The Sceptre of Fire

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CuddleFish
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The Sceptre of Fire

Post by CuddleFish »

This is the most annoying scenario i've ever encountered, i can't c anything, i run out of time no matter how fast i push against the lvl 3 trolls, and the only real units that i can use are dwarves

does anybody know where the sceptre is supposed to be? even though the map is different every time

btw i had 2 dwarf lords, 2 steels, 2 dragonguards, a shyde, a light mage, and a whole bunch of useless level 3 elves
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toms
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Post by toms »

Hint:
It´s random. Save in round 1 to get always the same map. :wink:
It´s always close to the middle.

Use mainly dwarfs. Elfs slow you, riders too. Maybe the mage of light? Check out his movement in caves, and if you use it, mainly as a healer and illuminator.

There are always two passages next to you. Decide a direction where you go, and send some dwarves to block the other(I always go left). Good luck :)
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CuddleFish
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Post by CuddleFish »

thx alot :)
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irrevenant
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Post by irrevenant »

toms wrote:Hint:
It´s random. Save in round 1 to get always the same map. :wink:
It´s always close to the middle.
Not necessarily (unless it's changed since 0.9.7ish) : I found it in the top left corner...
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Sapient
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Post by Sapient »

Yeah, this scenario is a bit frustrating. The terrain gives at most 50% defense and all the big trolls have to do is hit you twice (then most units are dead). So you have to choose between "expendable" units on the front line, or potentially losing your few leveled-up dwarves. Save and reload for teh win!
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Mustelid
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Post by Mustelid »

I started off by trying to advance on two fronts, with a general in each camp. That was a mistake; I'm sure it's possible if you have a gigantic pile of cash, which (in theory) you should be able to wangle out of A Hasty Alliance.

The second strategy I tried was advancing down one passageway, but using a bunch of units as a constantly-retreating rearguard. This worked for a while, and levelled up a bunch of dwarves, but eventually I started struggling under a tide of Troll Whelps. I couldn't effectively fight back if retreating, I couldn't choose my ground, and I had to cede a lot of villages - which were then used to fuel the unending wall of Troll Whelps. Bad, bad move, even if the meat-grinder rotating line is the closest Wesnoth gets to pure bliss. (See Dwarven Doors, The). The line held but it was difficult, and then my advance party hit a dead end.

Third time around I kept my rearguard in place, at a point with two villages within easy retreat distance. (Having two safe healpoints rather than one makes a massive difference when holding a line). As it turned out, it never got attacked. Ever. Some troll whelps pussy-footed around just out of reach, but I didn't take the bait. Maybe the map-randomness gave the troll leader no villages, or something.

When levelling dwarves I heavily prefer the Runesmith line. They have a level 4 unit (massively useful later on), a bunch of fun resistances that adequately compensate for their lower hp, plus 70% chance to hit. They are very good at staying alive in caves, and against the undead later on they're just ridiculous.

Consensus seems to be that Li'sar should be the one to get the sceptre. Yes. She should. I gave it to Konrad on the grounds that it was silly to trust the fascist chick with the Artifact of Awesome Power, and cursed the decision later. The only problem is that she's going to be level 2 and very vulnerable in this scenario, so I left her behind to give the rearguard some leadership. Of course, without that powerful ranged attack, getting her to level 3 will be a gigantic pain in the ass, and she'll still be ineffective once you get her there. Much better to leave an Elven Marshal with the rearguard; he's not going to have to walk anywhere.
im the one you think of
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Post by im the one you think of »

last time i did this level i just went down the first passage with my dwarven army and a MOL and sent a single dwarf fighter to hold off any enemies from the second passage, the dwarf fighter became a dwarvish lord, miraculously, and held off the enemies for the entire scenario, (except some saurian skirmishers that annoyed me and got past, but he chased them and killed them) i know this is no help to complete the scenario, it was just fun
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Killing edge
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Post by Killing edge »

ok, I might be missing something here, but how do you get to recruit dwarves on these missions? I found that I couldn't.
Instead I used Konrad, Elfish Shyde, and Elfish Sylph up front, and 2 Elfish champions and Delfador and Kalenz as a RG, try saving at every crossroads.All main chars. were lv 3.
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scott
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Post by scott »

Killing edge wrote:ok, I might be missing something here, but how do you get to recruit dwarves on these missions? I found that I couldn't.
Instead I used Konrad, Elfish Shyde, and Elfish Sylph up front, and 2 Elfish champions and Delfador and Kalenz as a RG, try saving at every crossroads.All main chars. were lv 3.
If you're describing an actual problem, this could be very serious. What version are you using, could you verify the problem, and could you post a scenario-start savegame?

(edit for spelling)
Last edited by scott on January 8th, 2006, 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mustelid
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Post by Mustelid »

Hah. And the other day I was wondering why I could recall a dwarf in SotBE. Little buggers have been digging tunnels between campaigns and sneaking through, looks like.
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Post by Killing edge »

ok, before I post anything else, do you have to do anything specific to be able to recruit dwarves? Its my first playthrough so I might have missed something.
Edit: sorry, I deleted my save game a while ago.
At the time I was using 1.0.2 and I wouldn't know the problem having never played the campaign before, I just took it for granted that the dwarves only appeared breifly in this campaign.
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Foxwolf
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Post by Foxwolf »

The first time I played this scenario, I found the sceptre in 7 minutes xD, anyway usually (I think) it appears somewhere close to the orcish leader in that cave, so just follow his troops, slay him, and then search near there, hope that helps :)
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digioso
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Post by digioso »

I finally finished this map.
Needed like 20 tries...
I got a map where I have the blue und purple leader to the left (tried this first, but scepter wasn´t there) and the teal and green to the right.
I send like 12 dwarfs and a Lvl 2 Bandit to the left.
There were three houses I managed to claim.
Well in the end only five dwarfs survided, two of them Lvl 2.
Konrad stayed behind in my base.
And my other heroes went with 9 dwarfs, a Lvl 2 White Mage, a Lvl 3 Feary, some Lvl 2 Bandits and an Lvl 3 Elven Scout to the other side.
Most of the dwarfs and bandits died but I managed to get the sceptre with Li'Sar while leveling her up to nearly Lvl 3.

I hate this map. :P
shevegen
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Post by shevegen »

I remember this one, I didnt complain about it even though it was very hard.

Lateron I managed to have a basic strategy working.

I mostly used only melee dwarf as my tanks, and some healers and maybe few ranged units (i love red mages, and of course healers as well)

The dwarves level up quite fast and can really take a lot of punishment at level 3.

One fight I ran into a cave with the sceptre, and a lot of trolls followed me.
I decided to block them though with level 3 dwarves at towns, and the fun thing is, I am almost certain I could have blocked them there forever. :)

(The only scenario i really only truly hated was the one with the annoying grand lancers who can kill almost any other alone...)
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Post by toms »

I just want to add something about frustrating:

Once I went left. Then I did go around the whole map, entering the cahmber with the sceptre in the last rounds, and Li´sar(it´s better to give it to Li´sar because Konrad gets another power-weapon, maybe, and I like the skirmishing killer) got it in the last turn! :x
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