Kingdom Rush Origins (Steam) Impossible Hero Challenge - Beheader's Seat Iron

I'd just like to say, <ahem>,

I AM THE GREATEST!!!!!!!

...Kingdom Rush Origins player, at least.

Yes, my friends, I did it.  When I first started this series this map was without a doubt the one I worried about most.  It was hands down the hardest when I was doing my Impossible mode walkthrough series, and I was dreading trying to complete it with every hero.  I honestly did not think I would be able to do it.  I felt sure that this was going to be where I had to hand out 'F's - potentially a lot of them.  But I persevered, kept at it, and I got through with every hero.  There were 'D's of course - and we're talking the worst D- grades imaginable - but in any case I'm proud to show that it at least can be done with every hero.

Oh, how I loathe this map now.  I was having PTSD flashbacks of Nightfang Swale iron from the original Kingdom Rush, but that map has nothing on this one.  This is now officially my least favorite map in the entire series.  It is grossly unfair in its setup, and getting through even with our 'A' heroes is hard and unfun.

Part of me doesn't even want to talk about the strategy for this map, I'm so sick of it, but I feel like I need to, because even with the videos there are some very subtle things going on that might not be obvious that need explaining.

I demonstrate the best solution I've found for the left-hand side in most all of the videos - focus on getting two barracks with two Arcane Archers with one rank in Burst Arrows.  With as many gnolls that come down that side this is your best AoE solution.  The hero commits to the right-hand side, unless it's a hero with strong AoE capabilities that would be better used on the left.

The right-hand side is an exercise in endurance and a lot of luck.  One of the biggest factors on this map is the Bloodsydian crystal.  For many heroes, you need it to trigger in the right time and the right way for the never-ending ogre stream to be manageable.  You actually want to get the effect where enemies are teleported forward on the path.  This times nicely with your Thunderbolt cooldown and groups them up nicely for maximum effect.  For many of the 'D' performers, the 'D' came from this necessity of getting the right procs to be able to burn down the ogres quickly enough.

Cooldown management is beyond crucial here.  For most heroes the sequence goes like this: use a Thunderbolt at the very beginning to help take down the first two Ogre Magi.  Then, when it comes off cooldown again, you should have a Ogre Magi, a Blood Ogre, and two regular Ogres getting towards the end of the right-hand path.  This is where the crystal proc becomes important, because if it teleports the enemies back up the path, it's pretty much a fail.  Remember that Ogre Magi absorb damage from nearby enemies, so you need them all tightly bunched so that the Thunderbolt can kill the Magi by itself via the absorbed damage.  After this group is taken care of there are a large number of regular ogres.  A crucial decision here is whether to try to use Thunderbolt again as soon as it comes off cooldown to thin out the ogres, or whether to hold on to it until the last very large stream of gnolls appears on the left.  Either option is fraught with difficultly - if you use Thunderbolt as soon as possible, it greatly helps with the ogres, but you might not be able to survive the insane numbers of gnolls that come down the left towards the end.  Holding on to Thunderbolt until the gnolls appear is usually the better option, but it can be very hard to survive the huge stream of ogres in the meantime.

Speaking of the ogres, a small but critical tactic you need to follow on this map is keeping the ogres in order.  What I mean is this: the ogres start walking towards your chokepoint and the first one in line starts taking damage from the ranged towers.  When he gets to your blockers, if you only have a single blocker like your hero pick him up, the danger is the next ogre in line walks past him.  Because he is now the forwardmost ogre, your towers will target him.  Because ogres regenerate, that means you're now wasting time as your hero is fighting the original ogre's regeneration rate without any tower support.  With regenerating mobs you have to use blockers very carefully so that your towers aren't constantly changing their target.

Impressions

Obviously this was the hardest map we've encountered yet, and the grades reflect it.  Previously our hardest map was Royal Gardens iron, with an average grade of 2.75.  Here it has plummeted to 2.19 due to an unprecedented number of 'C's and 'D's - 4 'C's and 6 'D's to be exact.

Eridan, Catha, Prince Denas, Razz and Rags, Xin, and Lynn form our 'D' squad.  In most cases it was just due to a lack of DPS to help take down the ogres.  Xin actually does very well for the first half of the map in taking down the ogres, but he really struggles on the second half, trying to hold it together until the final Thunderbolt can clear things up.  For Razz, he's so worthless against the ogres I actually modified my strategy and put him on the left side.  Since he has multiple AoE abilities I choose to put them to use on the gnolls, reducing the resources I needed to invest on that side.  I almost gave up on him.  He was the last hero I finished with, and I was so exhausted with this map by that point I considered throwing in the towel and giving him our very first 'F'.  But I'm glad I persevered.  Trust me, you need really great RNG to win with him, but it can happen.

Arivan, Reg'son, Durax, and Bruce pull in the 'C's, as their DPS and abilities make them slightly less dependent on RNG, but they're still not very fun to try to finish the map with.  Lilith, Wilbur, and Faustus and powerful enough to warrant 'B's - meaning you may only have to do the map four or five times before getting the win.  I considered dropping Lilith because she is - as usual - highly RNG dependent on her abilities: namely getting insta-kills with Reaper's Harvest, getting Resurrection to proc, and getting Rain of Fire instead of Fallen Angels on Heavenly Chaos.  Still, it was nice just to have a hero who had the firepower to take on the map period, so I relented and left her with a 'B'.

Final Grades

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

Best Choice

I only gave 'A's to our Best Choice candidates, as it was just that kind of map.  Phoenix is a top choice because you can commit her to the left side instead with only barracks.  Her AoE will more than adequately take care of the gnolls, freeing up virtually all of your resources for the right-hand side where you can actually build a decent chokepoint.

Bravebark and Vez'nan tie for Best Choice as well because of their very similar abilities.  First, they both can teleport, so they can hop between lanes giving assistance as needed.  Second, they both have insta-kills, which helps enormously in taking out the ogres - especially the Ogre Magi.  It's a little annoying as you have to manage their cooldowns very carefully.  When I'm recording I have a timer that shows up, and as I'm playing them I have to mentally calculate when the next insta-kill is going to come off cooldown so I can position them right to take out the most important mob.  Finally, they both have some great AoE abilities, helping enormously with the left side.  I use Bravebark's Nature's Wrath liberally on the left side to keep the gnolls manageable, and with Vez'nan I conservatively waited to use Dark Pact until the last wave of gnolls, as the demon has great AoE capabilities.

I have to be honest, I was starting to lose steam on this challenge and slogging through this map was very demoralizing, but having finished it successfully has really jazzed me up again.  There are only four more maps to go now and I'm psyched to be this close to the finish line.  There are still some tough challenges waiting for us, but having finished this map I now have the confidence that I can overcome anything.

Kingdom Rush Origins Impossible Hero Challenge - Beheader's Seat Iron