Rise of Wesnoth commentary and guide
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Higher Game
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Rise of Wesnoth commentary and guide
This campaign is overall the best one in Wesnoth, and is very well balanced. The big thing in this campaign is that both lawful and chaotic units are recruitable, but there are no good scout units! No, footpads don't count. 
A Summer of Storms- Make mostly spearmen here. The bowman tree isn't that great in this campaign. Getting the isolated villages IS worth it, but your focus should be promotions. Quick units should be pikemen, and non-quick ones should be swordsmen, so you ultimately get 6 move end units. The enemies are so weak here, it's not worth trying to explain much.
The Fall- Pull the heavy infantrymen back, since they're loyal and they are useful later on at times. The orcs and Wesfolk will fight each other, so stealing kills can be useful. The key is to advance before the northeast orcs overwhelm you. The Wesfolk leader falls easily. It's all about timing here. Overall, it's another easy stage.
A Harrowing Escape- Make TONS of thugs and outlaws! Make a few thieves and mages, too. While the emphasis should be on making a powerful chaos division, mages are very useful here at attacking enemies on rough terrain. You should have 3 advanced melee units as well, and Haldric should be at least level 2 by the end of this.
The Midlands- Focus on horseman kills on this map. Advanced chaos units are very nice, so hopefully you got some on the earlier stage. Once the southeast enemy is defeated, killing the others is a snap. Generally, the best strategy is to play defensively at the bridge and the open lands in the west, and be offensive in the south. When that's over, advance northwest and then finally southwest.
The Oldwood- Quick mages and poachers rule this map. Mages are good for hitting evasive enemies, and poachers are good at dodging. Hopefully you made some knights in the midlands, since mounted units aren't very useful here. Advanced quick units are the best here. I advocate killing the southern enemy first, but keeping a few guys in the center to protect the stupid trees. At least you can get some easy kills this way!
Temple in the Deep- Mages get slaughtered in here, for the most part. Thugs are the best unit for smashing skeletons, and the dwarf is also useful. Just make loads of thugs and bash your way through the skeletons! With leadership, they are very, very good! The safest way to take on the boss is with a holy dwarf and silver mages, but "safe" is relative here! There's simply a huge amount of luck involved in the boss fight.
Clearwater Port- Haldric should be level 3 by now. Focus on getting Jessica loads of experience. Mages and knights are very good here. Just play defensively and soak up experience. Get on the boat when things look too rough. Trying to kill the leaders almost always results in heavy casualties. Just let them come to you and capitalize.
Fallen Lich Point- You need LOADS of mages here. Surround the lich castle at day with mages and infantry. Activate the stone, BLAST the undead, and quickly take the castle. Recruit loads of units, especially peasants, because you'll need a substantial force to fight north. Poachers are great in the forests. Use them well.
Sewer of Southbay- Chaotic units rule this map. Hopefully you got a lot of them in Temple of the Deep. Overall, it's an easy one, and there isn't much to say, except watch out for the spider at the end.
A Final Spring- Mounted units rule here. Defend the bridge with the loyal heavy infantry or other tough units, and send the main land force to kill the southeast leader. Recruit LOADS of mermen and level them up if you can. The southwest leader falls easily, and mermen can kill the dumb units that fight in the water. When the southeast leader is dead, cross the shallow water northeast of the bridge and kill the leader there. Actually, it's possible to go across the bridge if the mermen are used to distract the enemy, but this is risky. Jessica should be level 3 by the end of this.
Peoples in Decline- Poachers, trappers, and mounted units are the best here. Pikemen and halberdiers are good, but of course they need to be quick, since the terrain is very rough. Mages are almost worthless in this map. This is the one map where bowmen can be useful, but as a whole, they aren't that useful in the campaign, so try to win this with mounted units at day and trappers at night. Let a quick merman take the trident, and eventually make him a hoplite. He'll be a king killer that way!
Rough Landing- Make mermen and nothing else. You need lots of them to recall, at least half a dozen, and focus very heavily on getting promotions. If you don't, you might have to restart at this stage, and that is really lame. Just milk the AI for a while and go in for the kill relatively late.
A New Land- Be a pacifist.
Lizard Beach- Halberdiers are king here. Their high pierce resistance makes them great against the saurians. Do NOT use mages, since saurians will always find some way to slaughter them. Take the north area with mermen and use a mostly disposable force to take the western castle. When that's done, THEN recall your main force for the final push north.
The Troll Hole- This stage sucks. There is no different terrian for tactics, and the trolls have lots of 1 tile areas to hole up in, in addition to being tough as nails as it is! The best solution is to make lots of thugs, fight off the advanced units, and then blast your way though to the leaders with advanced mages. You WILL have casualties, so hopefully you have lots of spare mages. Don't even bother with lawful units in here.
