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

[Hoaxmetal]

Strength in numbers, Arisen.

 

[Kayerts]

Have anyone figured optimal strats to play yet?

This was my best effort at a guide, written haphazardly and updated somewhat.

 

[Zdzisiu]

Beggars make great arrow fodder - they are also cheaper than dogs. Brigands break formation to chase down beggars like idiots, worth it to always have 1 or 2 in reserve, they cost 5 gold a day and save lives.

Ah, the old XCOM "sacrifice the rookie" strat, tried and tested. Plus sometimes the beggars/cripples might have good stats and become a keeper.

I never have enough money to hire any of the good recruits, so I always end up with a motley crew of daytalers, farmhands, masons, miners, fishermen etc.

It is also the real-life Soviet Union strategy. You either die on the frontline or live long enough to be sent to the gulag. Well, not exactly the same, but you get what I mean.

 

[Modron]

Ah, the old XCOM "sacrifice the rookie" strat, tried and tested. Plus sometimes the beggars/cripples might have good stats and become a keeper.

I never have enough money to hire any of the good recruits, so I always end up with a motley crew of daytalers, farmhands, masons, miners, fishermen etc.

The whole skill specialization star potential stuff made recruits so much more of a gamble than before especially when combined with skill ranges for backgrounds; nothing like getting an asthmatic hedge knight who is adapt at initiative and resolve and not that much more skilled at melee than a lumberjack to cause . I generally avoid the super expensive recruits unless I am really flush and looking to replace some especially low quality bros.

 

[Doma]

Have anyone figured optimal strats to play yet?

This was my best effort at a guide, written haphazardly and updated somewhat.

"The renown growth will cause the world to level up"

Didnt the devs confirm that its not the case? Or maybe I am remembering wrong. I got some vague memory of the devs saying that the world do not scale to renown.

 

[Skittles]

Have anyone figured optimal strats to play yet?

This was my best effort at a guide, written haphazardly and updated somewhat.

"The renown growth will cause the world to level up"

Didnt the devs confirm that its not the case? Or maybe I am remembering wrong. I got some vague memory of the devs saying that the world do not scale to renown.

He said so, but that doesn't mesh with my experience, so I think there's something else going on. I tagged him earlier to solicit clarification, but he hasn't been around lately.

 

[Kayerts]

Have anyone figured optimal strats to play yet?

This was my best effort at a guide, written haphazardly and updated somewhat.

"The renown growth will cause the world to level up"

Didnt the devs confirm that its not the case? Or maybe I am remembering wrong. I got some vague memory of the devs saying that the world do not scale to renown.

Did you make it to the end of the paragraph, two sentences after that quote?

e: I guess I'll add strikethrough text.

 

[Haba]

Not seeing any kind of spike in the sales numbers on Steam for BB. Why is there no justice in the world?

 

[Hoaxmetal]

Not seeing any kind of spike in the sales numbers on Steam for BB. Why is there no justice in the world?

Why would there be a spike? It has been in EA for a long time and it was known that the price will rise.

 

[oneself]

Is trading the best way to get money in this game? Save few thousands and trade? The contracts don't really provide good and safe income stream.

 

[Skittles]

Is trading the best way to get money in this game? Save few thousands and trade? The contracts don't really provide good and safe income stream.

Best? No, but it adds up if you do it right. The best way is to get a good patrol contract with a high per head price and to go beat up weak enemies and raid encampments to hit your cap.

 

[oneself]

Is trading the best way to get money in this game? Save few thousands and trade? The contracts don't really provide good and safe income stream.

Best? No, but it adds up if you do it right. The best way is to get a good patrol contract with a high per head price and to go beat up weak enemies and raid encampments to hit your cap.

Noble contract?

 

[Skittles]

Is trading the best way to get money in this game? Save few thousands and trade? The contracts don't really provide good and safe income stream.

Best? No, but it adds up if you do it right. The best way is to get a good patrol contract with a high per head price and to go beat up weak enemies and raid encampments to hit your cap.

Noble contract?

Yes it is. They have you visit two other cities of the same faction and return within a week, paying a small lump sum and a per head bounty up to a cap. It's usually not until I have access to those that I start buying equipment in earnest for my bros.

