Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 12. Blighted Farmlands Iron

We have our first really serious challenge of the game, one in which I almost broke down and pulled in the second hero, but thankfully that ended up not being necessary.  This map is just straight up hard.  The Dwarven Flamethrowers are the only tool you're given to deal with the high armor Abominations, and I've come to realize I'm just not a fan of the Flamethrower.  While I haven't run the calculations just yet, I can still tell it just doesn't hold a candle to the Tricannon - to say nothing of the fact that it can't hit the Void Blinkers, which is supremely annoying.  And while I do love the Rocket Gunners, they just are not who you ideally want to call to handle blocking something like Abominations.

This is a map where you just don't have enough resources for everything you need to do.  Ideally you'd go all-in with Gunners and Flamethrowers to deal with the Abominations, since they're generally the biggest threat, but the map is designed so that you really have to upgrade the Dune Sentinels to deal with the horde of Husks and Glarelings - you just don't have enough blocking to have regular choke points where the Flamethrowers can deal with them.

Also, I managed to make it to iron mode without complaining about this, but the build points on this map are garbage.  If there were just a couple more build points near the exits then you could probably get by with a more conventional choke point strategy, although I must say the Void Blinker timings on this map are just plain cruel, and it might not actually make a difference.

Impressions

Raelyn and Torres bottom out with 'D's for this map.  While Torres has been doing better ever since he got a buff, this map exposes that he's still too much like Raelyn - slow and with poor DPS.  Letting the Vile Spawners meander down the lanes is just not a viable option on this map, as you'll get overwhelmed by their Lesser Eyes.  So having a hero who has the mobility to get to them quickly when they spawn and the DPS to take them down quickly so they can get back to dealing with other things like Abominations is key, and these two just don't have it.

Grimson and Anya come in with a rather unsurprising 'C-' and 'C+' respectively.  While they have the mobility, they lack the DPS unfortunately.  Onagro earns a very uncharacteristic 'C+' for the opposite reason - he has the DPS, but not the mobility, making dealing with the Spawners very tricky indeed.  Even Warhead pulls in a 'C', as again his DPS - especially against the high armor Abominations - is just lacking.

But the biggest surprise of all is Kosmyr earning a 'B+'.  While he has good DPS, his inability to block the Spawners is a huge liability.  Lumenir doesn't suffer this fate because her hero spell adeptly stuns the Spawners while also dealing massive damage to them, so the lack of blocking isn't nearly as big a problem.  For similar reasons Broden earns the highest grade with an 'A', as his hero spell can very swiftly take down the Spawners.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 12. Blighted Farmlands Iron

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 12. Blighted Farmlands Heroic

For once it feels like we have a heroic mode worthy of the name.  There is a definite jump in difficulty here compared to campaign mode, which of course is how it's supposed to be.

I wasted a lot of time trying alternate build strategies for this one before realizing that the build I used for campaign mode was in fact still the best option here as well.

Impressions

Grades are pretty decent here.  Raelyn earns the only 'C', and it's becoming clear at this point that Torres' grades are rising significantly post-buff, so she's sadly heading straight for last place in the rankings all by herself.  Doubly sad is the fact that Anya is really starting to fall behind as well.  She'll definitely finish above Raelyn, but at this point she's in strong competition for second-to-last.

At the other end our 'A' crew is mostly the usual suspects, although Nyru earns a rare 'A-' here.  Lumenir also raised her game for this one and gets an 'A+' for tearing it up along with Broden.  Something about her abilities just really clicks well with this map, and she performed amazingly well.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 12. Blighted Farmlands Heroic

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 12. Blighted Farmlands Campaign

This map follows in the vein of the previous iron mode in that it feels a lot more difficult than it really is.  I think a big component of maps like this is their intensity.  This one certainly brings it, being incredibly short for a campaign mode - the average completion time was around 9 minutes.  Several times new wave indicators appear just moments after the previous wave begins.  Still, I feel good I managed to get an insta-call solution for the map.  Well, mostly.  This is one of those maps where - presumably due to a bug - sometimes the new wave visuals don't appear for some waves.  I think this happens on waves with just Void Blinkers, but I'm not sure.  You still get the audio cue (a bird screeching), but sometimes it's easy to miss in the heat of combat, so for some heroes I may not have called every wave truly instantly.

