+------------===-----+ | | = Battle Realms = | | | | = Winter of the Wolf = | | = Walkthrough = | | +-----===------------+ By: UnSub (evilasahobby-(a.t)-graffiti-(d.o.t)-net) Version: 1.00 Date: 20 February 2006 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ CONTENTS ________ 1.0 Introduction .1 Email Policy .2 Reproduction of this Guide 2.0 Units .1 Wolf Clan .2 Lotus Clan .3 Serpent Clan 3.0 Battle Tactics .1 As Recommended by the Official Site 4.0 Levels .1 Working in a Shale Mine .2 Getting the Band Back Together .3 Goin' Outside .4 Mazes and Monsters .5 Raise Your Pitch Towards Heaven Like Puny Antennaes to Longtooth .6 Miss the Girl .7 Rock'n'Roll .8 It's Cold Outside .9 My Sweet Prince .10 Comin' Round the Mountain .11 Eye of the Tige... Err, Wolf 5.0 Final Notes .1 Thanks and Contributors .2 Version History ++++ 1.0 INTRODUCTION ________________ Having enjoyed the original 'Battle Realms', I was looking forward to its expansion coming out. When it did arrive however, I was broke, so I didn't pick WOTW up. Then I gave my original 'Battle Realms' disks to a friend who (to this day) hasn't returned them. Fortunately, I found 'Battle Realms' for $10 as part of a budget line and then the expansion going cheap in a sale, so *FINALLY* I've managed to get started on 'Winter of the Wolf'. It does sadden me a bit that 'BR:WOTW' is probably the last venture into the Battle Realms universe that will be made. Currently RTS games aren't that popular unless they are in third-person, and any RTS that does come out has to bear the "-craft" suffix for players to be interested. Hopefully there will be more Battle Realms games - they are enjoyable and are something a bit different too the other games in this field. The following guide will provide a walkthrough for the levels in 'Winter of the Wolf'. Given that it is an expansion to the original game, I'm going to figure that players already know the controls of 'Battle Realms', so won't go into unnecessary detail about building camps and that kind of thing. 1.1 EMAIL POLICY ---------------- If I've made a mistake in this guide or you need some help, you can email me. HOWEVER... please include "Battle Realms" in the email subject line and or you run the risk of me mistaking if for spam. I can't always promise that I will be able to help you, since once I finish a guide for a game I usually put it away and forget about it. Asking me the exact steps to finishing a level I last played 5 months ago isn't going to be successful. Also, please don't email me about something that is already stated in the guide (I HATE THAT!) unless I've been unclear. Finally, if you need help, please be clear about what you help you need in the email - the more detail I have, the better the chance I can do something for you. 1.2 REPRODUCTION OF THIS GUIDE ------------------------------ You have my permission to reproduce this guide so long as 1) it is unaltered and 2) the reproduction will be free to those who want it. So no slapping your name on this and then charging people to read it, okay? If you want to alter this guide for reproduction, please email me. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 2.0 UNITS _________ I'll note that 'Battle Realms' uses the term Battle Gears to describe the special abilities a unit has / can have. I'm going to just call them special abilities to keep things simple. 2.1 WOLF CLAN ------------- Mauler ------ A short unit with a big iron ball. It hits enemies with said iron ball. A first tier unit that comes from the Quarry. Brawler ------- Punches enemies with the rock "gloves" that it has. A first tier unit that comes from the Combat Pit. Hurler ------ Throws rocks at enemies using a large la crosse stick. A first tier unit that comes from the Ballistics Ground. Sledger ------- Big, strong and speaks with an accent. Essential to breaking through cave-ins and very good at destroying structures. A second tier unit that comes from the Combat Pit and the Quarry. Pitch Slinger ------------- Throws fire in a ranged attack. Can also be used to burn off gases in the mine, which saves your units taking unnecessary damage. A second tier unit that comes from the Ballistics Ground and Quarry. Ballistaman ---------- Fires a large wooden arrow at targets from the ballista perched on their back. These are the best units to put into Watchtowers since they do more damage and have more range than the other Wolf ranged units. As a balance, they are slower to attack than Pitch Slingers or Hurlers. A second tier unit that comes from the Ballistics Ground and Combat Pit. Berserker --------- A fairly fast melee fighting unit. A third tier unit that comes from sending a unit through all three basic training structures. Wolf ---- By feeding horses into the Wolf's Den structure, you can get wolves that will help you. You send a unit to pick up a wolf and it will serve as a fast melee fighting unit. Although not that tough, having a lot of wolves can help to bolster your fighting numbers, which doesn't hurt. Pack Master ----------- A melee unit that is adept at looking after wolves. This unit can have up to three wolves attached to him at once. As a fighter, he's okay, but it's the ability to have the wolves that really makes him useful. You get a Pack Master by training a Peasant at the Wolves' Den. Digger ------ Okay melee fighters (although they seem to have low hit-points) that can teleport to a location by digging underground a short way. They can also hide underground using the same ability. Essential to have in order to complete a few of the mazes in the tunnels, otherwise not that great. You get Diggers from the Forest Temple (which is an upgrade on the Wolfball Court). Druidess -------- While other clans have female units who heal you, the Druidess is a bit different. Firstly, her immobilisation attack is incredibly useful in stopping enemies from surrounding you and secondly, sending her to the Cairn gives her blessings that can be used in turn to give your units special abilities. For instance, a Druidess can bless the Berserker to give him Lycanthropy, which you can click on to turn him into a very powerful Werewolf. You get the Druidess from the Vitality Garden. Dryad ----- Come armed with light sabers. Just like in real life. Good melee fighters, they can be blessed by Druidesses to get Sapping Ritual, which helps weaken enemy watchtowers while boosting your surrounding units defense. This is a very handly ability to have when you go to destroy enemy towns. You get Dryads by sending a Druidess to the Forest Temple (which is an upgrade on the Wolfball Court). Werewolf -------- Fast, strong melee fighters who can take a lot of damage. Great to have on the field of battle. You get them by having a Druidess bless a Berserker and then activating the special ability. It is recommended that you bless all your Berserkers before a battle, then activate the Lycanthropy as they start getting low on health and / or stamina. This will turn them into a fully healed and active Werewolf. If a Berserker falls too low in stamina (a bit under halfway on the bar), they will lose the ability to turn into a Werewolf. Greyback - Zen Master --------------------- Leader of the Wolf Clan and handy with his pick axe. Has a special ability called "Wolf Howl" that raises his attack power and the attack power of nearby Wolf Clan units (including Greyback), which comes in very handy. Longtooth - Zen Master ---------------------- Has