Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 15. The Eyesore Tower Heroic

This was a frustrating one.  My hope was to be able to do it with just the one hero like campaign mode, but it's just ever so slightly out of reach.  Now the more powerful heroes can do it - although sometimes things can get out of hand - but the bottom tier heroes just lack the power.  I debated letting the heroes that could do the map solo and then using the second hero for all other and just docking their grades significantly, but ultimately I decided against it.  I prefer to keep things the same across all heroes when possible, as I feel it keeps the grades the most meaningful.  So ultimately I used both Raelyn and Vesper as the second hero guarding the choke point on the bottom right.  I did manage to complete all heroes without using the other hero's hero spell at least.  If you do use the hero spell (especially Raelyn's Dark Knight), the map becomes very easy at that point.

As for strategy, it's pretty much just a rehash of the build we used for campaign mode.  We build a couple of Archers on the back half to deal with Void Blinkers and leaks, but the optimal strategy is to go all-in in fortifying the forward choke points and trying to keep anything from getting past them.  This often breaks down on wave 6 with two Flesh Behemoths trying to break through, but it's easy enough to deal with by selling other towers and building an Eldritch Channeler in the back half to take care of any leaks.

Impressions

Grades aren't terribly surprising here, with a couple of exceptions.  Anya joins the 'A' team for once, earning an 'A-'.  Her ability to tank even Flesh Behemoths indefinitely is the perfect ability for this map, which is primarily about trying to maintain the integrity of your choke points while the Tricannons DPS everything down.

Shockingly, Lumenir earns an 'A+' along with Broden while Kosmyr only earns an 'A'.  I guess it's not so shocking, really, as her abilities are ideal for what this map dishes out.  Her hero spell is excellent for stunning and erasing a decent chunk of large enemies' (like Behemoths) health bar, and her Celestial Judgement ability is really just a single target version of the same.  Then her Blessing of Retribution ability is perfect for buffing defenders, keeping them going longer while also dealing serious retribution damage.

The biggest surprise for me though is how badly Onagro performed.  Since this map is so similar to campaign mode I expected him to perform well again, but instead he ties for last place.  For some reason this map highlights his weaknesses (like the inability to block) especially hard, and I'm honestly at a loss to explain the difference here from campaign mode.  Onagro is the hero that definitely has the least predictable performance from map to map.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 15. The Eyesore Tower Heroic

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 15. The Eyesore Tower Campaign

I managed to return to one hero only for this map, which I'm rather proud of.  I'll always try to do a map with a single hero first until I determine that it's just not possible to do so.  The strategy here is the same I used in my walkthrough video, where we use forward choke points to try to jam up the enemies as soon as possible, preventing them from reaching the Glare and preventing enemies like Vile Spawners and Noxious Spitters from getting out of control.  That lets us set up the back half of the map to catch leaks as well as prepare for the boss fight.

There's not much subtlety to the micro here, besides obvious tactics like using reinforcements to stall Void Blinkers next to Archers to take them down.  It's largely just a matter of fighting hard to keep the choke points intact as much as possible, so it's a good map to judge heroes on their fundamentals.

Impressions

This is one of those maps where a hero either needs to bring strong tanking ability to keep the Bladeclaw Horrors and Flesh Behemoths contained, or else strong DPS to burn down mobs as fast as possible.  As such, Raelyn takes a very rare but well earned 'A-' for once.  Her strong tanking, along with her ability to bring a second tank nearly as good as her, really helps her hold the choke points, allowing the Tricannons to do their job efficiently.  This is an important part of Tricannon strategy - while it's nice they can target three different spots, it's always optimal to have all three shots going to nearly the same point, allowing mobs to be hit by all three.

On the other end of the spectrum, Therien really struggled here, earning a rare 'C'.  As I mentioned a while back, Mindless Husks really counter her hard, constantly throwing Glarelings into the back where she stands and wasting her time by tying her up in meleeing them.  Which is odd because while Nyru has the same problem, she did really well on this map.  The only explanation I can offer is that Therien's hero spell is pretty bottom tier - the damage it does is decent, but it generally is counterproductive, as the damage is generally less than the damage enemies would take from towers during the duration.  It's shades of Razz n' Rags from Origins all over again.

Speaking of surprises, Onagro snags an 'A' here despite my expectations.  On the last map the lack of blocking was a severe detriment, and I expected that issue to only be worse here.  However, he simply tore it up.  Granted, this map is near-ideal for his hero spell, so that definitely helps, but this guy is simply a rollercoaster in terms of performance.  On some maps his inability to block is a huge drawback and his DPS just seems too low to make up for it, but then on other maps it feels like he's no-scoping mobs left and right.  I've never done standard deviation calculations on heroes' grades before, but I have little doubt his would be one of the highest if not the highest of any hero in the series.

I was originally going to give Kosmyr an 'A+' for this map, but I went back and knocked him down to an 'A' after playing with Broden.  What Broden does to this map is simply a war crime.  He simply destroys everything in his way, and he deserves to stand alone on top grade-wise for it.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - The Eyesore Tower Campaign

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

So I had heard about this level's reputation from the Kingdom Rush Reddit for some time, so I came in prepared for quite the challenge, and I was not disappointed.  Not only do we have to go with two heroes again, but now we have to get the second hero's hero spell involved as well.

