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

[Dr Skeleton]

Anything special that can be done to improve armor drops?

The higher the remaining armor hp when the enemy is killed the higher the chance for loot (I think?), so maybe weapons with high armor piercing like crossbows, but daggers and flails are the only reliable method. As for the death method, crits (smashed skull, decapitation) mean the head was hit so probably a better chance for body armor loot.

 

[Andnjord]

There's a 15% cut off actually. Below that zilch, more than that you should get it.

 

[Ezeekiel]

Don't forget heather shields. Making sure all your front liners have them instead of regular shields is more cost effective than reaching for hauberks.

Armor gives you a range of hits you can definitely take, sort of. Shields/defense are pure RNG.

 

[Ezeekiel]

Scales > plates. Plates have extra fatigue for the same HP.

Very relevant for guys who don't quite have the fatigue you want, or if you play with shield bros during/post end-game. Not that relevant for properly built 2h bros though imo, they're better off with a little less fatigue... The extra 20 pts of armor are one more crossbow hit you can take with battle forged.

 

[Parabalus]

Armor gives you a range of hits you can definitely take, sort of. Shields/defense are pure RNG.

Best way IMO is to use quick swap to end every round with a shield, tank what you need, then swap back. No real cost except a few extra clicks.

I had an option to buy a 338/-38 armor for 30k, I passed on it since it seemed barely worth it compared to regular, was that a good call? The wiki doesn't have unique ranges for armors, only for weapons.

 

[Ezeekiel]

Armor gives you a range of hits you can definitely take, sort of. Shields/defense are pure RNG.

Best way IMO is to use quick swap to end every round with a shield, tank what you need, then swap back. No real cost except a few extra clicks.

I had an option to buy a 338/-38 armor for 30k, I passed on it since it seemed barely worth it compared to regular, was that a good call? The wiki doesn't have unique ranges for armors, only for weapons.

It's a somewhat decent direct upgrade to the 300 armor, 36 fatigue scale basically, but not worth that much money unless you don't have anything else to spend it on. Coat of plates is 320 armor, 42 fatigue for comparison.

Buying uniques is only rarely worth it imo, at least in the harder difficulties. You can get lots of perfectly nice uniques from just destroying camps near the edge of the map in the unexplored parts of the map.

Edit: Forgot to answer your question about the stat range... No one knows as far as I'm aware. I've found armors that were vastly better than the one you saw though.
Also, checking the wiki real quick but the ranges given for weapons are not correct. They go higher than what the wiki says.

 

[Parabalus]

It's a somewhat decent direct upgrade to the 300 armor, 36 fatigue scale basically, but not worth that much money unless you don't have anything else to spend it on. Coat of plates is 320 armor, 42 fatigue for comparison.

Buying uniques is only rarely worth it imo, at least in the harder difficulties. You can get lots of perfectly nice uniques from just destroying camps near the edge of the map in the unexplored parts of the map.

Edit: Forgot to answer your question about the stat range... No one knows as far as I'm aware. I've found armors that were vastly better than the one you saw though.
Also, checking the wiki real quick but the ranges given for weapons are not correct. They go higher than what the wiki says.

Yes, I found a bunch of leather armor and a 431/-42 plate, the green one from the splash art. All unique weapons I found were utter shit tho, damage range the same as max tier weapons. Do the bigger orc/goblin cities respawn like the smaller camps?

I got the noble war crisis , 2 houses (red/green) vs 1 (yellow). The problem is I'm in good relations with both big houses (red/yellow) - can I reasonably finish the war by only attacking green, who's between red/yellow, on behalf of yellow? The first contract was green vs yellow, but afterwards I got vs. red which I want to avoid. Should I just run around green's territory killing their armies without a quest?

 

[Ezeekiel]

It's a somewhat decent direct upgrade to the 300 armor, 36 fatigue scale basically, but not worth that much money unless you don't have anything else to spend it on. Coat of plates is 320 armor, 42 fatigue for comparison.

Buying uniques is only rarely worth it imo, at least in the harder difficulties. You can get lots of perfectly nice uniques from just destroying camps near the edge of the map in the unexplored parts of the map.

