Battle Brothers Pre-Release Thread

[Andnjord]

There's in fact a triple-kill achievement. We'll probably have a dev blog on achievements, trading cards and that kind of stuff next year.

Does that mean three kills in one turn or three kills in one action?

Definitely on our longterm wishlist, but will not make it into the game at release.

If you can do that it will make the game glorious! Even more than it already is!

 

[rapsdjff]

Does that mean three kills in one turn or three kills in one action?

Three kills in one action.

 

[Eyestabber]

Does that mean three kills in one turn or three kills in one action?

Three kills in one action.

That's only doable with greatsword/axe. And my Quadra wouldn't count . Skeletons are probably the prime candidates for this cheevo.

 

[Modron]

That's only doable with greatsword/axe. And my Quadra wouldn't count . Skeletons are probably the prime candidates for this cheevo.

Yeah recently resurrected 1 hit and dead again are good candidates, swarming weak ghouls are another.

 

[ntonystinson]

Three kills in one action.

How about at the beginning of a new game you select three mercenaries and assign them names and traits and maybe a little of the apperance(hair and skin colour)nothing too complicated. These 3 would all start at a semi high level of a battle brother and would be the leaders of your mercenary company. The company would survive untill all three were killed or as per your update retired.
Ingame: The 3 leaders would not count toward the total count of your company and in order to preserve them the player would always have the option of choosing whether or not the 3 leaders join a fight except in an ambush, though failure to join a fight should lead to huge morale loss to your men and other negative conditions.
Just a lil idea I had. Your game is awesome regardless

 

[Ezeekiel]

Melee skill for (non-archers) - every level up. There is no such thing as too much melee attack (except for 2 pure archers). I only consider not taking melee if it rolls a +1 and the guy in question is already good at it. 60s is too low, 70s is ok, 80+ is preferable on dedicated 2-h weapon wielders.
It is possible that i am doing it wrong.
One criticism that i have towards this game is how stats seem poorly balanced: Melee and/or Ranged Attack = YES please; Melee Defense/Fatigue = YES please. Everything else = no more points to spare and not crucial anyway... Okay maybe 1~2 guys with high Resolve, perhaps a few additional hit points for every1 won't hurt either but everything else ? Initiative, Ranged Defense and Resolve on most characters are so low on priority list that they never get upgraded in my games... Maybe i'm doing it wrong again.

Pretty much. Ranged defense can be quite useful if you don't bother with shields (once you can hit things with 2h weapons) though.
I played this for quite a while with everyone in heavy armor + greataxes (seemed to just outperform greatswords and hammers), a few archers with polearms and the best light -1 or -0 vision helmets I could get. Just worked better than shield+spear dudes. Lots of decapitations on wiedergängers, lots of damage, just position properly to not get overhelmed... Use axe skills if overwhelmed/isolated maybe... Guys with lots of melee attack/defense and heavy armor and a few extra hitpoints against crossbowmen/dagger dudes are just plain tanks.


Game is great fun, until you max out your levels/gear and massacre all the orks and shit. Hopefully the new additions will extend the fun even further.

 

[JarlFrank]

So I finally shelled out money for this after playing a pirated copy for a while. This game deserves my cash.

Enjoy my money, rapsdjff. And bring on that endgame content!

 

[Cnaiur]

This game man. Great on so many levels, it's almost a shame to think about what this could grow into if these guys got Bioware's yearly coffee budget to work with.

 

[Alienman]

Abundance of money seem to be the root of all that is wrong with gaming nowadays though.

 

[Eyestabber]

So I finally shelled out money for this after playing a pirated copy for a while. This game deserves my cash.

Enjoy my money, rapsdjff. And bring on that endgame content!

So...fapping is bad, but pirating Battle Brothers is OK?

Shamefur dispray, Frankie.

You can redeem thyself by giving away some free copies of BB, tho.

 

[hivemind]

What difficulty o you guys play on?

 

[Eyestabber]

What difficulty o you guys play on?

Veteran.

 

[anvi]

I wishlisted it. Will buy when its out of early access if people are still happy.

 

[Andnjord]

What difficulty o you guys play on?

Veteran too, with pseudo ironman (only reload in case of TPK if I fell like the bros deserved better), not brave enough to tempt the higher level yet.

I wishlisted it. Will buy when its out of early access if people are still happy.

If they released it as it was now I would rate it a solid 8, heck I already sank about 50 hours in this. If they implement all that they promised well it will be a 10 with many more hours to go. Don't be a decliner and buy it already you scoundrel.

 

[ᚱᚨᚷᛖᚠᚢᛈ]

What difficulty o you guys play on?

The question is rather how do you play it. Do you have meta knowledge of quests? If no, take 1 skull only, kill roaming bandits, profit, win game.

This whole free form, free roam overworld grind concept like in Warband, Space Rangers, BB is just not working.

At least BB has some gameplay mechanics to learn and iterate on, to have some fun.

 

[Andnjord]

If no, take 1 skull only, kill roaming bandits, profit, win game.

