Early Game Survival Tips

[Misguided]

Misguided's patented how-to guide for surviving the early game in PoP 2.0.

1. Pathfinding.

Use it. Being able to run from the big guys and catch the little guys is of absolute utmost importance. (It is possible to start a character with 5 in pathfinding. You get no weapon skills that way, but MAN can you run!)

2. Riding Companions.

Even if they can't do any damage, get some free/inexpensive companions and put them on horses. This is to make you even faster.

3. Go grab any recruits you want to.

It really doesn't matter in the early game. All of them are viable. I prefer Fierdsvain infantry or Ravenstern archers, but anybody works. D'Shar are deadly, and Empire foot soldiers are fantastic. And never underestimate the power of a Sarleon Halberdier...

If you have followed steps 1 and 2, you should be able to do +6.0 on the game map even with 30 foot soldiers and run like hell from anything except perhaps Rogue Knights. They will still catch and eat you. (Hey, I didn't say it was going to be easy. I said you could survive.)

4. Survival of the fittest

Go kill stuff. Outcasts and bandits are the easy pickings. Mountain bandits are a little harder. Mystmountain are fairly easy, but only in small numbers... heh. Don't go after the Vanskerry until you can handle 40+ Mystmountain.

5. PROFIT!


If at any point you are running low on cash, go hit an arena. A few minutes of arena combat can net you ~1000 gold even if you are never the last man standing. (You get 200 gold for killing 10.) Kill 10, get killed, wash rinse, repeat. You'd be amazed how well this works.

You'll be on your way to making Madigan happy in no time.

-Misguided

 

[MXDXD]

Misguided's patented how-to guide for surviving the early game in PoP 2.0.

1. Pathfinding.

Use it. Being able to run from the big guys and catch the little guys is of absolute utmost importance. (It is possible to start a character with 5 in pathfinding. You get no weapon skills that way, but MAN can you run!)

2. Riding Companions.

Even if they can't do any damage, get some free/inexpensive companions and put them on horses. This is to make you even faster.

3. Go grab any recruits you want to.

It really doesn't matter in the early game. All of them are viable. I prefer Fierdsvain infantry or Ravenstern archers, but anybody works. D'Shar are deadly, and Empire foot soldiers are fantastic. And never underestimate the power of a Sarleon Halberdier...

If you have followed steps 1 and 2, you should be able to do +6.0 on the game map even with 30 foot soldiers and run like hell from anything except perhaps Rogue Knights. They will still catch and eat you. (Hey, I didn't say it was going to be easy. I said you could survive.)

4. Survival of the fittest

Go kill stuff. Outcasts and bandits are the easy pickings. Mountain bandits are a little harder. Mystmountain are fairly easy, but only in small numbers... heh. Don't go after the Vanskerry until you can handle 40+ Mystmountain.

5. PROFIT!


If at any point you are running low on cash, go hit an arena. A few minutes of arena combat can net you ~1000 gold even if you are never the last man standing. (You get 200 gold for killing 10.) Kill 10, get killed, wash rinse, repeat. You'd be amazed how well this works.

You'll be on your way to making Madigan happy in no time.

-Misguided

1. Strange. I had the habit to never, ever put more than 2 points in pathfinding, mainly because there are good pathfinders type usually available in every game (and who aren't really expansive). So the 2 points was mainly to be able to go rather fast until I get somebody better than I at this.

2. Obvious.

3. I tend to stay away from recruits at first, as it makes your companions level up slower. I might have to hire some of them, if the game indeed that tough at start. What's the average speed of Rogue Knights? My strategy would be to remain not too far from a town or a castle in those cases.

4. Has the average size of Vanskerry Raiders changed that much since Pop 1.xxx?

Last question : Is a shield mandatory in this mod?

 

[noosers]

Not really a tutorial about the features, just a few tips to avoid rape early on (according to my style of play):

- Use your speed to outmanoeuver anything but bandit parties, pick up the occasional free low expenses companions (Leslie<-- Trade, Ansen).
- Head for Ravenstern
- Get recruits, pick easy targets (Bandits and Outlaws) and make them archers
- Once get a decent force of recruits/milita/skirmishers go after Mystmountain Outlaw parties (Avoid heretic parties and renegade knights!)
- Pick up the more expensive companions
- Increase Agility and get your loot skill as high as possible! Why? Because its your friend (6 is a good enough skill)
- Once you got a decent amount of archers, go pick and pluck some Vanskerry Raider parties.

