Heroes of Might and Magic III: No Resource Piles, No Chests, & No Mines 1v7 FFA (200%)

[@TheKnownWorld]

**Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): ** *1. What mods do you use for Heroes III? / What version of the game are you using?* I usually play Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Shadow of Death with the HD mod (downloadable from sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/). Sometimes, I'll also use Horn of the Abyss (also known as HotA), but I'm not using it in this video. The HD mod is responsible for most of the features that you see in my videos. Note that the Heroes III HD mod is not compatible with Ubisoft's HD Edition on Steam. *2. How do I get your version of the game?* Shadow of Death is functionally the same (e.g. there are no gameplay differences) as the Heroes III Complete Edition, which you can get from www.gog.com/game/heroes_of_might_and_magic_3_complete_edition for relatively cheap. Horn of the Abyss can be obtained from download.h3hota.com/HotA_setup. *3. How do you see how far units can move in combat?* This is one feature of the HD mod (see FAQ #1) and can be done by mousing over a unit and holding down the CTRL key. *4. What are the hotkeys that you use?* This is one feature of the HD mod (see FAQ #1). The most frequent hotkeys that I use for army management are: - CTRL+Click to create a 1-stack - ALT+Click to group up all units of the same type into one big stack - SHIFT+Click to split a stack into two halves - CTRL+SHIFT+Click to fill up all remaining empty slots with a 1-stack A full list of the hotkeys that the HD mod provides can be found at sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/eng/description/extended-ui. *5. How do you display the extended hero details while setting up a map?* This is one feature of the HD mod (see FAQ #1) and can be done simply by right-clicking on a hero's portrait while selecting a hero. Note that Single Scenarios do not support this feature. *6. How do you step on the same square your hero is on? / How do you access Water Wheels, Windmills, Mystical Gardens, Two-Way Monoliths and Subterranean Gates without moving your hero?* Pressing the Space Bar key will cause your hero to step on the same square that they are currently on, allowing them to move through Two-Way Monoliths and Subterranean Gates at will. The Space Bar key can also be used on Water Wheels, Windmills, Mystical Gardens, and other map objects. Note that this feature is only available in versions of Heroes III that come later than Restoration of Erathia, meaning that this cannot be done in Ubisoft's HD Edition on Steam. *7. How can I get my unit animations in combat to be as fast as yours?* To get accelerated unit animations, download crAnim.txt from heroesportal.net/getfile.php?file=/files/information/16/Cranim.txt and put it into the Data folder of your Heroes III directory. *8. Why not play a match without rules?* I plan to do a no holds barred playthrough in the far future, but there's a specific approach I would use for such a match that I don't want to showcase at this time.

[@Gr1ff1ne]

I'm still trying to put it through my mind how did you pull that off. Incredible.

[@lucashollanders9227]

Do the worst town and the worst hero of that town 200%!!!

[@alexandernikolov7601]

Hey MeKick, great video! One suggestion, when you finish with your challenges and sinister`s of six - you can try a simple one, where you can start attacking the AI, if you have completed certain set of artifats - for example Status of Legion or something like. Anyway great videos in youtube and twitch. Have fun!

[@peasant7214]

why dont you try some of the AI enhancemet mods?

[@rosspkbg]

I thought number 1 said, "What mood are you using to play HoMMIII?"...which seems like a brilliant question :D

[@slimy1963]

next challenge: blindfold, underwater, upside-down, hands tied behind the back, no town, half a hero and 2 spells written on a used toilet paper! :D

[@TalostheCat]

I bet you that video would be half as long as this one, and he'd win

[@peasant7214]

dat spell book though.

[@spilledbeansrecords5685]

xD

[@bownjourno]

5:55:55 "Do I have any hero I may override?" *checks tavern* "Nope, only Kyrre. I don't really Kyrre about Kyrre." . . I'm sorry but that was way too funny to not to mention.

[@wojciechniemirski1782]

Next Challenge: you can't use bottom bar options during fights. That means no magic, no wait or defence, no fleeing, no surrendering.

[@harel251]

he did one called only quick combat results so i think that answers ur challenge

[@kael070]

@@harel251 quick combat can use spells tho And gives you offer to flee in case you are too weak

[@harel251]

@@kael070 you can deny him from using spells in the quick combat settings

[@adimyokich]

He already did quick combat only, so i don't think it'd be too much of a difference.

[@michelvanderlinden8363]

"Today we will be playing heroes of might and magic 3" I am shook

[@TheKnownWorld]

Actually, what I said was "Today we play Heroes of Might and Magic III". There's just that subtle change in wording to spice things up a bit ;) I hope you enjoyed the video!

[@jozefkeresturi2139]

This challenge hurts me a lot. So much wealth left on ground..

[@TheKnownWorld]

Trust me, having so much Gold on the ground hurt me more than anyone else ;)

[@silvercola9155]

Hello! I want to let you know you are my favorite Heroes 3 content creator and that I learn something new with every video I watch. Love from Romania!

[@TheKnownWorld]

Hello to you too! I'm glad that you think so highly of me as a content creator and that you've learned new things about Heroes III as you watch my videos! Greetings from Canada :)

[@kiddhkane]

I don't need to see the whole video to like it.

[@TheKnownWorld]

:D

[@TalostheCat]

Dude... you click the like button, THEN watch the video

[@bastil6743]

Uploaded 20 seconds ago. No better timing has been had ever.

