Best Weapons for Heroes?

[Thufir64]

Which weapons are Heroes most effective with, particularly while mounted?  I personally prefer using the Great Lance for most of my work and I have equipped my Heroes with the same weapon.  They do great as long as the map is fairly open and flat and the enemy is not in too tight of a formation. 

But if we are fighting in a village or rough terrain they do not do so well.  From what I have observed they simply refuse to switch away from using the lance, even when the enemy is right next to them and their horse is not in motion or when they get dismounted….  I have given them nice secondary one handed weapons which would work better and cause more damage in those situations but they won’t stop using the lance.  Should I have them focus on using a different weapon?

 

[xDELTAx]

I usually equip heroes/soldiers with crossbows and spears, (mainly because i always fight on foot) in works very well in HYW mod.

 

[matt b]

Which weapons are Heroes most effective with, particularly while mounted?  I personally prefer using the Great Lance for most of my work and I have equipped my Heroes with the same weapon.  They do great as long as the map is fairly open and flat and the enemy is not in too tight of a formation. 

But if we are fighting in a village or rough terrain they do not do so well.  From what I have observed they simply refuse to switch away from using the lance, even when the enemy is right next to them and their horse is not in motion or when they get dismounted….  I have given them nice secondary one handed weapons which would work better and cause more damage in those situations but they won’t stop using the lance.  Should I have them focus on using a different weapon?

put the lance in their second weapon slot instead of the first one. They'll still use it when mounted, but will switch to a more appropriate weapon for close in situation. I think it's based on if they stop moving or get knocked off their horse. If a lance is in their first slot, though, they'll almost always just use that all the time.

 

[insomniac]

all of the heros are suitable for lancing except Ymirna. It would take long to train her as a knigt so i made her Sharpshooter, giving her a sniper crossbow. She levels up fast. 

By the way matt, it is a useful tip, i will try it.

 

[Mill Wilkinson]

Yes it is, Matt. Thankye. Now I don't have to always choose between shield and twohander... 

 

[GhostHawk]

Great tip matt thank you sir!  <S>

 

[Thufir64]

Thanks for the information!  Putting their sword in the first slot instead of the lance seems to have helped a lot, they still seem a little reluctant to switch away from their lance but they do so routinely now especially if they are in water or dismounted. 

And by the way, Ymira is one of my better lancers, while not a Knight; she is more like a Hussar or Stradiot light lancer. :-p 

 

[forte712]

Instead of a sword, you might want to try a good military pick instead.
I find it very effective because of its piercing damage.

 

[Mill Wilkinson]

Hmm, I will try, atleast. Altough the picks don't fit my heroe's style... 

 

[apasaja]

i like to use balanced bastard sword & also the war bow

 

[knighted in dreams]

Which weapons are Heroes most effective with, particularly while mounted?  I personally prefer using the Great Lance for most of my work and I have equipped my Heroes with the same weapon.  They do great as long as the map is fairly open and flat and the enemy is not in too tight of a formation. 

But if we are fighting in a village or rough terrain they do not do so well.  From what I have observed they simply refuse to switch away from using the lance, even when the enemy is right next to them and their horse is not in motion or when they get dismounted….  I have given them nice secondary one handed weapons which would work better and cause more damage in those situations but they won’t stop using the lance.  Should I have them focus on using a different weapon?

Usually i used bastard sword & war bow

 

[Skorpion]

I've given Borcha and Rolf a lance/reinforced kite shield/bastard sword combo so they can support the charge, and turned Ymira and Marnid into horse archers, as any khergits I get don't last long.

Mind, this is to back up my force of Nord, Swadian, and Vaegyr troops, recruited from around my small empire of half of Swadia and a fair chunk of Vaegyria, on top of starting out as a Nord. I see the NPC heroes as a way to plug holes in your force with customisation.

 

[Iron Shaman]

i only have 1 hero, which towns are the rest in? and i preffer 2h and spears. unless you fighting sharpshooters or archers, then give them a shield

 

[insomniac]

i only have 1 hero, which towns are the rest in? and i preffer 2h and spears. unless you fighting sharpshooters or archers, then give them a shield

there are 4 heros. They randomly appear in the taverns all over the map.

 

[Mill Wilkinson]

It's quite annoying to hunt the heroes down. And where's Rusty Pete? I want him back.

 

[matt b]

It's quite annoying to hunt the heroes down. And where's Rusty Pete? I want him back.

isn't he from Calradia at War? I imagine he'd still be there, I haven't played that since .808 though.

 

[Solikos]

Depends on my faction, really...  I try to fit the mold.  Most effective?  I'd say heroes on foot are most effective (for some reason their AI on horseback seems to take a battering).  Thus I'd give them shields and scimitars for maximum use.

I'm falling in love with Boot & Blade more and more... When troops are on horses they seem to get ahead of the rest of the guys, get stumped, dehorsed and gang raped.

 

[Badbru]

Depends on my faction, really...  I try to fit the mold.  Most effective?  I'd say heroes on foot are most effective (for some reason their AI on horseback seems to take a battering).  Thus I'd give them shields and scimitars for maximum use.

I'm falling in love with Boot & Blade more and more... When troops are on horses they seem to get ahead of the rest of the guys, get stumped, dehorsed and gang raped.

You can avoid that to some extent by hitting 4 (Cavalry), F2 (Follow me), and riding through the edges of the pack. The best weapon for this tactic is then a spear, boar spear, glaive or pitchfork, or basically anything that does couched lance damage. I prefer spears as they aren't too long when troops are on the ground and are also fairly quick. They rarely get stopped and dehorsed if they couch lance the guy they run into.

 

[Skorpion]

Depends on my faction, really...  I try to fit the mold.  Most effective?  I'd say heroes on foot are most effective (for some reason their AI on horseback seems to take a battering).  Thus I'd give them shields and scimitars for maximum use.

I'm falling in love with Boot & Blade more and more... When troops are on horses they seem to get ahead of the rest of the guys, get stumped, dehorsed and gang raped.

I disagree. Mounted heroes go best with cavalry-heavy armies.

And there's nothing like heading up a mass of pounding hooves and smashing into the enemy's infantry and cavalry. Bunched lord parties get tied up and ground down, then completely outnumbered when the infantry shows. Nord troops are awesome for cleaning up after a heavy cavalry charge.

 

[Pode]

Jousting lance or great lance, in the secondary weapon slot so that they'll switch to a lance when charging but use their bastard sword if/when they get stuck.  Military hammer in the third slot so they can take prisoners if I order it so, and a battle shield to round it out.  The lances let them reach FAR out and touch someone, usually before they can get touched back.  The sword and hammer are the best one handed weapon and blunt weapon, respectively.  Keep a set of crossbows around for sieges, and you're equipped.  The opening charge can get them in trouble if they're unlucky against other lancers, but that shield and sword combo means they can usually hold their own until they foot backups arrive, especially if I swing around and plow into whoever's mobbing them.  Got to love not doing damage to friendlies.