Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 23. Darksteel Gates Heroic

Heroic mode is once more a redux of campaign mode, featuring very similar wave compositions.  Here, however, there is enough gold to support an AoE solution consisting of one Tricannon and one Arcane Wizard at each chokepoint.  The Wizards are still needed to take down the flying Sentries, but the Tricannons go a long way towards taking everything else down far more easily.

Impressions

To avoid what happened last time I started with Raelyn, and it was quickly very obvious that I would again need a two hero solution for her.  Thus I just went with two heroes for everyone, although this map is so borderline in that regard that it ended up generating a lot of grade inflation.  That's fine though and I'm just not going to lose sleep over it.  This game has 35 levels to it at present, so I'm not worried about the grades being slightly skewed every now and then - the law of large numbers will ensure that the heroes will get sorted properly in the end.  None of the grades are particularly notable and everyone gets a slight boost to their GPA as a result.

Final Grades

• Vesper - B
• Raelyn - B
• Nyru - B+
• Torres - B
• Anya - A
• Grimson - B+
• Broden - A+
• Therien - A
• Onagro - B
• Warhead - B
• Lumenir - A+
• Kosmyr - A+
• Stregi - B+
• Bonehart - A+
• Sylvara - A+

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 23. Darksteel Gates Heroic

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 23. Darksteel Gates Campaign

The first paid DLC for Alliance gets off to an okay start with this map.  There's certainly no ambiguity about the build plan here - with no magic-resistant enemies, lots of high armor enemies, and a few flyers, it's painfully obvious you have to go hard on magic towers.  I'd have loved ideally to go with a mixed artillery/magic build, since there are certainly lots of chances for AoE, but the map is just a bit too poor for that.

With the build pretty straightforward this is much more of an exercise in good micro to survive the really tough parts - i.e., the Darksteel Guardians and the Brute Welders.  One key I found was to use reinforcements away from my barracks to block these mobs.  Both have a powerful AoE attack, so if you stack reinforcements on top of barracks it just means they both get killed at the same time.  Every second of stalling on the Guardians is precious here, so you really have to maximize your micro.  This also means placing reinforcements slightly behind Guardians so that it stalls them for an extra half second or so while the reinforcements walk into blocking position.

There are two distinct make-or-break points on this map.  The first is the first Darksteel Guardian.  You have to have killed him or at least mostly killed him by the time the next wave starts.  The following wave hits the left choke point pretty hard and you really have to devote your resources to it once it begins, which means the Guardian better be almost dead on the right side.  This is definitely a map to be grateful that the teleporting crystals at the exits do work on mini-bosses.

Impressions

Let's just rip the bandaid off on this one - I did something on this map I've never done before.  When I started working on this one I was convinced I could do it with solo heroes.  I knew it was going to be really hard for the bottom end heroes, but as you know if you've been following along, I always prefer a solo solution for this challenge when I can get it.

I started with the high-end heroes so that I would have plenty of practice with the map by the time I got to the struggle bus.  A lot of the low end heroes were hard to get the win with, and there were a decent number of retries, but ultimately I got it to work for all of them.

Except Raelyn.

Raelyn just doesn't have the DPS to do this map solo.  It doesn't matter that she can tank the Guardians for a decent amount of time, it just doesn't make up for the lack of damage.  A lot of the waves are basically on a timer - you have to have mostly killed all the mobs before the next wave begins or you risk getting overwhelmed.  I gave the example of the first Guardian above, but the Sentries are another good example.  With any Sentry wave, you need to have finished off all the mobs from the previous wave first so that when it starts you can play your hero and reinforcements forward to block the ground mobs.  By screening the ground mobs this way you give your towers time to DPS the Sentries down before they get to the exits.

This was Raelyn's downfall.  She could actually get through the first Guardian (with difficulty), but it was the first Sentry wave she just couldn't handle.  With her low DPS she was always behind the 8 ball, desperately trying to catch up with the previous wave's mobs.  When the first Sentry wave hit she was always still fighting mobs back at the choke point, which meant the Arcane Wizards couldn't target the Sentries until they were already too close to the exit.

So I had to break down and make an exception for her, which was to bring in Nyru.  The additional DPS made it quite easy to finish the map, although I didn't use Nyru's hero spell to keep things from being too easy.  Still, she gets a 'D' for having to bring in an additional hero.

As for the other heroes, by the time I dealt with Raelyn I had finished all the rest, and I simply had no desire to go back and re-record them all using a second hero, so we're left with a playlist where only one hero uses a second hero.  I don't know if I'll do this again in the future or not.  Technically the top end heroes could do just about every map solo, but I don't know if I want to get into this bifurcated situation again or not.

