How to not ♥♥♥♥ up really bad in Act 3 (MINIMAL SPOILERS)

[GGhana]

Hey there, just got to Act 3, I'm trying to play as unspoiled as I possibly can (only checked a guide for a random puzzle in a tomb, and when I realized I forgot to get Staunton's glaive when I was looking at how bad my main characters weapon was.)

The weird shift to HoMM style gameplay I didn't really find fun in Act 2, but it was like ok i guess, there was still a lot of fun pathfinder combat happening so I didn't really care. But now I'm in act 3 and I'm completely unprepared.

I have 2 generals, Chief Ageboya is level 7 and she has 3 stacks of clerics and one stack of hellknights, they killed basically everything in act 2 with no difficulty at all. I also have Evenmist at level 6, she does somewhat worse in fights but she's still pretty good.

My main concern is that I've heard people basically getting soft locked and ruining their game by screwing up the crusade segment, I'd like to avoid that from happening lol but I don't really want to check guides in case I get spoiled. How exactly do I play this mode? Will most locations be discovered as a result of events, so I don't need to send scouting parties or have my hero wander around the map? If I need to actively wander around the map should I still not let my hero never leave Drezen unless it's to go to a location? (I'm assuming you can't do council events outside of Drezen, nor can you fast travel) just in case an emergency happens and a council event needs to happen? How annoying are demon spawns? Can I have Chief Ageboya run around the map hoovering up chaff demon armies so she can get more XP? Or do I need to split XP between my two generals even though one is worse? If I let my strong general go far away from Drezen will that be an issue? I'm assuming not because of teleport circles, What restrictions are there on teleporting? If Drezen gets surrounded can Ageboya just teleport back and kill everything no matter how far away she is or what happens or does Evenmist need to be trained and my best troops stay by Drezen so Drezen doesn't get ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥? Are there random events that mean "you cant teleport lmao"

The general consensus online seems to be "get a ranged deathstack, level up a general with AoE damage and fall asleep on a keyboard" and I've got half of that figured out, so I'm not worried about winning fights, I just have no idea how to play the crusade mode outside of combat.

Please try to avoid spoilers if at all possible, and if you can't please spoil them. I know it's dumb but that's just how I like playing CRPGs lol. I'd just like to avoid a softlock or having to restart act 3.

[kotor_fan]

To start with, what difficulty are you playing Crusade mode on?
If you are not enjoying it, drop it to story difficulty (still exists, but gives more resources and units, in my opinion best solution since Crusade sucks)

That aside:
2 general is fine, 3rd one can sit at home
Mages are best (Setsuna Shy and Chief Ageboya), 3rd doesn't matter, (Evenmist is fine you elven fanboy.)

Split exp to a point. Getting 2nd general to 8-9 is fine, after that, forget they exist and hoard everything to one general to get ultimate abilities (mage can clear map turn one with spells).

When you capture fort, build Supply Center first (always, as materials are hardest to get early on), Hospital, then either watch tower, or 2 recruitment buildings (stables are most expensive, archery range best).
Inn is a trap. It gives very little money while asking to have no recruitment building in that fort. Don't do it.

For units, one minor spoiler: Get Marksman. Always! The rest, pick as you want, either role-play the decision, or pick what looks strongest. Doesn't matter. Marksman do.

Every 3 captured forts you get option to research Bastion (larger fort). Do it, get more recruitment buildings.
Every 7 days recruit basic units: Footman, Archers and Cavalry
For mercenaries, get ranged or cavalry (Bandits, Headhunters, Sorcerers are all great). Notice free search option. Check mercenaries tab, if all options suck, search again.
Buy one you want, search for remaining slots.

Once you buy reinforcements, send them to 2 generals clearing map. Good units without general can sit with 3rd general near Drezen.

If you're clearing at decent speed, your recruitment will bring you up to very high army power levels. Your "reserve" force at Drezen can stay sitting there and growing up.
Once you take most of the map in Act 3 (and all existing stacks), 3 generals and their large armies should be positioned: Far south, Far South-West and West.

Enemies that spawn by that point will be small stacks at one of those 3 areas of the map. Even lvl 1 general with large army will crush those small spawns.

For spells on your mage generals: Damage (fireball, late game ice spell, late game tsunami and basic heal). Basic heal is incredibly important as it will stop you from losing any enemies.

If you need any specifics do tell, but above will get you through both story and whatever level is above it difficulty wise easily, it will just be much faster on story.

EDIT: And for discovering map, your generals will do most of that for you as you move them around. Some locations will be triggered by your party moving. Wouldn't worry about that part.

