Help needed for my first run of this mod

[No idea]

This mod looks great, so I have started playing it. Even with all warnings, I thought that 3 full runs in the native campaign were enough but yesterday I started playing and men, this is DIFFICULT. However, the mod looks great, and I don´t mind to reload a lot, so I would like to keep on playing, but I need some heavy advice.

What do you advice me to do? (I mean, for as an easy start as this mod might allow)

Thanks a lot

PS. Playing at 75% difficculty level. Automatic lance couch and automatic blocking. Normal damage and AI.

 

[deimoss]

Read the stickied FAQ. It's long but will answer inevitable questions you will have. It also has a strategy section for early-mid-late game.

A few topics below there is an early game strategy discussion that might help you.

I don't want to spoil the game for you so my limited advice is:

- tavern mercs are very good in the early game. Especially the Young noble line (cavalry)

- try to get hired as mercenary captain by a faction. The pay you'll get will cover the wage cost of your troops

 

[No idea]

Thanks a lot for your answer.

I had already read that info. What I was looking for was some advice about WHERE to start, what way of fighting is best (archery, one handed, two...) for this mod, WHICH TROOPS should I aim to recruit (I read D´Shar infantry can become the best infantry in the game but which are the best archers? the best cavalry?) and where to start attacking bandits to get some moeny and reknown, for example (the equivalent of sea raiders in this game, sorry, don´t remember the name, are too tough for me, at level 4)

 

[deimoss]

One of the nice things about PoP is that troops are pretty balanced and you can't really screw up your army if you mix archers, infantry and cavalry.

Fighting from horse is much easier than on foot. Also, archery needs some point investment before paying off, but it's worth it. At the beginning I like using a lance (blunt tip to take prisoners) and a one handed weapon as backup.

Troops to recruit: mercs from taverns. Mid game you can start training your troops. If you want archers then ravenstern or sarleon. Empire crossbowmen are also ok. Infantry: mix of Fierd, Empire, Sarleon. Cavalry: adventurers, rescued jatu lancers, rogue knights, companions. I don't use horse archers.

Avoid Jatu and Vanskerey at the beginning. Fight white colored parties.

 

[Vagnard]

Okay, a bit of early game advice:

- Where you start is irrelevant as you'll get a rendition of the same quest. Just be aware that certain choices during character creation may set you at odds with a faction. Find out which and make amends. It usually takes less than 1000 denars.

- Do the training field, it's easy experience

- Give the arena a go, it's hard but you have nothing to lose

- If you don't have them already, get a lance and a fast horse and start couching away, but....

- always check the enemy troop composition. Even pesky bandits have the occasional rouge knight, which will most certainly kill you and anything you could assemble at this point

- Outlaws, Bandits or Brigands are fair game, Vanskerry and Mystmountain not so much though not impossible

- try to get your companions together asap, maybe check the wiki and build your group accordingly. Some are expensive though.

- If you're not doing it yourself, make one low level companion a medic, another one a pathfinder, a third one a looter and a fourth one a trader (this is sort of a must)
  Doing it yourself will yield a leader bonus of up to +4 either to your skill directly or to the respective companion skill if higher, for all partyskills.

- don't recruit everything you see, mobility is highly important. Check the steppes, you'll know what I mean.

- take prisoners (a lot) and sell them for profit. Certain weapons like the blunt tip lance will aid you in your quest. The skill doesn't hurt either.

- recruit prisoners. Sell anything you don't need but try recruiting the good stuff. If you're having trouble figuring out what's good, look at the sell value of the troops and compare.
  You need some Persuasion for this to work on a reliable basis. Also some might escape at the break of night. If there are elite troops present which can't be recruited it will say so
  on the screen

- check the prisoner stack of enemy groups as you'll be able to recruit non-elite units from that if you win the battle. You can also join massive battles and pick at least one troop
  of every stack at the end of battle.

- both things deimoss said. The young xxx noble troop tree will come to an epic conclusion if you focus on the adventure aspect. Being a merc will pay your whole army's salary if you
  have leadership 5 or better. To become a merc, talk to a lord of any faction that is at war. Just be aware that after this, you'll be at war with them too.

As for best troops, I'm afraid there is no such thing. There are some troops that have an advantage in certain aspects of the game, but you'll figure that out yourself.
For me it's more of a playing style question, so to each his/her own. My preference in the early game is to focus heavily on the mounted part, which will give you an "army" that does quite well against unmounted units i.e. the stuff you should be fighting in the beginning.
 

 

[noosers]

Early game definetly some mercenaries. They´re the difference between epic fail and barely surviving.

If you can´t fight and win, run. Even if it means to abandon a few of your precious farmers and other lowlevel infantry.