Impressions

This is another one of those maps where lots of practice is required to perfect both the build plan and micro.  Once you know exactly what you should be doing at any given moment most of the rest of it falls into place, as reflected by the worst grades being 'B-'s.

No real surprises here as to who gets what, although Therien does take a somewhat unusual 'B+'.  The Mindless Husks are a great counter to ranged heroes who like to hang behind your choke point.  The Glarelings they spawn get thrown right where those heroes usually stand, so either they waste their time meleeing the Glarelings or you have to move them far enough back where they can no longer reliably reach the front lines.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 12. Blighted Farmlands Campaign

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 11. Canyon Plateau Iron

We have a sad slight regression with iron mode this time, falling back into making the build rather too easy to figure out.  The only trouble I had in getting this one down was figuring out that two Paladins are needed per choke point, otherwise things get out of hand at the very end of the map.  Other than that things are pretty straightforward - fully upgrade the provided Stargazers so they can deal with the high armor Bound Nightmares and Abominations, then provide strong choke points that will stall them long enough for the Stargazers to deal with them.  Three Ballistas built around the central section can then take care of the Void Blinkers and Tamed Stalkers, as well as assisting the choke points when possible thanks to their generous range.  Easy-peasy.

Impressions

As with last time, Raelyn and Anya's performances just fell a little short of 'A'-worthy, but other than that this is largely a straightforward map for the rest of the heroes.  Magic damage helps out enormously on this map, so Nyru and Therien add some nice unadorned 'A's to their GPAs, while the usual suspects bring in 'A+'s and everyone else gets 'A-'s.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 10. Temple Courtyard Iron

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 11. Canyon Plateau Heroic

When I first started trying this map I initially thought it was pretty hard.  But as I continued to record more heroes I realized that the grades I was handing out weren't really reflecting that.  It took me a bit to realize that it's not actually that hard, but it is tricky.  This is the kind of map that needs lots of practice so that you know exactly how to build as well as where and when to deploy resources like reinforcements and hero spells.

A good example is in wave 4.  When you see a Crystal Golem coming you might panic and want to upgrade the right-side Paladins.  But really a level 2 Paladins with full hero and reinforcement support can deal with it.  The real priority is making sure you have two level 4 Archers on the left side before the Corrupted Stalkers arrive in wave 5.

And speaking of Stalkers, while the first reinforcements of wave 5 need to be placed somewhat back towards the left-side exit, the second set need to be placed forward on the path so they can target the Tamed Stalker to ensure you get enough DPS on it.  Your Archers can take care of the Corrupted Stalkers (along with help sometimes from the exit teleporters), so you can't panic and put them at the exit when they're really needed elsewhere.

The same goes for wave 6.  The waves of Acolytes and Glarelings on the left side seem intimidating, but your Paladins can take care of them by themselves.  Your reinforcements are much more needed on the right side to deal with the Abominations.  If anything does slip through on the left side, the Archers will take care of it.

That's what I mean by this map being tricky - you need to know these little things about the limits of what the build can accomplish so you can most effectively use your limited resources.  Once you know all the tricks then it really isn't that hard.

Impressions

The grades reflect this fact, with the lowest grades being 'B+'s by Vesper, Raelyn, and Torres.  They did perfectly fine, but their performance (usually judged by how they dealt with the waves from the right in stage 6) just wasn't quite up to 'A' standards.  Everyone else pads their GPAs with various 'A's.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 10. Temple Courtyard Heroic

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 11. Canyon Plateau Campaign

Campaign modes continue to be pleasant challenges - just hard enough to be interesting without being a real struggle, as mostly evidenced by the grades below.  This is one map though where the flying enemies make all the difference.  Everything else is pretty manageable, but the game is constantly trying to get a Corrupted Stalker or Void Blinker to slip through your defenses.

