User:Sanust/Guides/Firewall

• I will write the Chinese guides first and then translate it into English. --Sanust

 Fire Wall is a extremely powerful magic in PVE.

Undoubtedly, Luna the Elementalist, who has the Fire Wall specialty, is the best choice for using this spell - she can double the damage.

This guide focuses on using Luna starting with Conflux town to clear monsters by   Pixie and Sprite and Fire Wall. It is particularly important to note that when using Luna for monster clearing,  Sprite should be used whenever possible.

This guide ONLY teaches you how to use Fire Wall in the Shadow of Death ，and assuming that all the troops are NOT affected by morale and luck.

BEFORE CONTINUING TO READ, PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THE INFORMATION ABOVE.

Basic Data

Fire Wall always lasts for exactly 2 rounds, regardless of the hero's Fire Magic secondary skill level. Heroes without or with Basic Fire Magic can cast a two-hex wall (shaped like "/"), while those with Advanced or Expert Fire Magic can cast a three-tile wall (shaped like ">").

Fire Magic Level	Duration	Hex	Damage
None	2 Rounds	2(/)	10 + P * 10
Basic	2 Rounds	2(/)	10 + P * 10
Advanced	2 Rounds	3(>)	20 + P * 10
Expert	2 Rounds	3(>)	50 + P * 10

Turn Order

1. Units with higher speed act first.
2. No consecutive turns for same speed: If both sides have units of the same speed, they cannot act consecutively.
3. Units in front act first: Units in earlier positions (from slot 1 to slot 7) act before those in later positions.

The unit position order within the Creature Bank will be shown in their respective sections below.

Pathfinding

The maximum movement range for a Battle Dwarf form a hexagon with a radius (r) of 5.

Priority decreases gradually from 1 to 6.

When a unit takes its turn, if it wants to move to a certain tile, how does it plan its route? The following rules explain how the AI calculates pathfinding on the battlefield.

Rule 1: The Shortest Path Principle

A unit will always choose the shortest path to reach its target. As a result, the unit would minimize turns whenever possible.

It's worth noting that the AI initially only calculates the shortest straight-line path, ignoring obstacles.

• For more details, see Example 2 below.

Rule 2: The Hexagonal Principle

The battlefield in Heroes III is designed as a hexagonal grid, similar to a chessboard, which results in units' attack ranges also being presented in hexagonal patterns.

In the example shown, for the  Battle Dwarf, all the green-highlighted hexes represent equally short paths.

• If the battlefield is large enough, the theoretical maximum movement range for  Arch Devil would form a hexagon with a radius (r) of 17.

Rule 3: The Coordinate Priority Principle

When multiple shortest paths exist, the game then determines the final choice based on coordinate priority.

Using the starting tile as the origin, draw rays in six directions to establish a six-quadrant coordinate system. Following The Shortest Path Principle, the monster's movement order is determined by quadrant priorities numbered 1 to 6.

Provided the shortest path principle is satisfied, if the tile in the direction of the current highest priority is blocked and thus inaccessible, the unit will consider the tile corresponding to the next priority direction. Moreover, each time the unit moves to a new target hex, it re-establishes the six-directional coordinate system relative to that individual hexagon.

Rule 4: The Flying Principle

Flying units follow The Shortest Path Principle: "the shortest distance between two points is a straight line" and do not calculate the hexagonal grid along the path. They only consider the final destination tile.

Examples

• In Example 1, the  Familiar moves upward along the right edge of the battlefield.
  • The direction with priority 1 becomes inaccessible due to the boundary obstruction. Following The Shortest Path Principle, the unit will instead move one tile in the priority 6 direction.
  • Upon reaching this new tile, it re-establishes the coordinate system centered on that hex. At this point, the direction with priority 1 becomes accessible again, so the Familiar moves one tile in that direction.
  • In this manner, repeating the process, the Familiar continues its movement until it reaches the desired destination.
  • As a result, the Familiar moves in 6-1-6-1-6.
• In Example 2, the  Familiar moves towards enemy's Familiar. How does it move?
  • Yellow path seems to be a good choice because the first step is to move in the direction of priority 1. However, the yellow path is 7 tiles long, while the green and red paths would only require 6 tiles if there were no obstacles, it does not satisfy The Shortest Path Principle. Therefore, the AI will prioritize the red and green paths.
  • Due to the obstacle in the direction of priority 2, the Familiar can only move one step in the direction of priority 3, and then re-establishes the coordinate system at that new tile.
  • At this new position, the direction of priority 1 is again blocked, so it moves one step in the direction of priority 2.
  • It then moves one tile in the direction of priority 1, and proceeds along the path where green and yellow overlap until it reaches the enemy.
  • As a result, the Familiar moves in blue path.

• 
  Example 1: The Familiar moves in 6-1-6-1-6.
• 
  Example 2: How does the Familiar move?
• 
  Example 2 Answer: The Familiar moves in blue path.

Luna the Arsonist

要注意的是这里给出的案例都比较极限，一般情况下难度没有这么大，损失也会偏小。

初火烧帝王坟

帝王坟指有10个吸血鬼的墓室。下面假设 Luna 四维为初始状态（0,0,3,3）。

非泥地

气元素只能放3只，且蝴蝶数量不宜过多。此战斗不一定要用蓝蝴蝶。

1. 把大队的蝴蝶放在5号位，气元素放在7号位，其余各分出来1只。

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泥地

泥地地形亡灵速度+1。气元素只能放3只，且蝴蝶数量不宜过多。此战斗不一定要用蓝蝴蝶。

1. 把大队的蝴蝶放在7号位，气元素放在5号位，1号位放2只蝴蝶，其余各分出来1只。

（详见BV1R4411b77B）

草地禁魔

事实上，只要是草地带蓝蝴蝶，无论什么英雄都可以做到禁魔下帝王坟。

带30只蓝蝴蝶，其中1号位10个，2号位15个，3号位5个。带其他数量蝴蝶也可以，但蝴蝶总数量不能超过30，且1号位+3号位数量不能超过2号位数量。

（详见BV1WK4y1J7qU）