Mount and Blade Post V1

[Vympel]

I still love this game - I'm really glad I paid for the full Beta version way back in 2007 and have enjoyed free copies of each subsequent version ever since, and now I have the latest, full retail standard game.

However, man is the pricing system fucked up.

I currently ride a Spirited Charger - I got it for ~16,000 bucks. The Champion Charger - the absolute best "type" of horse in the game (it used to be Spirited was the best) costs ~38,000 bucks - for no improvement in horse armor or hitpoints, and for one measly little point of improvement in Speed, Maneuverability, and Charge Damage.

It's the same story for armor and weapons. Regular Plate Armor sets you back on average ~11,000 bucks. Lordly Plate Armor (the best kind- remember it used to be Reinforced) will set you back ~130,000 bucks! For a completely minor increase of around 10 armor points.

[Enigma]

Any changes made since version 0.952?

[Vympel]

I'm unsure what the changes are between those two versions, because the last version I played was in the late 0.8 vicinity.

[Stark]

Any changes made since version 0.952?

Heaps. Read a fucking changelog. Sadly I'm not pleased with all of them; the ragdoll isn't as 'interesting', the balance is better in some ways and worse in others, the 'faction war' still doesn't really work, and it sorta broke GE2.5 so it looks like crap again.

[Vympel]

Heaps. Read a fucking changelog. Sadly I'm not pleased with all of them; the ragdoll isn't as 'interesting'

How so?

the balance is better in some ways and worse in others, the 'faction war' still doesn't really work, and it sorta broke GE2.5 so it looks like crap again.

GE2.5?

One thing I really would like them to implement is for your lance to shatter after the first charge, forcing you to switch to a secondary. It's just too tempting to ride around with your big-ass lance, impaling people every which way. I do it sometimes, even though a good sword slash is so much more satisfying.

Faction war is working AFAIK, heck, Swadia (SWADIAN KNIGHT HORDE LOL ), thanks to my being a vassal, has captured multiple castles from the Nords - I got one of them as a reward. I've never besieged them myself as I don't waste my best men on bloodbaths - I wait
until the Marshall calls me to the seige, leave all my Swadian Knights etc at the castle and just bring a shitty expendable infantry horde with me.

[GuppyShark]

The pricing system makes sense to me - you get diminishing returns on how much effect you get for your gold.

Otherwise you'd just buy the best-in-slot and leave it at that rather than using intermediary gear, and you wouldn't have an outlet for your obscene piles of gold.

Castle rewards need tweaking - in my current game, we captured a castle and it went to nobody.

[Stark]

How so?

In the late .9xxs, I noticed a lot more 'interesting' things happening like guys being shot on horseback and falling backwards and being carried away on the back of their horse, guys hugging trees in death, bodies piling up at the base of hills, etc. It's probably more realistic now (the bodies seem to have more weight but don't 'slide' as much) but it was neat before.

GE2.5?

Graphics Enhancement 2.5, made by some guy on the forum that threw in some basic HDR, improved the ground/tree textures and added way more (ie, Oblivion-level) foliage and other flash. It looked way, way better, but even with it on 1.011's battles look quite barren and flat again. It also removed the cliffs at the edge of battles, so the area felt a bit more 'open' but an obviosu texture change lets you know where the border is.

One thing I really would like them to implement is for your lance to shatter after the first charge, forcing you to switch to a secondary. It's just too tempting to ride around with your big-ass lance, impaling people every which way. I do it sometimes, even though a good sword slash is so much more satisfying.

Absolutely; couched lancing is too easy, and drive-by slashing is powerful but at least dangerous.

Faction war is working AFAIK, heck, Swadia (SWADIAN KNIGHT HORDE LOL ), thanks to my being a vassal, has captured multiple castles from the Nords - I got one of them as a reward. I've never besieged them myself as I don't waste my best men on bloodbaths - I wait until the Marshall calls me to the seige, leave all my Swadian Knights etc at the castle and just bring a shitty expendable infantry horde with me.

