Incline Battle Brothers + Beasts & Exploration, Warriors of the North and Blazing Deserts DLC Thread

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Poachers are interesting with a ranged skill focus and always being able to scout locations.

I got a few locations that I couldn't scout, but that was just after release.

 

[Prime Junta]

Tooled around a bit more with the different starts after my Proletkult had a bit of a setback.

- The cult start is very cool but much harder than it looked like. You'll want to recruit every cultist you find, but cultists are generally kind of shit at fighting, so you'll end up with an extremely resolute but otherwise handicapped party.
- I got a cult event which was seriously badass but further disincentivises hiring non-cultists.

So the way it looks right now is that the cult start leaves you with a much smaller pool to recruit from, which makes it extra challenging. I hope there are other Davkul events which make it worthwhile in one way or another.

I also played around with the barbarian starts for a bit. Those are also very cool but because you'll only have one friendly faction the map makes a huge difference: caravan and courier jobs to hostile territory are out and if your neutral faction has no big city it's pretty tough going. On the other hand the barbarians are badass right out of the gate. Makes for a really different type of challenge.

And finally I gave the Poacher start a try or two. Not much to say about that at this point; it feels like the safest way to play this is to do courier jobs and trade to build up a purse (making use of the faster movement), then hire meleebros. Didn't do much fighting with this setup yet.

I do like the "Avatar" mechanic of Lone Wolf and I think it would be cool if that was incorporated into some of the other starts as well. It would fit at least Cult, Barbarian, and Rebuilding very nicely.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I also played around with the barbarian starts for a bit. Those are also very cool but because you'll only have one friendly faction the map makes a huge difference: caravan and courier jobs to hostile territory are out and if your neutral faction has no big city it's pretty tough going. On the other hand the barbarians are badass right out of the gate. Makes for a really different type of challenge.

Isn't it that at some point, as result of some events triggered by your progress, the other factions also return to neutral? Or do they stay hostile the whole game?

BTW, I should try out the map I'm playing on with the barbarian origin. One of the factions has just one village and one fortress, and is in the north. If that's the hostile faction, then it would be pretty neat.

 

[hivemind]

you get an event for 2K cold to turn the hostile faction into one that still dislikes you but one you can approach

the problem is that this only applies to castles and not to villages and cities, you have to wait like 80+ days IIRC to be able to deal with the northern towns

 

[Reinhardt]

Barbarians paying with steel, not with geld!

 

[AwesomeButton]

My insane luck is persisting. While on the road I got the event where a band of peasants is running away from guards. They hide and you get to choose whether or not to turn them in. I chose not to, and got one volunteer from among the peasants who turns out to have three stars in health and resolve, one in melee defense, and the "Brave" trait. Pretty nice, especially since I'm getting him for free.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

Poachers are interesting with a ranged skill focus and always being able to scout locations.

I got a few locations that I couldn't scout, but that was just after release.

I could scout all of them (including ruined fortresses and graveyards that usually have unknown garrisons) but I only played for ~10 days before dropping it. Maybe it won't work with locations that aren't always combat encounters and trigger events like item recovery from ancient dead?

 

[Reinhardt]

They hide and you get to choose whether or not to turn them in. I chose not to

Thug life.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

I do like the "Avatar" mechanic of Lone Wolf and I think it would be cool if that was incorporated into some of the other starts as well. It would fit at least Cult, Barbarian, and Rebuilding very nicely.

With mods maybe we could get it for other starts. The mechanic for a player avatar is already there so it shouldn't be that hard to do.

 

[AwesomeButton]

They hide and you get to choose whether or not to turn them in. I chose not to

Thug life.

It's a feudal society - the only difference between thug groups is in the scale at which they are operating :D

 

[Prime Junta]

Isn't it that at some point, as result of some events triggered by your progress, the other factions also return to neutral? Or do they stay hostile the whole game?

Probably, I just didn't play that far. I did see the faction rating go from Hostile to Threatening so I think it just gradually winds down.

BTW, I should try out the map I'm playing on with the barbarian origin. One of the factions has just one village and one fortress, and is in the north. If that's the hostile faction, then it would be pretty neat.

 

[hivemind]

It's a feudal society - the only difference between thug groups is in the scale at which they are operating :D

based and redpilled

 

[AwesomeButton]

The hotfix is out on GOG, standard installer.

 

[Maculo]

toro You know, double threads, Codex lyfe. I also thought this was the other thread.

