Several unrelated questions

[stygN]

Right. I've though about a few things I'd like to ask about, so instead of making 10 topics I'll bundle them all up in 1 go... They are unrelated, but I can imagine that an experienced player could answer to pretty much all of them.

1: What is a "ragdoll", in the performance options you can choose how many "Ragdolls" to have.. Same options where you choose number of bodies and such.

2: When a faction is destroyed the lords converts to one of the other living factions, what makes them choose faction? As marshall of the Vaegirs I have destroyed Swadia and the Rhodoks, but some of their lords converted to the Vaegirs even though we were the ones who captured them. However, I've seen that a very large portion of the "free" lords went to the Khergits, some around 70% of all the "free" lords.. Is there any logic behind all this..?

3: Do the armies of AI lords gain xp like the player army? Do they upgrade their troops along the way in the same way as the player, or is it all a fixed pattern.

4: I've noticed that some lords (and no, I do not mean the kings or the khan) have massive armies, and some lords have small armies. Now the Vaegirs have been at peace for around 150 days, but the size of the armies that the vaegir lords have are around the same size as they had at the end of the war (I do not know about all of the lords, but I remember the name and approximate partysize of the 10 or so lords that I used a lot in my campaigns). Some have nearly 200 while others have less then 100.. I assume it has to do with the lords renown, charisma and leadership, but do they pick skills at random or is it prefixed like lord A will always choose skill C, D, E or F and lord B will always choose skill G, H, I or J thinking that skills C-F is leadership like skills, and G-J is fighter like skills.. If you get my point.

5: I've noticed that the AI lords have a much shorter viewrange then me (yes, I have a really high spotting skill, 8+ bonus), but do they ever gain points in pathfinding or spotting?

(Short for 4 and 5, do the lords gain skills (I've seen that captured lords sometimes have a +, so I assume this means they gained a level), and what skills do they choose)

6: When I lend a companion to a lord, will the lords party be able to use the partyskills of that companion? Say, if I lend them Jeremus that have high surgery, will the AI party have high surgery skill and loose less men in combat?

7: My faction is not at war with anyone, but I wage war myself on the Khergits (I actually just help the Nords, they are at war with the Khergits) and I now have -100 with the Khergits. Some time ago, when it was rather peacefull, I had -1 with the Khergits, and they besieged my cities and castle, but never attacked it. Just besieged it and left. It was the same with my villages, I got a message that a Khergit lord was raiding my village, but when I got there the lord was either gone, or ran away when I came close. So they were basically just pissing me off, threatening me, not really harming me. But now that I have -100, will the Khergits actually attack my settlements even when the Vaegirs and the Khergits are not at war?

8: When I've had a companion for some time and it have gained levels and skills, and then choose to leave my party, will it still have the same skills if I get the him/her back? I've noticed that they do not keep their equipment.

9: A piece of math here, on morale. Base morale, +50, leadership +42, food bonus +55, size penalty -154, recent events +99, party morale = +99. This was actual numbers I had in my game just an hour ago or so.. As far as I can see the math tells me that I should have a morale of +92, not +99.. Was this a glitch/bug or is it actually possible? Or am I stupid? If it is impossible I must have been wrong about what numbers I actually had.. If you say its impossible I'll try and replicate it in the game and take a screenshot if it shows that it is possible..

10: Do morale effect the AI lords at all? I assume it don't, but I thought I'd ask. And on the same note, the deserterparties, are those actual deserters, or just spawningparties like the bandits?

11: What is honor good for? Does it effect your game in any way? Do people like you more, do you gain more renown, is it easier to get recruits, are you more likely to become Marshall, more likely to get fiefs..? Things like that.

12: I've read on the forum that you do not pay for troops garrisoned in a city. As far as I've seen you still pay half, just like in a castle, and I think one of the gametips that show during loading also say that you pay half. So, whats the truth?

13: The AI lords seem to be much better fighters then the other units, both in sieges and in the field. Is this only due to better weapons and armour, or do they have a more intelligent AI then the other units?

14: Do the villagefarmers and caravans do any good? I mean, when they enter (or leave) a city/castle/village does it effect the prosperity and/or the items in the stores?

15: Does my horse count as "player" or "allied unit" or none of them when you chose how much damage to receive in the difficulty settings?

