Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 11. Canyon Plateau Heroic

When I first started trying this map I initially thought it was pretty hard.  But as I continued to record more heroes I realized that the grades I was handing out weren't really reflecting that.  It took me a bit to realize that it's not actually that hard, but it is tricky.  This is the kind of map that needs lots of practice so that you know exactly how to build as well as where and when to deploy resources like reinforcements and hero spells.

A good example is in wave 4.  When you see a Crystal Golem coming you might panic and want to upgrade the right-side Paladins.  But really a level 2 Paladins with full hero and reinforcement support can deal with it.  The real priority is making sure you have two level 4 Archers on the left side before the Corrupted Stalkers arrive in wave 5.

And speaking of Stalkers, while the first reinforcements of wave 5 need to be placed somewhat back towards the left-side exit, the second set need to be placed forward on the path so they can target the Tamed Stalker to ensure you get enough DPS on it.  Your Archers can take care of the Corrupted Stalkers (along with help sometimes from the exit teleporters), so you can't panic and put them at the exit when they're really needed elsewhere.

The same goes for wave 6.  The waves of Acolytes and Glarelings on the left side seem intimidating, but your Paladins can take care of them by themselves.  Your reinforcements are much more needed on the right side to deal with the Abominations.  If anything does slip through on the left side, the Archers will take care of it.

That's what I mean by this map being tricky - you need to know these little things about the limits of what the build can accomplish so you can most effectively use your limited resources.  Once you know all the tricks then it really isn't that hard.

Impressions

The grades reflect this fact, with the lowest grades being 'B+'s by Vesper, Raelyn, and Torres.  They did perfectly fine, but their performance (usually judged by how they dealt with the waves from the right in stage 6) just wasn't quite up to 'A' standards.  Everyone else pads their GPAs with various 'A's.

Final Grades

• Vesper - B+
• Raelyn - B+
• Nyru - A
• Torres - B+
• Anya - A-
• Grimson - A
• Broden - A+
• Therien - A
• Onagro - A
• Warhead - A-
• Lumenir - A
• Kosmyr - A-

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 10. Temple Courtyard Heroic

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 11. Canyon Plateau Campaign

Campaign modes continue to be pleasant challenges - just hard enough to be interesting without being a real struggle, as mostly evidenced by the grades below.  This is one map though where the flying enemies make all the difference.  Everything else is pretty manageable, but the game is constantly trying to get a Corrupted Stalker or Void Blinker to slip through your defenses.

I've seen people complain about the amount of flying enemies in this game, and I'm still formulating my own thoughts on the matter.  In previous games flying enemies weren't generally that hard.  They had low hit points and were mostly there just to keep you honest against only building artillery (and even then you could often still get away with doing it in the original and Frontiers).  But here it feels like Ironhide really upped the design of the flying enemies to make them more of a legitimate threat in their own right.  Void Blinkers move fast and have relatively high hit points for a flying unit.  You're usually relying on their stunning attack to keep them in one place long enough for your towers to take them down, but usually the devs like to send them along right when it would also be a really bad time to have your choke point blockers stunned, so they're really well designed from that perspective.  Tamed Stalkers are obviously DPS checks - do you have enough ranged and/or magical DPS to take them down? - but again, they often come through when other enemies are around to distract your towers from focus-firing them.  Ultimately I'm still trying to decide if the flying enemies in the game fall on the "well-designed challenge" end of the spectrum or the "frustratingly difficult" side of the spectrum.

Impressions

Grades are pretty decent here.  Raelyn earns the only 'C', and it's becoming clear at this point that Torres' grades are rising significantly post-buff, so she's sadly heading straight for last place in the rankings all by herself.  Doubly sad is the fact that Anya is really starting to fall behind as well.  She'll definitely finish above Raelyn, but at this point she's in strong competition for second-to-last.

At the other end our 'A' crew is mostly the usual suspects, although Nyru earns a rare 'A-' here.  Lumenir also raised her game for this one and gets an 'A+' for tearing it up along with Broden.  Something about her abilities just really clicks well with this map, and she performed amazingly well.

Final Grades

• Vesper - B+
• Raelyn - C
• Nyru - A-
• Torres - B+
• Anya - B
• Grimson - B
• Broden - A+
• Therien - B+
• Onagro - A
• Warhead - A-
• Lumenir - A+
• Kosmyr - A

Kingdom Rush Alliance Impossible Hero Challenge - 11. Canyon Plateau Campaign