Oh it 'works', but it's still got problems (although the 'everyone kill Swadia' problem is gone). It's still too random for my taste and ownership/victory/etc is very strange. It adds a lot to the game, but it's a shame that they stopped where they did.

Now if they'd port it to XBL ...

[Vympel]

In the late .9xxs, I noticed a lot more 'interesting' things happening like guys being shot on horseback and falling backwards and being carried away on the back of their horse, guys hugging trees in death, bodies piling up at the base of hills, etc. It's probably more realistic now (the bodies seem to have more weight but don't 'slide' as much) but it was neat before.

Oh I've seen guys being carried away on their horse a few times, though they eventually do fall off. It happens to me a lot whenever I get an axe successfully thrown in my face.

Fucking Nords.

[Enigma]

I've updated to 1.011 and I find that I can't loot towns. Did they get rid of it or do I have to do something to enable me to loot towns? The worst I can do apparently is be a meanie and steal their stuff. Not good enough. I want to be able to burn their village too!

[weemadando]

I picked this up last weekend and put 12+ hours into it in under 2 days. For years I'd been living in belief that Mount and Blade was an obscure kinda MMORPG.

I fucking love it. I just wish there was a *tiny* bit more direction to it, but that said, I fucking love it none-the-less.

[Stark]

I've updated to 1.011 and I find that I can't loot towns. Did they get rid of it or do I have to do something to enable me to loot towns? The worst I can do apparently is be a meanie and steal their stuff. Not good enough. I want to be able to burn their village too!

Are you cheating? They may have raised the 'minimum party size' to raze a town, so if you're playing properly you might not have enough guys.

[Vympel]

My current character is Level 30 and equipped with:-

Winged Great Helmet
Plate Armour
Gauntlets
Iron Greaves
Balanced Heavy Bastard Sword
Balanced Heavy Lance
Thick Heavy Kite Shield
Balanced Jousting Lance

In previous builds, there was a "Great Lance" - like the Jousting Lance in appearance, but with a pointed, killing tip. I have not seen it ever again.

There's a character, Jeremus, who's basically a medic and is indispensable. The problem is Artimennus, the engineer, hates him, and left after he got too dissatisfied to stay. Oh well. I'm thinking about recruiting another character who I can "train up" to be an engineer, but it's difficult to know which of remainder who aren't in my party hate each other:-

Firentis
Borcha
Marnid
Ymira
Jeremus
Bunduk (crossbow dude, I imagine him to be the leader of my infantry whilst everyone else on the list is mounted)

All get along (Firentis is a bad-ass).

Oh some chick called Deshiva hated Borcha and left too- just an archer. She was no loss. Mostly I'm using my money to equip all my NPCs with cool armor (usually Coat of Plates or Cuir Boulli and Great Helmets, Gauntlets, and Iron Greaves- only I get to wear Plate Armor and ride a Charger since I'm the most awesome) and a Warhorse.

[Enigma]

I've updated to 1.011 and I find that I can't loot towns. Did they get rid of it or do I have to do something to enable me to loot towns? The worst I can do apparently is be a meanie and steal their stuff. Not good enough. I want to be able to burn their village too!

Are you cheating? They may have raised the 'minimum party size' to raze a town, so if you're playing properly you might not have enough guys.

Cheating or not, in the older versions I was able to raze the villages. I'll try to increase my party size and see if that'll work.

EDIT: Oh and a small glitch in which after I defeat an opponent, his hair style changes and he goes blonde. Also apparently the AI is still retarded as they continue to love to hug walls and corners in the arena.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

There's a character, Jeremus, who's basically a medic and is indispensable. The problem is Artimennus, the engineer, hates him, and left after he got too dissatisfied to stay. Oh well. I'm thinking about recruiting another character who I can "train up" to be an engineer, but it's difficult to know which of remainder who aren't in my party hate each other:-

Firentis
Borcha
Marnid
Ymira
Jeremus
Bunduk (crossbow dude, I imagine him to be the leader of my infantry whilst everyone else on the list is mounted)

All get along (Firentis is a bad-ass).