The Dragon- Do NOT try to go all offense here, or you will die horribly. Fight off the initial waves of attacks, and MAYBE try and bait the blue leader into attacking, but as a whole, be very conservative, and use cannon fodder. Saurians will easily slaughter advanced units except halberdiers. The dragon will eventually appear, so bait it into attacking, and finish it off with spear based units and mounts. If you can, try to sneak an assassin or rogue into his cave, since it's loaded with gold.
Cursed Isle- The only big issue is the nightgaunts that will ambush you, but besides that, it's not difficult at all to fight to the temples and finish the stage. This is a great stage for leveling mages though, which might be necessary after the troll hole.
The Vanguard- This stage is HARD. You will need white mages here, and lots of advanced units, or you'll have to start over earlier. Due to the chokepoints, masses of level 1's will not do the job well. Focus on map domination, and try to finish off the leaders VERY quickly, so the fresh baddies don't become an issue. Lots of mages are needed to finish off the leaders very quickly. You'll need the gold for the next 2 maps.
Return of the Fleet- This is insane. Mermen will fight the undead at sea well, but killing the leader without a storm trident is extremely difficult. The orcs come in huge waves. Try to use lots of level 1's and 2's. Also, use mermen at the bridge area; you do NOT have to kill the undead immediately. It's the orcs that are the biggest threat. When the orcs are mostly dead, their leaders fall relatively easily once the bridges are crossed.
Rise of Wesnoth- This is the best final stage ever done in the game. Cannon fodder won't work, since they'll become revived as undead, so level 3's are essential. Surprisingly, the stage isn't THAT hard. Bandits are devastating against the undead, and their 4 hits make them good against assassins, too. Use bandits and trappers at night, and horsemen and infantry at day. Mages are mostly good against the undead. Have Aethyr try to use ranged attacks on the lich to kill him easily. Paladins work well on the lich, but the greatest unit of this stage is unquestionably the SILVER MAGE. They make great leader killers, and they can zip around the map and give support where it's needed. The only issue is that the starting castle is rather small.
Overall, this is the best campaign, since it's balanced, and the mix of chaotic and lawful units allows lots of interesting situations. My only big disappointment is that Eldarik wasn't turned into an undead for Haldric to have to fight, which would have made Jevyan a greater villain.
A Summer of Storms- Make mostly spearmen here. The bowman tree isn't that great in this campaign. Getting the isolated villages IS worth it, but your focus should be promotions. Quick units should be pikemen, and non-quick ones should be swordsmen, so you ultimately get 6 move end units. The enemies are so weak here, it's not worth trying to explain much.
The Fall- Pull the heavy infantrymen back, since they're loyal and they are useful later on at times. The orcs and Wesfolk will fight each other, so stealing kills can be useful. The key is to advance before the northeast orcs overwhelm you. The Wesfolk leader falls easily. It's all about timing here. Overall, it's another easy stage.
A Harrowing Escape- Make TONS of thugs and outlaws! Make a few thieves and mages, too. While the emphasis should be on making a powerful chaos division, mages are very useful here at attacking enemies on rough terrain. You should have 3 advanced melee units as well, and Haldric should be at least level 2 by the end of this.
The Midlands- Focus on horseman kills on this map. Advanced chaos units are very nice, so hopefully you got some on the earlier stage. Once the southeast enemy is defeated, killing the others is a snap. Generally, the best strategy is to play defensively at the bridge and the open lands in the west, and be offensive in the south. When that's over, advance northwest and then finally southwest.
The Oldwood- Quick mages and poachers rule this map. Mages are good for hitting evasive enemies, and poachers are good at dodging. Hopefully you made some knights in the midlands, since mounted units aren't very useful here. Advanced quick units are the best here. I advocate killing the southern enemy first, but keeping a few guys in the center to protect the stupid trees. At least you can get some easy kills this way!
Temple in the Deep- Mages get slaughtered in here, for the most part. Thugs are the best unit for smashing skeletons, and the dwarf is also useful. Just make loads of thugs and bash your way through the skeletons! With leadership, they are very, very good! The safest way to take on the boss is with a holy dwarf and silver mages, but "safe" is relative here! There's simply a huge amount of luck involved in the boss fight.
Clearwater Port- Haldric should be level 3 by now. Focus on getting Jessica loads of experience. Mages and knights are very good here. Just play defensively and soak up experience. Get on the boat when things look too rough. Trying to kill the leaders almost always results in heavy casualties. Just let them come to you and capitalize.
Fallen Lich Point- You need LOADS of mages here. Surround the lich castle at day with mages and infantry. Activate the stone, BLAST the undead, and quickly take the castle. Recruit loads of units, especially peasants, because you'll need a substantial force to fight north. Poachers are great in the forests. Use them well.
