Game News Expeditions: Viking Released

[sqeecoo]

So, any character build suggestions? I'm trying to figure out a talky&perceptive character who doesn't die in the first round whenever the enemies go first. Can you even reasonably be talky in Britain, or do you just slaughter happily? All the non-bot companions seem to be aggressive.

 

[Sensuki]

You can be diplomatic, I am at work but off the top of my head you might want a high Perception and Sense the Leadership(?) skill tree (there's some skill tree that gives extra dialogue options) and use a shield to not die in the first round of combat.

 

[Lhynn]

So, any character build suggestions? I'm trying to figure out a talky&perceptive character who doesn't die in the first round whenever the enemies go first. Can you even reasonably be talky in Britain, or do you just slaughter happily? All the non-bot companions seem to be aggressive.

My character is 10 str, 10 endurance 7 sense, 1 the others. Sword and shield, throwing stones is a very important skill to get the enemy harried (currently bugged too, if you point at an enemy then use the throw skill on them, if it hits youll do weapon damage to them with the rock, if it misses youll get them harried, with with the +50% damage against harried targets youll be a beast in combat. Sword is important because the second skill allows you to attack at the end of your movement, and ignores DR, which is amazing to hunt down archers.
Go with leadership and persuasion (havent found a persuasion check yet tho and only 2 leadership checks by the end of the first campaign, tho they could be hidden) when you can. Sense 7 should get you through most checks, i know ive done hard checks of it just fine. Perception checks so far have just made stuff a bit easier, but theres always a way around them.

Overall this is the best main character build.

 

[hivemind]

leadership is shit skill other than demoralize + inspire being useful in combat

had it at max since early on and so far only used Leadership 1 and Leadership 2 in dialogues like 2 times, haven't used it in britain at all

sense is also shit it gets checked very rarely in dialogues and so far there has only been 1 relevant sense check that wasn't accompanied by an alternative perception/diplomacy check

meanwhile perception and finesse checks fucking everywhere

best main character builds are starting with
10 finesse
10 per

and then depending on if you want
max talky content - 7 sense
exploiting balanced rock throw - 4 str + either 4 endurance to use shields or 4 sense to have leadership and better demoralize resistance

use bows and either spear or dagger + shield or maybe even double daggers depending on encounter and if you are using crafted weapons that trivialize the game

 

[veevoir]

Sensuki why the fuck is the morale of my main character so low? it keeps going down for no reason, and it has a real impact on my statistics.

It's a bug, leader morale should not change. However - cleaning (I don't know what is the point of it in Denmark at least) may cause morale drop for character assigned to it.

Which is interesting an itself. IF leader morale will be fixed wouldn't that mean he is the mandatory character to do the cleaning?

 

[Reapa]

Sensuki why the fuck is the morale of my main character so low? it keeps going down for no reason, and it has a real impact on my statistics.

It's a bug, leader morale should not change. However - cleaning (I don't know what is the point of it in Denmark at least) may cause morale drop for character assigned to it.

Which is interesting an itself. IF leader morale will be fixed wouldn't that mean he is the mandatory character to do the cleaning?

didn't know cleaning lowered morale. this is stupid as fuck, especially if, like you say, they make the fucking protagonist clean every time. assigned duties should fucking show in the list on the right if something has any negative impact on anything. was this game played by anyone before release? did they have any beta tester?

 

[hivemind]

it's a feature

it was meant to be a joke

 

[Sensuki]

I *think* cleaning lowered morale in the first game too ? (if there was such a thing)

 

[Irxy]

I *think* cleaning lowered morale in the first game too ? (if there was such a thing)

No cleaning there.

 

[Jimmious]

I played 7-8 hours before stopping due to crashes and bugs etc. I liked what I saw by that point but I really prefer to wait for some patches to balance the whole thing out.
Sensuki if you know where I can send my crash reports I'll gladly do it. I have 6-7...

As for the game, I kind of like the more RPGish turn. The looting is dumb, but I don't mind it so much. The camera angle is really annoying and I wish we could change it a bit.
The story and characters seem pretty good at least at that point. Everyone has understandable motivations.

I don't really like the voice acting, except for a couple of characters. I think especially the female voices sound way too girly and screeching to be believable as VIKING SHIELDMAIDENS.

