Heroes of Might and Magic II —
Pandemonium
Walk-through
I had played the Pandemonium mission of Heroes Of Might and Magic II dozens of times, barely surviving more than one week. I thought the mission was impossible to accomplish. A mistake or bad joke from the game producers. Then, after learning more about the game and trying the mission again and again and… I finally figured out how to win.
This mission really deserves its name. 21 heroes from 4 factions appear on the initial screen. In 3 of the factions, including yours, each hero has a different vocation than the others.
Before playing, which vocation to choose for your castle? And then… what to do? Protect the castle? Collect items on the floor? Attack? Try to make all your heroes survive? If not, which ones will be lost? Specialize in magic or brute force? Create a super hero or advance with a team of average heroes?
I would like to share what I learned but I don’t want to spoil the mission for you. So I will gradually tell the hints. And you go on testing one by one, trying to accomplish the mission without further help. OK?
Buried riches
There are 3 buried riches, always the same. 2.000 gold pieces near the necromancers, besides the road. A rabbit foot and gold to the east, between the fort and the alchemist lab. A white pearl and gold to the west before the mercenary camp.
I don’t consider this hint as spoil, because you have no clue about them till you walk on them.
Watch Carefully
Repeat several times the first and second days, just to observe the behavior of your opponents, each team has its own behavior.
Low Resources
It’s a mission for low level resources (heroes, magic and troops). I mean forget about dragons, titans and high magic towers. Only with a great control of the environment you will be able to create titans and black dragons. But then they will not be useful as the environment will be already dominated.
The Siege
Locking yourself in the castle is not a solution. Because one of the armies outside will get stronger and stronger. Your castle must have a strong defense or else it will be always under attack. But you must have heroes adventuring far away.
Remember Chess
The mission reminds me of what people say about chess: “It is the opening that defines victory”.
(I hope you’ve tried to succeed at least 10 times since you started reading this walk-through!)
Some Won’t Make It
You can’t collect most of the items near your castle and keep all six heroes alive. You must choose some for suicide collecting missions. Transfer troops to the heroes chosen to survive, making them stronger.
Turning treasure boxes into gold and buy another hero (with troops) may be better than increasing one level your basic hero.
Drink And Be Refreshed
Does the existence of a well in the center of the action, near your castle, rings a bell to you?
On the other hand, did you notice that the terrain is heavy?
The Portal…
The portal near your castle is considered a permanent threat. But in practice, it helps to defend your castle. Watch the opposing heroes taking a bad way :)
Watch Your Step
On the first day, each step makes a difference. Plan carefully. Don’t let a hero block another hero’s path. A hero without Logistics and Pathfinding skills can’t go far if he has a very slow troop. Like sorcerer with dwarf or necromancer with zombie.
Blue And Green
The blue and green factions are not much stronger than yours. And in the beginning, they are not interested in hunting you. They are looking for resources to increase their castles. One goes west and one goes east. The problem is the yellow faction. It is strong and aggressive. They are on the beach to hunt. And take your castle (sudden death!).
The Suicide Squad
You can attack a strong enemy with a suicide mage, with almost no troops, for the sole purpose of weakening the enemy before fighting with your main hero. The mage should attack with Lightning Bolt or Cold Ray and try to make the battle last to waste the mana of the enemy, using evasive tactics for flying units. There is only one catch against this smart tactic: Death Ripple (or Death Wave) spell; and often the yellow faction will cast it.
Economist
Maybe buying suicidal mages and keeping its troops to defend your castle or to reinforce a strong hero has faster and cheaper results than spending money in structures that make creatures.
Near Help
The map is small with a lot of useful items and structures. Mainly trees of knowledge, shrines and magic wells. Very suitable for mages!
Oh No!
I don’t believe you are still reading this! Go play the game! No hint for you this time :(
Yellow Fever (the big spoil)
The heroes of the yellow faction are necromancers. The first has a scary stake of 40 skeletons. The second is stronger: 30 skeletons and 5 mutant zombies. And the third is the scariest of all: 25 skeletons and 5 mummies.
If you let them kill the green and blue heroes, they gain experience, the Necromancy skill will give them more skeletons. And it will be more difficult to kill the necromancers later. And the yellow faction will take the blue and green castles against weak resistance. Kill them now!
How?
How to kill the 3 necromancers on the first day? You can use magic or brute force. Or both.
Magic: use sorcerers or warlocks to fire magic arrows while one sprite or gargoyle fly around.
Brute force: use a barbarian with as many goblins and orcs as you can grab in only two stacks.
Both: use an warlock shooting magic arrows and attacking with gargoyles and centaurs.
Complete Mission On Video
Bonus: Custom Mission
If you like HOMM2, I strongly recommend you to play Monopoly. It is a customized mission, ideal for impossible mode.