Oh some chick called Deshiva hated Borcha and left too- just an archer. She was no loss. Mostly I'm using my money to equip all my NPCs with cool armor (usually Coat of Plates or Cuir Boulli and Great Helmets, Gauntlets, and Iron Greaves- only I get to wear Plate Armor and ride a Charger since I'm the most awesome) and a Warhorse.

Bunduk is a badass too. IMO, even though he's a crossbowman he's wasted on foot. I like to keep a crossbow usable from horseback (or a heavy crossbow for sieges) on him, but otherwise equip him as a knight. He tears it up like Firentis, usually.

Also, shame on you for your armor choices. You're wasting one of the most awesome features of v1.x - your displayable heraldry. Forget the shields, it looks way more awesome on a surcoat or a tabard. I like to put my character in one type of heraldric mail, and then try to get all my NPCs with another, uniform type so they all display my heraldry.

[Karza]

There's a character, Jeremus, who's basically a medic and is indispensable. The problem is Artimennus, the engineer, hates him, and left after he got too dissatisfied to stay. Oh well. I'm thinking about recruiting another character who I can "train up" to be an engineer, but it's difficult to know which of remainder who aren't in my party hate each other:-

Firentis
Borcha
Marnid
Ymira
Jeremus
Bunduk (crossbow dude, I imagine him to be the leader of my infantry whilst everyone else on the list is mounted)

I don't think it's possible to find anyone who'd be okay with everyone on that list, seems like at 6 or 7 npc heroes it gets impossible for everyone to be on good terms. That said, Alayen might be a good choice, he's neutral with Firentis, Jeremus and Bunduk and likes Ymira. Don't know about him and Borcha (never take him to my party), but he does have a problem with Marnid. Also, Alayen is quite a badass too .

EDIT: Oh yeah, you might try Baheshtur too. He definitely doesn't get along with Marnid either, (he's a steppe raider, you can see why Marnid the trader doesn't like him ), but he's neutral with everyone in that setup. Also, having now looked it up, Borcha is ok with Alayen too.

Cheating or not, in the older versions I was able to raze the villages. I'll try to increase my party size and see if that'll work.

I think it has something to do with your reputation wrt. the faction whose village you're trying to raze too. Not sure about it, but I think they first need to consider you a hostile before you can act like one . If that's the case, then robbing a few caravans oughta do the trick.

[Vympel]

Bunduk is a badass too. IMO, even though he's a crossbowman he's wasted on foot. I like to keep a crossbow usable from horseback (or a heavy crossbow for sieges) on him, but otherwise equip him as a knight. He tears it up like Firentis, usually.

Also, shame on you for your armor choices. You're wasting one of the most awesome features of v1.x - your displayable heraldry. Forget the shields, it looks way more awesome on a surcoat or a tabard. I like to put my character in one type of heraldric mail, and then try to get all my NPCs with another, uniform type so they all display my heraldry.

Hmmm, Bunduk on horseback - I think I'll give that a go.

As to the armor - I don't need to announce my presence to the enemy. I'm the most renowned Lord in all of Caladria. They know that death's coming when they see that full-plate equipped engine of death with the great winged helmet

(seriously though, need all the protection you can get in this game. The heraldric armor is all mail based, and just doesn't have the same protection for a reasonable price).

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I never have a problem once I'm high enough on the totem pole to be sporting a heavy charger and good heraldric mail. High-grade gauntlets help offset the slight hit to body armor without weighing more (if I get unhorsed I like to have enough mobility to commandeer a new horse before I get mobbed on the ground), and barring those crazy fluke hits from random high-power crossbows that do 357908098 damage regardless of what you're wearing, I take very little damage even on a bungled charge (I tend to use sword/shield and a bow/arrow, not a lance, so charges are a little more dangerous).

The major threat once you're loaded up with high-end gear is being unhorsed and mobbed on foot, and a heavy charger is damn near invulnerable anyway.

[Vympel]

I find that in certain situations, fighting with lance is more dangerous - especially if you're charging a Nord shield wall - the delay after you hit someone with your lance before you can raise your shield is long enough for one of those fuckers to throw an axe or javelin or arrow in your face. Or just cleave you off.