Combat is OK, a bit more "feedback"/oomph on hits would be nice. Also sometimes there are sound effects missing (like for the Swing ability of Dane Axes).

Overworld map looks really nice.

*And a question: Can you not heal/rest in your own homestead somehow? Do I really have to go camp in the wilderness to do that??

 

[hivemind]

I think especially the female voices sound way too girly and screeching to be believable as VIKING SHIELDMAIDENS.

roskva a cute desu

 

[Irxy]

*And a question: Can you not heal/rest in your own homestead somehow? Do I really have to go camp in the wilderness to do that??

Yup. Devs kinda forgot about it lol, it is going to be introduced in one of the patches.

 

[oscar]

About four hours in, it's not bad I suppose. Much prefer Conquistador as I find the Mesoamerican setting far more compelling than Viking stuff and combat feels a bit off (archers are super lethal considering their limited importance in shieldwall-dominated Viking combat, frequently mentioned positioning issues require cheesing, overly luck based combat where the fight is often decided within the first round, why are kung-fu brawlers a common class to fight?).

 

[ArchAngel]

It wasn't easy but I managed to stop myself from playing this game and wait for patches. Reading couple of topics I am more and more glad I did. I guess I will wait 1 month or more and then try it.

 

[Lhynn]

About four hours in, it's not bad I suppose. Much prefer Conquistador as I find the Mesoamerican setting far more compelling than Viking stuff and combat feels a bit off (archers are super lethal considering their limited importance in shieldwall-dominated Viking combat, frequently mentioned positioning issues require cheesing, overly luck based combat where the fight is often decided within the first round, why are kung-fu brawlers a common class to fight?).

Archers are a non factor if you are using a shield and are halfway good at it.

 

[Spectacle]

I rate this game LOOT/

 

[Tom Baker's Arse]

It wasn't easy but I managed to stop myself from playing this game and wait for patches. Reading couple of topics I am more and more glad I did. I guess I will wait 1 month or more and then try it.

Myself as well. One month, at least, for this epic dungstorm to blow over.

 

[Tigranes]

Having a lot of fun, only a couple of crashes and one self-mutilating dude so far.

Do people use a lot of consumables? I loved them in COnquistador, I end up using them less here but a lot of them look interesting. And of course I've stumbled into enemy traps a fair few times then got coup de graced.

 

[Barbarian]

I have to say there was more strategy in Conquistador. You don't use consumables/traps here that much because there is no preparation phase as in Conquistador. You can't even set your group in formation. Potions are the most useful thing. Greek fire and acid are sometimes useful, but most of the fights you won't have the opportunity to get several enemies with it(first round is usually for the enemies and in the second round most of your guys will already be in melee).

 

[Barbarian]

Also, this and Conquistador are both better games and better rpgs than anything Fagsidian and Inshitile have made with millions of dollars in budget. Think about it. If these danes manage to control their sjw tendencies and make the next game about the crusades there is something to look forward to.

Hell, make the next game about whatever you want to make it. Just keep it historical setting/turn-based.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Eh, not really? The system of Expeditions conquistador was really simplistic. The game was enjoyable because the exploration and resource management, not because of the RPG system.
Vikings is an improvement in some front, but take a step in others. Removal of preparation phase is one example.

 

[hivemind]

expeditions was simple yet elegant and worked perfectly

 

[Atomical]

If any of the devs are reading this thread, any chance of getting an additional difficulty mode or just added difficulty/nerfing across the board? I know you guys have your plate full at the moment, but this does seem like a common complaint.

what would one call the difficulty mode above Insane? Hel perhaps?

 

[Atomical]

*And a question: Can you not heal/rest in your own homestead somehow? Do I really have to go camp in the wilderness to do that??

Yup. Devs kinda forgot about it lol, it is going to be introduced in one of the patches.

Hulda will heal you if you are in the player village and you go visit her in the bog.

 

[Tigranes]

Surely it is possible to jsut extend the reach of the existing sliders? That said, I'm not sure if reducing ally damage and increasing enemy damage even further would just make it a slog, and make the "I have initiative for some random reason let me shoot you twice in the face" problem even bigger.

Actually, yeah, let me ask that - is there rhyme and reason to the initiative? Scripted? Random? Finesse-dependent? I can't work it out.