I've seen people complain about the amount of flying enemies in this game, and I'm still formulating my own thoughts on the matter.  In previous games flying enemies weren't generally that hard.  They had low hit points and were mostly there just to keep you honest against only building artillery (and even then you could often still get away with doing it in the original and Frontiers).  But here it feels like Ironhide really upped the design of the flying enemies to make them more of a legitimate threat in their own right.  Void Blinkers move fast and have relatively high hit points for a flying unit.  You're usually relying on their stunning attack to keep them in one place long enough for your towers to take them down, but usually the devs like to send them along right when it would also be a really bad time to have your choke point blockers stunned, so they're really well designed from that perspective.  Tamed Stalkers are obviously DPS checks - do you have enough ranged and/or magical DPS to take them down? - but again, they often come through when other enemies are around to distract your towers from focus-firing them.  Ultimately I'm still trying to decide if the flying enemies in the game fall on the "well-designed challenge" end of the spectrum or the "frustratingly difficult" side of the spectrum.

Impressions

Grades are pretty decent here.  Raelyn earns the only 'C', and it's becoming clear at this point that Torres' grades are rising significantly post-buff, so she's sadly heading straight for last place in the rankings all by herself.  Doubly sad is the fact that Anya is really starting to fall behind as well.  She'll definitely finish above Raelyn, but at this point she's in strong competition for second-to-last.

At the other end our 'A' crew is mostly the usual suspects, although Nyru earns a rare 'A-' here.  Lumenir also raised her game for this one and gets an 'A+' for tearing it up along with Broden.  Something about her abilities just really clicks well with this map, and she performed amazingly well.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 11. Canyon Plateau Campaign

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 10. Temple Courtyard Iron

Things continue to be on the upswing, as we again have an interesting and challenging iron mode.  We're given no blocking towers except a couple of pre-existing barracks.  However, the lower barracks cannot cover both the bottom exit and the lower right exit at the same time, and there is no blocking for enemies coming from the upper right entrance at all.  Using the Village People secret on this level is pretty much a must, as they can then cover the upper right.  However, this is a unique level where having Linerean heroes really gives a huge advantage.  The Village People do not regenerate health at all, but they can still be healed by Blessing of Vitality.  When I started the map I started with Torres and Nyru.  Then when I got through them I tried Raelyn and suddenly wondered why the Village People weren't holding down the fort like they had for the first two heroes.  It took me a minute to realize the facts above, that they don't regenerate but that Blessing of Vitality was healing them, keeping them going.  For Dark Army heroes you then have to use reinforcements on the earlier enemies coming from the upper right in order to save the People for the end of the map, at a time when they're sorely needed elsewhere.  

Impressions

Raelyn leads the way in the Linerean / Dark Army dichotomy on this map with a 'C-'.  Her slow movement and low DPS really make her struggle here.  Similarly Ongaro earns a very rare 'C'.  His slow movement does him no favors, but more importantly his inability to block coupled with physical damage means he is very non-optimal for dealing with the Crystal Golems.

The siblings Grimson and Therien make it out with decent grades in the 'B' tier.  Grimson's high mobility and AoE hero spell give him better agency in dealing with the hordes, even if he's not great at tanking the Crystal Golems.  As for Therien...well, something weird happened on this map.  She was doing fine until the end when two Crystal Golems spawn, then things were starting to break down.  In desperation I had to have her tank the Golem on the lower right path for a moment to try to buy some time, but then she...just didn't take damage.  He wasn't even attacking her.  It was like her melee attack was stun-locking him or something.  I tried googling to see if anyone else had noticed this behavior, but came up empty.  I'm assuming it's a bug, but I also wasn't going to retry the whole map because of it.

Warhead and Kosmyr have the tools to end in the 'A' tier, and as for the Linerean heroes, you can see they did pretty well all things considered.  In my Alliance review I talked about what a game changer Blessing of Vitality was, and this map so far is the best demonstration of that.  Healing and respawning all units is borderline overpowered on a map like this where keeping enough warm bodies at each choke point to block is the primary challenge.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 10. Temple Courtyard Iron