Once again the real game is keeping the Glarelings from spawning Flesh Behemoths.  The barracks strategy we used last time doesn't quite cut it here - we need firepower that can attack mobs heading down the left and right lanes as well.  On the left side there are Void Blinkers that need dealt with, and on the right we need to deal with the constantly spawned Glarelings from the Mindless Husks, lest they distract our Eldritch Channeler at the bottom from the threats coming from the left.

The solution I found is two Royal Archers on either side, but here's where it gets tricky.  When the Glarelings start heading for the crater, the Archers usually can kill them all before they get there, but it's a close thing.  With some bad RNG on damage rolls one or two might slip through, and over the course of the map that can add up to spawning a Behemoth.  It's not the end of the world if it happens, and in a few videos you can see one spawns at the end and I manage to deal with it, but it drastically lowers the chances of success.

That's where the hero spells come in.  You'll notice a pattern in most of the videos that I reserve them almost exclusively for the Glarelings.  They usually come in two back-to-back waves.  I like to use the Linerean hero spell on the first wave - when doing Dark Army heroes I had Vesper's Arrow Storm always at hand to completely wipe them out.  Then on the second wave I use the Dark Army hero spell on the right hand side, because usually along with the Glarelings there are some other tough customers like Noxious Spitters at the same time.  The Ominous Curse effect from the hero spell then slows the Glarelings, giving the Archers more time to ensure they all die.

There's a lot of other micro that goes into this map as well.  For example, heroes without a ranged attack need to head to left side about a third of the way through the map so that they can stall the Void Blinkers while the Archers DPS them down.  You'll also notice that this is a rare map where I use the Linerean reinforcements instead of the Dark Archers.  Here the stalling power of the Linereans is far more what's needed than a ranged attack for once.

All in all this was indeed a challenging map that really stretched me, but at the same time I'm glad to be past it.

Impressions

The difficulty is certainly reflected in the grades here, as we have four heroes in the 'C' tier, and a lot of 'B-'s that were close as well.  The big thing to note here is that non-blocking heroes (flying heroes plus Onagro) really take a hit.  Some blocking at the lower exit is really required of all heroes, as the Eldritch Channelers are doing all the work here.  Often it's stalling the Bladeclaw Horrors long enough until Mutation Hex comes off cooldown.  For non-blockers, I usually had to use reinforcments to get the job done, as the Wraiths aren't good blockers to begin with and there's just no gold to invest in upgrading them.  However, using reinforcements here instead of where they're normally need in the upper right throws things off there, sometimes causing the situation to get out of hand for a little bit.  In particular, Kosmyr only earns an 'A-', and Lumenir earns a very uncharacteristic 'B'.  Broden still earns an 'A', but that's because he's Broden.

The final item of note is that I ended up using Vesper with the Dark Army heroes instead of Nyru like I did in heroic mode.  For whatever reason the roles reversed here, and while Vesper just wasn't working in heroic, Nyru just wasn't working here.

Final Grades

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

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

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

Well, all good things must come to an end.  I've made it so far in this challenge only using one active hero (the other being a flying hero I send off into a corner), but at last we have arrived at a challenge difficult enough that two heroes are required.

In situations like this I'll always use free-on-mobile heroes, and today we go with Raelyn and Nyru.  I originally tried out Vesper for the Linerean hero, but man, he just could not get the job done.  Thankfully not much is required from the second hero.  I managed to confine them to the choke point I create in the upper right, and I never had to use their hero spells, so all in all I'm pretty happy still with how things turned out.

This is a doozy of a map, although honestly the only thing that really makes it hard is keeping the Glarelings from getting into the crater to make a Flesh Behemoth.  This necessitates creating choke points around the crater to keep them out, and it's a serious drain on resources that are needed elsewhere on the map.

This is one of those maps that will really test your ability to deploy your reserves wisely.  Often times the difference between winning and losing is knowing where best to devote reinforcements and your hero spell.  The last wave is a master class in this, as there are three areas of intense action going on simultaneously - the choke point in the upper right, the choke point in the upper left (where on wave 6 the Paladins get moved out into the lane to block the Evolving Scourges and keep them from the Glare), and the bottom choke point where Bladeclaw Horrors are constantly assaulting.  It's quite the workout, and I appreciated the challenge on this one.

Impressions

Because the use of the second hero was highly contained and uniform across all heroes I'm not worried about how it might affect the grades.  Really the second hero's only job is to make sure the upper right choke point stays standing, while the other hero bounces around the map dealing with everything else.

Grades are pretty standard here and a little higher than I expected given how challenging this map felt.  I didn't give anyone an 'A+' as I didn't feel any of the heroes really tore it up in 'A+' fashion, but of course the dragons and Broden get normal 'A's.  The rest of the class sorts themselves nicely into the usual grading order, with poor Raelyn continuing to see her GPA drop with every map.

Final Grades

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

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - Corruption Valley Heroic

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