Would the devs or members of this community be interested in a comparative…

[guidon101]

SO FAR, I see no reason to recruit anyone with high upkeep (KNIGHT, SELLSWORD, SWORDMASTER), because they are simply not worth the upkeep, because they block you from certain missions like: GO there get 310 gold, SEARCH FOR X get 325 gold.

Different playstyle, so I respectfully disagree :)

Early on, I agree, I have to avoid high-costs and try to optimize my expenses, but later on…
At some point in the game, I don’t need to take those low-paying missions; instead I opt for the high-paying Raze Missions, or even just plain raiding without missions. My playstyle is made more effective by the powerful raw combat stats usually offered by those classes. Their performance in combat is worth every penny and then some, especially taking into account BB lifetime/longevity otherwise. If you want to talk about $ over time, I think Raze missions/raiding/looting becomes much more efficient than what you would make doing those “peaceful quests”; not to mention more fun (combat), if that is a factor.

Actually, I was worried that everyone would think those backgrounds are overpowered, and render the rest of the other backgrounds worthless… so I am so glad you have a different opinion and playstyle :)

[Wolves]

Wow! Thank you guidon101 for your imput on this, its greatly appreciated.

Rawbonus = Addition of all hard stats, without boni like +5% chance to hit / head or +15% more or less xp, as they represent some kind of “bonus” level ups at hiring.

To level a DAYTALER to a KNIGHT, you would need approximately 4 lvlups, if both start with the same basic stats.

A DAYTALER lvl 4 = a KNIGHT lvl 1 – raw stats wise, but has as an upkeep of 10 compared to 25 and 4 perks, but has lower potential overall, because he has already spent 4 lvlups to catch up with the KNIGHT raw stats wise.

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I see (+-% bonus XP) not as a bonus/malus at all, because its not a relevant stat. If you play perfect, you will reach the lvl cap no matter what.

(+-% hit to head = crit) on the other hand is a hard bonus for crit based positions in your party like “MELEE SUPPORTER (PIKE etc.)” or “RANGED”.

—

On 1) the wighted value of a stat depends on the position of your unit (mercenary) and is therefore depended on the role you want the unit to be.

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[Wolves]

“Actually, I was worried that everyone would think those backgrounds are overpowered, and render the rest of the other backgrounds worthless… so I am so glad you have a different opinion and playstyle :)”

The background is dependend on the needs and goal of the player. The SELLSWORD / KNIGHT for example have the highest potential, but currently my playstyle is based on 1) max economic gain & 2) max safety (no loses).

I think that explains the difference of our opinions, its only a question of the perspective.

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[Wolves]

I very much appreciate your imput guidon101!

Could you upload a savegame an advanced party please?

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[GOD]

An experience bonus is definitely a plus when it’s a trait, since it means that the recruit gains power at an increased rate compared to other recruits. More power means more survivability, so conversely a exp penalty means that your recruit has a lower chance of survival than a recruit with an exp bonus. It also means that said recruit will catch up quickly to your higher levelled mercenaries when you recruit him as a replacement, making him more valuable than those who’ll take longer. I still don’t like the perk version, but it’s rather valuable as a trait.

[guidon101]

Rawbonus = Addition of all hard stats, without boni like +5% chance to hit / head or +15% more or less xp, as they represent some kind of “bonus” level ups at hiring.

Ah, I see, I get where you’re coming from now. It makes sense with your premises established. That is a very interesting perspective/comparison using the Daytaler and the Knight as an example. Probably the kind of trade-off analysis hard-core min-maxers (guilty) would find very useful. When I play, I tend to just go with intuition/abstraction “knight > peasant” until numbers like these make me wiser. And sometimes, I’m in a role-playing mood, and numbers just go out the window!

Sure, I’ll attach an advanced party, but will have to be in a few hours, when I get home :)

[guidon101]

Ok, here’s my current “ironman” game (version .40). I consider this my 2nd long-term game (first was in version .38), and I min-maxed/save-scummed the crap out of the first one to learn the mechanics of the game. This one, I’ve been playing under certain house rules:

1) No save reload, except “to interview a new BB” (my RP justification) — as in, to peek at his traits, and then reload/dismiss if I don’t like him
– no re-roll of level up stats
– no reload from battles
– reload allowed for crashes/bugs; only had this happen a couple times when the AI turn froze and I couldn’t finish the battle

2) the theme I was going for is an “elitist” merc group that only admits the most combat effective/experienced members, except for the starting founders

3) I “play” as “Guidon The First” — but when he dies, he will be succeeded by Volkar The Slayer who will be “by tradition” renamed “Guidon The Second” and so on; fortunately I still have The First, and one Founding Brother left; only a Guidon is permitted to wear the best helm to signify his rank; only my favorite core mercs (founding brother, and Guidon’s potential replacement) allowed to wear the best body armor; I titled the mercs according to their rank/role

Otherwise, no other restrictions on battle tactics, skills, loot, quests, and gear.

This is also the first game where I started to try a battle strategy based around Rally the Troops and Perfect Focus, an idea I borrowed from the forums here; I have four experimental mercs for that (one archer, one pikeman, two captains); also started experimenting with Orc weapons. I play similarly as you do at the start, keep a low profile and do GOTO and PROTECT quests, stay out of trouble, retreat most of the time unless I have confidence in the battle, etc. I save up several thousands, then go on a hiring spree, then start combat-training my company. There is a point when all of a sudden, my company can hold a fight, usually when I have around 6 members, but before that point, everything is a deadly encounter, and I lost so many mercs on the way (I look forward to the Annals/History feature to commemorate my fallen…)

Needless to say, I had many “ironman” games preceding this one that ended in ignoble wipes, and out of those games I developed these “company traditions” that I enjoy. I should probably come up with a better company name than the default “Battle Brothers”, but I actually did not expect this company to survive…I ventured with this company after one of my favorite starting companies named “Dire Wolves” got wiped (by werewolves, of course) in a previous game, so I was in very low morale and just “getting by” until all of a sudden, I got past the early game harsh curve, and the rest is history.

You will notice that I have tons of money and supplies, more than I know what to do with. This is why I was wondering about the whole “economic efficiency” approach, considering in the late game, a combat-effective company would be flush with money, and money becomes no object to the point that I started to hire/dismiss mercs just to clear the rosters of cities to make it easier to tell newly arrived recruits from old ones, but it is also at this point that the game starts to get boring due to lack of end-game content.

But I heard there are secrets in the nether regions… that I have never explored… so I am off to do that tonight :)

[guidon101]

Oh, the plain save file exceeds max file size… oops… Ok, re-uploading it in a zip file…

Attachments:

1. game04.zip

[Wolves]

Thank you guidon101! I can’t look @ it as I’m currently not at home, but in a few hours I will be able to. Very interrested in your party / tactical approach.

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