10 Million Views 10 Game Celebration - 2/10: Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver (GBC) iCABALi 2026-09-28 | 10 Million Views 10 Game Celebration - 2/10: Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver (GBC)
Sonic Generations - S Ranks & No Skills - Part 002: Chemical Plant Zone iCABALi 2024-06-24 | Act 1 feels quite similar to Act 1 of Sonic 2's Chemical Plant. Blue Balls, alternate routes and all. Keep above water for as long as possible when going for an S Rank. That applies for both Acts.Act 2 adds a few more mechanics. Drfiting around corners very early on and free falling. Whilst Free Falling, you can boost to descend quicker. Act 2 has more opportunities to fall into the "water", messing your run up more. This also introduce cannon like objects you have to shoot yourself out of in a certain direction (in this case to the right). Nailing the mid-air boost at 4:55 saves time as well, as long as you don't overshoot it. Landing on the rail is perfect, but anything just before helps too.Finishing this act saves Amy Rose and Sonic kind of regrets that instantly.
Sonic Generations - S Ranks & No Skills - Part 001: Introduction & Green Hill Zone iCABALi 2024-06-23 | I did mention that Sonic Generations was coming soon, and alongside Chrono Trigger. Makes sense to start uploading on Sonic's birthday.This will be a playthrough with S Ranks in all the main stages, as well as the boss/rival fights on Normal and Hard difficulty.I just pick randomly for the three side missions I need to do to unlock the Keys, but I think I S rank all of them. Also, as the title suggests, I don't equip any skills. I don't bother collecting Red rings as getting them all in one playthrough requires specific routing, which in some cases can add a fair bit of time on to the level.I think this is a good game overall, but I do find the amount of praise it gets compared to stuff like Unleashed and even Forces unwarranted. The whole point of this game is Nostalgia, and none of the stages or bosses are as good as they were in their original source. At least when Forces revisits an area its in current day rather than trying to replicate the original and in my opinion, not living up to those.The game boots into Green Hill Zone with Classic Sonic, you can Spin Dash your way through most of it for an S Rank. S ranks are pretty much achieved by not being a slouch and not dying. There is one point you need to bounce off a Buzz Bomber to get higher and you'll need enough momentum to do it (the lower route is just slower). It will help you well for subsequent levels to nail this now.After GHZ Act 1 we're fittingly at Modern Sonic's birthday party, before a shadowy beast sucks all his friends into different time zones (representing 9 stages, and 9 of the games).First up its back to Green Hill Zone for Act 2.Modern Sonic boosts for his speed, and has responsive controls. More boost levels over Classic Sonic would have been great, but its 50/50. There's a lot of on screen prompts to help you on this stage, but you should be looking ahead, master when to use rail hopping/sliding/stomping/homing attacks on this stage to help you with upcoming levels. The rainbow Rings and Ramps allow you to perform tricks to refill your Boost Gauge, and defeating enemies will have the same (if lesser) effect Rings also have a small refilling effect too. The only shortcut that might take a few attempts to nail down is at 6:00 with the wall jumping.After Act 2, Tails is rescued and Green Hill Zone is further restored in the hub world. Classic Sonic shows up and Tails somehow doesn't recognise Sonic looking different despite his apparent intelligence.The next level is quite clearly Chemical Plant Zone.
Silent Bomber Longplay PSX iCABALi 2024-06-22 | I had this upon original release and never managed to beat the game, getting stuck at the first half of the final boss.I'm not that great, and don't try for As, so expect quite a few Cs/D rankings. As are best gone for in post game.The main gameplay element is destroying stuff with bombs, either through locking on with regular bombs and stacking on top or stacking either regular bombs or the three other bomb types on the floor.Napalm leaves fire behind and is very good against biological enemies, often stunning them.Paralysis works is best used singularly, unless you want to take out a cluster of mechanical enemies quickly. It temporarily stops mechanical enemies, making them easy prey for your other bombs.Gravity draws in bullets and smaller enemies, great for going for A ranks as it increases the score multiplier quickly.The first mission has you tasked with destroying AA weapons to support other forces.E-Chips are how you upgrade stats, either Bomb count, Range, or Shield. I was unaware until the final level, but you can configure your loadout mid level through the pause screen to change better to certain scenarios. Once you've dealt with the AA batteries you'll find a crab like mech. One Paralysis to disable followed up by stacks on the legs works well. Try to use Gravity before dealing the final blow to suck up bullets and give you a nice multiplier (I won't mention this again - I don't do it often).Mission 2 is very short. A short stroll to a miniboss of three samurai warriors and a gunner which can be destroyed quickly. After that the boss which has an obvious area to avoid. the massive mid section that can fire a laser. Napalm stacks work well, as do Paralysis.Mission 3 starts fairly simple, destroy the crates on your way to the next area and you'll then find the first batch of targets in a straight line. 2 Napalms or Paralysis per target should do it. After the bridge is destroyed, head right first for an E-Chip and then you'll find more targets on the left before coming to a small split path area. You don't have to destroy the low lying larger vehicles by the energy tanks, as they'll be destroyed as the section collapses if you leave after destroying the targets.Mission 4 is similar, but with elevators. More target destruction and similar enemies to Mission 2, but with added Shield dudes. Paralysis works well on them.Mission 5 you might want more range than me and less shield. The flying enemies by the ship can be annoying to target. Paralysis doesn't ground them, but does stop them. Your bombs will damage the ship if caught in the crossfire.Mission 6 has winding tunnels that you have to navigate through, and black disks you have to bomb to temporarily deactivate laser walls. Then an annoying platforming segment. The boss at the end is similar enough to the first one that the same strategy can be applied.Mission 7 it's worth destroying the circular structures flanked by green crystals and the targets. The boss is quite large and requires you to jump on his flat back area to bomb the weakpoint.Mission 8 takes place on a raft. Easy to start, but with annoying to hit submarines. Destroy the boxes in the intermisison before the second raft to top up on everything. The boss here if three blue flying mechs with guns a homing plasma ball and rockets. Lock on when they go to the side.Mission 9 is a short maze like area to rescue Annri with loot in cells.Mission 10 Biomonster time. Target the scythes and use either Napalm or destroy the consoles. You'll need to walk them over a stack to finish them off once the Scythes are gone. The boss is weirdly weak to Gravity (maybe its size) and the spiderlings can be killed effectively with Napalm.Mission 11 starts with the blue mechs from the raft, and ends with the second most annoying boss which bombards you and you need to target the yo-yo like objects and detonate them once they're at (not closed in) the main body.Mission 12 is easier than it first seems. One bomb locked on is enough to distract the Biomonsters from Annri, and there's plenty of loot around.Mission 13 has you destroying four targets that are in two pairs of areas, you'll need to look on sidewalls for the black discs to target.Mission 14 has you playing Chess. The pieces move like they do in chess, but attack differently. Standing on an opposite colour for the bishops works well, and the Queens are best attacked Diagonally. Which leaves the King. Surprise to nobody, it's Benoit. Max bomb stacks on the floor and luring him into them work best. Paralysis works as he's AI! Then you can enjoy the ending featuring presumably Jutah meeting with Annri.0:00 - Introduction7:47 - Mission 112:20 - Mission 217:20 - Mission 323:50 - Mission 429:45 - Mission 538:34 - Mission 654:40 - Mission 71:00:18 - Mission 81:12:20 - Mission 91:18:10 - Mission 101:28:00 - Mission 111:44:05 - Mission 121:49:45 - Mission 132:02:10 - Mission 142:15:50 - Ending & Credits
Gears Of War Ultimate Edition - Insane - Act V: Desparation & Ending iCABALi 2024-06-22 | Head to the bridge controls to raise the bridge and deal with ambush of Locust. Kneecapping is especially effective here. Head under the bridge for a Wretch ambush. There's a decent amount of pressure when you head through a building and can enter another. I think there's an E-hole to plug in the building, but I didn't fid it. There's also a Troika in the side of a building to the left asking for a Grenade. At the end of the chapter nab a Troika on the right quickly to mop up Locust forces easier. I head to the start of the area for the Boomer. Sitting on a Troika makes you an easy target.At the start of Chapter 2, you'll see a Brumak chasing Cole and Bair through the streets in a scene. Another courtyard area but very segmented, so can be hard to keep on top of the enemies. Closing the E-holes quick is an option. Dom's AI broke in this section for some reason. More Wretches and low tier enemies in the next section. After stopping the fire you'll find Cog TAG 28 to the side. Inside the next building there's an E-hole and the Brumak pursues you. Shoot the knees to halt its advance and eventually you'll find yourself saved by falling rubble. Take the balconies so you can take out some Theron Guard and nab yourself a Longshot to clear the other side and then downstairs by the Troikas. Shoot the chains to crush the Seeder and mop up to advance. No idea why the next chapter took so long to load.There's an early COG Tag 29 in the next Chapter, just before you head outside. The outside area is small, so snipe the Troika and a few more to proceed and use the next Troika to take out some Propane by the Seeder and kill it. Kill the next small group of Locusts in this area and be aware of the Wretch ambush just after on the ramp. More Locusts outside, including some Theron Guards to nab a Torque Bow form if you wish (I stick with Longshot for now). Head to the next area and take out the weaker enemies before a Boomer shows up in the kitchen to end the Chapter.Wretches and a difficult to hit Troika start the level then a couple of Boomers ambush you after the Grenadiers. Baird's AI seemed to break in the next area. More Grenadiers, Wretches and Theron Guard wait for the end of the level. Inside is more of the same enemies, with a Boomer on the catwalk and a puzzle like navigation to this area.Time for the Brumak fight. Shoot the metal parts on its arms to disable them (it can still launch rockets), after this shoot the kneecaps and then shoot at the driver once he's been lowered. The powerlines kill it ultimately and the bridge is lowered so the original Act 5 can start.I have to restart these three Chapters, so most of the COG Tags aren't shown being picked up. Chapter 6 immediately starts with you being pinned down by Snipers and a few Wretches before you can advance on the train and end the Chapter.You'll start under immediate pressure from Theron Guards. For now swap the Longshot for Torque Bow. Advance to the first train car and a Berserker comes aboard a syou try to open the first door. Get it on one of the segments behind you and lob grenades at the fuel tank to blow it up and separate the cart - killing the Berserker too.Just inside you'll find some Cog TAGs (I already picked these up).Nemacysts appear outside now with Theron Guards on them and enemies inside the carriages pose a threat. In the next cart you'll fin d more COG Tags inside by the right door (by the Crimson Omen as always).Head up the ladder for a lot of Nemacysts. I found the Torque Bow better than the Troika for taking them out to be honest, so did so until I ran out of ammo before the last one. Lambent wretches next. I found the Gnasher helped more for this group in the next carriage as the Lancer wasn't giving me quick enough damage.After the carriage and you left a second set of barrels off the train head into the left entrance for the final COG Tags. Time for the final Chapter. I restart because I decide on Torque Bow and Lancer. RAAM is surrounded by Kryll and only the explosive power of the Torque Bow will shift them, allowing you to target him. He is also equipped with a mini Troika gun so he will tear you apart easily. Torque Bow and Longshot is how I remember doing it originally. In co-op you can have a player nab the Troika to make this even quicker. I only had to play around with his AI a little bit after my Torque Bow was finished and the Lancer made that easier for blindfire purposes.Enjoy the lengthy ending/credits and cole Train Rap.0:00 - Chapter 1: Impasse21:05 - Chapter 2: Comedy of Errors30:45 - COG Tag 2842:25 - COG Tag 2943:59 - Chapter 3: Window Shopping56:55 - Chapter 4: Powers That Be1:17:30 - Chapter 5: Jurassic Proportions1:18:34 - COG Tag 301:22:08 - Chapter 6: Special Delivery1:25:11 - Chapter 7: Train Wreck1:31:25 - COG Tag 31 (Location Shown)1:35:01 - COG Tag 32 (Location Shown)1:44:00 - COG Tag 33 (Location Shown)1:45:00 - Chapter 8: Pale Horse1:47:30 - Ending & Cole Train Rap
Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour Hard - China Campaign - Mission 5 iCABALi 2024-06-21 | Time to finally remove GLA from Europe. Although Europe according to these briefings has solely been Germany.The GLA has a combined USA and GLA forces in this region, and some USA forces have been left on the map as neutral units, some to the W of your base and more to the S by a mini GLA expansion.Red Guards nabbing them is key for an early defense whilst you work on capturing and converting the fake GLA Command Centre.I turn the SE base into my main base and let the forces consume my original base, the annoying thing about this is that a lot of the space isn't buildable so it becomes a bit of a struggle to hold this area. The train running through also semi frequently took out Dozers. The Workers I wasn't so bothered about as they were cheap and easy to replace. I found the attacks to be rather minimal once I was holed up here, it just ended up being a bit of a slow process. The Super Weapons being the main threat with a small but almost constant flow of infantry from the W bridge and a smallish semi-frequent force from the NW and NE that my units could manage. For the bridge I initally was intending to use a Palace with Jarmen Kell and some RPG Troopers.The kind of annoying thing that happened was the destruction of the captured USA dozer. I could evidently see that Colonel Burton would have been a great play for the GLA base as there's plenty of mountainous areas for him to climb over and they had minimal defence here. Burton could have cleaned up A LOT. In fact a three Hero approach might have been a great play. Jarmen Kell to snipe Stinger Sites and other infantry Lotus to capture structures more efficiently than Red Guards and Burton to take on softer targets.Helixes would have been another option but I couldn't really fit an Air Field in. I end up with a China ground assault and some Nukes. The USA base can fall with a few Nukes. The GLA Radar Scan ability helps reveal the lcoation of the Particle Cannon in the USA base and leaves it ripe for a strike.The SW base is easy enough with an Overlord and Inferno combination, but the SCUD Launchers are something to be aware of. The USA base will fall much quicker than the GLA one as you can roll across the bridge easy enough and find a hole in their defence (though there's an Artillery platform to look out for).With everything destroyed you get a rather disappointing ending.The worst expansion campaign wise in my opinion. Cheaply produced FMVs for both this and the original Generals are one of the major things that let it down.I like the extra sub-factions in Zero Hour, and Generals Challenge, but I'm glad to have finally finished with this to be honest. I won't hurry back to play either Generals or Zero Hour for at least a few years now.Kane's Wrath and Firestorm are the two Gold standards for C&C expansions in my opinion, with Yuri's Revenge not being far behind them. All three of them had very memorable campaigns and after having played all three of them again in the past few months they definitely still play well.There's still one expansion I have left to play in the series. At some point. Perhaps.
