Tactics for getting started?

[cowlesz]

I just downloaded this last night. Its great fun to play. I've been after a game like this for ages!!

Anyways I was getting panned on here. I was randomly attacking villages. I kept recuirting people from villages, but I kept losing to thiefs.

Whats a good way to start of this game?

[Adorno]

1. A good way to get money at the start is to attack looters with a blunt weapon and sell them as slaves (at the tavern). At Tihr there's always a slave trader.
2. Keep your party small and fast enough to catch bandits and looters.
3. Avoid the steppes (Khergit land) as there are fast and strong steppe raiders.
4. Do various missions for the guild masters. They are (usually) easily done and give many experience points to your NPC's and yourself.
5. After having obtained about 160 renown (by winning battles and doing quests) you can join a faction by talking to the king.
Although you can choose not to, and instead help a claimant to the throne.
You can also become independant by conquering a castle and thereby become a rebel. But note that it's hard being on your own.

It's hard giving advise like this, since the game is so open. You should do what you like

[Finnish Dragon]

When you have gained some experience in that game and you know what kind of teams do different kind of bandits and deserters have then you can try to play solo in the start.

First, you should only attack against looters as Adorno said. You can also try to do some tasks and gain more cash. Your first objective should be to improve your agility to 12 to gain riding level 4.(for heavy warhorse) Also, athletics 4 will be nice but you won´t need it yet. Improve your archery skill, the idea is to kill enemies at the long range and avoid melee fights.

Then your next objective will be to improve your strength to 12 to gain access to warbow, ability to carry heavy armor, having iron hide(?) level 4 and power strike level 4. So you will hit harder and you have more hit points. Improve your armor as well to have mail armor, a metal helmet, iron greaves and some kind of gauntlets. Also, buy a sword for melee fight. I prefer bastard swords since they are pretty deadly and you use them with shields in necessary.

When you have strength at 12 and you have a decently armoured horse, a decent armor, a warbow and a good archer proficiency then you can attack against small sea raider parties. They often have shields so aim at their feet and make sure that you have some extra arrows. Be sure that you keep distance to them. Their archers are pretty inaccurate in long distance but they can deliver quite much damage in point blank range. They will also run out of arrows sooner or later because they shoot quite liberally. Kill they infantry first and then focus on archers. They will give a lot of experience, renown and spoils if you play solo.

Also, use the tactical map at the start and see where your inventory box is in the battlefield. In that way, you can quickly fetch some new arrows. Also, avoid enemy groups with cavalry at all cost.

When you gain experience then you should increase your strength from 12 to 24. Why? Power draw, you need archer level 4 to use warbow and 4 extra level make the arrows to inflict more damage and the arrow trajectory is lower and more accurate because you have more skill to use the bow. That is why power draw is very sweet. You can use any ordinary bows when mounted but you cannot use crossbows.

Also, power strike and iron hide at level 8 are very sweet. You should buy heavy armor, something like guardian helmets, plate mails, iron gauntlets and iron greaves. If they are thick or reinforced the better. You should improve your athletics to 4 as well. Some extra arrows will be useful as well. When you are heavily armoured then you can attack larger sea raider parties. I have been able to kill more than 40 sea raiders in one battle by using my armoured horse archer tactics.

You should also have a faster horse than a warhorse available. A courser or a hunter, a shield and a lance are much better combination to deal with mounted horse archers than a warhorse.

[Victor1234]

When you have gained some experience in that game and you know what kind of teams do different kind of bandits and deserters have then you can try to play solo in the start.

First, you should only attack against looters as Adorno said. You can also try to do some tasks and gain more cash. Your first objective should be to improve your agility to 12 to gain riding level 4.(for heavy warhorse) Also, athletics 4 will be nice but you won´t need it yet. Improve your archery skill, the idea is to kill enemies at the long range and avoid melee fights.

Then your next objective will be to improve your strength to 12 to gain access to warbow, ability to carry heavy armor, having iron hide(?) level 4 and power strike level 4. So you will hit harder and you have more hit points. Improve your armor as well to have mail armor, a metal helmet, iron greaves and some kind of gauntlets. Also, buy a sword for melee fight. I prefer bastard swords since they are pretty deadly and you use them with shields in necessary.