[@TheKnownWorld]

Haha, enjoy!

[@BobberTheWiseYTP]

This was so enjoyable I ended up watching the whole thing. I've played Heroes 3 casually for years but I've never known of these more advanced strats. Congrats on your victory!

[@TheKnownWorld]

I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the playthrough enough to watch it through to the end! Good on you for learning a few things from this episode :)

[@lukaskock95]

As much as I love these videos, where I can follow your decision making and see how you're smart af, I'd love to see a new diplomacy run. It's fun as heck to watch the excessive dominance, how big an army can be etc! There's just some kind of.. satisfaction from it, and it's fun to see :D So if you can, and I think lots of us watcher would love, a new diplomacy run where you make it as ridiculous as possible would be reaaally fun to watch!

[@peterers3]

he already did a diplomacy run check out kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoDWY2iJlpdnaaM

[@lukaskock95]

@@peterers3 Hey! I know, that was a while ago. That was why I phrased myself with "a new diplomacy run" since I know he has done one before! :) and it's really funny to watch, thus I want a new one!

[@peterers3]

@@lukaskock95 oh my I just speed read over that haha my bad my friend. Yeah diplomacy is fun but him spamming berserk in the siege survival challenge is even more fun XD

[@peterers3]

I dont think There is any other KZbinr whose Videos are so Long and that I keep coming Back to to watch. All These mechanics in such an old but beautifully designed Game. Timeless music, graphics and your commentary keeps me inetersted for hours. I really do Wonder what your day to day Job is mekick

[@fabeys2816]

1:02:15 it's twitch chat in action 😂😂😂😂

[@TheKnownWorld]

lol

[@TheZirrock]

15:20 - "None of them are Inferno" as he glances over Inferno

[@TheKnownWorld]

Ah, my mistake! At the time I probably forgot for a moment that I was playing as Purple, not Red :P

[@totitakreknu320]

It is easy to ignore Inferno. After some time it is kind of mind filter :-)

[@Guy_Vidal]

Suggestion for the sinister seventh (without knowledge on what the others are yet): Sabbatical. Skip the 7th day each week, do not buy, build, or move heroes buildings and units. If under attack you may only defend city/map feature sieges (resource mines, windmills, stat boosters, etc.). essentially park the heroes somewhre safe during the week or have them turn tail and run. Should be a nice economic puzzle to work around and rp with religious heroes types.

[@Winnetou17]

Brilliant idea!

[@TheKnownWorld]

While this isn't a bad suggestion, I'm already planning to do something like this in one of my upcoming videos.

[@Guy_Vidal]

@@TheKnownWorld thanks for the reply! Looking forward for the series to hit KZbin.

[@fiuza78]

Hello Mekick, First of all thank you for the enormous effort on making these videos. They are very entertaining and educational! I played this game so much 15-20 years ago and for the nostalgia effect I took a GoG offer and bought it to play again. But I got hocked (damned) and I felt interested! I went into youtube to look for content on HOMM3 and for my surprise you were still recording it! Amazing, this game indeed stood the test of time! It's a gem! I've already watched some of your videos, and I started pondering about one thing that I'm not sure yet if it's true. Do you agree with this reasoning: 1) The difference between the 130% and 200% is basically the handicap on initial resources. So the bigger the map is, the easier it is to make for it with resource gathering. On a XL map you have tons of resources laying around before you meet the enemy. 2) Also on a XL map, it will take longer for a player to get to you, so you will have more time to catch up on building your town. 3) I also think it is harder with less players. For example, wouldn't a 1v3 be harder then 1v7 on a XL map? They will probably conquer the neutral towns before you and will build up a stronger army faster. On a 1v7, they clutter the map and fight too much against each other. So, what would happen a 1v1 map? I think they will have a much stronger army when you meet them on a 1v1 map compared to a 1v7. This is why a think the scenario "Barbarian Breakout" is so hard (I got so entertained on your video, because this map stuck with me and I played it so many times!!) I think it would be even harder if it where only one enemy. Despite they being allies they can't combine their armies. So do you agree that random tiny map on the style of "Barbarian Breakout" is harder than the 1v7 XL style? What do you think of making challenges on smaller maps?

[@rubberpickle371]

Correct!

[@Nocturnal558]

In my opinion, a common denominator for most of your previous challenges have been that you've rolled into some good RNG in the first month or so. That was definitely not the case this time, and I just have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the first of the Sinister Six. Keep up the good work!

[@TheKnownWorld]

Thanks! I'm glad that you made the "good RNG" observation since I've noticed that trend with many of my recent videos as well. In my opinion, this video along with No Roads & All Random were especially exciting since the early game was quite challenging for both playthroughs. It's great to hear that you've been enjoying the Sinister Six so far! If you thought this episode was great fun, just wait until the next episode ;)

[@Nocturnal558]

I did enjoy No Roads & All Random as well! I am indeed looking forward to the next episode. Your content keeps a very good standard!

[@aruarian43]

Also, you said that people are complaining about you taking too long for your turns. I can see how that comes up since your turns definitely take very long BUT I think that's kinda nonsensical to say. HoMM isn't a game you just rush through like that and the whole premise of your videos is that you play the game in a very challenging setting, so ofc you show us what you're thinking and what you have to do in order to beat this challenges. To me that's the whole appeal of your videos, so please never stop taking "too long" for your turns. Keep up the great work!

