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Chapter 8:
A Symphony of Frost and Flame (Part 1: Techniques)
Difficulty: Impossible
Heroes:
Anub'arak, Arthas
Significant
Items: Talisman of Evasion
Side
Quests: None |
The final chapter of the Frozen Throne is
rightfully the most difficult chapter of all. Yes, we did give it
a difficulty of impossible, but you can pass it, provided you save
and reload a lot... to do it all, without saving, would be...
quite impossible, at least for the average person.
Due to the size and scope of this walkthrough, we will split it
into two parts. The first part will detail the techniques required
to pass the mission, the second will give the exact procedure on
what to do and when.
Hero Development Guide:
Anub'arak
and Arthas will rise to Level 10 on this level.
Anub'arak:
Level 9: Level 3 Impale, Level 3 Spiked
Carapace, Level 2 Carrion Beatles, Locust Swarm
Level 10:
Level 3 Impale, Level 3 Spiked Carapace, Level 3 Carrion Beatles,
Locust Swarm
Arthas:
Level 2: Level 1 Death Coil, Level 1 Unholy Aura
Level 3: Level 2 Death Coil, Level 1 Unholy Aura
Level 4:
Level 2 Death Coil, Level 2 Unholy Aura
Level 5: Level 3
Death Coil, Level 2 Unholy Aura
Level 6: Level 3 Death Coil,
Level 2 Unholy Aura, Raise Dead
Level 7: Level 3 Death Coil,
Level 1 Death Pact, Level 2 Unholy Aura, Raise Dead
Level 8:
Level 3 Death Coil, Level 1 Death Pact, Level 3 Unholy Aura, Raise
Dead
Level 9: Level 3 Death Coil, Level 2 Death Pact, Level 3
Unholy Aura, Raise Dead
Level 10: Level 3 Death Coil, Level 3
Death Pact, Level 3 Unholy Aura, Raise Dead
Hero Control:
In this map, it
won't take long for both of your heroes to reach Level 10, and all
the enemy heroes, Prince Kael, Lady Vasj and Illidan are all level
10. Therefore, Heroes are the deciding factor of any battle, in
fact... often they are the only factor in a battle!
 | | Anu'brak can take a lot of punishment |
Anub'arak will have 40 armor on this level, add in a Ring of Protection +4, and he's damage reduction will be at 90%.
Provided Arthas has enough mana, your Crypt Lord is invulnerable.
Is any battle, always send the Crypt Lord in first, the greater the
proportion of the enemy army that attack him the better. In
addition to this, Anub'arak should get items which boost his
strength and hitpoints, since these are far more effective on a
hero that has huge damage reduction. Try giving him anything that
boosts damage as well, especially attack speed.
Never use Carrion Beatles, they're a waste, what's more, enemy
Spellbreakers can turn them against you. Save your Mana for
Impale, but always keep 150 free for locust swarm.
Arthas, on the hand, at Level 10, is still very fragile, compared
to Anub'arak. Keep him out of the center of battle. Though at
higher levels, Arthas can deal a lot of damage, and therefore is
great for killing weakened units on the side. You must ensure that
Arthas has mana to heal Anub'arak... so keep him away from heroes,
such as Illidan or Kael, who can burn or drain his mana. As
before, place all intelligence and mana boosting items on
Arthas.
If Arthas is hurt, use Death Pact. As you now have the Orb of
Darkness, you should have plenty of minions to cast Death Pact on.
Establishing a Base:
Destroying the
Naga Outpost at A is pathetic, almost no micro needed. Anub'arak
first, Meat Wagons on Water Guardians... done. Now get a base up
and running ASAP. While your still killing off the remaining
buildings, haunt the gold mine. Then: - Build a
Necropolis
- Use the Sacrificial Skulls provided to
create more blight.
- Build a Crypt and Graveyard
- Build 3 Ziggurats in a vertical line to the east
of your base (you'll see why later)
All the above should be
done while the Haunted Gold Mine and Necropolis is still being
built! - When Graveyard Built, send Ghouls to
Lumber
- Train 1 more Ghoul, 2 more Acolytes.
- Build Ziggurats as needed, upgrade to Spirit Towers
- Upgrade to Halls of the Dead
- Build
Altar
- Build 2 Slaughter Houses.
