[DESIGN FLAW] No reinforcements in bandit lairs

[boyracer]

I agree these quests are too hard for higher level characters. Not fun hard just stupid hard. I remember one bandit hideout I assaulted the valley was carpeted with javelins being thrown from 3 sides. Was only a matter of time before I got pincushioned despite some great armour. Nowadays I only attack the hideouts for a bit of extra experience and to just clear the area of so many annoying groups of bandits etc.

The way I think it could be improved apart from fixing the random spawn points is to have reinforcements but on a drip feed basis. I mean the pass is narrow, difficult etc etc but 5 men can get up there, what’s stopping another 5 coming up? Then another 5 after that?

So I would envision it as the 1st wave makes the assault and then has to hold off the bandits initial guards etc trying to drive us back. If we can hold on and create a beachhead then we get some reinforcements at the same time as the bandits get more organized and come at us with more men, maybe some ranged guys at vantage points. If we can drive forward and secure some of the caves then that spawn point is closed. Maybe even make that a trigger for reinforcements?? Or it just gives you a defensible area to fight back the next bigger wave.

Eventually you could have a decent force up there but possibly the early guys are low on hitpoints.

That to me would be fun but is also realistic in how it should play out. I think the hideout could be really cool but is silly when I go into it knowing I will lose (I won’t adjust difficulty etc).

My 2c anyway.

 

[Cynvawr]

I don't think it is necessary to bring in reinforcements for the player but I believe it would already help a great lot if you could just select the 5 soldiers who will accompany you.
The respawn of bandits at places you already cleared could still be seen as men you didn't notice before who came out of their hideout to fall into your back.

 

[Ringwraith #5]

I believe it would already help a great lot if you could just select the 5 soldiers who will accompany you.

Your soldiers spawn according to your party screen troop list.

 

[GJScarritt]

I believe it would already help a great lot if you could just select the 5 soldiers who will accompany you.

Your soldiers spawn according to your party screen troop list.

It would be nice if ONLY your top troop listed is spawned, unfortunately (just like in field battles) there is some randomness involved.  I could have more than enough in the top listed troop to cover the # of troops that will be spawned, but some of the 2nd troop listed also spawns with me (and on occasion, it will even go to the 3rd listed troop type).

 

[Zekeen]

Truthfully, with the way bandit lairs work and the way they respawn, I think it'd be easier if they ALL came out at ONE TIME! I'd rather fight 50 bandits on the spot than kill a group, turn around and then they spawn and shoot me and all my knights dead in 1 arrow or spear volley. I can take em on easy, group by group, but the respawning makes it IMPOSSIBLE to take em all on since I gotta run back and forth through arrow fire from 5 directions. It's like running back and forth through a firing range, I feel like one of those ducks at the fairground shooting games!

 

[Wheem]

Truthfully, with the way bandit lairs work and the way they respawn, I think it'd be easier if they ALL came out at ONE TIME!

Agree 100%.

The respawns are actually what makes the bandit camp missions so difficult - and not just because there are a larger number of bandits to kill. As I've said in other threads - I can "clear" an area of bandits, only to have another one (or several) spawn a few steps behind me and launch a throwing weapon into the back of my head. It's very frustrating to get 1-shotted (or nearly 1-shotted) by a bandit that didn't even exist 2 seconds previous.

I'll make this suggestion again: I'd like to see the mission take on more of a search-and-destroy feel. Where the player moves from place to place within the camp, clearing resistance as it's encountered. Each bandit group could be relatively large, and I think it'd be fine if one group would occasionally charge in to support their buddies that the player had attacked. I'm totally fine with this mission being relatively difficult (though I do wish it was easier to find the bandit camps if you didn't already know where to look). But right now, a lot of it seems to rely on luck; there are times I've cleared a bandit camp in one sweep through while having 2-4 companions/soldiers knocked unconscious. In other instances, I've had to reload a saved game and try the mission multiple times before being able to complete it. This usually happens because I keep getting hit in the back with throwing weapons, which get launched by enemies who spawned right next to the corpses of their buddies that I killed a few seconds before.

Forest Bandits can cause issues as well, but I have to disagree with those who say that they're anywhere near the most difficult. Unless I get head shot, most of the arrows aren't extremely damaging; one can't say the same for javelins, jarids, and throwing axes.