 

[mesor]

If your not worried about being fair then once you begin on your army id recommend a split between empire and raven units.
Empire legionaires will hold a line against almost anything if you have them on a hill and close up ranks a couple of times aswell as packing 1 hell of a punch with there throwing spears but id suggest u only allow 1 volley at a time or they run out really fast.
Back that up with gladiators and you've got a very powerful shield wall backed up with one of the most dangerous melee infantry in the game and adding a few armored pikes can help especially when facing heavy mounted armies the hill slows the cavalry and a mixed wall of shields and pikes will stop a charge in its tracks and rip the cavalry apart.
Ravern soldiers its all about the archers the more you can get the better my army is currently some 300 men of which 180 are archers.
Then 60 legion 30 pike 20 gladiators who form my melee shield wall normally in 3 ranks with 3 ranks of archers behind on top of the hill plus my 10 companions all in heavy armor with whichever ranged weapon they have the best affinity for the finest chargers and a shield and axe.

It takes some time and id suggest getting in good with 1 nation first and getting business going couse when you drop from being a merc your income is gonna suffer if you havnt prepared for it in advance.

But with that army i just faced down and wiped out the main snake cult army of some 850 men.

I lost 200 of my own and not 1 melee soldier was on hes feet at the end but hey it was 3 waves before my first man went down and after that sheer weight of numbers overwhelmed my line as the damage built up.

But since im my main medic and have it maxed with a companion with it maxed of the 200 who went down almost 140 will live to fight another day and the empire can graciously offer me no reward at all for saving them from the invasion being the hero is a thankless job but hey the rather large number of high teir prisoners the very nice gear and the 180 men i recruited all of which are high teir empire or ravern men im happy enough with the outcome and if the empire dont start treating me right ill have to take my own rewards beginning with locking the emperors ass in hes own dungeon and giving hes throne to the emperor in exile .

Hope this helped.

 

[noosers]

2/3 of your army dead and wounded?

You don´t want to bring infantry and archers against the SNC. Far too many  heavy horses around. You need a fair share of heavy cavalry yourself to avoid the inital carnage in your closed infantry and supportive archer lines. Netherworld Chargers have soupplate sized hooves and spikes on their horseshoes as well...

So the huge amount of wounded in your battle to survive and fight another day wasn´t entirely your medic´s merit. It was caused by the simple fact that horses deal blunt damange, and blunt damage knocks troops out. Be glad for it.

What killed your troops were most likely in order of magnitude crossbow bolts, javelins, sharp tipped lances and the occasional slash of a sharp edge.

 

[Scotterius]

Well you can take everything that Mr. Nooser says (at least on tactical matters) as gold.  I would add simply that in the very early game I get what ever unit I can just so I can take on bandit groups without being swarmed.  The goal during this time is to get enough money to get my heros (and hire Sir Alistair so I can take his nice armor, and leave him in a dress if possible).  During this time I am usually smashed and scattered a couple of times.

This period is touch and go, but once you start taking on Vaskerry's and Rogue Knights you will actually start to die less.This is because you are wearing their armor, and have become quite seasoned.  After this joining as a mercenary earns you a higher salary, and the loot from fighting faction forces is higher.  You will need to do this quite a while before trying to start a new kingdom.

You can find the hero compatibility lists in the FAQ.  I um...also tend to put the AI campaign to poor.

Edit:  Putting the AI campaign to poor might be the most important thing I said.  On the poor setting my army is a dingy fighting against a storm, on average it is a leaf caught in a hurricane made of bears.

 

[thrashrat]

If you find that you get crushed by lords on a regular basis, try turning off formations. Then you won't have to fight Vicky anymore, just the regular AI.

 

[Rpground]

here,this is one that is so good its priceless (profitable really). fight in the normal arena (not tournys) alot. be the last man standing as much as possable. you get alot of cash this way without advancing game time. so in 1 day you can make like 50k not to mention how much you have trained your weapon skills.

 

[No idea]

Ok, by pure chance i found a one side battle aomg fiers and sarleon troops. I jumped into, won it and i got several dozens of high level troops to recruit (5 huscarls among them) and a lot of prisioners. I hope now things will be easier, because at 8 th level i am still havign problems killing something big and half powerful. Making money is not easy at all, so i have problems to recruit my companions. By the way, i am a horse archer and lancer, but i dont konw why (probably thehigh armor of enemies and their high hit points) i am killing far less than in native (using a comp. Shrot bos and heavy lance). What would you recommend for a horse archer and lancer?

 

[ZirzoR]

Ok here is some guidelines i always use so i get enterprises in all citys and lots of gold :3

Pick a faction you want to be a merc of or plan to be with for quite some time, follow their armys around and join the fight that are pretty obvious wins, or help them out.

take the lords prisoners and all that comes with it, and reqruit all the prisoners they had on their end so that you can get some high lvl troops.

once the gold start clinking in on a daily basis because of how many lord ransoms you get "Counts,Barons,jarls" sometimes gives 20k gold for ransom, woosh :3

then make enterprises in all non war factions with the one you have, and once the war ends with the final faction, you go there and get enterprises.

but be careful about who you try to ransom and capture, always keep an eye out who owns what city so you can build later without having to spend 100 days trying to get them not mad at you.

and once you got all the enterprises going, just sit there with your mercanary for a while and keep doing this, until you have a few 100k gold, "i did this until i had 1 million denars, and it was well worth it once i started my own kingdom"

So that's usually how i get gold in this game at early start.