- Build a Tomb of Relics
While this is happening,
you should do some creeping with just your heroes (leave
everything else for defense). Kill the Frost Revenants at B, yes
they're Level 9... but hey, your Crypt Lord is invincible. Get the
Talisman of Evasion, give this to Anub'arak, now he really is the
ultimate Meat Wall! Go kill the Revenants at E and destroy the
item... so Illidan doesn't pick it up. In between, you may need to
get back to base to defend against the first Blood Elf and Naga
attacks.
Getting an Expansion:
In order to
keep up with the enemy, you will need an expansion. we recommend
E, as not only does it protect one obelisk, it also covers the
third goldmine at F. No enemy will attack F unless E falls.
Therefore, establish a base there quickly, and get 4-5 Spirit
Towers as Defense. As you get more resources... increase the
number to 10-15. Also get a Tomb of Relics.
As soon as resource allows, expand at F also. You'll only want
about 2 Spirit Towers for defense here... since the enemy will not
attack the place. build a Tomb of Relics here also.
With your initial field of operations set up, we'll talk about
defending them.
 | | Build your building in a way that blocks off the Eastern Passageway. Later,
put Meat wagons behind the barrier and you're all set. |
Defending Against Lady Vasj:
Lady
Vasj leads the weakest attacks, 3-4 Myrmidons, with a Royal Guard,
a few Dragon Turtles, 6-8 Sirens and 6-8 Snap Dragons. She'll also
send out all air attacks periodically, which consists of around
10-12 Couatls. Now her attacks follow the teal lines, and will
always target your Main base from the eastern side. You do not
need your heroes to fight these off.
At main, recall that we build the Ziggurats in a row, well
complete the row so it blocks the Eastern passage off. Set 3-4
Meat Wagons behind. Also build 1 Nerubian Tower east of the wall,
around Half a Screen width away.
When the enemy comes, your Meat Wagons will attack, and their high
priority means the AI will try to target the Meat wagons... but
there's no way to reach them. So their units end up wondering
around in circles! The most dangerous enemy you face is Lady Vasj,
with her Tornado... that's capable of levelling half your base.
But she'll be a fool, and target that 1 tower far east of York
base. The Tornado will not reach your actual line of towers....
With the enemies unable to reach you... you don't have a problem.
As for Couatls... well you got towers!
Defending Against Kael:
Now this is
much more difficult, Kael will attack using 4-6 Sorceresses, 4-6
Priests, 2 Dragon Hawks, 1 Ballista and 6-8 archers,8-12
Spellbreakers, . This is nasty... and you can't hold it off with
static defense. kael's level 3 Flamestrike... cast repetitively,
rules however mana Spirit Towers. Ground forces ain't good either,
Flamestrike destroys mass weak units, and large units get
Polymorphed and/ord Banished. Air doesn't fair much better, with
Polymorph and those archers.
 | | You'll need more than just Spirit Towers to stop Kael's attack. |
So what do you use? Just your heroes! Keep a shade at G, to
forward you of an enemy attack. Send Anub'arak to intercept, and
keep him healed with Arthas. Locust Swarm... the fight, till
they're all dead. Remember to use the tips given is hero
control.
red may also come with a flight of 12 Dragons Hawks, but they're
no more than annoyance. Sure, they can cloud your towers, but
their pathetic damage gives you ample time to trudge around the
map,a nd kill them. Leave 1 Crypt Fiend, burrowed at a base, and
you'll have no problems at all.
Defending Against Illidan:
Illidan
will not attack your main base, he is only interested in the
obelisks. He's offensive force starts off small, just 2 Royal
Guards and 2 Sea Witches in the first attack... but it gets larger
and larger as time goes on. Till about 40 minutes into the game,
and he'll have a full supply escort. 2 Royal Guards, 4 Myrmidons,
6-8 Snap Dragons, 4-6 Couatls, 4-6 Sirens, 2-3 Dragon Turtles...
The above's just an example. What is interesting is that Illidan's
escort will actually adjust its composition to counter whatever
unit your getting. If you're going Mass Frost Wyrms, their next
attack will compose mainly of Couatls. if your going mass Crypt
Fiends, they'll adjust themselves to have no Couatls and lots of
Royal Guards and Myrmidons instead... If you're facing him with
the completely wrong unit, say goodbye to your army.
 | | Battle's against Illidan are Utter chaos, just get your Crypt Lord
right into the middle of it... and keep him there. |
When engaging, note whether he's gone the ground version, or the
air version, and engage with only the units that counter them.
(Frost Wyrms vs Ground, Crypt Fiends vs Air). Thankfully, as the
Obelisks are always visible, you'll have a chance to spot
Illidan's Army and he's attack composition well before he reaches
you.