As for the rest of the grades, there aren't too many surprises.  The 'C' group had lots of friends to keep each other company.  Onagro earns a rare 'C-', but it's not terribly surprising - this is a map where slow speed and physical DPS are pretty severe handicaps.  Grimson earned a slightly shocking 'B+'.  I was worried his frailty and low physical DPS would be huge handicaps, but his high mobility and true damage AoE hero spell offset his liabilities quite nicely.

Final Grades

• Vesper - C-
• Raelyn - D
• Nyru - B
• Torres - C
• Anya - B-
• Grimson - B+
• Broden - A+
• Therien - A-
• Onagro - C-
• Warhead - C
• Lumenir - A
• Kosmyr - A+
• Stregi - C
• Bonehart - A+
• Sylvara - A+

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 23. Darksteel Gates Campaign

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 22. Starving Hollow Iron

This bonus campaign closes out with a reasonably challenging iron mode.  Despite being a map that needs a decent amount of AoE, I had trouble getting a Battle Brewmaster build off the ground and found it easier to go all-in with Twilight Longbows.  They really come into their own as the fight progresses, being invaluable in taking down Killertiles and Tankzards.  Besides that there's really no trick to this one other than just fighting as hard as possible.

Impressions

We have some very surprising grades this time around.  Stregi being at the bottom with a 'C' isn't surprising of course, but Anya joining her somewhat is.  This is just one of those maps that highlights heroes with DPS problems, and Anya is definitely one of them.  Normally her great survivability and solid hero spell keep her from hitting rock bottom, but this time around that just wasn't the case.

Of course I say all that and then Warhead somehow earns himself a very rare 'A-'.  Of course his hero spell is pretty clutch on this level, but still I was shocked how easy it was to do this one with him.  But then to prove it truly is Opposite Day, Onagro only manages a 'B' here.  Throughout campaign and heroic modes I worried that his mobility issues would be a big problem and they just weren't, but again this map for whatever reason really hits that weakness hard.

And then as the cherry on top, Broden does not earn his usual 'A+', only getting an 'A'.  His performance just didn't have the trivializing feel that it normally does.  And while Kosmyr is usually the one coming in just below him with an unadorned 'A', he somehow tops him to get the 'A+' himself.

I'm certainly not going to complain about a map that shakes things up grade-wise, I just wish I could identify the particular aspects of it that make it that way.  It's not like the map has a particularly unusual wave composition, or that they're asking you to do something really hard like take down high armor enemies with no magic towers, but man this one was just weird.

Final Grades

• Vesper - B-
• Raelyn - C+
• Nyru - B
• Torres - B-
• Anya - C
• Grimson - B
• Broden - A
• Therien - B
• Onagro - B
• Warhead - A-
• Lumenir - A-
• Kosmyr - A+
• Stregi - C
• Bonehart - A+

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 22. Starving Hollow Iron

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 22. Starving Hollow Heroic

We bounce back from campaign mode to a pretty trivial heroic mode.  I believe that a single hero solution here is probably possible, but honestly I just didn't have it in me to spend the time searching for it.  I'm feeling so terribly behind on this series with the recent release of the second Alliance DLC that I desperately just want to get caught up.  Fortunately I have no intentions of playing the imminent new game, Kingdom Rush Battles, so it's release cycle should buy me the time I need to get caught up on the franchise.  In case you're wondering why I'm not going to play it, it's a PvP-focused game, and I'm avoiding PvP games in this stage of my life like the plague for multiple reasons I won't bore you with right now.

Right, back to the map.  As usual, the only tricky part are the Winged Croks coming in from the top right.  Two level four Royal Archers are almost enough to deal with them by themselves, so as long as your hero can contribute a little something to taking them down - hero spell or otherwise - everything else is pretty straightforward.  There's only one exit to deal with, thankfully, so we load up the choke point with Tricannons with Bombardment, and I can't tell you how much that warms my heart.  Even Hydras can't withstand three Tricannons constantly raining death on them, and for most of our heroes we don't even really need to upgrade the Paladins much if at all - easy peasy.

Impressions

Since it was pretty easy using two heroes everyone gets a chance to pad their GPA a little.  In case you haven't figured it out, I've really stopped trying to account for using the second hero in the grades.  It was just getting too hard to adjudicate and account for, and the result is that everyone but Stregi lands in 'B' tier or better, with quite a number in 'A' tier.  That includes Anya and Warhead, which is a bit of a rarity for them.  Even Raelyn earns a rare (for her) 'B+'.

