10. Dark Sanctuary

[Content Feedback]

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

[Vendrick]

(1) Invasion, 1.18
(2) 6
(3) Clear
(4) The writing for the campaign is still pretty good. The conflict between Dacyn and Owaec makes the scenario design feel natural. Ravan's journal entries are also good. Dacyn's sarcastic deflection giving way to a moment of sincerity before taking the amulet is a highlight.
(5) Not getting Owaec killed.
(6) 8
(7)
I don't normally like Wesnoth dungeon crawls but this one is quite good. Owaec's defence adds some tactical interest and natural time pressure to the scenario. The sanctuary itself feels lived-in and the exploration is meaningful.

My strategy was botched. I remembered the replay being much worse than it is, but it is still quite bad. The Orc crossbowmen hit the gym for 1.18 but they uh... should have have gone to Specsavers. This is the first scenario where the expected value for damage taken was significantly negative and decisively so.
Might have been better and cheaper to sacrifice some fresh L1 Loyalist recruits and have less corpses. (This is where having an L2 bowman with the radiant quiver would have been really useful.) Owaec could have been killed multiple times which is just bad play.

Inside, obviously the level 1 units are less gold efficient but I was a little concerned by how thin my recall list was. Levelling another was White Mage was worth it, less sure on the Dune infantry.
Leaving Dacyn 2 experience away from an AMLA is a cheap exploit for the next level.
It should be possible to finish early enough to avoid fighting most of the second wave of orcs, but I didn't succeed at that either.

Full Campaign Spoilers:

Spoiler:

The Necromancy tome is either the Lich how-to guide from SotA / DiD or a copy. If a unit moves to it, Dacyn tells them to drop it immediately. Howver, if Dacyn moves onto it he takes it for "safekeeping"; I was hoping there would be some kind of consequences.

Starting gold: 500
Ending gold: 495 (realistically should have been lower)

[sine_nomine]

Invasion, 1.18.0
I like this map. The waves of orc reinforcements are a good way to make the player hurry and there's not too much to explore inside. Except the ant nest, which doesn't seem to have anything valuable, but I'm sure most players can't resist looking around anyway.
I recruited some soulless with dacyn on t1 then dropped the staff so another unit could recruit more. Chaotic units are good here. Though it would have been better to bring a unit with good defenses and/or a unit to wield the baneblade in the final room.
Owaec refused to go inside the sanctuary but had no problem defending the gate alongside a horde of zombies. Doesn't seem right.
The novelty item only accessible by flight is cool, but why is there also a village only accessible by flight? Players that took the "easy" path earlier really miss out on a lot.
I should have given the potion to Grug, it was wasted on Gweddry. Also should have taken the baneblade into the boss room. And I should have fed more ant ambrosia to a unit and sacrificed that unit to delay my pursuers in the bridge escape map.
Odd to see Dacyn gain zero exp for killing the boss. If Dacyn is made to lose exp after this scenario I think players will try to reach the next AMLA if they're close.

[Dalas120]

> The novelty item only accessible by flight is cool, but why is there also a village only accessible by flight?
Will remove; good point.

[WLFobe]

I gave too much Ambrosia to an archer. He has 86 HP but can't move except on flat ground. I thought he would be able to move at least one hex anywhere, but apparently not.

[fredbobsmith2]

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on? Invasion (Difficult) 1.18.4
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10) 6, replayed once to save on gold for defending outside
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives? Clear
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario? Very good, good dialog leading to interesting gameplay
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario? The west team consisted of Gweddry, a white mage, Grug, and a knight, while the east team had Dacyn, an archmage, the plague staff fencer, and another knight. The west team's path was simple and I gave the potion to Grug to make him super tanky, along with the yetiburger and the sentinel shield. The east team did the jinn room first, giving the baneblade to the fencer and the amulet to the other knight. For the east key I find that it's easy to get choked at the door, so to get around that I had the archmage attack first to weaken the draug, then finished him with the baneblade duelist. Then I could pour into the room and cleared it out in 2 turns. After beating the fire wraiths and WCs in the antechamer, I killed the enemy leader on the first turn by weakening him with the 2 knights/paladins, then using the sentinel Grug + baneblade duelist combo, with Gweddry providing leadership. On the outside I had Terraent, Owaec, a swordsman, an ogre, and 2 spears. I defended the outer village on the south door, while defending from flat ground further inside on the north door. No serious risks on that side with the enemy unable to really attack all at once, and my 4 high level units doing a good job tanking.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10) 8, so much to explore yet no time to do so
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun? None