 

[JudasIscariot]

Is this ever coming to GOG?

It's crazy how many more stuff they can put in the game

yeah

like non-retarded los mechanics

:glares:

About LOS mechanics, yeah I'd appreciate a line going from my crossbowman to the target so I can adjust for where I would need to move to not shoot my dudes in the back like Ian from Fallout...

 

[Skittles]

Best not rely on the indicator too much. Sometimes you end up shooting your dudes in the back even when there's clear straight line LOS because your arrow veered left or right.

Yeah, it seems like if there's a miss,the missile lands in a random adjacent hex. If it's occupied, it'll hit the character in that hex--it used to be 100% chance, but I think they fixed that.

 

[Reinhardt]

LOS doesn't mean that you can't shot your bro if you miss target. It just mean that you don't get penalty to hit chance because of him.

 

[Eyestabber]

Have anyone figured optimal strats to play yet?

Well, I'm not gonna claim to have figured out the "best" way to play the game, but my strat is very consistent on hard (expert?) ironman. Since I'm having trouble recording the video I wanna record, I'm gonna share some of the thoughts I wanted to put on a video here, and then copy-paste them into Youtube once I figure things out on the recording end.

Anyways, bullet point style (I'm only gonna talk about early game for now):

• Early game is all about cost-effectiveness. You're NOT looking for the best recruits, you're looking for the cheapest. The cost-effectiveness of both gear and soldiers in the game scales down REALLY fast. In other words, more expensive items bring less and less "bang for your buck".
  
• With that in mind, your choice of early game armor should focus on quantity over quality. Having your initial bros wearing chainmail while the rest of the company is running around naked is not a great strategy.
  
• IME the most cost effective choice is to recruit 3-5 extra bros (6-8 total) and equip each and every one of them with a 30-40 HP helmet + a 30-50 HP armor. That way you can ensure nobody gets instagibbed. Your guys will be able to take 2 hits to the head, 3 mixed hits, 4 if they're tough and even 5 if they are tough AND lucky. Remember, RNG still plays a big role in all of this.
• As for weapons, you probably already guessed it: militia spears. They are the best early game weapon hands down. If you can't get everyone a spear, other good options include pitchforks, shortswords, clubs and wooden flails. Remember that you don't NEED to have a ton of spears, a spearwall can still be made with a 1-guy interval. Remember that getting higher tier weapons and armors for free is THE most cost effective thing ever. So don't leave a handaxe on the stash just because it lacks that juicy +20% THC. Give it to your highest melee bro and enjoy the extra DPT.
  
• Shields are a must. Once you combine the increased defense from a shield with the HP buffer of armor+helmet you got a bro that is VERY tough to take down, no matter how shitty his stats are. The heather shield is a neat little exception to my cost-effectiveness rule: if you see one for sale, buy it. It costs more, but it will make your initial spear-and-shield bro almost unkillable. An alternative is having a net in the off hand. Nets work wonders against Hoggart. Net him away from the fight and deal with his friends. Then surround him and dispatch him. Easy!
  
• Good early game recruits include: fisherman (comes with net and straw hat), miller (high fatigue), messenger (brings his own early game armor + fatigue), militia (might be too expensive, never hire more than 1 early on), wildman (the XP penalty is not a big deal and they have higher initial stats + no gear). Anywya, there is a ton of backgrounds, bear in mind that you need cheap people without useless gear (you're paying for whatever gear the merc brings. I'm looking at you, miner! Your pickaxe is utter shit!).
  
