Didn't see this info anywhere.
When buying your trade penalty starts at 100% (you're paying double the base price). Ea. level of trade skill drops that 5% to a low of 30% @ Trade14.
When selling you start selling things at 20% of their value. The progression by raising trade skill seemed to non linear or awkward to figure out but @ Trade14 you sell items at %40 of their value.
Intermittent values are listed below, if you're trying to figure out prices ahead of time, multiply the base value of the item against the value @ a certain level of trade party skill. (remember if you have the party skill bonuses are automatically added to it).
Trading 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Buying 2.00 1.95 1.90 1.85 1.80 1.75 1.70 1.65 1.60 1.55 1.50 1.45 1.40 1.35 1.30
Selling 0.20 0.20 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.29 0.31 0.33 0.35 0.38 0.41 0.45
*first level of trader skill doesn't seem to affect selling price for some reason.
Another nice merchant path is to buy flax in Sargoth and sell it in Durquba, then buy iron and salt from Ahmerrad (and the other Sarranid cities) and head back through Tulga for the spice. I then make my way back to Sargoth for more flax, selling the spice, iron and salt along the way.
thanks for the manual nood!
i suggest everyone read it even if you're a seasoned m&b player.
i just learned a few things that you may find fascinating:
- surgery provides 4% chance per point to be wounded rather than killed added to a base of 25%. so if you have 5(+2), it's actually 53%; if 10(+2), it's actually 73%
whoa!
- power draw's bonus damage is capped at 72%, but points still improve the accuracy and how long you can keep a bow drawn.
- shield skill also improves the size of the shield vs. ranged attacks
- tactics skill will allow you to retreat with fewer casualties--and im guessing less hp lost for your own character if youre kinda close. so pretty much improves the autocalc for retreats.
- wound treatment heals crippled horses--i think most of us already know this, but just throwing it out there
- first aid provides the bonus added to a base of 10%. that explains why having 10 points heals 60% life
- weapon proficiencies are built by damage for melee weapons, and shot difficulty for ranged.
- weapons deal the most damage at their maximum reach--no brainer, so try to keep your distance optimized
- horse maneuverability affects acceleration and deceleration in addition to turning speed
- map speed IS affected by riding for mounted units and athletics for infantry. this explains why khergits are not only faster because they're all mounted, but because they also have 6/7 points into riding. confirmed by manual! however it is not affected by horse type. since the game calculates the party speed by average between slowest and fastest, youll only see the benefits of improving riding for your companions on a large scale and if they compose most of the party.
- using a 2h weapon or polearm as a 1h incurs a 35% penalty--i think most know this one too
- 'most weapons will do more damage in the middle of their stroke than at the beginning or end'
- 'In general, all regular soldiers will get one share, your hero companions will get 3 shares each, and as the leader, you will get 10 shares of the loot.'
Yes and no - the higher base damage of the masterwork war bow means that it will still do more damage than my favourite masterwork nomad bow (as both can use all 10 power draw), but the war bow won't be as accurate as the nomad bow. By the time you're doing that much damage, accuracy is probably worth more than a point or five more damage.
That said, you can still get +2, which isn't THAT bad for accuracy.
And as for the extra strength not being wasted you're probably right there Darklord, but as far as a typical player is concerned, going from 18 to 30 probably is a waste if they did it primarily for bow damage and use a hunting bow. It will probably have SOME effect, but nowhere near enough to justify it. If you want to use cheats to get to 500 strength then you might have an effect, but that's not a scenario I'll be going into in a manual.
Also, you will gain 1-2 reputation, talking to a lord after capturing a city/castle. Just talk to all siege participants to gain that bonus (you have to have positive relations with a lord to gain rep. that way)
I only used it that as an example to show that it not 100% useless, but its true there's no real reason to take any stat above the minimum needed for your skills lvls your aiming for.
As for left over stat points; Str = a tiny bit extra damage +1 hp.
Agil = +5 proficiency points +increased speed (attack and movement).
