Wartales - turn-based mercenary band RPG by Northgard developer - now with Skelmar Invasion DLC

[Salvo]

Free demo and made by competent devs.

Hype?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

(editors note. video changed because 1st one had excessive soy.)

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

NPC conversation screens reminds me of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.
You don't want to remind me of BG: DA.

Otherwise game looks pretty similar to Dead Monarchy with somewhat higher production values.

 

[Thac0]

Otherwise game looks pretty similar to Dead Monarchy with somewhat higher production values.

Is that an endorsement? I never heard of Dead Monarchy, but it looks neat. Worth a wishlist?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Is that an endorsement?

Merely a description of basic gameplay loop, visuals and both games being grid based.

 

[Shrimp]

Is that an endorsement?

Merely a description of basic gameplay loop, visuals and both games being grid based.

Never heard of that game, I thought Battle Brothers seemed like a closer comparison.
Either way I'll check it out, thanks for making me aware of its existence.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Is that an endorsement?

Merely a description of basic gameplay loop, visuals and both games being grid based.

Never heard of that game, I thought Battle Brothers seemed like a closer comparison.
Either way I'll check it out, thanks for making me aware of its existence.

Codex thread here: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...ss-tactics-rpg-early-access-available.115896/
Game is still very much in early access.

 

[Dexter]

Seems rather rough so far with a bit of jank, but promising. UI and gameplay mechanics are a bit "Early Access"-y. Had to reroll a few times till I got an acceptable party not full of ugly womyn. The dev apparently already deemed it necessary to virtue signal about some of that stuff:

You travel along a "Overland map" most of the time, where you can find loot or engage in combat with groups of bandits or wolves. There's a Stamina bar above the head of your Mercenary troop and when it runs out it turns red and you'll have to set up camp and rest. You don't want to engage in battle while it's red because all your combat Stats are halved. You stumble upon places like stables, farms or cities where you can sell equipment you don't need anymore (even broken armor), buy or repair stuff (costs very little at the Blacksmith) and rest. You can also attempt to Steal from them, but you add Suspicion and if it goes over a certain threshold Guards are going to come for you. Stealing from things like barrels and crates seems to be easier than from vendors directly. You can give your characters jobs like "Blacksmith/Tinkerer/Alchemist/Thief/Miner" that provide Boni (Strength/Dexterity/Critical Hit etc.) and allow you to do different stuff. As a Blacksmith (seems to be the most useful profession) you can craft better armor and shields than what you start with or are able to buy, Thief allows you to steal, Alchemist allows you to make HP pots from collected plants but you need empty bottles and Miner allows you to mine Iron ore and similar for crafting. Crafting/Mining and some others seem to work with some sort of Quicktime-event system where you have to click just in time to get a good result and get more ore/craft a Superior item.

There's a "Bounty person" at the Inn in town, where you can accept contracts against bandit hideouts or the likes. In combat both you and the enemies hit Armor first, then HP and damaged armor will either have to be repaired in town or using Repair kits. There's a "Morale" bar at the top of the Screen, if you fill it to a certain threshold by killing enough bandits on the field of battle your attack damage doubles or they even attempt to flee. Also your troop demands high wages (114 "Krowns") paid every few (three?) days, so keep that in mind. Stumbled upon some minor bugs.

If you start out make sure to have a Blacksmith to craft some Quilted Tunics (+10 Armor), at least a Small Shield and some Lvl3 weapons for your guys when they unlock, you'll need a bit of leather/cloth/wood and iron ore for that stuff. Once you've hit Lvl3 and got to choose a Special Class like Knight or Assassin and an additional Attack Skill that uses Valour (points you gain while you rest and that all your troops share for special attacks) you should be set for what the game has to throw at you in the entirety of the Demo. The Demo ends after you've completed 7 battle encounters (for me this was after I had just finished the second Bounty contract), so if you want to explore the world and find some shit try and stay out of battles as much as you can.

Here's a bunch of Screens:

Spoiler

 

[Alpharius]

Finished the demo as well, combat system seems kinda meh compared to battle brothers.

Basic attacks are kinda like an auto attack in a crpg game, but you get special skills like "-50% recevied damage for three rounds", "3 free attacks from behind" or "shoot the first three enemies entering the area" the cost "valor" which is replenished at rest. Each of which would have been incredibly OP in Battle Brothers but here you get them at 3rd level. So its pretty obvious where its going. Party composition and character levels > strategy and tactics.