Gears Of War Ultimate Edition - Insane - Act IV: The Long Road Home iCABALi 2024-06-20 | We start with a shootout in a square, the footage is obviously spliced again, although I probably should have cut it down a bit in hindsight. If you stay close to the entrance you can pick off targets like the Boomers more safely.You have a split path, I prefer to take the inside buildings for easier kills. Only a few Wretches and a Theron Guard to contend with and a Drone. The courtyard enemies and Seeder can be taken out quickly form here too and then you have a few enemies until the end.Chapter 2 has more early Cog TAGs so time stamp is accordingly. After you try to kick in the door an E-hole will spawn in the previous area, and after taking these forces out two Boomers will smash their way through creating an opening behind you. Head into the Observatory for the return of the Berserker. I leave a death in with me not knowing what to do initially after it corners me. You need to lure it into the pillars to rip the roof open then use the Hammer of Dawn.Turn on the sprinklers to put out the fire and find the next chapter.Use the Hammer of Dawn early to conserve ammo, and this is one Chapter where I do use the Boomshot a bit down those narrow alleys to get a few kills, and there's multiple Boomers to get more ammo from.I expend my Boomshot (almost a kill per shot though) early on in the next chapter and get back a Torque Bow/Lancer combo at the end There's better opportunities for the Torque Bow especially at the Troika and the early part of next chapter.Ascend the long stairs with the assitance of a Torque Bow and use a Grenade or Torque Bow shot inside the mansion for an E-hole closure. I swap the Torque Bow out for a Gnasher for now, as the area of movement is smaller. Shoot furniture to deal with Locust hiding behind them and after stopping another E-hole look for a desk in a room with four pillars to find Cog TAGs inside. Head into the lab and after finding the secret door and attempting to open it the last chapter of the act begins.As the name suggests, this is quite a slow level. Deal with the initial threat from the starting point and head into the lab to see the true extent of the Locust Tunnels. Now we have to regroup at the front of the house, the Gnasher helps, but I preferred the Longshot for making the end part easier.There's not a lot enemies in the basement, but they can kill you quickly because of the cramped quarters. Quite a few Wretches ambush you when you enter the room with the four pillars, so stay back to deal with them.Reach Cole and Baird at the top of the house and prepare to Grenade the front door to deal with most of the Locust that come pouring in through the chokepoint and then come slowly one at a time making it easy. Once they stop get to the top quick and Longshot the Boomer that comes bursting in.Head through the back of the house and deal with the enemies in the courtyard area before heading out. Quickly Longshot the Boomers and when a timer appears rush for the end of the level. The group is seen leaving with a Brumak pursuing.Funnily enough, on the original 360 release you didn't get to fight the Brumak, on the PC release and then Ultimate Edition you will get to fight it in an extended Act 5, which is the longest Act by a fair bit.0:00 - Chapter 1: Campus Grinder5:48 - Cog TAG 2517:25 - Cog TAG 2617:41 - Chapter 2: Bad To Worse30:44 - Chapter 3: Hazing42:20 - Chapter 4: Close To Home48:15 - Chapter 5: Imaginary Place57:40 - Cog TAG 2759:55 - Chapter 6: Entrenched
Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour Hard - China Campaign - Mission 4 iCABALi 2024-06-19 | GLA are now on the run with China on the offensive mopping up the remnants of them in Europe.This is a much easier level than the last, and probably easier than the second in all honesty too.You have to deal with 6 waves of GLA forces that approach from the edge of the map. Thinking of this, you're free to capture what you like and spread defensive structures around the map too. Capture the Derricks early. Your initial forces can deal the first wave easy enough. The Nuke Cannons can be useful if timed well, but mass Helixes is the play here. They're mobile enough and with the Second Supply Depot and Derricks you can easily pump them out.If anything I went overboard with static defencs, and could have done with a few more Helixes towards the end. Helixes are very mobile, so a group of 10+ for the early waves and 20+ at the end is enough in all honesty. The spread defences were more back ups as I had no clue where the waves would come from.In your Helix group make sure there are a few Speaker Towers for Repair/RoF buff. the rest with Gattling Cannons is great. The Cluster Mines are quite helpful too. By the end of the first Wave I was almost fully expanded and just went to nab the Second Supply Depot. You'll want 20-30 Helixes for the last Wave purely because it's from 2 locations. From here on it's just a case of heading to the start of the path Guarding and replacing minimal losses.1st Wave is on the W side in the centre.2nd Wave is on the S side in the centre.3rd Wave is on the W side at the S most entrance.4th Wave is on the S side at the E most entrance5th Wave is on the W side at the S most entrance.I'm not sure if Wave 6 is randomised, but for me it was split between W side centre entrance and S side centre entrance. I was caught kind of off guard by it, was almost expecting opposite ends of the map. Still nothing too major in terms of losses and a very easy level overall. The Gattling Cannons did nothing. A few more Helixes would have been preferable.The last level is going to be fairly long (at least longer than the rest of these levels have been) but I feel like I found an almost cheesy strat for it, whilst another strat I had in mind got ruined mid that level.
Gears Of War Ultimate Edition - Insane - Act III: Belly of the Beast iCABALi 2024-06-18 | Act III starts with the Junker being damaged and the group heading into a factory with Lambent Wretches prowling. Lambent Wretches have two main distinctions from standard, they explode and they glow. You can see them in the dark easier, but you definitely don't want to get close. The Lancer is probably better here, but a couple of Grenades would help too (mine failed). Advance until you see some buildings you can go into and you'll find the first COG Tag on a pier to the right (I actually splice the footage of me collecting it into the actual run of the level). Not much happens for the rest of the Chapter. Early on into Chapter 2 you'll meet up with a guy trapped in a room with a Shotgun and see Baird and Cole down in the sewers. There's a floorboard puzzle to get to COG Tag 20, so I put the timestamp at the beginning of the path to follow. If you fall down I think you can get back up, but you'll have to fight Lambent Wretches in the lower area. There's a larger room with more Lambent Wretches and then you'll meet up with Cole and Baird. Nab the Longshot instead of the Gnasher here. Like I said, the Lancer probably works better for Lambent creatures because you don't want to get close.There's a Boomer right at the end of the Chapter, so the Longshot is nice for sniping him.Chapter 3 is another early COG Tag, so I time stamped accordingly. You're playing a rail shooter here. You will need to kill stuff, despite it looking safe in the cart. The explosion of Lambent Wretches dropping will kill you on Insane.After the Cart section there's a handful of Lambent Wretches before a couple of Boomers on circular platforms end the Chapter.Chapter 4 has another early COG Tag (spliced footage again) and has a narrow path before a fall down some water and be ambushed by Locust forces. There's another COG Tag just after this encounter. More Lambent Wretches and then a Boomer, this time the midpoint of the Chapter. There's a split path that you should advance slowly down, and go back when you encounter enemies. After the split there's a refill by some emulsion and a narrow area with more enemies. There's a COG Tag right at the end of this chapter to the right as the area opens up when you see a Corpser.Chapter 5 is a boss level of sorts, and the boss fights really help Gears stand out more from other games of the era in my opinion. Because I've played this a few times before, I make this look quite easy. Shoot between the claws at the Corpser's belly until it screeches and raises its legs/claws and then shoot it in the eyes to make it fall back. If you can do this quickly enough and get the reload timings right, you won't get any pushback or face any Lambent Wretches. After it is on the metal platform you're alerted of the breakable attachments. Use your body as a lure and jump out the way for both of them to watch it fall into the emulsion and end the chapter once you approach the next area.There's a Torque Bow at the beginning of Chapter 6. It's long ranged like the Longshot, but is more powerful (particularly after an active reload) at the expense of less ammo and a time cost whilst it's drawnback. Either the Longshot or Torque Bow are good in most scenarios, for this level I take both as I want to stay away from the larger central area and pick off targets, especially Theron Guards who use the Torque Bow and have heavier armour. Them charging up a shot gives away their position. The explosive power of the Torque Bow comes with another undisclosed disadvantage, so Longshot is probably better againt the Bow equipped Theron Guards. The explosive power of the Torque Bow means the enemy usually has their weapon launched into the air and then it becomessometimes impossible to claim for ammo purposes. Do the opposite to what I did. Longshot the Bow users and Torque Bow the Lancer users. Once it quietens down think about an advance but pay attention to the other characters to know when it's ok to advance. That last hidden Theron Guard could have got dicey, but evasive action and use of terrain gave me the win there. It took me a while to find the power switch for the elevator, I misremembered it being in the central area for some reason. 1:06:44 is when I head to it.The Act ends with the tunnels being mapped by the Resonator, but only a small portion of it. Lucky we can see the extent of it and the soruce seems to be near Marcus' home, so time to head home in Act IV after an abrupt landing due to Nemacysts.0:00 - Chapter 1: Downpour5:05 - COG Tag 197:04 - Chapter 2: Evolution14:35 - COG Tag 2024:15 - COG Tag 2124:30 - Chapter 3: Coalition Cargo32:00 - COG Tag 2233:15 - Chapter 4: Darkest Before Dawn38:15 - COG Tag 2350:45 - COG Tag 2451:10 - Chapter 5: Angry Titan55:10 - Chapter 6: Tip of the Iceberg
Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour Hard - China Campaign - Mission 3 iCABALi 2024-06-16 | China has now been given authority to drive out GLA from Europe.In Germany we have to destroy statues before International Approval for China drops too low.One of the weirdest changes made to a C&C level was the removal of the Carpet Bombing from this one in patch 1.04. It turns what was otherwise challenging, but ultimately fair and at the time forgettable level into this.This is a bit of an unfair level for people that don't regularly play RTS games, even those that beat campaigns on Hard difficulty.The GLA have off map power, and an off map Palace and Black Market. This means that they have a production speed buff, a good stream of income even after you shutdown their main base and can always build the full range of vehicles. I think they also have a total of 8 Arms Dealers.The "legit" way of doing this is very APM and micro intensive, you'll want to rush clockwise to the top base and take it out/capture it with infantry or go with an anticlockwise approach along the bottom edge with vehicles.The two biggest annoyances here are the SCUD Launchers and Rocket Buggies. Rocket Buggies are only a threat defensively, so a couple of Listening Outposts at key points can deal with them, but SCUD Launchers hamper you both ways. Gattling Tanks are probably the best bet whilst attacking because of their speed, Gattling Cannons in your base CAN shoot down the missiles, but that stops them taking out other targets.The infantry approach is probably easier on the whole than vehicular and taking the Supplies and buildings in the NW can diversify your army better with quicker units. Listening Outposts are key either way for detecting Demo Traps. There aren't Inferno Cannons in this level, which would have helped MASSIVELY. Dragon Tanks just don't cut it unless something is drawing fire.Once you've taken the top a sweep through the centre with Red Guards flanking Battlemasters or Tank Hunters with Troop Crawlers will help.You will notice none of this is what I did.I wanted an easier to follow and easier to replicate method, so I had to think outside the box, or rather outside the scaffolding. This method is also faster than other methods, and I still could have been a couple more minutes quicker by using my vehicles quicker.The main thing needed for this low intensity strategy is a ring of Listening Outposts that outreach your main base, with some vehicles in the centre with a Speaker Tower. The vehicles are mainly there to be bait for their approaching forces, and for the last couple of targets.So what is the method? Speaker Tower scaffolding by the Statues. You'll want a large ring of Listening Outposts before the first plan goes down, because they'll instantly begin retaliating. Learn the Hotkey for the Speaker Tower and the Stop command, immediately press Stop after placing a plan so the Dozer doesn't move too far (though I would check it after every statue)What the Speaker Tower placing does is forces their units to retaliate, as they're all tank shells/rockets this causes splash damage. The top Statue can be felled with minimal Towers if you get lucky with Scorpion Tanks firing, and it has the most obvious placement for the Towers to maximise damage. The others take a bit of working out. I could have taken all of them out using this method but take the closest two out with vehicles.Judging by my forces, it should have been the southern three for the most speed, as I had a decent amount left to head NE after the final Statue was felled. Next up a massive drop off in difficulty that I beat first time blindly, despite the surprises it tried to throw atme.
