Stuck on the last level of WC3:TFT undead campaign

[Wark]

I vowed to not start mapping again until I finish the campaign's (RoC and TFT) with no cheats.

I got through RoC easily, TFT was a little harder, but this last level is insanely hard. Blood Elves, and two teams of Naga againts you arg, PLUS you have to control oblisks.

Ugh!

 

[kuruza888]

uuum the mission with obelisks? i never got past a campaign without cheats lol! i cant help ya lol

 

[PB_and_J]

Did you buy the Wc3 Battle Chest? If so, you prolly got like a handbook of all the campaings. If you need help, try reading them, they give alot of help.

 

[SFilip]

well you should've simply used google...

anyway if you're still looking for a solution, i found a walkthrough:

This walkthrough was designed with more speed involved, and though harder to complete (compared to the rock solid one written by Elric) there is much less time spent sitting around.

For starters, take the Naga base to the south, use your Heroes and Crypt Fiends, along with the Meat Wagons. Once you have killed the standing troops, start production of a mine, Necropolis, a Crypt, and a few Ziggurats. Use both of the skulls so you can make Towers at both the top and right sides of your base. The top Towers should take advantage of the choke point by making a semicircle with the entrance as the center, fill in the middle with some more as well, by the end I had 20-25 Towers. Go light on the right Towers as you shouldn't need any after you crush the Naga in the first few minutes.

Even before your buildings are done, send your Heroes, the Crypt Fiends and the Meat Wagons to destroy the Revenants by the south obelisk, but don't take the obelisk yet.

Attack group: Your ideal group for this mission is 10 Crypt Fiends and your 2 Heroes. Upgrade the Fiends as you can, and make sure you have a bunch sitting at home to reinforce when needed. Take Death Pact as your 2nd skill so that Arthas can stay at full health during the game. The Orb of Darkness on the Crypt Lord is nice to get 200 hp skeletons that heal you for 600 at max level, also his beetles are a whooping 1500 or so.

Naga base: This is your first stop, to prevent attacks from behind. Send in the Crypt Lord first to start absorbing damage, and use the Meat Wagons to target buildings. Of primary importance are Towers and troop buildings, don't worry about the Farms for now. At some point during this attack you should be hit by some Blood Elves, use your lumber Ghouls to destroy the Glaive Thrower. By the time I finished with the Naga base, Illidan had taken both the north and south obelisks. Regardless, he should be on his way to take his third, wherever that may be. Follow him there and wait for him to start taking the obelisk, then hit him with all your units, and make sure to kill the workers that happen by later on, and capture the obelisk yourself.

Attack the next obelisk in Illidan's control, and capture it. Make sure to leave Illidan for last if he shows up, as soon as it's all destroyed move on to the neutral obelisk and capture it.

At this point you can either fortify the south and west obelisks and hit the Blood Elves, or you can take the final obelisk, the choice is up to you. The Blood Elves aren't much of a bother, just head back to either south or west when Illidan attacks, and have about 4 crypts, maybe even more so that you can always keep your group full.

About hitting the Blood Elves: There are a lot of farms, and don't waste your time killing them, just focus on the troop buildings and Towers, send a meat wagon in later if you still have one to finish the farms. Buildings to be destroyed: Castle, Barracks,Gryphon Aviary, Arcane Sanctum, Altar. Everything else is fine to let live.

At this point you can creep the map if you wish, just put up more and more Towers around the obelisks, and go back to help them out, use the expansion gold mines, and if you wish you can start destroying some of Illidan's Naga base, though if you just want to finish the mission head to the north obelisk.

About hitting the north obelisk, make sure you take out all the Towers before trying to capture the obelisk, as during the conversion time you take tons of damage from them, about 60-75. You can abuse the AI by setting up a wall of Fiends to let your hero capture while the computer focuses on Arthas.

ALTERNATE

When I started this mission for the first time (and although I had read in the forum that people thought it was the most difficult mission they had ever played), I thought that I would be up for a good challenge, but nothing that my" masterfully-trained Abominations" couldn't handle. So I went the old-fashion way with my fat and slow units, just to see them being torn into pieces by the more agile Naga. Mark my words, I won a few times, but I never was able to say "this strategy works 100%, let's write about it".

After trying a few combinations that all involved tier-3 units, I decided that it was time to try something else, as I am far from having playing skills Spaky or Ilneval have. So, if tier-3 units didn't work well enough to brag about them, I had to find something else, which I eventually found after a few painful tries.

