I just can't get started!

[Titan357]

So, After quitting M&B about 2 months before WB came out for boredom reasons and frustration at some mods I finally bought WB from Taleworlds page.

I kind of wanted a retail box, but the urge to play it then was too great so I got a digital copy to match my hard copy of MB original.

Right, so I got it installed and tweaked the cattle to follow instead of run from me.

I notice the new splash screens, and how much better the game looks over all. Be it going from 19" 720P Tv and VGA cables to a 42" 1080 TV with HDMI cables and a 19XX by 10XX resolution  or just a upgrade to the game engine I do not know. Regardless, the game looks great now.

I enjoyed the little starting quest the first time, but after making two failed starts, one where I cheated and deleted the other just failed in stats.

Then I moved on to make a total of 8 or so failed attempts to get started. 

So maybe the good people here can help me get started, and point me in the right direction. Now i have done a lot of reading here, both sticky  and non sticky threads.
I have also watched my share of "getting started" videos, but I just can't seem to find that starting balance in my PC and what area to start in.

I want to be a good fighter (I really like the way the foot combat works now) and mounted combat is not really my thing. I like to be in the mud and blood so to speak.
I also want to be balanced, and have good leader skill to raise a good sized army to battle other lords on equal ground with the battle sizer.

I just can't seem to get started, and I thought I remember the original M&B easier to get started in.

Any help or tips would be great, even what paths would be best to choose.

I have been trying, Merchant - shop assist - student - loss to start with higher INT/CHA and work on the STR/AGI as I level up but that has not worked out well.

Maybe I should try Warrior - page - squire - something? Or maybe a balanced start would be best, I just do not know.

I been trying to start in the nord area, but maybe a different land would be best to start at, so far I ended up turning down the difficulty to help me a little, but the sense of accomplishment is just not there when I do that.

Thanks.

P.S, sense when can we lock out own topics? thats neat.

I really like line fighting with my army on foot, and in a way I miss the RCM.

 

[William de Beaujeu]

The starting paths don't matter that much in my opinion, but if you want to be a foot soldier I would chose:
- veteran soldier
- page at nobleman's court
- squire

so the knightly path.

After that just get all your skillpoinst on powerstike, iron flesh and shield.
If you get around 100 profisceries get your weapon master to 12.
than continue your power strike and iron flesh, at 7 you are a strong warrior, at 10 you can kill any soldier with 1 blow.

For the starting on the map: do easy trade routes:
curaw-sargoth (iron)
sargoth-tirh (linnen and flax)
tirh-suno (salt and fish)
dhirim-rivacheg (iron)

This is an easy trade route without to difficult bandits.
within a month ingame you should have 10k in your pocket and 2-3 velvet production entreprices.

at least that's how i start most of the time.

 

[Titan357]

Thank you for your reply, I will see how this works for me.

 

[William de Beaujeu]

After 1 successful trade route i normaly start recruiting the troops i want, training them during the trading trips.

Once i have my full equipment and my companions i join a faction as mercenary. (don't forget to look at taverns for companions, marnid is usefull in the beginning as trader, later you can dumb his pettyfull ***)

 

[BHunterSEAL]

I find the easiest and quickest start is as a merchant who was a goods peddler--you start with an extra horse and enough trade goods to have quick cash to turn into more goods which can be traded for profit. If you don't start like that, doing the initial merchant quest will give you a decent enough bank account to start trading. I use the profits to finance more trading and the recruit caravan guards/merc horsemen/merc cavalry to accompany me: they're fast and hard-hitting. Once I have enough of these guys to deter random bandit parties, I can ctrl-space between towns, makes trading a lot faster. As for trade routes, I don't bother: I use my trade skill to "assess local prices," finding the best deals. Often times they can alert you to a glut of cheap goods that can be sold for massive profits at other towns. Sometimes even assessing a two or three times doesn't reveal a decent route (combination of profits, travel time, and good availablity), so I just do what I can with what's in stock and move on to the next town. Extra horses also help to increase movement speed when carrying lots of goods or loot (see below). Essential skills for this include Trading and Inventory Management.

Once I have about 15-20, I dump all my trade goods and recruit as many mounded mercs as possible. 28-35 or so can take out any single bandit party on the map, so I go sea raider hunting (note that up to this point I haven't bought equipment, as I can take it from the dead raiders). Ransoming prisoners, selling equipment rakes in some serious denars; you can also use Raider stuff to equip companions if you have them. You can easily rack up 1000-plus denars (1500-2500 with prisoners that now sell for over 100 apiece) for a single medium-sized sea raider party. I also tend to take on any Manhunters I rescue, as they're much less crappy now and have decent higher-tiers (they're also mounted and cheaper than other cavalry, and armed with weapons that encourage prisoner-taking). Prisoner Management, Trading, Leadership, and Looting (if you have the extra points) all help here.