Gears Of War Ultimate Edition - Insane - Act II: Nightfall iCABALi 2024-06-14 | Tick Tick Boom almost instantly starts with a split path decision. Left allows you to lob a couple of grenades from behind cover and get a Boomshot, but right feels better defended overall.After a few minutes you'll regroup near a Troika and shortly after Grist Begins almost seemlessly.The 13th COG Tag is right at the start of Grist so it would make sense to have the time stamp for it first. Head outside and take out the Boomer (preferably with Grenades) and then slowly advance to the right. I do grab this Boomshot and keep it alonside the Gnasher, but almost immediately after swap back to the Lancer I generally prefer to play with the Gnasher and a long ranged weapon for most of the game, but in Act 2 Grenades are fine for your weapon to take out heavier targets.Once you head down the stairs head backwards down the alley for the 14th COG Tag.In the more open road segment get behind and quickly push a car all the way to the end and take out the Troika with a Grenade and mop up before finding the 15th COG Tag near the end of the Chapter, just left of the settlement entrance.Advance through the settlement for a cutscene and the next Chapter of 1 minute of walking.I die right at the start of Lethal Dusk, but keep it in rather than edit it out.Outside shoot the propane tank to light up the area and then grab the Longshot. I keep the Lancer for here, because there's a few long range targets that I would rather just use a shot of the Lancer for (the propane tanks mainly). There's also no opportunities for enemies to get closer for the most part because the Kryll will rip them to shreds, as is demonstrated with the light going off by some humans. Look for Propane tanks to advance by the cars and at the end of the alley on the left you'll find a Propane Tank that will allow you to nab COG Tag 16.Down the right you'll see a Troika and some enemies near it. A perfect opportunity to use the Longshot before shooting more Propane Tanks to get there. At the end of here on the left you'll find a house to go into, and immediately get ambushed by a Wretch. Chop it up.Then you'll come to an outdoor area with an E-Hole. I got a lucky Grenade in it and then advanced to the left, I headshot the Locust with the Shotgun before it could advance and end up at a car you can push to adcance. IT's easier to get to the side of the Troika and lob a Grenade in the room and then destroy the Propane Tank from above.Outside in a courtyard area there's a lot more enemies, and shutting the E-Hole would have helped, but a couple of Longshot shots save the day.You'll come to a Spotlight to mount that you use to guide Dom to the end of the street. At this point aim the light near the Crimson Omen and head down to nab COG Tag 17. Advance down the next alley and head into the building with smashed windows to get shots off on the Locust behind cover. They'll struggle to advance because of the Kryll. further along you'll find a drunk human who plays with the lights as a prank, Dark Labyrinth begins here.Slowly advance through the building as the drunk guy lights up the way for you and you'll find COG Tag 18 outside on your right.On the left you'll find a car with a Propane Tank. Shoot it and Roadie Run alongside to reach the Petrol Station and end this short Chapter.Outside turn the wheel until you come off it and then head back into the building to deal with Locust. Despite it being a petrol station, shooting the Propane Tank to lower the car to the left is viable. A couple of Wretches and a Boomer appear. Luckily the car was blocking the Boomer so a couple of Headshot took it out with no retaliation. Then more Locust advance from the right so I deal with them, the chapter ends shortly after this wave and now you have a driving Chapter. In Burnt Rubber you'll have to drive and shoot along the way. The human with you will help spot for you, so just know your clock positions and you'll know where to aim. I do pretty poorly (mainly one segment near the end which took off around a third being the culprit) as I end up with around 40% health, but knowing in advance from the footage where the Kryll comes from makes this even easier.Last Stand is a chapter mainly about positioning, looking towards points of interest will help you decide where to hide at any point. The group of Boomers from the E-Hole can be Headshotted or Grenaded and they can't move far. The chapter and Act ends afterwards and Dom drives us all off in the Junker0:00 - Chapter 1: Tick Tick Boom7:30 - COG Tag 13 (Collected)7:45 - Chapter 2: Grist13:30 - COG Tag 14 (Collected)16:50 - COG Tag 15 (Collected)20:07 - Chapter 3: Outpost21:10 - Chapter 4: Lethal Dusk28:10 - COG Tag 16 (Collected)38:35 - COG Tag 17 (Collected)43:28 - Chapter 5: Dark Labyrinth45:15 - COG Tag 18 (Collected)45:40 - Chapter 6: Powder Keg50:35 - Chapter 7: Burnt Rubber56:00 - Chapter 8: Last Stand
Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour Hard - China Campaign - Mission 2 iCABALi 2024-06-13 | As a response to China entering the war it is suspected that GLA will retaliate by tackling the homeland, which is where we find ourselves in this level.The start of this level makes you think that defence is the best play. Nope.Rush the SW GLA base and capture it so you can then defend. Your starting forces are enough, as the Nuke Cannons can lob shells at their pitiful defense and you can rush in. The main two areas to defend are the NW and SE, with the NE proving a smaller threat. Once you've taken the GLA base get working on teching up and adding a few Quad Cannons to the SE and a couple of Stingers. A palace in the NW will help a lot.Gather supplies from both bases and get a few SCUD Storms out before reinforcements arrive. The Helixes and Nuke Cannons should be able to take out the bulk of the forces, and supplementing these should make taking the bases smooth. I start with the SE with SCUD Storms and then roll units in the NE which mop them up quick after more SCUDs. Then the NW base falls quickly too.Taking the GLA base in the SW was pretty much the end point for them for the extra resources and the odd choice for the allowance of SCUD Storms. The Nuke Cannons and Helixes were just a formality.
Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour Hard - China Campaign - Mission 1 iCABALi 2024-06-10 | Over 5 years since I uploaded the last GLA mission in Zero Hour and I finally got around to the China campaign.I decided that I should somewhat stick to the format to make a consistent playlist.The game is slightly different though. This is played in Widescreen and with a more zoomed out camera for better battlefield awareness.The Chinese campaign starts at the end of the GLA one with USA leaving for home and China now being left to deal with the GLA as Europe can't apparently.We have to take out the GLA base in the area after the Nuke took out the captured USA base.The key to this level is keeping the Overlord alive. The Propaganda Tower will help best for keeping mobile. Head E and nab the crates and Derrick whils you build up your base. The Listening Outposts will be helpful for detecting Demo Traps as they have much larger coverage than the Propaganda Tower will help you reveal. Nab the USA buildings and sell them and take the Artillery platform. I decide the Veterancy on Infernals will help.Infernos will help take the centre of the map by torching the buildings and you can expand there whilst also heading along the S edge for another Artiller Platform and some crates. Clear the centre out and build a mini expansion for more resources.Begin amassing some vehicles. Dragon Tanks are quicker at clearing buildings but are less effective than Infernos on the offensive overall IMO. Gattling Tanks will help deal with infantry and softer targets better. Head N along the E edge with the Overlord and capture buildings and takeout any garrisons with your Infernos. You'll eventually reach the landbridge across.There's a few Demo Traps here so reveal them with your Listening Outposts and take them out with your Overlord. the Overlord can soak fire from the Artillery whilst a group of Infernos and Artillery Bombardment combo can take it out. Now advance with the Overlord at the front and your Infernos can bombard the GLA base. The Stinger Sites are useless after the Napalm kills the infantry so your Overlord needn't fear.The Palace is the eastmost building so lob shells at that then sweep westward. The Overlord should be able to handle itself until the Arms Dealer in the W. The Infernos can briefly support to take out the vehicles then you can mop everything else up.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Credits iCABALi 2024-06-03 | A nice little compilation of bonus skits and scenes that plays with character models whilst the credits are on the bottom task bar. I wish more games would try something more unique like this.I think there are some bonus scenes for finishing on Hard mode, as is the case with expansion. I'm not sure which though.The Arthas skit is probably my favourite, it seems the most believable in universe thing to happen, whilst still being the most bizarre of them.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Night Elf Campaign: Ending iCABALi 2024-06-03 | Archimonde approaches the World Tree but the trap is set. Malfurion uses his horn to call upon a massive army of Wisps which denotate and brutally destroy him before he can destroy the tree.The ground around is scorched, but the emergence of roots shows that the damage will be reversable and Medivh can rest knowing his job has been completed.This does leave quite a few questions that the expansion will answer, whilst providing more surprises along the way. Arthas and Illidan are the two main loose ends, with the Humans and Orcs having minor loose ends too, namely what will become of their settlements, and can the Humans return home.i'm not sure when I'll play the expansion. Maybe towards the end of the year.There's still the credits to watch, and they do a good job of making them unique.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Night Elf Campaign - Chapter 07: Twilight of the Gods iCABALi 2024-06-03 | The final stand against Lord Archimonde. The three factions ally to prevent him from reaching the World Tree before a trap can be sprung.This is the hardest level in the campaign. Depending on patch version you can survive much easier and do different things to play more impressively. In some Hippogryph Riders massed can be moved into position to take out Acolytes and a certain production structure to mess up the queue which makes the level trivial.In others Ancient Protectors can be quickly massed to provide a lot of resistance to Archimonde's forces and overwhelm him. Mines are the other option to either take out the whole base depending on patch, or to complement other defences in all of them. You can prevent Archimonde from even taking out the Humans with good use of them. Your success will also depend on items on your Heroes. I certainly wish I had the Sobi Mask and other all stat boosting items from earlier in the campaign.Start with a double expand to the Mines and another to the S by the Human base. Treants will help. Try to reserve Starfall for waves with Heroes and the later waves with Pit Lords in particular. Be fairly liberal with Tranquility, but try to use it more between waves. Another strat is to Entangle one enemy at the end of a wave (bulky Pit Lord or Doom Guards are good) and use that time to heal up and tick down the timer just a little bit more.Your allies don't provide much help, and just act more as Meat Shields in all honesty, but at least they can be helped by Tanquility and the removal of debuffs. Eventually the Human base falls (the wave after the Pit Lord - the Infernals proving too much), which gives me time to regroup at the Orc base.I set up similarly in the Orc base and I think the same wave is where they fall.The final onslaught is the hardest, but thankfully most of the timer has been drained so the final waves won't appear before the timer drains. At this point I nab the Furbolg and Troll support and make use of the Fountain of Health. I allow the W expand to fall and focus on SE of the Health Fountain. I keep Hippogryph Riders for mobility and a group of Dryads at this point. A druid of the Claw or two for the Roar ability wouldn't have gone amiss.The aerial wave is easily dealt with and that just left one wave that wasn't much of a threat either. Archimonde makes his move, but he gets stopped before he can reach the World Tree, meaning the trap is in place.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Night Elf Campaign - Interlude: The Last Guardian iCABALi 2024-06-01 | Tyrande and Malfurion meet up with Thrall and Jaina and Medivh comes to tell them his tale.Medivh opened the demon gates to bring the Orcs into this world, which also allowed the Demons to have a path. He had story prominence in Warcraft 2 as well. Medivh brought all of them to ally against the Demons for one final showdown with Archimonde in the final level.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Night Elf Campaign - Chapter 06: A Destiny of Flame and Sorrow iCABALi 2024-06-01 | Time for Arthas to just randomly appear again, to remind you that he's still doing things. He meets up with Illidan for the first of a few fateful encounters.In this one he encourages Illidan to claim the Skull of Gul'dan to hinder Tichondrius and free the Forest from Corruption.Illidan is a pretty good Hero at drawing melee units, and dealing spell casters. Immolation deals Thorns like damage, Evade helps him tank more, and Mana Burn drains mana and deals damage in the process.Ancient Protectors help a lot in this level, and their mobility helps throughout. A row of 4/3/2/1 suited to the location helps a lot to repel initial attacks, and indeed throughout the level as your expand changes. Front the Protectors with Moon Wells and a couple of groups of Archers (and maybe a Dryad with each for debuss) to draw fire whilst the Protectors pummel everything. You might need to pay attention when Doom Guards attack. It isn't worth claiming the SW immediately, and instead Creeping with Illidan shoule be a priority to get him a good assortment of items. The boots of Elvenkind giving +6 to Agilit is a very nice buff to begin with in the SE corner and then make your way to the SW corner, mopping up as you go.Then head N of your starting location and uncover a Gold Mine and take out the Moon Well to the SE.Add Huntresses and a couple of Ballistae and use the Scouts to help give you a bit of extra notice. Take out the Murlocs to the N of the S Gold Mine.When you have your force assembled attack after the Satyr group does, I go out to attack with unfortunate timing and need to reheal quickly, but smash the base quickly to the NNE which frees up two Gold Mines instantly. Claim the W one of the two N of your base after another wave of attacks and set up your defences there. Claim the other Gold Mine but don't worry about defending it, as they would have to come through the W side. Add some fresh Moon Wells for quicker Health/Mana restoration. Illidan can creep a bit more in the vicinity.After your expands are defended well, replenish your forces and head to the W. A few Dryads would definitely help deal with the Satyrs, but Illidan backed up by Archers and Ballistae is a good enough combo. Attacking with your main forces from the SE and then using Ballistae in the NE to take out buildings seems to be a good attack plan. This frees up another gold Mine and makes the rest of the level quicker.Replenish your forces again and make a push on the NW corner. Take out the main enemies in the central area and nab the Medallion of Courage just to E of the objective area.There's a couple of Infernals to take out and destroy the Gates. Grab the Skull and Illidan drops his items and is permanently transformed dealing Chaos Damage. Have some Dryads with your unit of choice supporting Illidan and a few Ballistae to take out at least one of the Gates in the NE corner. Tichondrius is kind of between Magtheridon and Cenarius in terms of strength and annoyance. He's a Dread Lord with additional abilities, and he's very tanky. I ultimately decided to use my Protectors to tank hits. Like Cenarius, only Chaos damage can hurt Tichondrius, but unlike Cenarius, you only have Illidan to deal damage. If you have something to tank hits he should do it. The Moon Wells will help for a quick replenishment.After dealing with Tichondrius, Malfurion and Tyrande approach. Disappointed that Illidan defeatedTichondrius at the cost of his soul, he scolds him and Illidan leaves.