My CKO the gal vorbak thoughts on set up

[saiyanwarrior]

So I've somehow cranked up another 200 days training them bit by bit as since I founded them, been going slow I normally build up economy and villages then CKO as they be expensive if you want them to make a hole in the foes lines etc
My cardinals (knights) and priests (sergents) are both approaching 30 in stats due to allies training them anyways thoughts on equipment below
Cardinals
Dark houndskulll bascinet and black hood
pendor heavy plate with cape
Black iron greaves... wait sorry ebony greaves
ebony knight sword
huscarl shield
Black steel gauntlets just waiting for this to upgrade to kick in
Noldor steppe pony although once I have enough cash changing to netherworld charger 83 day wait though lol
noldor comp bow with noldor arrows
-
Priests
Curved war axe
huscarl shield
maiden crossbow
mettenheim bolts
burnished heavy armour
plain jane gauntlets
polished plate boots
ironbred stallion
Molded great helm, they have silver flat helm with feathers atm but dont like the look overall

 

[thermocline]

I think Ebony Knight Sword is the best non-unique melee weapon for regular troops now, after the RBS nerf. Actually the RBS nerf was probably overdone, it's a pretty unspectacular weapon now.

 

[saiyanwarrior]

I think Ebony Knight Sword is the best non-unique melee weapon for regular troops now, after the RBS nerf. Actually the RBS nerf was probably overdone, it's a pretty unspectacular weapon now.

Yeah I got a RBS of some noldor very early on... bit crap overall glad I worked up to buying a noldor longsword wonderfuly fast and powerful sword

 

[wookdaddy]

IDK how to feel about the Huscarl shield. It's huge, good resistance, but it's very slow. 81 just seems very slow for your allies to use. At the same time it covers everything, so I guess it doesn't matter?

 

[palewarrior]

Any chance of a pic, I know all the gear but would like to see an image of the completed Order knights & sgt's. 

 

[kyfohatl]

How do you guys feel about sword reach for mounted units? Like the ebony swords are great and all but they are on the shorter side of long swords. I feel like the mounted AI units benefit massively from longer swords since they AI kinda sucks at landing good hits.

From personal experience, I switched my companions from using ebony swords to heavy D'shar sabres and I feel like they perform better.  They don't seem to miss as much. As a player I would of course pick the ebony sword because the D'shar sabre sucks in comparison but I feel like the AI doesn't do that great with the ebony swords.

EDIT: Looks like the D'shar sabre does well because it is "swing-only", which the AI seems to utilize better. Here is the read I found if you are interested (old, but the concepts still apply I think):
https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?topic=344402.0

 

[sher]

Too slow and too long in CQC. Damage is lower. My companions use only blunts so for lethal weapons even 105 reach axes are fine. In general best companions can use slower but longer weapons like RBS, less potent companions should stick to best 1H like ELS. Reach 110 is ideal for most situations, longer is possible for more hits from horseback but is not necessary at all and loss in speed should not be neglected. High reach is only good for strikes on distant targets and in jams it's a disadvantage.

 

[kyfohatl]

In general best companions can use slower but longer weapons like RBS, less potent companions should stick to best 1H like ELS.

Oh, yeah that makes sense.

Reach 110 is ideal for most situations, longer is possible for more hits from horseback but is not necessary at all and loss in speed should not be neglected. High reach is only good for strikes on distant targets and in jams it's a disadvantage.

Yeah I did some testing and it seems 110 is the sweet spot. I gave my companions the Noldor Warsword (as a 1H) and the performance was awful. Much worse than I expected. I gave one of them the Fierdsvain war axe and he seems to be owning with it. The massive reach of the NWS does not seem to overcome the slow speed as a 1H (my companions are level 25 to 30 ish with decent but not great proficiencies).

 

[sher]

Companions do not act as good as PC to utilize extra reach and they often will get into jams => long weapons are not good for them unless they have extreme pros and PS like Lethaldiran and senior sirs to not care at all and still they will not get much from such extra reach but will look kinda different from the others. Simple Mace (reach 75) is actually very good for weak companions since they will have enough speed and damage in jams in easier bandit fights where stronger companions will take the most heat from them. Reach 110 is also good on foot for them to not miss opponent during possible moves and to strike first often since majority of 1H weapons are shorter. And ELS deals a lot of damage on swing and quite good at thrusting. Ebony Saber deals even more cutting damage but slightly shorter and significantly weaker at thrusts but overall is a great weapon too. For companions that is - 110 reach is much more convenient for personal use than extra 2 damage.

I prefer RBS as my end game weapon (pros 500+) not because it's effective but because I sometimes can go wild in night ambushes when missiles are not a threat - just gives diversity in switching in 2H mode at will (it's extremely potent for fast and brutal CQC this way) and you don't have to invest QG to get Emerald Rune Sword. Which is the end stop.

 

[Messire]

I don't know why equip CKO with anything else then blunt weapons.  All my units in 3.8 crushed skulls of enemies with warhammers and maces and brought me millions of cash. CKO which i run now, will be all on foot for fun and use blunt weapons too. Otherwise it's just a huge money loss with no profit.

 

[Sarin]

I don't know why equip CKO with anything else then blunt weapons.  All my units in 3.8 crushed skulls of enemies with warhammers and maces and brought me millions of cash. CKO which i run now, will be all on foot for fun and use blunt weapons too. Otherwise it's just a huge money loss with no profit.

And did you need those millions? In my experience, by the time CKO becomes effective, money is not a problem.

 

[Messire]

I don't know why equip CKO with anything else then blunt weapons.  All my units in 3.8 crushed skulls of enemies with warhammers and maces and brought me millions of cash. CKO which i run now, will be all on foot for fun and use blunt weapons too. Otherwise it's just a huge money loss with no profit.

And did you need those millions? In my experience, by the time CKO becomes effective, money is not a problem.

CKO becomes effective for prisoner capturing very early. I gave my sergeants first avaible 50+ armor, shields and hammers, they are ready.
Of course i needed millions of cash. In 3.8 i had a lot of elite troops in garrison. My personal army was 200 doomguides and 300 CKO knights. I had to pay hundreds thousands of denars in a week.