Kingdom Rush Origins (Steam) Impossible Hero Challenge - Tainted Pit Campaign

I'm rather bitter, because I remember really enjoying this map when I played through the first time on my Impossible mode walkthrough.  Of course I was using Wilbur, which always helps, but I felt like it was a very intense map that still wasn't too terribly hard.  What I discovered is that Wilbur was covering a multitude of difficulties for me, as top-end heroes tend to do, and now I'm really sick of this map.

As per my standard operating procedure I started with Faustus and worked my way backwards through the heroes.  I remember I started doing it this way on Gryphon Point campaign, and I went back to that post to see what my reasoning was.  My thought process was that if I use the stronger heroes first, then when I get to the weaker heroes (Eridan, Razz, etc.), I'll have much more experience with the map and my strategy for it, making it easier to get through with them.  And while I do still think that's a reasonable procedure, it really bit me on the butt here.

This isn't the first time this has happened, and as usual it was Razz who did the biting.  When I got to him the build strategy I was using just wasn't working anymore.  I originally was trying to get by with just one Bladesinger Hall, but Razz just couldn't provide enough backup to make it work.  So I ended up taking a lot of time working with Razz, tweaking my strategy until I found one that worked for him.  Then, because I prefer to show more or less the same build for all the heroes, I felt compelled to go back and re-record all the heroes I'd done previously, which for a campaign mode is of course a lot of work.

The worst part is that even with the stronger heroes you sometimes end up having to restart because this map has a high degree of RNG due to the lava balls.  The hardest part of the whole map is waves 3 and 4.  At this point I don't yet have two full Bladesinger Halls with fully upgraded Perfect Parry, and if the lava balls target my Bladesingers too many times in a row or I don't get enough Perfect Parry procs, the mobs easily leak through.

You may be questioning my strategy, why I choose to stack both Bladesinger Halls on top of each other when the lava balls are pretty much guaranteed to target them then.  There are two reasons.  The first is that - once everything is in place, at least - between Perfect Parry and the Forest Keepers' Circle of Life the lava balls cease to be a serious problem - the damage is either avoided or immediately healed.  The second is that it is a major part of the strategy to take down the hordes of enemies this map throws at you.  Remember that when Perfect Parry procs, in addition to making the unit invulnerable for two seconds, it also does 36 true damage in an area.  So when you have six Bladesingers each blocking an enemy practically on top of each other, each proc is dealing 36 true damage to all six enemies - and with six Bladesingers procs are happening constantly.  Back them up with fully upgraded Forest Keepers and an artillery tower like I do in my videos and you've got a truly lethal checkpoint that can handle both huge waves of Shadowspawn as well as taking down Shadow Champions.  This setup is usually even able to stall Godieth more or less indefinitely, although in a few videos he did manage to break through eventually.

So kind of like Beheader's Seat, I'm now over this map having to do so many attempts.  I'm really thankful that I only have two more campaign modes left at this point.

Impressions

Not to sound like a broken record, but the degree of RNG on the map with the lava balls makes things somewhat difficult to grade.  The differences between heroes were still fairly apparent however, and there were a few surprises.

Durax fell to a somewhat rare 'B', but Lynn pulled in a 'A'.  It's pretty rare for Lynn to score higher.  Arivan and Catha got 'B's, which was a pleasant surprise.  Granted, this level is practically tailor-made for Elemental Storm, and Faery Dust's huge area, short cooldown, and ability to target an unlimited number of enemies is a godsend.  Eridan, Prince Denas, and Razz and Rags fill out our 'C' squad, surprising absolutely no one.  It's rather telling that even on a map where you can get some really great mileage out of Changeling Razz still struggles.

Final Grades

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

Best Choice

Phoenix and Reg'son tie for Best Choice here.  Naturally Phoenix just incinerates the never-ending hordes.  As for Reg'son, Vindicator's cooldown syncs perfectly with the Shadow Champions, completely taking them out of the equation and making everything else so much easier.  In addition, since enemies are dying constantly on this map, he pretty much never dies due to Eldritch Heal (although to be fair I will say he did die in my video for him).

Kingdom Rush Origins Impossible Hero Challenge - Tainted Pit Campaign