Is every fight a ranged fight?

[Semper_Ducimus]

I've been giving this mod the ole college effort try, but im noticing a repeating pattern, that begs me ask this question:

Is every fight you against a gaggle of NPC's with bows? 

It seems like every single fight i have encountered,  no matter what the NPC's are, from bandits, to deserters, to whatever, they are always, without exception, armed with bows.  I don't mean to complain, and i really do appreciate all the work done in this mod, but i must say, this is getting rather tedious.  Being turned into a human porcupine, or having my horse shot out from under me, every single fight,  is getting really old, really fast.

 

[shikaka]

My battles are usually closing in on each other, exchange javelins/throwing axes and a charge...

Archers are quite rare (and useless on field) in this mod imho.

 

[Uhtred Ragnarson]

I've been giving this mod the ole college effort try, but im noticing a repeating pattern, that begs me ask this question:

Is every fight you against a gaggle of NPC's with bows? 

It seems like every single fight i have encountered,  no matter what the NPC's are, from bandits, to deserters, to whatever, they are always, without exception, armed with bows.  I don't mean to complain, and i really do appreciate all the work done in this mod, but i must say, this is getting rather tedious.  Being turned into a human porcupine, or having my horse shot out from under me, every single fight,  is getting really old, really fast.

I've had the same issue with bandits. Once you start engaging Lords' parties, it shouldn't be an issue anymore. If you do find yourself against bandits, ride ahead to scout the kinds of weapons / formation they are going to use (the only real reason I have a horse). If you find they have bows, stay away (don't skirmish with them as tempting as it is  , [it is for me anyway]). Bring up your infantry in tight formation (shieldwall, hopefully they have shields) and order them to advance, advance, advance, advance, advance until you are just about on top of them and then charge. This should keep your causalities low and it seems to frighten the enemy enough where half of them run away so you can take them prisoner.

 

[Semper_Ducimus]

I just give up.  I've been in starting mode for the least 3 or 4 days now.  Doing odd jobs, killing bandits, theow's or whatever they're called, and deserters, and Ive barely scrapped together enough to buy a boat and legitimately upgrade my gear..  I woudln't even have that if i didn't cheat myself 2000 shillings in the beginning to buy a shield and upgrade my starting armor.  Without that upgrade, i couldn't manage to kill anything.  I cant afford any army, so im trying to stick small packs of bandits. Unfortuantley they don't really come in small numbers, but in 20's to 30's.  I can't take on that many at once.

Without exaggeration, I find, a shield in this mod, is EVERYTHING.  Ive had so many arrows shot at me, ive acutally needed TWO shields.  Without a shield, i simply WILL NOT survive. Period.  I think the NPC's have upgraded their equipment, because a pack of 11 deserters have never given me that much trouble. I find they're killing me every time now.

I really enjoy the historical aspects of this feature rich mod, but as hard as it is to let go of it, i think i'm gonna have to toss in the towel.  I'm too much of a newbie,  and this is just too hard for me. Not all mods are made for all people.

 

[Hurin Thalion]

A few pointers from someone else who found it hard at first:

--If you find fights too tough at first, just travel around looking for companions. With a small party, you should be fast enough to outrun bandits till you get some companions... and the companions should be able to handle bandits.
--Consider doing some trading. I was having a really tough time making a go of things up in Scotland by just doing quests. I decided to use a couple thousand shillings to do some trading (especially once I found Aleifr, with his 7 in trade), and after that the money just kept flowing in. You can sometimes get lucky and find a trade good that is super cheap in one town and very expensive in a town less than a day's ride away. This was far more profitable to me than doing quests, and I never had money problems afterwards.
--Get medium or heavy infantry mercenaries. These guys absolutely tear bandits apart. Archery is actually quite weak... heavy infantry will walk right through their arrows and smash the bandits in the face.

Once you can make a go of things economically, the game is a lot easier (and more fun).

 

[Havokblak]

--Get medium or heavy infantry mercenaries. These guys absolutely tear bandits apart. Archery is actually quite weak... heavy infantry will walk right through their arrows and smash the bandits in the face.

I couldn't agree more. Nothing else says "F*** you!" quite like an axe in the face  

 

[blackitalian]

good advice Hurin Thalion. similar info can be found here:

Spoiler

http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,155372.0.html

note: trade is undervalued by players wanting to do nothing but smash skulls. we all want to. but this mod takes a realistic approach in that the wealthier you are, the more heads you can smash. in the beginning, especially with certain character choices, you don't start off in a position to do much combat. you're just joe schmoe and you need to make your self a some body. nobles are simply joe schmoes with money. so make money first. smash heads second. importing a character is another way of starting off a little better. it's generally recommended to import a character without money. though you can, and give yourself a little starter money.

 

[Edward B.]

I really enjoy the historical aspects of this feature rich mod, but as hard as it is to let go of it, i think i'm gonna have to toss in the towel.  I'm too much of a newbie,  and this is just too hard for me. Not all mods are made for all people.