Final Grades

• Vesper - B
• Raelyn - B+
• Nyru - B+
• Torres - B
• Anya - A
• Grimson - B+
• Broden - A+
• Therien - A-
• Onagro - A
• Warhead - A-
• Lumenir - A+
• Kosmyr - A+
• Stregi - C+
• Bonehart - A+

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 22. Starving Hollow Heroic

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 22. Starving Hollow Campaign

Well, that was...a lot, in more than one sense of the word.  First of all I'm referring to the length of the level, because holy cow.  Most of my videos were pushing if not exceeding the 30 minute mark, which I think is a new record for Kingdom Rush (I'd check for sure, but YouTube does not allow you to sort videos by length for some strange reason).  Second I'm referring to the difficulty of the level itself, as they definitely bring the heat on this one.  And though I'm utterly exhausted at the end of it all, it was exhausting in a good way.

Despite not being terribly impressed with the rest of the campaign, it at least finishes strong on this boss level.  I'll even go so far as to say that this is the first map in Alliance that's given me vibes similar to the Pirate Kings DLC for Vengeance.  That DLC is fantastic, and this is the closest they've come so far to recapturing the feel of it.  We'll see if they can maintain that through the next two paid DLCs and the other free elite campaign.

As always, the Winged Croks are the biggest threat here, although here at least I felt the challenge was reasonable instead of just frustrating.  The waves coming from the top left are the most difficult, as there are really only two good build points that can solidly DPS them before they get to the exit, with a couple of other build points that can briefly hit them as they pass by.  One of them is the bonus tower in the top left.  You'll notice that I don't really control for RNG on which tower I got, with one exception.  The only tower you can't get is the Tricannon.  This is one of the two build points that can really DPS the Winged Croks, so you have to have a tower that can target flyers.  The best option is honestly Royal Archers, with Arcane Wizards close behind.  Eldritch Channelers are acceptable if one or both of your heroes has a ranged attack that can help bring the Winged Croks down.

You'll notice also that I don't really try to control for RNG on the boss's tower disabling ability.  Throughout most of the heroes I just accepted that I was going to have to pay to free the tower most every time he used his ability.  It wasn't until I got to the last two heroes (Raelyn and Torres, the two hardest to complete the map with) that I switched the build plan to building out level 1 of every planned tower at the beginning to try to bait the boss into targeting an unimportant tower.

I like the Abominor fight itself, even if he is pretty easy.  It's just too easy to stall him almost indefinitely throughout his first three phases and let your towers whack on him.  They should have reduced the time on the animation where he eats a blocker so that he could make more consistent progress.  Even once he gets to his fourth and final phase where he can't be blocked he still moves so very slowly that it's just not a problem to DPS him down, even if there are other distracting mobs on the field.  Still, he has terrific animations and is a lot more fun to fight than Navira.

Impressions

There are certain maps which just especially highlight heroes whose DPS is lacking and this map definitely did it for both Stregi and Warhead.  While they didn't have the worst grade (Torres takes that honor with a 'C-'), man do you feel the struggle while playing with them.  This is one of those maps where your heroes are constantly needing to hurry up and finish what they're currently working on in order to get to the next hotspot before it spirals out of control, and it was definitely difficult to do that here with them.

I think this map also highlights the duality of Stregi's hero spell.  On the one hand it was clutch in situations where a Hyrda or Tankzard was getting too close to the exit (which happened a lot because her DPS sucks), but on the other there are a lot of situations where it just doesn't really do anything for you.  This is especially true in the early game where I was trying to keep waves confined to the top half of the map.  Using it there just sends mobs back to the entrance where towers can't hit them, which is almost counterproductive.  Yes it buys you time, but it's time you can't really afford, as like I mentioned this is a very time sensitive map where you need to quickly burn down the current mobs so you can prep for the next group.

On the flip side, Onagro impressed yet again this map.  Like in the previous map, I was worried his lack of mobility and blocking would be a severe hindrance, but he honestly kind of tore it up.  This is definitely a map that rewards heroes with AoE hero spells though, so he obviously benefitted greatly from that.

Finally, you'll notice in Torres' video that I got the speed glitch on him fairly early on.  This was completely accidental, but while it is a glitch, I had no desire to start over.  This map is already so long and it's hard enough to do with Torres (since neither he nor either of the free Dark Army heroes have a ranged attack) that I just rolled with it.  I definitely think it is doable with him without the speed glitch, but I also doubt that it would drop him down to a 'D'.

Final Grades

• Vesper - B
• Raelyn - C
• Nyru - B
• Torres - C-
• Anya - C+
• Grimson - B
• Broden - A+
• Therien - B+
• Onagro - A-
• Warhead - C+
• Lumenir - A
• Kosmyr - A+
• Stregi - C
• Bonehart - A+

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 21. The Sunken Ruins Campaign

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 21. The Sunken Ruins Iron

This was a weird map all around.  Iron mode feels more like what heroic mode should have been, while heroic mode feels more like an iron mode.  But despite that I've enjoyed both, and it's rekindled my enthusiasm to pick up the pace on these maps after the chore that was Arborean Hamlet.

