Battle Brothers - Warriors of the North DLC Released

TomRon said:

I bought the base game today and started playing. And dying. Mostly dying. I'm torn between trying to figure it out and looking and some guides. I don't want to spoil the experience for myself, but on the other hand there's a lot of mechanics getting thrown around and I need to know those to make smart decisions…

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Or play while watching a streamer play (even though the most efficient players seem to no longer stream)

There is very little to figure out. It is all about finding the right material brothers and pump up the same stats, replicating the same builds.

Starting brothers are not proficient hence early fights are dicey. One way to counter it is by taking into account the routing mechanics, how surrounding an enemy pawn might lead it to break. Then application of a swarming strategy: rush for critical mass in brothers' number (12) Quality does not matter much and playing the number against less numerous enemies.
With the removal of the power curve, it is made easier as there is no longer the pressure to power up fast.

This will ensure a smooth start.

For the rest, it is sumed up to find out which backgrounds are likely to deliver late game brother material, which perks are useless and the few that are useful, the few stats to pump up and the many to min etc

There is nothing much so way better to figure it out.

And helmets. Make sure your guys have helmets, if you do nothing else.

Over 5,000 players on Steam yesterday and it cracked the top 100 on the steam charts. Warriors is more popular then the first DLC, Beasts and Exploration. I would guess it's because of the origins and they got a piece of the crpg crowd.

On a side note, they have new tattoos that are from Conan the Barbarian, during the orgy scene with the black stripes.

Top 100 is easy to break in.

TomRon said:

I bought the base game today and started playing. And dying. Mostly dying. I'm torn between trying to figure it out and looking and some guides. I don't want to spoil the experience for myself, but on the other hand there's a lot of mechanics getting thrown around and I need to know those to make smart decisions…

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I think you can figure things out on your own, but you need to pay attention to the details. So the reason you are being advised to start of with spears and shields is two-fold for each:
Spears
- Your mercs get 10% bonus to hit chance with spears. this is not important when your mercs have 80 aim, but at the start of the game when their aim is 50%, this is essentially a 20% buff which is very strong.
- Spears give access to the spearwall ability, which uses up a lot of fatigue, but by using it, you can keep enemies at bay whilst damaging their armour, health and very importantly morale too.

Shields
- Shields directly reduce the to hit chance of enemies attacking you (both ranged and melee. So similarly to spears giving you a 20% buff, your starting mercs only have 0-5 defense ability, so you are actually buffing your defence by 100%. This is critical to your mercs' survival
- Shields have the shieldwall ability, which works with other mercs with shieldwall adding even additional defensive bonuses, so having your mercs next to each other using the skill allows you to use archers and other units with long-range melee weapons to hurt the enemy whilst your frontline survives.


Important note: Fatigue is a very important skill and overusing shieldwall and spearwall will mean your units won't be able to do much.

ChienAboyeur said:

There is very little to figure out. It is all about finding the right material brothers and pump up the same stats, replicating the same builds.

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Yeah, that's the part I'd rather figure out, optimal builds and what stats to increase etc. If I just copy paste the builds other people use I rob myself of much of the fun.

Thanks for all the tips guys. One question, do the DLC's make the game harder or only richer? I'm considering buying them to get the full experience, even after just playing a couple of hours I'm pretty sure I'll stick with it for a while.

Also, how soon did you guys go Ironman? I do realize that will probably make the game more fun and harder (not that I need harder right now), but it also means more botched runs and with my limited playtime I'm not sure Ironman is the best way to go.

TomRon said:

Yeah, that's the part I'd rather figure out, optimal builds and what stats to increase etc. If I just copy paste the builds other people use I rob myself of much if the fun.

Thanks for all the tips guys. One question, do the DLC's make the game harder or only richer? I'm considering buying them to get the full experience, even after just playing a couple of hours I'm pretty sure I'll stick with it for a while.

Also, how soon did you guys go Ironman? I do realize that will probably make the game more fun and harder (not that I need harder right now), but it also means more botched runs and with my limited playtime I'm not sure Ironman is the best way to go.

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I can't answer on the new DLC as I just bought it.

The previous ones add more flavour, which makes the game slightly harder to figure out - in other words, the base game has fewer enemy types, so you can learn the strengths and weaknesses of your enemies fast. However, you lose out on new items, some new ways of playing etc.

I would probably just play with all DLCs. However, I would recommend playing on full beginner options first without Ironman. It's very easy to lose half your mercs otherwise.

Once you get to grips with mechanics and gameplay, I would say to play in full beginner ironman and see if you enjoy it.

I don't play Veteran ironman... I think it's just too hard for me. I do enjoy beginner ironman. However, when I don't play iron man I tend to go veteran.

In the end you'll have to see how it goes for you though.

Also, I made a mistake, Spears give 20% hit chance bonus, swords give 10%.

The first DLC adds a few really hard monsters that take awhile to figure out how to battle them. Even now I avoid Hexe and Alps. They can wipe out your high lvl squad if you are not prepared.

Hastar said:

The first DLC adds a few really hard monsters that take awhile to figure out how to battle them. Even now I avoid Hexe and Alps. They can wipe out your high lvl squad if you are not prepared.

