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.'