inquisitors stats. Have max. one enemy come close to you at the time so you can kill it quickly by focusing most of your units on it. The others - crowd control them in the meantime. Once faster creatures are down, you probably have suffered some acceptable damage and spent most of your mana. But enemies with speed 2 can be easily dealt with regardless of numbers. Royal snakes - wait,hit & run tactics. All beholders have speed of 3, keep running around while shooting. Only problem is slow paladins and inquisitors, they cannot easily get away. Use scrolls - nature call as a bait, slow..
SPELLS. Fear is of huge importance. Have chaos magic 1 and 3+scrolls ready. Distorsion 2 and slow spell, again with few extra scrolls. Then nature call spell, only as scrolls, do not invest in order magic. Damaging scrolls. The way i play is that at the very beginning of the game I acquire all important scrolls first - trap scroll, fear scroll, slow scroll and learn them. Every scroll received from now on I keep apart from the very bad ones which I sell. You never know few magic poleaxe scrolls may help,you can always sell them later or if you see superb artifact.

THE GAME.
After starting a new game, check scanner. Artifacts and units available later in the game are not important, if you have finished some impossible no loss games then you know that having twinkling boots etc. is matter of convenience only not absolute necessity. I personally check for these: trap, fear,slow available early and preferably in higher quantities, snake boots, beholders and/or evil beholders, these on first 4 islands, and paladins in verona.
First,save game, skip the training, set sail and check army composition of all verona scroll guardians - usually Scarlet, Bolo, Rusty. To see what I mean see the screen shots and refer to enemy army clause
Screenshot A - no loss win not really possible. Thorns are a menace. Assassins are bad as well, speed over 2, nasty specialty.
Screenshot B - no loss possible. Nice army composition with only seroius danger being werevolves
Screenshot C - dream come through - my own Paladin ultimate 3 game. Teddy bears won't stand a chance even if there was twice as many of them due to their low speed.
Screenshot D - importance of army composition can be seen in this heavily guarded Tekron scroll I beat at level 15. 2 x beholder paralyze + fear spell / turn, kills smaller stacks first, that's it

When happy with Verona scroll guardians, start the game properly. Do the training, pick up all the goodies from first 4 islands, do non-fight quests. Get amulet from Bolo, then paladins from Debir tower. Pick archmagi from Scarlet mini island. Have at least Distorsion 1 with trap spell learnt at this point. Increase mana pool - buy cheap +mana artifact if you can, you need mana for traps. Now spread the archmagi into 3-4 x 1, rest of the slots are paladins. This army should defeat most of the Debir. Archmagi will push enemies onto traps and cast magic shield every other round. Get 3+ traps and 15 hits on guardian medal per every battle on average. Towards end of Debir, get inquisitors. Continue doing the same on Scarlet, around fight 30, you should have Trap medal 3 and Guardian 3. Now dump the archmagi and get royal snakes in the army - you want battle alchemy 1 by the time you hit Verona scroll. Also, between fight 30-50 is a time when you want to work on your holy warrior medal = 5-10x heal spell per fight. Ideally you'll have Holy warrior 2 when you reach Verona scroll fight.
When you get to Verona, collect everything, do a few manageable fight and concentrate on passage to Montero...

[Metroplex]

Since Disciples 3 turned out to be a disappointment...

Some people can't recognise a masterpiece when they see it...

[DGDobrev]

With all due respect... I'd rather answer this way:

And some people are willing to give money for a game of several separate parts a couple of times, once for each expansion, when they should give the same amount for a single part game. granted, if you spend mommy and daddy's money it's not that big of a deal, but when you spend your own, you start thinking it is really worth filling someone's pockets with money while you get less value for them.

We discussed that in the other topic, Metroplex... The general opinion is that Disciples 3 has a lot of potential, but it has way too little content, bugs that are not yet worked out and it's way too easy. For softcore King's Bounty players it will be an ok game, but for hardcore King's Bounty players - the good tacticians, that can win even the hardest battle with strategy, cunning and guile, it would not be much of a challenge.

I liked the game, I played it, and I won't participate in the Akella's money sink called Disciples 3. You played the game, found out that it's a treasure to behold and stick to that impression. People's opinions differ, but you can't expect that you alone will be able to change them just like that

On the topic, I like the challenge. When I go back to KBAP, I will surely try it out

[impy]

My one and only comment on Disciples 3 since this topic is not indeed dedicated to it.
Comparing the massive success of D2, therefore nice budget for D3, time taken to develop = years..., capabilities of 2010year computers, army of beta testers etc. etc with the final product, and I played the game with some patches installed already, D3 is a disgrace, sorry. If Blizzard came with some similar product as a Diablo 3, their reputation would never recover..
All bugs and problems have been reported and discussed all over the internet. I just add, that from the seasoned player point of view battles are ludicrous. Take empire campaign on Hard. First 3-4 missions, just build Titan building that's it, recruit, close your eyes, and keep hitting the quick combat button and you're done. Hero goes after leadership, buy all artifacts at the end of the scenario. Sell them 1st turn next scenario, get Titans, and all over again. I'm not touching that game again before christmas, hope they sort something out.

[DGDobrev]

You said it. It's pretty much the same with the other 2 campaigns. Even the Legions have a Healer (the angel in human form) that aids the main legions hero who turns to be a former elf and disconnects himself from Bethrezen - let's not forget the the Legions in Dcp2 did not have a lealer, just like the undead and the mountain clans. Every campaign is just way too easy.

What is good about Dcp3 is the storyline. It explains why Bethrezen went bad. I would as well if my bothers and sisters corrupt a wonderful world I made and I suffer my daddy's wrath because of them

Well, maybe we should make a lot of requirements for a tough game Don't use Focus points, don't use cheesy strategies, play without capturing the resource spots, don't carry over any items from previous maps (only the clothes on the hero's back), when the game bugs and shows you the enemy city, build it up completely... Things like this.

[impy]

Trouble with D3 for me is that it so far it does not have "the wow factor" which I need in order to be eager to spend hours,days with it. Maybe it is all the bugs - for example infinite static potions make a mockery of all hero artifacts etc, maybe I am spoilt by good KBAP... I for now finish my paladin ultimate lvl3 game, and wait for Crossworlds, it is only a few weeks away now.
I must say I personally do not share the excitement of all those gamers awaiting crossworlds. Something tells me there will be not much new. couple of new monsters, couple of new spells, artifacts - sort of higher value gift bag. I think it will be more about editor and fans creating fantastic maps, just like in good old HMM3 days. But it will take time..

[DGDobrev]

Well, I share your point of view about crossworlds, but still - if it adds some more content, some more tactical options, some free play stuff, it might just be the thing you need to never uninstall KBAP from your PC

Besides, you never know - you are a person who likes challenges - it might just provide you with some additional challenge options

[impy]

thank you. You seem well equipped yourself, your single black dragon journey started my black/red/green dragon challenges
I just defeated the easiest Elon scroll guardians in Verona, pushover even under set conditions. It actually feels disappointing, i'm actually running out of ideas for challenges. Well, hope you're right about crossworlds.

[Razorflame]

try the bear army with royal snakes
and firespiders

see how far u get there

[impy]

It doesn't have to be that bad actually. I assume you mean impossible no kiting game in order to make it challenging. Getting to Verona would be a pain, but after that.
I would pick mage character, heavily intellect oriented, a from middle game demolish everything with spells, hopefully. With teddy bears being sitting ducks going bzzz
One could get all the way to Ktahu in my opinion, Ktaku and Baal I cannot tell.