Also there is no attack and defense stats, all attacks have 100% chance to hit.
No point in formations cause attacks of opportunity only trigger on engaged enemies (which were attacked by the same character on previous turn and stayed in melee range) and any non-engaged character can ususally reach any other character on the map.
Bows have less range than any character can cover in one turn.
Also the battle usually starts with either all friendly characters in the middle surrounded by the enemies on all sides or the other way around.
Though i guess they might change this somewhat in release version.

The non-combat stuff is more advanced than in battle brothers but not sure how interesting its going to be with such combat system.

So idk, looks more like a party-based crpg with autogenerated quests than a mercenary band simulator.

Will keep it in a whishlist but i'm cautiously pessimistic.

 

[vazha]

This looks more like Warbanners than BB I'd say. Esp with the same bird eye-sque top down view

 

[jackofshadows]

Also there is no attack and defense stats, all attacks have 100% chance to hit.

That's fake news for ranged, if someone else on the line of sight, the persentage is starting to split like 34/66 and you can even hit your party mate. That's another reason why archers are a very weak choice here.

Overall I agree, after playing some more I'm not optimistic at all even if I'll keep this on wishlist. Ability balance is all over the place, it's crazy, enemy's included. Like the whole bandit band gets 100 crit chance as long as their leader isn't engaged. So... you engage him first. What's the point?

Professions are a nice addition but blacksmith is op as hell currently. I like the concept and some ideas like cannibalism, turning in bandits to clear your name (say, in order to continue commit even more crimes), crafting is also welcome I think but implementation is really bad so far. Like too little types of resourses for crafting therefore you have to choose between new weapons and armor and... camping pot or tent.

Also, I laughed so hard when realized that to walk in battle you have to click appropriate ability first, usability by the Gods, no less. Design flaws like this reveal extreme levels of amateurishness which again, leads to overall pessimism towards the game.

 

[spectre]

I tried the demo, comparisons to Battle Brothers are of course warranted, but to me it felt like it was more heavily inspired by Expeditions, (without the main pseudo-historical plot, which could be argued to be losing the main good thing about it, but I digress)
especially in the camping mechanics. Not a bad feeling overall, felt a bit clunky and unoptimized (losing all those precious seconds waiting for shit in the town to load), especially for what it brings to the table when it comes to graphics.
The demo ended a bit abruptly, just as I thought I was about to get off my feet, but I'm actually looking forward to seeing a bit more of the game.

If I were to compare it to BB, this one is a bit more developed when it comes to the side activities (you now have stuff to do when camping, with each caracter being able to learn a craft in addition to their combat role). It was one of the big flaws in BB, so keeping my fingers crossed they get it right, though I'm not too keen on seeing consoletard minigames (when you smith or mine you need to time your clicks to a QTE to get better results). I've seen you can do mining, different types of crafting, you can also explore the surroundings to find random junk on the map, it also seems to fill your "knowledge" bar, which can be used to unlock camp upgrades and crafts.
On the other hand, combat, which is allegedly the meat of the game, feels a tad lackluster. Not sure if it's down to the fact that I've only seen a few weapon types in action together with a bunch of low level abilities,
but no built-in zones of control and overwatch-like abilities seems limiting.

Not entirely sure if I like the mechanic of tying special abilities to a global pool of points. This prevents spamming op stuff and forces you to actually rest between encounters,
but from what I've seen these abilities are one of the few things adding depth to the combat. I fully expect to be wrong on this one, cause I've seen bits and pieces suggesting
there will be more to the system, one time a bandit managed to brace his spear (but didn't live long to see what good it does), another time I saw an option to take a surrounded guy prisoner
(but didn't have the manacles in my inventory to do it).

One thing I absolutely loathe is the need to repair even the tiniest scratch on the armors after every encounter. I'm not against the mechanic on principle,
but I feel it only piles up to a ridiculous amount of micro. Would make more sense to repair armor that was fully damaged, or after critical hits.

Like too little types of resourses for crafting therefore you have to choose between new weapons and armor and... camping pot or tent.
Also, I laughed so hard when realized that to walk in battle you have to click appropriate ability first, usability by the Gods, no less. Design flaws like this reveal extreme levels of amateurishness which again, leads to overall pessimism towards the game.

Isn't that actually a good thing? Having to choose between a new fighting kit or a pot to cook your meals in?
I like that it gives you a feeling of building everything up from scratch, right down to pots and tents.
Could be just me, but I like when crafting materials are kept simple, without too much bloat and having to grind fot 20 different types of resources. I've had my fill of this shit with Elite Dangerous engineering.
Yeah, I rolled my eyes a bit about needing to click an ability to walk. Felt like something out of a mobile game, but at least it prevents accidental clicks.