INT = +1 Skill point.
Cha = + Army size.
I wonder what hidden bonuses INT and CHA give if any.
Personally: I would go INT first unless I got most/all skills I am aiming for, then Agil for the faster attacks & proficiency (unless its a non fighter hero, as faster attacks = chance to interrupt attacks on you).
Edit: You can also click on the 'status' screen (Backspace) minimap to tell groups to move around. You can't see an overhead view of the terrain tho, just your groups as colored blobs and them as red blobs but it does in theory and sorta in practice allow you to tell groups to move to a location out of line of sight. It takes some stabbing...
If you have enabled the 'continue battle after death' tweak, you can still command your troops through this screen as well. It is kinda guesswork as you have limited information available but its better than no command.
Quote from: dedjedi on May 25, 2010, 06:58:15 PM
Thanks for the linke and awesome, awesome work. I read through this twice and each time started a new save game because of what I learned.
Edit: You can also click on the 'status' screen (Backspace) minimap to tell groups to move around. You can't see an overhead view of the terrain tho, just your groups as colored blobs and them as red blobs but it does in theory and sorta in practice allow you to tell groups to move to a location out of line of sight. It takes some stabbing...
If you have enabled the 'continue battle after death' tweak, you can still command your troops through this screen as well. It is kinda guesswork as you have limited information available but its better than no command.
Although I'm well aware of the screen, I find that it is far too difficult to use effectively - basically you just can't be sure if you're telling your guys to stand half way up a cliff. The best use for it, as I see it is:
1) getting cavalry to flank when you're on foot.
2) getting units to run away if they're vulnerable, to a map edge.
A way to increase the usefulness, if you don't mind a bit of fiddling, is to remove all troops from the cavalry, infantry and archers groups, then set those groups to stand ground at given points you can recall (e.g. river bank, top of the hill etc). The flags will appear on the map and serve as a bit of a reference point for future movements. Unfortunately, it means you're going to have to remember where other troops are holding, as other groups don't get flags.
You can only set these flags by pressing and holding F1 if you don't have anyone in the group - clicking on the 'map' brought up by backspace will do no good. It's probably more fiddling than it's worth, but it does give some use to the overview.
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Well let's say your set, all you need to do is talk to the King you desire and give homage to him if he accepts you. There is also a chance that you can be invited to be there vassal if your a famous man or women. Once your accepted if you're a Commoner you will receive your very own choice of a banner. You will also get a fief of a town of the King's choice. Hint, he will always choose the least profitable fief in the kingdom. Even worse, whoever owned it before you will have a significant negative relationship with you, you upstart.
Will the King always grant the less profitable fief in the kingdom to a newcomer, even if there are unasigned fiefs to be given (for example, recently taken in a war)?
Usually. I believe that the fief is decided right after you accept the invitation. Between that time and the time you actually sworn in, the prosperity of fiefs may change.
Noble and Commoner Companions: I believe Baheshtur and Firentis are also noble. By looking at the game script that assign companions personality and look up the place where lords make commend about commoner turn vassal, any companion that has personality of roguish (Borcha, Nizar, Klethi), custodian (Marnid, Deshavi, Katrin, Artimenner) and benefactor (Ymira, Bunduk, Jeremus) are commoners. I assume that if lord doesn't say anything, he's ok with that.
The nobles:
- Rolf: cunning.
- Baheshtur: cunning.
- Firentis: upstanding.
- Matheld: martial.
- Alayen: martial.
- Lezalit: selfrighteous.
One obvious question as a player fairly new to M&B: Is there any moderately easy way to discover the personality type of another character chance met on the road - I refer here primarily to lords who turn up asking to join your kingdom or enemy lords you meet in the field and try to convince to join you.
I have sort of convinced myself that enemy nobles I haven't helped out before with relations in the 20-30 range to me have probably had their relations to me boosted over time due to my high honour score or right to rule (one or the other, I don't know that that is why the game frequently hands out free relations points in the daily update but it sounds likely) and that, as such, these lords probably share compatible character traits - but is it actually the case?
