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On June 13 2015 05:39 TheYango wrote:Show nested quote +On June 13 2015 05:36 Lord Tolkien wrote:
Waiting for the next M&B to come out before I recc anything. Warbands was alright, but without the mods it would be hideously unplayable and quite frankly stupidly imba. Without actual, good formations, pike/polearm crouching or a bunch of other balance changes, massing Swadian knights is pretty much the optimal, if expensive strat.
Also, sieges in vanilla are the worst and longest grindfests ever: mass as many xbows (maybe Vaegir marksmen) as you can and kill them all in the castle. Granted, it doesn't change as much in mods, but it helps somewhat.
Also again, imba, since some castles/cities were terrained in such a way that you could basically hold them against ludicrous amounts of enemies with massed xbows, if you have a decent amount in tactics. Somehow, this is exactly the kind of answer I expected you to give, lol.
Somehow, I'm not surprised that you expected this kind of answer.
Also, poor Nords; not only don't they have cav, but their archers are absolute shit compared to the other non-mounted faction (Rhodoks). They also have the worst bandits ever to fight (Sea Raiders>>>>all the other bandits in difficulty, and are brutal for early parties). Like, high level Rhodok parties are technically suboptimal, but still playable because lol xbow spam+shield wall on a hill kills things really quickly if they don't get mass-charged by Sarranid/Swadian/Vaegir knights (won't matter that much as the AI is shit in managing unit composition in massive battles; if they were, you better hope the hill was really, really high and more a steep cliff to stop those knights) and are absolutely deadly in siege wars because again, xbows+tower shield combo is actually really damn strong, but Nords? Worse than horse factions minus maybe khergits (but they're special) on battlefield, and can't compete against Rhodoks in sieges. Infantry sucks in vanilla M&B, unfortunately, compared to horse+archer arms. Without crouching and good formations, they're just bad. Sure, maxed out all-huskarl armies are hilarious, but they take x2 as long to train as a Rhodok Sergeant, and cost ~50% more to maintain, and don't have the benefit of what is essentially the best late-game archer arm in the damn game.
Speaking of which, part two of DnD history will be hitting after dinner.
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RIP, have to work tomorrow  maybe I just won't book q return flight from Seattle and just find an apartment and job out there >.>
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I really liked the ultimate Nord infantry because they were so sturdy, and stronger than the Rhodok in close combat, on top of being mobile (so they didn't slow my army too much).
When you have to take a castle without just sniping everyone they're the best units I've found.
(I prefer combat on foot, so I'll just place vaegir marksmen on a hill with my nord veterans, telling them all to hold, then bring the cavalry and NPC with me to take a swing or two at the enemy, retreat and flank/hold my own flank, then I dismount and get into the melee.)
But yeah the sieges kinda suck, defending them can be boring too (I prob killed more than 50 units each siege between my bow and the random arrows I picked up from our walls, then 2-handed bastard sword, or axe and cleave people climbing the laddders (need the good reach because your people will be massed in front of the ladder and you don't want to actually stand at the front)). Overall the whole "cleaning up", be it when you own more than a third of the map, when you're highly ranked in a faction and don't get much happening in quests or others, when you have to finish off the last guys in a siege defense, etc. is a chore.
Plus if you don't kill the Khergits first it's even worse because they'll raze all of your villages super fast and the marshal AI is super dumb and rarely finishes a siege, but if you do it yourself you lose a bunch of your economy to the raids in the meantime, and they're so annoying to catch on the field since they're fully mounted.
I never completed a full conquest because of that. The part when you're a young lord but still with some friends in the faction to activate all the rivalry and support quests is the most interesting part in the game so far.
Yango, aside from the Shadow Dragon (I guess it's the shadow one? It's black and in a dungeon involving shadows) I didn't skip anything for now, but I've shied away from quests involving the cemetery ('cause undeads and level drain apparently, fuck that even if there's a spell for it) and did the planar sphere super late (I'm at the end, damn fire elementals gonna be annoying so I'll spam summons at them I guess).
Oh and also the quest for the tiefling nihilistic bard dude. Sounds like more extraplanar trouble so fuck that, it'll wait till I'm stronger too.
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United States47024 Posts
I went to the cemetery pretty early on my last playthrough because Edwin and Korgan are 2 of the best NPCs in the game and both of their personal quests are there. Same with the Planar Prison because Haer'Dalis is awesome (and you really want to have him along for Edwin's personal quest because he has some hilarious interjections).
The Planar Prison isn't actually that hard because mostly you just fight mind controlled thralls. I'd go there sooner rather than later because there are also some pretty strong magic items to be gotten out of that quest. The Lower Crypts will shit on an unprepared party because the easiest Lich in the game is still a Lich (and with SCS it doesn't matter how "easy" he is because he still uses the Spell Immunity/Improved Invis/Protection from Magic Weapons combo).
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@Alaric: In general, you can't evaluate factions based purely on personal experience, as the vanilla M&B AI is so bad a baby duckling could beat AI armies multiple times their size once you hit the late-game, hence why mods aren needed to ensure some semblance of balance via AI improvement and other features.
Comparatively, however, a fully maxed out Swadian army of knights will kill any all-infantry army on the field, unless you play super-defensive Rhodoks in massively favorable terrain, and a hypothetical player-led Rhodok army will destroy a Nord army, provided the fight is on favorable terrain (against Nords: flat plains are fantastic), and indeed, most any mono-faction player army will beat the Nords.
