Oath of Allegiance [SP Desert People Campaign for 1.13.5]

[ahmannar]

I think i'm getting the same problem as i had last time with the genie case: downloaded the new version, probably something was saved regarding the level 2/upper level units not being able to pick up swords and, even after trying your hints from last time (erasing the add-on and re-downloading it), i can´t still pick up the swords. Do you know of any other method to solve this? I didn´t want to replay the campaign before trying everything possible.
I'll give suggestions for more dialogues about the commander units for each scenario whenever i post a replay of them (i'll eventually update my previous post with that information also).

EDIT: This only happens with the unit that i tried to give the sword initially, i tested it now with others and they can equip them with no problem. I'll just leave the weapon to another one if there´s nothing else i can do about it.

[Kwandulin]

Yes, the first sword in 'Drought' can still only be picked up by an Arif due to this tutorial-esque character of the situation. The other swords can be picked by the lvl 2. When starting from the beginning with the newest version, I couldn't recreate the bug you mentioned

[ahmannar]

It might be because i tried to pick it up with an maequil before the fix and he's now the only one that can´t pick it up. I'll just give the sword to another unit and let him pick another next on a later scenario. By the way, i have edited my post with the scenario replays with some ideas for extra dialogue from the commander units.

EDIT: A Whisper in the Sands:

Spoiler:

Difficulty:8.
Dialog/story: I would suggest to, in addition of having more dialogue from commander units, to have dialogue that would trigger if the player decided to recall certain commander units that aren´t immediately recalled. In this scenario, if recalled, uthain could comment on how even his former brothers in arms went to places more interesting than uninterested desert, to which dawoud could say that even places like these can hold long forgotten secrets (serves also as a hint that something is around in here). For the "normal" extra dialogue, Ilriel could take about how she's been having bursts of pain like she has never experienced before, to which dawoud suggests that the despair the woses near serrul are feeling might be affecting her more than he predicted (to which he's sorry about, being the one that brought this upon her).
Level of fun:8, having to hold the initial enemy attack and then needing to split the army in 3 ways, while also getting the secret in here, makes for a nice diversity of tactics needed.
Major challenges: Having previously played the next scenario at medium gives the knowledge that it will be a resource burning one (probably even more now). Had to restart some times in order to guarantee having the most gold possible and make sure i didn´t lose loyals in here (making me at a risk of ending the turn limit because of not wanting to risk them).
Restarts: More than i would like to.
Bugs: No one.
Choice of AMLA's:since uthain gets in the party so early and he's sort of a tank, i got an heroic AMLA and i'm considering getting another one before getting one of his proper AMLA's. The reason for doing this is to be more efficient in the experience that he would eventually get over the campaign.
Final statistics:8 recruits, 6 recalls, 4 advancements, 5 losses, 56 kills and 250 bonus gold (crossing fingers for this to be enough to not lose important units).

EDIT2: After starting the next scenario with exactly 250 gold, i'm sad with the thought that maybe it has a defined gold count and i was so careful on gold management on the previous scenario with no reason for it xD.

Six Feet Under

Spoiler:

Difficulty: 5.
Dialog/story: Uthain could expand on being amazed by seeing such beasts, saying that he can finally make use of his art and was fearing that only mindless slaughter waited him. Could also say that he was well versed in that when he was fighting the trolls, along with his comrades, in a "war" that would never end and that's not life for him.
Level of fun: 8, burning monsters while trying to survive without losing important units is quite a ride.
Major challenges: Don´t know if the spawn of the monsters is random, if it is that can largely increase the difficulty of the scenario if getting the eye of the dragon is at someone wants. I had luck and could get to it without much problems.
Restarts: Not needed.
Bugs: No one.
Final statistics:11 recruits, 3 recalls, 2 advancements, 9 losses, 9 kills, 2 awesome bonus gold.
Random remark: The alternative advancement of the Naffat is indeed more useful now. Thought their melle ability was gonna be good for this level when i saw it's description and it surely helped in here, so kudos for it.

[Kwandulin]

Six Feet Under starts with 150 minimum starting gold, so you must be 'lucky' to get exactly 100 bonus gold. And the spawn of the monsters is not random.

Thanks for the feedback, the suggested dialogues also seem reasonable. I'll once again let the feedback trickle in and then upload a bigger update. OoA might get some really fancy stuff in the future.

[ahmannar]

I'm still trying to pass the level "The pearl of the desert" but i have a question regarding it. In Normal difficulty the 4 hurasch controlled by the AI attack the enemy when they come too close to the great khalid. However, playing now in Hard, they stand still without trying to attack them. Is this intentional because of being a higher difficulty?