What is the main problem with this mission? Illidan regenerates too fast for you to have enough Abominations to deal with him every time (yes, every is the key word here). Hence, you need to rely on other things, such as covering your expansion base with Towers, which is also very costly, especially when Kael just Flame Strike them.

So, if Tier-3 units are not the answer, then it must be to build units that are cheap, and that you can mass-produce in a heartbeat. And the answer to that is: Ghouls!

My solution emphasizes on speed, more specifically when it comes to creating units. This is, I believe, the key to beat that mission. Abominations and Frost Wyrms are good units, but they are very expensive and take forever to build, while time (between each time Illidan reappears) is not something of which you have a lot. On the other hand, creating Ghouls doesn't take that much time, and these units are cheap and fast. Even if you lose a few, and you will lose a lot of them, who cares, you can replace them in a jiffy and still keep getting them whenever you need them.

Before displaying the solution, I want to strongly emphasize on a few concepts here. If you don't follow them, you can build all the Ghouls in the world, the solution won't work. Period!

Build while fighting: Even though your units require some management to get out of a fight with a victory, YOU can spare 10-15 seconds to queue Ghouls in Crypts while your other troops work. This way, when your fight is over, you have fresh troops ready to take over; or you can bring reinforcements and change a losing battle into a winning one. I apologize in advance if you read that a few times throughout this article, but it is a key element.

Necromancers: Say what you want, they are NOT fighting units. What do I mean by that? Just that their prime role should be to produce Skeletons and Skeletal Mages. The best way to get that is to first set up your Meat Wagons so that they pick corpses (that is why you have Graveyards everywhere you build).

Skeletons: Do not wait for corpses to appear in a battle. When attacking a base, unload the Meat Wagons just before they are in attacking range and let your Necromancers do their magic. This way, you have a full army of Skeletons and Skeletal Mages supporting your regular army.

Note that we will not focus at all on creeps in this mission, as you will not need any of the objects anyway for further missions.

Build a base: You start the game with Arthas, Anub'Arak, a few Ghouls, Acolytes and Crypt Fiends, and two Meat Wagons. While your Shade reveals the small Naga expansion, create two groups (one with the Meat Wagons, the other one with all Heroes and units but the Acolytes), and destroy that expansion.

As soon as the last Naga worker dies (even if some buildings are still standing), send an Acolyte to haunt the gold mine, and another one to build a Necropolis. Send your Heroes back to your starting point, and get the Sacrificial Skulls. Use one immediately to create some bliss and use your Acolytes to create a Graveyard, a Crypt, and some Ziggurats. The main Ziggurats' use for now is not to defend the base but to allow you to produce more units. You can transform a very few of them into Towers, but no need to build the Atlantic wall here. In my games, I only converted 3 of them on each side into Nerubian Towers to slow down attacks, but I mainly relied on my units to kill off the attackers.

By now, Illidan will have probably controlled the first Obelisk, but nothing to worry about. We will start to look into that when he controls a third one. In the meanwhile, as soon as your Necropolis is up, build a few Acolytes to man the gold mine, then upgrade it to a Halls of the Dead, and build a second Crypt. You will have to defend your base against attacks from the Blood Elves and the Naga, but nothing to worry about at that stage.

[Note]: Our strategy doesn't require too much wood, because the core of our units will be Ghouls. No need to put too many Ghouls into wood production then. The four you have from the start will do the job.

What units to build: This strategy is centered on an extensive use of Ghouls. With two Crypts running, you can create them very fast. While doing so, also create a Temple of the Damned and a Slaughterhouse as soon as the Halls of the Dead is ready, and keep updating the Ghouls' skills. By now, Illidan may have taken control of a second Obelisk but we still don't need to worry. We will not attack until the third Obelisk is taken by him. Instead, we will keep producing Ghouls (up to a full group of them), and get the web skill. Note that your priorities are:

1) Get the Ghouls
2) Get the web skill
3) Upgrade the Ghouls

If you have finished with your full group of Ghouls, and if Illidan has not attacked the third Obelisk by now, start producing some Necromancers. They will be handy later on.