Perhaps somebody with a deeper M&B experience could compile that sort of information on personality types for the first post?
EDIT: The question to the answer of detecting personality turned out to be easier than anticipated, at least for meeting lords in the open - it is strictly by the answer of philosophy according to the text files; Possibly you all knew that, but I didn't.
It still doesn't tell how personality types interact or what the automatic relationship boosts over time are caused by, but it could help me to track it down. I'd still prefer an answer from somebody who knows it already to spare me an in-depth investigation.
martial: My sword is at the disposal of my rightful liege, so long as he upholds his duty to me.
quarrelsome: Bah. They're all a bunch of bastards. I try to make sure that the ones who wrong me learn to regret it.
pitiless: Men will always try to cheat others of their rightful due. In this faithless world, each must remain vigilant of his own rights.
cunning: Well, it's a harsh world, and it is our lot to face harsh choices. Sometimes one must serve a tyrant to keep the peace, but sometimes a bit of rebellion keeps the kings honest. Circumstance is all.
sadistic: My philosophy is simple: it is better to be the wolf than the lamb.
goodnatured: Well, you should keep faith with your promises, and not do injustice to others. Sometimes it's hard to balance those. Stick with people you trust, I think, and it's hard to go far wrong.
upstanding: Kingship and lordship have been instituted to keep the peace and prevent the war of all against all, yet that must not blind us to the possibility of injustice.
roguish: Hmm.. I guess I'm thinking that it's good to be a lord.
benefactor: A good ruler makes sure all are treated justly. Personally, I intend to use my authority to better the lot of those who live in my demesne.
custodian: A good ruler creates the proper conditions for people to prosper. Personally, I intend to use my wealth to create more wealth, for myself and for the common benefit.
A couple of money tips:
Tournaments (as opposed to arenas, which the guide mentions).
Assuming you are playing with a savable game, bet 100 every round for 8 rounds, and assuming you haven't competed in that town before (your odds get worse as they realise you are a killer), you will get 3,980 when you win the the tournament, so 3,100 profit. As an added bonus, you will skill up in some weapons, as well as getting xp, and if you feel really nice you may be able to dedicate the win to the lady of the house.
Oh, and in some rounds (when there's multiple teams with many fighters in each), it pays to use the army commands, tell your men to hold their position or follow you & let some of the other teams wipe each other out before charging, otherwise they can spread out & get mauled, leaving you versus the remaining team(s)!
Selling slaves to Ransom Brokers.
Go to Rivacheg, if the ransom broker is there then farm the nearby sea raiders for prisoners, this usually gives 1k in loot, plus 120 for every slave you sell. It's also handy for getting cheap free kit for your companions early on, as they have some of the best dropped kit. You will need prisoner management to be able to capture prisoners; prisoner management 4 gives you 20 capacity, which doesn't slow your party down too much when you head back to sell. For farming prisoners, as well as using bludgeoning weapons with all your companions (and yourself), grab a few man-hunters (you will rescue some at some point) as they also use bludgeoning weapons by default. You can also tell your army to use blunt weapons only, but as not all army units carry blunt weapons this means the dumb ones that don't will sit there and not even defend themselves = bad.
Oh, and as someone else said, keep your party small, ideally 40 shock troops, and you will be able to run down enemies quickly, once your party is big & slow you can't catch some, and will get dragged far from town chasing them down, meaning by the time you get back the broker will be gone (sods law).
Um...someone must have mentioned it, but starting the businesses in the towns. Given your game will last 100's of days, don't worry about if it will pay itself back...it will, so invest in a business in every town. It's almost always the dye factory that makes the most money, but there's a couple of exceptions if you can be bothered checking. Oh, and don't bother buying cheaper less profitable buildings early on, as you will demolish them to build dye factories later. With 22 towns with business, you should bring in around 8k per week from them.