[@TheKnownWorld]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on what I said! I'm happy that you acknowledge just why these turns take so long in the first place. Like you said, I try to go over my line of thinking as I play, which eats up a lot of time but hopefully gives viewers insight into why I'm doing the actions that I choose to take. Cheers!

[@bjrnovevad620]

Yeeeweeeeyeyeyyy! I've been waiting for this! Missed you man!

[@TheKnownWorld]

Have fun!

[@Fiddesh88]

49:25 - hahahhaha "my wood problems is solved" i never laughed so much XD

[@culjak977]

how to cure insomnia , thx MeKick

[@TheKnownWorld]

My pleasure!

[@culjak977]

@@TheKnownWorld Do you plan on doing anything HotA related in near future?

[@TheKnownWorld]

I play HotA pretty much every week on my Twitch streams (www.twitch.tv/theknownworld/videos?filter=highlights&sort=time if you're interested). That's more than enough HotA out of me, don't you think? :P

[@dmitrymokshin7755]

3:30:45 I knew that was going to happen! Totally saw this coming man.

[@TheKnownWorld]

I certainly didn't expect that! Red caught me completely off-guard with that one :(

[@michaelcarst6958]

@7:12:45 Ahhh the classic Hourglass + Clover + Cards combo. Negating your own luck bonuses since Restoration of Erathia to confuse the AI.

[@TheKnownWorld]

300 IQ plays right here ;)

[@grimdawn9843]

Thats great.since i work in weekends and can almost never watch your stream im always Happy to watch these. In full lengh XD

[@TheKnownWorld]

I'm glad to hear that!

[@omniversal4739]

Not even done watching your last video, but I'll manage somehow.

[@TheKnownWorld]

Good luck!

[@chilanya]

haha i took several weeks watching the last video in bits

[@ToTheNines87368]

As a complete an utter casual, this sounds impossible to me.

[@TheKnownWorld]

At first I thought so too! But then I gave it a shot and I realized that it's certainly doable :P

[@leonoraekaterina5838]

Thank you Mekick for being awesome and keeping the greatness of Heroes III alive 🌸

[@TheKnownWorld]

You're welcome! I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying my content!

[@Irmarinen]

1:02:15 >"...it is twitch-chat in action..." > Looks at a Lots of Trolls >I died

[@TheKnownWorld]

:D

[@Svetbg1]

Next challenge: No reinforsments. Any building is banned, you should conquer 7 AIs only with your starting army :D. Seriously, dude, you are just amazing. I will probably watch your video during the whole next week. Like a mini-series :D

[@pko6596]

its been done already

[@Svetbg1]

@@pko6596 thanks. now I remember.

[@TheKnownWorld]

Haha, that's a bit much, don't you think? Admittedly, I did something like this at kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4m3m52llL1obbc, but I used a lot more than my starting army in that playthrough ;) I hope you have fun next week with this episode!

[@zulfirdauszain8810]

Finally after a long time. Nice to see u doing good meKick. Always a treat to see u upload some good games

[@TheKnownWorld]

Hello again! Thanks for stopping by as always :) I hope you enjoy the episode!

[@michaeldiana2194]

Oh my God, a new mekick challenge!?

[@TheKnownWorld]

Yup!

[@gamingfanboy4779]

Thank you so so so much for making videos on this game still this is my favorite game of all time.

[@TheKnownWorld]

You're welcome! Thank you for watching!

[@Nherva-Cant-Play]

Oh my god This is going to be one of my favourite challenges

[@Nherva-Cant-Play]

Waaa no ore/wood silo faction either D: Madlad

[@TheKnownWorld]

Gotta take it to the extreme, y'know what I'm saying? :D

[@TheTCKreen]

2:29:24 - IIJM whose eyes went slightly funny when MeKick centred to Jenovia but the Dragon Utopia stayed in the same place? 😄

[@doca924]

Thank you for great vids, keep up! I have an idea, what do you think about two move per turn. You can buy more heroes but you can only move two of them per turn, and nothing else. It will make chaining harder and actually more challenging if you want to escape certain situations. Frustration is bound to happen 😂 Cheers mate.

[@Mrterminus]

doca he already did this challenge kinda with 1 hero only . But the idea is great . 8 points of movement for all heroes he has combined. You can chain but not really good .

[@TheKnownWorld]

As someone else already pointed out, I've already done a challenge where I could use just a single hero each turn at kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6HQoqNrqNGYhZo.

[@undercoverneunzehn]

Am halfway through, very entertaining, but man you really went full mekick :D

[@TheKnownWorld]

I'm happy to hear that you found this playthrough entertaining! I'll admit, though - I always go full MeKick, so this isn't news to me. Never go full MeKick ;)

[@Mussu3]

I love that you start the video with "and today we're playing Heroes of Might and Magic III"

[@TheKnownWorld]

I'm glad that you acknowledge the manner in which I begin the video! I deliberately start it off like this to set the tone for viewers. Sometimes, I even have to redo that line alone a couple times until I get it just right! ;)

[@antonvlaskin8496]

​@@TheKnownWorld After so much watching I desided to play HOMM3 again after decades. I installed the game, HD mod and and all that, started a new game, and as soon as music started my brain was waiting for the words "Hello, my name is MeKick ... " Brain literally was unable to perceive HOMM3 music without this phrase.

