Kingdom Rush Origins (Steam) Impossible Hero Challenge - The Ascent Iron

I really like this map - it's very challenging, and it really differentiates the heroes.  That is, you really have to develop a strategy for each hero according to their strengths, as opposed to just letting them sit at your chokepoint the entire time.

The first half of the map is all about fending off hordes of Twilight Harassers (and really, how perfect is that name for them?) and spiders.  The second half then becomes dealing with big enemies like Razorboars and a Twilight Golem, and all this with only ranged towers for DPS.  It presents an interesting challenge for almost every hero - AoE versus tanking, physical damage versus magical damage, etc.

Impressions

I like maps that feel easy to grade, and this was one of them.  Sometimes I struggle differentiating between 'A's and 'B's or 'B's and 'C's, but the performances here were pretty clear cut.

There are really no surprises with our A performers.  We have our honor roll of Wilbur, Faustus, Phoenix, and Vez'nan, and Reg'son joins them for his endless horde tanking ability plus Vindicator making the Twilight Golem and a few Razorboars non-issues.  I will say that I did hesitate slightly on Vez'nan's 'A'.  In the middle of the enemies there's a large pack on spiders on the south lane, and with his magical damage he did struggle to contain them, but ultimately he performed so amazingly on the rest of the map that it tilted the scales in his favor.

Arivan and Catha join the 'B' team for a pleasant change.  They both struggled with the large enemies at the end a bit, but their abilities did well at containing the hordes in the first half.

The 'C's were somewhat surprising.  I really expected to give Prince Denas, Bruce, and Lilith 'B's going in, but I really struggled with them.  With Denas I know it is just a function of his low DPS - near-endless tanking is great, but if you can't get rid of one wave of enemies before the next appears it doesn't matter much.  Being limited to ranged DPS with high armor enemies didn't do him any favors, either.  As for Bruce and Lilith, I'm starting to realize they're just not as great of characters as I wish they were.  They're not bad, just not good, and their rankings on our report cards are reflecting that.

And of course, it wouldn't be a hard map if Razz and Rags didn't earn a 'C'.  Looking at my grades spreadsheet, he's in serious danger of dropping below a 3.00 GPA.

Final Grades

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

Best Choice

Despite not being able to tank the Razorboars or Twilight Golem, Phoenix's AoE DPS is just so amazing that she made quick work of this map.

Kingdom Rush Origins Impossible Hero Challenge - The Ascent Iron