By now you should have a considerable force and money to further engage in Pendor and have some fun with the various random spawns

The better the companion, the more expensive. The knightish ones have the best gear but are pretty expensive to get early on. Sir Roland is 8k, Sir Timothy 6k, Sir Rayne 5k, Sigismund Sinclair 4k. Each of them is an army of it´s own.

Regarding Sigismund Sinclair I advise to bring his STR to 30 as fast as possible - he will be the only one able to wear one of the best pieces of armor you´re able to loot off those Heretic parites - Demon Skin. Requires 30 STR though but has probably one of the best def/weight ratios apart from Noldor gear.
The other high lvl companions usually prefer intelligence for more skills --> which you will NEED for the various buildings. A spreadsheet should be posted at the wiki, if I am not wrong. There´s a chart of the companions as well so you can pick wisely.

And READ their freaking stories! Talk to anyone, listen to rumors. SEE,READ and GAWP.

And Sarleon Halberdiers are fearsome things - but their great weakness is their vulnerability to archers so feather them with arrows!

 

[noosers]

A shield is definetly a must early on until you built up your character enough to support heaviest armor and a fearsome two hander. And given the density of top archers I´d be careful when you use one and when not - especially at low to mid levels when your character still gets pretty much damage in by all those foes.

Vanskerries have increased a bit in numbers and skills. No easy going there. Vanskerries = rape if you´re not fielding a decent army. Same goes for pretty much anything else but the cheesy outlaw and bandit parties. But no risk, no loot.  Yet getting one hitted and your horse kebaped by the same greataxe swing isnt fun at all.

Renegade Knight Parties tend to be the fastest groups around. Speeds well over 6.5 will make you cursing your slow footpads for reaching the next fortified place pretty well. They deal quite a punch as well but drop nice loot.

Going only companions early on is something I´d disadvise - it will become a lot easier if you get a decent army with you. And some of those companions are high end levels - mid tier companions are lvl 20. And pretty costly. Once you hired Sir Roland you will see what I mean (he´s the most expensive and beefed up companion). So you need to chop a large amount of cheesy foes to finally acquire 4-8k denarii to hire a top companion, 500-2k to fetch a low-mid tierish one. Goes a lot easier if you employ a score archers and footpads and the odd unit of heavy cav and go for the more rewarding spawns.

And as a sidenote - all companions go BAREHEADED on purpose. They haven´t got a tasty helmet because they will wear it in the tavern. There´s plenty of stylish tincans for your companions though. (Lion Faceplate (rare at merchants) looks AWESOME on Sir Timothy and Diev Dievsson´s needs a Fel Helmet (Loot of Anaconda Knights) to look really evil.

And beware - keep your companions armored stylishly - Alan the Armorer made it possible to actually do so

edit: I find spotting even more benefitting than pathfinding. Why? Well, bandits and all kind of evil factions tend to JOIN battle against you. That and evil suprises lurking in the dark woods spawning out of nowhere.... so you better want to see which parties are in range to join the fray. And if you ever get pissed, killed, raped and robbed because the lousy 8 Vanskerries were joined by two 35 head strong Vanskerry parties you´ll mark my words.

 

[Alan Q Smithee]

5. PROFIT!

6. You put your lance in the box...

 

[noosers]

Lances - in order to couch you don´t need to press the attack button. All you need to do is let your horse gather enough speed.
Lances used afoot are best used without a shield. There are pretty good basic guides on how to fight melee with sword, two hander or polearm, how to dodge arrows and hits around, you´ll have to find them if you´re interested.

 

[Misguided]

5. PROFIT!

6. You put your lance in the box...

That's what SHE said...

Sorry.  Reverted to 7th grade for a minute.

*snarkiness*

This post was for the inexperienced.  If you feel you don't need it, that's fine.  There is no need for attitude.

As to your questions:

1.  Yes, you're likely to run into really fast, stupidly powerful enemies before you can check two towns for a nice pathfinding companion.  I'd rather not depend on that.  I use my companions for other skills.  What you do is your business.

3.  As long as all you fight are outcasts, and maybe bandits, sure.  Anything else?  Get an army.  You are NOT the one-man wrecking crew in Pendor 2.0 that you might have been previously. (This assumes you are working at 100%+ difficulty.  If you've scaled things back, then do what works.)