a ranged attack which is pretty handy to have. His special ability allows his boomerang to pass through buildings and units doing damage on the way, rather than just doing damage to the target unit. Wildeye - Zen Master -------------------- An average melee fighter, Wildeye can use his special ability to call Spirit Wolves to fight for you. These Spirit Wolf units can then be assigned to other units to protect them. This ability can be used to help increase your attacking force, but the Spirit Wolves aren't that tough. However, if Wildeye is around, you should have three Spirit Wolves active at all times. Also, watch to see when a Spirit Wolf dies if Wildeye has enough stamina to summon another one - this can save the life of another unit, making it a worthwhile tactic to use. The Shale Lord - Zen Master --------------------------- An excellent melee fighter who can also give your units Shale Armour as a special ability. Once you can build a Keep, he should be a priority unit to activate. Gahlia - Zen Master ------------------- Has the special ability to heal surrounding Wolf Clan units, but falls very quickly in melee combat. Probably the weakest Wolf Zen Master, but if you can get her to heal at the right time, she can save a lot of lives. Monks ----- You can get these from Keeps. Don't bother unless you really want to bolster a fighting force with extra units once you've hit your unit cap. They are okay fighters, getting better the more Yang Points you have. Overall Notes on the Wolf Clan ------------------------------ The Wolf Clan get special abilities by being blessed by Druidesses and regenerate their health reasonably quickly. They are also reasonable fighters and generally able to take quite a bit of damage before going down. Also, once you have a Shalery (or the Shale Lord) you can give Wolf Clan units Shale Armour, which adds to their toughness and helps resist against magic attacks. 2.2 LOTUS CLAN -------------- Blade Acolyte ------------- A first tier unit that attacks with two scimitars. Not hard to kill. Staff Adept ----------- A first tier unit that attacks with a staff. Not hard to kill. Leaf Disciple ------------- The first tier ranged unit of the Lotus. Attacks by sending thorns at targets. Also, all enemy units that are near a Leaf Disciple take small amounts of extra damage due to the 'crown of thorns' that circles them. Not hard to kill. Unclean One ----------- A second tier ranged unit that throws black goo at enemy units. Not that many hitpoints, so easy to take down with your Wolf melee units. Diseased One ------------ A second tier melee unit that can stand up to a bit of a beating. When it dies, it will leave behind a health-sapping area that damages all or your units nearby. Make sure that you move your units out of this area since they won't do it themselves! Infested One ------------ A second tier unit that has okay hit points, but still shouldn't be able to last long against Wolf units (especially in Shale Armour). Overseer -------- Attacks with a whip. Not that tough. Warlock ------- The third tier unit of the Lotus Clan. Throws out powerful ranged attacks and also drains the stamina of any nearby enemy units. However, they don't appear to stand up very long against Wolf attacks, so if you see one on the battlefield, make it a priority to kill them. Master Warlock -------------- The upgraded version of the Warlock. Pretty much all the same information applies as for the Warlock - I recommend that you kill these guys on sight. Mistress Yvaine - Zen Master ---------------------------- In a one-on-one fight with Longtooth, Yvaine is shown to be slightly stronger than the Wolf leader (unless he uses Wolf's Howl). She also has a special ability to freeze units in place, which can also add to the pain she can cause. Attack her en masse when she appears. Other Lotus Zen Masters ----------------------- You'll see Issyl, Koril, Soban and Zymeth in BR: WOTW and might have to fight them (depending on the map). The key is to swarm them with your units - they aren't hard to defeat using force of numbers. 2.3 SERPENT CLAN ---------------- I've taken the below descriptions from my 'Battle Realms Serpent Clan Guide', so there will be references to how I used them. Ignore that, but the overall information still applies. Swordsman --------- Not a bad unit, but I didn't use them that regularly. Their battle gears of Mugging and Glass Sword aren't that great (sure, an instant kill is nice, but its a one-shot, and then you are left with a bunch of weak units). I preferred using Bandits as my standard unit. Running Swordsmen have the unit ability of being harder to hit by enemy missle fire. Crossbowmen ----------- Another unit I didn't really use, except in the early stages of a level. Being able to hit enemies at a distance is a really important part of Battle Realms, and Crossbowmen serve as a good base defense until you can get Musketeers. The Phosphorous Bolt battle gear is very effective in establishing a base perimeter, or as a scouting mechanism. Weakness Bolt is effective in making enemies easier to kill, but you need other units to do the killing to maximise the effectiveness of this battle gear. Enforcer -------- A tough melee unit that takes a lot of damage before falling over. If you see one, have all surrounding units attack it, unless you want to see quite a few of your units fall to it in a one-on-one situation. Fan Geisha ---------- Vital to any battle squad are Fan Geisha. Having your units healed when fighting is often the difference between winning and losing a fight. Fan Geishas often make up a quarter of my attacking squad. Their battle gears don't do much for me, so experiment and make up your own mind. You can improve the speed and health of Fan Geishas by putting them on horseback. Ronin ----- Ronin suck in small numbers. Remember this. Since they run straight into battle, you need a number of them to back each other up. One Ronin surrounded by enemies falls quickly; four Ronin surrounded by enemies have a chance of surviving. Blood Bond will improve the chance of a Ronin surviving, whereas Yang Blade increase the amount of yang returned from a fight. I suggest using Yang Blade early on to maximse your ability to upgrade units, with Blood Bond being an effective later game battle gear to keep Ronin alive during raids. A dying Ronin will stick his swords into the ground, giving nearby [enemy] units a bonus to their attacks. Witch ----- Has both ranged and melee attacks, and appears to be quite tough in one-on-one fights. However, surround them with a few second tier melee units and the don't seem to last that long under the blows of the Wolf. Demoness -------- The Serpent Clan equivalent of your wolves. They don't have a lot of hit points, but appear cheap and quick to make, leading to large numbers of them potentially attacking you. In numbers, they can do a lot of damage. On the plus side, the ease of killing them makes them a good source of Yang points for your upgrades. Battle Maiden ------------- Has both ranged and melee attacks, but isn't that tough overall. Does have quite a distance for its ranged attacks though. Budo - Zen Master ----------------- A slavedriver by trade, but overall a pretty sucky Zen Master. Has the special ability to make peasants work harder and can take a bit of a beating, but Budo is no-on to be overly worried about. Utara - Zen Master ------------------ A reasonable fighter, Utara should be feared for her special ability - all opponents who surround her when she activates her Song of Sorrow will take quite a bit of damage. Try not to attack her with a swarm of your units or else you can lose quite a few thanks to this ability. As a melee fighter, she is okay, but it is her special ability that really makes her a unit to watch out for. