Kenshi - open-ended sandbox RPG set in a desert world

[MadMaxHellfire]

if you want to train fighting skills, this is your best friend: http://kenshi.wikia.com/wiki/Swamp_Turtle

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

I started out as a Wanderer and I'm finding it's really slow going to skill up my guys. I've eschewed building a base for buying homes: I've first bought the smallest one in the Hub and began hauling ore and researching Tech2, then bought one in Squin because it's a superior location and I've researched Tech 3 and now am focused on technology that will let me craft armor. My main is a thief who is responsible for bringing in most of the cash, but of my small group (6 now), my "best" combat character only has combat skills in the teens. I'm having trouble finding things I can actually kill. Dust Bandits rove in too large of a group, and my party doesn't get much experience by dragging them to the Squin gate guards. The guards kill them too quickly for my dudes to train much. All my combat people have Attack at 15 from the Squin tower combat dummies, but I 1) Lack non-Shek recruits, and that's with me recruiting most of the 3k people I can find 2) Lack opponents that 5 people with Attack 15, light armor, and Old Refitted Blades can kill. I've bought a lot of maps including the United Territories and Swamp, maybe I just need to get out and explore more. That's a huge chore though because of the amount of food needed by my Shek companions, so I'm considering leaving them all in bed and taking my two best athletics characters out on an expedition.

I really want to avoid playing Kenshi as Farmville the RPG - I want to explore and fight - but I haven't cracked the code yet on how to do it.

It won't turn out that way, trust me, it gets awesome, just stick with it. Check my gameplan. The 3000 catan recruits start at level 1 (usually). You can find stronger ones with higher asking prices. I recruited a Shek named Kang in Squin and he's a beast, with stats in the 20s. Now we can kill groups of Dust Bandits pretty decently (but I might get one or two members KO'd in the process, still, we win). My advice is to have people mining while your adventuring or wandering squad is out hitting cities and settlements to try and recruit stronger characters. Once you get enough (I also bought a strong pack bull), you can handle hungry bandits and dust bandits pretty well.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Someone mentioned recruiting The Wall from Squin. Do the Field Medics asking 6000 catans to join have any combat skills as well? I need combat skills now, not level 1 fighters at this point. I avoid some barebones 3000 catan recruits right now, since my squad is already 7 plus another squad of 2 workers.

 

[murloc_gypsy]

Is sneaking around playing a thief a viable play style?

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Sneaking around playing a thief is a great playstyle, especially if you join the Shinobi Thieves, aka the Thieves Guild. They give you access to some special thief options that are invaluable.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

Is sneaking around playing a thief a viable play style?

easiest and fastest way to earn money, thus recruits, thus firepower.

 

[toro]

I started out as a Wanderer and I'm finding it's really slow going to skill up my guys. I've eschewed building a base for buying homes: I've first bought the smallest one in the Hub and began hauling ore and researching Tech2, then bought one in Squin because it's a superior location and I've researched Tech 3 and now am focused on technology that will let me craft armor. My main is a thief who is responsible for bringing in most of the cash, but of my small group (6 now), my "best" combat character only has combat skills in the teens. I'm having trouble finding things I can actually kill. Dust Bandits rove in too large of a group, and my party doesn't get much experience by dragging them to the Squin gate guards. The guards kill them too quickly for my dudes to train much. All my combat people have Attack at 15 from the Squin tower combat dummies, but I 1) Lack non-Shek recruits, and that's with me recruiting most of the 3k people I can find 2) Lack opponents that 5 people with Attack 15, light armor, and Old Refitted Blades can kill. I've bought a lot of maps including the United Territories and Swamp, maybe I just need to get out and explore more. That's a huge chore though because of the amount of food needed by my Shek companions, so I'm considering leaving them all in bed and taking my two best athletics characters out on an expedition.

I really want to avoid playing Kenshi as Farmville the RPG - I want to explore and fight - but I haven't cracked the code yet on how to do it.