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Alright. So perhaps get DLC's, but instead of going Ironman I limit my saving to once every 7 days or so, seldom enough to force myself to roll with the punches, but still a lifeline if I screw up completely...

TomRon said:

Alright. So perhaps get DLC's, but instead of going Ironman I limit my saving to once every 7 days or so, seldom enough to force myself to roll with the punches, but still a lifeline if I screw up completely…

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I think you will need to define up front what screwing up completely means to you. Is losing one of your most expieriences mercs a complete screw up ?

I tried that kind of honestman once and it was very difficult for me to maintain it.

Pladio said:

I think you will need to define up front what screwing up completely means to you. Is losing one of your most expieriences mercs a complete screw up ?

I tried that kind of honestman once and it was very difficult for me to maintain it.

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Yeah, I know what you mean. Honestman is harder than Ironman sometimes. But I figure if I only use predetermined saves and not the autosaves, I would often lose hours of playtime if I reload. That probably means I will at least have to think hard about reloading…

Don't have to worry about it quite yet though, I'll savescum some more first.

Will also start a new game at Beginner difficulty, like many others I always have a problem with picking the easiest choice, but it seems warranted with this game.

EDIT: Just bought both the DLC's as well. Time to get cracking…or dying. Probably dying.

Nice TomRon. Hope you enjoy it. I almost never got this game because of the look. Now it's one of my most played all time.

TomRon said:

Yeah, that's the part I'd rather figure out, optimal builds and what stats to increase etc. If I just copy paste the builds other people use I rob myself of much of the fun.

Thanks for all the tips guys. One question, do the DLC's make the game harder or only richer? I'm considering buying them to get the full experience, even after just playing a couple of hours I'm pretty sure I'll stick with it for a while.

Also, how soon did you guys go Ironman? I do realize that will probably make the game more fun and harder (not that I need harder right now), but it also means more botched runs and with my limited playtime I'm not sure Ironman is the best way to go.

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Since I bought the game, and many hundreds of play-hours into it, I have only ever played in Veteran Ironman. No save-scumming or Alt-F4ing. If my story ends because I was ambushed in the swamp at night by a pack of Alps, then that's where it ends; new story time. I've never used guides or taken any strategies from any sources. That's the fun of the game. Hundreds upon hundreds of hours into the game, it still feels fresh, and every time I progress further than I have ever done before it feels like a real conquest.

In short, I say: it's never too early to begin your Veteran Ironman adventure!

Decided to buy it, even if i don't enjoy the main game (+ previous DLC) that much.. i'm gonna approach it differently, like a rogue-like, though not on veteran (not to begin with).

TomRon said:

Yeah, I know what you mean. Honestman is harder than Ironman sometimes. But I figure if I only use predetermined saves and not the autosaves, I would often lose hours of playtime if I reload. That probably means I will at least have to think hard about reloading…

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Savescumming is useless in BB.

Streamers usually play with no iron man (for bugs issues etc)

Brothers are meant to be killed: from the start, they might not be end game material and must be discarded somewhere along the way.

Losing brothers is mandatory.

It is all about giving a company the momentum to build up its ranks.

Streamers sometimes reset a fight for one reason: the reward they expect from it is not there.

Savescumming will only differ the moment when the knowledge of how to get a company going is acquired. Once it is acquired, very few situations call for save scumming.

ChienAboyeur said:

Savescumming will only differ the moment when the knowledge of how to get a company going is acquired. Once it is acquired, very few situations call for save scumming.

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Well, I haven't acquired that knowledge yet, since I have no idea which of my roster are actually end game material. To me it seems like they all have about the same stats, the spread between different level 1 bros is small. Or maybe I'm simply not paying enough attention.

The version is very unstable and crashes for any reason. Better to forget about iron man.

TomRon said:

Well, I haven't acquired that knowledge yet, since I have no idea which of my roster are actually end game material. To me it seems like they all have about the same stats, the spread between different level 1 bros is small. Or maybe I'm simply not paying enough attention.

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End game brothers must be able to reach minimum stats once they level up to 12.

For melee brothers, minimum 90 melee hit chance (better 95) same for range hit chance

Star system: one star adds one to min roll, two stars add two to min roll, three stars add same plus one to max roll

melee increase roll:1-3, so one star brother:2-3,two stars:3, three stars:3-4

By computing, it is known from the start if the brother can go over the 90 bar.

Michael Dean said:

Since I bought the game, and many hundreds of play-hours into it, I have only ever played in Veteran Ironman. No save-scumming or Alt-F4ing. If my story ends because I was ambushed in the swamp at night by a pack of Alps, then that's where it ends; new story time. I've never used guides or taken any strategies from any sources. That's the fun of the game. Hundreds upon hundreds of hours into the game, it still feels fresh, and every time I progress further than I have ever done before it feels like a real conquest.

In short, I say: it's never too early to begin your Veteran Ironman adventure!

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That sounds awesome and exactly what I want to experience in my gameplay. So the only settings should be Veteran Ironman then? No other special settings or anything?

In anticipation of my next band of mercs, I threw together a simple Battle Brothers video wallpaper. See y'all six feet under.