Thanks for the heads up. I was really excited about this mod, but I find Native challenging enough on normal difficulty settings. I still may try this mod just to explore the cool looking map, but I'm not in any hurry too after hearing how difficult it is. Like you said, not a knock against the mod, just different mods for different people.

 

[WelshManDan]

I really enjoy the historical aspects of this feature rich mod, but as hard as it is to let go of it, i think i'm gonna have to toss in the towel.  I'm too much of a newbie,  and this is just too hard for me. Not all mods are made for all people.

Thanks for the heads up. I was really excited about this mod, but I find Native challenging enough on normal difficulty settings. I still may try this mod just to explore the cool looking map, but I'm not in any hurry too after hearing how difficult it is. Like you said, not a knock against the mod, just different mods for different people.

Well I found Warband really hard on Easy settings, and am now playing Brytenwalda and after having quite a lot of trips back and forth from cities purchasing/selling Iron/Salt, i managed to get 26000 Scillingas, and bought a wine press. Did the same for a bit, and got another one. Then, luckily, an irish nation invaded close by, and took a fort. They then retreated back home and I took the fortress (they had like 50 men) with a small army of Heavy Mercenaries + Companions. Then my new Kingdom was created, and I havent looked back since. I now get around 7000 scillingas a week and now have a strong garrison in that city, plus made peace with the irish nation whom the fortress originally was.

Tl;dr, play it and its not as hard as people make out, you just have to trade!

 

[Uhtred Ragnarson]

.... or cheat.... and do tourneys!!!!!

 

[Edward B.]

Well I found Warband really hard on Easy settings, and am now playing Brytenwalda and after having quite a lot of trips back and forth from cities purchasing/selling Iron/Salt, i managed to get 26000 Scillingas, and bought a wine press. Did the same for a bit, and got another one. Then, luckily, an irish nation invaded close by, and took a fort. They then retreated back home and I took the fortress (they had like 50 men) with a small army of Heavy Mercenaries + Companions. Then my new Kingdom was created, and I havent looked back since. I now get around 7000 scillingas a week and now have a strong garrison in that city, plus made peace with the irish nation whom the fortress originally was.

Tl;dr, play it and its not as hard as people make out, you just have to trade!

I think I will download and try it because the premise is pretty appealing to me, although, truth be told, I do like the Calradia world as well. Just not htat interested in grinding through for a long time... but maybe it won't take that long. I wouldn't mind investing an hour or two of trading to get built up, but if it's longer than that I probably will not stick with it that long. But we'll see!

 

[Pundragon]

Hm, well one of the first things I try to do is do a few quests for the ruler of a faction I plan to join. Once he likes me well enough (around 15 or so) I join. This gives me a village and as long as it doesn't get looted, provides a steady starting income to build on. I then tend to join any battles my faction comrades are fighting. I usually don't have recruits at this point but while the two armies are clashing I tend to take a few cheap swings on the enemies flank/rear/back to net some exp. Usually I end up capturing a lord or two even if I didn't contribute much to the fight. If they don't escape afterward you can usually net a decent price per captured lord once they get ransomed back to their faction. I don't really trade or build production shops because well... it's just not the style of playing I like.

 

[Edward B.]

Well I downloaded the mod and so far it has a very cool feeling to it. I started off in Ireland. So far I haven't done much but get two companions and take out a a few small bands of bandits (4-. Combat feels different but I like it - I'll have to play more to get a good opinion.

One thing, though, when visiting towns there doesn't seem to be an option to go to the lord's hall. Do you have to go to the town and then walk to the castle each time?

 

[WelshManDan]

Well I downloaded the mod and so far it has a very cool feeling to it. I started off in Ireland. So far I haven't done much but get two companions and take out a a few small bands of bandits (4-. Combat feels different but I like it - I'll have to play more to get a good opinion.

One thing, though, when visiting towns there doesn't seem to be an option to go to the lord's hall. Do you have to go to the town and then walk to the castle each time?

There should be a Go to Castle or something like that?

 

[Pundragon]

It happens sometimes. Try saving and reloading your game. I think that's what I did to get the castle option on the menu. Sometimes though it seems a bit random on where or not it shows up on the menu. Could be tied to the owner of the town/castle. Maybe they have to be there personally though I don't see why that would be a factor.

 

[Semper_Ducimus]

note: trade is undervalued by players wanting to do nothing but smash skulls. we all want to. but this mod takes a realistic approach in that the wealthier you are, the more heads you can smash. in the beginning, especially with certain character choices, you don't start off in a position to do much combat. you're just joe schmoe and you need to make your self a some body. nobles are simply joe schmoes with money. so make money first. smash heads second. importing a character is another way of starting off a little better. it's generally recommended to import a character without money. though you can, and give yourself a little starter money.

This I think is my problem. I'm not interested in trade. Or rather, in specific, I have no interest in trying to remember a specific name of a place when they all sound so much alike, weighing myself down with X number of widgets so that every tom **** and harry bandit can catch me and use me for archery practice, all the while running clear accross the map to sell widgets in said location who's name is hard to remember.

