Wargasm

[Wargasm]

OldGreyBeard wrote:

They added “Eunuchs”!?! Not sure what to think about that, but I have a couple in the party just to see.

Both the eunuchs I recruited turned out to be super-talented (three stars) at ranged skill and ranged defence, and were either talented at resolve or (in the case of the one that was found being bullied by children) started combat at confident morale.

[Wargasm]

RusBear wrote:

interesting fact #2
goblin ambusher – aimed shot by t2 goblin bow.
the mercenary armor – 130 + heavy armor perk
got : armor damage 20 , hp damage 10… if you count – the maximum damage could be only 5 hp.
I ask developers to ban this cheater )

I think those goblin bows do 25-40 damage that’s 60-65% effective against armour, of which up to 30-35% might ignore armour. So, say it did some 30-40 damage, which gets reduced to some 20-25 damage (i.e. 60-65%) against armour, and is then further reduced by a little bit because of Battle Forged (i.e. to c. 20) … Then, the % of damage that can ignore armour (max 35%): is that taken from the raw value of 30-40 or from the modified value against armour of c. 20? I’d assume the first possibility, since this new value is the value of damage that ignores armour, so that the modified/reduced value because of armour protection is probably not relevant … In which case, the hit point damage of 10 (not more than 35% of the raw damage) could well be right …

How did you calculate that 5 should be the max hit point damage?

Or maybe goblins have their own secret perk system that includes increasing the armour-ignoring potential and poisoning capacity of tiny bows?

[Wargasm]

Nope. The above isn’t always the case. I began a new campaign to experiment. I had one guy (Baldomar) with the impatient trait, and another (Walter) with the Adrenaline perk/skill. In battle, began in regular formation (probably c. 11:40am in the newer logs), the guy with the highest initiative (neither of those) was the first to act, and “impatient” Baldomar didn’t act till about 6th in the first round. At the end of the first round, I moved Walter into the midst of the melee and then used the Adrenaline skill so that he would act first in the next round. In the next round, however, Baldomar was indeed impatient and was first to act, and Walter was only second to act.

Attachments:

1. 2016-08-31_c11.40am_-_Errant_Application_of_Impatient_Trait_and_Adrenaline_Skill.zip

[Wargasm]

Immunized: poison no longer impairs your combat abilities, and, on the first occasion on which poison enters your veins in a battle, you gain an additional 6 action points and a 25% increase in damage on your next turn.

Recharged: after regaining consciousness after being stunned, the action point and fatigue costs of all skills are reduced by 50% for a single turn. Works only once per battle.

Infuriated: melee skill and damage are both increased by 25% for as long as the character remains trapped in a net.

Habituated: when fighting in snow, forests/woods or hills/mountains, melee skill and melee defence are both increased by 10%, and the character gains 1 additional action point per turn.

Ghost Buster: all ranged attacks now have a 25% chance to kill a Lost Soul.

Vigilance: melee defence and initiative are both increased by 50% for two turns whenever a withered vampire emerges beside this character in combat.

Rejuvenation: at each positive morale check, the character has a percentage chance (equal to current resolve) to regain 10% of any hit points that have been lost in the current battle.

Naked Savage: when the total fatigue cost of all equipment in the character’s possession is no more than 15% of the character’s base max fatigue, gain an additional 3 action points per turn and a 20% boost to melee skill, melee defence, initiative and damage.

Martial Artist: the Punch skill is accessible whenever not armed with a shield and no longer has a penalty to hit chance, and it gains a 25% chance to stun and fatigue any non-immune target that is hit. The character also gains access to the “Wrestle” skill, which allows them (when not armed with a shield) to throw opponents to the ground and reduce their defence capabilities by 50% for one turn.

[Wargasm]

^ Those rare orc warrior shields are what makes fighting orcs (and using the new, modified Shield Expert perk) most worthwhile.

Oh, and if you’re wondering whether to work with billhooks or longaxes, wonder no more:

Attachments:

1. 

   Named_Longaxe.jpg
   

[Wargasm]

I think what happens is that the impatient character does always start first in battles where the formation is retained, but never in those ones where the formation is muddled.

[Wargasm]

Now THAT’s an upgrade (well worth paying half of all one’s crowns for it):

This vicious-looking one-handed warhammer is also enticing:

Attachments:

1. 

   Named_Nasal_Helmet.jpg
   

2. 

   Named_Warhammer.jpg
   

[Wargasm]

OMG – look at the prices compared to the attributes:

Attachments:

1. 

   Named_Fighting_Axe.jpg
   

[Wargasm]

High-Functioning Alcoholic: no longer receive combat penalties when drunk, but gain double the bonus to resolve and an immunity to being hungover.

Eye for an Eye: while 50% or more of your hit points remain, gain +10% melee and ranged skill, +10% resolve and +10% damage on your next turn whenever a hit does enough damage to trigger a morale check.

