Incline Age of Decadence - Tips, Tricks and Spoilers

[Florian Gheorghe]

finally decided to start playing today, after I got to finish Colony Ship and had a blast, voting it GOTY of 2023. Bought it on Steam for 6Euro.
From start I had to opt for hardware mouse for fast browsing between apps.
I know I played it before but got stuck at a mandatory fight and lost. Will try now a non combat run.

 

[Litmanen]

finally decided to start playing today, after I got to finish Colony Ship and had a blast, voting it GOTY of 2023. Bought it on Steam for 6Euro.
From start I had to opt for hardware mouse for fast browsing between apps.
I know I played it before but got stuck at a mandatory fight and lost. Will try now a non combat run.

Remember to specialize as much as you can your character not to be stuck somewhere.

No jack-of-all-trades. Otherwise some parts will be very difficult to overcome.

 

[Ol' Willy]

For a change I tried dodge - max DEX - daggers build and I simply couldn't make it to work, all three attempts. I know such builds are viable and could be very powerful once they come online, but you had to go through early game and it is just unbearable. Couldn't even finish off the first Miltiades quest

Something more usual for me as hammers - block went much better. Right before Agathoth

Curiously, Marculus was my weapon of choice for nearly the entire game. Firstly the blue steel one you can steal in Teron, then the sky metal one I made from al-Sahir's axe. It is really good actually - the damage output is decent and gets better (20-25 crits no problem), and low AP cost allows lots of attacks. The build clicks one you get power armor and becomes just overpowered

And still, Agatoth was dispatched only on the fourth try. The tactic is simple, one neurostimulant, bola to the head and whacking at his arms (like I did few years ago with the axe build). The bastard could still crit bad

 

[Parabalus]

For a change I tried dodge - max DEX - daggers build and I simply couldn't make it to work, all three attempts. I know such builds are viable and could be very powerful once they come online, but you had to go through early game and it is just unbearable. Couldn't even finish off the first Miltiades quest

Something more usual for me as hammers - block went much better. Right before Agathoth

Curiously, Marculus was my weapon of choice for nearly the entire game. Firstly the blue steel one you can steal in Teron, then the sky metal one I made from al-Sahir's axe. It is really good actually - the damage output is decent and gets better (20-25 crits no problem), and low AP cost allows lots of attacks. The build clicks one you get power armor and becomes just overpowered

And still, Agatoth was dispatched only on the fourth try. The tactic is simple, one neurostimulant, bola to the head and whacking at his arms (like I did few years ago with the axe build). The bastard could still crit bad

Did you try bombing the two Militades goons?

For Daggers you can try TG instead, with either 4 or 7 CHA - gives you more pertinent training than AG, and the main missions have less combat.
After you get to Maadoran you can immediately pump Crafting to 10 and use the sewer sky metal to make a dagger, and start stabbing.

 

[Ol' Willy]

Did you try bombing the two Militades goons?

For Daggers you can try TG instead, with either 4 or 7 CHA - gives you more pertinent training than AG, and the main missions have less combat.
After you get to Maadoran you can immediately pump Crafting to 10 and use the sewer sky metal to make a dagger, and start stabbing.

I don't want less combat, what's the point of playing the combat build if you don't go for more fights?

This build is frustrating as early game both defense and offense are really underwhelming. Even at 6 dodge with 0 armor penalty I get hit a lot by anyone who isn't a complete bum, and each hit hurts a lot. Then, the damage output is weak - the base damage on daggers is not that good, and aimed attacks miss too often. Bleeds and poison are good, but they deal damage over time, and by that time my char is usually already hacked down

For comparison, hammer-block build just whizzed through Teron like a death machine. The last boatmen fight? A joke, I think I lost no more than 5HP in it. The only fight I couldn't do was Aemolas village raiders, had to lure them in

 

[Ol' Willy]

To be frank, my first ever build in AoD was daggers. Horribly non-optimized (as it was blind run) and weird heavy armor + block + daggers but it worked well. But as it is, heavy armor and block allowed me to live through early game for build to actually work (didn't kill Agatoth back then though).

Speaking of my latest hammer+block run, the only downside is that it is rather generic. I think my axe build was very similar in spirit.

What's the fun of playing generic builds? I think of something more interesting: 10 STR 10 CON but 4 DEX, heaviest armor I could find, 10 axe and 10 crit for max damage, moderate block

 

[Parabalus]

Did you try bombing the two Militades goons?

For Daggers you can try TG instead, with either 4 or 7 CHA - gives you more pertinent training than AG, and the main missions have less combat.
After you get to Maadoran you can immediately pump Crafting to 10 and use the sewer sky metal to make a dagger, and start stabbing.

I don't want less combat, what's the point of playing the combat build if you don't go for more fights?

This build is frustrating as early game both defense and offense are really underwhelming. Even at 6 dodge with 0 armor penalty I get hit a lot by anyone who isn't a complete bum, and each hit hurts a lot. Then, the damage output is weak - the base damage on daggers is not that good, and aimed attacks miss too often. Bleeds and poison are good, but they deal damage over time, and by that time my char is usually already hacked down

For comparison, hammer-block build just whizzed through Teron like a death machine. The last boatmen fight? A joke, I think I lost no more than 5HP in it. The only fight I couldn't do was Aemolas village raiders, had to lure them in.

To be frank, my first ever build in AoD was daggers. Horribly non-optimized (as it was blind run) and weird heavy armor + block + daggers but it worked well. But as it is, heavy armor and block allowed me to live through early game for build to actually work (didn't kill Agatoth back then though).

Speaking of my latest hammer+block run, the only downside is that it is rather generic. I think my axe build was very similar in spirit.

What's the fun of playing generic builds? I think of something more interesting: 10 STR 10 CON but 4 DEX, heaviest armor I could find, 10 axe and 10 crit for max damage, moderate block

Not less combat, sorry, but more backloaded - you get more SP in the initial missions, making the side content (and making sure you kill everyone) easier. Main missions have more total targets than AG.
You can do daggers with block too, makes the early game better. Dodge was nerfed a while back and for 1h block is mostly better.
With dagger you do Aimed:Torso later and people just explode, the weapon skill ensures you have 100% crit.
Try a run with 0 def skills, but drop DEX from 10, suits the Axe - 4 might be too little.