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 3.0 BATTLE TACTICS __________________ 3.1 AS RECOMMENDED BY THE OFFICIAL SITE --------------------------------------- Taken from: http://battlerealms.ubi.com/strategy.php these are the recommended strategies of the Wolf Clan in BR: WOTW. WOLF CLAN STRATEGIES Combat Support - Greyback and Gaihla play good support. Both of these guys are pretty good in combat, but work more effectively when used for support in combat. Gaihla's rechargeable heal bomb can save many units, or just prepare them for a second round of combat while they gather stamina. The additional damage from Greyback is handy in giving your men that sought after "edge" over your opponent. Offensive Pitch Slinger - Instead of using the Pitch Slinger's Scorched Earth ability for defensive purposes, try using it on the offensive. Throw the pitch mine into the middle of a battle. It will explode on impact, doing area of effect damage on all nearby enemy warriors. Use Shale Armor! - While the Wolf Clan has fairly scattered resistances to help develop a rounded army, shale armor is still going to be very effective on anyone you don't plan on giving the blessing Battle Gear to. This strategy is also effective for primary damage units even if you are using the other Battle Gear. You can use the men with Shale Armor to buffer those with none in order to pull off other Battle Gear, some of which take a moment or two to operate. This is also effective early on since the Shalery is relatively low on the tech tree, and it will make your units that much harder to kill when your opponent doesn't have any techniques or Battle Gear yet. Siege Units - Use siege units effectively. Much of the Wolf Clan's power comes in the form of siege units (a siege unit is one which does lots of damage to buildings). If you are having a tough time with an opponent's defensive line, there's nothing like sledgers, maulers, and pitch slingers with shale armor to take down those towers. Also, once you have access to the Shale Lord, no one takes down buildings like this guy. If you are using a siege strategy I would also recommend getting the upgrade to damage for sledgers (Petrified Wood). Switch Battle Gears - Don't underestimate other Battle Gear. Many people will, after witnessing a nice improvement in combat performance, tend to stick with Shale Armor. Try using the other Battle Gear. While your units might not be quite as tough, effective use of things like Wrecking Ball and Totem can be equally effective. Stun Slam is very effective to give you some time to use other Battle Gear or just wail on some of the tougher units. Scorched Earth reveals a huge line of sight (more than most units will) and is therefore an effective scouting tool. If they aren't paying attention they might step on it and take some damage as well. Totem is very handy for defense. You can just set one up next to a tower, then add in the slow effect of the tower and units for defense and its pretty nasty. When the enemy outnumbers you, Wrecking Ball works well since you hit multiple opponents as they surround you to attack. Free Units - The Wolf Clan actually has two ways to get free units for its army. First is the Lycanthropy Battle Gear which, if used correctly when a berserker is about to die, will instead replace what would otherwise be a corpse with a brand new werewolf. The other way is through using wolves. Any wolf unit can have wolves following it. Werewolves and heroes get 2, the Packmaster gets 3, and others all get 1. The wolves will fight alongside your men and provide many extra targets for the enemy to attack. They might not do a ton of damage, but there's nothing like watching four or five swordsmen waste glass swords on a couple of wolves. Heal Your Wolves - Once you buy the "Herbalists" technique from the Vitality Garden, pull your damaged Wolf units out of combat. They'll heal to 100% health if they stand still for a short period of time. Early Rush Tactic - As soon as possible, build a Wolves' Den and get 2 Peasants to catch horses. Build up a force of 4 Packmasters each with 3 Wolves (total of 16 units, trained in the time it takes to train 4 first-tier units). Rush the enemy and engage them. This probably won't kill off your opponenet, but it will severely damage his production ability, thus giving you the opportunity to build some bigger units (Sledgers, Hurlers with lava rock, etc.). The Power of Wolves - Wolves should never be underestimated. Wolves are raised in the Wolves' Den on fresh horse meat. To raise Wolves, order one of your Peasants to gather wild horses. Gathered horses will be deposited into the Wolves' Den and used to raise wolf cubs. To give a Wolf to one of your units, send the unit into the Wolves' Den. Most Wolf Clan units can only have one Wolf pet at a time. However, the Packmaster can have up to three Wolves and the Werewolf can have up to two. Peasants cannot have Wolves, and will instead train into Packmasters upon entering the Wolves' Den. That pet will fight and die for the its master. This makes Wolves a great source of protection for all your units, especially your peasants, Druidesses, and long range units. Although not very tough, Wolves add melee damage potential to all units. They can be very effective when used with fighting Druidesses since a Druidess has the ability to entangle an enemy, thus giving the Wolf free attacks on the opponent. Also, The Pack Master is another good unit that gets trained in the Wolves' Den. So, as a building, the Wolves' Den has two primary uses (as opposed to the Stables in other Clans which are only used for horses). Lastly, each horse you bring in will give you two wolves. GENERAL STRATEGIES Two is Better Than One - It's always best to build watchtowers in pairs. If a lone watchtower's base is attacked, that watchtower is helpless. However, with two towers in the area, the second watchtower is able to pick off warriors attacking the base of the first one. Add More Peasant Huts - Multiple peasant huts decreases the time it takes for new peasants to generate. Always build a few peasant huts around your rice field. Location, Location, Location - Always build a peasant hut away from your main town, preferably near another rice field. If you find that your town is destroyed, you'll have a backup peasant hut ready to generate peasants and attempt to build a new town. Variety is Good - Always have a variety of units within your war party. Building all 3rd-tier units or all of one type of unit is never a good idea. Variety is key in Battle Realms. You always want units that will counter whatever your opponent may have in his army. Combat Techniques - Send units to attack early and often. Yin/Yang points are vital to the game. They allow you to purchase techniques which make your units more powerful. Also, the more Yin/Yang points you have, the more powerful your Zen Masters will be on the attack. Yin/Yang points can only be gained by battle. So, get out there and do some damage to your opponent! Unveil the Spy! - Having trouble seeing those pesky, invisible Ninjas spying