[weemadando]

Why the fuck can't my cavalry be useful? I lead them around the flank, then order them to charge with the enemy archers and infantry in front of us (but still facing away from us) and what do they do? WHEEL AROUND, IGNORE THE GODDAMN UNPROTECTED INFANTRY AND GO AND GET IN A SKIRMISH WITH THE ENEMY CAV! Who now, are no longer interested in suicidally attacking my shieldwall.

That said, I tried a character who just led a massive mob of Khergit Veteran Horse Archers - nothing stood up to them. It was scarily effective.

[Karza]

Why the fuck can't my cavalry be useful? I lead them around the flank, then order them to charge with the enemy archers and infantry in front of us (but still facing away from us) and what do they do? WHEEL AROUND, IGNORE THE GODDAMN UNPROTECTED INFANTRY AND GO AND GET IN A SKIRMISH WITH THE ENEMY CAV! Who now, are no longer interested in suicidally attacking my shieldwall.

Order them to follow you, not charge. They still impale/slash/whack anything nearby, but generally keep near you so you can mostly pick what they attack. Hell, if you stop for a while and let them group up around you, you can consistently lead quite organized charges into whatever you think is the juiciest target. If you order them to charge, they indeed tend to split up all over the place. That's why I only give cavalry the charge order when most of the enemies are dead (or stuck fighting my huscarls, which is about the same thing ) and it's time to mop up the remnants.

[Setzer]

It seems you all need this diagram. As long as a companion is paired with one they like, they'll never leave out of disgust for the company you keep. Recruit Artimenner and Lezalit, as well as Jeremus and Firentis, and you should be fine. Lezalit specializes in training soldiers, so he's useful even by himself.


And while we're talking Mount and Blade:

http://forums.taleworlds.net/index.php/board,117.0.html

Check out this mod. Vonmistont tweaked things so you actually have a kingdom to manage, should you choose to break away. I was annoyed with Vanilla M&B, where the only field army your kingdom has is the one you lead.

[Stark]

What? There are scads of groups moving around; they're poorly managed by terrible AI, but they engage in battles, lay siege and steal territory just like you.

[Setzer]

No, I meant if you choose to break away and form your own kingdom. In Vanilla, you are unable to recruit lords for your own kingdom.

[Vympel]

Why the fuck can't my cavalry be useful? I lead them around the flank, then order them to charge with the enemy archers and infantry in front of us (but still facing away from us) and what do they do? WHEEL AROUND, IGNORE THE GODDAMN UNPROTECTED INFANTRY AND GO AND GET IN A SKIRMISH WITH THE ENEMY CAV! Who now, are no longer interested in suicidally attacking my shieldwall.

That said, I tried a character who just led a massive mob of Khergit Veteran Horse Archers - nothing stood up to them. It was scarily effective.

You have infantry in your army? What for? You should have a pure cavalry force, they annihilate everything if used properly. I have 50 Swadian Knights, 4 Khergit Lancers, 4 Khergit Veteran Horse Archers, 13 Mercenary Cavalry (I rescued a shitload of Caravan Guards and upgraded them over time, these are the survivors) and my main men. All the infantry I recruit generally stay in my castle until I need to toss them into the meat grinder of a siege.

[Vympel]

It seems you all need this diagram. As long as a companion is paired with one they like, they'll never leave out of disgust for the company you keep. Recruit Artimenner and Lezalit, as well as Jeremus and Firentis, and you should be fine. Lezalit specializes in training soldiers, so he's useful even by himself.


And while we're talking Mount and Blade:

http://forums.taleworlds.net/index.php/board,117.0.html

Check out this mod. Vonmistont tweaked things so you actually have a kingdom to manage, should you choose to break away. I was annoyed with Vanilla M&B, where the only field army your kingdom has is the one you lead.

Wow, useful diagram. Thanks. Interestingly I found Deshiva again, she was sorry and wanted to come back. Weird. Maybe I can find Artimenner again. It's funny because Deshiva is completely without clothes or weapons - I took them from her before she left