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Night Elf Campaign - Chapter 05: Brothers in Blood iCABALi 2024-05-30 | We're now inside the Barrows Dens and are searching for the Barrows Deeps.Druids of the Talon work well in tandem with Malfurion.Their Cyclone ability can remove one enemy whilst you focus on the others and then Malfurion can Entangle that enemy whilst you range it. Works well for the spider Groups.Clear up the first groups around you and then head Sout for another room with a lot of splits. South is the split again, so clear everything else up first. Trants can help, and there's a secret path to the NE by felling some trees. The LARGEST PANDA EVER can be slowed down easily with the Orbs, but it easy enough without slowing down. Treants can block its path whilst you pummel it with other units. The Necklace of Spell Immunity is one of the better items, and can be useful for preventing the Ultimates from being cancelled whilst channeling.Further S you'll find more Spiders and sacs to destroy. Cyclone/Entangle helps quickly. Keep heading S for some Furbolgs and then NW for the Fountain of Life, which acts as a Health Fountain too.Further S the Heroes split up, it's best to have the Furbolg tokens on Malfurion at this point, he can use them in a pinch. His Treants will help to tank whilst you head to a Circle of Power near the SE. To the NW there's a tree line to clear that Treants can take out a Sludge Monstrosity in, and you can drab Wands of Negation if you wish (or leave it until a spot frees up). Keep heading further in and Cyclone the biggest enemies in each group and use Treants to tank. You'll come across a Fountain of Mana so that you can more freely use Tranquility to heal now.Head N and you'll have another cut scene. You can't kill any Druids of the Claw. It's easier to pay attention to their patrol cycle and lead with Malfurion to clear up some creeps and then bring the rest of your forces. At the second group there's another Fountain of Mana that's worth clearing up.Through the Gate you'll find two Sleeping Bears. Cyclone them and head through. The last Bear is easy to avoid and the Sludge can be killed quickly to end this part of the level at the objective circle. Malfurion awakens the Druids and then it swaps to Tyrande. Head SE through some gates and through the library and another small Gate for a Tome of Knowledge giving a permanent +1 to all stats. Clear up the crates and enemies on the way to the SW corner and then free up some Archers and a Huntress to add to your forces. Head N and take out the Owl Bears. There's some Healing Wards that you can use to replenish some health and then you'll find a button to open a Gate to the S. Head into the prison area and break through the gate to get the Glaive upgrade on Huntresses for some nice bonus AoE damage.Head further N and free the units from the Spiders. I take Ring of Regeneration over the +1 Agility at this point. Taking the Periapt of Vitality was a hard choice at this point, but I planned ahead. I took it over the Orb of Fire. I probably wouldn't take it if you had earlier stat boosting items. There's some mines that you can nab, but they're totally not needed, before heading to the next area, you'll notice a small fence to the W. Head through to the large circle of Power and nab the Mantle of Intelligence +3 from the Shrine of the Uberfish. I just about took it over the Ring of Regeneration.The enemies on the way to the N should fall easily enough through focused fire. The Hero should fall quick enough too and you'll find Illidan Stormrage and free him to help fight the Legion. Malfurion objects to his brothers involvement.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Night Elf Campaign - Chapter 04: The Druids Arise iCABALi 2024-05-27 | Malfurion wants us to establish a settlement here and awaken the Druids.Probably my least favourite level, although me not using Dryads made the last half at least 15 minutes longer than it needed to be. You'll be hopping from Gold Mine to Gold Mine frequently and are fairly limited on resources unitl you can get a slow, but infinite trickle later.Deploy all your Ancients by the Gold Mine to the NE, but clear a way by the Health Fountain to the N and nab the Strength Tome and Ring of Protection +2 (if you didn't get the one earlier).The First Gold Mine is in the centre of the Orc/Undead flight path, so you'll deal with any stragglers. The Mine to the E is slightly better defended. Make sure to use Treants frequently, as they make decent Scouts. The Orc will attack with Ground units too (mainly Grunts to start). Get working on freeing the Furbolgs from corruption and when the E Gold Mine is depleted make your stand by the Fountain of Health. The Furbolg Warlord supposedly drops Claws of Attack +6 in other patch versions, although these are probably just a slap on Furion with this.Train up some Archers and Ballistae and attack the human base. Set up camp here, and you'll have a narrow chokepoint that you can be attacked from. Spread Archers will deal with any aerial threat. There's not a lot of Gold in this mine, but it's something to get your defens up and replenish units.Now you can get the infinite money. Until you complete the Side Objective here the enemies will periodically respawn in the Cursed Glade, so you can make runs through for a few hundred Gold at a time. It adds up, and as long as you don't lose units will prove to be very worth it whilst getting set up and making an army to push. I do miss one VERY helpful item, and a nice chunk of Gold. In the SW corner by the Wolves there's a few trees you can remove by turning into Treants. An Ancient Storm Wyrm awaits there. It will take a decent sized army to take on, but it drops a Sobi Mask, which is a shoe in item on Malfurion for later levels, or even Tyrande for more frequent use of Searing Shot.When you have enough units ot push to the SE, do so. My first push fails, but at least the Heroes survive and I get enough to quickly go again. Using Treants in the second push to act like Dire Wolf sponge made taking out the Champion easier.Infinite Gold is now gone, but there is another Gold Mine just to the NE that will get you over the line. The final attack is why you want a few Dryads. Satyr Shadowdancers have the ability to use Curse, and more annoyingly, the Satyr Soulstealer will use Mana Burn to drain your Heroes mana (whilst damaging them) and keep the Moon Wells busy. Dryads will help with the Shadowdancers Curse, allowing you to focus down the Soulstealers and reserve the Heroes Mana. Dryads themselves are also immune to the Debuffs as they are spell immune.Ballistae will help with the Protectors to the NE and can then snipe from this overlook. Lead with Huntresses/Archers backed up by a few Dryads and a group of Treants and then send the Heroes to support (Tyrande's aura can work without any Mana to support that way). Ballistae can then mop up the buildings and you can end the leve by bringing Furion to the Barrows Den and awakening the Druids of the Talon.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Night Elf Campaign - Chapter 03: The Awakening of Stormrage iCABALi 2024-05-25 | Time to find Cenarius' Horn to awaken the Druids, and we have to do so before the Undead fell the forest by them.Another timed level.Tyrande has her inventory back, at least, but I had to make a budget set up and kind of rush this level with a crapshoot tactic to do it before the timer expired. If you have items and boosts from the previous levels you can use Tyrande to help take out the Orc base with Ballistae and it will prove easier, as is I try something else.Scout and expand to the SE, nabbing Dryads on the way (one of Night Elf best units). From hear head N with your forces and take out the Murlocs for Boots of Speed, head further NW for a Merchant. Send your forces back and create a bit of defence by the River entrance in the E.I needed a Town Portal and Two Healing Potions to rush the initial part. Rush through the Orc base and around to the three Orbs in the NW. Nab them and aggro the Owlbears before teleporting back.Get out Huntresses and top up on Scrolls of Healing. after the Owlbears and initial Orc attack are repelled. Heal up and then rush through the Orc base with a group of Huntresses to help take out the three Guardians. Autocast Searing Shot will help a great deal, and the Orbs power you up. Still, the items would have been better.Having the Orbs on patches which allow aren't a bad trade off however. Orb of Frost adds 6 damage and slows attack and movement speed of the target, Orb of Fire adds 5 damage and adds splash damage, Orb of Lightning adds 5 damage and has a chance to purge units and Heroes of buffs, as well as making you deal 50% more to Summoned units. These three combined add a lot of good focus fire for removing singular threats, but I would have preferred the bulkiness and utility of the other items for more versatility.After claiming the Horn, Furion Stormrage awakens and summons some Treants to help clear his path.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Night Elf Campaign - Chapter 02: Daughters of the Moon iCABALi 2024-05-23 | Tyrande is on the run from Archimonde and Tichondrius and some of their Doom Guard.As you'll notice, Tyrande's Inventory has completely disappeared, and has also been cleared. This doesn't have much impact on this level, but there's a decent assortment of items on this level which would give a nice buff going forward.You can move and press i for the hide command repeatedly, and you won't get hit as long as you're out of melee range. It's easier with just Tyrande, but doable with a group of units too. Head to the NW corner for Slippers of Agility +3 and Claws of Attack +3. Head S and free the Furbolg. You can use it to tank the Doom Guard and kill it for some nice XP. Head to the SW and you'll find a Druid Pouch for +1 Intelligence, and some Archers which can also Hide. If you have any items equipped on your version, you can mop up some Doom Guards easily for experience - especially because of Healing Potions, and you should get level 3 soon. After the Archers you'll find some Humans fighting Ghouls (about an equal fight). Nab the Ring of Superiority for +1 to all 3 stats in a box nearby.There's a Merchant to the NE so you can buy Scrolls for healing if you need them. There's an Orc base under attack from some Ghouls and you can nab a Mantle of Intelligence +3 (good over the Druid Pouch).Head through the Waygate and you'll come across a Healing Fountain and a Shade, a few Huntresses will join you too. Head N and kill the Shade. With items you should be able to pick off the Doom Guard one by one then go back to heal, but I had to play more Covertly.There's a Ring of Protection +2 which is a nice replacement for the +1 variant, and Gloves of Haste which aren't worth bothering with.There's a Tome of Strength (apparently you need an inventory for them too) by the Humans and more forces in the NW by a Fountain. You'll also get Ballistae and can take out the Spirit Tower and nab the Manual of Health by it. Now head further NE for more units which will help you soften up the forces. If you take it slow you should be able to take the whole base out. I had enough units left to do so, but wasn't sure if I was close to running out of time because of the comment about needing to find the encampment before Day.There's also a Hydralisk hidden in the trees which is tanky, and a path through the trees that skirt round the main base and avoid the bulk of the forces.Either way, break the gate and head through to end the level.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Night Elf Campaign - Chapter 01: Enemies at the Gate iCABALi 2024-05-20 | The Night Elf campaign starts with Tyrande Whisperwind looking out over Ashenvale and Scouting with a Sentinel to discover the newly forged alliance of Humans and Orcs cutting through the Wood.Night Elf have quite a few unique quirks which make them different from standard RTS factions. Their worker unit doesn't chop Wood, but rather saps essence from trees so they never fall. The "Ancient" structures can all be uprooted and resettled at a new location. They can all fight whilst uprooted, but move very slow. This can make moving from one Gold Mine to another a cheaper process than other factions.The Moon Well is an interesting structure which refills to recharge HP/Mana of units whilst acting as the food source too.A lot of the combat of the Night Elves revolves around ranged combat and buffs/debuffs. The Archers are their basic unit, and whilst cheaper and less durable than the other basic units, they can be massed for focus fire early on, and have synergistic properties with Tyrande's Aura. Interestingly, the Archers take up two tiles, so can't fit in a one space gap between moon wells or other structures. This kind of makes them a bit clunkier to use than would first appear.Two Ancients of War at your main base will be a good enough amount, remember to keep a few behind for repelling smaller attacks.Start your base off and head S to find a Gold Mine and some Furbolgs for starting the Secondary Objective here. Expand to the Gold Mine ASAP and clear up the Gold Mine near the centre of the map whilst a Sentinel explores more. You'll also uncover a Human expansion slightly to the West and you should take that out too, a small handful of Archers as well as Tyrande should be able to deal with the Gryphons at this expand, and the Raiders just to the N which nets you more Furbolgs.There's 2 more Furbolgs S of the central Gold Mine (even more S than the Health Fountain). Head NW for another Orc expand with some Wyverns (which you'll know to be weak from the Orc campaign) and you'll find 2 more Furbolgs. The final Furbolgs are just SE of the main base in the SW corner. Your rewards are some pretty tanky Furbolgs who will act as good sponges whilst you pelt the enemy with Archers and Tyrande.You'll notice I've not mentioned any treasures, this is because in this patch version Tyrande lost her inventory in the next level, so there's no kept items in the second level, and she also can't pick up items or even Tomes in that level either which puts her back a bit for the third level!There's a Ring of Protection +1 SW of the main Furbolg encampment, and a Circlet of Nobility at the back ot the main base in a crate which gives a very nice early +2 to all stats. Get them if you can keep them, they'll be worth it.As for killing the Paladin, the furbolgs are nice meat shields, or you could try Wisp Detonation to deplete his MP so he can't heal or get his shield up.At the end of the level Tichondrius shows up with his forces and everyone retreats.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign: Ending iCABALi 2024-05-17 | Probably the best ending in this game to be honest.Thrall and Grom take on Mannoroth and despite it looking futile Grom frees himself from any resemblance of control from Mannoroth and is able to deal the killing blow through his chest. This frees any affected Orcs from his control.Grom unfortunately dies as a result of the injuries sustained, or perhaps from a reaction of his corrupted blood, but he dies freeing himself, and his whole race.Next up the Night Elf (and final) campaign, which proves harder than it needed to be on a few levels because of the patch not including an Inventory for a couple of levels!