[@huho9686]

Only external dwellings, diplomacy and or hero units. With water. No dungeon. No skelleton or Demon farming. No Chain lightning. Random starting hero. 10 hours time restriction. :^)

[@dejanf8168]

For us noobs in this game who just go and pick up everything shiny on the map this is going to be very very hard to watch 😂😂

[@TheKnownWorld]

It's still probably worse for me than it is for you to see all these shiny things on the map and to not be able to pick them up :P

[@smokenotes7655]

I personally loved the ballista playthrough! and blue jebaited your master plan after you jebaited him out of his town by giving youfalse hope

[@TheKnownWorld]

That's nice to know! Still, I was disappointed with how the "Ballista Only" playthrough turned out in the end because of how most of the damage I did came from everything but the Ballista. Also, yeah, that was a epic jebait by Blue :')

[@PaitVideo]

The day has come, you've actually built a capital yourself instead of capturing one!

[@TheKnownWorld]

LOL, got me there!

[@snuckyr]

Thanks for another epic play through. Had me on the edge of my seat there a couple of times!

[@TheKnownWorld]

As always, thank you for watching! There were a few close calls in this match, that was for sure. This one was a great game overall!

[@TooLatePeople]

This is one of your most entertaining ones, thanks for a good time

[@TheKnownWorld]

No problem! I'm glad to hear that you thought that this playthrough was fun to watch!

[@TooLatePeople]

@@TheKnownWorld Can't wait for the next one of sinister six...

[@ulfblomqvist6805]

What a beauty! Can't wait for the remaining sinister five.

[@TheKnownWorld]

I'm happy to hear that! The remaining five challenges should be quite a treat ;)

[@ivoandonov3576]

Omg i thought i was just gonna watch a movie and fall asleep but guess what someone has to ruin it

[@TheKnownWorld]

LOL, have fun!

[@ivoandonov3576]

@@TheKnownWorld will you ever make 1080p in the future :D and just to say thank you for your content

[@TheKnownWorld]

You're welcome! Regarding your question, I'm not sure what you mean. These videos are already in 1080p.

[@Nabopolasszar]

Me screaming internally, when MeKick refused to acknowledge, that he can create the Statue of Legion :*( (By the end he had all the components except the head, which was sitting right at his starting town the whole game)

[@TheKnownWorld]

Yeah, so I heard. My mistake :(

[@miturlak]

Hi! I'm pretty new to your channel (I love it though. It's mostly something that just plays, because your videos are super long and your voice is lovely) and you're kind of the reason that I came back to playing heroes 3. I'm pretty terrible at this game, though. I often put on your vidoes, but I was wondering: is there any chance you will be doing any more strategy guides? (altho just watching you play teaches me a lot of tricks and/or strategic stuff on how not to die on first few days)

[@TheKnownWorld]

Welcome to my channel! I'm glad to hear that you've been enjoying my content so far and that I was able to bring you back to this legendary game. To answer your question, I don't have the time or motivation right now to do more episodes of The More You Know. Each episode requires a deceptively large amount of time and effort to produce and I would rather dedicate such resources to pumping out more episodes of Let's Play Heroes III, which is my core content. Sorry about that!

[@Irmarinen]

You absolute MAD-LAD, you actually tackled that challenge...

[@TheKnownWorld]

;)

[@abodahzack7934]

Please Mekick do not ever stop posting HOMMIII videos Hota or normal every video is better than the one before

[@TheKnownWorld]

Well, I'm not so sure I would go as far as saying every video is better than the one before. I've certainly learned a few things about making content since I first started this channel, but sometimes I do playthroughs that I don't consider better than some of the older videos (like the Bad Hero challenge, for example). Having said that, I can't promise that I'll keep posting Heroes III videos forever, but I'll try to keep them going for as long as I can :)

[@xRichhhx]

Take a drink for every "uhhm" in the first 10mins for a good time

[@tuff_lover]

u mean for every "actually"?

[@naitsirk32]

You did the challenge, finally 🙌

[@TheKnownWorld]

At last! Now to do the other five of the Sinister Six ;)

[@naitsirk32]

TheKnownWorld go big or go home! 🙌Can I endorse my heroes 3 channel 🤔

[@mawhpawh]

Christmas came early!

[@TheKnownWorld]

Is that so? You'll have to wait and see what I really have in store for Christmas ;)

[@IMatthewIMalkiorI]

As someone who hasn't played this game since I was 11... this was a lot of fun to watch. I realized how bad I was at the game, haha.

[@TheKnownWorld]

Welcome back to Heroes III! I'm glad that you enjoyed the episode! For the record, I felt the same way when I first started watching other players' streams of Heroes III PvP matches on Twitch. Eventually, I learned from how they played and started integrating some of their strategies into my own gameplay, resulting in the videos you see here today ;)

[@IMatthewIMalkiorI]

@@TheKnownWorld Well thanks again for renewing my interest! I've watched several of your other videos while passively doing other stuff around the house and it's kinda become a bit of white noise for me. I like watching some of the more intense sieges you pull off. I'm usually struck with the thought of "oh he ded... wait wtf?"

[@Warponator]

Finaly, my dosage of 9 awesome hours!

