Etherian Holiday Extravaganza aka Present Delivery Map 1 (at least to me) was one of the first challenges that I could never even do solo on hard. I had cleared it on Medium but I could never do it on anything harder (2011).

Well now 3 years later, all of my characters are in the 2k+ stats, I have a much better sense of multi-char mix n match building and I have DPS characters. After completing everything on NMHC solo(or duo) and collecting all the costumes there was one challenge that was still laughing at me...E.H.E.

This was it, once this challenge was completed I can finally put DD to rest.

I can bet most people have completed Silent Night so they are probably familiar with this challenge's setup.

You are given a set number of DU/MU which increases each wave.
The amount of MU/DU is as follows:
wave 5(1) - 40
wave 6(2) - 55
wave 7(3) - 70
wave 8(4) - 80
wave 9(5) - 95
wave 10(6) - 120

So what's the big deal and why is this challenge so hard?
There are 5 spawn points on the map that constantly spawn enemies (although it caps, total number unknown atm). While trying to fend them off you must deliver presents which come from the bag next to the forge to a tree which can be one of six different locations. The number of trees that you must deliver to will increase from 1>2>3>4 starting on waves 6>8>10. On solo you will only need to deliver 2 presents to each tree. The most difficult part of this whole challenge is the completely limited build time that you have on start and even less during build phase. This is why without a doubt Silent Night is much easier even though you have the shards enemies to deal with.

Other notes:
The farthest tree (SW) requires 46s to go back and deliver. Always give yourself 1:30 plus 1 min per each other tree.

Aside from the will to even challenge this map you'll need the following :

Characters:
Aura Monk - Higher the aura radius the better
Trap Huntress - You will need a weapon that can clear orcs fast on wave 5 NMHC (any surv map).
Summoner - Higher the tower hp/att/rate the better, if by 3 star your archer can do ~70k dmg in NM you should be all set. You can test this on the dummy in Deeper Well NM Surv.
DPS Monk - Good DPS pet combined with 2k hp/att/hero boost. For tower stats as long as you can make 500-1k's you will be ok.
Jester - Give her a genie.

Normally I don't do this but this map is extremely difficult so here are my current char stats:
Aura Monk - 2238/3195/2393/2278
Trap Huntress - 2590/2849/2048/2487
Summoner - 3441/3282/2664/2328
Monk - Hero 2195/2541/xx/835, boost 1274/2157
Tower 584/1002/707/1009
DPS Pet - 16k seahorse
Jester - Hero 3269/3379/xx/1730
Wheel 1340

The only other thing is learning to build fast, to help with this assign archer summoning to a number so you do not have to open the wheel. To do this open the wheel click summon minions keep your mouse on the archer and hold 7. This will assign archer summoning to 7.

From the tavern start off as your summoner and then load the map.

Build Phase

As a summoner we will first work on building the 6 anti wyverns archers.
Immediately from the start go up the stairs and open the 2 chests (200 mana), turn towards the spawn and jump off left.
Summon an archer on the furnace that leads to the window, make sure it's facing outwards:


From here go further down the path and summon an archer on the pumpkin in front of the snowmen, make sure this one is also facing outwards:


Now turn back and go under the walkway, turn left where the lamp post is located and summon 2 archers here:



Now head towards the western part of the map and make sure you pick up at least 1 chest on the way there. Once you get to the western part, place an archer on the wall where the ramp begins (3rd spike) :


Go up the ramp and place the last archer on the 4th spike (1st spike once the ramp descends):


Once this is done, hurry back to the forge and switch to your huntress and start placing gas traps as close to the enemy spawns as you can.

Gas North :


Gas Mid East :


Gas South East :


After this gas upgrade archer 3/4 to 2 chevron :


Gas South :


Gas Mid West :


To defend the tree you are delivering to just cover with 2-3 proxies. Sell the proxies when the 2nd present is delivered or almost delivered.

MU used - 24/40
DU used - 15/40

Switch to your Monk and build ensnares on every gas but stagger slightly back so it's not double affecting and wasting the aura hp. You will need to add elec and str drain according to what the first tree is, for the 2nd tree add an elec to the appropriate tree.

During combat if you can upgrade north anti wyv to 3 chev and west to 1 chev (if not done already). No auras should go down but keep an eye out on your build at all times.

Aura North, you will need to make this aura smaller and also make sure it touches the left wall:


Aura North wall confirm :


Aura Mid East :


Aura Mid West :


Aura South, this one you'll need to confirm it's at least near the front of the sleigh :


Aura South confirm :


Aura Southeast :


The complete gas/aura layout :


MU - 24/55
DU - 55/55

For this wave, switch back to your summoner and add 2 minions on each aura except south which should get 3. Make sure you try and spread out the minions so that ogres won't hurt multiple at the same time. With this minions are done.

While you are delivering if you notice non SD aura areas getting hit hard you will need to stop by and upgrade minions or the auras so they don't die.

Just be careful as this wave does spawn ogres, make sure your building is complete before you begin present delivery.

MU 68/70
DU 55/70

Now we go back on the Monk to finish up adding LG/SD to each of the aura stacks. Once that is complete the minions shouldn't be going down but keep an eye out. Do the deliveries as usual but upgrade while you can. If you can do it get the anti-wyv's to 3 chev. If at any point you're having issues with East wyverns, attempt upgrading the SE side to 1 star and the window one to 1 star. Other than that upgrade anything in red while doing the delivery.

MU 68/80
DU 80/80

Now we go on Jester and upgrade. Get the Anti-Wyverns to 3 star and everything else to at least 3 chevron (1 star if you think you can make it). Whatever your plan you must start the deliveries by 4:30 mark otherwise if you get unlucky with the tree spawns you will time out.

No SS or DDP as no changes.

MU 68/95
DU 80/95

For the final wave we hop on the DPS Monk. The build should be self sufficient but there will be DEWs that will be able to run by the auras, in this case add additional elec/SD on trees that need it. This is where a chance at failing the map will come into play but if you build your secondary auras properly you will be able to get through this. Don't feel bad if things start to break, just patch up the breaks with your auras and keep delivering as you have pretty ample time and you only need to focus on delivering the 8 presents.

The finished build with sloppy secondary auras :


No DDP as no major changes to the build other than self added aura stacks.

MU 68/120
DU variable/120

The reward of doing the last wave as a DPS Monk is that the Boss battle itself becomes a lot easier. I had tried this with a countess but I just couldn't kill the boss in time. So thinking it from another perspective I decided to take a more Boss Rush/CD Gauntlet approach.

Build Layout :


Boss spawns from the red marker, don't stagger the auras just summon on top of each other. During the fight keep an eye out for ogres, the snowman doesn't attack santa and there's enough mana drops that you can keep hero boost on nonstop.

Once you beat him, congrats you've just completed one of the toughest solo maps in the game.

I'm sure this is why a lot of you are here so here you are, the full run from start to completion. Enjoy!

I honestly had a blast with this challenge, it really tested my skills and not just my tower's ability to hold out. I really wouldn't recommend this challenge for people to do solo, it really is meant to be done as a team and the rewards honestly aren't worth it. However for anyone looking to benchmark themselves, this is a great map to do it on.

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