on your town? This tactic should help you sniff them out (if you're lacking monks). Go to a section of your town. Move your cursor to one corner of the screen, left-click and hold, and move the cursor down to the opposite corner. This will create a large selection box over the screen. You will be able to see the health and stamina bars of any units within this area while it is selected. Take a close look… if you see any health and stamina bars floating in the air with no visible unit above it, more than likely you've just found yourself an invisible Ninja. Command any nearby units to attack him and get rid of your enemy's spying eye! Gathering Resources for Allies - It is possible to harvest rice and collect water for your allies. Send a peasant to your ally's town and begin harvesting rice or collecting water. When your peasant has enough resources and begins walking back to your base, select him and right-click on your ally's peasant hut. The peasant will return the resources to his hut! Once you do this, the peasant will automatically return the resources to your ally's hut every time he gathers rice or collects water. Saving Your Healers - If you don't want your healing units (Channelers, Geisha, Fan Geisha) running into the thick of battle, don't group them with your attacking army. Instead, instruct each healer to guard a warrior in your army (hotkey G). Wherever your army moves, your healers will follow. Not only will they heal whichever warriors you instructed them to, but they'll also keep an eye on any other warriors that happen to be in the vicinity. Optimizing Resource Gathering - Always place peasant huts close to resources. The less your peasants have to walk to get resources, the faster resources will accumulate. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 4.0 LEVELS __________ For the sake of not having to type it out every time, I abbreviate directons so that: N - North S - South E - East W - West with combinations of these used as appropriate (eg NE - North East). There are 12 levels in 'Winter of the Wolf'. These levels aren't titled, so the names for each level below are made up by me: 4.1 WORKING IN A SHALE MINE --------------------------- I'll ignore the introductory historical cutscene, but watch it at least once so you know what is going on. You start with a cutscene of Greyback, last in line of Wolf Clan royalty, talking to a Sledger about the lack of food and their preparations for rebellion within the shale mines. Budo (a slave-master from the Serpent Clan, apparently on loan to the Lotus Clan) shows up and provides you with a few tasks to do in return for providing you with some food. First, take Greyback right to the shale pile as indicated. You'll have a shale spider to fight, but you'll be able to take it easily. Attack the shale pile to slowly break it up. Go back to Budo. Budo gives your rice away, then sends you down to another shale pile. Group Greyback and the Sledger and head left. You'll fight three shale spiders on the way down, but the two units should have no problems in slaughtering their opposition. You can also use Greyback's hero ability to make things even easier. Use the Sledger to bust through the cave-in and then attack the shale pile until it's destroyed. Head on back. Budo again doesn't live up to his promises and sends you deeper into the mines to investigate what Mistress Yvaine is working on. Move your units down past the first cave in and kill any shale spiders you come across. At one point you'll see a Lotus guard who will quiz you about what you are doing. He won't attack you and will leave after you've talked to him, so just move on after you've spoken. At one point you might face two shale spiders at once, but by concentrating on one target at a time, you'll quickly turn them to mush. When you arrive at the next cave in, have your Sledger destroy it. Inside, you'll find the White Wolf Skull, which is powerful totem for the Wolf Clan. However, Mistress Yvaine arrives and teleports you off to the deep mines. Break the shale pile that Yvaine tells you to, then get ready for a fight. Four shale spiders will appear. Activate Greyback's hero ability, then concentrate your attacks on one spider at a time to take them out quickly. Don't let your Sledger die (which he shouldn't unless all four spiders attack him at once). With the shale spiders dead, their master will throw a hissy fit and run away. You'll now have the objective to rescue ten Wolf Clan units from the mines. 4.2 GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER ---------------------------------- In moving through these mines, you can generally move fairly slowly. I have an idea that Shale Spiders will be created to attack you if you take too long, but generally these enemies go down pretty quickly. Wolf Clan members regenerate pretty quickly, so if you have badly damanged units, just stop for a while and let them heal. From the start of the level: Head down through the now-open purple gate. Kill the lone Overseer and have Greyback free the two Brawlers (only Greyback can free the prisoners) by right clicking on them. Add the new recruits to your squad. Keep heading south on the map. You'll run into more Lotus units (2 x Leaf Disciples, a Blade Acolyte). Kill them and then move a little bit further to kill the 2 x Overseers and free the 2 x Sledgers. Add them to your squad. Head north until you come to a cave-in - have your Sledgers clear it. You will quickly be attacked by about 6 Shale Spiders, so have Greyback use his Wolf Howl ability and make your squad do more damage. Head south into this new area (down past the water pool) and take on 4 x Lotus Clan units before freeing the Sledger. Move back around the water, head north and fight a larger group of Lotus (including an Unclean One and a Diseased One who explodes after death) so you can free a Mauler. Move towards the south-east and the long tunnel you can see on your map. Kill the five Shale Spiders who attack and then move up the tunnel. You'll encounter an Unclean One before the end who has the ability to rob your units of sight, so kill it and wait for it's effects to pass. In the next bit you'll come across 2 x Leaf Disciples, a Blade Acolyte and a Warlock - try to kill the Warlock first as this unit is pretty powerful but has low hitpoints. Once you've cleared the Lotus Clan in this area, head north - you'll hear cries for help. A Wolf Clan unit will appear, surrounded by Shale Spiders. Kill the first set of Lotus who appear, but run your units past the others who appear. Focus on 1) getting all your units up to the lone Wolf Clan unit and 2) killing the Shale Spiders. Once the Shale Spiders are dead, you'll get a short cutscene that reveals the new Wolf Clan unit as Longtooth. He's got a ranged attack that is very handy. Once the cutscene is over, all your units who are still standing will get their health and endurance refilled. Head back east then north - towards the top right-hand corner of the map. Free the Sledger you come across and kill any Lotus units you see. Keep moving up. Rescue the Brawler from behind the cave-in. Move up - you'll face some Shale Spiders, but the final unit to be rescued - a Mauler - is nearby in the north- east corner of the map. Look for the "upper mines" logo that appears on the map and head towards it (it's in the middle of the map). Kill any enemies you come across on your way. Once you've passed the diactivated gate, head