Confuddled!

[Failing Conquer]

I keep on seeing posts that talk about using certain troops. I think that's a good idea! I'll do that and make a new game. Then I get to about day 50, read another and start a new one with that idea. So, my point is, what troops, armour, weapons, skills and companions do you recommend?
P.S. You might think I have no imagination, but I'm fed up of starting a brand new character with an idea, then giving up early on.

 

[Trimaran]

Troops: Huscarls, rhodok sharpshooters, swadian knights.

Armor:dont spend money on it, just use the ones you get as loot. Sea raiders have decent armour.

Weapons: depends on you. I recommend short one handed weapons and a crossbow or bow to start with. Later in the game you may switch to 2 handers. Shield-get a big one to protect you from arrows

Research about companions to see who gets along with who.

Skills: pathfinding, trainer (for your companions as well), make sure you have a medic in your party-jeremus good idea. Ironflesh and power strike(if you are using a bow or crossbow). Leadership. Those are the have ''musts''.

But generally speaking try different stuff and see what suits you the best.

 

[NJSQRL]

I got bored of bein in a rut and not being able to choose, and stick with a character or build... that is why I made a post similar to this basically having you people make my next one for me


If you dig through my history you can find it, the one I picked was a commander type rather than a in your face with sharp pointy things type that I usually played and found it quite enjoyable.

 

[Captain_Octavius]

You're gonna get tons of different answers on this question. For example I disagree with Trimaran to invest no money on armour, and I think trainer on your main char is a waste of skill points. I also prefer long one handed weapons over short ones.

This is my advise:

1. Before you start your game, make a list of compatible companions.
2. Start the game. Ride around and try to trade with those first 200 denars, for example buy one Iron Bar at Dhirim or Curaw and sell it for the double price elsewhere. Repeat this a few times, with more and more Iron Bars.
3. Once you get 1000 Denars, also start visiting the taverns and pick up any of your companions you want. Start trading other goods too, learn the profitable towns and routes.
4. Buy some Mercenary Cavalry against bandits (15 will do nicely).
5. Get sickly rich, buy the best Enterprises in all towns (mostly Dyeworks).
6. Buy the best gear for yourself.
7. Still with the Merc Cavalry and your companions, hunt Sea Raiders.
8. With the loot you get from the Raiders, equip your companions.
9. Keep fighting raiders/bandits very long with this small group. You and your companions will level up quickly (invest in Trainer on them), and you get over 10.000 denars each week from your enterprises.
10. Once you are even richer and you and your companions leveled up quite a bit, go buy best gear for your companions too.
11. You and your companions are already pretty awesome now, and you are filthy rich. With the tons of trainer skill points on your companions, you can level up armies in no time. Go do the thing you want (be a merc, a vassal, or capture a castle/town for yourself immediately) with this very solid base!

 

[Ule]

here's how i do it.

i only take the fractions troops that I'm pledged too.
i and my companions wear armour suited to the fraction.
i and my companions use the weapons suited to the fraction.

and depending on how i want to play depends on the companions, if i want to be militaristic, alayan, firentis, bashastur (who in my eyes is amazing) jeremus, artimenur. or want to merry men, bunduk, metheld, nizar, katrin and marnid. the other guys, rolf ymira desvshi and kelthi can fit in either group.

that's the way i find most enjoyable, you don't get negative morale for using a fractions troops, and who cares what troop is best, use good tactics and even the crapest troop can over run the best. plus it gives your warband a feel to it, rather than just a bunch of chap wanting to kill other bunches of chaps.

tho yea, but rhoduk sharpies in your garrisons,  and take mercs hired help. i like a challenge but i no crazy!!

ps: doing this is fairly easy if you get  bored of your fraction, just dump your men and run off. tho that is waste of money so maybe not dump em but just replace em with your new fractions men when you have gaps because of casualties

 

[Captain_Octavius]

It's called Faction. Not Fraction.

Btw, Rolf is a typical raider/warlord and falls in your "militaristic" category.

 

[Ule]

It's called Faction. Not Fraction.

Btw, Rolf is a typical raider/warlord and falls in your "militaristic" category.

ok thanks for that

 

[Voranth]

You're gonna get tons of different answers on this question. For example I disagree with Trimaran to invest no money on armour, and I think trainer on your main char is a waste of skill points. I also prefer long one handed weapons over short ones.

