Kingdom Rush Vengeance (Steam) Impossible Hero Challenge - Into the Mountains Iron

The more I play the more disappointed I am in the way iron mode works in this game.  Iron mode just isn't fun because I don't feel like I have any real choices.  You only get two tower types, which the level is obviously designed to be completable with.  The build points you'll be using are usually fairly obvious - you're never getting that many resources in an iron mode, so you need to use the most efficient chokepoints.  In the end all you're really doing in playing an iron mode is figuring out the right upgrade order for some pre-set towers.  It almost can't be difficult by definition and it rarely is fun.

Breaking the Ice iron mode was enjoyable because they actually did something a little different - hordes of unblockable Frozen Souls alternating with hordes of Draugr with only DPS towers meant you couldn't have a normal chokepoint and there was something to figure out.  It reminded me a lot of City of Lozagon iron, which to me has been the best iron mode in the game.  But here with a barracks and a DPS tower it's just fairly obvious what you need to do.  No grades, as these kind of iron modes are all about the build, such as it is.

Kingdom Rush Vengeance Impossible Hero Challenge - Into the Mountains Iron

Kingdom Rush Vengeance (Steam) Impossible Hero Challenge - Into the Mountains Heroic

The heroic mode is again a good challenge, but made easier by the fact that the keys to it are all things we've seen before.  As with the campaign mode, a Shadow Archer with insta-kill ability is crucial to taking out the initial Frost Giants and some of the larger threats later.  And just like the heroic mode for Breaking the Ice, we can't allow any of the Snow Golems to wake up, so the gold for that has to be factored into the build.  Given that, the build becomes pretty straightforward after that, although the map still requires very precise play to make sure things don't go sideways on us.

Impressions

While magical DPS is still a liability here, it's not quite so much as previous maps.  Still, Oloch and Mortemis earn 'C's as they still struggle to provide assistance against Draugr, Apex Stalkers, and Ice Reapers.

Final Grades

• Veruk - B
• Asra - B
• Oloch - C
• Margosa - A
• Mortemis - C
• Tramin - B
• Jigou - A
• Beresad - A
• Doom Tank SG-11 - A
• Jun'pai - B
• Eiskalt - A
• Murglun - A
• Jack O'Lantern - A

Kingdom Rush Vengeance Impossible Hero Challenge - Into the Mountains Heroic

Kingdom Rush Vengeance (Steam) Impossible Hero Challenge - Into the Mountains Campaign

I'm still really enjoying this elite mini-campaign, as it's really hitting the sweet spot of challenging without being frustrating.  Although to be fair I did start out extremely frustrated with this map.  That, and the fact that I've started playing a lot of Vampire Survivors, is why it's been a while since my last update.

I usually practice maps with Oloch.  I'm pretty confident in saying at this point that he is the worst hero in the game, so it makes sense to refine my strategy with him before I get to more powerful heroes who can make up for deficiencies in a build plan.  However, Oloch really struggles on this map due to the large number of magic-resistance enemies.  I was failing a lot at first, hence the frustration, until I realized the problem.  I then went on to perfect the map with non-magic DPS heroes before coming back to Oloch and Mortemis with a lot more experience and being able to figure out the minor tweaks to the build plan they require to make them work.

I always try to use the same build plan across heroes wherever possible, but this is one case where it just won't work.  The first real change is fairly minor - needing to build Shadow Archers on the northern build spots before investing in the Spectral Mausoleum in the middle in order to have enough physical DPS.  But the other change I realized came around wave 7 or 8.  My other heroes were solid enough that at this point I could go ahead and kill all the Snow Golems just to get them out of the way and not have to worry about them anymore.  However, magical DPS struggles here so much that I realized I had to keep growing my build during this period, always saving just enough gold to kill the next Snow Golem that threatened to pop.

Impressions

Magical versus physical DPS truly is the gamechanger here, so I gave all the physical DPS heroes 'A's, while giving Oloch a 'C' and Mortemis a 'B'.  Mortemis' much greater DPS and better abilities made it much easier to complete with him versus Oloch, who almost slipped to a 'D'.