north. You'll face a few Lotus Clan units (kill them, naturally) and when you have moved far enough north a cutscene with Yvaine will occur. Greyback will start fighting Yvaine one-on-one, so have your units move up and attack her as well. Once Yvaine has taken enough damage, she will flee and the level will end. 4.3 GOIN' OUTSIDE ----------------- Head NE and kill the 2 x Blade Acoloytes. Free the 3 x Brawlers. Keep going NE to face 2 x Blade Acolytes and a Diseased One. Head NW and free the Sledger that is there. Use the Sledger to attack the two Prison Cell structures to free a total of 4 more Sledgers. A Lotus Clan squad will attack from the NE, so take them out. Head back SE until you find a magical gate. Attack the switch to turn the gate off and move through it. Kill the 2 x Staff Adepts you come across, rest for a moment, then move on to come across a Staff Adept, a Leaf Disciple and a Warlock. Kill them all (I recommend starting off with the Warlock) then attack the Prison Cells. You'll get 4 x Pitch Slingers, but also have to deal with a Lotus counter- attack that comes from the W. Head back towards the middle of the map. Have the Pitch Slingers burn the gas you come across, then listen to Budo's cutscene. Kill the 4 x Enforcers and 2 x Crossbowmen he leaves behind (a "Wolf Howl" from Greyback should come in handy here). Head NW into the long arm of the cave. Clear the gas that you come across as you go. In a small alcove, you'll come across a Warlock with a few Lotus troops - have the Pitch Slingers clear the gas first, then kill them all. Rest up for a moment, then clear the gas that blocks your path and head N. Kill the Ronin that is near some Prison Cells, then prepare for an attack. Have a Sledger go to work on the Prison Cells, which will see some Serpent Ronin and Swordsmen attack from the W and a few Lotus units attack from the S. Kill them all. Destroying the Cells will reveal 4 x Diggers. At this point I recomment creating three different unit groups out of your squad (by selecting the units you want in the group and then hitting CTRL and a number). Group 1 should be your melee units, group 2 should be your ranged units and group 3 should be the Diggers. This gives you a bit more control over your battles and means you can avoid getting your Diggers surrounded and killed by accident. Head over to the top right of the map - you'll find a magical barrier stops you at one point. Have all four Diggers dig under the barrier, then pop out of the ground at the same time and attack the 4 x Crossbowmen. Have a Digger hit the switch and then move them all back to the safety of your squad. A Ronin and a Warlock will come at you once the barrier is dropped, so use your melee units to take them out. Move on SE until you come across a lever on an isolated platform. Have Longtooth attack the switch, then take out the small Serpent squad who rush at you. Move back and through the now deativated gate and take out the 2 x Ronin and Master Warlock on the other side. Head N and have the Sledgers destroy the cave-in. Watch the cutscene. This next bit will see Greyback alone versus a group of converted Wolf units and Budo. As soon as this fight starts, have Greyback use his "Wolf Howl" ability. Try to keep it active as much as possible in order to beat the greater numbers of enemy units. You will see that the other members of your squad are spread all over the mine - you can try to bring them to you for assistance, but they aren't necessary for victory. 4.4 MAZES AND MONSTERS ---------------------- Head NW into the small cove. You'll find a Shalery, a Rice Bin, 2 x Sledgers working and 2 more Sledgers in the Prison Cell. You'll get a cutscene of Greyback changing outfits at the Shalery. Free the Sledgers and then attack the Rice Bin to get rice and water. Send two Sledgers to the Shalery in order to equip them with Shale Armour (which will use up the rice and water you just acquired). Defeat the Lotus troops who now come at you, then head S to the bottom tunnel. Clear the cave-in to find 3 x Sledgers working in this area. Add them to your squad. Now head up the middle tunnel and clear the cave-in there. Go into this new area and take out the Watchtower. Once this is destroyed, you'll start getting attacked by a never-ending stream of Blade Acolytes who come one-at -a-time, so follow this stream back to the source. Destroy the Watchtower and Rice Bin that is here. Head back and into the other N in this part of the map and clear the cave-in you come across. Destroy the 2 x Prison Cells to get 4 x Pitch Slingers. Head back the way you came, but be ready for a Lotus attack that will occur on the way. Move back to the tunnel that leads back to where you started the level. Send 2 x Sledgers back to the Shalery to get Shale Armour - there will be a Blade Acolyte for them to deal with on the way there. Prepare your squad for another Lotus attack. When you've recovered and regrouped, head W through the tunnel at the bottom of the map. When you get to the small offshoot, go into it and clear it out (you'll face a Watchtower and a few Lotus units). Destroy the Rice Bin as well. Go back to heading W. Clear the gas using the Pitch Slingers. Move on and destroy the Watchtower that is guarding a few Prison Cells. These Cells house 2 x Pitch Slingers and 2 x Sledgers. Clear the cave-in nearby and have a Pitch Slinger attack the lever to deativate a magical barrier. Move up and hug the left wall to head NW. Clear the first cave-in area you come across. Clear the gas and destroy the Rice Bin. Move out and head NW again. Demolish the cave-in at the end of the tunnel. Destroy the Watchtower guarding this area. This area contains a Shalery and some Prison Cells containing 4 x Diggers. You should have enough resources to give 4 x Sledgers some Shale Armour. Head on back - you will have to face another Lotus attack on your way out. Now move your squad N into the area you haven't yet been. Travelling this path will see you hit a magical barrier. Send all your Diggers underneath it and then left to kill a Warlock and attack the lever. Once this is done, keep moving along this trail. Use your Pitch Slingers to burn the gas on an isolated platform, then send your Digger across to it to attack the lever (Diggers being able to tunnel through empty space, apparently). Move past the now deactivated magical barrier and have one of your Pitch Slingers attack the next lever on another isolated platform to turn off the next barrier. Some Lotus troops will rush you at this point, so take them out. Head SE and takeout the Watchtower here, followed by the Rice Bin. Move W, destroy the cave-in using Sledgers then send a Digger across the divide to attack the lever. Move on N, clearing two cave-ins on the way and send your Digger across another divide to attack yet another lever. Move past another now deactivated magical barrier, destroying cave-ins as they block your path. You'll come across a Watchtower that needs to be destroyed, then head N into a cul-de-sac to find another Shalery. Give 2 more units Shale Armour (give it to your Sledgers first, but if all of them have Shale Armour, outfit some Pitch Slingers. You can also wait until you've freed some more prisoners to pick your units). Head E, destroying 3 x Prison Cells that you will come across on the way - 2 x Sledgers, 2 x Pitch Slingers and 2 x Diggers. Kill the Lotus units that you come across on the way to the next magical barrier. Keep heading E once you reach it to find the lever that shuts it off. From this point, you will be intermittently attacked by small squads of Lotus units that come from N. Just keep your melee units available to take on units either appearing from behind you and everything should be okay. Head past the barrier and clear the cave-in on the W side. Use a Digger to flick the lever, then head right. Head E, use a Pitch Slinger to burn the gas and use either a Digger (who tunnels under the next barrier) or a Pitch Slinger (who throws something over the barrier) to activate the next lever. Head on S and clear the cave-in. Move on E, burn away the gas and again use a Digger to flick the last lever to deactivate the last barrier on this map (yay!). Head S, clear a cave-in and move into the final area. Destroy the Watchtower that awaits you on the way and you'll have finished the level. 