You do need to abandon that inner desire for perfect builds and whatnot. I would also think that makes the game a lot less fun in the long run. That 50 attack no-trait daytaler that you picked up just to be fodder & die in the next fight? Sometimes ends up a level 15 hundred-fight veteran with many glories to his name.

I'm fooling around with the lone wolf to see how far I go. I started out picking up two losers early on, both of whom copped it in the very next fight (which probably helped the lone wolf clean everything up). Fatigue is certainly the big thing to overcome in these early ddays I think. But then LW is meant to be the 3-skull background start.

In addition to Fatigue, I would argue that some Resolve and perhaps Fortified Mind is key, because you often are outnumbered and flanked/surrounded.

 

[hivemind]

100res on all ur chars mandtatory

 

[Darth Canoli]

100res on all ur chars mandtatory

At which level ? 65 ?

Checked Nexus, there's already a new mod/background available (disowned general or something), waiting for an interesting barbarian mod to hop in.

 

[hivemind]

15 from standard + 85 on your regular bros is perfectly doable

 

[toro]

You do need to abandon that inner desire for perfect builds and whatnot. I would also think that makes the game a lot less fun in the long run. That 50 attack no-trait daytaler that you picked up just to be fodder & die in the next fight? Sometimes ends up a level 15 hundred-fight veteran with many glories to his name.

I know but it still triggers me.
Miner background with 2 stars on ranged weapons!? Wtf. Did he mine by throwing the axe at the rocks?
Militia background without any star on the melee or ranged damage !?

I'm fooling around with the lone wolf to see how far I go. I started out picking up two losers early on, both of whom copped it in the very next fight (which probably helped the lone wolf clean everything up). Fatigue is certainly the big thing to overcome in these early ddays I think. But then LW is meant to be the 3-skull background start.

LW is probably the hardest start in the game. You are basically forced to hire two cheap helps and pray to God that they don't suck.

Even when they don't suck then this stuff happens:

Spoiler

Not pictured: I got chased by 12 Brigands all over the map and the company moral went to shit. I decided to retire the company.

Beginner difficulty was somewhat easy, Veteran difficulty is too ... random !?

 

[hivemind]

who the FUCK takes caravan missions unless you are like trademaxing

 

[Tigranes]

My Lone Wolf run has gotten off the ground. It was great how it did require different tactics and calculations for the early game - e.g. how to set up for your LW to get a couple of early kills to try and frighten them before they surround you.

Due to map shenanigans I also ended up having zero archers until quite a while later, meaning trying to fight people at night.

Now I've given my lone wolf lone wolf so that he can lone wolf it out there

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Now I've given my lone wolf lone wolf so that he can lone wolf it out there

Leman Russ, is that you?

 

[Murk]

Take underdog too if you want to go the "horde breaker" route and it's p. gud.

My strategy for anything that isn't undead is basically cause enough morale damage that they start to flee, giving free hits and causing more morale loss.

One thing that seems different than pre-North DLC is that enemy archers seem less likely to run away when their melee buddies are wiped out. Had a few fights where I spent 5-8 turns chasing an archer down until the AI failed to move far enough, letting me get next to them.

 

[Edija]

Take underdog too if you want to go the "horde breaker" route and it's p. gud.

My strategy for anything that isn't undead is basically cause enough morale damage that they start to flee, giving free hits and causing more morale loss.

One thing that seems different than pre-North DLC is that enemy archers seem less likely to run away when their melee buddies are wiped out. Had a few fights where I spent 5-8 turns chasing an archer down until the AI failed to move far enough, letting me get next to them.

Use dogs?

 

[Murk]

Take underdog too if you want to go the "horde breaker" route and it's p. gud.

My strategy for anything that isn't undead is basically cause enough morale damage that they start to flee, giving free hits and causing more morale loss.

One thing that seems different than pre-North DLC is that enemy archers seem less likely to run away when their melee buddies are wiped out. Had a few fights where I spent 5-8 turns chasing an archer down until the AI failed to move far enough, letting me get next to them.

Use dogs?

You can, but using only one character I tend to prioritize a trinket to protect against stun or fear depending on what I'm fighting. The point isn't that it's an issue tbh since it's just a few mouse clicks to deal with, but that the AI behavior is different. I've also noticed that enemies are far more likely to try to leave my AoO-zone as well, though I'm not sure if this is because I'm only using one character or if it is an AI change.

 

[Reinhardt]

Day 60 and my peasant horde already met first mixed undead gang. I think i know what crisis it is.
Btw it means i'm ancient king, not some peasant.