Legend of the Invincibles

[SlyVenom]

I was playing in 1.12.4 originally when it locked up anf crashed. It was freezing at the begining of the enemies turn. I debug advanced to the next scenario and haven't had a problem since.

[Ashes]

Any strategy advice on "And another Orcish assault" (the one after Despair)?

The loyal units are too weak to be much help against demons. The orc recruits are slaughtered. The moment a demon moves within range of the orcish leader, the leader comes out and gets killed that turn. My two leaders are okay but can't kill all the demons themselves. All in all, I can't rush my army forward and I can't hang back.

Is there something I should be doing? What have I missed?

I managed to complete it in a previous version of LotI, and on EASY difficulty. My advice may not be relevant anymore.

Krux and Vritra were the main demon killers, but my other units helped.
I equipped Krux with a Cunctator sword, because explosive slow and hit-and-run are very useful when facing powerful enemies. And his only advancement was wrath(2) from a book of Raging Combat Techniques.
And I created many items for my other units : Soul Hunter, Lightning Agility and Defensive Stance (plus a few Malice).

I used the orcs to slow the demons by being their primary targets. The orc leader recruits a lot and sends them in suicide missions.

[Whiskeyjack]

I just wanted to drop a note: I think the crafting item "Dugi's Wrath" is priced too highly at 10 Black Pearls. I say this because I have far more than 1,5k gems (and reached over 10k gold (including the bought recall slots) at the start of chapter 9 which - in comparison to dabber - leaves me with the sentiment that I farmed quite a lot) and only 8 of those are Black Pearls. I would never be able to even craft the item without cheating (I should - with said farming - have reached ~10 pearls on average, therefore I had bad luck, but that doesn´t make a very big difference). I think 3 pearls for the ward and 5/6 pearls for the weapon would be more adequate.

[Ashes]

I just wanted to drop a note: I think the crafting item "Dugi's Wrath" is priced too highly at 10 Black Pearls. I say this because I have far more than 1,5k gems (and reached over 10k gold (including the bought recall slots) at the start of chapter 9 which - in comparison to dabber - leaves me with the sentiment that I farmed quite a lot) and only 8 of those are Black Pearls.

For the statistics, I am at turn 76 of the last scenario of chapter 8 (almost the same as you) and I have 780 gems and 6 black pearls (having farmed a lot too).

[Whiskeyjack]

Well, the statistics are a binomial distribution with p = 0,006

At 780 you were quite lucky.

A second suggestion: Could the net of the Goblin Pillager line be included in the crafteable category "Slings (or bolas)"?

Also a couple of orcs with only one advancement (e.g. Goblin Pillager) have a bug that when they advance to the next level they get to choose between two identical options of the only advancement possible.

[nuorc]

A second suggestion: Could the net of the Goblin Pillager line be included in the crafteable category "Slings (or bolas)"?

When I got me one of those I thought at first: 'WHOA! WTF?' But I ditched him the next turn, because the damage was so minuscule and ungearable. I second Whiskeyjack's suggestion. And also let him use a staff for his torch.

Spoiler:

I mean let the Goblin Pillager use a staff; I don't care what Whsikeyjack uses.

a bug that when they advance to the next level they get to choose between two identical options of the only advancement possible.

Oh, I had those double entries after I opened debug. I believe Dugi advised me to always take the lower(?) one.

[Whiskeyjack]

Staff for torch might work. I was thinking of how to do this and only thought of Otherworldly Essence but that seemed a bit far fetched.

Is it intended that the fire attack of the Orcish Crossbowman line scales with magic rather than standard damage? Usually weapon attacks still scale with standard damage irregardless of the damage type.

@Nuorc: Thanks for the notice, I was indeed in debug mode as I was doing some experimenting.

[Ashes]

On farming...
I know that Dugi thinks that farming in LotI should not be the right way to play, but I think that it is mandatory to be able to win, especially on HARD difficulty.
Because farming brings two advantages: more experience from killing more enemies, and more items.

Therefore I propose the following modification (a bit different from my previous proposal that was rejected): an early finish bonus taking the form of a chest ot items. It could be implemented by an event launched after the last boss is killed, and before victory transfers the player to the next scenario. A chest would appear near Efraim or Lethalia, with a pile of gems and items, and going over that chest would trigger victory.
The number of gems and items would depend on the number of turns left, on how many enemies are generated each turn, and on the drop probability. This number of gems and items would be larger (e.g. twice) the expected number of items gained by farming.
The player would have two possible strategies: farming, to gain experience, or quick victory, to gain more items.
In terms of balance, having more items could compensate having less experienced units.

[Delicius169]

Or there could be more item traders... ( i know they cant be in Inferno part, though, it would make no sense.)
I usually buy all items each trader has, that s something I dont like, I d prefere more items in their stock (even gems?), so I would have to decide wheather I buy more items, or more units...

[Whiskeyjack]

Oh, and yet another thing: the Reaper unit still has neither special defensive AMLAs nor can it use standard armor like the Dark Shade. We discussed the need for some way of getting defense back with the other undead balancing stuff, was this just forgotten or is there a reason that no change was implemented Dugi? The unit also has very few and mostly uninteresting AMLAs so a little variety from the pure damage focus might be nice (and the Wraith - in contrast to the Spectre who is focused on damage/assassination - originally has this sturdy character of pretty high defenses + drain).

Btw: I finally reached the last chapter and for some reason I am having more fun with the gem-fueled new start (which was more challenging than earlier stuff, but far from unbeatable on medium) than with any other part of the campaign. Thanks again for all your work here!

[Dugi]

I didn't have time to investigate that freeze yet, but since the number of posts I haven't replied is quite long...

