"Build up the army, then push back the Undead. We'll restore the luster back to the Silver Cities, Narxes."
—Archmage Zehir
The Defiant Mage is the first scenario in The Mage campaign in Heroes of Might and Magic V.
Walkthrough[]
Zehir and Narxes plan to liberate the Silver Cities. Narxes tells him that Markal's forces left Silver Cities, so not much of the Undead is left. Zehir goes to seize the opportunity to restore the Silver Cities.
His first objective is to capture Kadashman. This is the city where Zehir will need to begin the liberation. Some troops under the guidance of a Necromancer are left, so Zehir will have to defeat them.
The other objective is to learn - Zehir will have to reach level 10. It is not very dangerous or long, as the nearby creatures are weak and numerous. There are some learning places, like the Planetorium south of Zehir's starting location or arena east of it.
Towns[]
Necropolis: Kadashman
Events[]
Zehir captures Kadashman and restores it to Sihaam.
Strategy[]
This is one of the easiest scenarios. The Necromancer at Kadashman (who can be random) may present a bit of a problem, but Zehir has the Summon Elementals spell that summons creatures, so it shouldn't be a big problem.
You should rush to the town (go east in the beginning, then south after the skeleton archers and finally through the garrisson) if you want to be able to beat your ennemy, as their armies grow bigger and yours, thinner every day. Avoid hard fights to preserve your troops and ignore mines (you don't need them). Once you have captured the necropolis, you can take your time to reach level 10 and train Zehir. There are 3 planetariums and one arena, along with several spell shrines. To make next chapters easier, you can upgrade the mage's guild to level 5 and clear hard fights with another hero in the second phase. This lets you make Zehir really powerful.
When picking your skills, remember that you will not be able to learn new spells or get reinforcements before you have captured Kadashman, so start with what is immediately useful (such as luck). Also, dividing your stacks into small groups will let Zehir's Master of the Elements ability trigger more often; the best way is by splitting Gremlins or Gargoyles into single-unit stacks and then letting enemy stacks kill them.