First train and then hunt whatever you can kill: Lonely bonedogs, goats or Garrus >> Starving bandits >> Dust Bandits >> Pack of Bonedogs, Blood Spiders >> Red Sabres and so on.

FYI: You can left-click and see their stats. If they have 10+ more than you then you will probably get rekt (only in the beginning when each companion matters).

Don't rush into battles. Try to bait or aggro just a part of the mobs. Keep one guy away (stealth) and wait for the battle to end. Doesn't matter if you lose. Heal, go to bed for more healing. Rise and repeat until you start winning.

FYI: When your stats are around 30 overall you can destroy the Dust Bandits in huge quantities.

Just remember: if you have less than 50 in stats then don't mess with Beak Things or Skimmers.

Also you can definitely can play as a sneak thief guy (it's the fastest way to get rich or to get expensive weapons) but I'm more of a Deathclaw and I like to see blood splattering

 

[Saduj]

It is better to train against one powerful enemy as opposed to multiple weak enemies. For example fighting gorillos one at a time is better for training than fighting a half dozen starving bandits at a time. Recently beat the Great White Gorillo and that did more for my party than slaughtering dozens and dozens of fogmen. Last night I killed one of the mega crabs, that thing hit hard. Gonna see if I can take the other one down with just my two crossbow bros and hope that shooting a hundred bolts each at a powerful enemy gives alot of XP. So far these two are only good for increasing the toughness of my other characters by constantly shooting them in the back.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

I noticed walking through the mountains near the Waypoint/Tiny Settlement that sometimes stronger Dust bandits would attack, but only in groups of two or even one. They were much stronger ones, and I noticed our stats went up really well fighting and killing them, especially the lower leveled characters. Our team is shaping up nicely now. A regular group of Dust bandits shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

It look like the best way to train combat skills is to be aggressive and try to kill more dangerous enemies.

That being said: my party can wipe out 15 Dust bandits but cannot kill 3 Beak things (fyi: most of their stats are around 30). Looks like Beak things are like Apex predators in Kenshi's world.

Micromanaging your party during combat can allow you to kill enemies who would easily defeat you on autopilot.

For example, Beak Things have such a slow attack that you can direct the character being attacked to safely run out of range while your other characters hit the Beak Thing from the flanks and rear. This is easier when fighting just one Beak Thing but possible with multiple foes.

A party with good running speed and fully equipped with crossbows can simply pepper the enemy from a distance, run away when the enemy approaches, stop some distance away but within crossbow range, and then repeat until the enemy is dead. A slightly revised strategy can work even on certain fast enemies, such as the Beak Things, that have a slow windup to their attack.

 

[toro]

The Bugmaster fucked up my shit.

The thing is: it's hard with a limited party. You need a fucking army or 90+ stats heroes.

Spoiler

Saw some lights in the distance. They are bounty hunters.

They even have special dialog

Best place for arachnophobia

First contact

I did it ... not

Ok. Went back to civilization to heal. You cannot really see it but Toro is sleeping ... in a bed!

Second try!! The stealth way.

I should have turn around when I saw this shit ... but I did not understand my predicament yet.

And then she screamed: There is blood on the dance floor!!!!

Managed to reach this useless object.

And I'm done. I cannot move without aggro-ing tons of spiders.

I will have to postpone the bugmaster hunt.

 

[Saduj]

The Bugmaster fucked up my shit.

The thing is: it's hard with a limited party. You need a fucking army or 90+ stats heroes.

Been trying to get some better armor before trying that one. Visited the secret armor shop. There are high level items there but he was mostly selling stuff I don't want. Bought a few minor items. Then I took a walk through the UC towns on the east cost. Even the tech hunter armor shop in Heft had nothing. I'm sitting on 300K because I've had such bad luck with vendor inventories....