4.  10-20 in early game, upwards of 70 or so in the late game, usually.  There are fluctuations.

Arrows hurt.  Bolts hurt.  Assassin's knives really hurt.  Legionaries spears are just stupid painful.  Up to you, really.

-Misguided

 

[MXDXD]

This post was for the inexperienced.  If you feel you don't need it, that's fine.  There is no need for attitude.

As to your questions:

1.  Yes, you're likely to run into really fast, stupidly powerful enemies before you can check two towns for a nice pathfinding companion.  I'd rather not depend on that.  I use my companions for other skills.  What you do is your business.

3.  As long as all you fight are outcasts, and maybe bandits, sure.  Anything else?  Get an army.  You are NOT the one-man wrecking crew in Pendor 2.0 that you might have been previously. (This assumes you are working at 100%+ difficulty.  If you've scaled things back, then do what works.)

4.  10-20 in early game, upwards of 70 or so in the late game, usually.  There are fluctuations.

Arrows hurt.  Bolts hurt.  Assassin's knives really hurt.  Legionaries spears are just stupid painful.  Up to you, really.

-Misguided

Thanks a lot. I did play a lot with PoP 1.xx, and now I did remember that I used some troops (a few footsoldiers and order of the griffin ASAP) early in the game. Was able to withstand small Jatu partys, but I think that's the toughest I ever fought, as real life caught me shortly after that. This was really about what to expect at first. PoP 1.xx was tougher than any mod I played, but it was also the most immersive... And that was the two main reasons why I liked it.

I usually like my character to focus on three non-fighting skills : surgery (basically useless in mods with custom companion features, but extremely useful in others : while Jeremus - or Marnid - is down, chances are, I'm probably up if I'm still in the fight), looting (nobody comes with this) and leadership (obivous). Those are maxed. But hey : you've worked on this mod, so you probably know what's better. We all need to be challenged, at some point, and that's why I liked the first version : it's wasn't hard for the sole sake of being hard.

 

[Misguided]

No problem man.  Sorry if I got touchy.  It's been a long week for everyone involved.

There are as many ways to play as there are players.  I'm sure you'll find a way that suits you.  As far as leader skills go, the obvious are the ones you posted.  Surgery, leadership, looting.

I just happen to LOVE pathfinding.   Speed is everything, especially in the early game, and I don't like being locked into a specific companion just to be able to go fast.

Another important one is Persuasion.  To say that it is no longer a useless skill would be a massive understatement.

But that is part of what is going to give this game some staying power and replay value.  There are too many important skills to build the "perfect" character, so you'll have to make a couple of 'em just to see it all!

-Misguided

 

[Altaris]

Does loot affect the stuff you get from a battle? I thought it only came into effect when looting villages.

 

[saxondragon]

Does loot affect the stuff you get from a battle? I thought it only came into effect when looting villages.

It increases the amount and quality of the things from battle.

 

[littlemikey]

Misguided's patented how-to guide for surviving the early game in PoP 2.0.

1. Pathfinding.

Use it. Being able to run from the big guys and catch the little guys is of absolute utmost importance. (It is possible to start a character with 5 in pathfinding. You get no weapon skills that way, but MAN can you run!)

2. Riding Companions.

Even if they can't do any damage, get some free/inexpensive companions and put them on horses. This is to make you even faster.

3. Go grab any recruits you want to.

It really doesn't matter in the early game. All of them are viable. I prefer Fierdsvain infantry or Ravenstern archers, but anybody works. D'Shar are deadly, and Empire foot soldiers are fantastic. And never underestimate the power of a Sarleon Halberdier...

If you have followed steps 1 and 2, you should be able to do +6.0 on the game map even with 30 foot soldiers and run like hell from anything except perhaps Rogue Knights. They will still catch and eat you. (Hey, I didn't say it was going to be easy. I said you could survive.)

4. Survival of the fittest

Go kill stuff. Outcasts and bandits are the easy pickings. Mountain bandits are a little harder. Mystmountain are fairly easy, but only in small numbers... heh. Don't go after the Vanskerry until you can handle 40+ Mystmountain.

