XP gaining in the party

[RedlineGME]

I just picked up ~20 Swadian Recruits, and another ~20 nord. I started to train them. (Sparring practice, 4 opponents) Started with swadians, because they are my footmen. Nords are archers. So I trained them. I have 1 Swadian recruit, 8 militia, 8 footmen, and ~3 infantry. I started to train them in the same time. Why I have Recruit? Is he retarded? Because other "recruits" climbed the ladder, to Infantry, in the same time. So are there more clever, and retarded soldiers? Or how is XP gaining in the party?
Are there any equation on xp gaining to all of the troops?
Thanks for the help.

 

[zimbabwe]

Not sure about training specifically, but XP in general is split evenly between unit groups rather than between individual units. So if you have 10 recruits, and it takes (say) 100 XP to upgrade one, if they get 900 XP then 9 of them will upgrade and 1 will stay a recruit - even though they all got the same 'training'.

The answer is never upgrade part of a group. It's more efficient to wait until all the units in the group are ready to upgrade and do them all at once - this gives you fewer groups to split XP between.

Also, why not just go chasing looters with your recruits? You'll lose some but the survivors upgrade faster that way and a recruit can kill a trampled looter surprisingly fast.

 

[Arch]

at the retarded recruit. Try training the recruit directly, that always works.

 

[RedlineGME]

Thanks for the advice. I will wait, till I can upgrade all of them. I say you why I not chasing looters. Because of time. More time I use to train, the faster are the buildings completed. I killed the sarranids. Now I'm in peace with everybody. I train recruits, do some quest. Wait for the villages, to finish mills. Elite troops placed in garrisons, recruits training with me. If I have 1, or 2 recruits I can engage enemies without casualties. Or the retarded recruit will die, or learn. Either way the recruit is no more...

 

[kingofnoobia]

Started with swadians, because they are my footmen. Nords are archers.

Slightly off-topic, but Nords are by far the best footmen, Swadians are more cavalry-oriented. I'd advise using Nords as footmen. Believe me, the difference is quite large. Swadians are best as cavalry, if you want the best archers, recruit some Vaegirs.

 

[Wolfrug]

The answer is never upgrade part of a group. It's more efficient to wait until all the units in the group are ready to upgrade and do them all at once - this gives you fewer groups to split XP between.

Is this true? If so, that's cool - but won't some of the XP be 'wasted' on the already-waiting-to-be-upgraded toons, or am I misunderstanding something? E.g., I have 20 recruits, 10 of them are waiting to be upgraded to footmen - does that mean all recruit-xp is shared between 20 or 10 recruits? If between 20, then waiting makes no sense (IMHO) and if between 10, what's the darned difference then if I upgrade them to footmen or not? Or do you mean that if I ONLY have recruits, they will get 100% of the xp, whereas if I have 10 recruits and 10 footmen, then the recruits only get 50% of the xp and the footmen get 50%, meaning the more different kinds of units I have the slower the progression? (I have 10 recruits, 10 footmen, and 1 <other kingdom> recruit, they each get 33% of the xp even though it's more than enough to upgrade the singular unit in its group?)

I am confused

 

[Malik Faris]

unit types earn xp for the whole unit type, thats why you always find yourself with like 18 knights 10 men-at-arms 7 infantry, and 1 militia/recruit, because that last guy doesnt get any kills, he only earns the "shared" xp at the end of the battle.

this is why the training skill is so important.

so top tier units earn xp for themselves, but beacause they cant do anything with it, it probably doesnt get passed on, otherwise itd be super easy to get fully upgraded troops.

 

[iffy]

Yes, it's better to wait to upgrade and do the whole group.

I'm level 34 and I can train troops from recruit to elite in a week.  I have trainer 9 or 10 and so do most of my 5 companions. 

I upgrade recruit/militia/footmen right away.  Once they hit man-at-arms I'll usually make sure I have at least 20 I can upgrade to knights all at the same time.

If I have a group of 20 men-at-arms I can usually upgrade them all in 2-3 days for sure.  If I have just 1 men-at-arms it might take me up to a week or more before he upgrades to a knight. 

 

[RedlineGME]

Started with swadians, because they are my footmen. Nords are archers.

Slightly off-topic, but Nords are by far the best footmen, Swadians are more cavalry-oriented. I'd advise using Nords as footmen. Believe me, the difference is quite large. Swadians are best as cavalry, if you want the best archers, recruit some Vaegirs.

I know it. Too easy...

 

[zimbabwe]

The answer is never upgrade part of a group. It's more efficient to wait until all the units in the group are ready to upgrade and do them all at once - this gives you fewer groups to split XP between.

Is this true? If so, that's cool - but won't some of the XP be 'wasted' on the already-waiting-to-be-upgraded toons, or am I misunderstanding something?

No, you got it exactly. Malik Faris summed it up better than I could. A small bit of XP is wasted by waiting, but if you just want to train troops up as fast as possible it's still better to wait.

On the other hand, power gaming is clearly not the #1 priority for someone who specifically uses Swadian infantry and Nord archers* ... so I'm OK with your retarded recruit theory

* Although Nord archers are brutal by themselves...

 

[unrealalex]

why not just level the trainer skill?
i get like 20 recruits and they level up overnight.

 

[RedlineGME]

This training method is right. Much faster to upgrade them all at once, and no retarded recruits have to die. 1 day and I have elite from recruits. 2 days and I can fill a castle with elite guards... Sweeeet...
My trainer skill is about 6-7.

 

[killer-blead]

If I might add my own 2 cents. Don't try to train your skirmishers or other archer how low tier they are it doesn't matter with sparring.

Archers will only get like 1 - 5 xp max from sparring.

You can also try rhodoks? They can be trained for use very fast and in times of war (be it not against the rhodoks) It is easy to quickly get a lot of rhodok crossbowman to deffend your fiefs.

 

[iffy]

This training method is right. Much faster to upgrade them all at once, and no retarded recruits have to die. 1 day and I have elite from recruits. 2 days and I can fill a castle with elite guards... Sweeeet...
My trainer skill is about 6-7.

What do you mean 1 day and you have elite from recruits?  The only way you can possibly do that is through fighting...

 

[RedlineGME]

If I upgrade them to skirmishers, I switch to ranged weapon practice. Sparring practice is only good for footmen.

Iffy: Yep. Fighting. When they are on a good level. I train them till noon usually. Swadians reach infantry. Then find some sea raiders, and kill them. Till late night. Then training, after midnight, when the "Day training complete" and they reaches Sergeant level. Or sometimes 1-2 remain unupgradeable. Upgrade them, place in garrison, and another day with finding recruits.