Gonna try to loot a lost armory I found a while ago. I think its got 4-5 spider sentries on the 1st floor. A little while ago, I was able to loot an ancient lab that had spider sentries on each floor 3, 2 and 3. Did all three floors without healing up significantly and only lost one limb. Maybe I can do five sentries at once now. Probably not.

The Manhunter base is on my to do list too. They mostly just decide to attack my party in small groups, leaving my team bewildered as to what they must have been thinking after the inevitable slaughter is over. But it has happened enough that destroying their base and turning their leaders over to the Anti-Slavers seems like a good idea.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

The exploration and travel in this game is as good as it gets. My first trip through the swamp to Shark was something to behold. First, got ambushed by blood spiders, a few members went down, had to carry them to a swamp village which had no beds and no nothing. Then the trek through the swamp, only to spot---a ruin! LOADED with goodies, I made a killing there. We avoid some swamp raptors and again get hit by spiders (after we recovered from the first ones) and again I'm carrying some squad members through the swamp. Finally made it to Shark and had just enough resources and manpower to get there. What a ride. This game is very immersive and interesting to explore. Only problem is now I'm smack dab in the middle of this swampy mess, but at least I'm at a large city. First time meeting the Hounds.

 

[Tovias]

The Bugmaster fucked up my shit.

The thing is: it's hard with a limited party. You need a fucking army or 90+ stats heroes.

My first game where I faced the bugmaster was a nightmare as well, the worst part is when I found out they could walk underwater.

Spoiler

On my currrent playthrough, I took a different approach.

Spoiler

Sneaked in my Martial Artist through all the spiders and fought him 1v1, Almost lost his arm but with some micromanaging I managed to defeated it. Spiders started to pour in soon after but it worked out at the end.

 

[ArchAngel]

I have been watching CohhCarnage play this game to see what this game is about. I don't see what is the RPG part of this game?! It is more like Rimworld with different graphics and ability to equip all of your guys and train their stats. But the main gameplay focus is basically Rimworld.
Even combat seems to be mostly automated.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

I have been watching CohhCarnage play this game to see what this game is about. I don't see what is the RPG part of this game?! It is more like Rimworld with different graphics and ability to equip all of your guys and train their stats. But the main gameplay focus is basically Rimworld.
Even combat seems to be mostly automated.

Lots of exploration, you can find hidden ruins, areas guarded by tough monsters with great loot, you can buy/sell/trade and become a trader if you want (even illegal narcotics, just don't get caught). But yeah, it's got some RPG elements, gaining reputation with factions, joining a thieves guild, training your stats while building a larger roster for you to handle enemies quicker and easier. It may not be full-blown RPG but it is damn good. You should try it, it's addictive as hell. I've played 30 hours so far and can't get enough. Trying to now make a squad strong enough to protect an outpost I want to build, where I can reasearch better weapons, armor and items. It's a very cool, unique game with some RPG elements, and exploring does feel like an RPG to me.

 

[Tovias]

I have been watching CohhCarnage play this game to see what this game is about..

That guy is playing the game in a manner that would give me a headache

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

thanks to a mod (i guess so) i've been able to recruit a skeleton bandit i captured for 20000 bucks. i need to find more. i must find more! do they only hang around landbats? those beasts are vicious and just too many at once. i've been trying to look n-e of flats lagoon but my team can survive just 1 fight. if even.

 

[ArchAngel]

I have been watching CohhCarnage play this game to see what this game is about..

That guy is playing the game in a manner that would give me a headache

Can you go into more details?
Maybe I am missing some deeper and more interesting game here because of the way he is playing it.

 

[Tovias]

Can you go into more details?
Maybe I am missing some deeper and more interesting game here because of the way he is playing it.

It just seems a little bit messy, that's it. As expected of a first game from anyone but damn that's a lot of squads.

 

[ArchAngel]

Can you go into more details?
Maybe I am missing some deeper and more interesting game here because of the way he is playing it.