5. PROFIT!


If at any point you are running low on cash, go hit an arena. A few minutes of arena combat can net you ~1000 gold even if you are never the last man standing. (You get 200 gold for killing 10.) Kill 10, get killed, wash rinse, repeat. You'd be amazed how well this works.

You'll be on your way to making Madigan happy in no time.

-Misguided

Another thing, make sure you invest in the medical skills. Surgery is vital. Elite units in PoP are very very hard to get, and if one dies on the battlefield, you WILL feel the loss.

 

[kekn06ab]

Or just put your doc on a fast horse as the last man coming into the battle. I know, I know, no guarantees, but it usually means that if your doc is done for... so are you.  Having an extra is quite useful, but I'm still weary about actually spending points in these skills myself. I can find other skills that are, maybe not more useful, but more self-satisfactory.

 

[noosers]

That´s an illusion. Your doc will more often than not spawn in the first wave and gladly charge forth on his shiney fast horse. Despite beeing the last one in the unit roster.

He will do that ESPECIALLY in siege tower sieges and probably be the first one headshotted over three walls around four corners avoiding seven trees.

In such a case its just pleasant to have 2-3 points of surgery yourself and the book around giving you another +1.

 

[Sarpedon]

(Lion Faceplate (rare at merchants) looks AWESOME on Sir Timothy and Diev Dievsson´s needs a Fel Helmet (Loot of Anaconda Knights) to look really evil.

Funny, this is the first time I read this and that is exactly the same helmet I have on ol' Timothy (and the only Lion Faceplate I have found so far).  I got tired of the cobalt armor and was lucky enough to get a "thick consuls armor" which I think he looks better in (lighter blue) it is pretty and better all around than the cobalt.

Do people equip 'long knights lances' or use the regular 'lances' with their Knight guys?

 

[hgghg4]

Necro Thread revival FTW

 

[Charles du Lac]

Another hint for good game play is to plan early.  Decide which area you want to start your own kingdom, do A LOT of quests for all the lords (not the king) in that faction, get their relationship up to 30+, then support the claimant.  You get the choice of who gets what town or castle when taken, so take the best for yourself, (or all if you think you can pay for it).  Give to lord to up their relationship (needed to recruit later), don't give any to claimant. Once you win, take another castle and request if for yourself. The new king will probably turn you down so you can then renounce him and start your own kingdom, will all the property you had before.  Then just chase down all those lord you kept high relationship with, capture and recruit them and increase your kingdom.

 

[Crax]

. I know, I know, no guarantees, but it usually means that if your doc is done for... so are you.

really? I tought the skill was still in effect even if the doctor died... is it the same for every other skill in the game?

 

[noosers]

If the skill is active (read: the chap who´s having it isn´t red in your party menue) at the begin of the round the skill will apply until the round of combat ended. Once the skill isn´t active at the start of a battle round, it will not affect anything. So if your doctor is knocked out the very round, it won´t be that problematic. Next round he´s missing and that´s when the casualities start rolling in.

Wether the unit has spawned on the battlefield or not doesn´t matter.
That´s at least what I´ve observed. Otherwise I´d have a hellish lot more dead people around me when I´m knocked out by some foul, backstabbing lancer in the small of my back or headshot from half a mile across in a dense forest.

The Sir´s usually get a balanced heavy knights lance - with 230 range, and the remainders either a balanced heavy lance or a balanced lance. (190-180). The AI can´t handle the really long lances but is quite deadly with the shorter ones, given a fast and sturdy horse and upwards 150 polearms skill.

 

[Pode]

Another hint for good game play is to plan early.  Decide which area you want to start your own kingdom, do A LOT of quests for all the lords (not the king) in that faction, get their relationship up to 30+, then support the claimant.  You get the choice of who gets what town or castle when taken, so take the best for yourself, (or all if you think you can pay for it).  Give to lord to up their relationship (needed to recruit later), don't give any to claimant. Once you win, take another castle and request if for yourself. The new king will probably turn you down so you can then renounce him and start your own kingdom, will all the property you had before.  Then just chase down all those lord you kept high relationship with, capture and recruit them and increase your kingdom.

This would be superb advice if PoP hadn't inheirited Native's bugs with the claimant quest.  If your heart is set on having your own kingdom, you really shouldn't risk ever being a vassal of anyone else.  Title may not transfer cleanly otherwise and you may end up rebelling against yourself and other strangeness.