[@TheKnownWorld]

Enjoy :)

[@andrzejkondracki9796]

For some reason most of the challenges I watched in the past half a year by MeKick were done with Rampart actually :) You play Cove and Tower relatively little though. Tower with all expensiveness that comes with it would have been an interesting choice for a challenge such us this one :) Jendrinho

[@TheKnownWorld]

That's surprising, actually! I don't recall using Rampart all that much, and I can only recall having used Rampart in one other challenge (that being Only One Hero) prior to this episode. I don't believe I've used Rampart since then. Regarding Cove and Tower, I agree with what you said about me not playing Cove, but I disagree with your claim about me not playing Tower. Since I generally play SoD over HotA for my Let's Play Heroes III series, I don't think it's much of a surprise that I haven't used Cove in any of my challenge playthroughs, and I don't intend to start using Cove for these videos anytime soon. On the other hand, I've used Tower for a few challenges already (the No Recruiting & No Building and One Stack Per Hero playthroughs, to be precise). Also, having access to Tower's Master Gremlins right away would've given me a strong early game boost, which I was trying to avoid in an effort to make this episode more difficult.

[@Castraball]

thumbs up for army only challange. You have to dismiss your hero any time you enter a town, or win a siege.

[@TheKnownWorld]

I have a challenge with a premise similar to this one coming soon in one of my upcoming videos.

[@SifSehwan]

Great play, this was very fun to watch! By the way is there any reason you are not playing HotA? I watch your vod at random and I saw that you used to play it.

[@TheKnownWorld]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed this episode! I still regularly play on HotA every Saturday for my weekly Twitch streams. However, I prefer playing on SoD for my KZbin videos for a number of different reasons, the main reason being that many of the newcomers to my channel grew up with SoD and are much less familiar with HotA.

[@kael070]

"My wood problems are solved" gachiBASS

[@TheKnownWorld]

;D

[@LichColdheart]

Hi MeKick. Question: Will you ever finish the sinister 6 series?

[@seriousgeorge81]

Hey MeKick! I dont know if anyone came up with this challenge before but what about, skipping a turn on odd days. Could you do that? Or if it sounds too easy, then maybe combine it with something... Love the videos!

[@TheKnownWorld]

Actually, others have already brought up this idea and I intend to do a variation of this as one of my upcoming videos. Skipping odd days by itself sounds like quite the challenge and I really don't think I would need to combine it with another challenge to make it any more difficult than it already is :P

[@alanschneider7623]

Hi MeKick, could you make a video showing how to play Necropolis with just Vampire Lords? I’d love it. Thank you for the videos!

[@TheKnownWorld]

Let me consider it ;) Cheers!

[@fabeys2816]

2:48:51 the AI dares to put down a big fat tree log "L" there.... The disrespect 😅🤜

[@TheKnownWorld]

How dare they! :O

[@justdom248]

Now do a no towns and no heroes challenge,should be a piece of cake for you;)

[@TheKnownWorld]

lol

[@RG-tv2dx]

lol

[@shanjudo4510]

ok so im 2 mins in, i have watched the rampart challenge, all skellies challenge and heaps of others...i am shaking my head and saying WTF Mekick you crazy bastard!! However like all the challenges, you hoop up, and then recover and slam the AI like a boss!! So i will wait and see how you go :)

[@derakuza5003]

No treasure chests, resource piles but still taking the campfires to save your tribe :D

[@TheKnownWorld]

That's right!

[@Kolppu]

Yaa, youre back. Thanks for the video!

[@TheKnownWorld]

Indeed I am! You're welcome!

[@vladislavspastuhovs4851]

I've got a great challenge video idea (I think). 1 Building per week. Simple yet I think this will be hardcore - First week it's a choice between a dwelling/mage guild or a town hall. Very slow progression just like with this one. Of course consider doing this after you're doing with all of the Sinister 6.

[@vladislavspastuhovs4851]

Abandon mission, I just saw you did a no building/no recruiting video which is even more insane.

[@TheKnownWorld]

lol :P I appreciate the effort to come up with a challenge recommendation nonetheless!

[@hpholland]

Calm down Satan! I couldn’t win this on Easy. You are a maniac

[@TheKnownWorld]

LOL, you give me too much credit! I am but a mere peasant, not a Devil ;) But in all seriousness, despite what it may have looked like, this challenge wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Still, I appreciate the praise!

[@lemanruss4071]

You plan on doing other challenge maps like Empire of the world ?

[@TheKnownWorld]

Not at the moment. My main focus right now is on random map challenges for my KZbin channel and PvP matches for my Twitch streams.

[@lemanruss4071]

@@TheKnownWorld fair was just wondering cuz i had a blast watching you wallow through wayfarer

[@JLWWANG]

*49:21* - isn't campfire considered resource pile?

[@TheKnownWorld]

By some definitions, yes. In my case, when I was referring to "resource piles", I was only thinking about a pile of one resource specifically.

[@JLWWANG]

@@TheKnownWorld yeah totally understand. This challenge is really not easy. Personally, I would have a hard time even with the resource piles to pick up. Btw, "campfire" can be considered as "one pile" as well? Just saying :P

[@pavelcolov8032]

hello , can I ask you if you do all the campaign Shadow of death and can i watch the whole series ? :)

[@TheKnownWorld]

Sorry, but right now I don't have playthroughs for most of the Heroes III campaigns (including Shadow of Death). The campaigns are something I've always wanted to get around to doing, but I just haven't had much time for them since the main focus of my content is on the random map challenges.

[@aruarian43]

I was wondering if there is a connection there: witch hut at the mausoleum (lich dwlling) asking for artifact guarded by liches 🤔

[@TheKnownWorld]

lol, you've made a good observation, but there is no connection between these two things :P

[@nopenopenope9055]

YOU ABSOLUTE MADMAN!!! YOU ACTUALLY DiD IT!!!

