Battle Brothers Pre-Release Thread

[Teut Busnet]

Well, spears are the worst anti-armor weapon, so maybe you need every 2nd frontline Brother to have a hammer to compensate.

I use 4 Greatswords and 4 1H Maces in my frontline and don't really need Hammers. Axes instead of Maces will be ok too.

Edit: Ninja'd by Andnjord

 

[Thonius]

Well orkish armor dies off in 2-3 hits from warhammer (destroy armor), then there is battle axes, 2h hammers, maces. Oh and daggers. Bows suck against armor, use crossbow. Replace 2h pikes to 2h axes.

 

[Marten Broadcloak]

I see. Thanks guys, will do. Also, what is the hivemind's opinion on the "Gifted" perk? Worth taking?

 

[Teut Busnet]

With the nerf ("normal" max rolls instead of "3 Star" max rolls) and the veteran levels not so much anymore.

I still use it on most of the Brothers though, helps their survivabiltiy early on.

 

[Mr. Pink]

With the nerf ("normal" max rolls instead of "3 Star" max rolls) and the veteran levels not so much anymore.

I still use it on most of the Brothers though, helps their survivabiltiy early on.

Why take gifted when you can grab dodge instead? Even if your bro has crap initiative, it's still atleast 10-15 ranged and melee def.

 

[Teut Busnet]

Dodge is certainly worth a try, haven't experimentet with it yet.

But raising melee and max fatigue so you can hit more reliable and more often - especially with a mace to stun - raises survivability quite a bit.

 

[Jimmious]

4 Greatswords in frontline? Brave! I have a feeling that if I have ANYONE without a shield there, his head may be flying at any moment

 

[SmartCheetah]

I wanted to recruit hedge knight. Accumulated 12k gold and visited every fucking stronghold... Guess what? No hedge knights, and there was a lot of them in the early game.
My team consists of first 3 brothers, nobles, witch hunter and one apprentice guy (I wanted to see how fast he will level up with a perk compared to other bros) and I still got 2 places left. Maybe I'll give swordmaster a shot, as there are no hedge knights for now :/
I'm around day 30.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I think if they made the game more complex it would start to become tedious.

Wrong choice of words. Maybe "variety" would have been better. Things like fortifications, an indoor fight, that sort of thing. It just feels a bit repetitive to fight out in the open over and over. But again, I'm still pretty early.

Also, are there in-battle events that can happen? Fight against undead and all of the sudden another wave comes up from the ground?

Or different starting positions? Getting a choice of where on a map to spawn if someone has a some sort of scouting perk, having enemies get to sneak some troops on your flank if they have it, are attacking you and you don't have someone with a some sentry perk.

I'm just noticing that it seems like it's a little bit simple to just have line of troops facing line of troops over and over - though the terrain does help break that up a bit. Fights in the woods can be particularly interesting.

 

[Teut Busnet]

4 Greatswords in frontline? Brave! I have a feeling that if I have ANYONE without a shield there, his head may be flying at any moment

Only late game, of course. I don't use two handed weapons until I have very good armor and the max fatigue to use it.

With 250 head 300 body armor, the battle forged and reach advantage perks you don't have to worry too much and your damage output makes up for what you're losing in tankiness.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Enlightening stuff. All my dudes have shields atm. It's the only way I can get them to survive things like dire wolves. Even the ones with ok armor lose it after a few hits and wolves strike 3 times.

 

[Agesilaus]

I think the "run them down/let them go" mechanic is broken. Basically if you let them go and immediately end the battle, you don't get all the loot.

I have had at least 2 battles where this has been a real issue. In each one, I saw an opponent with a unique weapon. I won the battle, and killed the unique weapon opponent on the last turn. When he dies, I get asked if I want to run them down or let them go; I let them go. I do not see the unique weapon in the loot screen.

 

[Skittles]

I think if they made the game more complex it would start to become tedious.

Wrong choice of words. Maybe "variety" would have been better. Things like fortifications, an indoor fight, that sort of thing. It just feels a bit repetitive to fight out in the open over and over. But again, I'm still pretty early.

Also, are there in-battle events that can happen? Fight against undead and all of the sudden another wave comes up from the ground?

Or different starting positions? Getting a choice of where on a map to spawn if someone has a some sort of scouting perk, having enemies get to sneak some troops on your flank if they have it, are attacking you and you don't have someone with a some sentry perk.

I'm just noticing that it seems like it's a little bit simple to just have line of troops facing line of troops over and over - though the terrain does help break that up a bit. Fights in the woods can be particularly interesting.

There's some variety in starting positions depending on if you are ambushed, for some types of contract and locations, and for three-way+ battles, if that helps. It's not super varied, but there's a little more than just line v. line on a plain.