Edit: Forgot to answer your question about the stat range... No one knows as far as I'm aware. I've found armors that were vastly better than the one you saw though.
Also, checking the wiki real quick but the ranges given for weapons are not correct. They go higher than what the wiki says.

Yes, I found a bunch of leather armor and a 431/-42 plate, the green one from the splash art. All unique weapons I found were utter shit tho, damage range the same as max tier weapons. Do the bigger orc/goblin cities respawn like the smaller camps?

I got the noble war crisis , 2 houses (red/green) vs 1 (yellow). The problem is I'm in good relations with both big houses (red/yellow) - can I reasonably finish the war by only attacking green, who's between red/yellow, on behalf of yellow? The first contract was green vs yellow, but afterwards I got vs. red which I want to avoid. Should I just run around green's territory killing their armies without a quest?

You could make use of the war in a different way: Load up on tools and go kill off the wilderness camps while ignoring the nobles. There is no settlement destruction in a noble war (unless they changed it with the last patch?) so it's just houses taking settlements from each other.
The war will wear itself out eventually even without your interference iirc, so you don't have to take on the somewhat dangerous noble troops (arbalesters)... But I may be misremembering that part as I usually join in the fun.
Taking only contracts against a specific house can and will finish the war eventually, of course. Standard practice. Might be best to fight for a house (if it has good settlements) that is not taking on both other houses at once if you can. That way you'll mostly/only get contracts against one enemy faction.

 

[Eyestabber]

So...any of you guys got ANY love for cleavers? I'm inclined to consider them to be the second worse weapon class, right after daggers...

 

[Murk]

I like them early on (finding a cheap military cleaver quickly made one of my bros become a head-chopping murder machine) but there is unfortunately no 2-hand variant for them (actually, according to wiki there is, but I've yet to ever see one... ironically, wiki misses the 2handed sword the ancient undead drop, which is basically a warbrand but with 5 less damage and like 20% more armor piercing.) Their damage is quite nice for a 1-handed weapon, but the lack of versatility makes them a backup later on.

The bonus of hitting 2+ enemies and receiving 40% melee defense is just too good, and so all my melee bros are specced with two handed versions of sword, axe, and hammer (except for the standard bearer). I do want to play around with a duelist, perhaps with a warhammer or sword, but I'm loving 2handers just too much now.

 

[LizardWizard]

Crypt Cleaver is the 2h variant with -16 fatigue . Found one in a crypt full a ded romans the first couple weeks in which was quite nice for decapitating goodness..

 

[oneself]

Cleavers are stylish. That is about it.

Very effective against you though.

Most effective weapons in this game imo are:

Spears because bonus CtH and spearwall, shits on most formations without range 2 2handers that take regular damage from piercing

Pikes because bonus CtH. Ancient bladed pike is strictly better than common pike.

2h sword for versatility.
2h axe for raw chunking power
Long axe against shields from backline.

Hammers because fuck armor and skeletons.

Maces because fuck Orc warrior. They have high everything except stamina. Just a few hits and they do nothing except shieldwall. Then grind them to dust.

Bows. Though crossbow is very nice early on thanks to bonus CtH and later on Because high pierce, meaning high chance for wounds and can one hit goblins. Also much better at hit and run than bows.

Everything else can be forgotten.

 

[Jimmious]

I like me a good cleaver for soft targets. The beheadings destroy the morale of the enemies fast

 

[Parabalus]

Cleavers are stylish. That is about it.

Very effective against you though.

Orc cleavers on a duelist are very effective at cutting up everything, armored or not. I think they are the strongest 100 - 0 zero weapon, which has it's uses.

Most effective weapons in this game imo are:

Spears because bonus CtH and spearwall, shits on most formations without range 2 2handers that take regular damage from piercing

Pikes because bonus CtH. Ancient bladed pike is strictly better than common pike.

2h sword for versatility.
2h axe for raw chunking power
Long axe against shields from backline.

Hammers because fuck armor and skeletons.

Maces because fuck Orc warrior. They have high everything except stamina. Just a few hits and they do nothing except shieldwall. Then grind them to dust.