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign - Chapter 08: By Demons Be Driven iCABALi 2024-05-17 | Time for the final level of the Orc Campaign.The toughest final level so far, and quite a bit harder than the other two in all honesty. The first was reasonably easy, and the second was mainly a tower defence, but this one you'll need to defend and attack.You'll want to slap down Towers in a group straight away and expand ASAP. The NNE of your base is probably a good, close first target. Earthquake will help you quickly take out the smaller settlements.Under 5 minutes in a cut scene will trigger and Jaina and Thrall will note Infernals. Grouped Towers will be good from a defensive perspective. Bloodlusted fully upgraded Tauren or mass Headhunters are the only real answer offensively. Though even a Grunt or two could be used to draw attacks whilst Towers pelt them.Jaina should last more than a few attacks, and you should be able to get a second expand to the NE (after clearing the Mana Fountain) before you consider helping. It is worth plopping towers for her straight after a second expand so you don't have to worry about pulling forces from an attack.It takes me a little while to set up enough defences for her base and then I march. I mainly went with Taurens as I felt like they deserved a showcase, unlike using Wyverns this isn't a terrible idea. It just isn't the best. The main issue is the damage taken from attacking buildings. Thrall's Earthquake deals a fixed damage per second, so is better suited for Towers and Farms, or even as a makeshit way of dealing with units by slowing them down and doing a bit of damage to them. The NE base should fall rather easily if you buff with a combination of Bloodlust and Healing Wards.I add a couple of Catapults once the units have been mainly taken out to make it a bit easier on the Taurens. I didn't use Raiders or Bloodlust. Raiders have slightly less use than the previous due to a lack of air units, but still would be better than Catapults in all honesty.Once the NE base is taken out, I expand there and begin pumping out some Headhunters to help deal with the creeps on the approach to Grom and to help with Infernals whilst Tauren keep them busy.The pathfinding got Thrall killed after I had captured Grom's soul by leading him to the NW base, so whilst I wait for the revive I take out the Towers to the side and deal with the forces which retaliate.Once thrall revives I set out a path for him and we take Grom back to purge his soul of the evil and end the Orc Campaign with Thrall and Grom vowing to take on Mannoroth.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign - Chapter 07: The Oracle iCABALi 2024-05-14 | Time for another Guerilla type level. No base, just your initial forces.You do have Witch doctors for healing, but in all honesty you should use Dire Wolves to draw attacks as they're essentially free.For smaller forces Thrall behind the Wolves is enough, for larger enemies use your Earthquake to Stun it and get support from the rest of your forces.There's a good selection of items to pick up, and you'll probably be juggling between some of them and either keys/healing items. Pure damage is probably the lowest priority for Thrall, and I would take an all attribute item over a pure Intelligence once to be honest.Be sure to fully explore for books and extra units in their prisons. The Sobi Mask is another good item to get, as a large boost to Mana Regeneration gives Thrall much more utility.Finish off Thrall's section by taking out the Dragons and nabbing the Heart of Aszune. Bring it through the gate and then head back and nab the item you probably dropped before focusing on Cairne's path.Cairne's path has items hidden behind rocks which you can destroy, I would pay attention to the ones I destroy and see which have items to save your time from destroying them all.Luckily there are some Healing Wards and Tauren do have natural regeneration. Cairne or the Golem summon should be at the front of your units. Most of the larger units seem to be immune to Stun so Shockwave might be the play for them. The smaller enemies should be War Stomped just for spread damage.When you have the Ghost Key and Enchanted Gemstone head to the end of the level.Thrall and Cairne arrive at the Oracle, and are met with Jaina Proudmore.The Oracle informs them of the Burning Legion and how they must form an alliance to prevent them from taking over, which starts with reclaiming Grom.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign - Chapter 06: Where Wyverns Dare iCABALi 2024-05-12 | We're now back with Thrall on his journey to the Oracle, but there's a bit of a hitch in the plan. A Human base at Stonetalon Peak is preventing access and we have to use probably the worst air unit in the game to help us get to their base.We do have the beefy Tauren available as units, and a few of them work great in combination with Cairne himself and a combination of Shaman and Witchdoctors for Bloodlust and healing.Start with a line of Towers whilst getting upgrades. You'll want to add Headhunters to your initial force to help with the Harpies to the NW.You'll infrequently get attacked by Gryphons, which is why it's a good idea to stretch your Towers past where Ground units can reach.Dark Blue's attacks are more annoying because he adds a few Mortar Teams in with his Hero. When you have one group of Thrall, a Kodo, and Headhunters you can begin heading for the Wyverns.When you reach the Cages and free them and you can train them, don't go overboard though, however. A small handful for luring Gryphons into Headhunter ambushes is all you need. I go overboard on them, but when you compare them to every other unit they don't offer anything other than being an air unit. Headhunters offer more for the food usage as range units, and are only arguably worse against spread damage attacks with stuff like Blizzard. All the standard melee units are beefier for the food usage. If they costed maybe 3 instead of 4 food, they might be slightly more viable.I kind of just used them in this level because it's the one level to make an effort to feature them. Raiders are probably the better play in all honesty. 4-6 Wyverns at max for luring Gryphons is all you need. Raiders can deal with air units indirectly by ensnaring them and help take out buildings too so can replace Catapults.Take out Light Blue with a mixed army. Your Heroes with Bloodlusted Taurens and Raiders with support from a couple of Witch Doctor and Kodos probably is the play in all honesty.When you have the NW base secured you can complete the other side objective easier. Centaur Khan should fall to your mixed group and you can place Towers along the ridge to protect your expansion if you want. Probably not needing even half of what I placed.Again, I wanted to stubbornly use mainly Wyverns to feature how they can (but never should) be used. Half of the Wyverns just to clear Gryphons then dropping a mixed Tauren/Raider army to clear the inital forces and then some support from the Witch Doctors and Shamans is a much quicker and better play.More aggressive play and following what I said, rather than did can cut off 20 minutes from this in all honesty.Once you've cleared the forces Cairne and Thrall head into the Caves for where the Oracle is suspected of waiting.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign - Chapter 05: The Hunter of Shadows iCABALi 2024-05-07 | Time to kill a demi-god.Immediately start by getting Peons out at your other bases, and expanding NE of your SE base. Leave the western bases to get destroyed - which they will after a few minutes. Focus on towers. A lot of them.Attacks from the NW I tend to defend with units to start with, and the SW primarily with Towers. Get a few Barracks out in the SE and get some upgrades for your units. Most of the units will prove useless for the end of the level, but a group of Headhunters to accompany Grom at the start will help a lot. Carve a path to the N with some Catapults and take out the Furbolgs first. Add a Witch Doctor with Healing Wards to speed up the process as well.Leave a few units behind your Towers in case a Ballista is seen with what is usually an Archer/Dryad attack force, make sure to be quick on repairs as well.The satyrs are kind of annoying with Mana Burn. Try not to sacrifice With Doctor MP, as their Healing Wards are probably more useful than Grom's abilities to be honest.Eventually you'll reach the waters with Mannoroth's blood and Grom will drink from it, despite warnings against doing so. In this patch version, Grom now finally gets an Inventory, so can pick up some of the loot from the creeps.Grom and a few other units now deal Chaos damage which allows you to kill Cenarius, and has the added benefit of being effective against every armour type. There's some merit to using the Warlocks, but mass Grunts with a few Catapults for quicker building destruction will do. Attack the Southern base, but treat any Headhunter as expendible. If they survive past destroying the base use them to draw Cenarius' fire in the retaliatory attack he does.He should fall easily to a group of Grunts and Grom if there's something to draw Cenarius' fire away initially. I actually went overboard on production structures, because I was expecting a more delayed attack and for Cenarius to be tougher.Mannoroth turns up to congratulate you, and to bring the Orcs back into the fold of the Legion. Grom acts as if he's free, but Mannoroth's power will be revealed later.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign - Interlude: The Blood of Mannaroth iCABALi 2024-05-03 | Mannoroth and Tichondrius arrive at Ashenvale forest, and unlike Grom, are well aware of who is lurking within.Cenarius the demigod presents a challenge to both Tichondrius and Mannoroth, but Archimonde suggested that the Orcs themselves may be used to deal with Cenarius.Tichondrius suggests that Mannoroth spills his blood into a pool, in a hope that they will drink from it and regain their former strength, and Mannoroth gladly makes the offering.So next up, time to take on a demigod.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign - Chapter 04: The Spirits of Ashenvale iCABALi 2024-05-03 | We're joining Grom as he begins to collect the Lumber required for a new Horde base on Kalimdor, unbeknownst to him there's Night Elves in this land, who will not be pleased with the desecration of their land.The goal is to harvest 15,000 Lumber, but thankfully it won't be just through Peons that you reach this number.You'll want to nab the Gold Mine to the N and defend it with a few Towers to fend off Archers and Hippo Riders. Close in the workers here if you want, to prevent melee unit access.Slightly to the SW you'll find a small Night Elf camp, and destroying the Tree of Life will nab you 3,000 Lumber. It's also worth having Pillage so you can gain extra resources whilst attacking.Straight to the E of the Gold Mine you'll be tasked with dealing with some Furbolgs for a reward. NE of the Gold Mine you'll find another small camp with another Tree of Life for 3,000 Lumber.W of the first destroyed Tree of Life is a small Troll gathering that you can kill to free up the next Gold Mine, and this serves as an ideal location to start producing some Catapults. Defend it similarly to the other Gold Mine, but you'll notice that the attacks from the Night Elves are a bit heavier now. Their Catapult equivalent is perhaps the weakest, but don't leave them unchecked - they'll still take out Towers quickly. Of the two bases you'll most likely need to take one out, and the Dark Blue in the SW seems better suited. Fewer Dryads and mainly Archers/Huntresses for units as well as the location helps a lot.An initial attack by me with no Catapults failed, but gave me good info on their unit comp. Grom did survive though, so I pulled him out with some new Headhunters to take the Furbolgs out. The Two Goblin Shredders will speed up chopping quite a lot, and it's worth training a couple more if you don't want to take either base out.You can force fire on the trees to the W of your SW base to clear a way into their base. A well timed Bladestorm can deal with the bulk of their low HP units and then you can mop up and use the Catapults to take out the last Tree of Lie you should need to take down to complete the level.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign - Chapter 03: Cry of the Warsong iCABALi 2024-04-30 | Thrall meets up with Grom Hellscream and you'll find the remnants of a Human Camp. Free up the land and begin constructing your base. This level can be done quickly, if you're not going for side objectives.However, I am obviously, so it takes quite a bit longer. Makes it more fun to be honest too.As the Bonus Objective is to take out the Four Human encampments, you'll want to plan accordingly. Grom will assist, but with very minor numbers.There's one thing to consider though, you can take out one structure or unit before Grom will turn on you (although him turning on you hilariously has no bearing on the future story). You may want to consider taking Grom out before he reaches the first human encampment to buy yourself a bit more time. Two of the Human Encampments have an Archmage as a Hero, and they like to use Blizzard. I would keep your Towers spread out a bit more than usual to mitigate the effect.Grom has a habit of discovering the Human Encampments one by one and then seemingly randomly attacking, as one is discovered they will begin to start attacking you (why not Grom's base?)The biggest annoyance to me seemed to be Light Blue with their Paladins and Sorceress, so I took them out first. A Kodo or two with War Drums backing up your Grunts and Thrall in one group with Catapults to take out structures in another will do. Time your attack with Grom and you should find it much easier. The Sorceress should be the focus, and preferably before it can get Slow off as that's a long debuff you won't have much chance to dispel yet.Take Light Blue's base and expand there - placing some defense and your main force there. Grey is slightly easier to take out as he mainly has Rifles and Mortar Teams which your forces should cleave quicker.Dark Blue is next up, and is probably tougher than the other too, it's protecting the objective and he uses an Archmage and Sorceresses to annoy you more.After Dark Blue you'll want some Headhunters to go and take out the units gaurding the main objective, along the wya you'll find a Centaur Khan which drops Gauntlets of Ogre Strength +3, and you'll get a Circlet of Nobility from one of the Harpies. There's also some Owlbears near Dark Green that are worth killing for the Claws of Attack +9.Mop up Dark Green and then complete the main objective.Or...Ignore the Humans entirely and rush with smaller units past the left side of the Dark Blue base and take out the creeps.Thrall is upset at the casualties suffered over what was an ultimately pointless squabble, and after Grom apologises, he is sent to set up a base camp whilst Thrall searches for the Oracle.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign - Interlude: The Wreckage of Lordaeron iCABALi 2024-04-26 | The invasion by the Burning Legion commences and Tichondrius and Mannoroth discuss the failures of the Orcs and the success of the Scourge.Tichondrius informs Mannoroth that the Orcs have fled to Kalimdor, which annoys Mannoroth for obvious reasons.Archimonde steps in and reminds Mannoroth of his place.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign - Chapter 02: The Long March iCABALi 2024-04-26 | Thrall's next objective is to assist Cairne with getting a caravan of Kodo Beasts through the canyon whilst being chased by the Centaur.Both heroes and at least two Kodo Beasts must survive, but in all honesty this is a fairly easy level and having all Kodo Beasts and even all the Tauren survive isn't too hard. There's two key components if you want them all to survive, keeping mobile, and protecting the rear. The rear can easily be protected with Dire Wolves. The only thing that can prevent you saving them all is unfortunate timing with the summoning or Thrall and the rest of your forces being too far ahead. Bring back Thrall's forces after dealing with a group of creeps to provide extra support.The fountains are worth staying at for a short while, but I wouldn't bother as much at the first one, as there's a shop between the first and second Fountain. At the shop you'll get Raiders who will be useful for ensnaring the upcoming Harpies. I would mainly buy Scrolls of Healing here, as they can also heal the Tauren and Kodo Beasts in a pinch, much quicker than waiting at a Healing Fountain. A Mana Potion or two so you can keep out the Wolves helps too.Just before the second fountain, make sure to kill the Harpy group for a Totem of Might for a +1 Strength. You'll get some Catapults by the second fountain, but you won't be able to repair them. The Dire Wolves can stay quite far behind at chokepoints until the end of the level, as it will give you more notice and space.Use your forces to scout and pull units and drag them back out of the Towers' range whilst your Catapults take them out. The level ends when you reach the third Oasis and Cairne will cause a blockage in the pass that prevents the Centaurs from reaching the Caravan.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Orc Campaign - Chapter 01: Landfall iCABALi 2024-04-24 | The Orc campaign starts just after the prologue, with a rough landing for Thrall and the Horde. A lot of what I said there will apply for the early levels in this campaign. The Shadow Wolves are the skill you'll want to invest in first for Thrall as they'll tank hits and keep your resource costing unit/Thrall himself alive longer. Their expendibility and ability to draw units away will come in handy in a few levels in the campaign.Try to take out all the creeps in this level for experience, they thankfully drop a lot of restorative items that should help you keep every unit alive. Start by heading N and you'll take out two packs of Murlocs (the huts have nothing in them). The Healing Wards will come in handy, and ideally should be used at the start of an encounter to lower wait time. You'll find some Centaurs to the N past some burning huts (which again have nothing). I don't think you can save the Tauren here.There's Quillbeasts to the SE. The first pack will have more Healing Wards and further S you'll rescue some Troll Headhunters.Further East there's more Centaurs with another presumably unsaveable Tauren. Head E for some more Murlocs by a burnt ship and NE of here you'll find some more Grunts and Troll Headhunters.Further NW there's a doomed Tauren and more Quillbeasts. You'll see a loop of marching Centaur. Circle round for even more Quillbeasts and a Fountain of Health. You can lure some Harpies to the NE of here with Headhunters and this should get Thrall level 2, which should obviously be spent on the first Spirit Wolf tier.There's some more Quillbeasts to the SE of the Fountain and Lizards to the SW. Your Wolves can absorb the stun and you should take out the Thunder Lizard quickly.Harpies to the E of here hold a Scroll of the Beast, so it's worth killing them for a free Bloodlust type effect.Further NE you'll find Murlocs which drop a Scroll of Health for a nice permanent upgrade to Thrall, and then S from here you'll find the rest of your forces and have more Centaurs to kill. Once dead you'll meet up with the Bloodhoof Tauren Chief, Cairne Bloodhoof.Instead of instantly following his forces, head SE and you'll encounter a large Murloc group. Try to keep the Scroll for later, and healing and Chain Lightning with Mana Potions should get you through it for a Periapt of Vitality.Use the Scroll of the Beast with your forces and Cairne's near each other either during the second or third wave of Centaurs - preferably before any units are lost to get the most benefit. His units are pretty beefy and will deal a lot of damage with this buff. After the Champion is dead and the last forces taken care of Thrall agrees to help Cairne in exchange for passage to the Oracle.