This is my advise:

1. Before you start your game, make a list of compatible companions.
2. Start the game. Ride around and try to trade with those first 200 denars, for example buy one Iron Bar at Dhirim or Curaw and sell it for the double price elsewhere. Repeat this a few times, with more and more Iron Bars.
3. Once you get 1000 Denars, also start visiting the taverns and pick up any of your companions you want. Start trading other goods too, learn the profitable towns and routes.
4. Buy some Mercenary Cavalry against bandits (15 will do nicely).
5. Get sickly rich, buy the best Enterprises in all towns (mostly Dyeworks).
6. Buy the best gear for yourself.
7. Still with the Merc Cavalry and your companions, hunt Sea Raiders.
8. With the loot you get from the Raiders, equip your companions.
9. Keep fighting raiders/bandits very long with this small group. You and your companions will level up quickly (invest in Trainer on them), and you get over 10.000 denars each week from your enterprises.
10. Once you are even richer and you and your companions leveled up quite a bit, go buy best gear for your companions too.
11. You and your companions are already pretty awesome now, and you are filthy rich. With the tons of trainer skill points on your companions, you can level up armies in no time. Go do the thing you want (be a merc, a vassal, or capture a castle/town for yourself immediately) with this very solid base!

No matter what troops you use or how you equip and skillup yourself and your companions, it's really solid advice to stick with a small mobile troop and do all or some of trading/hunting bandits/competing in tournaments to build seed money to invest in enterprises in all 22 towns over Calradia before you start warring. I'll also note that it's very rewarding in the early game both in terms of xp and monetary rewards to kill off bandit encampments with the quest from the lord who rules the nearest town.

 

[JosieJ]

You're gonna get tons of different answers on this question. For example I disagree with Trimaran to invest no money on armour, and I think trainer on your main char is a waste of skill points. I also prefer long one handed weapons over short ones.

This is my advise:

1. Before you start your game, make a list of compatible companions.
2. Start the game. Ride around and try to trade with those first 200 denars, for example buy one Iron Bar at Dhirim or Curaw and sell it for the double price elsewhere. Repeat this a few times, with more and more Iron Bars.
3. Once you get 1000 Denars, also start visiting the taverns and pick up any of your companions you want. Start trading other goods too, learn the profitable towns and routes.
4. Buy some Mercenary Cavalry against bandits (15 will do nicely).
5. Get sickly rich, buy the best Enterprises in all towns (mostly Dyeworks).
6. Buy the best gear for yourself.
7. Still with the Merc Cavalry and your companions, hunt Sea Raiders.
8. With the loot you get from the Raiders, equip your companions.
9. Keep fighting raiders/bandits very long with this small group. You and your companions will level up quickly (invest in Trainer on them), and you get over 10.000 denars each week from your enterprises.
10. Once you are even richer and you and your companions leveled up quite a bit, go buy best gear for your companions too.
11. You and your companions are already pretty awesome now, and you are filthy rich. With the tons of trainer skill points on your companions, you can level up armies in no time. Go do the thing you want (be a merc, a vassal, or capture a castle/town for yourself immediately) with this very solid base!

This is pretty close to the advice I've been following on this, my second attempt at the game, and it's working pretty well for me so far. 

I do use a mixture of Swadian Knights, Huscarls, Rhodok Sharpshooters and Vaegir Marksmen.  It seems to be equally well suited to open-field battles and sieges.

I didn't actually buy any mercs--I started the game in Praven, so I just recruited tons of Swadians!  After I had enough so that the bandits weren't attacking me all the time, I traded between Curaw (buy iron, sell salt) and Wercheg (sell iron, buy salt).  Just from that trade alone, I made enough to purchase several businesses, and the denars have been rolling in.  It's also a good route to get some Sea Raider action along the way, which helped me build up my renown and level and outfit my companions.

For roleplay reasons, I tend to try to suit the businesses I buy to the region, so I have an ironworks at Curaw, a linen weavery at Sargoth, a wine-press at Veluca, etc.  I do have 4 or 5 dyeworks, though, which keep me in the black!

I do buy good gear for myself, for aesthetic reasons as well as protection, and I pass on my leftovers to my companions.

 

[Trimaran]

You're gonna get tons of different answers on this question. For example I disagree with Trimaran to invest no money on armour, and I think trainer on your main char is a waste of skill points. I also prefer long one handed weapons over short ones.

In the long run, when he becomes king, and the companions lords, its good to have trainer. So why dont invest beforehand?
You may be right about the armor. But I have a tendency to spend very little money on armor and weapons. I only buy arrows and bows.  Well, everyone has their way 
One handed short weapons at the beginning of the game are good because you can swing more, or faster, get what I mean? But as you get your proficency higher, yeah go for the longer ones if you want.