Hopefully the whole endgame crisis thing will alleviate this problem. Don't wanna take that three skulls orc contract? Fine, but the city is going to burn to the ground and you're one step closer to actually losing the game.

 

[Reinhardt]

1 skull is for pussies.

 

[Damned Registrations]

If no, take 1 skull only, kill roaming bandits, profit, win game.

Hopefully the whole endgame crisis thing will alleviate this problem. Don't wanna take that three skulls orc contract? Fine, but the city is going to burn to the ground and you're one step closer to actually losing the game.

That sounds like a good way to balance things, similar to how in the old X-Com it was easiest to simply go after crashed alien ships, but if you didn't defend the cities and make an effort to shoot down the ufos constantly, you'd lose your funding and enter a death spiral.

 

[hivemind]

lost my crossbowman

 

[JarlFrank]

I took a three skull contract. I tried it like 5 times but keep losing most of my guys.

FUCKING ORC WARRIORS I HATE THEM THIS MUCH

 

[Agesilaus]

What difficulty o you guys play on?

Hardest difficulty, self-imposed ironman.

I find the actual ironman mode to be bothersome because it constantly autosaves and wastes time. The game is very stable and I don't really see the need for it.

I'd say the first hurdle is being able to reliably take out small bands of raiders. If I get over that hump, my band usually lasts a while.

I don't look at the number of skulls on the contract. Instead, I look at the price. It's a much better measure in my opinion; also, I don't know how the game calculates the skulls for things like caravan escort quests. I've had plenty of 3 skull caravan quests where nothing has happened.

 

[Cnaiur]

I took a three skull contract. I tried it like 5 times but keep losing most of my guys.

FUCKING ORC WARRIORS I HATE THEM THIS MUCH

Just did my first three skull contract as well. Didn't count them, but must've been 20 Wiedergangers so part of them I had to fight twice. Two Fallen Hero's as well, fully armored up.

Lost one of my heavy hitters (Great Sword or Great Axe) who normally operate on the sides. Hit to the head, lost his helmet and from there on - after slaying many a foe - sliced to pieces by those filthy undead. Onwards goes the slog, have to spend at least 5k to substitute the fucker with a worthy replacement.

 

[JarlFrank]

I find Wiedergängers to be easy to deal with, *as long as* they're not supported by something nastier like armored skeletons or even undead heroes. Just spearwall your frontline, glaives in your second line, undead faggots are toast.
Also most battles against Wiedergängers I had were on high ground, which was lucky for me. That made them a pushover despite them rising after death.

Enemies I find the hardest to deal with:
- goddamn undead heroes, those sekeltal bastards have no morale so smashing their weaker skelly companions apart does nothing to faze them; also, they don't get wounded and have heavy armor. Yeah.
- orc warriors; I managed to develop a consistently effective tactic against orc young, which involves spearwalling to the point of almost exploiting it, and they'll just run into my formation and die; orc berserkers? Vulnerable to missiles, crossbowbros make short work of them; orc warriors? THESE ARE LIKE FUCKING TANKS GODDAMN FUCK, and when they hit they hit hard; also: goodbye shields!
- FUCKING GOBLIN RIDERS
WHY DON'T YOU RIDE INTO MY SPEARWALL YOU LITTLE GREEN SHITS
STOP BUMMING MY ARCHERS FROM BEHIND
HAHA FUCK MY ARCHERS ARE DEAD - AGAIN
- vampires
just...
vampires.

 

[Eyestabber]

I took a three skull contract. I tried it like 5 times but keep losing most of my guys.

FUCKING ORC WARRIORS I HATE THEM THIS MUCH

But a couple pages ago you said Orcs were easy, all we had to do was spearwall them to death!

I'm just messing with ya. Orc warriors are assholes and fighting them without some SERIOUS armor damage potential is suicide. Hammers and axes (both 1 and 2-handed) FTW, IMO.

I don't look at the number of skulls on the contract. Instead, I look at the price. It's a much better measure in my opinion; also, I don't know how the game calculates the skulls for things like caravan escort quests. I've had plenty of 3 skull caravan quests where nothing has happened.

True. The Skull-o-meter is only a reliable measure when it's a straightforward "go there and kill X" contract. If it's a delivery job (either on foot or caravan) then anything can happen. Taking 3 skull Fedex (non-caravan) jobs is also a shortcut to riches, since you can retreat from tougher fights. One thing I noticed is that my patrols have recently become TOO SAFE. I rarely get random encounters while out on patrol and I have to go COMPLETELY out of my way to find some heads. Meh

Another thing: anyone willing to do some metagaming sperging with me on the weapons? So far, here is whut I think:

