Questionable Game Mechanics.

[Meko]

I have just recently purchased the game and been playing it for the last couple days and while some parts are just amazing fun and addictive other parts of the game seem just really cheap, unbalanced and more or less out to f you in the butt.
So far in my experience, when ever i'm fighting people, 1 on 1 or 1 on 2 or 1 on 8 sometimes anywhere from level 1 to 11 (the highest I gotten a character) the npcs dont seem to be playing by the same rules of reality I am. They run right up in my face and when I hit my attack button my character just sticks his sword up like he can't swing at thier shield. while the npc is just happily swinging away like this seeming law of phyisques doesnt also apply to him. This completely destroys the concept of ground fighting as an entire fight will ensue where I can not swing at all unless they are like 4 or 5 feet away from me.

secondly is spawning encounters. I made a new character I traveled about 100 yards from the very spot I loaded on and was attacked by 20 forest bandits who promptly found me, and killed me from what seemed like 200 yards away with javilans. Is there no range limit the npcs must abide by?
Seems the only time the combat works properly is the training area and while mounted doing hit and runs.

I really enjoy the concept of the game and its enjoyable to play except for the parts mentioned above which from my pov completely destroy the enjoyment of playing, who wants to get thier character beat to death by 20 bandits, 2 minutes after starting? Or have every npc you do fight completely overpower the entire fight and make it so you can't attack? Thats not enjoyable. games are ment to be fun.

 

[Seismica]

Well it takes a while to get used to the combat system. Early on, you want to make sure you're always mounted. The unmounted combat you can get used to in training areas/arenas/tournaments. If you are alone, only fight looters until you have the equipment and the skills to face tougher opponents. Stay out of the trees on the campaign map, sometimes its difficult to see nearby enemies and you also move slower.

It takes a week or so to get the hang of it. Starting out is extremely difficult for a beginner. But with practice, you can start out and solo sea raider parties with your rusty sword, linen shirt and lame saddle horse

Everyone got ambushed by raider parties sometime on their first time playing. I was in Khergit lands, and i got ambushed by 19 steppe bandits. Needless to say i got raped.

So stay out of Khergit lands if you don't want to encounter those (you probably know, but they're the purple colour faction).

Ground fighting takes a while to get used to aswell. Enemy attacks come fast and hard, and its a lot worse when facing groups of enemies (another reason why fighitng on horseback has its advantages, it means you don't get surrounded by infantry). Weapon proficiencies help immensely. Try to use a fast weapon, i recommend a Balanced Scimitar or Nomad Sabre.

The best thing to do at the start is make a bit of money (you normally start off with a valuable item, tools or linen or something of that sort). Travel around a bit (you should be able to outrun anything on your own) and sell those items for the highest price you can get. You can either carry on trading to make money, or you can start recruiting troops. I think if you manage to recruit 15-20 troops, you should be ok.

Just stick with it

I remember my first fight, was against 7 looters. it took me 10 minutes to kill 2 of them 

 

[scabies]

Recruiting an army will get rid of your bandit problem

 

[Moss]

Your problem is that you're trying to use a long weapon at short range. The reason it looks like you're not swinging properly is because you're whacking the enemy in the face with your pommel, the game mechanics are no different for AI or players, they just tend to have shorter weapons. Either back up to give your weapon some swinging room, or use a shorter weapon. It's a matter of balancing the damage of your weapon and how fast it is, as well as the protection of your armour and how heavy it is. If you're fighting on foot athletics is the most important skill you have if you plan on fighting more than one or two enemies at a time.

When starting out I recommend you stick to the coasts, there's plenty of looters for you to train up on and you can outrun sea raiders till you're ready to fight them. Getting a few recruits on your side is always a good idea as well. 1 vs. 8 odds rarely work out well for low level characters.

 

[Doctor]

As far as I could see, the AI abides by the same rules that the character does, in combat at least. What the problem might be, aside from what Moss mentioned, are the skills of your character, namely weapon proficiency. It appears to decrease the time it takes for your character (or the AI character) to swing a weapon, and I recommend over 100-150 for any weapon you use. Up to 4 points in weapon master and a lot of arena brawl fights are recommended if you have less than that. Also arena brawl fights are a good source of training for all-around foot fighting.