Dragon Warrior I & II GBC - Dragon Warrior II - Part 9: Hargons Castle & Ending iCABALi 2024-04-19 | If you're in the mid 20s-30s level wise, and have all the gear up to this point you'll be ready for the final stretch of this game. Start by heading NW of the shrine and then W and S. You're basically doing an anti-clockwise spiral.You'll come to a castle in the desert that looks awfully familar and has empty chests. It's an illusion. The RubissCharm will show the real Castle you're in. Hargon's Castle.Fight the Two BatDemons by the Throne to the N to proceed. The Heal Shield will come in handy to save MP (though if you have a few Wizard's Rings and non atrocious RNG, they should do). Head N and the second damaging floor from the W side will show the next room. Make your way to the Cross and use the EvilStatue in the Centre to enter Hargon's Castle proper. This has similar encounters to the last dungeon, as well as Metabbles more frequently on some floors. You can gain a couple more levels here if you're not feeling confident. Head to the centre for stairs then head to the stairs to the W. Make your way to the SE stairs but heal up - including MP for the first boss of the dungeon - Atlas (do this for every boss here on in). A few rounds and it should go down. Defense as always to make physical attacks do more, then just heal. Mary having the AGISeeds throughout the game helps a fair bit with healing (or being higher level would have the same benefit).Take the stairs after the fight and head W and at the second entrance to a smallish building take the N path and fight Bazuzu, who I felt was even easier, as Mary could get off an Explodet instead of needing to Heal.Take the stairs and across the bridge you'll fight the next boss, Zarlox.He felt easier than Atlas, but harder than Bazuzu. I decided to not focus on healing as much for Explodet and he went down in a few rounds.Take the stairs and then heal. Head over the damaging tiles to the centre where you'll see Hargon on his throne. Answer Yes to his question to begin a fight.Hargon takes more of a beating and will do more of a beating than the three previous boss fights. Defense to reduce his defence and Increase once to boost your own defence. He should only take a couple more rounds than the three previous fights, however.After defeating him, heal up (including MP, as you should have been doing in the dungeon so far) before moving. Try to leave and watch the cut scene. You'll be trapped and have to fight Sidoh, the big bad of the game.Sidoh isn't that much harder than the previous bosses, although he has the ability to use Increase on himself and Defense on you. So basically you'll need to rebuff and redebuff as appropriate. You'll need to be a bit more thoughtful with healing. Sidoh seemed to like hitting John hard, so he fainted TWICE (once revived by the WorldLeaf) but was thankfully revived after the fight so he could not be in a coffin for the trip back now that the world is at peace.The damaging floor tiles don't even hurt you after defeating Sidoh.All the NPCs will have new dialog now and there are no encounters ont the world map - so speak to as many as you like.Head to Moonbrook Castle and speak with the King of Moonbrook who is able to return to normal and tells the Hero to look after the Princess before he is finally able to pass on as Heaven's Gate is now open.Next up Cannock Castle. Speak with any/all NPCs, but most importantly Cannock's Sister and the King who give permission to escort the Hero back home to deliver the good news, so head back to Lorasia Castle.Speak to all the NPCs you wish to before speaking with the King of Lorasia.Accept the invite to be King of Lorasia and the ending will play before the credits roll showing some of the key story plots.Dragon Quest III (the SNES version) is fully recorded as of the date of this upload - among quite a few more games, I expect I'll upload it within the near future - a couple of months or so.0:00 - Journey Through Rhone5:05 - The Illusion Broken7:15 - Into Hargon's Castle10:20 - Atlas Boss Fight11:47 - Further Into the Castle12:24 - Bazuzu Boss Fight13:55 - Zarlox Boss Fight16:21 - Hargon Boss Fight19:08 - Sidoh Final Boss22:28 - The Return Home27:30 - Moonbrook Castle30:40 - Cannock Castle34:00 - Lorasia Castle
Dragon Warrior I & II GBC - Dragon Warrior II - Part 8: The Thunder Sword and Loto Armour iCABALi 2024-04-15 | I start by showing off my new gear and stats, because the last part was worth skipping because it was all grinding.Head to the tail end of the continent in the SE and head N to find the Sea Cave. Use The Moon Shard in front to gain access.Use StepGuard to avoid taking damage from the lava in here.To the N you can nab some Gold in a chest then head S of the stairs and W and then N after the darkness for a MysticNut chest. From here head S and down the stairs. Ignore the Chest to the S as it's just a poison trap.Head W and talk to the NPC by the stairs before heading down them.Head S and take the W stairs for a Wizard Ring.From here you want to head to the NW corner, using StepGuard to cross the lava and head down more stairs (I think StepGuard is per floor).Open the door and ignore the Trap Chest, but take the second for a STRSeed and head S to the SW corner. Head into the new room with Lava to the E and head to the NW corner of it for Magic Armour. Head E of the chest and you'll find a group of stairs, ignore the one that is straight E of the chest and take the one just to the south of it for an Amulet.Head SW around some wall and then take the stairs in the NW corner.Follow the path to some NPCs and initiate a battle with 2 EvilClowns. One Explodet should do, they're regular encounters here. Head behind them for the EvlStatue and warp out.Back in Beran head to the Priest with the Warp and take the Warp you'll find an AGISeed in the NE corner on the floor and an old man resides down the stairs. Leave the room from the S and talk to the Imp like monster before jumping off the Tower and heading W to some red damaging tiles. Use the EvlStatue on the tile E of the NW most one to open up The Cave to Rhone.For now, head to the stairs E of the start and head E on this floor for the Life Seal and warp back.Head W to Osterfair's Island and follow the Coastline all the way N past a Shrine and all along the main continent until you find another Shrine to the W on an Island. You'll be told where to use the EvlStatue (where we already have). Head S along the E coast and just past the S Shrine head W to a one tile Shrine on an Island, head down all the stairs to nab the Rubiss Charm which dispels illusions.Heal up and head back to the Cave South of Rhone.Head N to some stairs heading up on your E side. In the next room take the third split N and head N for some stairs. Head W for stairs and W again and take the Chest for a Magic Helm.Head back two floors and head E and then N for a chest with some G.Head all the way N until you see some Water and head SW for some stairs. Head further S and then W for some G and an EvilShield. Head back to the N Water and head S for the S Water. From there head E and ignore the stairs. Make your way SE and nab the chest in a room for a SlotToken.Head further E from here and you'll come to a chest with the Loto Armour.Head back to the N Water and head E for some stairs and follow to a room with stones scattered. Just NW of the stairs fall down the hole and then head all the way W and to the SW corner for another hole where you'll find the Thunder Sword on the floor. From here follow a series of pits by heading to the other side of the room you're until you land in a room with damaging tiles and gravestones head up just E. Make your way back to the room with three splits, but take the S split on the third split to end up by the S Water. Head to the N Water and head back to the room with the rocks and the pit we fell down earlier. There's a specific path to follow, and I get it wrong first time (second was a delayed input). Head S 2 W 2 S 4 E 4 and then S to the stairs.Finally you're heading through some darkness, and the encounters are some of the toughest, especially the Green Dragons which can take you out quickly in a group of 4. Take the following dark areas. E , NW, NE, NE, N, NW, N, E, E for some stairs. You'll be in an icy area.Head NE and across some bridges for Rhone Shrine. You can heal and save here. This is where you'll want to do any final grinding before taking on the final dungeon.0:00 - Grinding Results1:21 - The Sea Cave15:50 - EvilClown & The EvlStatue18:24 - The Life Seal27:40 - The Rubiss Charm35:40 - The Cave South of Rhone49:30 - The Loto Armour53:30 - The Thunder Sword1:15:10 - To Rhone Shrine
Dragon Warrior I & II GBC - Dragon Warrior II - Part 7: The Very Long Grinding Part iCABALi 2024-04-12 | This part is entirely optional to watch. I've tried to minimise grinding for the most part up until now, but the final dungeons (especially the path to the final dungeon) need a few more levels.Something I haven't mentioned yet is how encounters work, mainly because I've just fought monsters on the way from objective to objectivesThe map is divided up into numbered grids, and each grid has its own set of encounters. I think the grids are 16x16 tiles, but I might be wrong.NW of Wellgarth just SW of the centre mass of the continent in the hills is one of the best place to grind now. The standard encounters give amongst the best experience and after a few of them you'll get the strategy down. You'll notice we encountered some of them by Lune and Tuhn, and they do share an encounter list but here is better for the larger roaming area and the hills - which have higher encounters than standard plains and forests. Wellgarth is also where the final equipmentMetabbles are the enconter you really want, they're the rarest encounter in the tile, but the experiencereward make them worth it. The Falcon Sword is a good weapon for them as it gives two chances to hit, but you'll be MUCH worse against other encounters, so I skipped it. Each Metabble gives 10,150xp to each party member and 255 G. They have a 50% chance to flee each turn, and you'll cap at 1 damage (if you hit) unless you land a critical hit.Use the timestamps to guage how much time it might take you to get encounters with them, and whether you think its worth it.~Level 25 with the Hero is the goal, but Revive with the Prince of Cannock and Kaboom with the Princess of Moonbrooke are the two key spells that you want. I only defeated 5/10 Metabbles. Save Stating and killing the first 7 probably would have given me the experience I needed, but I would have been short of Gold for all the equipment. The rest of the dungeons would probably be enough Gold to finish off the equipment.With the criteria met its time for the final stretch of the story, so two more parts to come.0:00 - The Grinding Begins18:38 - Metabble 1 (flees)27:55 - Metabble 2 49:10 - Metabble 3 (flees)1:00:00 - Metabble 4 (flees)1:09:02 - Metabble 5 (flees)1:22:35 - Metabble 61:38:10 - Metabble 71:49:55 - Metabble 81:53:35 - Metabble 92:02:41 - Metabble 10 (flees)
Dragon Warrior I & II GBC - Dragon Warrior II - Part 6: The Moon Seal & Moon Shard iCABALi 2024-04-11 | I start by heading back to Drakhorns North and grabbing the Dew Yarn which I missed earlier. Head up two floors and you will find it on a randomised tile.I then head out to Osterfair Castle which can be found by heading S along the west coast of the section of the main continent by Lianport. Head S past the Desert area and when you reach some mountains head West to an Egg shaped island. On the west side of this island follow the river along to the centre and enter the Castle to the NW.Inside head anticlockwise until you reach the SW corner and head through the back of the shop for a Knife and some Gaia armour. Head in the Warp to the W and through the E to find an old man who will be pleasantly surprised that you have the Silver Key. There's also a Gold door to open, but for now head back clockwise to the bunny girls and enter through to the main part of the Castle. In the SW upgrade equipment, heal up and then talk to the king to fight a Saberlion. Use Defense with Mary and your physical attacks should take it out quickly. As a reward, the king will give you the Moon Seal.Afterwards head to the NW corner and pass the damaging tiles to free a man from the prison and speak with the NPCs up stairs in the equipment shop to learn about the Echo Flute (which we've already used).Time to leave Osterfair and head for Beran. From the S side of the island head E until you hit land and then S along the mountain range until you can land. Head E and circle around to the Town.Inside head to the SW corner and upstairs to learn about the Water Robe and Thunder Sword, but DON'T SLEEP IN THE INN, or there's a good chance one of your party members will get cursed. Head to the NE corner of town and talk to the guy behind the Silver Doors he'll tell you about Rhone.Head to the N side of the Island and head E for a river which you follow along N to its source, and land on the W side. The encounters here are some of the toughest until the end game, so Heal liberally. Head clockwise to the NE of this area and you'll arrive in Tuhn.In Tuhn you can buy the Falcon Sword which only really serves one purpose, killing Metal Slimes - as it attacks twice but for a low power each hit. I skip it to save G for more important items. Speak to the man upstairs in the Equipment shop who will thank you for finding the Dam Key, but more importantly head N and open the Gold Door to speak to the old man who will make you the Water Robe with the Dew Yarn. He says to leave it for a day, but the actual time it takes is Saving and Reloading. NE of here speak to more NPCs up some stairs and then head NW of this building to find a small room leading to the dam controls. Open up the Dam with the key to progress.From here head back to Beran as a nearby place to Save and then Reload so that the Water Robe has enough time to be made.With the Water Robe from Tuhn head S to Lune Tower.Head W and nab the STRSeed in a chest and up two sets of nearby stairs for some G. Head down one stairs and head E ignoring the first set to head down the second set of stairs for a DEFSeed. Head back up the stairs and N from the stairs we just ignored for MysticNut. Now take those ignored stairs and head S for some G and another DEFSeed. Head to the NE of this room and take the stairs and head to the SW of the next room and open up the locked door. Head down the nearby set of stairs and down another three to find an old man who will tell you about the tides and destiny, more importantly you'll find the Moon Shard.Head OutSide and Return to Beran, rather than following the path I took, head to the E side of this continent and head E to the next, following the Coast SE until you can land near Wellgarth - ready for the only real grinding session in the game (a.k.a. the next part - which is pretty much all skippable as a viewer). 0:00 - The Dew Yarn2:35 - To Osterfair Castle5:30 - Osterfair Castle11:33 - The SaberLion & Moon Seal14:30 - To Beran20:00 - To Tuhn25:00 - The Water Robe & Opening The Dam41:10 - Lune Tower 50:30 - To Wellgarth
