How do you guys play without cheats

[Kuga]

Cheating really defeats the object of the game.

Never cheated yet, don't think I ever will.

[natzjay]

Hi I just want to share my experience of floris without using any cheat
And playing on realistic mode

I started at praven (swadia) as soon as the game starts I didn't take
the merchants quest. what I did was I enlisted myself to the kings army
Untill I managed to buy 100 acres at praven and about 200k denars
in my pocket. by this time I've also got about 500 renown ... Tnx to king harlus
for having a lot of tournament at praven which gave me lots of renown
and good gears so my character in the future... And finally after about a year
Of service I decided to resign and travel around calradia and bump on my companions
to be and hear their stories that made my character raise arms again .... And finally build my army
of united calradia composed of

Infantry the Nords led by Sajjad and Gahzwan
Archers the Vaegirs led by Deshavi and Odval
Spearmen the Rhodoks led by Bunduk
Cavalry the Swadians with the Sarranids led by Floris and Nizar
Horse Archers the Khergits led by Bahestur
Foragers the Hunters led by Katrin
Healers the Monks led by Jeremus
And the Tracker/Engineer Edwyn

These are my loyal generals with their men
And we became mercenaries for King Harlus till one day the Swadians
were defeated and forced out of praven and I decided to take
Weyyah Castle in preparation of taking Shariz my favorite City
And declaring myself Warlord of Calradia and I call my Army
Knights of Sharadia (I mixed Shariz and Calradia)
and so now I'm writing this experience of mine a commoner that became
a soldier, a soldier that became traveller, A traveller that became a Warlord that will soon unite all of Calradia

[LAAT501legion]

I have nerver cheated, and only reload if something stupid happened, like miscliking and going towards the enemy king's army instead of away from it.I think the best way to start is joining a lord's army and level up, if you also join tournaments you should have enough renown after some time to join a faction as a lord or mercenary.

[Hanakoganei]

I don't cheat on a serious game, but while modding I have it (and sometimes Edit Mode) on all the time lol. I even have new special cheats that give me items, troops, and even automatically give me a kingdom without fighting for it. All necessary for testing stuff. Sometimes I need to observe how armies interact (balance testing, or to test out some of the other scripted events), so I need to use the cheat that allows you to see the whole world map.

Without cheats, it's simple but difficult. I have a very strict philosophy on how I play. I don't get involved with any political affairs until much later in the game when I have already secured a large amount of money and that I'm sure I can take on even the toughest lord with what army I currently have (usually Mercenaries + Sword Sisters). I run trade routes sometimes, but it isn't always profitable. I just do that for fun anyway lol, because it's interesting and rewarding to make a profit off selling cloth and other goods. All in all, I pay attention to what's going on even when I'm not involved. I often check the Game Log, Recent Messages and Notes to make sure I see everything that's going on that are important.

[King Ragnarok]

Yes, cheats completely ruin the game

You have no idea...

[zykox]

Cheating
I only use the teleport cheat, and only when I accidently click somewhere on the map (happens to me a LOT, just while using the overland menu...) and I bump into an undefeatable army that would never have caught up with me.

Beginning of the game
I solo some weak looters on horse (best in combination with "deal with looters quest", then get a few companions and tons of recruits near Praven (avoiding the Forest Bandits Region), until I have about 30-40 guys, then take on some more looters to promote some recruits, and tadaaaa forest bandits avoid me. (still dangerous, especially if they gang up, so --> pathfinding up)

Then I give my companions some horses, giving me a light unkillable cavalry for support of my crude militia. By this time I start making some easy trades - e.g. Iron from Curaw to Reyvadin.

Just be careful not to solo too much, else there won't be any looters for your recruits. Not sure, but I think I usually did until lvl 5, upped some training --> lvl up recruits.
For serious lvl up, I start doing some quests (escort merchant with safe roads; transport wine). If you're impatient, find an unhonorable lord with taste for war, kill some peasants and get good money + xp for a little honor loss...which won't matter in the long run.

When you feel you're in the safe areas levelwise (with companions), you can still dismiss your little army for more loot and xp encounters. Well, I never do...I always get attached to my guys...

...

Variation: Rhodok/Vaegir recruits...bow/crossbow companions...I remain on horse until my recruits all have reasonable ranged attacks.

PS: At low level, you can even free villages from bandits...there won't be too much of them, and the villagers can take them with a little help...even from a lvl 1 you (just don't die).
________________________

Combat: Hard
Campaign: Hard
Combat Speed: Very Fast (normal?...don't remember)
Damage to Player & Allies: 100%

Lvl up: A little str, then int max 30...then I vary

Skills: Max Leadership (by starting charisma), Max Pathfinding...Wnd Treatment + Surgery...then I vary

[MosesZD]

Like ive tried it and its fun for a bit till i bump into searaiders at lvl 2 or sumit or forest bandits.

