Need a bit of help (or data) on chapter 20(map spoilers inside)

[XAAAA]

tl;dr

1. Anyway to stop the assassins from spawning on the west road and well? Can you even block them?

2. When does darklings start spawning? Is it time based or event based?(Like when opening the main gate)

3. Are the units in the main gate lever room stuck there forever? I'm guessing there's a secret switch or something.

4. Who can actually climb the rope ladder? Just the trio from Lucca vilage?


On my last attempt I have made a few errors and I'm not sure how to completely solve them without doing trial and error runs that takes an absurd amount of time due to how the map is designed.

My first mistake was sending 5(!) good units in the statue-tunnel event. Previously I got caught by the "you have to use this event this turn" so when I restarted I had 5 good units ready to infiltrate the fortress. What I didn't know that these units would be stuck in a room with a lever to open the main gates neerby while getting attacked by infinitely respawning enemies. The thing I learned here is I just need TWO units to enter, one will block the door, one will unlock the door and pull pull the lever.

Second mistake was my west units were stuck for a lot of turns battling never ending reinforcements of assassins with +1 darts and cerberi. I thought the reinforcements would stop at a later point in the game. It also didn't help that my one (mobile)healer went inside the statue-tunnel.

Another problem arose when apparently, only the trio for Lucca village can climb the rope ladder on the west? It's just a guess from the description. It took my a while to get Jean in there to test it. By that time there was a never ending reinforcements of darklings coming down from the castle to the west side of the wall. My guys just couldn't climb without getting decimated.

I also thought you can heal Theo's NPC brother with the prayer wand from chapter 19. Apparently it's only for your own units, not allied green units.

[0y1on]

Well, there's this; https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/302526449850515476/672338995405127680/uwM_hzBBBiRR8e9WjqicmufjtPY6tSXNdAyMWHg1p5A.png
... though I've only played to Ch. 19 so can't vouch for it myself. Struggling way too much killing this dragon since I'm only capable of dealing 4 x 4 x 2 (32) per turn and the dragon is healing 30.

[RejectedByAnthonyDavis]

1. Anyway to stop the assassins from spawning on the west road and well? Can you even block them?
No. This is (probably) intended to force you to assign some characters to protect Athol 24/7. For my playthrough I found that leaving Prody + Bonacel + your weakest flyer is sufficient. The 2 guardians are too slow to storm the castle and are easily killed by magic, but are competent enough to absorb damage from the assassins if sufficiently leveled. Once the 2nd team arrives I usually add Jamulan and Helme as additional protection.


2. When does darklings start spawning? Is it time based or event based?(Like when opening the main gate)
If you mean the pink demons in the room with 3 of them, I think they start spawning and moving down the West balcony as soon as your units climb the West tree/rope ladder, or open the main gate.


3. Are the units in the main gate lever room stuck there forever? I'm guessing there's a secret switch or something.
Not at all. The East switch just above the main gate will create an opening at the bottom of the 'tunnel room', allowing the tunnel team to rejoin the main squad. You have to time it carefully though, since there's a mage and some other strong units right outside. Sending 5 units is a good move so long as the team storming the gate and protecting Athol are strong enough.


4. Who can actually climb the rope ladder? Just the trio from Lucca vilage?
Only Ash and Jean for me. By the time Dune showed up the main door was already open, so I never tried. You'll probably need a strong flyer and/or Slayne to support the 2 climbers while they activate the switch.

[Chester]

You actually can stop enemies from spawning on the east/west roads (though you're right, clearly they were intended to make you leave a guard for Athol). You need to leave a unit on their spawn point, which is the top part of the road (I forget the exact position, either to top most part below the moat or right under that). When in doubt, put someone on there right after a save turn - they'll spawn every turn, if there's no one comes you've found the right spot (you may want to wait till reinforcements show up though - if you sent 5 into the catacombs you may find yourself light on troops for all the different fronts till then).