Sewer of Southbay- Chaotic units rule this map. Hopefully you got a lot of them in Temple of the Deep. Overall, it's an easy one, and there isn't much to say, except watch out for the spider at the end.
A Final Spring- Mounted units rule here. Defend the bridge with the loyal heavy infantry or other tough units, and send the main land force to kill the southeast leader. Recruit LOADS of mermen and level them up if you can. The southwest leader falls easily, and mermen can kill the dumb units that fight in the water. When the southeast leader is dead, cross the shallow water northeast of the bridge and kill the leader there. Actually, it's possible to go across the bridge if the mermen are used to distract the enemy, but this is risky. Jessica should be level 3 by the end of this.
Peoples in Decline- Poachers, trappers, and mounted units are the best here. Pikemen and halberdiers are good, but of course they need to be quick, since the terrain is very rough. Mages are almost worthless in this map. This is the one map where bowmen can be useful, but as a whole, they aren't that useful in the campaign, so try to win this with mounted units at day and trappers at night. Let a quick merman take the trident, and eventually make him a hoplite. He'll be a king killer that way!
Rough Landing- Make mermen and nothing else. You need lots of them to recall, at least half a dozen, and focus very heavily on getting promotions. If you don't, you might have to restart at this stage, and that is really lame. Just milk the AI for a while and go in for the kill relatively late.
A New Land- Be a pacifist.
Lizard Beach- Halberdiers are king here. Their high pierce resistance makes them great against the saurians. Do NOT use mages, since saurians will always find some way to slaughter them. Take the north area with mermen and use a mostly disposable force to take the western castle. When that's done, THEN recall your main force for the final push north.
The Troll Hole- This stage sucks. There is no different terrian for tactics, and the trolls have lots of 1 tile areas to hole up in, in addition to being tough as nails as it is! The best solution is to make lots of thugs, fight off the advanced units, and then blast your way though to the leaders with advanced mages. You WILL have casualties, so hopefully you have lots of spare mages. Don't even bother with lawful units in here.
The Dragon- Do NOT try to go all offense here, or you will die horribly. Fight off the initial waves of attacks, and MAYBE try and bait the blue leader into attacking, but as a whole, be very conservative, and use cannon fodder. Saurians will easily slaughter advanced units except halberdiers. The dragon will eventually appear, so bait it into attacking, and finish it off with spear based units and mounts. If you can, try to sneak an assassin or rogue into his cave, since it's loaded with gold.
Cursed Isle- The only big issue is the nightgaunts that will ambush you, but besides that, it's not difficult at all to fight to the temples and finish the stage. This is a great stage for leveling mages though, which might be necessary after the troll hole.
The Vanguard- This stage is HARD. You will need white mages here, and lots of advanced units, or you'll have to start over earlier. Due to the chokepoints, masses of level 1's will not do the job well. Focus on map domination, and try to finish off the leaders VERY quickly, so the fresh baddies don't become an issue. Lots of mages are needed to finish off the leaders very quickly. You'll need the gold for the next 2 maps.
Return of the Fleet- This is insane. Mermen will fight the undead at sea well, but killing the leader without a storm trident is extremely difficult. The orcs come in huge waves. Try to use lots of level 1's and 2's. Also, use mermen at the bridge area; you do NOT have to kill the undead immediately. It's the orcs that are the biggest threat. When the orcs are mostly dead, their leaders fall relatively easily once the bridges are crossed.
Rise of Wesnoth- This is the best final stage ever done in the game. Cannon fodder won't work, since they'll become revived as undead, so level 3's are essential. Surprisingly, the stage isn't THAT hard. Bandits are devastating against the undead, and their 4 hits make them good against assassins, too. Use bandits and trappers at night, and horsemen and infantry at day. Mages are mostly good against the undead. Have Aethyr try to use ranged attacks on the lich to kill him easily. Paladins work well on the lich, but the greatest unit of this stage is unquestionably the SILVER MAGE. They make great leader killers, and they can zip around the map and give support where it's needed. The only issue is that the starting castle is rather small.
Overall, this is the best campaign, since it's balanced, and the mix of chaotic and lawful units allows lots of interesting situations. My only big disappointment is that Eldarik wasn't turned into an undead for Haldric to have to fight, which would have made Jevyan a greater villain.
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Higher Game
- Posts: 171
- Joined: August 16th, 2006, 1:01 am
Due to the very high luck factor of Wesnoth, replays aren't so useful in single player, where improvised tactics have a lot of importance. On small, symmetrical multiplayer maps against players who have set strategies, they're useful, but not on campaign maps against the much less predictable AI. Besides, there are no replays in the walkthrough section on the site. 