Though with hindsight I wouldn't call it an amateurish mistake. It makes sense in the framework of their system.
Instead of the typical turn order being decided by unit initiative (which is a bit of a shame, I'd much rather have it that way), you get to pick which guy (or more than one guy, not sure what it depends on, perhaps morale?) moves,
then the opponent picks one or more of their guys to move and you repeat this whole process. Since you can click through all your guys before committing to making your move with one of them, it sorta makes sense to put movement
behind an extra click.

It's rough around the edges, but it's to be expected of alpha/beta. I think they could still iron this out because none of the things look fundamentally fucked.

EDIT: By the way, if only we had a dedicated sub-forum for games like this... rhymes with "practical".

 

[jackofshadows]

Though with hindsight I wouldn't call it an amateurish mistake. It makes sense in the framework of their system.
Instead of the typical turn order being decided by unit initiative (which is a bit of a shame, I'd much rather have it that way), you get to pick which guy (or more than one guy, not sure what it depends on, perhaps morale?) moves,
then the opponent picks one or more of their guys to move and you repeat this whole process. Since you can click through all your guys before committing to making your move with one of them, it sorta makes sense to put movement
behind an extra click.

Either that or they actually are planning to release this for mobile devices. Makes sense, I agree.

Isn't that actually a good thing? Having to choose between a new fighting kit or a pot to cook your meals in?

But is that even a choice? Of course you want to upgrade your weapons first, maybe an armor for "tanky" guy, then for the others... And only then a pot which is just a QoL thing basically to save few coins. Pretty much same for tent and other camp stuff. That's why it bothered me.

 

[ArchAngel]

I liked my playthrough of the demo. I tried lockpicking at some point but broke all 3 of my lockpicks without doing anything
Didn't figure out how to use it, it seems similar to how it works in Skyrim but I guess it isn't.

 

[Shrimp]

I liked my playthrough of the demo. I tried lockpicking at some point but broke all 3 of my lockpicks without doing anything
Didn't figure out how to use it, it seems similar to how it works in Skyrim but I guess it isn't.

From what I remember:
Holding down the left mouse button turns the lockpick towards the middle of the keyhole and the goal is to get it all the way to the middle.
You can only get it all the way to the middle from a specific angle, so you'll have to first try to roughly estimate which way the lockpick has to face by rotating it around and seeing where it isn't met with resistance almost immediately. Once you've found out which general area the correct spot is in you can start to swiftly tab the mouse to see if the lockpick can slide further in. If it meets resistance it starts making noises and might break, so you can just release the mouse button to let go of the lockpick. Repeat the process until you find the correct angle.
It's a bit of a trial and error process but it did work for me when I played the demo.

 

[ArchAngel]

I liked my playthrough of the demo. I tried lockpicking at some point but broke all 3 of my lockpicks without doing anything
Didn't figure out how to use it, it seems similar to how it works in Skyrim but I guess it isn't.

From what I remember:
Holding down the left mouse button turns the lockpick towards the middle of the keyhole and the goal is to get it all the way to the middle.
You can only get it all the way to the middle from a specific angle, so you'll have to first try to roughly estimate which way the lockpick has to face by rotating it around and seeing where it isn't met with resistance almost immediately. Once you've found out which general area the correct spot is in you can start to swiftly tab the mouse to see if the lockpick can slide further in. If it meets resistance it starts making noises and might break, so you can just release the mouse button to let go of the lockpick. Repeat the process until you find the correct angle.
It's a bit of a trial and error process but it did work for me when I played the demo.

I tried this but it would break when just moving it around the circle.

 

[spectre]

I tried this but it would break when just moving it around the circle.

Not 100% sure how I did this, but I think the idea is to delicately tap the mouse button to get the feel when it's ready to go all in.

But is that even a choice? Of course you want to upgrade your weapons first. maybe an armor for "tanky" guy, then for others... And only then a pot which is just a QoL thing basically to save few coins. Pretty much same for tent and other camp stuff. That's why it bothered me.

Sure, personal equipment obviously, comes first, but in the long run it's down to the numbers - how much money and inventory space do you end up saving. Perhaps there are some buffs involved in taking your time to make proper meals.
The pot does unlock a dedicated profession tied to it, so I'm guessing at the very least there's a chunk of gameplay in there.