I use the money gained from this to finance businesses, preferably all in the same faction so if I join them later they won't be unprofitable in case of war. Selecting businesses is as simple as clicking on the relevent dialogue option and seeing what the Guild Master thinks the profitability will be; this doesn't fluctuate nearly as wildly as he claims. Build the most profitable one; usually this is near the lower end of the list (don't bother checking the top ones). Don't scrimp here; if you don't have enough to build a highly-profitable industry, don't build one at all. Just take out another raider party or two. Three businesses should be more than enough to pay the weekly wages for the party I've described, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't build more. Doing Guild quests will help increase required reputation with the town, and also helps raise easy money early-on (many don't involve fighting). Once you don't need to trade or sell loot to meet payroll, you have a lot more freedom to run around doing whatever you want--quests, tournaments, going on long anti-bandit campaigns to increase your level without worrying about being slowed down by prisoners or gear.

At this point, you will have gained enough renown to join a faction outright, without first becoming a mercenary. Before doing this, I usually do a few trade runs to finance top top-of-the-line equipment and up my Riding to 4 so I can get myself a Warhorse or Charger, although as of 1.127 the Steppe Charger (Riding 2) is great for early-game and companions. If there's no war on, I continue trading with my all-cavalry party until one starts. I then seek out war parties to assist in battle, replacing my losses with faction Recruits. This is where Training comes into play. I also focus on martial skills at this stage (Power whatever, Ironflesh, Weapon Master, etc.); remember to adjust them according to the specialty (melee/archer, 2H/shield, etc.) of your character. Remember to tend to your fief, doing Elder quests to make them like you and buying supplies from them (not sure if this helps the village but it at least makes me feel good). By-and-large, the upgrades aren't worth it, except for maybe the messenger post/watch tower if it's in a border area. Doing Elder quests for other villages (as well as defeating Bandit infestations) helps you as well, because the more they like you, the more recruits will be available.

The rest is really up to you. Your faction army will be substantially cheaper than your mercenary one, so you should have plenty of income to play with. At this point in the game, you'll want to decide what you want--helping a claimant, starting your own faction, or becoming the most powerful lord of your current one. Forge relationships as necessary to accomplish these goals. If you took your time and built yourself up financially as I suggested, you'll have plenty of cash to spend on equipment, the ability to quickly raise a powerful army, and a balanced skillset.

 

[Sarejo]

Well, for starting and getting some easy, fast cash is important to start you on trade routes. So chose a trade background, but at the last option, choose University Student.

That will give you a random book, that you can sell for some 1000 denars if you are not interested on reading it. With that, wait for a few days for prices to fluctuate a bit (when more caravans arrive, they bring goods that will modify the price of what's currently on stock), and:

- Head to Tulga, buy Spice, and you'll get a substantial amount trading with even nearby towns. You can also buy cheap salt there, but I don't remember where to sell it
- Head to Curaw, buy Iron, and sell it in Tihr, I think.

Specially good if you have not much money:
- Head to Yalen, Tihr, buy smoked fish, and sell it on Narra, Durquba. Also, buy fish from nearby villages near the coast. Sometimes it's even cheaper than in towns. You may buy fish for as little as 30, 40 denars, and sell for even 100-115 each.

You should have no trouble avoiding bandits, if you travel alone. Even with many goods, you'll still move fairly quickly. I do know having a few horses in inventory speed things up, but I don't remember if that bonus is related to troops, goods, or both.

Once you are filthy rich, travel around still raising some money, but looking for companions you like. I usually like having Jeremus, for medical skills, Deshavi for pathfinding, tracking, and spotting, Ymira, for whichever skill I need, such as engineering, and Firentis, Alayen and Bunduk to fight.

Buy some nice, expensive armor and weapons you aim to use (that is, if you are going to be a 1h user, buy the best 1h wepaon you can find)
Remember to plan ahead, if you find and want to use a Heavy Great Hammer, but don't have the necessary strength yet, buy it anyway.

Having nice equipment will ease your early game. Now you can recruit some troops from the faction you like the most, and start killing bandits. Since they use cheap weapons and you have strong armor, you should do fine against them. Rhodoks are specially nice for starting, since they get crossbowman after just one upgrade. I like to train many crossbowman at first, since I have less risk of getting my troops killed because of no close combat, and then focus on infantry.

After that, well, join tournaments in cities, if you want to earn renown fast, or do quest for lords, if you want to forge a good relation with any of them. Specially if you aim to become king yourself, getting along with as many lords as possible should be your priority. Always remember to have nice amounts of money with you. Loot everything you can and sell, it may seem like not a lot of money, but you'll get lots of cash for selling goods looted after a battle.

And, hum, well, that's all I can think of. Most important of all, have fun 

 

[Titan357]

Thanks for the responses.

once I get off work (5PM EST) in about 2 hours ill give it another go.

 

[iffy]

To me the best way to get started is to take your time and only fight groups of a few looters at once to begin with.  Try to get 3-4 recruits.

South of Dhirm is the best spot as far as I'm concerned.  No sea raiders/taiga bandits/desert bandits/steppe bandits.  Forest bandits are your best bet when you are young and wimpy.