Dragon Warrior I & II GBC - Dragon Warrior II - Part 5: The Sun,Star, & Water Seal iCABALi 2024-04-05 | Quite are a lot of important items are obtained in this part, so I would definitely pay attention to the time stampsFirst I head back to revive John so I can actually venture out with a full party, so back to Lianport it was. From Lianport I head to the NW side of this continent (on ship) and then head W slightly more and N until I see two pieces of land (which is the NE corner of the map). From here head N to see the town of Zahan on a small island in the SE corner of the map.In Zahan talk to the dog and it will lure you to a spot to examine for the Gold Key. Talk to a man in the NW corner to learn about Tuhn and a thief called Lagos. Head back to the boat and head WNW to reach the Shrine of Fire.Inside play the Echo Flute and nab the Sun Seal from next to the bush on the NE side.Leave and head W to an island with a lone tree surrounded by sand. The World Leaf is located there.From the World Leaf head W following the S coast along until you see the town of Wellgarth. With the Gold Key you can head into the majority of Wellgarth and find a lot of equipment upgrades - most of which we can't afford yet. SW of the equipment shop you'll find a merchant that has a hidden item - the Prison Key.N of the church you'll find a guard and a roof you can enter under, and in the N you'll find a Wizard to the east who will tell you about Rhone, but more importantly, to the E you'll find Lagos, and he will give you the Dam Key. You can barge in on the woman in the SW corner of the town for some amusing dialog, if you wish.Head back to the Fire Shrine and take the Middle Warp and then the Left Warp. Through the Gold Key Door and then NE on the World Map to Cannock. In Cannock we can nab the Loto Shield through the locked door.Now head back through the two Warps and then head towards Zahan, but take the Shrine next to it and through the warp to Lorasia Castle and through the pair of Silver Doors for some dialog, but more importantly the Gold Door (ignore the nearby Silver Door for now) for an assortment of Stat boosting items, a Herb, and the Loto Seal.Head through the ignored Silver door and take the stairs to the prison.Free the Prisoner in the NW of the prison for information on the Life Seal. Head into the SW room and heal up. Speak to the person to fight Magus. This is probably the first case of wanting to use Defense as a spell, as it will help quite a lot - as will Stopspell. Defeat him to take out one of Hargon's minions and get the Bolt Staff. Head back to Zahan and head across the damaging tiles (healing when needed) for a Wizard Ring in the NE and a Holy Loom in the NW.Head back to The Shrine of Fire and through the East Warp to nab the Loto Helm. Afterwards I cast Return and make my back to Lianport to heal up and then to the SW corner of the continent Tantagel is on. From here head SSW to find the Lighthouse.Inside speak to the guard then head in. Head anticlockwise from the SE corner to the SW corner and then follow the purple lego looking roof to the E side and enter. Head N for some Gold in a chest Then in the 4 way split of the stairs head W then S and take these stairs, head S and E for more stairs then nearby NW stairs. Head into the purple lego looking roof and head E of the stairs for more Gold, then take the Stairs W of here. Head E under the roof and into the stairs and follow more stairs to end up at a LifeAcorn.Head out of the purple roof area you're in and take the Stairs to the W. Head N and ignore the stairs, instead head around the purple roof building anticlockwise to take some stairs and follow for more stairs. You'll find a big door and you can unlock it. Head NW for some stairs and then head E, and see a monster head under the roof. You'll find a suspicious old man and follow him W and W again and then take the SW stairs. Follow him to three more stairs and then to a chest. Heal up before approaching it and open it for a surprise.Four Gremlins. Shouldn't be too hard now, we've dealt with them a while ago. Defeat them for the Star Seal.I make my way to Hamlin (which is E of the SE corner of Tantegel's continent) and through the Gold Door and into the Prison to fight some Ozwargs which look like the Gremlins, but are even easier. In the NE corner you'll find the Water Seal before healing in Lianport to end the part.0:00 - Reviving John6:48 - Zahan & The Gold Key8:09 - To The Shrine of Fire11:42 - The World Leaf13:30 - The Prison Key16:30 - The Dam Key21:25 - The Loto Shield25:30 - The Loto Seal27:53 - Magus31:30 - The Holy Loom35:00 - Loto Helm43:15 - The Lighthouse1:03:06 - Gremlin Boss & Star Seal1:06:40 - The Water Seal
Dragon Warrior I & II GBC - Dragon Warrior II - Part 4: Return to Tantegel iCABALi 2024-03-31 | With the grinding at the end of of the last part, it's time to head out to the next area. Make your way past Moonbrook Castle and through the shrine again and now head W over the desert and then N to Drakhorns South.In Drakhorns speak to the NPC and then up the stairs and around the edge of a pit for a few almost identical floors until you can jump off the NW corner and land at Drakhorns North.Darkhorns North is quite simple and repetitive too. There is a treasure you'll need later in the game in here, but it's hidden. I miss it now (and have to come back later), but it's on the 2F (two stairs up from the ground floor). The location is random, but you'll save yourself some time later if you find the Dew's Yarn now. In fact, this is the only reason to really come to here other than a bit of grinding.From Drakhorns North head NE to Lianport and speak with all the NPCs as usual, including the Puff Puff lady. You'll see a man by a ship and some water in the N and then W you'll help save a woman from two Gremlins.Save her and then upgrade equipment and restock and reheal as necessary.You'll now have access to the ship, and the world opens up quite a bit.Before heading to the world map speak with the NPC to the south. Head straight E to another continent and land. You'll recognise the music from Dragon Quest I as the overworld theme.Head E on the N side of the mountains and straight into Tantegel Castle. Speak to the NPCs to learn about treasure and the missing king. You'll also be recognised as descendants of the family. Leave the Castle and head N along the West Side in your ship until you find the Sunken Treasure just NW of the continent. After this I accidentally cast Return to Hamlin and then use the ship to go find where the ship originally was. Obviously totally not needed, but it was some grinding again, I guess. Head E along the S side of Tantegel's continent in the ship and N between the two land masses when you see red tiles. From here head N until it opens up and then head W and then N to a Castle, the Dracolord's Castle.Head N and down the stairs and then follow the linear path to more stairs. In the next room head in a clockwise direction along the outside to more stairs and then head to the NW corner in the new room for more stairs to the S. There's three sets of stairs in the centre room, take the S most ones heading up and take a few more stairs to Loto's Sword. Head back to the room with three stairs in the centre and take the stairs going down to your W. Follow the linear path to more stairs, and then straight E to more.In this new room head across the damaging tiles - be sure to heal every few steps as needed though. Head through the gate and open the chests for Gold, World Map, Strength Seed, and Steel Armour. Head out and around the outside of the room following the path around until you find the Dracolord's Grandson (the final boss of DQ1 was the Dracolord).Thankfully, he wants to help you defeat Hargon, so tells you about the Five Seals and the island of Mercado.Afterwards it's time to retrace your steps and heal up at Tantegel Castle and purchase any equipment upgrades in preparation for venturing out for the Five Seals.0:00 - To Drakhorns South4:28 - Drakhorns South10:44 - Drakhorns North (Pointless Visit)18:44 - Puff Puff23:40 - Ship Exploration28:40 - The Sunken Treasure42:00 - Back on Track44:10 - Dracolord's Castle
Dragon Warrior I & II GBC - Dragon Warrior II - Part 3: The Tower of Wind iCABALi 2024-03-29 | The part starts with me doing a quick loop around the west side of the continent for a bit of grinding on Mary before heading back to Hamlin through the shrine. In Hamlin I spend about two hours working out how to get the timing for three Sun Symbols to get the Gold Card. THANKFULLY, I use Save States to only show the successful run. The Gold Card gives you a 25% discount on all purchases, so it's worth going for as early as possible. The 25% discount does come with a strange caveat. You'll need the full amount in Gold to buy the item, but then will only be charged 75% of the price. So a 10,000 Gold item will require you to have 10,000 Gold, but will charge you 7,500 afterwards. With the Gold Card it's time for some equipment upgrades before talking to the NPCs about the Tower of Wind and heading off to find it.The Tower of Wind is a fair distance away from Hamlin. Start by heading NE and then SE along some mountains and sand. Head E across a bridge and then S across another. Finally head E across another bridge and then W across another and you'll reach the Tower of Wind.Inside head S until the end and E into the room for a Herb. Head out of the room and E and head to the NE corner for stairs. Speak to the NPC next to the stairs before heading W for more stairs. Head S and E into the room for some Gold then take the stairs just SW of here. Head E for more stairs and follow three more very nearby stairs to find the Cloak of Wind.Retrace your steps up four stairs and then head E rather than W. Head N up the stairs. In the larger room make your way to the N side and take the Stairs by the hole in the wall. Now carefully head up more stairs and nab the Wizard Ring at the top - which will prove useful for restoring MP (we'll get more of them later in the game, but try to save them for longer trips if you can). With the Wizard Ring head back down a floor and jump off the Tower. Use a Warp Wing or head back to Hamlin by foot.From Hamlin head E over the bridge to the S and then WSW to reach Moonbrook Castle, where you'll find the King as a spirit in flame form. This is where you also would have learned about Mary being a dog.Leave the Castle and head W and S over a bridge to reach another Shrine. Cross to another continent, which is a good place to grind some levels - especially if you get lucky against Metal Slimes. This is what happens for the rest of the part, so you can skip the rest if you want.0:00 - Grinding Mary8:40 - Shrine to Hamlin11:15 - The Gold Card & Shopping16:02 - To The Tower of Wind21:19 - The Tower of Wind32:00 - To Moonbrook35:55 - More Ginding
Dragon Warrior I & II GBC - Dragon Warrior II - Part 2: The Princess of Moonbrook iCABALi 2024-03-21 | Time to head West of Cannock to venture out and find the Princess of Moonbrook, first though time to nab the Silver Key. Head all the way W along the N side of the Castle on the Overworld and N and W around the Water past a bridge. Keep heading W through a mountain range and further W you'll find a cave on an island over a bridge.Start by heading south into a room to find Agility Seed.In this game Agility just factors into turn order. How you use the seeds is up to you, I tend to put most of them on the Princess of Moonbrook, especially the Magic/Defensive ones, whilst saving the offensive ones like STR and AGI for the Hero. Leave the small room and head W and then S around the water.Head E into the Dark room and pick up the SlotToken, which are used as part of the "FUN" addition to this game which took me an hour to learn the timing of. Head out of this area and W past the south side of the Water.Head S at the moss and down the stairs.Head S and then E into the first room for a LifeAcorn which boosts HP.Head S more and W into the next room for an Antidote.Head all the way S and then W for a room with Warp Wing and Gold.Then head all the way E and then S for the SilverKey.Leave and then head back to Cannock, I head around the S side of the mountains (and between another Mountain Pass) to scout out the location of the Cannock Shrine on the way back.Head W from the S side of Cannock Castle and head through Cannock quickly and you'll end up on another Continent. Hamlin is SSW of here, past a river and some mountains. Head into heal (if needed) and then straight out to find a Mirror on the Overworld.Head over the bridge just S of Hamlin and S until you hit some Mountains, head W around a lake, and walk E along the S side of it until you see 4 Red Tiles in the NE side of a Forest. The monsters are a bit tougher in this region, so be liberal with the use of Fireball on John, and make sure to be healed with Herbs between fights. Fleeing is a good option too. Investigate the NE of the Red Tiles to find the LarMirror (Ra's Mirror).Head back to Hamlin and Heal up then its time go grind quite a bit more (until almost the end of the part). A couple more levels near Hamlin, and then venture out further to near the LarMirror to kill the stronger monsters. Buy A Steel Sword and Spear as soon as you can (I waited too long for whatever reason, and could have bought one earlier - saving a lot of time in the process).Head back to Hamlin with John around level 10 and use the LarMirror on the Dog, which turns out to be the Princess of Moonbrook - the fact she follows you if you talk to her is the hint. My Princess is called Mary, so I'll refer to her as that in the future.Mary will be a decent Mage throughout the game, and even starts with HealMore. I get her one level before casting Return and Saving to end the part.0:00 - Leaving Cannock3:35 - Lake Cave13:00 - Back To Cannock16:00 - Cannock Shrine to Hamlin20:00 - The Lar Mirror27:30 - Grinding Around Hamlin1:17:15 - The Princess of Moonbrook
Dragon Warrior I & II GBC - Dragon Warrior II - Part 1: The Prince of Cannock iCABALi 2024-03-18 | It's been over 10 years since I uploaded my playthrough of Dragon Quest I, and 5 years since I streamed Dragon Quest XI.Thankfully, it won't be 5 years between each entry going forward.Considering I have almost finished the Final Fantasy series, and almost exclusively play jRPGS these days, I decided I should go back and play a lot of the games I missed out on. I was looking back and realising how extra shafted Europe was on the jRPG front, and it probably explains why it took me years to get into them.No mainline Final Fantasy until 7, no mainline Dragon Quest until 8 and a slew of other very notable titles that we missed out on compared to the USA, which itself also missed out on non translated titles too. I played this and Dragon Quest III (The SNES version translated) earlier this year, alongside replaying Phantasy Star I-IV, with the caveat of PS I-II being the PS2 Generations versions.I'll definitely be uploading everything I've recorded, but at a fairly slow rate, and only scheduling for 2-3 videos a week. I intend to also play Dragon Quest IV-VI mixed in between other titles after Chrono Trigger.===============================================================================Anyway on to this game. It's a sequel to the original Dragon Quest, and the party are all descendants of the original hero as you're told pretty quickly.It plays similar to the original Dragon Quest, and as such, is pretty much a grind between dungeons with little story content. Thankfully, this version is less grindy compared to the NES version, and there's a lot more to this game compared to Dragon Quest I.The introduction shows Moonbrook under attack by Hargon's forces, with the King being killed by the Monsters, and Princess seemingly managing to escape. A lone soldier manages to escape and deliver the news to Lorasia, where our Hero starts his quest.Nab the Chest and equip the Copper Sword, talk to everyone and buy some Herbs with the starting Gold. Now we need to grind a bit before heading out to an area with stronger monsters, one level should be enough with the Herbs as back ups to venture further out.Head N to the hills and west past the sand and around W on the S side of the red damaging floor tiles and you'll come across Leftwyne. I get to level 3 as I reach it, and am able to grind some more on the stronger monsters here, with cheap healing at Leftwyne's Inn a good option. None of the enemies are too troublesome at level 3+, but make sure you have a decent HP level for Phantoms. I grind here to level 6 and buy a Leather Shield for now.Talk to all the NPCs in Leftwyne and then head North to Cannock Castle, inside find the King in the NW and he'll tell you his son's name (which is randomised from a few options). In the NE speak to the Prince's sister who informs you he likes to go on trips, as a result head off to find him.Head E from the Castle along the N side of the mountains, and cross the bridge, eventually arriving at the Hero's Spring.Inside, Head NE until you see some water and head S into the room and open the chest for a Herb. Head out of this small room and head around this room E,S,W and through a dark border to another screen. Head N at the split for some Gold in a chest. Head back to the water and then N, and E into the dark area and down the stairs and talk to the Soldier inside.Head back to the body of water and then head N,W and around a larger body of water surrounded by walls. On the SW side you'll find an Antidote in a chest. Then head N of the Crystals to be healed by the old man, who also tells you that the Prince of Cannock has headed to Castle Lorasia to search for descendents of Loto (Erdrick).Head SW on the Overworld following the Mountain line and then head East, head to the SW side of the damaging tiles to find a gap between two mountain passes. From here head S to Lorasia Castle.The King will inform you that the Prince came here to find us, but has already left. Head to Leftwyne, and you'll FINALLY find the Prince of Cannock in the Inn (I'll refer to him by John - as it's the randomised name I was given).Gear him up with a Copper Sword, Chain and Leather Armour - he'll need the better armour as he starts at level 1. I gain a level for him between Leftwyne and Cannock, and then head into Cannock to save.0:00 - Introduction7:45 - The Adventure Starts10:29 - Grinding Outside Lorasia13:43 - To Leftwyne17:10 - Grinding Outside Leftwyne32:20 - To Cannock Castle36:53 - To the Hero's Spring38:34 - The Hero's Spring44:36 - Back to Lorasia48:25 - Back to Leftwyne53:47 - To Cannock (AGAIN)
Well That Just Happened iCABALi 2024-02-23 | Was probably 1-2 turns away from beating The Profound Darkness, and this happened. Lost about 40 minutes time, but I'll finish it off.I have Phantasy Star 3 recorded to Sean's Ending as well as the Generation: 1 playthrough. Generation: 2 I'll replay in the next month or so and record the alternate route alongside the alternate Phantasy Star 3 routes. Probably going to play something else between finishing this and that though.