Crafting the item I named Dugi's Wrath is intentionally nearly impossible. It's meant to be a coveted trophy for compulsive farmers. There is an area in chapter 9 that is made to be a place where gems can be farmed quite efficiently, but I can't remember which one it was. So if you find something that looks like it, you can be quite certain that it really is a place for farming gems.

Could the net of the Goblin Pillager line be included in the crafteable category "Slings (or bolas)"?

I made his torch affected by spiritual essence. He covers the torch with the essence and it makes the fire burn differently. His net is affected by slings from now.

Also a couple of orcs with only one advancement (e.g. Goblin Pillager) have a bug that when they advance to the next level they get to choose between two identical options of the only advancement possible.

Can you please give me a save file where it can be seen well? The code looks flawless to me.

Is it intended that the fire attack of the Orcish Crossbowman line scales with magic rather than standard damage?

Oops. Fire ranged damage, automatic conclusion that it's a fireball. Fixed.

@Ashes
Yes, I want to restrict farming. However, people do farm and complain that it's too easy so I keep making hard harder until it's playable only if you farm.

I do not disagree with giving items as a part of early finish bonus. Estimating the enemy spawn ability to learn the number of items you would probably get is hard, though. Some stuff could be just added to your inventory after showing you what you got, that's not a problem.
Maybe sum for each side( enemy income / average enemy recruit level) * chance that an enemy drops an item * some constant might look good, but it does not account for random spawns and such. It would have to be set for each scenario, but I would need a list of scenarios with estimates for each. It should be also dependant on difficulty...

I usually buy all items each trader has, that s something I dont like, I d prefere more items in their stock (even gems?), so I would have to decide wheather I buy more items, or more units...

I could make them sell also gems. I had added this to the two spin-offs and nobody complained.

eaper unit still has neither special defensive AMLAs nor can it use standard armor like the Dark Shade.

Added him a superb dodging AMLA.
Dark Shade shouldn't be able to use standard armour. Maybe this oversight could be fixed and I would add him some defensive AMLA too to compensate?
_________________
On an unrelated note:
Although many issues were not dealt with yet, I might make an update soon because the number of fixes I have done from the last update is quite large. Any complains?
SlyVenom seems to be quite upset about the current portraits and made some frankensteins to replace them. The first ones were rather bad (the heads look often very visibly stitched to the bodies), but eventually he improved his craft. What do you say? Could some be used to replace my low quality art?

[nuorc]

Crafting the item I named Dugi's Wrath is intentionally nearly impossible. It's meant to be a coveted trophy for compulsive farmers.

I believe I never had it. But I once got me a Dugi's Ward!

I could make them sell also gems. I had added this to the two spin-offs and nobody complained.

I liked the gems dealers. At 1000 gold for a black pearl though, I'd like to be able to kill him and take it from his still warm hands.

What do you say? Could some be used to replace my low quality art?

I just had a brief look. I don't know if they're perfect, but especially for those peculiar eighties style hero portraits you use in AE I'd say any replacement is better.

[Whiskeyjack]

Can you please give me a save file where it can be seen well? The code looks flawless to me.

Sorry, I was unable to replicate it with loaded files (even at the same file-state the problem occured). As nuorc said, it had probably something to do with debug. It´s possibly connected to Wesnoth in general and not your code in particular.

Added him a superb dodging AMLA.
Dark Shade shouldn't be able to use standard armour. Maybe this oversight could be fixed and I would add him some defensive AMLA too to compensate?

Adding some defensive AMLA for Dark Shade in compensation should work (if it works for the Reaper). I´m concerned that dodging doesn´t help though, as the problem is high magical fire or arcane damage which demons bring in abundance. No dodging there. Getting drain on ranged too might be an option for some sustain, but it would still be quite strong against weaker enemy ranged attacks and wouldn´t help against the oneshot-potential some demons have.

[ZIM]

I manage to get Dugi's Wrath,
In my savefiles,when I about to make Dugi's Wrath,I have 14 black pearl,11 amethyst and a lot of other gems,but in order to get 10 sapphires,I smash about 10 armour and other not-so-usefull item to get 4 sapphires(I originally only have 6 sapphires before I smashing my items.)
When I put it on my Shadowalker,he can kill a lot of demons alone without even damaged badly,but he always dead when facing demon with distant attack beacuse the berserk my unit keep attacking,but he can't damage it,so he get beated to death(Thankfully,it seems the after I update my Loti,there is no demon with distant attack so there is no problem... .

Dugi,can you make a craftable item type for Dragon Rider's bite?
And,why is Shadow Prince magic blast doesn't have magical weapon special?,It should have it because as the name suggested,magic blast...
And,I can give Faerie Incarnation an otherworldy essence item but it doesn't shows up on the screen(the vine whip does get stronger but it doesn't change name to the item I gave her).

Can anyone tell how to get to the Execrable Sanctum?I'm stuck in the Inferno...

Dugi,after playing The Beautiful Child,I have an idea,what if you make another sequel with the appearance of King of Darkness(evil side of Efraim)?

[Delicius169]

Dragon s bite is already really usefull, I see no need for weapon.
The Reapear dont need any armor, he is already really powerfull thanks to drain and weapon.

P.S. I have about 20% of sequel to Lotl in my mind too. It would be just orc based campain, about a shaman who want to take a revenge on Lethalia for genociding his tribe. But to be strong enough he needs some special powers so he searches the wise shaman (and poet) Han Šan...
But honestly, I have given it up, after reading first pages on wiki- how to create a campain...
But I believe Dugi has already a lots of strories in his mind...