Pick battles you are sure to win if possible.

I highly disagree on spending money on stuff for you.  If you really want to get started buy a few mercs and like I said, make sure you fight battles you know you will win. 

 

[Empiro]

I've found a good way to start is by leveling yourself and your companions. Troops die, but you and your companions cannot, and if everyone has training, you can raise a powerful army in a few days. What I did is start by recruiting all the companions I eventually want to have by visiting all the cities. I sent people I didn't want on missions to increase my right to rule. Don't hire any other troops to remain fast and mobile, and don't join a faction so you're enemies with no one.

Go around and beat up small groups of bandits for rewnown, XP, and loot. Also do quests like "destroy bandit lair", which works very well with a small party since you can only bring 6 people with you.

Finally, pay close attention to messages that say a lord has been captured. If that lord has brothers, fathers, or sons, wait until the lord has been hauled off to a castle or town (by asking where the lord is), and go to their relative to get the "rescue lord" quest. You can just walk into that castle/town with all your armor and weapons to perform the rescue. You get 1500 denar, 2000xp, +7 relation to both the quest giver and rescuee, and +2 to honor to boot. Score!

 

[callahan9119]

I believe you're over-thinking the beginning choices, but if you want a detailed sheet with all the choices here is one: http://www.brighthub.com/video-games/pc/articles/20658.aspx

I've found through experimentation that you want to avoid too much int during the creation phase; if you go too high you end up with skill points you really cannot spend and end up having to take skills you normally wouldn't just to progress. I've been picking the more "fightery" choices, then pumping up int after I get riding, power strike and the charisma skills up a bit.

I liked having 3 surgery etc early on a high int guy, but I had to throw away points in stuff I really wasn't interested in because you cannot save them when you create your guy, which is kind of aggravating.

 

[TacticalSquirrel]

I understand what you're having. I hate it when I lose one battle and lose gold and items and such. Just makes me wanna start over. I do sometimes. But It's just easier to move on.

 

[William de Beaujeu]

I highly disagree on spending money on stuff for you.  If you really want to get started buy a few mercs and like I said, make sure you fight battles you know you will win.

I want to make something clear to you, the moment I said to buy stuff, it was the ultimate stuff you gonne use for the rest of your character's life. Like coat of plate, banded armour, cuir bouillu (or something like that), till that moment I don't buy anything eather.

 

[Gunzo]

When ever i start a new game i start off by taking like 15 Rhodoks recruits and then go to the training ground and train them to the first lvl of Xbow man it should not take more then 10 min tops and with them u have a great starting "army" for trades and whatever u wanna do just line them up and before the enemy come close to u there are dead

 

[William de Beaujeu]

When ever i start a new game i start off by taking like 15 Rhodoks recruits and then go to the training ground and train them to the first lvl of Xbow man it should not take more then 10 min tops and with them u have a great starting "army" for trades and whatever u wanna do just line them up and before the enemy come close to u there are dead

How do you do it than? With sparring practice my troops only get like 5 exp and the once i fought maybe 40-50 exp extra.

 

[irman]

Choose to fight 3 of them at the same time. After you win, just recycle doing the same thing like 10-15 times. Gunzo is right, the troops will be strong enough to be upgraded into the next tier after 10 mins. But if you really just starting, talk to the trainer first. That way you get few more useful fighting xp points and fighting all fighters the trainer will throw at you.

 

[William de Beaujeu]

Choose to fight 3 of them at the same time. After you win, just recycle doing the same thing like 10-15 times. Gunzo is right, the troops will be strong enough to be upgraded into the next tier after 10 mins. But if you really just starting, talk to the trainer first. That way you get few more useful fighting xp points and fighting all fighters the trainer will throw at you.

Mmm, maybe I'll try the sparring practice too next time, problem is I think it's boring xD
I rater have huge field battles with 1000 participaters than a training with 3 opponents.

 

[irman]

Yup. Just an option if you want to be cautious. But I at least talk to the trainer and train with his fighter. I would prefer to take the same route as you did. More fun. 

 

[William de Beaujeu]

It's getting boring after some games, I'm going to try some new stuff, starting to fight right away with my own mini-mod, all new units but less faction binded. There are only 2-3 faction unique units for the time, I'm hoping this will increase the tactic level of battles since everybody fights with almost the same armies.
I also putted some higher tier troops in it, with 10 powerstrike or some, just to get a bigger challenge, maybe I'll upload the mod when it's out of alpha stage.

 

[irman]

Cool!

Tell us about it when it is ready.

 

[William de Beaujeu]

I will, currently it still sucks, but I've big plans for it.
Plans like bigger map, more faction, and a high tactical level.
My goal is not to create a mod to be the best fighter of calradia, but the best commander, but soon I'll make a topic about it were it belongs, as I guess I might need help in the future and player support for issues.

On topic:

What you can do too is go through the workers route in the beginning: smith is the most important, that way you get a balanced sword from the beginning, pretty handy for your first bandits.