Maces: decent all around weapon, but the only great thing about them is the stun. I usually have 1-2 macebros in my lineup and they usually have fast adaptation and backstabber for more reliable stuns.
Flail: huge fatigue buildup and unreliable damage. Also, I'm under the impression that we are still missing the last flail tier, since the "Flail" is not on par with the fighting axe/noble sword. Flails do shine in the hands of a "brute" guy since you can usually 1-shot bandits w/o helmets, but I like reliable weapons. Also, the game is inconsistent regarding their "chance to ignore shields". Some tooltips say they ignore, some say they have a "chance to ignore shield bonus". That's...very confusing.
Hammer: Orcs. Orc warriors are, IMO, the only reason to consider a hammer. Anyone who ever fought an orc warrior knows they are a DAMN GOOD REASON, tho. Against medium armored raiders I prefer the axe.
Axe: IMHO the BEST "all-around" weapon. Good damage, second highest vsArmor and a secondary attack that is useful against most enemies. With axe mastery the fatigue buildup is no longer a serious issue and your axe-shield guy easily becomes your most well rounded soldier. On top of that, if your axeguy goes down and survives with a serious injury you can keep him in the back by giving him the longaxe. No other weaponclass has a similar option.
Cleaver: I wish "decapitate" was better documented. As it stands, I can't really tell how good the cleaver really is compared to, say, the sword. The fatigue cost is also pretty unattractive. I skip cleavers.
Sword: In most games the sword is the "all around" weapon, but in BB swords are very niche weapons. They deal the most damage vsUnnarmored in the game, which makes them useful for dealing with skeletons, orc youngs and SPECIALLY goblins. The THC bonus is also very much welcome. Another cool thing I found about swordsmen is that they are great for defending your flanks. Put a swordsman with a heater shield and underdog in your flanks, riposte him and watch the enemies destroy themselves. Sadly, swords absolutely suck when dealing with armored enemies (eg Orc Warriors). The Greatsword, OTOH is my favorite 2-handed weapon due to its crazy AoE potential.
Dagger: Lolno. Unless higher tier daggers are added into the game, I see no reason for this.
Polearms: They are great all around, but they REALLY shine in those nasty cramped forest fights. One thing I find odd is that there is not much of a polearm progression, save for Pitchfork -> Pike. Hooking people away from high ground is also pretty handy.
Spears: the uncontested queens of the early game, spears have low damage but a whopping 20% THC bonus. Excellent weapons against goblins and everyone of your frontliners should have access to a backup spear, even if they don't take the related perk. When fighting goblins in a swam I usually give spears to my macemen and hammermen.
Crossbow: baby's first ranged weapon.
Bows: murderous against anything non-heavily armored. Shitty otherwise.
Throwing weapons: I don't know much about javelins & co. Anyone willing to talk about them is welcome.

 

[ᚱᚨᚷᛖᚠᚢᛈ]

Bows: murderous against anything non-heavily armored. Shitty otherwise.

Really, why is that? Without looking at the numbers, I would guess that 2 attacks make up for lower dmg vs crossbow.

Throwing weapons: I don't know much about javelins & co. Anyone willing to talk about them is welcome.

Its a free and safe attack. Shieldbearers start a fight equipped with them, wait for enemy to close, throw, shieldwall or switch to main weapon or whatever. Javelins, I think, do like 40% dmg past armor, high chance to cripple.

Flail

Two weapons are vsShield in the game. Axe and Flail, so the question is, which is better and why! Discuss!2
A hypothetical orc warrios/fallen hero/bigass shielddude is surrounded by 3 of your mercs. All sport either axes or flails. Its your turn. Which group kills the enemy first?
Flails get 6 attacks in in the first round. At 25-55 dmg per hit and 100% vs armor that would be around 240 damage to armor and 80 to hp. If everything hits. Half at 50% CTH. I dunno how much HP orc warriors have but 3+ rounds seems reasonable.
Axes need 3? 4? attacks to split the shield. And then work at 150% vs armor and with higher damage. So, maybe also 3+ rounds. Of course in reality once the shield is gone, Polearms, Polearms, Polearms, +Backstabber... AND there is a 2range 2hand axe...
Yeah, axes it is. The only thing that might change this is fatigue. Splitting shields is expensive, flailing around not so.

The flat +10 tohead bonus from flails does not help and cannot be used tactically vs heavy opponents since heavy helmets have massive armor values and you wont get through them before you crush the bodyarmor due to the 25/75 split.
And if headhits are just 150% dmg than that translates to:
0.25*1.5 + 0.75*1 = 112,5 //the usual 25% headhits from axes
vs
0.35*1.5 + 0.65*1 = 117.5//35% from flails
Basically less than 5 percent overall damage bonus at identical dmg values. I think the best 1hand axe already does better than flail by their intrinsic damage values...
But. Imho there is only 1 perk worth taking at first level and early in the game and that is "Improved crippling" or whatever its name. And since 'cripple' is a function of HP dmg dealt (I believe) than headhits might be better suited for it.
So you could create 5 flail guys with 'improved cirppling' and 'executioner' (+20% dmg bonus to crippled enemies) on top and see how that works out. In fact, give all 12 mercs 'improved crippling' and 'executioner'...

Also if you find a merc with the Murderer background that gives another +10 tohead, give him a flail. Otherwise prolly axes...

Maces

I find them shitty, not used them much though. They only have Stun going for it and its too expensive if you are fighting a serious fight...
And its even normal CTH and not 100% stun, without Mastery...
Very niche. Really, you'd want to Stun the heaviest hitter the enemy has but really really, your cross/bow/polearm should be killing em.