When you have strength at 12 and you have a decently armoured horse, a decent armor, a warbow and a good archer proficiency then you can attack against small sea raider parties. They often have shields so aim at their feet and make sure that you have some extra arrows. Be sure that you keep distance to them. Their archers are pretty inaccurate in long distance but they can deliver quite much damage in point blank range. They will also run out of arrows sooner or later because they shoot quite liberally. Kill they infantry first and then focus on archers. They will give a lot of experience, renown and spoils if you play solo.

Also, use the tactical map at the start and see where your inventory box is in the battlefield. In that way, you can quickly fetch some new arrows. Also, avoid enemy groups with cavalry at all cost.

When you gain experience then you should increase your strength from 12 to 24. Why? Power draw, you need archer level 4 to use warbow and 4 extra level make the arrows to inflict more damage and the arrow trajectory is lower and more accurate because you have more skill to use the bow. That is why power draw is very sweet. You can use any ordinary bows when mounted but you cannot use crossbows.

Also, power strike and iron hide at level 8 are very sweet. You should buy heavy armor, something like guardian helmets, plate mails, iron gauntlets and iron greaves. If they are thick or reinforced the better. You should improve your athletics to 4 as well. Some extra arrows will be useful as well. When you are heavily armoured then you can attack larger sea raider parties. I have been able to kill more than 40 sea raiders in one battle by using my armoured horse archer tactics.

You should also have a faster horse than a warhorse available. A courser or a hunter, a shield and a lance are much better combination to deal with mounted horse archers than a warhorse.

I agree with most of this stuff, except the part about bows. I always found them incredibly difficult to use (horse archery aside), so I always go with crossbows. Not only does your aim not get worse if you hold the shot (with bows, the more time you wait before you fire, the more inaccurate your shot gets), but also you have the benefit of moving around. If you don't like the spot you're shooting from, just keep holding the mouse button and don't fire, move to another spot, stop, the aiming circle returns to it's normal state and you can take your shot. With a bow, you have to fire quickly, you have to fire from wherever you are and that causes alot of missed shots (for me anyways).

Then again, I never really use missle tactics at all. I get my bastard sword and a good shield, and then hack whoever needs hacking. I only use crossbows for siege assaults when you need to take out some defenders before everyone tries to get up that narrow ladder....

[Finnish Dragon]

I agree with most of this stuff, except the part about bows. I always found them incredibly difficult to use (horse archery aside), so I always go with crossbows. Not only does your aim not get worse if you hold the shot (with bows, the more time you wait before you fire, the more inaccurate your shot gets), but also you have the benefit of moving around. If you don't like the spot you're shooting from, just keep holding the mouse button and don't fire, move to another spot, stop, the aiming circle returns to it's normal state and you can take your shot. With a bow, you have to fire quickly, you have to fire from wherever you are and that causes alot of missed shots (for me anyways).

I agree that crossbows are easier to use than bows. However, you should use the bow when static. Then when your opponents are close then ride and make some distance between you and them. Then stop and start shooting arrows again. If you are mounted and static then you don´t need points at horse archery. With bow you need to shoot or to change the weapon if you decide not to shoot. Also, looters are a good target practice to learn shooting bows. The whole idea of this tactic is to be mobile and have some firepower.

Yes, bows are difficult to master but when you learn how to use them then they are more versatile than crossbows. You can pretty easily reach archery proficiency level 100 if you invest some points at weapon mastery as well.

Then again, I never really use missle tactics at all. I get my bastard sword and a good shield, and then hack whoever needs hacking. I only use crossbows for siege assaults when you need to take out some defenders before everyone tries to get up that narrow ladder....

That is a better tactic for beginner but if you want to be more efficient then you should play solo and try the tactic I introduced. It will give more experience, more renown and more spoils. At the beginning it is more demanding than having a party with you but in a long run it is more rewarding and having level 200 or 300 archery proficiency will help you a lot during sieges.

[Zakath]

I agree with most of the points here, however I think people have missed a nice feature or two with bows

First one applies to anything really. Hold Shift to zoom, very useful for long range bowshots and seeing where the arrow lands but also helps you spot where your foes are.

Second applies to bows, and was a revelation when I found it. If you draw, but your target runs away or somesuch click the right mouse button to un-draw, or whatever the word for it is. Easier than switching weapons and better than wasting an arrow.