Final Grades

• Veruk - A
• Asra - A
• Oloch - C
• Margosa - A
• Mortemis - B
• Tramin - A
• Jigou - A
• Beresad - A
• Doom Tank SG-11 - A
• Jun'pai - A
• Eiskalt - A
• Murglun - A
• Jack O'Lantern - A

Kingdom Rush Vengeance Impossible Hero Challenge - Into the Mountains Campaign

Kingdom Rush Vengeance (Steam) Impossible Hero Challenge - Breaking the Ice Iron

This was a fun "horde" map, facing off against never-ending streams of Draugr and Frozen Souls.  As with the campaign and heroic mode, a key component is making sure you have a strong blocking chokepoint with the magical DPS behind it so as to stop the Draugr and let the Frozen Souls through.  Also important is the realization that Rocket Riders can damage the Frozen Souls some.  The Frozen Souls do not have physical damage immunity - they just have 100% armor, and thus 100% damage reduction against physical DPS.  However, since artillery ignores a percentage of armor, some damage does get through.  It may not seem like much, but the little extra damage really makes a difference in the Infernal Mages being able to finish them off.

Once again this map is really all about build strategy.  Even low DPS heroes like Veruk and Oloch can deal with Draugr and Frozen Souls respectively, so it's just a matter of putting your hero where they will make the most difference at the moment.  As such, I'm forgoing grades on this one.

Kingdom Rush Vengeance Impossible Hero Challenge - Breaking the Ice Iron

Kingdom Rush Vengeance (Steam) Impossible Hero Challenge - Breaking the Ice Heroic

This map really puts you through your paces.  It's been quite a while since I've played a map that was quite this intense.  The key realization for the map is that you simply cannot afford to fight any of the Snow Golems and must kill them all before they wake up.  This puts a lot of pressure on your build plan, as you generally need to keep a couple hundred gold in reserve to take out the next ones to wake up.  It also makes for some frantic gameplay as you have to keep one eye out for the next Golem to wake up while also trying to make sure all of your chokepoints are doing okay.

Impressions

For all the difficulty of this map, it's really all about your build plan - balancing building out towers with killing Snow Golems.  Once you have the right plan down most all heroes do pretty well, with the better ones just making it that much easier.  Still, I did give 'B's to Veruk, Oloch, and Jun'pai because they suffered DPS problems that made some sections harder.  One of the biggest challenges of the map are the Frost Giants in wave 2.  Veruk and Jun'pai struggle with their physical, single-target DPS here, and while Oloch has magical DPS he still struggles to take them down in a reasonable time.

Final Grades

• Veruk - B
• Asra - A
• Oloch - B
• Margosa - A
• Mortemis - A
• Tramin - A
• Jigou - A
• Beresad - A
• Doom Tank SG-11 - A
• Jun'pai - B
• Eiskalt - A
• Murglun - A
• Jack O'Lantern - A

Kingdom Rush Vengeance Impossible Hero Challenge - Breaking the Ice Heroic

Kingdom Rush Vengeance (Steam) Impossible Hero Challenge - Breaking the Ice Campaign

The string of challenging maps continues into the second elite mini-campaign.  The enemies and their composition here are maximally designed to be as annoying as possible.  Ice Witches are sent in spaced-out chains.  Since their ranged attack can freeze you, you have to engage them in melee - but this puts you in range of the next Witch in the chain.  Conversely, Svell Druids are sent in tight chains or packs so that as soon as one is done freezing a tower, another is ready to do it again.

And of course the new enemies on this level just add to the complexity.  Frozen Hearts constrain your build plan, as you have to ensure that you can set up a blocking chokepoint to kill them, with enough magical firepower just behind it to kill the ensuing Frozen Soul before it respawns a Frozen Heart.  And then there are the Snow Golems, which force you to figure out a balance of spending resources to preemptively kill them versus building out your towers more.  All in all it's quite a challenge and I really liked this level.  It hits that sweet spot of not feeling impossible while really stretching you to think and plan.

Impressions

The magical DPS heroes really suffer on this map.  Some of the most crucial waves are the ones with Ice Witches, where you have to take them down quickly enough that your defense doesn't get overwhelmed by the Apex Shards.  Since the Witches have great magical resistance that's obviously a problem for them.  For that reason I felt compelled to give Oloch and Mortemis 'C's, while the rest of the heroes split 'A's and 'B's along lines that shouldn't be too surprising.  I will say I would be entirely justified in giving Jigou a 'C'.  This map requires a lot of hero movement, and the resulting pain with him is quite enormous.

Final Grades

• Veruk - B
• Asra - A
• Oloch - C
• Margosa - A
• Mortemis - C
• Tramin - A
• Jigou - B
• Beresad - A
• Doom Tank SG-11 - A
• Jun'pai - B
• Eiskalt - A
• Murglun - A
• Jack O'Lantern - B

Kingdom Rush Vengeance Impossible Hero Challenge - Breaking the Ice Campaign