Always send Anub'arak first and use the Hero Control techniques
mentioned... ie, keep Arthas away from Mana Burn! Launch Locst
Swarm immediately, if you don't, Illidan's will drain your Crypt
Lords mana. Focus on Illidan, when he just hits yellow, Impale
him, followed by Death Coi. This has a high chance of disrupting
his AI, so he doesn't go metamorphisis. If he does.. he'll be that
much harder. But provided you keep getting Anub'arak healed, you
can keep him alive a long time.
If Arthas ever runs out of mana, run to the nearest Tomb of Relics
and get a Mana Potion, that's why you built a Tomb of Relics at
every expansion. As long as he's units are not a direct counter
to yours, you can beat off his attack.
Macro-Management:
So, what units
should you actually get? With Illidan building your counter, and
the Naga and Night Elf forces susceptible to different units,
there no one right answer.
You should definitely get a few Meat Wagons, at least to defend
your main. But when you plan to siege a base, you'll need more.
And while you have Wagons, it's a good idea to utile their Exhume
corpse ability, so you'll want to accompany them with 3-4 Necros.
These, in addition, are great for casting Unholy Frenzy on your
Heroes and Frost Wyrms...
Yes, Frost Wyrms, they're useful too. But you can't just mass
them. While they're great for freezing enemy buildings, they're
very vulnerable to mass Couatls. With 4-5 hovering above your
Spirit Towers, you can beat off most human attacks. In addition,
they're great for 'cleaning up' once your Crypt Fiends have
brought enemy Couatls to the ground.
 | | Raise Dead provide an extremely effective meat shield
for your fragile meat wagons. |
Crypt Fiends are also a good unit to use, having 12 of them
secures you against most of Illidan's assaults.Provided you burrow
them against Illidan's ground assaults, they're your only option
against enemy Couatls. During engagements, use them to focus fire.
When the enemy comes after them, burrow them, so they refocus on
Anub'arak. At which point, you unburrow the Crypt Fiends and focus
fire again...
Finally there's banshees, though their use is limited and optional.
However, having 4-5 of them to possess enemy Dragon Turtles and
Myrmidons can turn the tide of battle.
To support all these choices, you will need at least 3 Gold Mines
in operation at the same time. When you have enough resources,
proceed to do the following:
- Upgrade to Black Citadel
- Upgrade
Creature Attack, Defense and Unholy Strength
- Get a
Third Slaughter House
- Build 5 Boneyards
- Build 6 Crypts
Hotkey each set of production buildings. Building so many
structures is necessary, since you will need more than 100 supply
of troops to lay siege on the enemy. This many production
structures ensure you can go from 20 to 80 supply with a few
clicks. In addition, you'll need them from giving you the
versatility of countering Illidan's forces.
Obelisk Control:
During the game,
Illidan will attempt to control all four Obelisks. Whenever he
gains control of an Obelisk, Mor'guls are sent from the main base,
and will quickly erect an outpost. The outposts vary in strength
depending on which Obelisk it is, and you'll find the Obelisk at D
to have a very strong outpost indeed... featuring 4-5 Water
Guardians, 2 Spawning Pools, a Temple of Azhura, and constant
production of Naga Royal Guards. In fact, this outpost will act as
Illidan's main base in many respects.
The outpost build at C is also rather strong, however the ones
built at B or E are relatively weak. with just one and sometimes
no spawning pool and one temple... and 2=3 Water Guardians.
Provided Illidan's strike force isn't there, these bases can be
destroyed with just your 2 heroes and minor siege support. Base C
requires a larger force, base D requires a 200 supply army.
For the majority of the mission, your strategy is to let Illidan
control the Obelisks at C and D, while you make sure you hold onto
Obelisk E with a Base. As for Obelisk B, pay close attention. It
takes Illidan about 20s to convert an Obelisk, during which time,
he cannot defend himself. Use this as time to engage and destroy
his forces. Try to prevent the Naga from every establishing an
outpost here (and is they do, destroy it), but don't try to spread
your forces thing by building an outpost here yourself... well at
least till you got rid of Lady Vasj.
Conclusion:
Now you have the
necessary techniques to complete the mission, and so, before you
read the second part of our guide, you may wish to try the mission
yourself and see how far you get. We will provide a second part to this
walkthrough, which will guide you through how to defeat the
enemy.
It gives a step by step guide on how to control all 4 obelisks.
Give it a read.
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