Another nice thing I missed out on is looting. Ctrl-click an item to loot/sell it, I kept dragging stuff over to my inventory silly as I am.

As for more general things, get heroes along. They suck a bit compared to decent troops in the beginning, but once they get a few levels they're very-very useful. Not to mention that they don't die of course.

For troops, I tend to go for Norse/Vaegir. Norse Warrior/Veteran/Huscarl are incredibly versatile and quite powerful in their own right. They come with archers, axemen, swordmen and 2H axemen. A must for anything really. Vaegir Marksmen are just perfect for anything involving sieges and if you're facing anything beside cavalry. When facing cavalry, just order "Hold this position" and follow that with a "Stand Closer". F1 & F8 IIRC, cavalry will fail miserably against you, especially if you run around hacking at horsemen that get tangled up with your infantry.

[Vilhjalmr]

Vilhjalmr's easy guide to starting out in Calradia:

1. Set all difficulty settings to max.
2. Fight sea raiders.
3. Die.
4. Repeat.
5. ???
6. Become a powerful warlord.

[Verito]

Vilhjalmr's easy guide to starting out in Calradia:

1. Set all difficulty settings to max.
2. Fight sea raiders.
3. Die.
4. Repeat.
5. ???
6. Become a powerful warlord.

I try doing that, but I can never pass step 5...

What am I doing wrong?

[Adorno]

I try doing that, but I can never pass step 5...

What am I doing wrong?

Vilhjalmr's tactics are tough, but you'll become a good fighter. Warning: Only recommended for vikings!
(Vilhjalmr is suffering from a rare mental illness and psychiatrists are still looking for a cure )

So try to go slowly perhaps listening to my advise in the second post, or some of the other good advises here.

Note: The game progresses slowly, but once you join a faction and achieve a party of 40-50 men it's all downhill from there

[Al. I. Cuza]

I just downloaded this last night. Its great fun to play. I've been after a game like this for ages!!

Anyways I was getting panned on here. I was randomly attacking villages. I kept recuirting people from villages, but I kept losing to thiefs.

Whats a good way to start of this game?

You can try and make little money first, some 1000 bucks, then you can go and join any tournament you find. If you bet on yourself every turn and win you get some 4000 denars and 20 reputation, but very little experience.

For experience, fight looters. Then, when you have kind of 20000 bucks and 100+ reputation, you can start the real adventure

PS: Don't think the tournaments are easy. If they give you a bad weapon you can easily die. If they send you in on foot, try to kill a mounted soldier and get his horse.

PS: You really don't need strenght 24 I never went above 15.
PPS: I am also a bow-adept. If your proficiency passes 200, you won't have any problem using it. Try to experiment with the different abbilities. I rarely used perseverence, but now I use it on lvl 4, tactics is useful if you want to fight a bigger opponent (they don't start with more troops than yourself, if the trooplimit exceeds the map maximum) and trainer was a revelation. This way you can train your troops only by hanging around.

[Finnish Dragon]

PS: You really don't need strenght 24 I never went above 15.
PPS: I am also a bow-adept. If your proficiency passes 200, you won't have any problem using it. Try to experiment with the different abbilities. I rarely used perseverence, but now I use it on lvl 4, tactics is useful if you want to fight a bigger opponent (they don't start with more troops than yourself, if the trooplimit exceeds the map maximum) and trainer was a revelation. This way you can train your troops only by hanging around.

It depends whether you are a party leader or a solo fighter. If you are a party leader then you don´t need strength 24 but if you are a solo fighter then you will need it to boost your power draw, power strike and ironhide(hit points).

I agree that later in the game trainer ability, larger inventory and intelligence focus are very good ideas. My key idea was to adventure alone in order to optimize the increase in experience and renown and to make yourself very rich early in the game by selling "liberated" weapons and armors from sea raiders.

[Al. I. Cuza]

It depends whether you are a party leader or a solo fighter. If you are a party leader then you don´t need strength 24 but if you are a solo fighter then you will need it to boost your power draw, power strike and ironhide(hit points).

I agree that later in the game trainer ability, larger inventory and intelligence focus are very good ideas. My key idea was to adventure alone in order to optimize the increase in experience and renown and to make yourself very rich early in the game by selling "liberated" weapons and armors from sea raiders.

