Battle Brothers Pre-Release Thread

[Got bored and left]

I'm not yet sure how to use archers effectively. They frequently miss and act as delicious meat pies for any enemies who flank or break through. From some cursory Googling, randomly-occurring terrain advantages can help them a lot, and they're good from late early game through mid-game until the enemy starts constantly sporting beefy armor.

Yeah, a bro needs to have some pretty high ranged skill to be able to use bows effectively, but when an arrow does hit, it usually hurts. My archers tend to have high initiative, but instead of shooting right away, I let the enemy come closer, makes it much easier to land some early hits. I always take the perk that increases armour penetration (Sundering Strikes, I think?), it helps a lot. They're a good way to take care enemy archers as well - I've found them to be some of the more annoying enemies to deal with in encouters vs humans, in my limited experience. And crossbows are even better - they don't require as much skill and hit like a truck, at the cost of decreased fire rate and range. Witch hunters start with them equipped, they're some of my favourite bros.

 

[oscar]

A big advantage to bows is also that their range forces enemies to come to you which both saves fatigue and allows you to hang around on good terrain if you start in a nice defensive position.

 

[Ulminati]

I'm not yet sure how to use archers effectively.

Utility tree is key. The skills to switch weapons with no AP cost let them function as pikemen after opening volleys. Miss chance means the arrow may scatter a few hexes. But if something else is in the scattered hex, it will take a hit. If your enemy is in a blob, arrows have a good chance of hitting something. Crossbows are paticulaly good, since you can move to the flank of an engaged and immobile enemy and shoot.

In my last playthrough I had good luck with the utility talent that forces morale checks on any damage. My archers managed to get the wavering morale debuff (which is huge... check the tooltip) on about a third of the enemies befor ethe big melee bash. Then swapped to billhooks and pikes.

 

[Grimwulf]

You can make a monstrous bow archer if he gets perks
+ 4 AP after kill
+ 25% fatigue after kill
+ 50% damage after kill

In my last game I had two such archers out of 12 mercs, and they were always the ones dealing the most damage. Unless we were fighting skeletons.

Utility tree is key. The skills to switch weapons with no AP cost let them function as pikemen after opening volleys. Miss chance means the arrow may scatter a few hexes. But if something else is in the scattered hex, it will take a hit. If your enemy is in a blob, arrows have a good chance of hitting something. Crossbows are paticulaly good, since you can move to the flank of an engaged and immobile enemy and shoot.

Not only that, but if you fire xbow once and switch to billhook/greatsword without reloading, you don't waste ammunition. Thus you basically have one free shot in every battle. Very useful if you are low on ammunition or just don't feel like wasting it (fighting an easy battle or whatever).

 

[Shaewaroz]

A big advantage to bows is also that their range forces enemies to come to you which both saves fatigue and allows you to hang around on good terrain if you start in a nice defensive position.

This is true, however bows consume a lot of fatigue, so using them with your melee guys is actually not always a particularly good idea. I tried to develop a group of mercs that would all use bows before the enemy closes in and them use the perk that allow you to switch weapon without using action points. The idea worked well against easy enemy groups, but against tougher groups my melee guys got completely fatigued after dealing a couple of blows in close quarters. So in my experience it's better to use nets and other lighter ranged weapons with your melee guys instead of bows and crossbows.

 

[rapsdjff]

Dev Blog #75: Progress Update – Reworked UI
Back from our short trip to Malmö, we’re busy again working on the UI as per last week’s progress update. Things are progressing well: The game feels a lot smoother already and the UI now looks like it actually belongs to a game. We’re about halfway done, so let’s take a look!

The new Look & Feel
The UI in Battle Brothers is now made from real materials that fit the setting: wood, metal and paper. This makes it feel much more as a part of the game world and actively contributes to the game’s atmosphere. Below is an example of how dialog screens now look – made of wood with decorative viking-esque carvings and a metal band. Note that the text color for everything is something we’ll adjust at the very end.



The same look and feel of wood and metal is also used for the combat UI. All the buttons got a makeover to be more clear in their function and fit within the design. Tooltips now have the look of pieces of paper and small scrolls, written on with ink. Aside from their visual upgrade, they also come with some improvements in functionality. For example, as you can see in the screenshot below, any status effects are now listed complete with their name underneath each other. No need to learn every icon by heart anymore!



Similar to how tooltips are now scraps of paper, we’ve also made the panel showing the current objectives a scroll bearing the seal of your employer. Whenever it made sense and didn’t detract from the usability, we’ve tried to incorporate real objects that would be part of mercenary life into the UI.



A shout-out
Finally, we want to give a shout-out to the devs behind Unclaimed World and Wartile – we had a great time chatting with you guys at the Nordic Game!

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

My initial thought when announcing UI revamp was "what's wrong with the UI?"

Seeing these samples, they look really good and the UI revamp will somehow manage to elevate the already stellar art direction in your game. Beautiful!

 

[Mazisky]

This game has the best 2d quality art i've seen in years. Details are huge and all seems in hi-res quality.