Oh, and to upgrade specific crusade aspect, it's a 1 day task, so do those as they come. You only need to visit Drezen to finish those, not to research stuff. So keep research running at all times.
Crusade morale boost research will be waste of time 99,9% of the time.

[mk11]

AFAIK, the "trap" is if you spend a very long time in the act morale can drop uncontrollably. This usually seems to happen when someone spends all the time playing the crusade mode and ignoring the party. Best to do each in parallel.

[Myth Alric]

You can pass a lot of time to get more resources and troops, so it isn't too bad. You just need to capture a new fort every x days, and defeat an army on the map every x days. As long as you don't wipe everything out right away you can take your time, and explore your party while you are doing it.

[forkofspite]

Originally posted by GGhana:

Will most locations be discovered as a result of events, so I don't need to send scouting parties or have my hero wander around the map? If I need to actively wander around the map should I still not let my hero never leave Drezen unless it's to go to a location? (I'm assuming you can't do council events outside of Drezen, nor can you fast travel) just in case an emergency happens and a council event needs to happen?

You can scout with the amies - just make sure the night watch camp role is filled (preferably by whomever has the highest perception modifier). You can scout with the party, but usually it starts as going to somewhere specific. However, I advise against using the skip day button to reset your army movement - go adventuring with your party instead.

Yes, you need to be at Drezen to handle the council rank-ups as well as whomever else visits the command center. The teleporter building is for the party - you can teleport the party from anywhere on the map to a bastion/fortress that has a teleporter (including Drezen). The ability has a 24-hour cool down timer. That being said, unlike Kingmaker, there's no rush to handle any of these Drezen meetings - go ahead and finish your party expedition and you can return to Drezen after.

Originally posted by GGhana:

If I let my strong general go far away from Drezen will that be an issue? I'm assuming not because of teleport circles, What restrictions are there on teleporting? If Drezen gets surrounded can Ageboya just teleport back and kill everything no matter how far away she is or what happens or does Evenmist need to be trained and my best troops stay by Drezen so Drezen doesn't get ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥?

The armies don't have the ability to teleport (at least, not yet and that ability has a long cool down timer). The demon armies spawns happen in specific areas and go "as efficiently as possible" towards Drezen, so it'll probably have to go through one of your forts first (Gloomy Gorge, for example). The seige of the fort takes 3 days, I think? Longer if you built a citadel there. Regardless, the fort doesn't fall right away - the corresponding green/yellow/red shield turns yellow during this time (which, I recently found out, doesn't affect anything - all that matters is red or not red). So, you have time to deal with it - get one of your armies there. If you're in a map with your party, make sure to return to world map each day to move your army towards the fort.

In other words, Drezen will never be "suddenly surrounded".

[forkofspite]

Originally posted by Myth Alric:

and explore your party while you are doing it.

Just wanted to emphasize this part. Missed it on my first read and replied with a scathing rebuke of using skip day to build up an army strong enough to clear the map before adventuring with the party. Deleted that reply, of course.

[GGhana]

Originally posted by mk11:

AFAIK, the "trap" is if you spend a very long time in the act morale can drop uncontrollably. This usually seems to happen when someone spends all the time playing the crusade mode and ignoring the party. Best to do each in parallel.

Wouldn't it be the opposite? I know in act 2 in Leper's Grove after I killed the Vescavor Queen (I ignored all the other random junk and merchants since I believed the game when it said it was a bad idea) I still spent like 2-3 days in total there slogging through all the monsters, and when I got back my morale was -21. I thought morale only went up by blowing up demons and demon forts.

[jonnin]

Originally posted by GGhana:

Originally posted by mk11:

AFAIK, the "trap" is if you spend a very long time in the act morale can drop uncontrollably. This usually seems to happen when someone spends all the time playing the crusade mode and ignoring the party. Best to do each in parallel.

Wouldn't it be the opposite? I know in act 2 in Leper's Grove after I killed the Vescavor Queen (I ignored all the other random junk and merchants since I believed the game when it said it was a bad idea) I still spent like 2-3 days in total there slogging through all the monsters, and when I got back my morale was -21. I thought morale only went up by blowing up demons and demon forts.

this is sort of a special event and how you perform affects how long your army is chewed on by the swarms, which effects their morale. Things like picking up loot make it worse for you, but I don't know all the variables.

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for the crusade mode, I follow a no armies die approach just like HOMM. Its easier here thx to the infirmary concept ... you don't need to keep a mob alive while you heal stacks back up. Also no one said this but I find increasing army size to be a big deal, to easier surround your archery with protectors. After a while you can split your footman stack into at least 2 that block access to archers... etc.