 

[AYUR]

It's called Faction. Not Fraction.

But FRACTION of CALRADIA   



by the way go with heavy Armour (plate and great), heavy charger , any two handed (morningstar) and warbow ( use crossbow, pure melee ) and that's it, pure fun ( i am just trying this character in my current game )

start with


father - hunter ( go with veteran warrior if melee )


early life - shop assistant


become - student


reason - revenge

[ so your fold up back-ground story -

whole Calradia belong to your family in the past and current faction monarch's ancestors were lord or minister in their court at that time,

they deviously planned killed all your family (past) with help of nord and khergit and divided Calradia between themselves, only your 11 year grandfather ( of grand and grand... ) escaped with a loyal guard and forced live in forest on hunting.

your grandfather or father couldn't do because enemy were too strong in their time

but now when they are fighting with each others and bulling your's people, it's time to strike back with vengeance and rage in your blood thirsty heart ]

character build

make three points in riding (make your your swayback-saddle fast)

you can use some points in power draw but not necessary now ( not at all for warrior ) but do make your trade skill to 2


with this or warrior  build, you will have horse and crossbow on start

go find some looters (easy- upto 20) or forest bandits (risky-upto 10) or searaider (semi-risky-upto 10), hey you are hunter you can solo this easily even on level one.

when the battle start take whole round-trip of battlefield and they will run out of ammo after that just shoot them with your crossbow and use their loot for money in no time ( excluding battle ) you will find yourself up to level 20 (don't recruit freed prisoner which are not cavalry, manhunters would be nice if they keep themselves alive till two three tier up )

during this use you must have atleast  two point in wound-treat,surgery and path-finding for bonus ,others point invest according to your character build (leadership,inventory,riding power draw,power strike or iron flesh), if hunter go for power-draw and iron flesh, warrior- power-strike and iron flesh

Now go find companions (trainer skill as stated above post and give them morningstar and heavy chargers they can take hundreds of enemy by themselves ) and take in some mercenary ( horsemen or cavalry ) also take in 10 swadians recruit and turn then into knights and from here, you will find, you are doing nothing ( hey do some by yourself )


after this do as you wish

go be mercenary (fun) or vassal (boring)

start your own kingdom by on yourself (challenging) and use realistic saving not enough keep a condition like you won't go knocked-out even single time our you will play from start (that's why i am unable to complete the game but i am doing cheating now, keeping backup of save)






Forget the thing above said, play as you enjoy and DON'T start game again again after reading threads, after level 40+, character build useless, you can be anything at that time except weapon-proficiency so don't waste their points on start

make your companion deadly and skilfull, they are your real fighters

 

[AndersonConagher]

I recommend: Get heroes, get all of the heroes, and upgrade your heroes (buy armor for them, and hold their hand during when they level up because they're too squishy and puny to do it themselves)

Get a big armored horse and armor yourself, get a big two-hander, get a bow and arrow, and get an axe that'll cut through shields.

Side with the Swadians or kill Bandits until you're level 15-20 then go to the Khergits and recruit. That's usually my game plan.

Remember that raiding villages seems to piss off lords but doesn't seem to mess up any faction relations. The lords will still attack you if they catch ya, though...and all the farmers will be behind them.

Recruit, recruit, recruit and get a mix of Infantry and upgrade them to Horsemen. Get archers/crossbowmen too.

Finally, don't rely TOTALLY on horsemen if you intend to siege. They seem to lack shields and get eaten alive without their horses. They're always my biggest casualty if we're besieging a castle.

 

[rapier17]

If you dig through my history you can find it, the one I picked was a commander type rather than a in your face with sharp pointy things type that I usually played and found it quite enjoyable.

Once you get into it it is fun isn't it? Was worried that it was only me who enjoyed it. Taken the build over into Hundred Years War mod and running with an archer-come-Knight commander. Great fun. Combines everything I enjoy

To make my comment about the OP's confuzzlement;

Troops: Rhodok Sharpshooters with some Rhodok Sergeants or Huscarls. Swadian Knights for mobility.
Companions: I don't really use companions that much but I tend to take Lezalit, Matheld & Artimenner as they all get along and have some useful skills - Lezalit for training, Artimenner for Engineering/training for medical stuff at later levels/second trainer & Matheld as my personal bodyguard
Armour: At first use kit you can get off of enemies and work out how much armour you prefer - for example the most I'll often go is Padded Cloth with an Arming Cap and leather gloves - I just prefer the vulnerability. Except in Sieges.
Weapons: A crossbow is an invaluable sidearm. I often pack a Light Crossbow on my non-archer characters as you can use/load it on horseback, it's accurate and does 'alright' damage. An axe is an excellent choice for a 1handed weapon - does extra damage against shields and often do a vicious amount of damage against enemies. Another alternative is a War Pick for its anti-armour piercing damage and speed. High Resistance shields are a must - higher resistance, the more damage is negated with each impact. If you're planning on staying mobile (mounted) then a Board Shield is not a great option, but if you're headed for a Siege then they are invaluable!

