Mission Title: Arborea, the gateway to Idylliac and ancient home of the ents Objective 1:Defeat Shakti Objective 2: Do not die Objective 3: Sara Bella must survive Mission Attributes: +2 to Stratos New Units: Flurry New Spells: Frozen ground Stratos sends you to Arborea, where the dynamic relationship between the gods is about to change drastically. Though Stratos seemed to have good intentions in the first few missions, his intentions become clear here, with a preemptive strike against Persephone and her wizard Shakti, who assisted you in battle in the previous mission. Sara Bella will use her powers to block Persephone's view from Arborea while you help Stratos defeat Shakti.
One of the toughest aspects of the mission is the requirement to defend Sara Bella. To lead the mission to victory, Sara Bella must survive. During the course of the mission, add guardians to the manalith that she lives next to. The more guardians, the better; but remember that you will also need mobile units to use in battle against Shakti. You may see Shakti early in the mission because she becomes suspicious of your intentions. Be nice and don't insult her. This buys you extra time before your real intentions are shown. To increase your soul count, explore the windmill villages for peasants. Kill the peasants here (use low-level spells) and convert the red souls left behind. Shakti will appear in disgust as soon as a peasant dies. The battle is on. After killing the peasants, return to Sara Bella and the manalith and conduct defense. Don't head out into battle until you can safely defend Sara Bella from attack and can summon several offensive units (include a mix of ranged and air plus the artillery flurries). Shakti's ents are durable melee units but are quite profitable - each time one is killed, it produces multiple souls. When you start to move against the Shakti-protected manaliths, a counterattack is launched against Sara Bella. Immediately move your offense units back to defend Sara Bella's manalith after you cast spells against Shakti's guardians. Defending Sara Bella successfully is nearly as difficult as defeating Shakti. As you move against Shakti's manaliths, employ frozen ground and flurries to destroy guardians. Convert the souls and summon additional units. A cutscene interrupts your offensive maneuvers against the manaliths. A dragon swoops in and assists in Persephone's defense. Order all units against the dragon. Cast spells against the dragon to weaken the creature. You receive a staggering five souls for killing the dragon - convert quickly and summon more units. Upon destroying the manaliths, construct your own over the exposed mana founts. The mission ends after you desecrate Shakti's altar and banish her permanently. Think defense first in this mission. Don't move out against Shakti and her manaliths until you can successfully defend Sara Bella from attack.
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