Best Form of Defence: on your next turn after your shield is smashed, the damage bonus from double-grip is doubled to 50%, but not if you have another shield in reserve.

Now or Never: on your next turn after a hit that reduces your hit points to fewer than 50%, the action point and fatigue costs of attacks are reduced by 25% (rounded down).

One with Your Prey: gain an additional +5% chance to hit every time you attack the same opponent with melee or ranged attacks, and an additional -5% chance of being hit every time you are attacked by the same opponent with melee or ranged attacks. Bonuses are not re-set with hits, but the attack bonus is re-set as soon as you attack another opponent, and the defence bonus is re-set as soon as your opponent attacks someone else.

[Wargasm]

^ Yeah … I took it for one of my recruits (a thief), shortly after writing that, and his melee defence when stark naked (21) went up to 29, which seems curious and not like a 50% increase. But then I realized it was a 50% increase on his “base” melee defence as displayed when levelling up (16), which was increased to 21 by being short (i.e. 16 x 1.5 = 24, + 5 = 29). So, not only is the new Nimble only a 50% increase of melee defence instead of 100%, but it also doesn’t include any trait bonuses in the multiplication; they are merely applied by themselves after the main calculation. Any additional bonuses from Confidence or Dodge will not be applied before the multiplication; they are just added individually afterwards. And – needless to say – the additional defence from a shield is not included in the “base” defence score; this also is added alone afterwards, but the weight of the shield reduces the degree of the increase, so that the final working defence in combat is only slightly higher.

With a heater shield, his melee defence was 45 and his ranged defence was 39, and these increased to 59 and 53 at the onset of battle, thanks to a +14 Dodge bonus, and his *** melee skill was a mouth-watering 68 and he was still shaping up to be quite invincible … but he was killed in that very battle. A woodcutter smashed his shield, and a swordsman finally managed to scratch him to take away the Dodge bonus, and then an axeman eventually managed one big hit and he received the injury that halves the amount of damage, so that he couldn’t kill them off before being hit once more to end his tenure.

So yes: the new Nimble sucks and is useless unless you get someone whose “base” defence is over 40 and you’ve looted a magical shield that’s <10 heavy but with >20 defence …

[Wargasm]

You might still be able to have a nimble swordmaster – only this time he can be armed with a shield, and his melee defence won’t be so exaggeratedly high, but his ranged defence will be higher and he’ll even be able to form shieldwalls to bolster both. But he needn’t be a swordmaster – he could be a dagger-master or a mace-master …

[Wargasm]

^ I’ve been noticing that sort of thing recently, as well. For example: use flail lash against a bandit with only a bandana on his head (20 protection), and it hits him on the head, and the bandana is destroyed, and … the head receives the tiniest scratch, as if the flail did its minimum possible damage, but it was hitting the head and that’s supposed to do extra damage. But then hit him on the head again (now all “armour” is gone) and now it does much more damage (what you expected the first time). So it looks like the damage the first time was magically curtailed by that tiny strip of cloth …

[Wargasm]

^ Yes. I’m always on the lookout for special, magical swords that are unusually effective at smashing/ignoring armour. Or flails with an exaggerated chance to hit the head.

[Wargasm]

I always avoid using precious looted shields against orcs. I usually use their own giant metal ones against them, so that they exhaust themselves trying to split them and then can’t attack much.

[Wargasm]

Well:

— Student is now much more viable, and I’ll give it to everyone as their first (or last) perk

— I’m not going to make too much use of Bags&Belts and Quick Hands any more; I always felt that it resulted in unrealistic actions and that it caused campaigns and battles to become tiresome because of excess item management/assignation, but it was also so helpful to prevail in the old system and so I kept taking recourse to it
— I’m still going to give most people Pathfinder, since battles on tough terrain are a real drag without it, and it’s extremely useful for the advantageous positioning of troops on any uneven terrain
— I probably won’t make massive use of the new Recover perk, because those with the greatest protection from shields and armour can usually forego regular shieldwalls and can usually afford to be patient working away at the enemy with basic, uncostly attack skills that (especially with a weapon mastery) won’t result in a rapid exhaustion of max fatigue (even if it’s not that high to start with)
— Likewise, light nimble fighters with high defence skills can usually afford to avoid costly attack and defence skills and keep working away with basic attacks, and 2-tile fighters don’t build much fatigue anyway (not even shield-splitting axemen once they have axe mastery)

— The new Adrenaline skill could actually be very useful for any type of fighter (especially those pursuing goblin bastards using bows/nets/impalers/magic, and especially anyone with strong attack but weak defence attributes)
— Melee fighters could use it after moving into a midst of friends and foes
— 2-tile fighters could use it after moving into range of a 2-tile enemy
— Skirmishers, ranged assassins and hammer/axe/sword psychopaths could use it after moving into the perfect position for an attack

