This is the worst adventure, it's unfair, it's impossible (et cetera)

Or, the single-player version of Rank the MP Boards! with a twist: where in the campaign did you get stuck? (Just one or two, please, because ranking ALL the single-player boards would bog it down.)

We know different people find different things to be "way too hard." We then advise different strategy (characters, gear, tactics), but it keeps happening: there are currently multiple threads about The Compass of Xorr (level 8), otherwise known as "Rescue from Shieldhaven Prison: The Version They Didn't Soften with the Reset." Is this really the worst? What's YOUR "hardest adventure in the game"?

Me, I say Return to the Astral Shrine (level 14) because of 1) high-HP enemies standing on Victory Squares, and 2) sheer unstoppable damage (either high-powered Arcane or Hard To Block Electrical) while you're standing on annoying Terrain attachments. I'd take Parrying guards and lunging dogs any day.

And I'm the ONLY person on the forum who's EVER complained about this adventure. What does that tell you?

 

The first 7th level adventure is the first time I think that my party bit the dust three times in a row. Currently leveling a couple new parties and grabbing new loot before I try it again. Aside from a little hiccup the first time I played the final map of Ruby Demon portal I'd been finding the game pretty easy actually.

 

I had no problems doing Astral Shrine. Probably because I stocked up on Whirlwind Enemies and Wall of Fires. Also helps the rook strong attacks are only Horozintal/Vertical and Bishop attacks are only Diagonal. You can pretty much go in and beat them up one at a time

I am stuck on war monkeys
I do realise that I probably am just lacking in some cards like frost.

I have skipped Gladiatorial Arena (9) and Alet Zhav (13) because they were too hard

 

Just got into the beta a couple days ago, so far the only module that has put up any real resistance was the arena finals. I've lost about 4 battles total, mostly due to surprise factor i.e. not knowing my opponents and bringing the wrong gear. Overall my opinion of the game so far is that it is very fun but too easy. I haven't tried the treasure hunts yet and i'm only up to garnet demon portal so my opinion may end up changing.

 

Just finished Defense of Woodhome. Dead easy once you get the hand of the third map. Had to run that map twice.

 

And I gotta say . . . thank you, people. We get so many threads complaining "NO ONE CAN BEAT THIS MAP! MAKE IT EASIER!" but when I start this one up, what do I see? Very different maps, very different reasons for losing.

I'm reading: please keep posting!

P.S.: kogi, yup, that's my strategy. Most recently I sent two Wizards and a Priest with upwards of 8 Whirlwind Enemies (and I'm familiar with "dodging" thanks to practice pre-reset). 9 failures later, I won with a different build: two Warriors and a Wizard, maybe 1 Whirlwind Enemies. Why did I lose? Why did I win? No one has trouble here but me!

P.P.S.: Also, I don't think I've ever hit a War Monkey with Cold. I use positioning to minimize their horrible attacks and, if possible, flood them with Lava Terrain. Other folks reminded me you can back-attack them (to avoid Duck) when they leap behind you.

 

I don't recall having any particular problems with The Compass of Xorr, I found Lord Stafford's Treasure harder (but not too hard).

Pre-balance pass, I thought The White Star was by far the hardest adventure (changed in version 2.9) and is the only one I ever skipped. I returned to it after completing at least Beneath the Frozen Earth and The Throne of Strench, both of which I found significantly easier.

After that I do remember finding the second map of Tree Forts of the Goblin King and the last map of Return to the Astral Shrine being quite hard (but I wouldn't say too hard). Then there are the monkeys and the trees (again hard but for that point in the game that's what I expect, nay, desire). The last map of Into The Black Forest is top my leader-board of 'maps that required the most attempts' by a country mile.

I suspect, as I'm sure most people do, that it's all to do with the items you have coupled with your natural play style. All my experiences are based on a single play through the campaign with a dwarf warrior/human priest/elf wizard party, and I'm saving the treasure hunts for when the game is released.

 

The second Core dungeon is sapping my will to play. And having to juggle gear in an awkward, unnatural way for each dungeon now isn't helping, although that's off-topic.