Bows. Though crossbow is very nice early on thanks to bonus CtH and later on Because high pierce, meaning high chance for wounds and can one hit goblins. Also much better at hit and run than bows.

Everything else can be forgotten.

I think they did a remarkable job balancing everything, every weapon has it's uses. I rarely use maces myelf since stunning is seldom more useful than killing and they don't have a 2h variant.

Because of how uniques drop and vary in their stats, you can tailor your picks depending on what you get.

The bonus of hitting 2+ enemies and receiving 40% melee defense is just too good, and so all my melee bros are specced with two handed versions of sword, axe, and hammer (except for the standard bearer). I do want to play around with a duelist, perhaps with a warhammer or sword, but I'm loving 2handers just too much now.

The bonus is actually often worse than swapping to a shield. Consider 30 Mdef, which is ok value at max level, hitting twice gives you only 12 extra def, which is less than a shield. Usually I swing then depending on the number of hits either stay with a 2h or swap.

There is very little reason not to carry both a 2h and 1h weapon, since you only lose single digit fatigue while it's in the bag, then you can swap to maximize AP usage.

 

[Reinhardt]

only lose single digit fatigue

 

[oneself]

Cleavers are stylish. That is about it.

Very effective against you though.

Orc cleavers on a duelist are very effective at cutting up everything, armored or not. I think they are the strongest 100 - 0 zero weapon, which has it's uses.

I actually prefer a Khopesh, the cleaver that necrosavants use. Better armor damage than military cleaver without massive stamina requirement of Head Choppers.

Though I'll keep an eye out on a unique Head Chopper with stamina cost reduction.

 

[Torrasque01]

they are the strongest 100 - 0 zero weapon

What does that mean?

 

[Eyestabber]

Cleavers are stylish. That is about it.

Very effective against you though.

Most effective weapons in this game imo are:

Spears because bonus CtH and spearwall, shits on most formations without range 2 2handers that take regular damage from piercing

Pikes because bonus CtH. Ancient bladed pike is strictly better than common pike.

2h sword for versatility.
2h axe for raw chunking power
Long axe against shields from backline.

Hammers because fuck armor and skeletons.

Maces because fuck Orc warrior. They have high everything except stamina. Just a few hits and they do nothing except shieldwall. Then grind them to dust.

Bows. Though crossbow is very nice early on thanks to bonus CtH and later on Because high pierce, meaning high chance for wounds and can one hit goblins. Also much better at hit and run than bows.

Everything else can be forgotten.

Not really. Billhooks are strictly better than pikes later into the game, because of the vsArmor.

The 1H sword brings top damage vs flesh and riposte spam at the flanks is DEADLY against mobs of "fleshy" enemies (eg: ghouls).
1H Fighting axe brings the same DPT as the 2H variant, with the advantage of having that +50% dmg on hit to the head. Combine that with headhunter, duelist and high fatigue and you have a recipe for RAPE.

You forgot flails. Flails are THE midgame weapon due to their abundance in drops, decent damage against everything and their ability to 1-shot morons without helmets.

I mostly agree with the rest. Not a fan of maces, tho. If I'm gonna need a high stamina bro, that bro is gonna become a HAMMERBRO.

I think they did a remarkable job balancing everything, every weapon has it's uses. I rarely use maces myelf since stunning is rarely more useful than killing and they don't have a 2h variant.

Stun really comes into its own with mastery guaranteeing the stun. You can use this to lock down a dangerous foe while other brothers break through shield and armor.

And that would be great if THE MOST DANGEROUS enemies weren't outright IMMUNE to stuns.

 

[Alienman]

The sound alone the cleaver makes, makes it worth it to me.

 

[oneself]

Eyestabber I don't really weight lategame too much. Early game is the hardest and CtH is really a premium stat this game.

Also I use bladed pikes from ancients, I think they are better than billhooks.

Didn't use flail too much because it was too random and costs a lot of stam. I rather get more CtH with spears.

Never saw the appeal in 1h swords through.

 

[Darth Roxor]

The sound alone the cleaver makes, makes it worth it to me.