The third Obelisk: There is no way to tell which Obelisk Illidan will pick as his third one. In all the missions I played, the only sure thing was that he started with north, but then it varied (and I haven't been able to determine why). Whichever he picks, we will attack him at the south Obelisk, no matter what. The reasons why I pick south rather than any other Obelisk is that it is the closest location to your base, the closest location to the Naga base, and it is also away from both Illidan's and Kael's bases.

If the third captured Obelisk is not south: If Illidan picks anything but south, immediately send all your troops to south and destroy the Revenants there while Illidan is busy controlling the other location.

If Illidan attacks south: If Illidan attacks south, let him battle the Revenants, and send all your troops (including the wood choppers) close to the fight, but do not intervene. Wait for Illidan's victory, then attack him using all the skills at your disposal. Focus your fire on him, and as soon as he falls, his other units will fall soon too. Note that your base may be attacked in the meanwhile, but don't worry. Let the few Towers you have (I upgraded three on each side) slow down the attackers, then finish them off either by bringing back some of your troops from the south Obelisk, or by continuously creating Ghouls at your base.
To defeat Illidan at that time, the only thing you need is:

a group with Arthas, Anub'Arak, and 10 Ghouls
a group with your remaining Crypt Fiends
your Meat Wagons

Of course, if you have some Necromancers ready, bring them in too.

Your expansion base: As soon as you control South, use the other Sacrificial Skull to create a base there. Send an Acolyte to haunt the gold mine, and build a Graveyard as well as two Crypts. Keep your troops in defense here. Update your Halls of the Dead to a Black Citadel, and keep building other units until you get the following army:

Arthas, Anub'Arak, 10 Ghouls (30 food)
6 Crypt Fiends (18 food)
6 Necromancers (12 food)
4 Meat Wagons (16 food)

Spare some room for 5 additional Acolytes needed to take care of an additional gold mine, and keep building units until you reach the maximum food limit. Note that the army described above is all you will need throughout the rest of the mission. Of course, if resources permit, build more Ghouls, but no need to bring them along yet, until you are ready to get the last Obelisk.

[Hint]: Until your expansion base at the south Obelisk is established, you will still receive a few attacks at your main base. Do not redirect your waypoints to your expansion yet. If needed, send back some troops from your expansion to help fend off the attacks, which are never very powerful. Ultimately, bring them back to your expansion as soon as the battle is over.

The main reason behind the Graveyard is that we want to have a good supply of corpses for our Necromancers and Meat Wagons, when Illidan or others will attack. With 6 Necromancers on the base, you will overflow Illidan's troops while your main army focuses on him. The Crypts are to reinforce your army quickly when a battle happens at this base, preventing your base from falling. Eventually, when time permits, complete the defense of this base with a few Towers.

The waiting game: You now have a good period of calm until Illidan's new attack. Take advantage of it to upgrade all skills (especially Ghoul Frenzy) and defenses (build a few Towers around your expansion). As soon as your expansion base is built, attacks from either the Naga or the Blood Elves will be redirected towards your expansion base, leaving your main base alone. At that time, you can redirect your waypoints to the Obelisk you control. With four Crypts, you will be able to produce Ghouls fast enough to face any attack, even while the attack is on.

[Hint]: If you are not too sure about your micro-management skills and still want to produce reinforcements, focus on producing units from the Crypts at your expansion base rather than from all of them.

Bu-bye Vashj: As soon as the next attack from Illidan happens, focus everything you have on him. If you didn't know about it, you can even focus your Towers' fire on him. Keep your Necromancers near the Graveyard, and send their Skeletons on Illidan as well. Once again, use all the skills at your disposal to kill him.

The important point here is that you absolutely need to continue building Ghouls while pressing the attack. Just queue as much as possible in your Crypts and as soon as they are out, send them to the fight. When Illidan dies, directly go to Vashj's base, at the southeast corner of the map.

With the group mentioned above, the base should fall pretty fast, even if Vashj is present. If she is, focus your fire on her, then on the Myrmidons while your Meat Wagons get rid of the Naga Towers.

However, while methodically demolishing the base, keep an eye on the mini map to see if your base is not attacked. While Illidan is being resurrected, Kael might decide to ruin the day. If he is present, or if you think that your Towers and the units you kept producing can't handle him, pull back from the attack against the Naga and repulse Kael's attack. You can always come back to Vashj's base later on. Once the base is destroyed, you will get an Amulet of Spell Shield, but more importantly access to a gold mine. No need to build defenses there, you will not be attacked.