It just seems a little bit messy, that's it. As expected of a first game from anyone but damn that's a lot of squads.

So you are not supposed to recruit as many people as fast as possible?

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

So you are not supposed to recruit as many people as fast as possible?

You can, sure. It makes your team that much tougher. You just have to have the catans (currency) to hire them and feed them.

Just note, you might want to be selective in who you recruit. A lot of recruits are level 1 and don't have any skills, while others come packaged with good skills and are stronger. You can click the characters ahead of time to get an idea of what level they are.

 

[PanteraNera]

I don't see what is the RPG part of this game?!

So you are not supposed to recruit as many people as fast as possible?

The thing with Kenshi is: you can do what ever you want.

Usually I am not much into larping a game, in fact I have not enjoyed any sandbox games so far (I tried to), but Kenshi is different.
To me it is the stories that evolve, from playing the game.

That one time, my group was still pretty fresh, we killed our first group of Bonedogs, which felt amazing, Maag a Shek really stood out (he gained Toughness way quicker than everyone else) and again he was the last man standing. If he failed, the Bonedogs would have eaten (killed) the whole party. So we heal up, set up a camp with an fire to grill some Bonedog beef, six guys went to sleep as I had only so many sleeping bags. Than I spotted something in the distances, fuck Skin Spiders, luckily just two of em and they were just teen's, but still I am scared of them as I would probably not attack them if everyone was full health, now everyone was near death. Some characters were still in coma. Long story short, Maag saved the day, again, as he just refused to fall into coma and kept fighting until they were dead. So now half of my guys were in coma and bleeding heavily when I just noticed that I had not enough bandages to first aid everyone. Pao a female Scorchlander, was the only one that still was fast enough (high athletics and barely damaged legs) to run to the next waystation to buy medical supplies and be back just in time.

Nothing of that was scripted. It was just me exploring and fighting (and not reloading can't stress that enough).
Well I could have avoided the Skin Spiders, I didn't knew at that time, that dead bodies attract predators, so my camp was right next to the dead Bonedogs.

That situation was ten days ago, but I am pretty sure, it will stick with me for a long time.
That to me is the beauty of Kenshi, stories evolve from what you do in the game.

You can also ruin the fun by having to many characters, or doing lot's of thievery (stealing) and power grinding. But hey, you can do that as well, if it is fun, for you.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Emergent story and emergent gameplay is the name of the game with Kenshi. I'm Let's Playing it and already have lots of interesting (I think) stories that happened and travels that took place. Just being on the eye out for dust bandits in the hills, or spiders in the swamp while managing your bandages and food rations makes traveling a real pleasure (a tense one, but pleasure.) You will have sorts of unique stories in your game that just happen because of the game mechanics, not because they were scripted or pre-written. For that reason I am deeply in love with the game.

 

[agris]

I have been watching CohhCarnage play this game to see what this game is about. I don't see what is the RPG part of this game?

I don't know what Rimworld is, but I don't think Kenshi is really an RPG. This isn't a knock against it, I love the game so far, but it's much more of an RTS with RPG aspects than an RPG with RTS aspects.

It's like a weird mash of Supreme Commander (squad and map size, base building), Warcraft 3 (the RPG and narrative aspect of the Heroes in it, only each of your characters in Kenshi has this level of detail - sometimes more), Neoscavenger (combat brutality, world lethality, representation of health (per-limb in Kenshi), scavenging for schematics and crafting - all with rich research tree). On top of all of that, the aesthetics and writing of the world in Kenshi reminds me a lot of Omikron: The Nomad Soul, so that is to say: the world is bizarre. It's a lovely change from the normal trite worlds we see too often.

I like Kenshi a lot, there's really no game like it that I've ever played, but I don't think it's an RPG. And please don't ask me to define one

The lethality of the world and the way your skills progress remind me a lot of Kunark-era Everquest (this is a Good Thing), and the game's graphics remind me a lot of the great PvP MMO Shadowbane.