There are enemies with some interesting mechanics, in my book. I don't know if they're events so much as special abilities or qualities, but they're entertaining. You'll see some pretty soon, I think.

No pre-battle scouting and positioning, unfortunately.

 

[Gord]

Have not played very long yet, but the game is fun so far.
Not sure about long term motivation though, might be that the lack of a real campaign might be an issue eventually.
Haven't looked at the scenarios yet, I guess they might be an interesting opportunity.

 

[Kayerts]

I think if they made the game more complex it would start to become tedious.

Also, are there in-battle events that can happen? Fight against undead and all of the sudden another wave comes up from the ground?

That event happens every round of every combat, if you're facing the Undead Crisis or the enemy has a necromancer. :D (Slain enemies have a chance of rising every turn unless decapitated, though they retain damage to their equipment.) Otherwise, no; all forces present in a battle are deployed at the start of that battle.

I see. Thanks guys, will do. Also, what is the hivemind's opinion on the "Gifted" perk? Worth taking?

Some of the perks' benefits can be quantified in terms of how many level-up stat points it would take to recreate it. Most level 2 and 3 perks are in the 10-20 range, so Gifted is definitely on the low end right now. I still usually take it because most bros have one stat that's important, that they suck at, and that's hard to otherwise buff.

 

[Agesilaus]

Defeated the undead scourge on ironman veteran. The difficulty really is too easy on veteran, but the economy is perfect. I had all three of my initial people survive, although one had a maimed foot.

If I continue playing, will it just repeat the "undead scourge" scenario, or might I get orcs or some war between the noble houses? I selected "random" when I first started the game.

 

[Reinhardt]

I think you can't get 2 same crisis in a row, other than that - random.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Otherwise, no; all forces present in a battle are deployed at the start of that battle.

Meh. Thought so. All the more reason this game needs moddability. But again, still quite playable in its current state. Just saying that more variety means the player is less likely to get bored.

Didn't notice that about the undead, but I have been playing on beginner - because I am one - so maybe that has something to do with with it.

There's some variety in starting positions depending on if you are ambushed, for some types of contract and locations, and for three-way+ battles, if that helps. It's not super varied, but there's a little more than just line v. line on a plain.
...
No pre-battle scouting and positioning, unfortunately.

Maybe a good idea if the devs ever get around to an expansion or a patch. More positioning could add a lot to the game - but it's not something you just want to tack on as it could wreck balance.

 

[Ignatius Reilly]

The skull system is kind of vague. I understand now that it's based on your current renown, so they're all technically doable, but with higher challenge. Initially I avoided all 3 skull missions because I assumed they'd send me to kill orcs. :/ But it was only when I had no missions to do and was forced to take it, I realized it was just thugs, but more of them. Or a few raiders mixed in. And sometimes you get a 3 skull that's just some caravan guarding, and basically nothing happens. And I get sad when doing those caravan missions and the bandits run from me.

 

[Mr. Pink]

if positioning becomes a variable, they have to rethink how they make the graphics. It would be really weird to have all your bros facing away from the enemy attacking from the right.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

if positioning becomes a variable, they have to rethink how they make the graphics. It would be really weird to have all your bros facing away from the enemy attacking from the right.

Didn't think about that, but then mirroring would be an easy fix and it doesn't seem to matter when your bros attack from the south to aid another bro team.

Also, one of the scenarios starts with the enemy on the right iirc.

 

[Mr. Pink]

if positioning becomes a variable, they have to rethink how they make the graphics. It would be really weird to have all your bros facing away from the enemy attacking from the right.

Didn't think about that, but then mirroring would be an easy fix and it doesn't seem to matter when your bros attack from the south to aid another bro team.

Also, one of the scenarios starts with the enemy on the right iirc.

the major problem is that the only difference between your bros and the enemy is what direction they're facing.

 

[Agesilaus]

The skull system is kind of vague. I understand now that it's based on your current renown, so they're all technically doable, but with higher challenge. Initially I avoided all 3 skull missions because I assumed they'd send me to kill orcs. :/ But it was only when I had no missions to do and was forced to take it, I realized it was just thugs, but more of them. Or a few raiders mixed in. And sometimes you get a 3 skull that's just some caravan guarding, and basically nothing happens. And I get sad when doing those caravan missions and the bandits run from me.

I usually get screwed on 3 star caravans. It's either stolen goods, or a box breaks open and a million necrosavants spring up out of nowhere.

 

[RK47]

It's pretty random. I finished a 3 star run before - with no encounters.
I did 2 star caravan and got 4 encounters.
I think it's dependent on the route patrols done by the AI.
If there's a lot of army regular patrolling the route, chances are most of the random encounters are already cleared before you pass through.

 

[34scell]

I'm guessing the extra stars for caravans influence the chance of getting those highly lethal random event fights and that the regular parties that attack you aren't even renown scaled.