4.5 RAISE YOUR PITCH TOWARDS HEAVEN LIKE PUNY ANTENNAES TO LONGTOOTH* --------------------------------------------------------------------- You are told that you have to get your sole Pitch Slinger to a Watchtower above you in order to alert Longtooth to your location. As the level starts, you will be attacked by some Lotus units - kill them all and try to avoid having any of your units killed. Use "Wolf Howl" to help you. Once the fight is over, rest up until your units are fully healed. Head W until you come across a path leading into the mountains. Don't go up the path yet - head S until you come across 5 x Staff Adepts. Keep your Pitch Slinger safe as you kill them all (again, using "Wolf Howl" to help). Once they are dead, rest to heal up again and then head N and onto the path. On the way up to the Watchtower, you'll have to fight 2 x Leaf Disciples and an Unclean One on just entering the path and 2 x Warlocks who attack from the woods a short way up. Once this is done, send your Pitch Slinger to the Watchtower and watch the cutscene. Select all of Longtooth's units and assign them a group number. Send them up the top path while heading W - there will be a number of Lotus ranged units to fight, but it is easier than taking on the several Blade Accolytes who guard the bottom path. Kill all the Lotus you see. At the end of this top road there will be 3 x Warlocks to kill, but they shouldn't be too hard. Move Longtooth's squad towards the river crossing (you may run into 3 x Leaf Disciples as you pass by the woods on the way) and move Greyback's squad to meet them. Once they've met up, assign the Pitch Slinger to Longtooth's squad and everyone down to the magic barrier. Have Longtooth attack the lever and then watch the cutscene. Help Wildeye kill the 2 x Overseers and then get to work building up the base. An extra Peasant Hut or two doesn't hurt, and a Watchtower a short distance E of the base will assist in defence. You'll also want to build a Ballistics Ground, a Well and a Shalery. While guarding against attacks from the E, build up your squad. Use a peasant to catch the horses to create Wolves. Once the Shalery is built, try to equip all units with Shale Armour. Your squad should be a mix of second- and third-tier units, along with Wolves (including Wildeye's Spirit Wolves) and your Zen Masters. Once you are happy with the size of your attack force, head E to clear out the Lotus. You may face a large wave of Lotus units initially, but if you survive this first wave, things become very easy. Just move your units through the base area, destroying units, Watchtowers and structures in that order. Once you've leveled the Lotus base, have a Sledger destroy the cave-in in the final area you came to. If you are having troubles, make sure you keep producing units back at base just in case. You can always set up an automatic production line of units by selecting a Peasant Hut, then right-clicking on a training structure - this will see any newly created peasants go straight to that structure. You can also set up longer chains (eg Peasant Hut to Quarry to Fight Center to Shalery to nav point in front of Watchtower) just by selecting a structure and right-clicking where you want units leaving that structure to go. Anyway, clearing the cave-in will lead to a cutscene. When it is finished, use all your units to destroy the 2 x Master Warlocks you will face. 4.6 MISS THE GIRL ----------------- At the start of this map you'll get a Dryad (who for all intents and purposes is armed with a light saber!). You'll also see on this map another Wolf Clan base and a Forest Temple at the top of the map. This other Wolf base will stop Serpent Clan members getting to the Forest Temple... well, for a time at least. Send your units N to the rice and water that exists on the W side of the map. You'll be attacked by a stream of single Witches, so leave your fighters at the top of the incline that leads to this area once you've guided your peasants to the rice. Build 2 x Peasant Huts and set 2 x Peasants to get rice and a Peasant to get water. As your new peasants start to generate, use them to build the basic training structures (ie Quarry, Ballistics Ground and Fight Centre). Start to train up some second and third tier units and send them down to the top of the incline that leads up into your base area. Have a peasant build a Watchtower in this area and place a Ballistaman in it. Your force defending your base will be attacked by a regular stream of Witches. Kill them as a source of Yang points for unit upgrades and be sure to keep your units from going too far out to fight the Witches - things work better if your squad is kept together. BUild up your base by adding a Wolves' Den (and have a peasant capture all the horses in the area for wolf food) and a Vitality Garden (so you can add Druidesses to your attacking force). Aim to build all the structures you can, but take note that you are on a bit of time limit. The time limit is that, after a while (I think it's about 45 minutes, but I could be wrong) some Serpent Clan will make their way up to the Forest Temple at the top of the map and destroy it. Once this happens, you fail the mission. You don't have to defeat the Serpent Clan on the map within this time, but you have to be there to stop these units getting through or to take them out as they are attacking the Forest Temple. Once you've got an attack squad of about 15 second and third tier units along with your Zen Masters (you probably won't have time to give them Shale Armour), send them S and through the forest towards the other Wolf base. You'll run into that continual stream of Witches, along with a few Serpent ambush squads (made up of Witches, Crossbowmen, Fan Geishas and Swordsmen at least) in the forest. Be prepared for these attacks and try to rest up after each fight to get some hitpoints back. Once you've fought your way close to where the Serpent Clan base is, you'll get a cutscene. When the scene ends, PAUSE THE GAME. Find out where your Zen Masters have gotten to and, once you unpause the game, move them away from the Serpent base and into the safety of the Wolf Clan base. Move all your other units into the Wolf base too and use these other WOlf units to help fight off the Serpent attacks (which will now include Demonesses). Back at your base, you should have been building more units for a second attack squad. You'll have the time to fit this squad out with Shale Armour and also to have upgraded the Wolfball Court into a Forest Temple (which will allow you to create Dryads from your