My Marnid is a medieval noob:P

[Draksen]

Hello all
I seek advices here...
I am level 10 now, with a level 8 Marnid and well, he is not doing very well to be honest 

Myself I have no probs vs up to 11 river or mountain bandits/pirates, even alone... in  fact, I fight alone, because Marnid is dead 90% of the time 

I have equiped him quite correctly, with a sword+shield and a crossbow. His skills and stats are ok (at least not worse than my own), so all should be fine.
But no. Sometimes he managed to kill one, maybe 2 ennemies. But after that, it's game over for him...

What am I doing wrong?
Thank you for you help and advices!

 

[Incaa]

Marnid and Borcha are both like this, Unforunatly the AI in M&B isnt as good as we could hope for. But I find that if you give them Ranged weapons and a horse they last alot longer peppering the enemy from afar.

 

[Draksen]

Marnid and Borcha are both like this, Unforunatly the AI in M&B isnt as good as we could hope for. But I find that if you give them Ranged weapons and a horse they last alot longer peppering the enemy from afar.

ok thanks for the quick reply.
He has a crossbow, but also melee weapons... should I remove the melee weapons from his inventory to force him to fight with his crossbow only?

 

[Incaa]

That might be a very bad Idea if he is unhorsed, but what you will need to do is level him up then upgrade his crossbow proficency so he is more likely to use it. Also if he is on horseback he wont be able to reload a normal crossbow, Only a light or Hunting crossbow can be reloaded while mounted.

 

[Draksen]

Then perhaps focus on bows for him too ?! 

 

[Incaa]

In my experience it is better to give them throwing weapons but that is just what works for me, Try a few weapon Combinations for your NPCs but I recommend giving them Javilins or Jarid, and a Backup weapon e.g. Nordic sword for If they are unhorsed.

 

[thesneakster]

From my experience, with river pirates, it's best to let them go in melee (1h+shield) on horseback, since they push right though (a hunter helps, if you can afford him one) and give a few slices. seen them kill 3-4 pirates this way, without gettin ko'd.

 

[Sordid Sinister]

You're doing nothing wrong, he is. unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it. Stupid AI. If you really really want him to fight, get him a charger and some plate armor, that way he can plough through infantry with ease.

 

[Incaa]

You're doing nothing wrong, he is. unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it. Stupid AI. If you really really want him to fight, get him a charger and some plate armor, that way he can plough through infantry with ease.

Actually he just ends up getting swamped and mauled by infantry when I set him up like that, better not to have him too close to the enemy.

 

[Eluqqa]

I'm currently playing a foot character. Both Marnid and Borcha (Ymira, too, i'm playing the Band of Warriors mod) are very powerful. They are equipped with various one and two handed weapons and mainly mail hauberks as armor.

Never let them go into the middle of an enemy group alone, as they obviously will lose. I usually use them as a sort of personal guard by just ordering them to follow me. They have saved me quite often from being mauled by multiple enemies.

 

[bugman]

I assume Marnid/Borcha were made so the player doesn't have to waste a weapon slot with a shield. Not only are they bigger than sheilds, but they move and actually sometimes fight back.


cannon fodder ftw...

 

[BlindArcher]

They're okay when you get them some decent armour.  Marnid, however, seems to have a delusion that he is in charge of your band as he frequently disobeys orders to hold position.  He has a habit of engaging the enemy then running back to your lines with them in tow.  Really annoying when you're fighting a bunch of dark knights and you have some low-level recruits in your party.  Way to just get a bunch of people slaughtered, dumbass.

 

[Chilly5]

Then perhaps focus on bows for him too ?! 

Give Borcha the bows, he starts out with a higher proficiency due to being a tracker-hunter of sorts (i think).

 

[bugman]

but Borcha believes he is a river pirate and frequently shoots the player

 

[mfberg]

    They need to be trained and equipped. They get points in weapons by doing damage to the enemy and they get experience killing the enemy. To train them you have battle size on small for the training battle. These battle are the ones against River Pirates, Vaegir deserters, or Dark Knights and hunters.
    I leave Marnid and Borcha unmounted (I don't trust them enough on horses when they are below level 25), and behind a rise and I ride ahead, kill all the enemy horses with my great lance, shoot every enemy for 20-40 points of damage with my light crossbow, and then put Marnid and Borcha in front of the hill to plink away while I run the enemy back and forth in front of them.
    If its River Pirates I will issue the charge order at the end. If its Vaegirs or Dark Hunters I will tell everyone else to charge first, then when they catch up to Marnid and Borcha I will issue the general charge. This plan results in 0 to 2 kills for me, 2-3 kills each for Marnid and Borcha, and a minimum of damage to both of them. They level up almost as fast as I do, and get 0-1 point of melee weapon and 0-3 points of missile weapon each full battle.

mfberg

 

[calandale]

Lucky you. I've been hit by them (and other of my troops) fairly often. Not anywhere near as often as I shoot them, but still....
I only got hit by Glorfindel (from TLD) once. After that, I hid from him.

 

[SPD_Phoenix]

Normally, I don't let Marnid fights mounted if he can not ride hunter or better. He has a habit of charging into a group of enemy and get knocked out quickly. The best way to train Marnid: crossbow, sword + shield, fight on foot and hold position (with my support).

 

[Silver]

Seriously, Marnid and Borcha are in no way better than ordinary soldier, if you check the level of your soldiers you will see that farmers are level 6 or something. Therefore Marnid or Borcha at level 8 is not very much better, except in their equipment, get them up to a higher level and you will see some nice kills by them. Every one of my battles start with Marnid charging ahead of everyone on his courser, and the first message in the battle is always [insert enemy] killed by Marnid. And he looks cool too, with a saber, courser, small shield, khergit helmet and mail hauberk.

 

[Balinux]

Borcha and Marnid are potentialy the two finest soldiers in the game, excluding the player of course.

 

[Audun]

Marnid is just a stupid merchant that used his last 5 Denars on a beer that just got back in action cause you gave him a padded cloth. And yes, i said Marnid and not Worbah.