16: Do allied troops that belong to a AI lord get effected by the damage settings? Even if it is a friendly lord from a different faction (IE, Me (Vaegir) and a Nord fighting against a Khergit).

17: When you autoresolve a battle (IE "Order your troops to fight the enemy while you stay back"), are the damage settings put into the equation?

18: When changing the "intelligence" of the AI, will it make my own units better along with the enemy, or is it just the enemy who gets better?

19: One time I got knocked out in a tournament but was allowed to advance to the next tier and keep on fighting in the tournament. They said it was because I had showed courage or something. Is this random or is it based on something real, for example winning a match where your teammates got knocked out and you were alone facing several opponents? Cause this happened earlier in that tournament. I started with bow and arrow and my teammates got knocked out really fast, so I picked up some equipment that they dropped and fought the rest of the enemies.

20: Am I just incredibly stupid, or are these questions rather... uhm... "valid"...?

 

[Lord Shields]

1. When bodies flop and roll... that's ragdoll.
2. They should be evenly distributed throughout all factions.
3. They get bigger and better troops when they recruit but not in the same fashion we do. They can get say a half dozen Huscarls in the time it would take you to get one. But it evens out because they get all range of troops, not just one kind.
4. There's no question there. Are you asking why some have large armies and others small?
5. They can see me fairly far away... I don't think they gain the attributes but it is possible.
6. I'll ask a question to your question... how are you lending them?

You ask too many questions... I'll answer the other ones when I get home.

 

[babis8142]

Man that was a big post. I don't know all the answers but here's some:
1. i think it has something to do with animation. (not sure)
....
7. they will attack your villages and castles and they will take them if they are not defended properly. I don't think it has something to do with the relation between you. I think they were just being chased off by your allies. Now for help with war against a faction, there are some quests that you can take, that tell you to raid 2 caravans of a kingdom and then war will break out between you and them (this time your allies will help)
...
12. you will pay half
13. i think it's because they have better skills than normal troops
...
18. all units will get better (otherwise it would not be fair)
19. i think if you kill at least one you will advance to the next battle
20. your questions are rare. i am intrested in a lot of them as well 
but i don't think anyone will know the answers for sure.

 

[stygN]

Thanks for the replies so far 

As for some answering.

4: Yes, I'm asking why some have big and some have small.

6: When you ask a lord for a quest they sometimes say "No.. I don't have any jobs for you right now.. But I could need some help from one of your companions. That guy Jeremus is a rather good guy.. Could you lend him to me?" then you go "I might, for how long will you be needing him" he go "Oh.. For about a week or so..", and you go "Fine, take him". Then Jeremus leaves your party and joins the party of your allied lord. And yes, he shows up when you hover over that lords party. Then, when a week have passed you go back to that lord and say "Oh my.. time flies.. been a week already, could I have Jeremus back please?" and he goes "Oh yes, indeed, he was of good help" (Its not precisely what they say, but you get the point)

7: You think my allies chased the Khergits away? If so, that's great : ) But I sort of don't think they did.. Cause since the Vaegirs and Khergits are not at war, their parties roam around right next to eachother and a big Vaegir lord does not make a small Khergit lord afraid, it don't say "Running from lord X".. But its really not a big problem any more, now the armies of the Khergits are always kept at a minimum since the Nords are always on Campaign with a massive army and I help them out, so soon there will be no Khergit.. But thanks for the answer : ) And that caravan quest is really, really rare.. Done maybe 50 quests for my fellow lords and my king, and only got the caravan quest once... And then the war lasted only for 2 weeks..

Apart from this, thanks again for your replies : )

 

[Swadius 2.0]

Right. I've though about a few things I'd like to ask about, so instead of making 10 topics I'll bundle them all up in 1 go... They are unrelated, but I can imagine that an experienced player could answer to pretty much all of them.

1: What is a "ragdoll", in the performance options you can choose how many "Ragdolls" to have.. Same options where you choose number of bodies and such.

Ragdolls are the bodies that react to the environment after the troops die. Like rolling off a siege ramp rather than having their death animation play right on the ramp and staying there in an unrealistic manner. It takes up quite the memory if there's a lot of combatants and there's alot of people dying around. Might as well just turn it down to something your computer can handle.