I enjoyed trying out the Bog Hermit for the first time.  I like the design, as it's a very versatile tower.  Both magic mode and AoE mode feel powerful and useful, and the special abilities are pretty good as well.  I wish I could continue to use it going forward, but alas, this is probably the last time I will since it's a premium tower.

The only real trick to this map is holding off the Hydras at the top right exit, and it's not really a trick, just a matter of good micro and endurance.  The other lanes are pretty straightforward.  I will say that I appreciate that Ironhide went back to including very powerful and mini-boss level mobs in Alliance.  In Vengeance it's like they were afraid of putting them in, and when they did they were just too easy to deal with.  Enemies like Bone Carriers and Crystal Demolishers were ridiculously slow as well as vulnerable to either Possession or insta-kills.  A single Spectral Mausoleum with Possession could kill a Bone Carrier solo as a result.  Hydras are a real-deal threat though, and they remind me of Cerberuses from the original game in their deadliness.

Impressions

It's a pretty easy map altogether, so there's no one in 'C' tier and everyone gets the chance to improve their GPAs.  Even Raelyn gets a rare unadorned 'B' due to her superior ability to tank the Hydras.

The only really notable grades were Onagro, who managed to land an 'A-' despite my worries that he wouldn't do well due to his inability to block, and Lumenir, who again did a leapfrog of Kosmyr, earning a rare 'A+'.  Despite her lack of blocking, Lumenir's hero spell does a fantastic job of both stalling and damaging Hydras, and she was able to eliminate them all quickly with extreme prejudice.

Final Grades

• Vesper - B-
• Raelyn - B
• Nyru - B-
• Torres - B-
• Anya - B+
• Grimson - B-
• Broden - A+
• Therien - B-
• Onagro - A-
• Warhead - B
• Lumenir - A+
• Kosmyr - A
• Stregi - B
• Bonehart - A+

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 21. The Sunken Ruins Iron

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 21. The Sunken Ruins Heroic

After venting my frustrations with the Alliance bonus campaigns in my last post, this map was a welcome breath of fresh air.  For one, no flying enemies.  That means I'm free of Royal Archers and also Dwarven Flamethrowers, getting to finally go back to the Tricannon for the first time in what feels like forever.  Just having a moment's peace from having to account for "the flying wave" and getting to use a tower I like was immensely rejuvenating.

And besides the build, this map eases up on the difficulty enough that I was able to go back to one hero.  "Easy" might not seem like the right description as you view the grades below, but it's quite telling when a map is doable with only one hero.  When I first started the map I did two heroes, as I just had accepted that all the maps from here on out were going to require two, but then I aced it on my first attempt without breaking a sweat.  I literally thought, "Really, that's it?" in my head.  So I realized that one hero was probably in reach, and in fact it managed to just about hit the sweet spot of being challenging without being overly frustrating.

Unusual for this map was the need to build a forward choke point on one of the islands.  If you've watched any of my videos, you know that I lean towards a traditional choke-points-at-the-exits kind of strategy for my builds.  But this is one of the rare maps that I feel rather demanded it.  It's hard to tell from the video only, but an early barracks there during wave 2 is crucial for slightly delaying the Quickfeet so that they can't turn an Crok into a Killertile at the upper right exit lane, which basically is a game over if they do.  Then in wave 4 it's best to try to contain all the enemies coming from the lower left on that island, because if they advance to the upper center exit your defense is likely to get overrun with Wise Croks constantly disabling your towers.  I appreciate so much genuine difficulty like this based on clever wave composition over "here's a bunch of spongy flying enemies".

Impressions

The grades may seem brutal but they're also more honest, being single hero.  Raelyn really sucked it up as usual, but what was really surprising was Vesper's dismal 'D' performance.  I don't know what it was, but he really stunk at this map.  To be fair he was one of the first heroes I did, and I probably should have gone back and redone him at the end once I had more experience with the map, but I just didn't have it in me to do so.

This is definitely one of those maps that tells a story of heroes who dominate and those who don't.  All our 'A+' heroes were able to insta-call all waves, which would have been unthinkable for all other heroes.

Final Grades

• Vesper - D
• Raelyn - C-
• Nyru - B
• Torres - A-
• Anya - B-
• Grimson - C
• Broden - A+
• Therien - B+
• Onagro - A-
• Warhead - C-
• Lumenir - A
• Kosmyr - A+
• Stregi - C+
• Bonehart - A+

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 21. The Sunken Ruins Heroic