[@TheKnownWorld]

^_^

[@Linksi]

you are insane, amazing but insane

[@TheKnownWorld]

I'm not that insane! Just a little :)

[@Bogdiman]

Just curious, any reason why you're not playing HotA for these videos? :)

[@TheKnownWorld]

Good question! There are three main reasons why I prefer using SoD over HotA in my videos. First of all, the majority of people who come to this channel for the first time are unfamiliar with HotA. Whereas HotA is a fan-made mod that came out rather recently, SoD is the original version of the game that many Heroes III players (myself included) grew up with and know more about. Secondly, with all of the modifications to the random map generator and starting armies in HotA, completing a challenge in HotA is typically easier than winning on SoD (with the notable exception of Skeletons Only). The third reason is that I already put out plenty of HotA-based content on my weekly Saturday streams. For my videos, I feel like it's a good idea to switch it up and play SoD as a nice change of pace.

[@davidhenriksson285]

I do have the worst possible nightmare for you. Mouse only, no keyboard!

[@TheKnownWorld]

lol, this would just be inconvenient :P

[@Slaf4eg]

This run sounds like fun.

[@TheKnownWorld]

Hopefully it's also fun to watch!

[@Slaf4eg]

@@TheKnownWorld it always is :) thank you for your content! :)

[@TheKnownWorld]

You're welcome!

[@preciouspets8m396]

Thank you sir.

[@TheKnownWorld]

You're welcome!

[@igognito1]

Dear MeKick, inspired from your challenge videos I have played a few in your way. Some are annoying others are nice. I have a challenge to suggest: The Spartan Way challenge! 1) No retreat no surrender 2) No ranged units no ballista 3) No offensive spells (exceptions earthquake, terrain spells) 4) Only two alignment mix in each army 5) Ancient Greek units only, I present them by faction. This list can be modified. Castle (no gryphons, no angels, ranged units ok as melee) Fortress (no gnoll, no lizard man the rest are Greek monsters actually pretty strong!) Stronghold (only cyclops as melee + siege) Tower (only Titans as melee) Dungeon (Harpies, Medusa's as melee, basilisks, Gorgons, manticores that is strong too...) No Necro Rampart (centaurs and Pegasuses) Cove (sailors, pirates only melee) 6) no auto combat ( might use spells, might use ranged attacks etc) I'm trying this challenge and I can tell you that sieges are a bummer (I started Castle) And I want to keep mixing only good units if possible (Castle, tower, rampart) I feel that fortress is the best option because of wyverns. But it also feels like not in the spirit 😅 Cheers, PS: tell me what you think about it

[@igognito1]

Actually, after getting enough cavaliers it got easy... It was tough for the first 1-2 sieges only. But was fun. Maybe do it with only one faction units. It should toughen holding up towns. Would work either with Castle, fortress, dungeon. I might come back to it, feel free to make suggestions. PS: hilarious moment my archers charging at angels to get the retaliation 😂.

[@TheKnownWorld]

I'm happy to see that my content has inspired you to try some of these challenges out and to create your own challenges in the process! I think the theme behind your idea is pretty cool, although I'm a bit curious about the reasoning behind some of the restrictions. For example, why can units of only two alignments be mixed in each army? Why are Marksmen and Zealots allowed as "Spartans" when, unlike Castle's other units, they don't use "Spartan" weapons? Also, there seems to be a lot of conditions in this challenge so I would imagine that it's a bit tough to keep track of all of them. Thanks for sharing your experiences with both my challenges and your own!

[@igognito1]

@@TheKnownWorld Zealots, should not be allowed... The are a Jewish inspired unit my mistake 😝. Also wyverns should go out. While they are several type of dragons in ancient Greek mythology those are not one of them. Archers, I used them as Cannon folder and retaliation absorbers after all pikemen died. I don't think it would make a big difference to not use them. Just need to preserve better pikemen. Spartans didn't mix that's why only one type of army. TBH I wanted to add Giants or Titans in my army but it wasn't necessary in the end. Cavaliers are strong enough. In order to be challenging it should be kept to peasants, pikemen, swordmen, cavaliers. Conquering castles will be difficult and defending other towns will be a problem. For defending other towns I would allow from each town 1 Greek mythology of it's turn unit like: centaurs or Pegasus, harpies or minautours, Giants, Gorgons or hydras, any elemental, cyclops as melee 😐, Cerberus. Necro is undefended... But I think you get the idea. PS: the no resource piles, etc challenge is not so hard IMHO. I'm playing it as tower with no problem (2 modification thoughs I don't take campfires, I take chests as xp only). You get delayed 1 week but after that for me it is similar with my normal play. (I heavily use spells rather than creatures which are more Cannon folder)

[@TheKnownWorld]

I'm very surprised to hear this! You didn't find this to be a difficult challenge as Tower on 200% difficulty? Also, how are you even making it to units or accessing spells without Wood and Ore in the early game?