2: When a faction is destroyed the lords converts to one of the other living factions, what makes them choose faction? As marshall of the Vaegirs I have destroyed Swadia and the Rhodoks, but some of their lords converted to the Vaegirs even though we were the ones who captured them. However, I've seen that a very large portion of the "free" lords went to the Khergits, some around 70% of all the "free" lords.. Is there any logic behind all this..?

They join on the basis of relations with either the Lords in the factions they are considering to join or the relation to the factions altogether, setting Lords free is a good way to come to your side after the war is over.

3: Do the armies of AI lords gain xp like the player army? Do they upgrade their troops along the way in the same way as the player, or is it all a fixed pattern.

They have their own upgrading system, they usually spawn out of a;ready with a party of men, and slowly gather up troops of all levels when recruiting at villages.

4: I've noticed that some lords (and no, I do not mean the kings or the khan) have massive armies, and some lords have small armies. Now the Vaegirs have been at peace for around 150 days, but the size of the armies that the vaegir lords have are around the same size as they had at the end of the war (I do not know about all of the lords, but I remember the name and approximate partysize of the 10 or so lords that I used a lot in my campaigns). Some have nearly 200 while others have less then 100.. I assume it has to do with the lords renown, charisma and leadership, but do they pick skills at random or is it prefixed like lord A will always choose skill C, D, E or F and lord B will always choose skill G, H, I or J thinking that skills C-F is leadership like skills, and G-J is fighter like skills.. If you get my point.

Yes, renown does have a little impact on what the lord uses, but usually, not losing a whole lot will make a lord go up in number of troops. The Lords that keep losing battle will slowly spawn with fewer and fewer troops. Some Lords may also have liberated parties with lots of prisoners and thus boosted their overall troop count.

5: I've noticed that the AI lords have a much shorter viewrange then me (yes, I have a really high spotting skill, 8+ bonus), but do they ever gain points in pathfinding or spotting?

They don't, it's possible to track them at night I've noticed, perhaps it's just one specific Lord?
Yes, each lord does have their own skill sets. If you think you need to have more spotting or pathfinding, getting the bonus when one of your companions also have that skill is a way to boost it.

6: When I lend a companion to a lord, will the lords party be able to use the partyskills of that companion? Say, if I lend them Jeremus that have high surgery, will the AI party have high surgery skill and loose less men in combat?

As far as I know, I've never seen a lord have a companion in his party list before. So I suspect not.

7: My faction is not at war with anyone, but I wage war myself on the Khergits (I actually just help the Nords, they are at war with the Khergits) and I now have -100 with the Khergits. Some time ago, when it was rather peacefull, I had -1 with the Khergits, and they besieged my cities and castle, but never attacked it. Just besieged it and left. It was the same with my villages, I got a message that a Khergit lord was raiding my village, but when I got there the lord was either gone, or ran away when I came close. So they were basically just pissing me off, threatening me, not really harming me. But now that I have -100, will the Khergits actually attack my settlements even when the Vaegirs and the Khergits are not at war?

If you want to entice the Vaegirs to war against the Khergits, you'll have to find one of your Vaegir Lords with the raid caravan quest, in which you raid a set number of caravans and your faction goes to war.

8: When I've had a companion for some time and it have gained levels and skills, and then choose to leave my party, will it still have the same skills if I get the him/her back? I've noticed that they do not keep their equipment.

They should have kept their equipment... They've always kept the equipment whenever I recover them, are you sure you didn't take some equipment away before they left? And yes, you can get them back with their skills.

9: A piece of math here, on morale. Base morale, +50, leadership +42, food bonus +55, size penalty -154, recent events +99, party morale = +99. This was actual numbers I had in my game just an hour ago or so.. As far as I can see the math tells me that I should have a morale of +92, not +99..

It might be that the recent events might be higher than you expect, though I'm not exactly sure on this.

Was this a glitch/bug or is it actually possible? Or am I stupid? If it is impossible I must have been wrong about what numbers I actually had.. If you say its impossible I'll try and replicate it in the game and take a screenshot if it shows that it is possible..

Hit "ctrl + insert".

10: Do morale effect the AI lords at all? I assume it don't, but I thought I'd ask. And on the same note, the deserterparties, are those actual deserters, or just spawningparties like the bandits?

Morale has no impact on AI parties. Bandits just spawn, they get bigger as your level increases.

