"Final victory lies within your grasp -- but the defeated warlords pool their last resources and band together against you. If you can bend the Dragons to your will and force them to side with you, all the other warlords submit, and you conquer rule of the land. Capture the Dragon Citadel on the central island, and victory is yours!"
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Map size: medium Win condition: capture the Dragon City Defeat condition: be defeated |
Knight location: Northeast corner Barbarian location: Northwest corner Sorceress location: Southwest corner Warlock location: Southeast corner |
Each player starts with one castle, and some resources nearby. There are six neutral towns on the shores of the lake. They are all Knight towns, and are all capable of building boats. This Knight town feature is a help for any Knights out there.
All you have to do to win this map is capture the Dragon City. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as you may think. This map is King of the Hill, with you as the king, and the other players looking to dethrone you. They will make no attempt on the Dragon City; they will come straight for you. You need to be ready.
You need to capture the Dragon City. There are three main contaminants in your plan: the Dragon City is guarded by 20 Dragons, instead of the usual 5. Second, the Dragon City is externally guarded by large squadrons of Griffins, which you must defeat to access the Dragon City. Thirdly, you must deal with the other 3 players. Ths first two are not too bad; just build up a sufficient army and hero, and go wipe them out. However, the King of the Hill feature creates the third problem. You have to deal with your opponents quickly. If you don't, they will slowly eat away at you until there is nothing left. You don't have to defeat them outright, and actually it's easier not to bother, but if you manage to kick them off the map, your goal will be much easier to reach.
The Warlock is in a bad position here in this map, since the Knight comes barreling down from the north, and you also have to deal with the Sorceress from the East. While the Sorceress is not as troublesome (at first), she and the Knight can still crush you. The Sorceress is a little better off; she only has to deal with the Warlock, since the Barbarian will not be so concerned about coming South, because of the big distance. The Knight and Barbarian are okay relative to each other- they're seperated by so many obstacles. However, they must still deal with the spellcasters to the South.
If you are the Sorceress or Warlock, try to defeat the other spellcaster as quickly as possible, before they come to power. The same goes for if you are the Knight or Barbarian; eleminating the spellcasters early on will make your game easier, since you won't have to worry (so much) about powerful spells in battle.
The trick to this map is to achieve a balance between giving armies to your hero(es) and leaving castles well-defended. Leaving a castle weakly defended (or not at all) is an inviation to enemy heroes to capture it. Remember that you can go for 7 days without a castle, so the game isn't over unless you are unable to capture a castle before that week is up.
If you are the Sorceress or Warlock, capture the town just North of you, where you will be able to build boats. Defeating the other spellcaster and supplementing your armies and spells should hopefully be enough to reach your goal. Set sail for the central island, with the Dragon City. When you land, you have to fight one of the four squadrons of Griffins to access your target. Use spells to their maximum when eleminating the Griffins. They will not be as useful against the Dragons, although you can use general combat spells, such as Protection, Haste, and Cure. Use Resurrect (if you managed to get it) to raise defeated troops, so as to reduce the risk of you losing.
If you are the Knight or Barbarian, you can ignore the other might player, since there are so many obstacles between you. Take the nearest lakeside town, and build it up to increase your power. After some skirmishes with other heroes, and with a huge army, you should be ready. Board a boat and go to the island. The rest is the same as outlined in the previous paragraph.
Get the ultimate artifact, if you can. It will be an invaluable aid. There are obelisks scattered throughout the map, and two more on the central island as well.
"The Dragons join your cause and the competing lords capitulate. You now rule a vast and united land as the one true king!"