Druidesses). Once you've built up a sizeable squad of second and third tier units, send them round to see the Serpents. While you are building up this force, be sure to keep an eye on your squad that is near the Serpent base. Due to the constant stream of attacks, it is very easy for them to be drawn out into the open and killed by a mob of Serpent units. Keep bringing them back if they stray too far and pull them out of the range of battle and set them to passive mode if they need time to heal. Before you set off with your second force to take on the Serpent Clan base, send your Druidesses to the Cairn and get them their Blessing special ability. At the least you should bless your Berserkers to give them Lycanthropy and your Dryads to give them Sapping Ritual. You can also give some melee units Shale Armour at the Shalery to improve their ability to resist damage. Group your attacking force and send them off towards the Serpent base. You may find one or two enemy units on the way, but they will be easy to defeat. The best time to attack the base is just after the Serpent Clan have sent a large attacking force at the second Wolf base - it should be able to repel this attack and will leave the Serpent Clan open to a counter attack. Once you attack the base, the first target should be the Watchtowers. Have the Dryads use their Sapping Ritual when near the Watchtowers to give all your nearby units an armour bonus. Watch the health / stamina of your Berserkers and turn them into Werewolves when they start getting low. Once you are sure that your attacking force is doing well enough to destroy the Serpent Clan base, send Greyback and what's remaining of your first force to assist them. You should wait to do this in case your second squad isn't big enough to take out the base - you don't want to leave Greyback surrounded by Serpent units, since once he dies it's level over. Destroy the Serpent Clan base. At some point the second Wolf base may send units down to assist you, but don't count on it. Utara will appear in the NE section of the base to fight you - try to avoid taking too much damage from her special ability Song of Sorrow (which damages all units around her) but she isn't that hard overall. After you've destroyed enough buildings, the mission will end. You'll get to see a cutscene where Utara gives up the location of Gahlia. 4.7 ROCK'N'ROLL --------------- Watch the cutscene where Wildeye discovers the invisible Lotus base. Starting out, you'll face 5 x Shamblers with Wildeye and a Digger. Summon a Spirit Wolf to assist and you should be able to finish off the Shamblers without losing Wildeye. At this point you'll probably have about 9 minutes left to destroy some buildings - that's plenty of time. Rest for a moment so that Wildeye can summon some Spirit Wolves, then head up the W side of the base. Kill the Shamblers that are there, then roll the boulders down to hit some of the buildings. Aim to destroy one or two on this side - if you don't manage that, don't worry about it. Head back to your starting position then up the E side of the base. Kill any Shamblers you come across and look for a building that looks like a large wooden globe. SAVE YOUR GAME. It is very important that you are able to destroy this globe with a boulder. Doing so unleashes the Shale Lord, who will go and smash the magical tower in the middle of the base. Have Wildeye drop another boulder or two on Lotus buildings and you should be able to destroy enough for Greyback to show up. After the cutscene, pull Wildeye back to Greyback's position. The Shale Lord is unfortunately doomed, but he will do some damage before he goes. Use the peasants to set up a base. A couple of Peasant Huts will do, then build up a base that includes a Shalery and a Cairn. There should be just enough room to do so. Build a Watchtower early on to provide you with some protection - you'll face a few Lotus units, but not that many - but don't be afraid to destroy it in order to increase the amount of room you have for other buildings. Make sure you push everything as close together as possible in order to fit everything you need into that small space. Have a peasant water the rice if required to aid in resource collection. Build up a force of second and third tier units. Give all your second tier units Shale Armour from the Shalery and have your Druidesses bless your Berserkers with Lycanthropy. You'll be able to see your Lotus opponents build a large force that they will then send on patrol around their base. Once you have a large enough force, watch for the moment when this patrol is moving away from the base, then send your force into attack. Make sure this patrol is far enough away that it won't be able to come back and sandwich you with the Lotus defenses. Destroy the Watchtowers and guarding units at the front of the base, then move through and destroy the Watchtowers and Soban's Laboratory. Gahlia will pop out of the destroyed lab for a cutscene and it's level completed. 4.8 IT'S COLD OUTSIDE --------------------- Take Greyback W around the lake - you will have to face 4 x Thorn Wielders on the way, but that's no great battle when you use Wolf's Howl. When you get to the W side, you'll get a short cutscene then face Utara and 4 x Crossbowmen. Use Wolf's Howl some more and this is a pretty easy fight. Head W a bit more. Watch the cutscene (where Tao tells you to take out Koril and Issyl at the same time) then get to work on your base. You've got plenty of room to build everything, so that's what you should do. Start off by building some training structures and defensive units, but you should look to build everything up to the Keep. Once you have a Keep, get the Shale Lord and Longtooth. Once you've build up a reasonable force (remember to leave a few defensive units behind just in case - Druidesses and a few ranged units can work very well) send them up to destroy the Lotus towns. In the two top towns, there is a Keep,with Koril being in the NE Keep and Issyl being in the NW Keep. You've got about 5:30 minutes between killing one Lotus Zen Master and the other getting control over all Lotus units on the map, so the best tactic is to destroy all buildings in a town EXCEPT for the Keep until both towns have been leveled. At this point, split your main force into two (or bring up your defensive units from your village up to the other Keep) and aim to destroy both Keeps at around about the same time. The relative Lotus Zen Master will appear from the ashes of their Keep, so kill them too. Once both Koril and Issyl are dead, send a few units through the deactivated N-most gate and the mission will end. 4.9 MY SWEET PRINCE ------------------- Watch Prince Taro's cutscene. From the start, head E to the ENE lake (ie the lake on the E side of the map). Kill the 2 x Enforcers and the Serpent buildings (including the Royal Academy). Build your base here... but be aware of two things: 1) You won't have a lot of room to build your base, so focus on a few training structures, and 2) the main force of the Serpent Clan is above you on that ridge. Make sure to build a Watchtower away from that side of the hill and have your units walk around the long way to the front of your base. Since the aim is to destroy buildings, you will probably want Pitch Slingers, so build a Quarry and a Ballistics Ground (you probably won't be able to fit a Combat Pit in as well). A Vitality Garden is small and can probably be placed somewhere