[Hint]: A good use of your Necromancers and Meat Wagons is to unload your Meat Wagons right before they are in range of attacking the Naga structures. This will give your Necromancers with plenty of corpses to play with, which will give you in return a lot more firepower. Note that your Necromancers should not be given attack orders but they should focus on creating Skeletons. This is the key to success.

Hit and run: With your new gold mine established, take some time at your base to finish upgrading whatever you hadn't, build more Towers, and wait for Illidan's next attack. From now on, this is how you will operate.

It would not be productive to attack Illidan's other bases and find out that he is rampaging your expansion. You cannot afford to lose it. So, the best way for you to avoid that is to wait for him to attack you. While he is being resurrected, strike other bases.

West Falls: As soon as Illidan's next attack is defeated, head to the west Obelisk. Destroying it while Illidan is not there will be a walk in the park. Once it falls and you control the Obelisk, do not try to build anything there. Although you could, defending this new base would be a waste of resources. Instead, replenish your forces, and check the mini-map to find out where Illidan will strike. Wherever he goes (it will be either west or south), meet him there and kill him again. Remember once again that even during the fight, you must take the two or three seconds necessary to replenish the queues in your Crypts to recreate new Ghouls. If you fail to do that, then the reason behind building Ghouls rather than Abominations is useless.

East is in Flames: With West fallen, and Illidan met wherever he tried to retake an Obelisk, head to the East Obelisk and flatten it (I know I'm pretty much hammering you now with this concept, but do not forget to keep building Ghouls while fighting). Illidan will very likely reappear right after you are done with east, so keep your forces there (or meet him anywhere else he goes) and kill him again.

The last Obelisk: By meeting Illidan wherever he goes and continuing to bring your reinforcements there, you will at one point reach a moment that will meet the three following conditions:

You control three bases,
You have the original groups (described above) full
You just killed Illidan.

This is when you will head for the last Obelisk.

Contrary to the other Obelisks, you will not try to flatten the base there. No need to take unnecessary chances. Instead, start by focusing on the Towers that surround the Obelisk with your Meat Wagons while your melee units keep the Naga at bay. Once these three Towers are gone and most Naga units are dead, send Arthas directly to the Obelisk while your forces stand between him and the remaining Naga. You shouldn't have any problem to stand the 30 seconds. As usual, keep bringing some reinforcements. The Obelisk should fall before Illidan comes back to life again.

whole thing taken from http://www.ultimategamers.com/warcraft3/walkthrough.html

 

[Siefer]

Wow. I was having trouble as well beating this game a second time. This might come in handy. That last level is so hard!
I'm going to try it without the guides a couple more times first.

I'm starting to wonder how the hell I beat it the first time without cheats, though

 

[Wark]

That level was so stupid it's not even funny. I had Arthas run up to the last obelisk, all the enemies were dead, but there were 3 towers there. I couldent wait to build meat wagons, because Illidan would resurrect. So I depended on this item I got at like lv 4, Horn of Clouds, I didn't want to sell because I knew i would need it one day.

So I gave the Horn of clouds to Anub'Arak, clouded the three towers, and sent Arthas in. Timer is 23 seconds left. Illidan ressurects!, I thought I'm toast right there. But no, foolish Illidan skips the obelisks I'm at and goes to another one! Hahaha! I won, I won! But not yet 16 seconds left, A Naga Siren comes out of no where! It starts attacking Arthas. Arthas is at 144 health. I can;t move Anubarak, because he's channeling the Horn of Clouds. Then I see it. My burrowed wounded Crypt Fiend, he has 5 health left. I undig him and make him attack the Siren. Arthas has 45 health left, 9 seconds to go! The siren doesen't attack the Crypt Fiend, and the Crypt Fiend kills the Siren, I won I finally did it! 3, 2, 1... MAIN QUEST COMPLETED!!

Finally I can now say: I've beat Warcraft III and The Frozen Throne with no cheats, no hacks, no exploits, 100% pure strategy, the way it was meant to be played. .

I rule. World Editor here I come!

Aww crap, bonus campaign...

EDIT: DOen the bonus, yes finally done!

 

[uberfoop]

hmm. usualy people, when refering to last mission, just say 'go slow and steady, use 2 forces, 1 at base w/ anubarak and 1 with arthas for obelisk assaulting, kill small gold bases, build towers, dont get f*cked.'