Mercenary management games tend to be more on the penny-pinching side and anything to reduce standing costs will be a good investment, so perhaps the choice will become less clear cut later in the game.
Though the scope of the demo didn't exactly let me gauge how big of a deal keeping everyone fed is going to be and how much of a boon cooking in general can be to your team.
Perhaps it becomes a necessity as your company grows, or if you stray further away from civilization.

The tent, IIRC, unlocks more special ability points, so this one I think is actually useful in a more straightforward way.

Also, apparently what triggers the end of the demo is the number of fights you're in - it kicks you out immediately after the 7th.
I've yet to check it out bat apparently the counter is stored somewhere near the end of the savefile, so you can edit it with a hex editor.
I'll report back if it lets me test it a bit more thoroughly. Seems like there's quite a lot of shit to be found on the map as it is.

 

[jackofshadows]

Mercenary management games tend to be more on the penny-pinching side and anything to reduce standing costs will be a good investment, so perhaps the choice will become less clear cut later in the game.

I think grading gear from literal junk to "tier 1" or even "tier 2" (quite simple to craft enough for unlocking that) pieces allows you to take much more difficult quests right away which in turn will provide you with far more coins and loot. But yeah, with the scope of this demo it's hard to say for 100% sure.

 

[Tomas]

Is there any magic, or is it purely historical?

 

[Dexter]

Is there any magic, or is it purely historical?

Neither.

 

[Shrimp]

Is there any magic, or is it purely historical?

The demo just has a band of hobos doing ye olde medieval sword swing. The game trailer shows some kind of huge worm-like creature in a forest so there's probably going to be some amount of fantasy creatures in the game's later stages. I have no idea if there will be magic though.

 

[Teut Busnet]

So, every melee attack hits automatically? Are there no defensive stats or abilities?

 

[Dexter]

Also, apparently what triggers the end of the demo is the number of fights you're in - it kicks you out immediately after the 7th.
I've yet to check it out bat apparently the counter is stored somewhere near the end of the savefile, so you can edit it with a hex editor.
I'll report back if it lets me test it a bit more thoroughly. Seems like there's quite a lot of shit to be found on the map as it is.

Yeah, I said so. And apparently this works. So if anyone wants to circumvent the "forced Demo end" and play until they've discovered the entire map or they get bored, just download a Hex Editor like: https://mh-nexus.de/en/downloads.php?product=HxD20 but almost any will do, load your final Save file before the Demo ended from your \Steam\steamapps\common\Wartales Demo\save folder, and change the final Byte of the Save file to 00 to reset the counter. If the number goes from 06 --> 07 the Demo ends. Just save and keep changing/loading it again when you hit the limit again:

 

[spectre]

If the number goes from 06 --> 07 the Demo ends. Just save and keep changing/loading it again when you hit the limit again:

Did you by any chance try to diddle with odd values like -1 or FF? I meant to try this sometime later to see if it bypasses the counter once and for all.

But yeah, I can confirm it works, was pretty glad to extend the demo time a little bit when I got jumped by wolves and cockblocked just before a major battle.
Still, this let me see a bunch of new things (some of them broken, some of them quite promising):

(x) can't figure out taking human prisoners, perhaps it's just broken as for now. I captured a "henchman", she stuck around my camp and I had to feed her,
but I couldn't turn her in for money at the prison near the lake, the description says "must be outlaw", so perhaps there's some trait that's missing.
Can't seem to interact with her otherwise, so I may be stuck with dead weight for the time being as there doesn't seem to be an option to just ditch a character.

(x) There seems to be an option to capture wolves in a similar fashion (needs rope rather than manacles) and there are abilities that reference animals in combat, I'll try that next time to see if it does anything.

(x) Apart from mercenary contracts, there seems to be a whole bunch of quests and secrets all over the place. The dialogue on some of the farms suggest there are quests with missing people, etc., but I didn't find a follow up for them.
Managed to find a skilled blacksmith for the first town and clear the ore veins in one of the mines to resume salt production. I also found a door that can only be opened with a unique key. I'm sure there's a whole bunch of things to be found.

(x) Saw a rather difficult to pick chest in one of the watchtowers, burned through 4 lockpicks to undo all three bars, only thing I got was some wine and cabbage.
Cunting troll devs

(x) Found a "magical" item, a dagger that spreads a poison cloud as aoe and (at least according to the description, provides some minor zone of control). Another one was a bow with built-in
knockback effect. I tried to craft a pike to see if there are more effects like this, but for some reason using a pointed stick is beyond the expertise of my enture party. Here's
hoping they add some more items like this.