[Kwandulin]

Normally, they should attack if the enemy gets close, even in hard. Because there are so many Muharibs, they might decide (default AI) to not join the battle so early so they won't get destroyed by the ranged attack, though. Is the enemy close enough? They won't attack an enemy that they can't reach within 1 turn.

[ahmannar]

I will let you know of that a bit later than i would like. Having no gold beyond the minimum will make this level unbeatable without a good amount of losses and, in order to prevent that, i'll replay the previous one to get more gold. The difficulty is living to it's name .

[Kwandulin]

Just for the note that scenario 6 is indeed possible (had 290 starting gold).

And don't care too much about losses at this scenario. Chances are that in the next scenario, the enemy will make mincemeat of you. I literally lost every non-hero unit in scenario 7, but made it anway.

[ahmannar]

I truly believe in you, i was too scared by the scenario and wanted to get more gold (went from 250 starting gold to 300 after replaying the previous one and getting better results in there).I will look at your replay and see what i can learn from it and use it. Btw, the hurasch do indeed attack, they must have been too scared to attack previously as you mentioned.

EDIT: Managed to beat it after letting the hurasch take the initial attack and using the extra gold i got from the replay of the previous scenario (may have over reacted in here, oh well).Also i probably am worrying too much about preserving loyals and not advancing much of other units.

The Pearl of the Desert

Spoiler:

Difficulty: Before figuring how to set up the initial defense was probably a 9, after getting a run where it hold off well it was a 6 after that. The problem relies in getting a good defense in the beginning so that must of the units are in good position to counter attack, if one manages to succed in there than the rest is just mop up operations (like in the case of "peril").
Dialog/story: The dialogue from ibn khazul about flanking the enemy is still in here and, on hard difficulty, it's even more unviable to do it. Instead of it, i propose that he gives an inspirational speech, talking about some time that the great khalid was invaluable to defend his people and that the group should spill sweat and blood to protect the one that does it for them (since this happens around the time the enemy assault is more aggressive, it's also a good timing for it).
Regarding optional dialogues, i suggest that, if recalled, uthain talks about how these sightings of dune worms and wyverns remind him of the poor fate of his cousin, who was even more stubborn than himself regarding their different ever lasting quests. Ibn khazil could tell him about the irony in that because of the items he carries, to which uthain could answer something like " but my quest bears it's fruits in this crazy world". This would give the sense that uthain acknowledges that his quest has brought and will bring him into dangerous places, but that at least the rewards that come with it can help him in his "madness for relics".
Level of fun: 7, the siege parte is fun but after that there's not really much strategy or tactics until the enemy leader is defeated.
Major Challenges: Trying to maintain my loyals alive while not getting too much losses. This persistence made me restart a couple of times in order to get the best first turns possible. Given that the first 7/8 turns are the ones that dictate the outcome of this scenario, it's easier to repeat it than previous ones.
Restarts: Don´t even remember how many i did.
Bugs: No one.
Final statistics: 3 recruits, 12 recalls, 3 advancements, 6 losses, 31 kills, 200 something extra gold.
Choice of AMLA: For uthain, after getting 2 heroics, i will choose the one that gives him the bear. The ranged one, being only 1 hit and with damage that's not that high, is not really viable in my eyes. The other is another good choice but, being only for melle attacks, i don´t find it as attractive as this one. This choice will be made also because it's inclusion gives me the impression that the armor for uthain is no longer in the game (if it is and it can't be equipped after that, this choice will not seem so good anymore).
For ibn khazil, raw hp seemed like something that can never be wrong. The overlwhelm attack seemed like a nice option also, will probably try it in a future replay.

Face to Face with the Snake

Spoiler:

