Matters of Duty - walkthrough | Commonwealth Campaign AoW III Guide

Starting area.

Conditions of victory:

1. Find Laryssa

2. Valery must survive

3. Sulthor must survive

Find Laryssa

At the very beginning of this mission, it is worth mentioning that you need to care about your units here and lose as few of them as possible, preferably none. The loss of the Flame Tank is impermissible, because it will be, virtually, impossible to seize the first city without it. This is why, while moving to the East, attack only when you are sure to win and where you sustain no losses. After the first move that you make, you will be joined by a new leader, Sulthor. Capture the fortress and take the path into the center of the map. Along your way, eliminate the Brigand Camp.

You will reach the place shown in the screenshot. Keep your units close to each other here, and attempt to eliminate the Independent Party made up of Wraiths on your own. Again, after a short walk, you will walk into an area where you can erect a fortress and, after you capture the Watchtower, meet the AI-controlled player - Carishar. The dialogue options are not important here. Keep going North and you will meet Laryssa, and you will have to make a choice. If you choose the "Stopping you traitor." dialogue option, you will make the choice to attack Laryssa. In the case of the "Can we talk?" option, after a short conversation, you will be able to make a choice - whether to remain faithful to your mission and attack Larissa (Commonwealth), or to support her (Torchbearers).

Te moment of choice.

NOTE: On this choice, the course of both this one and the next two mission depends and, which follows, the ending of the campaign.

Commonwealth

The siege of Laryssa's Throne City.

Conditions of victory:

1. Execute Laryssa

2. Dwemus must survive

3. Defeat Carishar

After you decided to remain faithful to the Empire, you have no other choice but to attack Laryssa's city. After two turns, you will be joined by another leader, Dwemus, thanks t which your party will grow to 4, of which (even Edward, until you capture the city) can die. Immediately, launch the attack, with all your units, on Laryssa's Throne City. The most important thing is to make a good use of the leaders and the Flame Tank, which you should use to destroy the gates and to deal considerable damage to the units on the walls. Another important matter is using the Human Knight correctly, because these are tough units of powerful attacks. After you destroy the gate, it is the that should block the passage and take on the majority of attacks. The final matter, which ensures you with success is using the leaders. If, however, the number of their health points is low, i.e. if the next attack is likely to kill them, do not hesitate and retire them from the first line of attack, outside of the reach of the enemy units. You should especially watch out for Laryssa's attacks, here.

IF you have thought that capturing with the city is the end of fun, you will be disappointed p this is only the beginning of the battle, where you need to win against Carishara, who has not one, but several cities. Therefore, start training your units as quickly as possible, in all the cities, including the one that you have just captured. If your army remained strong enough, after the attack on Laryssa's Throne City, the best way in which you can use it is attack the city to the West of yours. Your next goal should be to go South, where you find more of Carishara's cities. Deal with them in the same way as with the previous ones. Slowly, without haste, by producing more units. Then, you should have no problems capturing the rest of the cities. After the last one falls and you defeat the opponent, the mission will end in success.

Torchbearers

The place of the final showdown with Carishar.

Conditions of victory:

1. Defeat Carishar

2. Laryssa must survive

An alternative way of ending this mission is supporting Laryssa and defeating Carishar together with her. Valery will be outraged over your decision and will leave the party. Laryssa will then become your ally. First of all, command your army to the West, to capture the first city. In the meantime, Laryssa will most probably go South to attack the other cities. You should, therefore, haste to capture your target and dispatch your army to the south, to reinforce her, because she can easily be defeated and the mission will end in failure. In the city that you capture, you should, of course, remember to start the production of new units. Keep pushing to the South and keep capturing city after city. If you still have the Flame Tank, than this will be a piece of cake. If not, then you should train some more units. Then, you will have little problems defeating Carishar.

Hints

With the help from leaders, the siege is but a breeze.

1. In the initial phase of the game, try not to lose any of your units. This is really important because the successful siege of the first city, with a much limited army, is very difficult, or even impossible. That is why you should try not to lose any units during the initial attacks. Additionally, for the exploration of places on the map, whenever possible, collect the items and additional units.

2. The spell that you can choose for Valery is very helpful at attempts to keep your units alive. It is called Phoenix Warrior. After it is cast on the selected unit, in the case in which it dies, and you win the battle, it respawns with 35% of its health points. It is a good idea to cast this spell on the units that are low on HP and will be, probably, attacked in the next turn.

3. While fighting against Carishar, whether as Laryssa's ally, or alone, it is important that you capture the quickly the city to the West of the one that you have (or haven't) captured from Laryssa. Thanks to this, your back will be secure and your way to Carishar's southern cities paved.

4. Remember that there is no turning back, at the moment at which you make your choice which is why it is a good idea to save the game, in order to try another option of ending the campaign, in the future. On the choice between Commonwealth or Torchbearers depends the course of, not only, this mission, but also of the following two and the end of the campaign, as a result. Choosing the first option leads to Slaying a False God, and then to Ending the Old Ways. Choosing

Torchbearers offers The Rockshoal Isles and Last Chance.