Like usually i cheat get armor n weps i want lvl up to 15-20 and get some men and fight battles properly and cTRL over the map lol.

HOw do you get through them early level it anoys me so much when you lose things

I run.  I don't 'get through them.'

[Hanakoganei]

Yeah be patient and move slowly on the map. Stop frequently just to be sure that nobody suddenly popped up and is chasing you. It's tempting to just run through but dodging bandits is part of the early game. I don't like that part either but that's just how it is lol.

[Leifdin]

Or you can join lord's army(in my opinion, king's army works best, though it can be boring sometimes...just take book or something). You can easily level up this way. I always do this, until I am level 15 or 20, or even more. You can decrease damage dealt to you for better fun.

[Pan7h3r]

Personally the only time I use cheats if I am testing something I've modified otherwise I turn cheat mode off because it can just ruin the game. Plus when you are trying to get somewhere and go to hold ctrl+space then accidently click the left mouse button is so frustrating! (teleports you to where you click if cheat mode is enabled)

For beginners I suggest turning the difficulty ALL the way down just because it makes the game so much easier and just a lot more fun in my opinion. I have played mount and blade since like 2008 and I still play at the lowest difficulty just because being an all mighty berserker that is impossible to take down is just so much fun!

With saving options I go with don't allow me to quit without saving just because I am to great with remembering to save and a lot of the time my game randomly crashes (no fault of floris or warband but my dodgy computer) and I loose all my save progress which is so frustrating! The problem with having that option is that if you get taken prisoner and loose your companions it can be so frustrating to try and collect them all again and majority of the time the bandits take the expensive armour or weapon I JUST purchased.

It usually takes me about 3-4 new games to get settled on a character that I am comfortable with. This is just my play style though, others might create one character and keep that character till they finish the game completely but I find I get bored quickly and ask myself questions like "what if my character was a pure archer" etc. and start a new game.

All this is in my opinion though, others might agree or disagree but that's what I love about the M&B games and mods, you can play it however the hell you want.

Quick tips though:

• Look up a decent companion build and when starting a new game tick the gather companions box
• Make sure when building an army you have an even amount of cavalry/infantry to archers, and when you go into the battle try to set up your archers on the nearest high ground close to the enemy. Pressing 2 then holding F1 and placing the flag where you want them to be is a good way of placing them.
• At the very beginning of the game try to enlist in a lords party that isn't the king (I find the king gets cocky and gets himself into impossible battles causing you both to get captured) This can get you a relation boost with the person you enlisted with, decent experience, some honour from battles also the added benefit of loot and not having to pay for food or troop wages
• Once you think you are a high enough level that enlisting with a lord kinda becomes useless and a waste of time (or you are just bored of doing nothing) try and sign up as a mercenary of a kingdom and correct me if I'm wrong but I believe they pay for 75% of your troop wages? This will really help you with maintaining a decent army
• Depending on your difficulty setting you should be able to take a caste with 150ish troops garrisoned with an army of 80ish semi upgraded troops as long as A LOT of them are archers. I set up my archers to rain hell on the defenders while my infantry is charging up the ladders.
• If you are going well in a battle but you get yourself knocked out DO NOT press tab just go away from the computer get yourself a drink and let your troops finish off the job because they have the added advantage of you being in the battle (concious or not) and majority of the time will finish the enemy off for you.

A lot of those tips you have probably heard before but they are quite helpful in getting yourself started.

(Sorry if this is classified as digging up an old forum post but I thought I might add some tips to the OP and maybe any others reading this.)

[Leifdin]

Make sure when building an army you have an even amount of cavalry/infantry to archers, and when you go into the battle try to set up your archers on the nearest high ground close to the enemy. Pressing 2 then holding F1 and placing the flag where you want them to be is a good way of placing them.

Unless you are Nord, obviously Or Rhodok. As Rhodok, you don't need lot of cavalry at start of game-they are tough to get and don't have many uses in mountainous Rhodok land.

[Pan7h3r]

Make sure when building an army you have an even amount of cavalry/infantry to archers, and when you go into the battle try to set up your archers on the nearest high ground close to the enemy. Pressing 2 then holding F1 and placing the flag where you want them to be is a good way of placing them.

Unless you are Nord, obviously Or Rhodok. As Rhodok, you don't need lot of cavalry at start of game-they are tough to get and don't have many uses in mountainous Rhodok land.

I ment like the total of your cavalry and infantry is about even to the amount of archers because yeah having an even amount of nord cavalry to infantry would be...difficult to say the least And definitely agree with you Rhodok infantry just dominates!!!! That is why they scare me