Phantasy Star Generation: 2 - Mother Brain & Ending iCABALi 2024-02-09 | I recently played and recorded Phantasy Star Generation: 1 (after also playing and recording Dragon Quest 2 and 3) and liked it enough to play through Generation: 2.I used the same party throughout the game that I did for my Streamed playthrough of the original game of Phantasy Star 2, but considering the main reason to play Phantasy Star: Generation 2 is the second playthrough of it after having a Clear Save of both Generation:1 & 2, I didn't bother recording the whole thing (I did stream it on discord, however - and continue to stream most things I'm recording, so join if you think you'd like to).I was underlevelled slightly for this fight, the most notable thing I was missing is Megiddo on Eusis and Lightning Whips on Amia (I didn't bother looking much into Crafting). Star Atomizers really triviliase this fight and just make it a case of chipping down her HP bit by bit, even without using cheese strats or being a bit higher levelled.I liked both Generation games more than their original, although the lack of Reiko Kodama's art (R.I.P) is probably the biggest drawback of these remakes. They kind of look like hentai from the 00s at best, and flash games from the 00s at worst (especially Generation: 2).The music of the originals is more iconic to me too.I will record the full second playthrough, but it's just a case of when I upload stuff. I'll use a different party, and one better suited for the whole game.This took me around 14 hours to upload, and most videos are at least 2x this length. Doesn't help that someone works from home so I can't really upload when they're working either.
Birds Of Stray Ores iCABALi 2023-10-19 | Just a small progress video of what I've been working on today.I came up with the concept of 5 skills recently that you can do in game.Inspired by Runescape/Star Ocean/Atelier.Smithing/Cooking/Crafting/Engineering/Alchemy.I don't know how engaging the skills will be -if at all (this is my first time making anything in a game outside of those C&C missions after all), but they'll be beneficial to do, and provide better gear than is otherwise obtainable.All skills will have 8 levels and only need a few actions to level up (although more for higher levels). Resources for skills will come in the form of harvestable materials as well as monster drops and sidequest rewards.Tin and Copper will be used at Level 1 to make Bronze Bars for various skills.Clay will be used at level 1 Crafting.Iron will be used at Level 2 to make Iron Bars for various skillsSilver will be used at level 2 Crafting.Coal will be used as a combination Ore, starting with Steel Bars for level 3.Gold will be used at level 3 Crafting.Mithril will be used for Mithril Bars for level 4.Adamantite will be used for Adamantite Bars for level 5.Kuroi will be used for Kuro Bars for level 6.Lumina Ore will be used for Luminous Bars for level 7.Drakolith Ore will be used for Draconic Bars for level 8.Carbon will be used at level 8 Crafting.Obviously given that this is the first area, the mines will only have the lowest tier Ores available in release. I just wanted to show them off for the video.
Gears Of War Ultimate Edition - Insane - Act I: Ashes iCABALi 2023-09-01 | Learning the timing for active reloads is key for Insane, as is familiarising yourself with a variety of weapons. You can get through most of the game with an Assault Rifle (I generally prefer the Lancer for consistent fire rate), but you'll want to use Grenades fairly well, and get used to the Shotgun and at least one of the Sniper/Kryll Bow (the latter being more important to be honest).After Dom frees you from prison you're presented with a split choice immediately, go for the prison block for training if you want, but it's more just a tutorial that you don't really need.I had already collected COG Tag 1 (and 3) when making sure the game ran fine, so I just show the location of these.The Crimson Omen can be a good guide for blindfire, as you'll generally shoot towards the centre, depending on the spread/arc of the weapon used.You'll notice some enemies have head armour on, and these will take more of a beating. A Sniper Shot will remove it later, but Grenades/shooting the knees is a better choice if they become exposed until then.The few encounters for the first act should be fine.Chapter 1 ends with Marcus and Dom boarding the Raven and narrowly escaping a Corpser. The intro to chapter 2 shows the improvements to the character models from here and the original.You'll see the Crimson Omen fairly quickly in Chapter 2, and there's an obvious COG Tag near it. You'll see that the Grenade can be useful for Stunning enemies, even when it isn't accurate enough to kill them.Soon you'll see an Emergence Hole. If you can toss a Grenade in them you'll close it up and prevent a fight against a few enemies, however sometimes the extra ammo can be helpful. Inside there's a couple more. I manage to close the first one.Chapter 3 starts with you facing down a Troika, flank it and take out the Grunt manning it, then use it to take out the couple that approach. Head to the centre of the ring and grab more Grenades. I manage to close off two of the Emergence Holes, which helps quite a bit, but if you have Grenades saved, you can take them all out quickly with good aim. I somehow just about miss the 3rd/4th ones.The eponymous fork in the road decision doesn't really matter, but the Left path has two Grunts that will funnel down the stairs so it's easier, even if you can't Grenade as well. On the second half flank right and take out the Spotter. You can slowly take out the Grunts on the Troika if their attention is diverted. Worth doing, to be honest. The building is a safer location than the Troika for dealing with the Emergence Hole foes.Don't underestimate Knock Knock. The Grenadiers can take you out quick (which is why I only show the COG Tag location). Head inside via the right handside and force your way through slowly. Carmine gets sniped and then you have to take out some more emerging grunts. I think in the original you could nab a Longshot here, or maybe it was lower difficulties?Keep the Gnasher either way, you'll wanr it to down enemies which flank you.There's a small jumpcut from the end of this Chapter to the beginning of the next, I can't remember why I cut it. You'll get introducted to (Baird and) the Cole Train here, my favourite character in the series. After that an encounter with Wretches that you'll need to be mobile and good with the Gnasher to come out unscathed. You'll then get practise with the Hammer of Dawn, swap the Gnasher for it. There's more Wretches, but in a more open area, so easier to deal with. Learn how the Hammer of Dawn works, because you'll need it at the end of the Act. The Grenade toss before the COG Tags worked out well.Wrath has nothing new really. You'll need to flank right to get to the Troika, and then use it on Wretches. There's another skip from a death, but nothing is missed. The end of the act you'll need to be on look out for Nemacysts whilst dealing with Locust forces.At the end a scene of General RAAM killing Lt. Kim occurs and we get trapped inside.The final chapter is a boss level.Be aware of your surroundings and maintain distance. Use small bursts to lure the Berserker and use her to destroy the pillars and door on the way until you're outside, then you can use the Hammer of Dawn and regular weapons (whilst stunned) to kill her.0:00 - Chapter 1: 14 Years After E-Day2:00 - COG Tag 1 (Location Shown)6:35 - COG Tag 2 (Collected)8:20 - COG Tag 3 (Location Shown)9:20 - Chapter 2: Trial By Fire 13:43 - COG Tag 4 (Collected)20:37 - COG Tag 5 (Collected)21:12 - Chapter 3: Fish In A Barrel25:25 - COG Tag 6 (Collected)28:45 - Chapter 4: Fork In The Road36:26 - Chapter 5: Knock Knock37:15 - COG Tag 7 (Location Shown)44:30 - Chapter 6: Hammer49:00 - COG Tag 8 (Collected)1:00:10 - COG Tag 9 (Collected)1:00:58 - Chapter 7: Wrath1:17:10 - Chapter 8: China Shop1:19:15 - COG Tag 10 (Collected)1:21:08 - COG Tag 11 (Collected)1:22:40 - COG Tag 12 (Collected)
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Undead Campaign - Ending iCABALi 2023-08-30 | Archimonde uses his demonic powers to create a sand replica of Dalaran and crushes it, destroying the real Dalaran in the process.Before I upload the final two campaigns, I'll be scheduling Gears of War: Ultimate Edition - Insane Difficulty. It's been sat on my channel for a while, and I've been recording another jRPG I promised to get around to at some point this year. Will give me some time to upload the rest. Expect the final two campaigns to begin probably two weeks from now.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Undead Campaign - Chapter 08: Under the Burning Sky iCABALi 2023-08-30 | The final level in the Undead Campaign, and it's time to summon Archimonde.Thankfully this level isn't long by last level standards, but it doesn't make it any easier.If you're good at defending, you'll be fine here.You'll want to claim the SE Mine ASAP so that you can have a decent income.Spirit Towers are your main defense for this level, and nothing else outside a few Necropolis will provide a nice block. For the most part Arthas and the reinforcement units will be the only thing you need for taking out siege Engines/Mortar Teams. Revive will come in handy when you can get a few Knights to aid in this as well.You'll want at least one Acolyte at each of the three main points, and preferably two. I started on the west and used the initial units to guard the East and North entrance until I could get out enough Spirit Towers to start guarding the other sides as well. The Hero should also be a priority, but I found them to be mostly concentrated on my units. A Blizzard could have been costly.When the timer expires, you win, and Archimonde is summoned. He leaves Tichondrius and the Dreadlords in charge of the Scourge, now that the Lich King is no longer needed, and he begins preparations for the Invasion of this planet.So what will become of Arthas? We'll see him again.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Undead Campaign - Chapter 07: The Siege of Dalaran iCABALi 2023-08-28 | This is the main level in the campaign I wasn't fond of.I kept attacking at the wrong time and it cost me way too much time.There's also not much chance for an expansion until you take out a base.You get Abominations in this level, and they should replace the Frost Wyrms from the previous level. You'll want them fully upgraded before heading out to attack. The first Magi shoiuld be easy enough to be taken out with Arthas and Kel'Thuzad using abilities. Attack the base as I did, but add a couple of Meat Wagons. I held out on No Upkeep, but sould have been in Low Upkeep really. The retaliation by Dark Blue took too long to deal with.I built quite a lot of Spirit Towers by the new expansion, and probably could have dropped it to half in all honesty. They were mainly used for Griffons, which attacked me en route to Dark Blue, unfortunately.The second Magi can be sniped with abilities from across the river, but there is also the option for the Healing Fountain to be used nearby, as it outheals the damage you'll take.Have a larger force for the Dark Blue base, and consider adding a couple of Frost Wyrms for freezing buildings. I wanted to stick primarily Abominations just because they had been unlocked here.Before Dark Blue's base make sure to destroy the Magic Vault, the Pendant of Mana and Khadgar's Pipe of Insight will help in the next level for giving you more Death Coils.Once Dark Blue is destroyed head to the Healing Fountain and then assault Antonidas, he should go down quick enough.You'll then see Arthas finishing off Antonidas and Kel'Thuzad take the tome so he can begin the summoning in the final level, which in my opinion is a lot more fun than this one.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (Hard) - Undead Campaign - Chapter 06: Blackrock & Roll, Too! iCABALi 2023-08-26 | Time to fight some Orcs. We need their Demon Gate to gain the instructions from a Demon Lord.There's quite a few bases to take out in this level, and it is worth doing so for the tomes the Heroes drop (which should all be put towards Arthas). You get Frost Wyrms on this level, and whilst in normal play they're an expensive unit that it's not worth building more than a couple of, you're fine to mainly focus on them in this level if you want. Supported with Frost Armour and Arthas' Death Coil they can prove to be more durable and useful, especially when you gain the ability to freeze structures to pause production.Keep the Gargoyles back at base and get some Spirit Towers on both the North and East to help defend. Frost Wyrms do train rather slowly, so two Boneyards is advisable. Thankfully because you're againt Orcs the only real threat to Frost Wyrms is their Raiders. The Towers can be frozen with Frozen Breath and they don't train enough Headhunters for them to be more than a nuisance.Catapults will be the biggest threat to your defenses, a couple of Shades to scout along the attack routes so you can deploy your Gargoyles quickly will help.Attack Dark Blue first, it's the least defended base, and the gold Mine will help. Clear out the units and freeze the Barracks and it's essentially over for them. It's probably worth noting that Arthas will likely take most of his damage from attacking their buildings (and it's something to note for the next campaign).Orange is probably the next best target, as it can clear up one side for your defense. They have multiple production structures, but you can use the two Heroes and Crypt Fiends to clear up units whilst your Frost Wyrms divide their attention between them. You'll probably get attacked soon by Red's Dragons, but a few Frost Wyrms and your static defense will be able to help dal with them.I took Brown out next as they had a fairly clumped up base that was easy to deal with. Light Blue attacked me whilst I attacked them, and the Sappers did take out my eastern Spirit Towers, but I think it helped overall. The rest of my Towers took out the remaining attacking units whilst I could take out their Towers and pause production. I kept one eye on my base, which slowed me down a bit but oh well. At least I didn't trade my units for their units.Clear the creeps up on the map before taking Red if you want.For Red you'll probably want to max out your food. A couple more Frost Wyrms and Crypt Fiends will help you deal with one half of the base and then the other whilst safely dealing with any units they train in the other half. Once one half is taken out and you've taken out the Dragon Roost mopping up should be simple. Their Hero is slightly more of a nusiance, but as soon as it uses Bladestorm it outs itself as the real one.By using the Demon Gate we finally get to see Archimonde and he communicates to us that we must find Medivh's last remaining spellbook in Dalaran, because his magic can summon Archimonde.