What i'd like, is to win by conquest, just on a small scale.  Bounty hunting, selling prisoners, all the "rough work" that a mercenary would really do.  My fault I think, is I had this crazy notion i was going to roleplay a male saxon who's father was a warrior, who then later in life became a sellsword and fought many battles in far away distance lands,  was forced off, and then came to the England to earn a living.  A mercenary with that backstory wouldn't be off to sell bushells of wheat to angry briton's or celts who I imagine would probably just as soon lope his head off being a saxon.  Or so is my understanding of the era.  I didn't want an army. Just a small cadre of companions i could equip and rely upon. (mainly so i don't have to pay them so much), and maybe be a cheiftan of a.. pardon the pun.... small warband. Trade... was never much on the agenda.

edit:
As an aside, and not to be all sour, I have to say this is a very polished, stable, feature rich, and well researched mod.  It's definatley a quality mod, which makes it all that much harder to put down.

 

[Edward B.]

Hmm... I tried reloading, still no castle option. Not game breaking, but a little annoying.

Further thoughts on the mod...

You can't couch in this mod? Is that correct? I have to admit that it was fun in Native to run guys down with a lance...

Hunting is a neat little addition. Allows you to feed yourself even if you're broke!

Accepted a bounty and after I killed him my relation with the town went down. Kind of makes me wonder if the guy was really guilty...

Randomly found a bag of gold. Neat!

Rain effects are cool. Been a while since I played and I can't remember if rain is in Native or not, but it looks pretty neat in this mod.

Tournaments seem a lot more difficult than in Native!

 

[Pundragon]

This mod tries to be as historical authentic as possible so yeah, no couching. Battles are won or lost with infantry. Though if you are real good you might be able to spear a guy while riding your horse and kill him on the first stab. That's about as close as you'll get. The whole tracking down a bandit/village relation reduction is also in Native.

 

[shikaka]

This I think is my problem. I'm not interested in trade. Or rather, in specific, I have no interest in trying to remember a specific name of a place when they all sound so much alike, weighing myself down with X number of widgets so that every tom **** and harry bandit can catch me and use me for archery practice, all the while running clear accross the map to sell widgets in said location who's name is hard to remember.

It's similar in my case, I don't trade at all.
Go around, do quests, stomp bandits, win tournaments, it brings in enough $$$. I had about 50000 after about 10 ingame days. It could have been more with trading, but at least I didn't have to waste time on doing boring trade routs.
(It would be more fun if I could start up, and later protect my own caravan, like in the guildmaster quest)

What i'd like, is to win by conquest, just on a small scale.  Bounty hunting, selling prisoners, all the "rough work" that a mercenary would really do.

It is possible, I usually do that. Well, not the prisoner-sale part, they usually end up in my mine (or I recruit them if they are franks or denas)

I didn't want an army. Just a small cadre of companions i could equip and rely upon. (mainly so i don't have to pay them so much), and maybe be a cheiftan of a.. pardon the pun.... small warband. Trade... was never much on the agenda.

It is easy to do. Except for the equipment part. My companions usually wear/use looted equipment, I will NOT buy them anything in shops, as every shopkeeper in Brytenwalda is a robber.

 

[blackitalian]

What i'd like, is to win by conquest, just on a small scale.  Bounty hunting, selling prisoners, all the "rough work" that a mercenary would really do.  My fault I think, is I had this crazy notion i was going to roleplay a male saxon who's father was a warrior, who then later in life became a sellsword and fought many battles in far away distance lands,  was forced off, and then came to the England to earn a living.  A mercenary with that backstory wouldn't be off to sell bushells of wheat to angry briton's or celts who I imagine would probably just as soon lope his head off being a saxon.  Or so is my understanding of the era.  I didn't want an army. Just a small cadre of companions i could equip and rely upon. (mainly so i don't have to pay them so much), and maybe be a cheiftan of a.. pardon the pun.... small warband. Trade... was never much on the agenda.

2 options:

1: import a character with money (consider it your inheritance). though you will eventually need to buy businesses to support your army. again, real nobles had money and invested it. everyone else was poor. and died poor.

2: in the guide i suggest raiding. trade a little (yea sucks) and kill the easy bandits, while getting your companions, kill the easier bandits in ireland after getting your group. equip them. raid the pict towns on the ireland side of britain, or hell raid all the towns. LOTS of money from that. but you must have a big enough group that the pirates don't attack you. while the relation with nations is fixed as soon as you join a faction (after making a ton of cash), those lords will hate you for a long time. but, thats the life of a warrior.

the reality of life in this time period is not what we like to believe it was. most people didn't climb the ladder. much like today. the rich tend to stay rich. they invest in money in commodities. an army is incredibly expensive. this mod reflects all those things. you can trade little, fight a lot, but you have to become a good raider to live then. be prepared for lords to hate you. you will no matter what have to buy a businesses. or you will fail. problem is that if lords hate you, then you cannot put businesses in their towns. so, only raid certain factions, and do so repeatedly. perhaps raid ireland constantly, but keep on good terms with british kingdoms or vice versa.

this is a realism mod, so we have to mold our fantasies to what reality was like and how we would over come them.