Difficulty:6,since i was willing to only preserve the enchantress of the group of elves and sacrificing the alternative advancement of the naffat, this level was not very difficult. However, now it makes necessary choices such as these ones, so i would say the level is much more balanced than before.
Dialog/story: The rewriting regarding uthman feels much more natural now. There could be some kind of explanation on how exactly was the elvish king contacted to come here (it's implied, but nothing more than that) and use that as an excuse for the king to talk about how he personally wanted to assist Ilriel, as he never forgave himself of leaving her to the dangers of the desert while he stayed idle in their calm forests, regardless of the logical reasons for it.Also, i'm thinking that it's strange that, since the message was sent after the last battle and uthman is still very injured, Nuvdael was able to come here so quickly with other elves. I'm saying this because in the start of the campaign dawoud refused further help that would slowed them down, yet here they are, with a very fast response.
If recalled, uthain could complain on the sudden surge of elves, while being astonished to their leaving of the forests, to which ilriel could say something like "our people might favor heavily the forests, but the most valuable thing in our society is elvish lives".
Level of fun: 7, Being on a tight clock to defeat uthman forces to make a quick attack and to put units in harm's way, which is a good difference from before. I'm not giving higher than 7 because the thinking in here lies more on what the player is resigned to sacrifice to reach uthman in time.
Major challenges: Maintaining a good walk towards uthman while not being too reckless on the offensive nature of this tactic. The alternative level 2 of the naffats was particularly helpful in this with their powerful attacks and high hp for their level.
Restarts:1, was too much conservative and lost because of time issues.
Bugs: No one.
Final statistics: 1 recruit, 11 recalls, 7 advancements, 7 losses, 28 kills.
Random remark: The new level 2 naffat (that name kills me every time i try to write it) proved to be really useful, good rework on the unit .
Choice of AMLA: Hoping the bear doesn´t come back to bite me later.

Isanbar:

Spoiler:

Difficulty: Not really applied in here.
Dialog/story: Taking into account the fact that sages led the elves of aethenwood in mainline lore and that they are already talked about in this scenario, maybe Nuvdael could give an "hint" in here on the reason that took the elves from aethenwoods to southwoods (a date that could begin as early as 608 YW, the one that Whiskeyjack talked about earlier):could be the need to expel an evil that was plaguing the woods and poisoning the woses minds, which also made the necessity for the elves to stay here to secure the place; could be that some larger force such as an orc army forced them out of aethenwoods and they had to come to southwoods (which could have opposition or not). Given the high amount of dialog in here, further explanation on why he's an elven king (which is not usual in elvish society) could be put on one more light with dialogue, such as the next one or "the eye of the hurricane".
Level of fun: Not really apllied in here.
Major challenge:Finding the bow this time around xD.
Restarts: Not really applied in here.
Bugs: Not really applied in here.

[Kwandulin]

Eye of the dragon on a wyvern rider looks interesting!
In "Face to Face with the Snake" you can reduce your losses if you move your elvish rangers through the northern forest to Uthman from turn 1 on. Uthman doesn't heal that much until your rangers arrive and they can bring him down without intensive fighting with his army (you can still milk them for XP with the rest of your army if you want).

[ahmannar]

My take on giving the eye of the dragon to the wyvern rider was to have a good unit that, at high level could eventually dispatch ranged units and that could also create better fight situations(with his knocback). Since they are somewhat tanky, attacking 2 times per turn doesn't put them in too much harm's way.
I initially thought of that but, since in my previous run i didn't have much use for them, i decided to sacrifice them in order to not eventually lose other units.
Going now to the reworked level but i had to restart on my first try. I holed up in the first turns against the trolls and, suddenly, the arafayret appear. At that time, my units aren't far away enough to them and i'm forced to replay from the beginning. I suggest that, at the beginning, someone like dawoud suggests to hurry up along the tunnels, since the power of the barrier will not hold back the sphere for too long.

EDIT: a little help regarding on how to pass the next level would be very helpful. Even knowing that the arafayten are coming and trying to get as far away from them as possible, i can´t pass trough the trolls fast and healthy enough to not die, after that, to them.

[Kwandulin]

By now, your hero and commander units should deal quite a lot of damage to easily get rid of the trolls that are blocking the path. The trick is to let some trolls behind, as the afariyaten also attack trolls. Other than that, there is also some luck involved:

[ahmannar]

I´ll try to follow your strategy (only recruiting naffat and pushing non stop) but this could be hard to balance. I saw that in your replay, there were no trolls left near the path leading to the dwarvish leader. In my most successful attempt, 4 trolls were blocking the final part of the road and i couldn´t get past them in time. Seeing the huge variation regarding that situation on your replay, it seems like that's a factor that can also determine the difficulty of the scenario.

EDIT: Also, ilriel is so much better to give eye of the dragon I feel like not giving it to her will bite me in my back later, but i'm too far away from six feet under to replay it now.