Thats my advice at least

 

[Filou]

This game is so vast that you should go with what you like playing, even if not 'the best'.  I you like throwing rocks and clubbing people while being shirtless, go for it!     I'm sure one could make that work against the AI... somehow

My thing is horse archery, bit I would not recommend it if you like to poke and slash people. 

For troops, no need to restart a game to change troop type.  Just recruit and train new guys before disbanding the old ones.
Same goes for armor and weapon, although I guess it helps figuring out which proficiencies you're aiming for.  Lend the gear you're trying out to your companions if you're unsure what you want. 


Now if you want more ideas:
Troops - I stick with whatever faction I'm with.  Playing a Nord at the moment.  I add 8-12 mercenary horse dudes to help against the swadians and Veagir .  I'm waiting until a faction is eliminated before using other troops, but I might start recruiting swadians from my 2nd village to get knights... still pending.

I use mostly the armor I find looting, which meas wearing mail shirt dropped from Sea Raiders until I get better gear from fighting faction troop.  I'll buy the odd shield or glove at some point when I see something I like.  (I have to admit I did buy a Lordy Plate Armor this week-end.  At 135k I figured it was a bargain.  What was I going to do with those 350k anyways?  ). 
My team looks weird with all those different armors/helmets once we get past the Sea Raider gear, but I don't care.

Can't be bothered to specialized the fighting style of my companions, so I imposed my horse archer style on everybody.  They use crossbow sine I need them to have the intelligence related skills, except if they already start with some Power Draw like Baheshtur.  I like to bag the odd prisoner so they also have a flanged mace, improved later to a spiked mace.

 

[Dreadnaught]

I would just suggest that cav merc is nice, but as they start dying you might want to go ahead and pick up some khergit recruits. The lancers are only tier 4, easy to upgrade and they are the cheapest elite cav units. So easy to train and level, cheaper then merc and a lot easier to resupply the manpower!

 

[Nicholas Bell]

I you like throwing rocks and clubbing people while being shirtless, go for it!

This made me laugh.  Thank you, I needed that.

Actually I've contemplated the game mechanics of remaining a "nobody".  That is, play as a single foot soldier and latch on to some king or lord as if you were part of his army.  Leave the strategy, diplomacy and economics to the AI and just fight.  But since you can't join in battles unless you have joined a faction or become a mercenary, and that doesn't happen unless you play by the rules of the game (which work against being a single nobody).

 

[Failing Conquer]

Thanks for all your advice!

I made a new character, who wanders around Swadia owning any looters he comes across. I used TweakMB to change the size of looters to 40-ish. It's so much fun with a hammer I picked up from mountain bandits. And to Captain Octavious, thank you for your post, I will definitley use that advice.

For now, to the taverns!

 

[Swagg3r]

I would recommend Khergits as well. That mobility is invaluable. Best to leave any factional hatreds at the door

Anyways, I recently began a game as merchant, and I was mildly horrified at how incalcuably rich I became.

After a couple months of hardcore salt, spice and iron trading, coupled with enterprises in every town, I had amassed over 20,000 denars-more than I could conceivably spend.

I was so horrified because this was almost game-breaking to me- With that kind of financial backing, I was able to start my own faction right off the bat-no prep, no nothing. And it's still going and expanding.

It's almost funny how priorities reverse themselves once you get that rich-instead of worrying about how costly those mercs are going to be, you find yourself worrying about their ultimate effectiveness with cost as no obstacle.

 

[Ludial]

a month of soloing looters ends with the player at lvl 15, 15k in his purse, some pretty decent equipment and pretty decent combat and army-leading skills. forget the merchant path, it's useless.

 

[Stepsongrapes]

a month of soloing looters ends with the player at lvl 15, 15k in his purse, some pretty decent equipment and pretty decent combat and army-leading skills. forget the merchant path, it's useless.

I don't think Swagg3r is saying that he only earned 20K.  He earned 20K more than he can use.  More importantly, he set up enterprises that will earn income long-term.  In a couple months of hard trading, you can make 100K plus overall, pretty easy.

Taking on looters is never as lucrative.