Normal difficulty is impossible

[RalliX]

Loot goes something like this...

Your character gets ten shares.
Companions get three each.
Soldiers get one share each.

So, more troops means less loot for yourself.

Pity they don't actually *do* anything with the loot.  Everything outside your share just disappears.

Yup.
I guess you could justify it by saying that they use the loot to upgrade their equipment alongside their pay.

 

[argyre]

Wish I knew where my Swadian knights were buying coats of plates for thirty bucks and a dented helmet.

 

[Gambino]

lol! mid tier troops are cannon fodders?get some khergits and see how many forest bandits/sea raiders/rhodoks on field you can own them all!

 

[LeRoux]

lol! mid tier troops are cannon fodders?get some khergits and see how many forest bandits/sea raiders/rhodoks on field you can own them all!

Try khergits for a siege or anything else than lame tactics.

 

[Forgiven]

Try freelance mod. You get to play as the soldier.

Ps: you die alot

 

[argyre]

More dying? Sign me up!

 

[Drunk B@st@rd]

Pah! Milk drinker! Go back to your mother.

 

[Honved]

Pah! Milk drinker! Go back to your mother.

Nice bit of archaeology, digging up an 8+ year old thread just to make a rude comment.

 

[Messire]

But I wouldn't even bother trying to use a bow on horseback at the start of the game, it takes too much of a skill investment to become effective at.

Ironically it's at the very start of the game when you can find plenty of looters that the bow is the safest and easiest since they have no shield and they only throw rocks.  They're great to build up proficiency and you don't really need any HA since you can stop to shoot them.

Also since it does take a while for a horse archer to come into his own, the faster you start at it the quicker you get to a point where you dominate.  But really its about the initial start, IMO starting with ~4 PD is pretty much mandatory if you're going to use a bow.

Looters, pfff.....You start always with a crossbow, which deals more damage then bow for unskilled character, then you just buy second quiver  and start fight  sea raiders, which are easy kills after they missed you with their throwing. Their shields mean nothing, they don't have high shield skill and can be easy shot in the legs.