— The new Backstabber perk is excellent for helping melee fighters (1- or 2-tile) to hit opponents with high defence skills, and is definitely a superior choice to Fast Adaptation for anyone not fighting in isolation
— The new Underdog perk is great for taking cumulative advantage of Backstabber without increasing your own vulnerability, and will of course be very useful for hammer/axe/sword psychopaths or nimble duelists

— With the new injury system, I’m going to give everyone (or almost everyone) the combination of Crippling Strikes and the new version of Hold Out
— Crippling Strikes could be a good way to keep making effective use of accurate, low-damage weapons (swords and spears) against heavily protected opponents (i.e. orcs); this effect could be furthered by also selecting Fearsome and/or Duelist (+25% of damage ignoring armour)
— If high-damage weapons seem to reliably inflict injuries without Crippling Strikes, I might not give it to those who are going to use more murderous weapons
— I probably won’t bother with the revised Executioner (increased damage against injured opponents), since less-effective injured opponents aren’t usually a priority to attack

— It looks like Nimble and Battle Forged (both modified) will be mutually exclusive picks
— Nimble could now work with a bow or (to a reasonable degree) with a 2-hander or shield (so long as the armour is light) or with moderate armour (if there is no large shield/weapon and if Brawny works to reduce the penalty of armour)
— Battle Forged (more generous than before when wearing the heaviest possible armour) and Brawny (less generous than before) would work well together; but, if you choose just one of them, you should choose Battle Forged if you intend to wear the heaviest armour available (which you probably should do)
— Dodge (an annoying/enticing perk) will still superficially inflate the Nimble bonus and it could also work with Battle Forged (I’ve got a pikeman in super-heavy rare armour whose dodge bonus is still higher than +10)

— Because of the colossally increased collateral damage when aiming at enemies in melee, I probably won’t bother with Bullseye for ranged fighters; instead, I shall take Fast Adaptation and shall try to make my ranged fighters devastating in close-quarters combat as well
— The new Lone Wolf perk is interesting; a 10% boost to melee and ranged defence is usually nothing for someone without a shield, but attack skills could be decently enhanced
— Instead of staying and shooting behind the melee, you could send ranged fighters around the peripheries to snipe out foes from afar (more realistic)
— Ranged fighters would be good for doubling up as nimble duelists, since light swords could do some devastating damage with the Duelist perk, or you could take Dagger Mastery and try to take advantage of Fast Adaptation with 3 attacks per turn
— Or you could take recourse to Bags&Belts and give a nimble bowman a kite shield and some spare arrows, in addition to sword and/or dagger

— I don’t plan to use the modified Captain or Rally the Troops perks; I was never a fan of them, since anyone given them immediately became less intrinsically exciting and was used/positioned almost solely to benefit others
— Since Resolve is important for not shitting yourself from big hits and not running away when you loot some exotic distant ruins that turn out to be inhabited by Lost Souls, I’ll probably give most people the new version of Iron Mind

— With no benefit from Bags&Belts, any decent reserve shield will impose a heavy cost to fatigue, and it won’t be possible to carry several at once for fighting orcs or adapting to goblin bow/knife attacks
— Instead I shall loot a variety of light/heavy/durable/rare/protective shields and arm everyone before battle with the most appropriate shield for the anticipated opponent(s)
— If a melee fighter has a weapon mastery and isn’t going to use fatiguing skills too much, it should still be possible to wear lots of heavy armour and carry a large shield and have another large shield (and a weapon) in reserve, and still not need Brawny to go with Battle Forged
— I won’t form that many shieldwalls to take advantage of the elevated bonus from Shield Expert, but the basic bonus should still be significant for some rare and beautiful looted shields, and extra-durable shields will induce orcs to exhaust themselves splitting shields until they can no longer offer much attack
— For fighters with both high melee attack and defence skills, it might be worth taking both Shield Expert and Duelist, so that a split shield puts the splitter into peril
— If a melee fighter develops especially high melee attack and/or defence skills, I’ll probably remove the shield and give them Duelist along with Battle Forged, or remove much of the armour and give them Nimble
— It’ll be interesting to see how the new Nimble perk works with shields, since, although shield fatigue reduces the 50% defence bonus, it’ll presumably increase it significantly to start with, so that melee defence is still higher with rather than without the shield
— If the above is the case, you could use a large and durable kite shield to bolster ranged defence, and dispense with any need for Dodge (and a new protocol for melee fighters would be to bolster intrinsic melee defence and seek out durable kite shields – kind of what I always wanted to do in the past)

— I’m going to have at least one experimental campaign where I try to raise a successful band consisting of a small number of individuals all using the new Underdog and Lone Wolf perks
— This band can consist of (a) heavily armoured hammer/axe/sword psychos using area-of-effect attacks to try to take advantage of the new Reach Advantage perk, (b) nimble dagger masters with kite shields, (c) nimble bow/archer assassins who double-up as duelists, (d) adrenalized jagged pikemen with nets and missiles in their pockets etc. etc.

[Author]

Posts