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Thrawn
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because computer programs aren't predictable at allHigher Game wrote:Due to the very high luck factor of Wesnoth, replays aren't so useful in single player, where improvised tactics have a lot of importance. On small, symmetrical multiplayer maps against players who have set strategies, they're useful, but not on campaign maps against the much less predictable AI. Besides, there are no replays in the walkthrough section on the site.
can someone please give him some capacity to think before writing...
...please remember that "IT'S" ALWAYS MEANS "IT IS" and "ITS" IS WHAT YOU USE TO INDICATE POSSESSION BY "IT".--scott
this goes for they're/their/there as well
this goes for they're/their/there as well
No, but you are exceptional: you have never proven anything about your ability at this game, every single strategy thread you've made has been countered by well-known good Wesnoth players, and yet you keep coming up with strategy guides.Higher Game wrote:Besides, there are no replays in the walkthrough section on the site.
Why not hand out replays of these fantastic strategies of yours? What's to fear about them? I mean, you don't fear to post your strategies, right? You don't even fear to commit yourself to the point that you say "Trolls are the best unit for Orcs" and such absolute statements. So, you're certainly not afraid of being reviewed by other players. You have everything to gain, since you have little credibility as of now.
Why not just take the step, and give the community some replays that go with your great strategy guides?
One last thing: name me a recent (as in, less than 2 months) walkthrough of any kind. Then, we'll go together ask the author to provide replays. We'll see if he refuses to provide them as passionately as you do.
Hard work may pay off in the long run, but laziness always pays off right away.
Luck is part of the game and therefore part of the strategy. You can take a risky approach and get slaughtered if the luck is not perfect and complain or plan ahead if an attack fails.Higher Game wrote:Due to the very high luck factor of Wesnoth, replays aren't so useful in single player, where improvised tactics have a lot of importance. On small, symmetrical multiplayer maps against players who have set strategies, they're useful, but not on campaign maps against the much less predictable AI. Besides, there are no replays in the walkthrough section on the site.
From your descritions you always take a risky approach and simply reload if "the luck" is not with you.
Without doubt you will lose sometimes against humans in MP due to very bad luck still mostly you fail because you take a risk or even unnecessary risks.
I think you should improve on risk management
You must be right: replays of a human fighting an AI would be useless because the AI is simply too good to be understood and beat by human players.Higher Game wrote:Due to the very high luck factor of Wesnoth, replays aren't so useful in single player, where improvised tactics have a lot of importance. On small, symmetrical multiplayer maps against players who have set strategies, they're useful, but not on campaign maps against the much less predictable AI. Besides, there are no replays in the walkthrough section on the site.
I mean my gosh, that unpredictable AI can just be so confusing with what it's intentions are.
And it's not like these scenarios ever play similarly when retried.
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Glowing Fish
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Doc Paterson
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Higher Game's oblivious nature seems perfectly paired with his sky-high self-esteem.
Is he showing us the secret of true happiness?
I'm running out of chocolate boomerangs here.
Is he showing us the secret of true happiness?
I'm running out of chocolate boomerangs here.
I will not tell you my corner / where threads don't get locked because of mostly no reason /
because I don't want your hostile disease / to spread all over the world.
I prefer that corner to remain hidden /
without your noses. -Nosebane, Sorcerer Supreme
because I don't want your hostile disease / to spread all over the world.
I prefer that corner to remain hidden /
without your noses. -Nosebane, Sorcerer Supreme
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Maeglin Dubh
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I've missed most of it, since he seems content to confine his posting to the Strategy forum, which I rarely moderate, or even peruse.
Cuyo Quiz wrote:I really should push for Temuchin's brainstorming with all my might someday, when the skies are cloudy, the winds dance and the light is free to roam over the soil along the fog.
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Elvish_Pillager
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Re: Rise of Wesnoth commentary and guide
What difficulty level are you on?Higher Game wrote:A Summer of Storms- [...] The enemies are so weak here, it's not worth trying to explain much.
It's all fun and games until someone loses a lawsuit. Oh, and by the way, sending me private messages won't work. :/ If you must contact me, there's an e-mail address listed on the website in my profile.
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Higher Game
- Posts: 171
- Joined: August 16th, 2006, 1:01 am
I play normal difficulty. IIRC, the enemy makes a lot of footpads, which I admit are weaker in the stable version than the development version, but are still very easy to kill. The enemy thieves aren't hard if you avoid their backstabbing. Poachers can be a problem in forests, but fall easily outside. Thugs are the only huge threat, especially at night, but hopefully the AI doesn't recruit too many of them.
Eldarik is really powerful, so with his help, the AI is easily defeated on the first stage. Avoiding rough terrain is the key to winning.
Eldarik is really powerful, so with his help, the AI is easily defeated on the first stage. Avoiding rough terrain is the key to winning.