Why is everyone running faster than me?

[Oddball_E8]

yes, yes i know its because they have a higher athletics value than me, but why on earth is EVERYONE so much more athletic than my starting character... i wont even get close to them with an athletic value of 3 (and that means i spent as much as i could on that skill)...

i think that this needs adressing...

EDIT: eeehm... i wont be around for a week or so... im going to the roskilde festival tomorrow... but ill check this thread when i get back...

 

[dorni]

Are you talking about when you're on the world map, or when you're in battle?

The world map speed is described in the first section of the Quick and Dirty Manual thread.

 

[JohnathanStrange]

yes, yes i know its because they have a higher athletics value than me, but why on earth is EVERYONE so much more athletic than my starting character... i wont even get close to them with an athletic value of 3 (and that means i spent as much as i could on that skill)...

i think that this needs adressing...

EDIT: eeehm... i wont be around for a week or so... im going to the roskilde festival tomorrow... but ill check this thread when i get back...

I'm assuming you mean Why is everyone on foot on the battle map running faster than me?.

Your enemies may be faster not only because (as you point out) their athletics stats may be higher than your starting character, but also because you may be more encumbered by your shield and armor, or conversely, they may be less weighed down by theirs.

In the arena, you'll face champions who are relatively fast in their mail hauberks, and you'll have to have better than 3 points in athletics to match them.

On the battlefield, I didn't start noticing so great a difference in running speed until I'd spent about 5 points in athletics - plus I avoided heavy armor until (I used hardened leather armor).

When you can afford spending more XP for athletics you'll be fast enough to get out of trouble, though for now probably you have more pressing need for strength or agility. It depends on your style and character.

 

[DaLagga]

Personally, while on foot of course, i find speed to be far more important than strength or agility, especially in melee. Also, you've got to consider, when you start the game, its obvious that your character has little or no combat experience at all. So even some river pirates who have been pillaging shacks and owning rats are going to have a little bit of an edge on you, stat wise. So while in the arena at level 1, against battle hardened gladiators, i feel the game is quite generous to give you a chance of victory at all.

 

[Oddball_E8]

thanx for the replies... but i still find it odd that some mangy halfstarved bandits are constantly able to outrun my starting character (a squire or hunter should be quite fast enough from the start)

 

[Tzaeru]

no, not really. they are as fast than merchant or that other in beginning

 

[Cataphract]

There is a setting called "fast moving" for some characters, this can be found when using Effidians editor. So you could say the AI are cheating sometimes.

 

[Sir Saladin]

thanx for the replies... but i still find it odd that some mangy halfstarved bandits are constantly able to outrun my starting character (a squire or hunter should be quite fast enough from the start)

Speaking as a proud bandit I resent the stereotypical "mangy" and "halfstarved" remarks. Many of us bandits do quite well and even raise families. Judging an entire profession based on a few bad apples seems to me to be unfair and uncalled for. Sincerely, Olag the Oaf.

 

[Oddball_E8]

thats what i thougth (about the ai cheating)

very annoying...

why would peasants and such be faster than a hunter or squire?
theres no logic behind it...

at least they shouldnt have more than 2 in athletics (since thats what you can have from start)

 

[Lhorkan]

You can't attack the peasants anyway. Unless you mod you can. And BTW, peasants don't carry armour. You and your troops do. And if you really want to be faster on the map that bad, upgrade your troops to mounted units.

 

[ETM]

OFT: just saw this topic and remembered the phrase "Everyoune runs faster with a knife" (FPS Doug) from the show "Pure Pwnage".

But does the armor weight count in the world map speed too?

 

[Harr-the-Ruskie]

yes, yes i know its because they have a higher athletics value than me, but why on earth is EVERYONE so much more athletic than my starting character... i wont even get close to them with an athletic value of 3 (and that means i spent as much as i could on that skill)...

i think that this needs adressing...

No, thank you.

Personally, I think that Agility and related Agility attributes is nicely balanced as it is now. There is no sense to neuter Agility just to suit players who wants instant gratification in the early character levels.

The game uses terms like 'hunter', 'squire', 'merchant' during New Character Creation, but these are really just generic terms to determine slight variances in attributes/skills of your starting character. I don't think those terms are meant to convey distinctive class-types. For example, a 'merchant' startup character can be developed into an effective warrior in short order...no more and no less compared to a 'hunter' character.

Therefore, in practice, the game treats your starting character as a weakling notwithstanding that YOU think you are a Hunter (calling a 'sow' a 'horse' does not make it a 'horse'). You should not get too hung up on the 'hunter' terminology. Like every good RPG, levelling and developing your character is the cornerstone of enjoyment in these type of games. Rome was not built overnight. Patience and perserverence. If you lack in a particular attribute, then make up for it by better tactics whilst you continually work on your character.

I just made a new character. At Level 4, with light armor, Athletics 3 and good archery skill (80) I have no trouble 1 vs. 6 River Bandits. So what if they are faster. The better player knows how to work within his limitations and manage combat to their advantage.

 

[Harr-the-Ruskie]

OFT: just saw this topic and remembered the phrase "Everyoune runs faster with a knife" (FPS Doug) from the show "Pure Pwnage".

But does the armor weight count in the world map speed too?

I don't think so.

 

[Oddball_E8]

what i mean is that youre not starting out as the "average joe" here... youre actually starting at a LOWER level then an "average joe"...

ive had peasants in my entorage that ran alot faster than me... in fact... i havent had a single unit as slow as me... (and im not factoring in armor here, since ive used all kinds)

so basically ALL units start with an athletics value of at least 3 or so... wich means that, unless you want to be the slowest person in the world, you would have to spend all your starting points on agility and atheltics from the start.

it just seems wrong... if your character is basically untrained from the start (wich i assume he is supposed to be... not handicapped) then most other untrained units should be as slow as you... right?

 

[compfreak]

peasants are trained, or they wouldn't have allowed themselves to be hired as soldiers. plus, since you presumably came by boat from some other land (read the intro file), even farmers would have been running around more than you did for the last couple months. most people are shakey legged when coming off a 3 hour boat trip. now imagine weeks or months. thats why peasants are faster.

 

[Sir Saladin]

Besides the fact that farming is such physically demanding work, they are always fleeing from darkhunters which keeps them in tip top shape.

 

[Oddball_E8]

yeah but that shakiness from the boat would wear off (not be trained up) in a couple of days... tops...

and about farmers being in tip top shape i wonder what my character has been doing the last years? sitting on a bench? (i dont take your comment seriously tho)

 

[Sir Saladin]

Well my guess is that peasant farmers also enjoyed brewing their own booze which might slow them down a bit.

 

[Corsair]

Well, lessee here, oddball..your guy either helped someone get dressed (Squire), Sat in a Monastery or preached (Novice Priest), Traded for a living (Trader, of course)..Though you'd think the Hunter would be in a little bit better shape.

 

[Oddball_E8]

well, this problem will be resolved once we can choose our starting stats freely instead of being confined to four classes...

but i still think that peasants and other low level enemies/allies should have an athletics value of 0 or at least less than 3...

i dont know if enemy units have been created the same way a character would (with a certain number of points to spend per level) or if the devs just gave them a couple of values...

personally i think every unit in the game should follow the points per level rules... it would make the world so much better gameplaywise...