11: What is honor good for? Does it effect your game in any way? Do people like you more, do you gain more renown, is it easier to get recruits, are you more likely to become Marshall, more likely to get fiefs..? Things like that.

Honor helps in that there are many Lords (ally and enemy alike) that appreciate a player with a lot of honor. If you have a high amount of honor, they will like you even if it's the first time you've me them.

12: I've read on the forum that you do not pay for troops garrisoned in a city. As far as I've seen you still pay half, just like in a castle, and I think one of the gametips that show during loading also say that you pay half. So, whats the truth?

Trust your eyes  , you only pay for half of their cost.

13: The AI lords seem to be much better fighters then the other units, both in sieges and in the field. Is this only due to better weapons and armour, or do they have a more intelligent AI then the other units?

They just have better equipment and skill sets. A huscarl or a Swadian knight can take down a Lord with little problem.

14: Do the villagefarmers and caravans do any good? I mean, when they enter (or leave) a city/castle/village does it effect the prosperity and/or the items in the stores?

They are the main factor in the prosperity levels of settlements, so it would be in your best interest to help them along if they happen to be your villagers or caravans visiting your city.

15: Does my horse count as "player" or "allied unit" or none of them when you chose how much damage to receive in the difficulty settings?

Horses don't count toward the maximum troop count. If you think that they may be the cause for the battles where you don't have the exact number on the maximum battle size, it's mainly due to the tactics skill and the varying parties' troops numbers.

16: Do allied troops that belong to a AI lord get effected by the damage settings? Even if it is a friendly lord from a different faction (IE, Me (Vaegir) and a Nord fighting against a Khergit).

No.

17: When you autoresolve a battle (IE "Order your troops to fight the enemy while you stay back"), are the damage settings put into the equation?

No.

18: When changing the "intelligence" of the AI, will it make my own units better along with the enemy, or is it just the enemy who gets better?

All AI controlled bots, from farmers to Lords.

19: One time I got knocked out in a tournament but was allowed to advance to the next tier and keep on fighting in the tournament. They said it was because I had showed courage or something. Is this random or is it based on something real, for example winning a match where your teammates got knocked out and you were alone facing several opponents? Cause this happened earlier in that tournament. I started with bow and arrow and my teammates got knocked out really fast, so I picked up some equipment that they dropped and fought the rest of the enemies.

Depends how many troops you knock out and if you're the last surviving member on a team if it's a two team match and you happen to be the only one left and get ganked by the survivors of the other team.

20: Am I just incredibly stupid, or are these questions rather... uhm... "valid"...?

You should see the people who post on here without a snippet of grammar, punctuation, or spelling. Some even admit they're native English speakers. Most are too lazy to hit the spell check button or get a browser with a spell checker. Some after asking a question would use the rolling eye emoticon to spite the person trying to help for some reason. The quality of the people here has really taken a hit when the game was released and it was flooded with people of every denomination.
You're a breath of fresh air as far as I'm concerned; the lack of any smilies in new users' posts usually indicate an intelligent person behind the keyboard.

 

[stygN]

Gee.. Thanks Swadius As for that matter, I am not native English, I'm Norwegian. I'm not flawless, but thanks to the "Spell Check" I get most of it sort of right : )

In relation to question 9 you wrote "Hit ctrl + insert", is that the command/hotkey for screenshot?

As for question 15, I think you misunderstood my question. What I meant was: Is the damage dealt to my horse effected by the damagesettings, if so is it the damagesettings for the "playerunit" or for the "allied units"?

Thanks again Swadius, seems like my initial assumption was right : )

 

[Swadius 2.0]

Yes ctrl insert will make the game take a screen shot for you. The folder holding them will usually be in My Documents.

I think damage dealt to horses is constant for all the available damage settings.

 

[stygN]

Ok, thanks : )

And yes, regarding the horse damage issue, my horse seem to take rather much damage compared to me, though its not armoured (I ride a Heavy Courser or whats it called), and I play on 1/4 playerdamage (I know.. its really easy, but its my first real character), so it is possible that horses are not effected by the damagesettings.. However, I still feel that I do way more damage to enemy horses then they do to mine, and I am not a strong fighter, I'm almost pure int.. And this I've seen in tournaments too.. I have no skillpoint in powerdraw, and only about 60-70 in archery, but I still do more damage to enemy horses with bow and arrow then the enemy do to me.. And I especially noticed this when Deshavi fiered arrows at my horse, she has 4 (or maybe 3, but still) powerdraw and about 160-170 in archery, and she did less damage to my horse then I did to her.. (If you want to test it, go to Narra, throughout the tournament I spawned as horsearcher 3 out of 5 times. Or.. you probably have some unit testing program or something.). So yeah.. I feel that my horse take less damage then enemy horses..