too. Build up your forces at the front of the base, using the Watchtower as a gathering point. You'll face some attacks, but the main issue is not to have any units get pulled / go attacking up that hill - they'll run into a horde of Serpent Clan there and will likely activate a counter attack that will decimate your base. Once you've build up enough of an attacking force, send them W to the other side of the map. Over this side, you'll see a path covered by forest (with the entrance protected by a few Serpent units). Both Royal Academies can be found by following this path N. You'll find one Royal Academy in the NW area of the map - it's protected by at least 2 x Watchtowers and is the harder fight. Once you've destroyed the Royal Academy (and any attacking Lotus units pull out of the area - there is no point in destroying the rest of the town. From this NW area, head back to the forest path and then N again - you'll come across another Royal Academy just outside of where the forest ends. Destroy this building to complete the mission. Now, while you are focusing on this side of the map, there is a chance one of your units will get pulled up the hill and bring the wrath of the Serpent Clan on your base. It doesn't matter if your base gets wiped out providing you still have enough units left to destroy the Royal Academies. If this isn't the case (ie you don't have enough units left to destroy the Royal Academies) and your base is wiped out, you'll have to reload from your last save point. 4.10 COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN ------------------------------ Head N to the rice and start building up your base here - you've got plenty of room, so aim to build one of every structure. Set up a Watchtower and some training buildings to build up a defense force, then build everything up to a Keep. You'll face a few head-on attacks from the Lotus, but after a while they will try to sneak through the forest to the S of your base. Set up a Watchtower close enough to see them do this and have a unit clear the trees (by using Force Attack: quick key is 'F', which will turn your cursor into an attack icon and then right click on the trunk of the tree you want destroyed) to improve your chance of spotting them. Have most of your defensive force congregate here. Once you've built your Keep, get all of the Zen Masters. By this time, you will hopefully have a large squad of second- and third-tier Wolf units, with all Berserkers blessed with Lycanthropy, all Dryads blessed with Sapping Ritual and all other units wearing Shale Armour. Also, it can be useful to have had the Vitality Garden develop the Herbalists technique (which costs 4 Yang Points, so is quite expensive) because it will mean that your units heal up a lot quicker when they stand still. Leave behind a small squad of units to defend your base (just in case) then head off to destroy the Lotus. Destroying the first Lotus town isn't hard and its destruction will drop the first set of barriers. Rest up your units until they are fully healed. Pick a side of the map (E or W) and head through that gate. Start to level this town as well, but before you completely wipe it out (ie a few buildings are still standing) take a look at your squad. Has it lost too many units for you to be happy with going on from here? If the answer is yes, pull back to your base and rebuild your squad before destroying this second town. At the very least, pull your squad back before the second town is leveled to heal them up. You should do this because once the second town is destroyed and the second barrier comes down, you'll get a cutscene where Budo and Utara decide to destroy the Wolf Clan against Serpent Clan orders. They will appear and make their way towards Greyback. At the same time, dropping the barrier will see some Lotus units start to come down from the N-most town. If your squad is at part strength or not fully healed, then you can easily loose your squad after this point. Also, simply killing the Utara- and Budo-led Serpent squad isn't enough - once they have been wiped out, you'll get a message that another squad has appeared. The squad consists of Ronin and Enforcers and packs a heavy punch. So, from here your aim is to clear the N-most town and move on to the keep hopefully before you run into the Serpent Clan squad. It is a very bad thing to get sandwiched between the Lotus and the Serpent, so you'll need to move quickly in wiping out that N-most town. Once the barrier drops, you have the option of resting (and waiting for the Serpent Clan) or pushing on to the Keep at the top of the mountain. If you have ranged units, make sure you protect them from the Serpent Clan units - they will fall quickly thanks to the Ronin and the Enforcers. If your squad does get wiped out, you are going to have to build a new attacking squad while being reguarly attacked by Serpent and Lotus forces. Once you have re-build your squad, take every combat unit you have up to the Keep - it doesn't matter if your base gets wiped out so long as you have enough power to destroy the Keep on the mountain. The mission ends when the Keep falls. 3.11 EYE OF THE TIGE... ERR, WOLF --------------------------------- A short map that Greyback faces alone. On the way round, he'll face 3 x Overseers (easy), 3 x Reapers (use a Wolf's Howl and it's easy) and 1 x Warlock and 1 x Master Warlock (a bit harder, but Wolf's Howl makes it possible). Save after fighting the Warlocks. When you enter the centre chamber, you'll get a cutscene with Yvaine. Once out of that cutscene, have Greyback attack the four orbs that are getting power from the While Wolf Skull totem. With those orbs destroyed, Yvaine will no longer be invincible. Have Greyback move away from her and activate Wolf's Howl (you should move away because if you do it close by Yvaine ALSO gets the benefits of Wolf's Howl thanks to the effects of her corruption!). Provided that Greyback hasn't taken too much damage when destroying the orbs - Yvaine keeps hitting him and sometimes he'll not attack the orbs to hit her back - you should be able to kill Yvaine before she kills Greyback. Expect to have his health in the red though... And that's it. Enjoy the final cutscene! +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 5.0 FINAL NOTES _______________ Although a short-ish expansion, I enjoyed it. It was nice to play an RTS that had lots of other objectives to just "wipe the enemy units off the map". However, if I'd payed full price for this expansion, I'd have probably been a bit annoyed - I don't play multiplayer and the single-player campaign is a bit short. I'm glad I finally got around to finishing it though. 5.1 THANKS AND CONTRIBUTORS --------------------------- Thanks to Liquid for their great Battle Realms games - I can't wait to see (if it ever happens) the next installment of this universe. You know, Warcraft made a popular MMOG... how about Battle Realms: The MMOG? ;-) Also thanks to my wife for spending all of yesterday reading on the couch - it gave me the time I needed to finally complete this game! 5.2 VERSION HISTORY ------------------- v1.0 - Finished version of the full walkthrough. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Version 1.00 was released 20 February 2006 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ *Yes, I am aware this is the lamest name I've created for something since I named an Egyptian Mummy character in a game "Sir Cough a Gus".