 

After the reset there were just two adventures where I ran out of attempts and had to restart:
1) Melvelous the Magnificient. Having all your heroes starting in different corners in the second fight is nasty.
2) Cliffs of the Wyverns (mainly the last fight). If you don't draw well enough to take out the adult wyvern early on, you'll be facing dangerous amounts of lightning damage from all the wyverns. Plus the only time I happened to draw Resistant Hide was when my wizard was already at 2 hp...

I wouldn't call either too hard but they certainly were tricky enough.

 

And just finished "Beneath the Frozen Earth" (the map where I've so far had my only 3 time TPK in campaign mode) with an all elf party. Was really worried I wasn't going to make it through the second map, the characters you put in the choke point get pounded so that map's probably more friendly to a dwarven party or a more typical human/dwarf/elf party with the elven wizard in the back. Squeaked through by having my elf wizard dance around out of reach and hiding behind corners while blasting the last two trogs.

The first map, once you have enough ways around armor, is not so bad. Woodhomes wound helps a lot if you manage to do Defense of Woodhome before Beneath the Frozen Earth.

The third actually favors elves mobility what with having to chase down your enemies.

 

My worst adventure was Lair of the Yellow Dragon, but as it is optional I didn't consider myself "stuck".

I just played Return to the Astral Shrine yesterday and found it got a LOT easier using Smoke Bomb, which I didn't have on the first playthrough. Blocking line of sight is quite effective against spellcasters.

 

I'm only level 9, but I found Lord Stafford's Treasure to be very challenging. I had to restart it a couple times. I think it was the combination of not being able to turtle AND having to advance without losing anyone (essentially shortening your timer by two rounds).

Eventually I managed to lure the dogs out of the corridor, sneak past them and wall off behind me with a wall of stone.

 

Get your hands on Wall Of Illusion, you block the enemy casters but can freely pelt them yourself.

 

I considered the Wall of Illusion, but the Smoke Bomb covers a much bigger area and is better on a map like the one on Astral Guardians where the spellcasters attack you from all sides.

 

You know what would be nice on the wiki? If the card pages mentioned which items in the game give you the card.

 

Behold the item search form! There are so many items that it's probably best to search manually. But, hey, maybe a collapsible list on each card page might be nice.

Anyway, I find it amusing just how many people are trying to help me with that one adventure. Smoke and Illusion would probably be great; the first time I ever beat the thing, I also used Stun effects. Thanks, folks. You're terrific. To try and return the favor:

For Beneath the Frozen Earth: your ability to move the ENEMY is really handy sometimes. Not just Telekinesis, but exploiting their own Crude Plates with weak Attacks you don't mind having absorbed. Then, once you know for sure they've used up their movement, you have free reign: Penetrating Zap, Acid Blast, or more regular long-range Attacks just to see if any get through.

For Lord Stafford's Treasure: you mention mobility, and, yes, I'd emphasize that too. It seems I recommend mobility a lot. I don't "turtle" much, especially in a game where the enemy does twice or three times as much damage as my Armor cards can counteract.

 

I think the adventures with the War Monkeys are the worst. These guys have all the "fun" of the various strike from behind dogs, but more block / dodge and the ability to steal your cards. IMO, for those familiar with Magic the Gathering, this is the equivalent of Control Magic, in that is not only takes away your resource it gives it to the opponent. That card is pretty much a first pick in any draft format in which it appears. That combined with their other traits make these encounters very challenging / throw your keyboard across the room frustrating. And the mocking monkey sounds don't help either.

 

Now that is incredibly useful and I think adequate for what I want. I think it needs to be linked more prominently on the wiki somehow though. Currently you have to know it exists and that the link is under "Special Pages" to find it.

Edit: You know, I can't even find it following the Special Pages link. I'm book marking it because I have no idea how I would find it again.

 

The item search form is accessible from wiki main page, right beside Items (Search). I'll see what I can do to make it prominent. Hope it helps.

Aye, I hear ye ! And this seems like the most common feedback so far, I wanted to revamp the cardpage as well....after the guides. It seems the guides will have to wait.

For now, you can try 'What links here' in the left Toolbox menu of each cardpage. Hope it helps.