Beneath the sands

Spoiler:

Difficulty: 9, this level will probably be a stomping one for many players. My only problem with it is that passing it or not can largely be influenced by a fight that the player has no control whatsoever (the fight near the dwarvish keep). If you see in my replay, only one level 2 troll was still fighting the dwarves on the road when i arrived. In my previous and most successful attempt before that, the 4 trolls that i spoke of earlier were in that part. You could maybe give more gold to the dwarves so that it doesn´t happen or, if you are afraid that too much dwarves can influence the fight on the north, maybe not letting them pass a certain point would suffice.
Dialog/Story: In addition to the previous bit of story that i proposed, if recalled, uthain could question Nuvdael on the fact that never in his travels did he heard about kings among elves. Nuvdael could answer that he would happily oblige to the dwarf curiosity, at a time where the group is not hunted by all manners of beasts.
This would point out the fact that Kings among elves are not something to normally happen and reinforces even more the fact that this scenario will be a slaughterhouse.
Level of fun: 6/7, it could be easily be more but, right now, having the chance to lose near the end because of a higher amount of trolls in there is quite heartbreaking.
Major challenges Managing to pass trough the trolls while leaving some of them to block the evil djiin. Also, having some luck in the end.
Restarts Lost track of them once again.
Bugs No one.
Final Statistics 9 recruits, 1 recall, 9 losses, 11 kills, 125 bonus gold.
Choice of AMLA I initially went with the bloodlust AMLA on Nuvdael. However, sometimes i would be able to move after killing an unit and other times i would not even with moves still to make(one of them i had the 6 full moves before attacking it). Don´t know if there's something i was missing in here. Given that, i went with the additional 1 strike, since that will be helpful against the melee enemies

Three Kings

Spoiler:

Difficulty: 6, it's a nice pace of change after the last level and it still poses the question of going more for exp or for gold (given the lack of villages). I tried to strike a balance between the 2.
Dialog/Story: If the previous suggestions are taken and given the fact this is the land of the three kings, this could be a good place for dawoud to finally pressure Nuvdael on what did he exactly accomplish that led to him getting a title not seen in elvish society (but i don´t have really anything specific in mind that would make this happen). Ilriel could have also been involved in this, being that another reason on why Nuvdael values her so much in addition to her role in elvish society.
Level of fun: 9, Burning skeletons never gets old.
Major Challenges: Trying to not over recruit or get low gold (which i still did both, but at least farmed some more exp).
Restarts: 1, lost the khalid in a stupid way and didn´t want to continue without trying again.
Bugs: No one.
Final statistics 14 recruits, 4 recalls, 4 advancements, 7 losses, 28 kills ,52 bonus gold.
Random remark: Trying to get a sylph to see if it's worth the trouble and effort on later scenarios. This campaign has lots of possible routes regarding the focus on the units trained, i really appreciate that.

Chamber of Ancients

Spoiler:

Difficulty: 3, at first i tried to pass this like i did on normal and was not able to do it. However, by moving alongside the statues, the enemy can´t even reach me. The only reason they did was because i wanted to farm some exp and get AMLA for the hero units. Don´t know what could be done in here to make this more than a farm scenario.
Dialog/Story: The part said on the previous scenario about this one being on expert difficulty (or something like that) doesn't really apply, since is possible to avoid any kind of combat. It may be hard to farm it if the hero and commander units are not leveled enough but, since there's no need to do it, it offers almost no difficulty.
Also, the first time the group talks about leaving the place behind because of the creepy nature of the statues but, later on, dawoud "laments" that the imprisoned khalifate can't come with them. This change of tone from "scared" to "sad" is somewhat strange and i didn´t realize it the first time i beat it.
Ilriel could express awe and terror simultaneously from the sight of the amount of khalifate petrified by the three kings, to which dawoud could say that this is one of the reasons that the athvari felt like they had no other choice than to dabble in a ritual that they knew was not without its risks.
Level of fun: It doesn't really apply in here.
Major Challenges: Doesn't really apply in here.
Restarts: 1, after realizing that i couldn´t battle the enemy units head on like on normal difficulty.
Bugs: No one.
Final statistics: Doesn't really applies in here.