(x) "Research" points seem rather hard to come by after the first few. Given how indispensable it feels to unlock running and running upgrade
(so that you can get anywhere in a reasonable time and run from unwanted encounters).

(x) Stuff seems to refresh after in-game time passes. Not sure what's the extent. Some stuff on vendors does refresh (and occassionally prices adjust),
tavern contracts seem to randomize as well as companions (the two guys available in the tavern, but you can also buy off people from the prison).

All in all, 4 hours in, the fighting is already getting a bit stale, might be because I'm fighting low level opponents with level 3+ guys,
but the game doesn't really feature any complex tactics other than: engage with one guy to draw attention, move in with the dagger wielder for a damage boost.
I was also able to slaughter some wolves by overlapping overwatch arcs of two archers, but that would be about it.

Crafting weapons and armor does seem to break balance rather quickly, though it may be more of a case of having to seek out actual challenges.
There's also an option for "hard" difficulty, so I might check this one out too.
Still, the potential for exploration and discovering side activities is what keeps me interested.

Character development also feels all over the place, that one point you add to stats feels irrelevant, because you'll get a much higher boost from profession and items.
It's not necessarily a bad thing because it makes the characters a bit more disposable.

So, every melee attack hits automatically? Are there no defensive stats or abilities?

As a general rule, yes. Attacks will just hit. There are defensive abilities like riposte (if i'm reading the description right, it's a bit difficult to get it to actually trigger),
you can get different kinds of buffs to reduce incoming damage (or debuff opponents).
From what I've seen, the only exception is knocking guys down to take them prisoner, which is at around 45% success chance.

 

[Infinitron]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1527950/view/2969544592381560770

Wartales Q&A: The lore of Wartales

Hey Mercenaries!

Welcome to the first in a weekly series of Q&A's with our development team that will give you an exclusive look into the world of Wartales, it's development history, the future of the game, some exclusive looks at concept art and upcoming content and more as we build towards our release into Early Access later this year!

In this first Q&A, Shiro Games COO Nicolas Cannasse delves into the lore of Wartales and answers some of the more prominent community questions about this strange and hostile universe that we've found ourselves fighting to survive in.

Read on to find out more...


What were the main inspirations for the world and setting of Wartales?

"I’ve always been interested in medieval low fantasy settings, which are well illustrated in first seasons of Game of Thrones or several fantasy books. At first I wrote a more post-apocalyptic back-to-the-roots universe, but then we wanted it to feel more medieval while still being our own universe, so we got back to rewrite the medieval times including the old Roman Empire, the Plague, Christianism, etc. but by giving each of these topics a twist that makes it different from the history as we know it."

Can you provide some more information on the Edoran Empire (who they were, why they fell, etc…)

"The Edoran empire has a long history. It was originally a Holy Kingdom created by the Lightbringer. But Edor, a genius general with a lot of charisma, took control of it and started a military campaign that turned the kingdom into a global empire. That didn’t go very well with all the neighboring countries, especially the Harag where a lot of resistance took place.

The Plague that emerged in these troubled times caused great casualties and saw the fall of the empire. But it’s still recent history so the world has not forgotten what happened during the war."

Spoiler

You’ve mentioned a plague in some interviews, can you elaborate on this? Does it still exist in the world?

"The Plague propagates through Plague Rats, which are infected with a disease that can turn humans into Pestiferous. Once contaminated, the human can only eat meat, which is expensive in the world, and failing to do so will turn him or her into some kind of savage beast until it it is able to feed again. While an isolated case is not a problem, a whole village can turn into ashes if the number of infected grows quickly. A cure does exist but is very expensive and only available through the black market.

The reason why the Plague started during the war and its source is one of the many mysteries of the world."

What are some of the key events that led the world to the current situation?

"The world at present times is composed of five kingdoms which have a long common history and various events in the past that led to the current situation.

The Edoran war of aggression was one of the most recent conflicts, but there were many others, such as the arrival of the Island People that landed on the Belerion shores after being chased from their freezing lands, or the Ancients' history that can be uncovered by discovering and exploring their tombs throughout the world."

Thanks for joining us and make sure you keep an eye out for next weeks Q&A!

Don't hesitate to leave us a question on any of our social channels, Discord, or on our Steam forums, and we'll see if we can get it answered in one of our future articles!

Thanks again for all of your support and feedback so far, you guys have been amazing and we can't wait to share the game with you all.

- Shiro Games