Is there an easier way to prepare for battle?

[kickababy]

For battles I have to choose each character individually, double click on the armor rack, click on the weapon rack, and then assign them to hangout on the dummies or something so that they don't flip back to their work tool.
Am I doing something wrong? This is so incredibly clunky and is a major annoyance once the villager numbers start to grow.

[𝔜𝔲𝔢]

There's a button on the top of the screen "Combat Mode" (the sword symbol) that makes all characters stop what they were doing and equip their armor/weapons. All you have to do is send them to the enemy :)

[BioFringe]

Also, if you want to send only specific colonists into battle...if you select a colonist there is another Sword icon in their info panel that comes up in the bottom right corner. Near their name.

[kickababy]

Haha, wow. Man do I feel silly. Thanks guys.

[BioFringe]

Don't feel silly. This is a very common issue among players (including myself). It took me several in-game years to realize my mistake and the whole time I was doing what you were in regards to individually controlling the colonist to the point of frustration. Glad you now know though. Have fun.

[FishTank]

Not to steal from the OP but, when I click the combat mode, my colonists just stop. I send them to battle and they won't use the swords I put in their individual racks. This a bug?

[BioFringe]

1. They have a tool chest assigned to them?
2. There are tools assigned to the chests?
3. They are trained in Swords?

[Sharpe]

well. I tend to put the tool, weapon, armor and clothes rack in their own house. but i'm thinking a dedicated building with weapons and armor may help. if not the colonist will be all over the place

[kickababy]

1. Assign tools at tool chest
2. Assign weapons at weapon racks
3. Assign clothes on clothes rack
4. Assign armor on armor rack
5. Make sure each colonist has ownership of each of these.

I think if you assign your weapons/armor to the wrong rack combat mode might not work. Also, having a dedicated barracks so survivors march out together is a cool idea.

[Vix]

Originally posted by FishTank:

Not to steal from the OP but, when I click the combat mode, my colonists just stop. I send them to battle and they won't use the swords I put in their individual racks. This a bug?

Did they equip their swords? When you put them in combat mode, they'll automatically start heading to where their individual armor and weapons storages are, unequip their clothes and tools, and equip their armors and weapons. It takes a little while, so placing your armory in a convenient place is important, otherwise you'll be sending your colonists unarmed into battle, or lose some walls, decor and/or animals by the time your colonists get to the invaders.

[ltolman4]

Im thinking of getting the game. Is there a duration before Battles start? Besides Easy Mode, is there a way to play the game w/o Battles to get used to game mechanics??

Thanks

[BioFringe]

Battles with Pirates won't start for at least a couple of years so you have time. Goblin battles are dependent on your relationship status with them, which depends on how you play. Generally speaking you can keep the goblins happy without too much trouble so that they'll never attack.

You can choose to make Goblins and/or Pirate friendly via options when starting a new game. You could leave all other options at default if that's all you want to change.

[ltolman4]

Thank you very much :)