[@igognito1]

@@TheKnownWorld, exactly that's the tower power 😉 I use the spell shrines, scholar and the hero spells. Units I only need a good chunk of Gremlins and Gargoyles. Build only town hall, master gremlin upgrade and the Gargoyles extra population building. Total cost: 2500+1000+1500. With Aine I usually get to build those and a buy a second hero at first week total cost 7500 you start with 500-1000+ earn 850/day. At day three you get a town hall at day five a hero, day six master Gargoyles and day seven the Gargoyles population. At week two I get a third hero and as many units I can. Then I have enough for dwarven treasury, graveyards, churchyards. By the end of the week I usually break a guard and try to do my first siege ☺️ Then you get a city with Capitol and level 5-6 dwelling 🤣🤣🤣 who needs to build his own City? I keep produce Gremlins, Gargoyles and a second power stack from the new city. Also I use a lot, golems which I usually get plenty from the heros especially to defend cities. Golems are slow but are very good to absorb damage especially from chain lightning 🤣🤣🤣. I can clear a small Naga bank with a few golems and a decent Solmyr! Just blast then to death 😊. Important buildings: well, spell shrines, trade post and any creature dwelling. PS: I do use slow, haste, and any spell I get in my hands. I don't retreat/surrender as a town portal. I use town portal but limit my self to 1 per turn per hero. Usually when you get those the game is near over, you are already stronger. The spells just help you to finish faster ☺️. Also I do not cheese the comp by hitting-retreating. If I strike I stay and fight. I retreat only if I don't strike. This strategy, I actually devised it because I like tower. It was so expensive that sometimes even with the resources you can't build it. So I said who needs the starting city 🤣 let's make it work without one. Still I used to build a few more things especially mage guild for spells and mana replenish. But I adapted and noticed you don't really needed it. By week two you get a good variety of spells from heroes and shrines. And you almost always find a well near your town.

[@somdood3292]

IDK how original this is or if its been done or if it would even be difficult for you, but what about 1 town 1 teir mob only challenge, where you can only buy your teir 1 troop in the first town you own, teir 2 in the second town and so and so forth until you get to the 7th town for your final troop stack? would that be a legimate challenge run for you?... ive seen your ballista only run and this sounds wayyy less painful but it would be interesting becuase it would be a suprise what troops you end up getting which with bad rng could actually make the run terrible if you end up getting the worst from each teir

[@TheKnownWorld]

While this isn't a bad suggestion, I already did a playthrough where I was only allowed to use the Tier 1 unit of every town that I came across. Because I've already done a Tier-based challenge, I would rather focus on trying new challenges rather than revisiting the restrictions I've used in my past videos. Also, I find it hard to imagine that the challenge you're suggesting here would be more difficult than Tier 1 Units Only.

[@somdood3292]

@@TheKnownWorld i wasnt thinking about the difficulty, only the fun factor of the challenge :P no worries though i understand completely... question... how do you find a challenge harder than teir 1 only or ballista i think id struggle with somthing like that... anyway love your videos and ill continue to watch them as i find them

[@blueboxjuggler]

hey MeKick, have you ever played Heroes like you developed your town a little bit and waited around 3 months to go on a war against a really big armies?

[@TheKnownWorld]

I did this in the Siege Survival video (kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJjTmH2Mrsyoe6c for Part 1) with the twist of having to wait for the AI to come to me.

[@DarkSerris]

Challenge : diplomacy is your only way to recruit creatures. Maybe already done, in which case apologies

[@NieJestemWikingiem]

3h left in the previous one. You are a fast one xD

[@TheKnownWorld]

I release videos once a month at best. I hardly think that qualifies as being fast :P

[@AlexPrime9]

idea next challanges: 1. no mouse 2. no keyboard 3. only level 7 units (don't ask me how) 4. no town 5. under 1 hour challange 6. only 4 legged units 7. only DD, TP and ressurection spells 8. only peasants 9. first aid only 10. only level 1 hero

[@TheKnownWorld]

Only Level 7 units AND Only Peasants?! This might be a little too easy as a challenge, don't you think? ;D

[@Gothicfan]

Holidays just ended and tomorrow’s monday. Tough luck for us Europeans haha

[@TheKnownWorld]

Haha, tough luck indeed! If it's any consolation, this video will still be here when you get back ;)

[@gaudiumfelidae9520]

Next no fights with heroes or towns or creatures unless it's a creature guarding an obelisk or blocking a path find the grail to win

[@TheKnownWorld]

lol, didn't I already do this in my Grail First challenge?

[@gaudiumfelidae9520]

@@TheKnownWorld OK back to re-watch I guess (how did I miss that?)

[@gaudiumfelidae9520]

@@TheKnownWorld me trying to think of absolutely ridiculous challenge Mekick: I already have done that without view air view earth Town portal dimensional door diplomacy hives slow etc Well idk do a dig the grail win without digging

[@somdood3292]

since i started watching your videos about 3 weeks ago, i bought homm3on gog(i own the original cd from way backk in the day annd i own it on steam too), installed hd mod and hota and i cannot for the life of me beat "the devil is in the details". im trying to play rampart becuase of the money advantage with a treasury, i build a town hall into wood elves and then capital rush, then build the first tier of each troop then build a treasury, and ussually by the time i get invaded by teal or pink in month 3, they bringn thier strongest hero with legions of at least 4 stacks, 1 to 4 rust or azure dragonns and at least 35 teir 7s...on my best attempt i had 20 gold dragons 35 ish unicornns and about 150 grand elves. ive beaten thier armys on a few different attempts but it left me completely crippled andd i was takenn over by some one else in the coming weeks... starting to feel like the map is impossible i tried this with Mephala, Ivor and Jenassa as my starting champ but it doesnt seem to go any better either way... Im as dungeon Main and im not really good at the 1 stack fodder strats you use to block your ranged units....Any chance youll ever attempt to beat that map or do you already have a video up of it that i cant find by searching?

