Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 14. Corruption Valley Campaign

This is one of those maps where I waited too long between recording the videos and writing up this blog post. I did write the opening paragraph of the Impressions session at the time, and I've learned to record grades as I go now, but other than that everything is a bit fuzzy being a few weeks old.  Still, this was a fun and certainly challenging campaign mode.  I'm not going to deny I'm really starting to sweat as we get close to the end of the campaign.

Impressions

This one was really hard to grade, as the micro needed for this map is very intense.  You absolutely need to know how to maximize your heroes' strengths and minimize their weaknesses, whether through slightly changing the build order, knowing when and where to use reinforcements, or in timing their hero spell.  It feels a lot harder to assign grades when how well I play is such a big factor in their overall performance.  Still, the grades are okay all around.  Raelyn and Grimson are 'C' tier for the usual reasons, and otherwise the grades aren't terribly surprising.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 14. Corruption Valley Campaign

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 13. Desecrated Temple Iron

We finish out this map with a rather fun iron mode.  It's still challenging, don't get me wrong, but it definitely has that indefinable quality that makes it a fun challenge instead of a frustrating one.

Part of what makes it interesting is that it's just constant chaos.  There's no hope of building a conventional choke point here, so it's very much a catch-as-catch-can experience.  This breaks up the monotony of normal maps where there's generally a consistent flow of the map from hero to hero.

Besides not having choke points, you're relying hard on the Darkray Towers to do the vast majority of the work.  But due to the chaotic nature of the map there's so much RNG in using them - do you get lucky when they do their final big laser attack that wipes out a whole lane of enemies, or does it get wasted on a single Glareling?

Impressions

The grades are fairly good here, with everyone getting 'A's and 'B's with the lone exception of Onagro.  Onagro's kit is decent, but his lack of mobility coupled with an inability to block is just a crippling flaw that keeps dragging down his grades.  I haven't done any calculations yet, but I'm certain he will finish in the bottom half at this point, and possibly uncomfortably close to last place.  Here's hoping that maybe he finds some redemption in some of the elite campaigns.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 13. Desecrated Temple Iron

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 13. Desecrated Temple Heroic

Once again I'm thankful for a heroic mode that actually increases the difficulty compared to campaign.  This one is tricky, and wave 6 is an absolute nightmare, with all the worst threats thrown at you at once.

You'll notice right off the bat that we begin by repairing the Darkray Tower, whereas in campaign mode we waited until late in the map to do so, mostly as insurance for getting the win.  It's the most effective way to deal with the Void Blinkers early on, as there's just not enough gold for a tower defense that can handle the big units on the bottom path, all the Mindless Husks, as well as the Blinkers.  And honestly it needs to stay repaired constantly throughout the map, as it's just not possible to build a leak-proof defense that doesn't require it.  This adds a huge element of stress to the gameplay, as you want it to be used as little possible so you can spend money on upgrading towers instead of constantly repairing it.

This is another of those maps where some of the micro strategy might not be completely obvious from the videos.  For instance, in wave 2 you absolutely must keep any Husks or Glarelings from moving from the top path down to the bottom path.  If they do, they might be the target of the Eldritch Channeler's Mutation Hex instead of the second Bladeclaw Horror.  If that happens it's a loss, as the bottom lane is relying on Mutation Hex to take care of all the Abominations and Horrors as there just aren't enough resources to take them down conventionally.

Impressions

The grades are a little bit lower than campaign mode, befitting the increased difficulty.  Raelyn takes a 'D' as clearing this map with her was an absolute nightmare.  I think it took 15 attempts to get the win, and that's 'D' territory for certain.  The challenging maps just continue to put a spotlight on her weaknesses.

Most of the rest of the grades are unsurprising, but Onagro's GPA sadly keeps sliding downward, and I don't expect things to improve as we go on.  This final act just prioritizes movement a lot - the Vile Spawner that appears when your attention is already fixed on a different lane, for example, and you need to get to it ASAP before things get out of hand.  While his DPS and abilities are fine, his movement speed is simply unreasonably slow.  Since he can't block he's basically like a flying hero, and when has there ever been a slow flying hero?  Okay, well there was Dianyun in Vengeance, but he made up for it by having a ludicrously large and powerful attack range.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 13. Desecrated Temple Heroic

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 13. Desecrated Temple Campaign

Part of the reason it's taken me so long to get back into the KRA groove is that I was dreading getting into this map.  I remember this one being quite frustratingly difficult from my walkthrough series and was severely lacking motivation.  However, it seems I built it up a little too much in my head, as it really wasn't that bad.  In fact I would say it was less frustrating that Blighted Farmlands.

That isn't to say it's easy by any means, and the grades below tell the story of a solid, challenging map that stretches the heroes out across the spectrum.  I think I just developed a bit of PTSD regarding the enemies in the third act of the game (Void Blinkers, Vile Spawners, Noxious Spitters, etc.) that has colored my perception of these maps.

Impressions

Not bragging on myself, but the build for this map has a decent amount of flexibility in its ordering, so that it can adapt to the various strengths and weaknesses of the heroes.  Heroes with no ranged attack might need to develop the Archers guarding the exits a bit faster, while casters like Therien can focus on upgrading the Paladins a bit more to shore up their lack of blocking.

The grades shouldn't be terribly surprising if you've been following the trends.  Raelyn continues to take the bottom spot, and this map really highlights her weaknesses.  With three entrances that all need a hero's attention at various points, her slow-as-molasses movement speed is such a hindrance.  Then we she gets where she's going, her low DPS means she takes forever to get the job done, making her late to move to the next hot spot and compounding the problem.  The worst is when you need your hero to take down a Vile Spawner solo, because you generally need them to do it as fast as possible to go help support a threat on another lane.

Grimson joins her in the 'C' range.  He trades Raelyn's movement speed problem for a lack of her survivability.  All other grades are fairly straightforward for the performances we've come to expect from the other heroes.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 13. Desecrated Temple Campaign

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