The weapon sounds in general in this game are fairly satisfying.

 

[Parabalus]

I actually prefer a Khopesh, the cleaver that necrosavants use. Better armor damage than military cleaver without massive stamina requirement of Head Choppers.

Though I'll keep an eye out on a unique Head Chopper with stamina cost reduction.

I don't think I saw any with reduced stamina, increased damage range and penetration are where it's at.

Stun really comes into its own with mastery guaranteeing the stun. You can use this to lock down a dangerous foe while other brothers break through shield and armor.

Well, orcs are immune to stun and vs undead you can't really afford to stun them because you will run out of fatigue and get rolled. I found it rarely useful vs hedge knights and necrosavants (IIRC they aren't immune, haven't run into any in a while).

What does that mean?

Meant for killing something from full armor/hp to zero, 1h axe might be better as Eyestabber says but I never found a unique one. Orc cleaver duelist can twoshot orc warriors from full with lucky rolls.

Not really. Billhooks are strictly better than pikes later into the game, because of the vsArmor.

The 1H sword brings top damage vs flesh and riposte spam at the flanks is DEADLY against mobs of "fleshy" enemies (eg: ghouls).
1H Fighting axe brings the same DPT as the 2H variant, with the advantage of having that +50% dmg on hit to the head. Combine that with headhunter, duelist and high fatigue and you have a recipe for RAPE.

You forgot flails. Flails are THE midgame weapon due to their abundance in drops, decent damage against everything and their ability to 1-shot morons without helmets.

I mostly agree with the rest. Not a fan of maces, tho. If I'm gonna need a high stamina bro, that bro is gonna become a HAMMERBRO.



And that would be great if THE MOST DANGEROUS enemies weren't outright IMMUNE to stuns.

The warscythe is the polearm I find myself using the most, the AoE is really flexible. I don't like them too much, since since the longaxe is only marginally worse and axes give you access to two other weapon types.

Flails I found useful ONLY vs morons without helmets, for a quick double lash to the head, they are rather lackluster for real use.

I never did a proper swordmaster build like the enemies since I find a greatsword before the build matures and switch. It needs a lot of levels and talents to work, by then "fleshy" enemies are mostly pushovers. Managed to hire a good swordmaster background so I'll try one out properly.

Eyestabber I don't really weight lategame too much. Early game is the hardest and CtH is really a premium stat this game.

Also I use bladed pikes from ancients, I think they are better than billhooks.

Didn't use flail too much because it was too random and costs a lot of stam. I rather get more CtH with spears.

Never saw the appeal in 1h swords through.

Early game you just use whatever weapons drop since you don't have money to spend. Spears do own everything early.



Got into a 40 vs 40 battle as part of the noble war crisis, fucking shit is gonna take 1 hour only for a bro to die from a friendly arbalester in the last rounds.

 

[Murk]

The bonus is actually often worse than swapping to a shield. Consider 30 Mdef, which is ok value at max level, hitting twice gives you only 12 extra def, which is less than a shield. Usually I swing then depending on the number of hits either stay with a 2h or swap.

There is very little reason not to carry both a 2h and 1h weapon, since you only lose single digit fatigue while it's in the bag, then you can swap to maximize AP usage.

I don't doubt that's more effective, but sounds like a degree of optimization that would hamper my fun. I'm playing on Ironman and I honestly don't mind losing my dudes. If the campaigns (if they can even be called that) weren't so random then I'd probably be on board. Currently my core 6 guys are all level 15 or higher and my fresh blood is around level 5 (lucked out with some good brawlers who had positive personality traits).

 

[Zetor]

Regarding flails, how does the berserk chain measure up in the lategame (esp for flail-specialzed bros for the fatigue discount + better hit rate)? The stats + stun make it look decent vs undead, at least on paper...

 

[tindrli]

Regarding flails, how does the berserk chain measure up in the lategame (esp for flail-specialzed bros for the fatigue discount + better hit rate)? The stats + stun make it look decent vs undead, at least on paper...

it will deliver. truth is it will not shine like you hoped but will do its job