Kingdom Rush Origins (Steam) Impossible Hero Challenge - Gryphon Point Iron

So the developers may have leaned a little too hard on the hyena gimmick to make difficult heroic and iron modes early in the game.  I'm glad that we'll be leaving them behind for good after this map.  The trick here is to withstand the constant stream of them for the first half of the map.  Once that's done, the rest is a cakewalk.

Impressions

I was disappointed to have to give Lynn a C here (which I thought was her first, but Royal Gardens iron actually was), since she's one of my favorites, but there was no way around it.  While her skill set is pretty awesome, it's just not geared to dealing with hyenas.  I even flirted with giving her a D, as it took me many tries to get a win with her, but in the end I chalked that up mostly to me still getting the build strategy right for a non-ranged hero.

Bravebark continues to impress as a hero who can handle swarms of enemies well, as he easily cleared out the packs of gnolls that try to clog up your defenses so the hyenas can get through.  I'm really liking his surprising versatility.

Of all heroes, Razz and Rags earns their first non-trivial A here!  There are some heroes I've been afraid would never earn a non-trivial A, and Razz was one of them, but he took care of this map no problem.  The versatility of his combination AoE melee attack and ranged attack is perfect for the gnoll / hyena mix, and there were some perfect opportunities to exploit Changeling for maximum effect.  I suspect I also just had really good RNG, as it seemed like his abilities always came off cooldown at just the perfect moment, but I'm not going to slight him an A for it.

Reg'son gets a C, but it was very close to a D.  Like Lynn his kit just isn't suited to hyena waves, and by the time I was doing him I didn't have the excuse of still getting the build right.  I ultimately erred on the side of C, but it might have been a pity grade just because I like him.

Eridan follows in Razz's footsteps to also earn his first non-trivial A.  If you're keeping score at home, that just leaves Catha as the only hero without one.  I'm not sure she's ever going to get it either.  Her DPS is just so low, and her other abilities just don't quite make up for it.  But we'll hold out hope.

Final Grades

• Eridan - A
• Arivan - A
• Catha - B
• Reg'son - C
• Prince Denas - B
• Razz and Rags - A
• Bravebark - A
• Vez'nan - A
• Xin - C
• Phoenix - A
• Durax - B
• Lynn - C
• Bruce - B
• Lilith - B
• Wilbur - A
• Faustus - A

Best Choice

Wilbur again.  I think I'm just going to rename this section "Best Choice Besides Wilbur".  In that case Phoenix would take the top spot.

Kingdom Rush Origins Impossible Hero Challenge - Gryphon Point Iron