• Good early game enemies: werewolves and ghouls -> dumbasses that will just rush your spearwall. Easy paycheck! Bandit thugs are pushovers, but raiders are not! Pay attention to the pre-battle screen: if it says "bandit thugs" go get that cheap XP. If it says "bandit raiders"...assess the situation carefully and don't be afraid to flee to fight another day. Remember: raiders >>> thugs.
• Be careful with: skeletons. These guys pack a punch, wear armor (so it's harder to itemize against), have a lot of HP and don't EVER get tired. Forget your usual medieval fantasy tropes: skellies are NOT trash mobs. Don't learn this lesson the hard way. Zombies/Wiedesomething: the fight can EASILY snowball against you once your guys start getting tired. Use spearwalls, since zombies are dumbassess. Don't get into a war of attrition against them, you WILL lose. Orcs: don't take them on without tier 2 weapons. Young orcs are mostly a mid game enemy, fighting them is pretty straightforward. Goblins OTOH vary a lot. If you find them on flat terrain, engage and stomp them. Swords and spears are the best thing against them (even late game). However, DON'T TRY TO FIGHT GOBLINS EARLY ON IN BAD TERRAIN!!!! YOU WILL GET MURDERED! Also, gobs provide you with decent weapons that you can actually use.
  
• When you start a new game, search the map for a large coastal city. Now, If possible, try to find a SMALL city with a weaponsmith/armorsmith. Befriend both cities. Buy your stuff on small friendly cities, sell your loot on large friendly cities. Later on you'll want to befriend a fortress for low prices on that juicy late game equipement.
• Always READ your contracts before rejecting them. A 3 skull FEDex quest is not only doable, it's also profitable if you manage to AVOID higher level mobs. A 1 skull contract against a goblin den in the middle of a swap can EASILY spell your company's doom.

That's all I can think right now. I might edit this post to add more and by the time I upload a video to YT the description will probably have more info. Hope this is useful to some1.

Also:

Sarissofoi

What software do you use to record your videos? I used Mirrilis Action! on my orc battle thing, but now action is FUBAR'ed giving me error messages and refusing to record. Help pls?

 

[Alienman]

So...my go-to tool for recording stuff (shadowplay) doesn't recognize Battle Brothers as a game. It simply refuses to start recording. Any idea whether the problem is on your end or Nvidia's end? rapsdjff ?

Just alt tab, start record then alt tab back in again. You have to cut the desktop recording away though in some program if you don't wanna show it.

Tried. Shadowplay won't start recording unless it's a game. FFS

That is strange. I just recorded some Battle Brothers using my method. It won't start inside the game, but outside, and the videos places itself under the catalog "Desktop".

Edit:

Open Nvidia Experience, press the "share my gaming moments" icon. Go to the settings, scroll all the way down. Press "privacy control" then allow recording desktop. Should work now.

 

[Sarissofoi]

I was using Fraps initially but it was producing either gigantic files(good quality) or half gigantic files of not so good quality, I also need to change their format and scale down size.
Fraps is waste of time.
Now I am using OBS.
Its free and its pretty great. You can put noise gate and noise reductions on voice and files are rather small(like 1h = 1giga compared to fraps 1h=50giga) and can be uploaded to yt from the start(they are also decent quality).

Some advice:
Early look for used/damaged goods on markets(especially wooden keeps can have plenty of cheap/used leather armor and alike).
Start training ranged troops as fast as you have even if you do not use them as ranged early. They will save you lot of stress when you transit from early to mid phase.

I will upload some of my secret background notes:

Ranges and values can be modified by Traits so for example you can get Fearless Drunk that have +15 bonus to resolve.

 

[Alienman]

Too much meta for me.

 

[GuiltyofBeingTrite]

What is the modifier for recruitable bros that have an impact on price of goods, can't find anything online but it hints at it in description.

 

[Prime Junta]

Fuck this ironman early game is hard.

I just started another one. Got really lucky: was able to afford padded leather for the frontline, a hunting bow, and non-shit-tier weapons all around.

Then I got mugged by the RNG in the Hoggart fight. Lost a bro in the opening to a lucky crit by the hunter, then kept whiffing 60-80% hit chances while Hoggart & co kept hitting and critting. Lost four bros and all my fancy armour. Figured I was even deeper in the hole than when I started, so retired.

 

[Doma]

Ironman combined with harder difficulty is fucking brutal. I have started over and killed that poor Hoggart like 6 times now.

Oh well, time for another one!

 

[Darth Roxor]

i wish you could control doges in combat

would make dealing with negrodancers so much easier

 

[JudasIscariot]

What is the modifier for recruitable bros that have an impact on price of goods, can't find anything online but it hints at it in description.

Try Merchant or Peddler backgrounds, IIRC.