Cloud River

Spoiler:

Difficulty: Taking into account that being careful with the formation and not leaving behind valuable units, i would give a 6 to this one. It takes time and it can't be rushed, but with uthain and some masun there's no fear of the enemy breaking the lines. The fact that the skeletons that reincarnated behind my army's back, while i was travelling alongside the dry river, were so few also helped in here (don't know/remember if this is randomized).
I would suggest to give some guards to the vizier that don't move would guard him. This would encourage the player to send more than 1 unit to kill him, effectively making not as easy to mass-farm this scenario as i did (probably should have done it until the final turn, since i was so close to the turn limit anyway). It also supports the description and appearance of the vizier, since a high ranking officer such as him should have a personal guard to protect him.
Dialog/story: If recalled, uthain could comment on being eager to knock out the vizier and see if he has some relic that enabled him to perform such magic and that it would be a great piece for his collection, if that were to be the case. Iskandar could then warn him to not meddle in dark affairs and be more careful around the people of kesh, who nowadays are blinded and consumed by power, while also lamenting this fact since they weren't always like this.
Ilriel could talk about the flashbacks that this scenery is giving her regarding the foul necromancers that she encountered sometimes in wesnoth and that she's glad necromancy isn't the same plague in here as it can be in wesnoth.
Level of fun:10, the mechanic of spawning skeletons while fighting in a narrow corridor, coupled with the visual aesthetic of the scenario, makes for the most entertaining one until now of the campaign in my opinion.
Major challenges Not giving him to my lust of just wanting to rush along the river with fear of the turn limit being low (which it isn't).
Bugs: No one.
Restarts: No one.
Final statistics: 3 recruits, 8 recalls, 6 advancements, 2 losses, 100 kills!!!!!, 69 bonus gold.
Choice of AMLA: Since the half-djinn is somewhat fragile, i gave him 1 heroic advancement before choosing the AMLA. I will then opt for the 2 additional attacks, since my army is not really focused on being mobile and, with the healers that i have, i'm not valuing his life-steal attack enough to get it.

Eye of the Hurricane

Spoiler:

Difficulty: 5, getting to the sword with dawoud would mean sacrificing minotaurs in order to get there faster and then get dawoud in time to the bottom of the map. Without trying it the scenario is not difficult, otherwise that wouldn't be the case.
Dialog/story: When the dialog about freeing the minotaurs comes up, the half djinn could become "insulted" with the suggestion of dawoud and say that it's cruel to use lives as pure distraction in war, no matter the race and that they can be overcome this obstacle without doing such act. Iskhandar could then say that the half djinn might not know because he didn't join or as seen kesh armies, but that using the minotaurs is a lesser evil compared with them failling their mission of getting to Thar'wya. If you choose to follow this (or even if you don't follow it), i think this scenario is too much easy and could be given a toughen up, since most minotaurs can be set free without losing units (i didn't lose a single unit in here, the only scenario where that happened). Since this is supposed to be a fraction of the mighty army of kesh, it would make sense to be harder and it would combine well with this piece of dialogue.
Level of fun: 5, not really that interesting, it's just passing by the ZoC of the enemy and picking them one by one. Don't really have a specific idea on how to change this.
Major Challenges: Doesn't really apply in here.
Restarts: No restarts.
Bugs: No one.
Final statistics: 0 losses, 40 kills, 32 bonus gold.
Random remark: Uthain is seriously beefing up. Also, it seems to me like the "fortify" ability is not properly working cause in no situation has it made a difference in the damage that my units receive as far as i'm aware.

Th'arwya:

Spoiler:

Difficulty: Not applicable in this one.
Dialog/story: When Iskhandar talks to the great khalid, there's a part where the grat khalid should say "Not only that, there´s also a mysterious ship that arrived at the harbour of Th'arwya. The dock workers don't recognize the ship and it's not registered here. You'll have to take a look at that." but, instead of it, he just says "Not only that, there's" and the rest of that sentence doesn't show up, don't know why that happens.
If uthain is recalled, he could become hugely excited to see so many merchants and say that it's his time to bargain some goodies for himself.
If the half djinn is recalled, he could comment on his happiness of finally seeing a city where djinn and men prosper alongside each other. Could also say that he feels a strange presence in here, one that feels different than other humans (possible hint about whadet).
Level of fun: Not really applicable in this one.
Major challenges: Doesn't apply in here.
Restarts: Doesn't apply in here.
Bugs: Don´t know if it's a bug but Nuvdael is able to pick a ranged weapon, even after getting the bow on "Isanbar" and the effects of the 2 weapons are cummulative.
Final gold: 47 gold bonus gold.
Random Remark: The wyvern Rider says that the riders that i get by him can't advance, but they can.

[ahmannar]

Since the limit of attachments was reached in the previous post, here it's the one from th'rwya.

EDIT: Whadet:

Spoiler:

What is needed to transform him into an half-djinn? I tried to buy the magical lamp with him on "Habour of Th'arwya, but that isn't enough to do it.

[Kwandulin]

You need to bring a djinn to him in Tharwya. You can get those djinns in the harbour