Mixed faction armies are still the "best", but that complicates recruitment unless you have kingdom management mods.
Actually, since Warbands is 80% off, you guys just made me buy it again so I can relive the hilarious ahistoricity of 20 to 1 siege victories (with 90% vs 20% casualties) at Almerra.
I hope you guys are happy. Grrr.
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On June 13 2015 05:41 onlywonderboy wrote:Show nested quote +On June 13 2015 05:08 WaveofShadow wrote:
Um whoever mentioned Necrodancer, yes it's a great game and the music is fantastic (since it is a huge part of the game). I'd only recommend it if you're an Isaac fan though honestly and it is extremely unforgiving and takes a while to get used to. Isaac is the worst. Ignore my recently played games on Steam.
I'm sad cause I thought afterbirth comes out this summer but apparently it's just sometime in 2015, which means probably end of the year ish.
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On June 13 2015 05:45 jcarlsoniv wrote:Show nested quote +On June 13 2015 05:41 ComaDose wrote:
woo go team manual. I know soniv is on it too. o/ My dad prefers standard, but as far as I've been alive, I don't think he's had one - cuz my mom has no idea how to drive stick. He says it's cuz she can't learn to do it right, she says it's cuz he's a shitty teacher. Having been taught standard by my dad, my mom is correct. I will teach my future wife to drive stick if I have to.
I don't blame you, I'd want my future wife to know how to drive my stick as well.
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On June 13 2015 06:23 Slayer91 wrote:Show nested quote +On June 13 2015 05:45 jcarlsoniv wrote:On June 13 2015 05:41 ComaDose wrote:
woo go team manual. I know soniv is on it too. o/ My dad prefers standard, but as far as I've been alive, I don't think he's had one - cuz my mom has no idea how to drive stick. He says it's cuz she can't learn to do it right, she says it's cuz he's a shitty teacher. Having been taught standard by my dad, my mom is correct. I will teach my future wife to drive stick if I have to. I don't blame you, I'd want my future wife to know how to drive my stick as well.
*sigh* you could at least try Teut
On June 13 2015 05:48 Numy wrote:Show nested quote +On June 13 2015 05:45 jcarlsoniv wrote:On June 13 2015 05:41 ComaDose wrote:
woo go team manual. I know soniv is on it too. o/ My dad prefers standard, but as far as I've been alive, I don't think he's had one - cuz my mom has no idea how to drive stick. He says it's cuz she can't learn to do it right, she says it's cuz he's a shitty teacher. Having been taught standard by my dad, my mom is correct. I will teach my future wife to drive stick if I have to. It's pretty simple if you know how to drive in the first place. Just confidence and practice is all you need after that. The car tells you everything you need to know about gears anyway.
Well, I learned on my '87 BMW, so that didn't really assist with the whole "knowing when to shift" thing - all by tachometer/ear
My Mazda tells me when to shift for maximum fuel efficiency, but fuck that - lower gears, gotta go fast.
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Him, maybe I'll pick up m&b, I know a couple of my friends play it, if I do I'll ask for what mods to install :p
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Oh, right! Another thing that shat on me because I didn't have intel on most spells (basically only the ones I came across) was the whole order of breaching spells to remove a mage's protections. But that's part of the "if you had a booklet and took the time to read it, you wouldn't have had trouble with that".
About the bears it's because some of them maw golems down iirc (golems in the planar prison were a bit annoying for me till I got fodder that could kill them and not just tank).
From what I know of Haer'Dalis I prob won't like him (character-wise, not gameplay-wise), looks like he plays the "look at that classy cold demon!" trope. I'll take him along anyway since I'm romancing Aerie for this playthrough. No room for Edwin (iirc it's MC, Minsc, Aerie, Jaheira, Jan, and whatever not-Haer-'Dalis companion I recruited at the time and kept till he gave me his personal quest, after which I release him/her), I think if I make another playthough I'll take at least him and Viconia though.
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On June 13 2015 05:56 Crusnik wrote:RIP, have to work tomorrow maybe I just won't book q return flight from Seattle and just find an apartment and job out there >.>
No objections here. Cixah can come too.
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On June 13 2015 03:36 TheYango wrote:
I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned Mount and Blade, because it seems exactly the kind of game that some people in OT would like a lot.
One of my friends is top tier at being shitty about speaking clearly and for the longest time I thought the game was called Mountain Blade.
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Oh that's right, that explains why I stopped playing it. The mod forums are always a truly confusing morass of "what the hell is still compatible with the latest version".
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United States47024 Posts
If you're romancing Aerie bear in mind that Haer'dalis can fuck up the romance depending on how far along you are when you get him.
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didnt someone say our icons were going to get locked during the announcement or something. yall confusing me.
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On June 13 2015 06:53 TheYango wrote:
If you're romancing Aerie bear in mind that Haer'dalis can fuck up the romance depending on how far along you are when you get him.
Hasn't even started yet since I still haven't had the conversation since the reload o/
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United States15536 Posts
@cars: Automatic isn't automatic enough. I will not be happy until cars drive themselves.
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28095 Posts
I learned how to drive on a manual as well and took my test on it. I like driving automatics but I can't see myself ever buying one, unless it's some sort of in between. A lot of cars have that paddle shifting stuff, idk.
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Short of driving in san francisco or driving in LA-tier traffic. Manual > automatic.
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Blog, although apparently there will be much disappointment that it's not about cars or steam sale games.
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EPT