 

[Swadius 2.0]

Ok, thanks : )

Spoiler

And yes, regarding the horse damage issue, my horse seem to take rather much damage compared to me, though its not armoured (I ride a Heavy Courser or whats it called), and I play on 1/4 playerdamage (I know.. its really easy, but its my first real character), so it is possible that horses are not effected by the damagesettings.. However, I still feel that I do way more damage to enemy horses then they do to mine, and I am not a strong fighter, I'm almost pure int.. And this I've seen in tournaments too.. I have no skillpoint in powerdraw, and only about 60-70 in archery, but I still do more damage to enemy horses with bow and arrow then the enemy do to me.. And I especially noticed this when Deshavi fiered arrows at my horse, she has 4 (or maybe 3, but still) powerdraw and about 160-170 in archery, and she did less damage to my horse then I did to her.. (If you want to test it, go to Narra, throughout the tournament I spawned as horsearcher 3 out of 5 times. Or.. you probably have some unit testing program or something.). So yeah.. I feel that my horse take less damage then enemy horses..

It may be due to you riding away from the arrows. The speed bonus is also applied to projectiles, when a rider is riding at you, what most AI will do, the arrows that are shot at them will hurt more because of the speed bonus.

 

[stygN]

That might be it.. But both horses was standing still (for some reason the AI really likes to hug the walls during tournaments when they ride a horse, and I don't hit much if I ride and shoot).

I am could not bet my life that I'm right on this.. Have to test it tomorrow (soon 6 AM.. need some sleep soon..), you are probably right though.. I might have moved a bit to try to evade her arrows..

But when I think about it.. When I charge towards an enemy with lots of accurate shooters, like the Rhodoks, and they hit my horse they only deal like 3-6 damage, but when a Khergit is riding along my side he could deal like 12 damage to my horse.. And when charging I move towards the foot archer/crossbowman, making the arrow/bolt more powerfull, but with the Khergit we move at about the same speed, so there should be no real speedbonus, right? Could it be that arrows/bolts loose power along their flight (like they do in real life) so that a point blank shot deals more damage regardless the difference in speedbonus..?

You probably play on normal damage, so what damage do archers/crossbowmen/khergits riding along your side deal to your horse?

 

[Lord Shields]

The joys of having to go to work... I miss out on the discussions. Looks like Swadius hit most of your questions fairly well so if you have any more, just post away. Maybe the next barrage I can respond to quicker.

 

[Doctor]

Here's a question from me:
Is there any logic at all on how kingdoms declare war on each other? The relation to the kingdoms or the king doesn't seem to impact it much, I used to have 80 with Kingdom of Rhodoks and ~50 with Graveth and they still declared war on my Khergit Rebel faction, the back stabbing sons of...

Also, on the #9: It's the food bonus. It doesn't apply immediately after you put new food in your inventory, but only when your party actually eats (which is in 14 hour intervals, I think, if I'm to believe Magelord, or if I remember that correctly).

 

[stygN]

Thank you both for replies : )

And here is a reply for you Doctor, its a thread about that exact same question.

http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,62264.0.html

I think I saw an outcut from some textdocument displaying the codes and lots of numbers about how they go to war.. But as far as I know, not even MageLord are able to fully understand it and tweak it so that its more.. intelligent..

And Doctor, your input on the #9.. Do you mean this:

Say I have some food that add up to 20 food bonus, and my party has just eaten an hour ago, so it says +20 on food bonus. Then I buy 1 unit of honey, and that gives +10. So, do the +10 from the honey count in the total morale, but it don't show up as foodbonus? So that I actually have +30 food bonus, but it says I have +20?

 

[Doctor]

Other way round. It says +30 food bonus, but you only have +20 in the "Total" section. The +10 from honey applies to the total once your party eats the next time.

Also, thanks for the reply
But it seems the answer is nothing short of "random". And it doesn't matter anymore I guess, at this point I'm a Rebel at war with all the other factions. Tough luck.