[@TheKnownWorld]

Wow, that does sound challenging! Unfortunately, I don't have a playthrough of "The Devil is in the Details" on my channel, nor do I intend to do one anytime soon since I would prefer to focus my limited time for making videos on the random map challenges. Perhaps you might be interested in how other Heroes III KZbinrs have tackled on this map, such as AbsoluteZero's playthrough at kzbin.info/aero/PLqyBKiHbM__FiiWTPPK8irk6pgqK__x_w. Good on you for installing the Heroes III Complete Edition and the HD mod over Ubisoft's HD Edition on Steam!

[@blade6283]

2:05:24 perfectly explains why this challenge took 8 hours to complete😅

[@TheKnownWorld]

lol :(

[@danimirivanovic4551]

Yo Mekick i heard they are relaesing new faction factory in 2020. i think at january , and cove is getting a graphical rework ? It's so hard to find news couse everything is on Russian :D Do you know anything about this ?

[@TheKnownWorld]

I'm aware that HotA plans on releasing a new faction (Factory) in 2020, but I've heard nothing about Cove getting a graphical rework. Sorry, but I don't know much more about the new updates aside from that.

[@danimirivanovic4551]

@@TheKnownWorld Tnx for answering ! I am glad to hear that they are releasing factory thats good for me , i am hyped as hell :D And i am hyped for your future videos ofc :D

[@SQ8MXT]

Next challenge: (The grand challenge) Combination of 3 or more(the more the better) previous challenges ie. 1. No resources piles mines like this one + only ranged units + only might (of couse every challenge without the use of op stuff like farming wyvs conservatories ressurection diplomacy and stuff) 2, one stack per hero, no magic, auto combat only or some other combination. ideas are welcome

[@TheKnownWorld]

Sorry, but I have the next five challenges lined up as part of the Sinister Six. This Grand Challenge suggestion isn't a bad idea, but right now my focus is on trying to showcase new challenges instead of going back and redoing the ones I've already completed.

[@SQ8MXT]

@@TheKnownWorld Sure thing. It doesnt have to be the very next challenge. It's just an idea for one of the next challenges ;)

[@TheKnownWorld]

Fair enough! I appreciate the suggestion :)

[@coderodion]

8+ hours long battle: there's no room for losing.

[@TheKnownWorld]

lol

[@fireice9763]

Next challenge on the end of week you need a send 50 percent of all your gold an resurcse to a enemy

[@snarfnpoots7678]

The final challenge of the Sinister Six - Defeat Dave

[@TheKnownWorld]

You ask the impossible of me! Kappa

[@estiem988]

7:51:44 i hope you guys have enjoyed this final battle .. 40 mins before the game is over .. really hate when you start saying goodbye before you've been announced winner ..

[@TlmExp]

Awesome , thank you for this awesome content =)

[@TheKnownWorld]

You're welcome! Thank you for watching!

[@derakuza5003]

Might try no army chaining and no poormans allowed for the future one. Both are probabaly cheese that game creators did not think about. While I am writing it, would be nice to win a game without some cheese in neutral fights and so on as well :D

[@TheKnownWorld]

If you want to see a challenge where I didn't use Hero Chaining or Poor Man's Town Portal, you can watch Only One Hero ;)

[@Gil-games]

In some of your videos you refer to the "hota lobby" thing where you cant win. I am curios if there is any player there who made some gameplay w/ commentary??? can you recommand sby?

[@TheKnownWorld]

If you're asking about whether or not there are other players who regularly play PvP on HotA's Online Lobby system, then yes, there are a few. Most of the matches you'll find for the Online Lobby will be on streams rather than gameplay videos, though. Just to name a few people who stream in English almost daily, you might want to see Lexiav's stream (www.twitch.tv/lexiav would be the link) and Haze_Tech's stream (www.twitch.tv/haze_tech would be the link).

[@Gil-games]

TheKnownWorld exactly. thx.

[@BoomChing]

Yay the faction i like, finally

[@TheKnownWorld]

I hope you enjoy the video!

[@zimmicks3170]

Also an issue with One Fight per Turn - what if the AI opponents initiate more than one fight with you on THEIR turn? You can't control the AI...

[@TheKnownWorld]

If the AI attacks me on their turn, then that's their problem ;) I suppose the more accurate name for such a challenge would then be "One Attack Per Turn", but I don't want to confuse viewers with only being able to attack once per round in combat.

[@totitakreknu320]

Next time prohibit heroes piles too 30:26 :-) It was nice plan anyway, and blue surprisingly failed miserably both in defending and attacking empty town, that was exceptionally incompetent even for AI wizard :-D

[@TheKnownWorld]

Haha, maybe you're right - perhaps I should've considered prohibiting those too :P I'm not so sure about "exceptionally incompetent", though. After all, we can't really blame Blue for wanting to take out my hero. The only problem was that Blue didn't plan far enough ahead afterwards!

[@totitakreknu320]

Taking out your hero was ok, taking out his hero from main town was not :-D Expecially when AI could see your army there. I´m not sure why, but usually AI perform much better when it plays castle, and lets say decent as rampart or dungeon (sometimes). But early wizards and late game fortress AI is always terrible. What about next challenge, is it going to happen this year? :o)