I remember not thinking much of this map when I played it through the first time on my Impossible mode walkthrough. It just seemed rather meh, but I enjoyed it much more this time around. It's a pretty good strategic challenge, mixing up all the units of the Twilight Elves, which means you have to deal with both high armor (Avengers, Golems) and high magic resistance (Evokers, Heretics).
I feel like I've been tripling down on barracks lately, but the Bladesinger / Forest Keeper combo is just so powerful at dealing true damage to both large numbers of enemies as well as single tough enemies. I've heard other people claim that barracks are a little overpowered in Origins. I'm not sure I would call them "overpowered" so much as "critically necessary to survive the nightmare that is Impossible mode". I still can't decide if I love Bladesingers or Paladins from the original Kingdom Rush more.
Impressions
So this was a strange map, and definitely not "standard hard". Overall the grades were good, with one glaring exception. I had to give Bravebark - Bravebark - a 'C' for this map. Yeah, even I still can't believe it. Usually a top-tier hero, this is only his second 'C' ever, the other being Unseelie Court Heroic. It's somewhat understandable - I generally save my Thunderbolts and Hero Spells for dealing with the magic-resistant enemies and rely on my towers and heroes to deal with the high armor enemies. Since all his abilities except his hero spell (which is underpowered, by the way) deal physical damage, it was clear he was going to struggle a bit. But I struggled a lot, and hence I felt I had no choice to go with a 'C'. It wasn't just bad RNG either - I had to do the map multiple times with him, and every time was a struggle.
You would think then that similar heroes like Prince Denas and Eridan would suffer the same problem, and while they're definitely not the best heroes, honestly I didn't struggle with them nearly as much and they both got 'B's. Now it was the same story with Xin, though, and so he gets the other 'C' for this map, but that doesn't surprise me since Xin gets 'C's rather regularly.
Speaking of unlikely grades, Bruce pulled in the rare 'A'. This map actually plays to his strengths - well, strength, anyway, which is DPSing down large, powerful enemies. It allows him to make the best use of Sharp Claws and Grievous Bites.
Some maps are just like this, flipping our usually hero rankings on their head, but I'd be lying if I thought we'd see the day when Bravebark would wear the dunce hat.
Final Grades
- Eridan - B
- Arivan - B
- Catha - B
- Reg'son - A
- Prince Denas - B
- Razz and Rags - B
- Bravebark - C
- Vez'nan - A
- Xin - C
- Phoenix - A
- Durax - B
- Lynn - B
- Bruce - A
- Lilith - B
- Wilbur - A
- Faustus - A
Best Choice
Wilbur and Reg'son tie for Best Choice here. A lot of this map is about burning down large mobs like Twilight Avengers as fast as possible before their backup arrives, and Wilbur of course does that with his crazy DPS. And of course Reg'son is going to be in the running for Best Choice on any map with Twilight Golems, having the only insta-kill that works on them. Being able to instantly take down Golems and the occasional Avenger or Heretic just takes so much pressure off your defense.
Phoenix was actually in the running for Best Choice, but while she still gets an 'A', her lack of blocking ability made the very end of the map a bit dicey, where you have both Heretics and Golems trying to plow through your defense. Wilbur's single target DPS overcame this difficulty. Faustus of course suffered the same issue, but he was never in the running for Best Choice.
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