I remember my first fight, was against 7 looters. it took me 10 minutes to kill 2 of them

Haha I can totally recall that one

 

[Meko]

I dont have a problem killing things on horseback when its just me agaisnt even 18 deserters as long as its not a crossbow party, on horseback you just take out the one thats furthest from the group. and okay I can understand the physical foot combat aspects.
I went and picked up 6 heroes, they are all around 5 to 11 in level. Had around 14 rhodok crossbow in varies levels and 20 nord soldiers of various levels.
The problem isnt now you vs a raider party of 20. soon as I build an army that makes smaller parties flee, bigger parties just start showing up, I'm just running town to town to pick up wheat for my village and these 4 parties of 17, 18, 20 and 18 sea radiers pop out of nowhere, all running .3 speed faster on foot then my mounted army. and proceed to attack me one after the other untill my army is dead and most my heroes leave. WTF. This game just seems out to take away whatever you have built. if you recruit some people the game kills them. recruit a hero. game wipes out your party so the hero leaves. got some money, a nice new sword. game kicks your ass and takes it from you. got a village? some ******* burns it down.
Whats the point in playing this game? There doesn't seem to be any balance. I swear to god EQ injected its catch up logic into this game. anytime your doing even a little good it runs up kicks you in the balls, spits in your face and laughs.
I cant even seem to level any armies up soon as I recruit people in a town I get jumped, they get killed.

 

[stygN]

The Sea Raiders are known to be the most deadly bandit. You should try to stay away from the coast for a while. Try to take on Looters and Mountain Bandits, preferably looters.

You could try to recruit some Khergits (pink/purple colour) to start with.. They are not great, but they get medium good really fast. So when you have a basis of rather good Khergits you can start recruiting other types of soldiers. Then, when you've built up a decent army you could either keep the Khergits or disband them. The problem about wandering into Khergit land is that the Steppe Bandits are super fast, all mounted. So just go in, get recruits, and get out fast.

The good thing about Khergits is that they are rather good against Mountainbandits. This should eventually give you a decent army.

And yes, your village will probably burn down a few times.

Check out this site to get some clue about how Companions work.

http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Mount%26Blade/Companion_Comparison

 

[miguel8500]

I dont have a problem killing things on horseback when its just me agaisnt even 18 deserters as long as its not a crossbow party, on horseback you just take out the one thats furthest from the group. and okay I can understand the physical foot combat aspects.
I went and picked up 6 heroes, they are all around 5 to 11 in level. Had around 14 rhodok crossbow in varies levels and 20 nord soldiers of various levels.
The problem isnt now you vs a raider party of 20. soon as I build an army that makes smaller parties flee, bigger parties just start showing up, I'm just running town to town to pick up wheat for my village and these 4 parties of 17, 18, 20 and 18 sea radiers pop out of nowhere, all running .3 speed faster on foot then my mounted army. and proceed to attack me one after the other untill my army is dead and most my heroes leave. WTF. This game just seems out to take away whatever you have built. if you recruit some people the game kills them. recruit a hero. game wipes out your party so the hero leaves. got some money, a nice new sword. game kicks your ass and takes it from you. got a village? some ******* burns it down.
Whats the point in playing this game? There doesn't seem to be any balance. I swear to god EQ injected its catch up logic into this game. anytime your doing even a little good it runs up kicks you in the balls, spits in your face and laughs.
I cant even seem to level any armies up soon as I recruit people in a town I get jumped, they get killed.

Thats real life medieval times for ya.

 

[Swadius 2.0]

I dont have a problem killing things on horseback when its just me agaisnt even 18 deserters as long as its not a crossbow party, on horseback you just take out the one thats furthest from the group. and okay I can understand the physical foot combat aspects.
I went and picked up 6 heroes, they are all around 5 to 11 in level. Had around 14 rhodok crossbow in varies levels and 20 nord soldiers of various levels.
The problem isnt now you vs a raider party of 20. soon as I build an army that makes smaller parties flee, bigger parties just start showing up, I'm just running town to town to pick up wheat for my village and these 4 parties of 17, 18, 20 and 18 sea radiers pop out of nowhere, all running .3 speed faster on foot then my mounted army. and proceed to attack me one after the other untill my army is dead and most my heroes leave. WTF. This game just seems out to take away whatever you have built. if you recruit some people the game kills them. recruit a hero. game wipes out your party so the hero leaves. got some money, a nice new sword. game kicks your ass and takes it from you. got a village? some ******* burns it down.
Whats the point in playing this game? There doesn't seem to be any balance. I swear to god EQ injected its catch up logic into this game. anytime your doing even a little good it runs up kicks you in the balls, spits in your face and laughs.
I cant even seem to level any armies up soon as I recruit people in a town I get jumped, they get killed.

This isn't a game for people who want to be superhumans. There's very little room for mistakes; if you want recruits that can survive with you ordering them around the battlefield, you should go for the Khergit recruits, they come with horses sometimes, and bows to match.