That won't make you rich even if you fight for 10 years without buying any food... Tournaments are the best places to get money, or attacking caravans and looting villages. Anything else just won't do. And if you cand get streght up to 24 what level do you have to be? At least 30... You have to kill a lot just to get there, not talking about the time you have to wait to increase your level even more. I think it would be just a waste of ability.

[Finnish Dragon]

That won't make you rich even if you fight for 10 years without buying any food... Tournaments are the best places to get money, or attacking caravans and looting villages. Anything else just won't do. And if you cand get streght up to 24 what level do you have to be? At least 30... You have to kill a lot just to get there, not talking about the time you have to wait to increase your level even more. I think it would be just a waste of ability.

Tournaments are a good place to make money if you are a well-rounded tournament fighter. In practice it means that you are good at one and two-handed weapons, polearms and archery. If you want to loot caravans or villages you probably need party members to kill the defenders. Also, attacking villages is a bit risky if a hostile warparty suddenly appears.

If you have agility 11 and strength 5 at level 1 then you will have strength 24 at level 21 if you increase your agility to 12 and then focus on strength. Once your strength is at 24 then you should focus on intelligence. Forget about charisma.

When you play solo and kill sea raiders you will have almost one point of renown per killed sea raider on average. By killing larger sea raider parties and having many reserve arrows you could easily gain 30-40 points of renown if you kill 40 sea raiders in one battle by your bow. You will also gain a lot of equipment to be sold in the nearest city. When I played by using my style I gained about 40K denars while playing solo, a heavy charger and heavy armor as well. I agree that my style is demanding and it isn´t for inexperienced players but it is very rewarding for veteran players in a long run.

[Al. I. Cuza]

I like to take it slow, but your way is a bit to slow. Doesn't it get boring killing searaiders all the time? Tournaments are more rewarding in my oppinion and you really must be only good in archery, the other skills are less important, because you allways have the advantage of having a brain, unlike the AI, and you should always focus on getting on horseback. Then any tournament can be won, you can make reputation real fast and gain a lot of money too.

PS: If you want to be able to do something big in this game you need charisma. Well, not necessarily, but it makes things way easier&faster.

[Zakath]

I tend to start out with the hit and run suggested, ie. ride up to the enemy shoot an arrow or three, run off etc. Then I finish of the last ones by cutting them down.

However for me the real game begins when I get a band of merry men and eventually join a faction. You get enough loot just by fighting the enemy in normal battles, not to mention having fun. Usually I try to get my hands on plate armour, a war bow, a bastard sword and a shield. Nothing beats cutting down a charging horse and then hacking the poor sod riding it to death while your men are 10-20 paces behind you cheering

Even if you screw up the actual fighting your men will snatch a victory out of the engagement. Just make sure you aren't knocked senseless and remember that your troops usually perform better when you actually command them than if you ride on ahead trying to solo every opponent. Oh, and did I mention that if you use auto resolve you will lose a lot of men?

[Vilhjalmr]

PRICELESS ADVICE FROM A VETERAN PLAYER:

If you want to get very good at fighting, there is nothing better you can do than fight in the arena brawls and training grounds.


I'm serious. It takes a lot of practice, but this is the no. 1 way to become a beast in hand to hand.

You will learn everything from how to take out a steady stream of enemies on your own to how to dodge arrows.


(Note: This is for people playing on difficult, I don't know anything about the easy settings.)

[Verito]

Easy settings are easy, I usually play with medium settings.

[Al. I. Cuza]

Well, normal is the hardest settings, isn't it? Isn't there very easy, easy and normal? At least the last time I checked...

[Victor1234]

PRICELESS ADVICE FROM A VETERAN PLAYER:

If you want to get very good at fighting, there is nothing better you can do than fight in the arena brawls and training grounds.


I'm serious. It takes a lot of practice, but this is the no. 1 way to become a beast in hand to hand.

You will learn everything from how to take out a steady stream of enemies on your own to how to dodge arrows.


(Note: This is for people playing on difficult, I don't know anything about the easy settings.)

Or....you just get on an armored horse and you can kill anybody easily with little to no practice.

Personally, I never fight on foot unless the AI manages to kill my horse. The stun lock and the intense 0-damage attacks kill that part of the game for me.