My only concern is the lack of animations, battles feel too static

 

[SmartCheetah]

Any ETA on the next update, and can we expect anything more than just UI? I wanted to start an LP on Kodex but holding on to the new patch ;>

 

[Ulminati]

Looking good! The "Viking squigglybits" seem a bit prevalent though. Personally I'd drop them from the hp/fatigue/armor/etc bars.

Any ETA on the next update, and can we expect anything more than just UI? I wanted to start an LP on Kodex but holding on to the new patch ;>

Dibs on being your crossbowman

 

[rashiakas]

I second that, please remove the art from bars, because with it the ui looks to crowded.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Any ETA on the next update, and can we expect anything more than just UI? I wanted to start an LP on Kodex but holding on to the new patch ;>

If you're recruiting I'm in to lug two-handers against the foes of Codexia.

 

[Beowulf]

Any ETA on the next update, and can we expect anything more than just UI? I wanted to start an LP on Kodex but holding on to the new patch ;>

I've been reading Black Company books while sitting on the throne, if you know what I mean; hence I'm well versed in being a mercenary. If you're recruiting I'd like to be one of the starting Companions.

 

[Got bored and left]

Any ETA on the next update, and can we expect anything more than just UI? I wanted to start an LP on Kodex but holding on to the new patch ;>

I wanna stab dudes with pikes an sheeeeit!

 

[SmartCheetah]

So we've got 3 starting brothers +1 lad already, before LP even started :D I'll play on hardest difficulty iron man so expect a lot of deaths (Especially because I'm far from being an expert)
I'll tag you guys in the playground thread after UI update.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Nice!

 

[rapsdjff]

Any ETA on the next update, and can we expect anything more than just UI? I wanted to start an LP on Kodex but holding on to the new patch ;>

Aside from the overhauled UI, the update later this month will introduce an extended roster and the ability to keep men in reserve, as well as a customizable starting formation. Following that, we'll add more complex injury mechanics. Not sure yet whether those will make it into the next update as well, though. Here's a preview of a few injury icons that Paul's experimenting with right now.

Also, sign me up as well!

 

[Reinhardt]

Any ETA on the next update, and can we expect anything more than just UI? I wanted to start an LP on Kodex but holding on to the new patch ;>

Witchhunter here. Or flagellant.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

a customizable starting formation.

Sweet, I've been waiting for that since day 1


Are injuries just for the player (post-combat?) or can we cripple enemies in battle? Aimed attacks?

So we've got 3 starting brothers +1 lad already, before LP even started :D I'll play on hardest difficulty iron man so expect a lot of deaths (Especially because I'm far from being an expert)
I'll tag you guys in the playground thread after UI update.

Add me, add me!

 

[Alienman]

Split hand looks painful.

 

[Helly]

I can't tell you how glad I am you don't have an 'arrow to the knee' icon.

 

[rapsdjff]

Dev Blog #76: Progress Update – Reworked UI, Extended Roster, Customizable Formation
Overhauling the UI is mostly done now, save for a few minor quirks and a single screen left: the character screen. Here’s where things get interesting, because we’re not just giving it a facelift but are introducing an extended roster and the ability to change the starting formation in battle to your liking. Let’s find out more!

Extended Roster & Customizable Formation
That’s right – you’re no longer limited to have but twelve characters in your employ. While the maximum number of characters you can lead into battle is, for reasons of balance and usability, still twelve, you now also have a reserve roster to draw from. Characters can be dragged & dropped easily between combat duty and reserve, and indeed placed at the exact spot of the formation you want them to be in order to best fulfill their roles.

The new ability to have a reserve roster allows you to keep specialists around (especially as we overhaul the perk trees later on), rotate injured characters in and out of active duty (especially with the more complex injury mechanics we’re going to introduce soon) and always have fresh meat gather experience so that losing people in battle doesn’t hit you quite as hard. Having a deep roster is also a matter of cost, of course, so it’s up to you to decide whether you want to funnel all your crowns into a small roster, or share it between all the characters of a very deep roster where no one is unexpendable.

What else is happening?
With the new UI taking shape, the most expressive of button art also received a make-over. Here’s a before and after of the ‘loot all’ button.

Similarly to how the tutorial contract features illustrations, we’ve begun to create a whole set of artwork to use with events and contracts in order to further support the game’s atmosphere. The images below give a good idea of where we’re going with these. Take note, though, that they’re all still work-in-progress and not quite finished yet.

 

[Ulminati]

Great update. I will convert the heathens by giving out another 7 copies of battlebros once formations are live


Any chance of people not on active duty receiving a smaller pay? That could entice people to deploy a smaller group for an easy battle at the risk of someone getting injured.

 

[SmartCheetah]

I love it.
+1 to Ulminati questions, and one more:
-Any chance for "special" roster non-combat positions, like cook/medic/blacksmith/horses/scout/treasurer/whatever_you_might_think_of?
Those could grant some kind of bonuses to resources, while enable you to create even more fun random events (like eg. mass poisoning because of shitty cook or jewish treasurer who ran away with all the money xD)

 

[tiagocc0]

-Any chance for "special" roster non-combat positions, like cook/medic/blacksmith/horses/scout/treasurer/whatever_you_might_think_of?

inb4 someone asks for a hooker