Elspeth and Gelt Advice

[chickabumpbump]

So I will play as these next if I ever stop playing Helldivers 2 and start baldurs gate 3 in the mean time.

I started an Elspeth campaign and played thematically in giving land to Karl. I had 2 provinces and by the time I dealt with the VC ( kept his land ) Karl was doing fine. Rank 6

However my income was poor and I only had one good army and a second meh one.

Suddenly ogres, Norsca and nurgle all attacked me literally on the same turn and I quit due to frustration as Karl and all the other order factions weren’t at war with any of these factions despite them being neighbours.

The AI was too passive AGAIN to anyone on your side.

My issue is I thought the whole point of her and Gelts campaign was to assist and help other factions and not just take over yourself.

Is it possible to play like an ally because I love the idea of using Gelt and helping Cathay like I’m a vassa or are they just another “ be the best “ campaign

[dulany67]

For Elspeth, giving provinces to Franz is a mistake early. Your best bet is to get as strong as possible to deal with whatever problems he has. If you do this he will grow stronger and start confederating minors. Don't attack Vlad until he does.

[chickabumpbump]

Originally posted by dulany67:

For Elspeth, giving provinces to Franz is a mistake early. Your best bet is to get as strong as possible to deal with whatever problems he has. If you do this he will grow stronger and start confederating minors. Don't attack Vlad until he does.

Hmm I have seen others say to attack Vlad asap

[dulany67]

Originally posted by chickabumpbump:

Originally posted by dulany67:

For Elspeth, giving provinces to Franz is a mistake early. Your best bet is to get as strong as possible to deal with whatever problems he has. If you do this he will grow stronger and start confederating minors. Don't attack Vlad until he does.

Hmm I have seen others say to attack Vlad asap

Because Vlad spikes in power as time goes on, but this is mitigated by a strong Franz attacking him in combination with Elspeth. This is also why I say let Franz start the war.

[chickabumpbump]

Will give that a try

[Cenwalh]

Do not give your provinces/settlements to major factions like Reikland (Franz), simply because ideally you want to confederate him later down the line and this makes it harder to do so. Some exceptions may exist, but generally speaking, avoid doing that.

As for attacking Vlad - keep an eye on how aggressively he expands and try to take him out as soon as you've dealt with your initial minor faction enemy. Not only is he harder to eliminate in the mid game (late game doesn't apply, cos you'll stomp everything), but the two Sylvania provinces are very rich.

Dealing with his army might involve relying on auto-resolve. Do not be fooled by the auto-resolve saying "victory", if you fight Vlad manually it might be a nightmare depending on what difficulty you play on and what level he is and whether or not he has the item that gives him insane regeneration. Try to trick him into attacking a seemingly weak position and get the drop on him with all your might.

Good luck!

[chickabumpbump]

I think I need a coop real partner haha. The AI annoy me too much as I went an allied themed play through. I will try your advice when I play next. Need to play and finish hellblade 2 and bg3

[dulany67]

Originally posted by chickabumpbump:

I think I need a coop real partner haha. The AI annoy me too much as I went an allied themed play through. I will try your advice when I play next. Need to play and finish hellblade 2 and bg3

For what it's worth, Franz was pretty responsive to war coordination in my Elspeth playthrough. But of course, I eliminated his major initial problems, including Ahzag who blobbed all over the dwarfs,

[SpeaksTooFast]

In my experience they best way to help the AI is by being strong yourself. Sometimes Franz can get strong and take care of himself, I have also seen Altdorf razed before turn 10 when playing as Elspeth.

Funneling territory to other factions can be a viable strategy but if doing so do to strengthen your own position so you can proactively take care of threats and limit your active fronts.

Also for a cheaper second army with Nuln I found pistoleeres work really well in the early game. They are great vs early game ogres, vamps, norsca and chaos. Earn you schematics and get some nice boosts through the gunnery school.

[chickabumpbump]

Originally posted by SpeaksTooFast:

In my experience they best way to help the AI is by being strong yourself. Sometimes Franz can get strong and take care of himself, I have also seen Altdorf razed before turn 10 when playing as Elspeth.

Funneling territory to other factions can be a viable strategy but if doing so do to strengthen your own position so you can proactively take care of threats and limit your active fronts.

Also for a cheaper second army with Nuln I found pistoleeres work really well in the early game. They are great vs early game ogres, vamps, norsca and chaos. Earn you schematics and get some nice boosts through the gunnery school.

My problem and I know it’s my problem is I want a warhammer experience where I am aiding Karl to unite the empire. Helping him out and not essentially becoming no 1 my self

[Nyarlathotep]

I guess your best bet of playing as you say is get [IE] Loreful Strategic Threat mod.

This will make AI follow a more loreful/territorial approach. I use it and have very good results of how the map is shaped and faction alliances/at war status.

But the people that say to you that at the start you must avoid giving land to Carl are solid advices and you should follow them in combination with the mod, since the mod will help you start giving him land earlier than in vanilla.

[SpeaksTooFast]

Originally posted by chickabumpbump:

My problem and I know it’s my problem is I want a warhammer experience where I am aiding Karl to unite the empire. Helping him out and not essentially becoming no 1 my self

You can absolutely do that but I would recommend keeping yourself strong enough to pay for a few armies so you can expand south and help Karl keep the empire in check. If you try to just play tall in Nuln 19 times out of 20 you will get overrun.

Help him take out key threats and eventually he should get rolling but with the way the AI works in this game I would not expect him to do it solo. Have not tried the mod mentioned above but it could also be worth a shot.

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by SpeaksTooFast:

Originally posted by chickabumpbump:

My problem and I know it’s my problem is I want a warhammer experience where I am aiding Karl to unite the empire. Helping him out and not essentially becoming no 1 my self

You can absolutely do that but I would recommend keeping yourself strong enough to pay for a few armies so you can expand south and help Karl keep the empire in check. If you try to just play tall in Nuln 19 times out of 20 you will get overrun.

Help him take out key threats and eventually he should get rolling but with the way the AI works in this game I would not expect him to do it solo. Have not tried the mod mentioned above but it could also be worth a shot.

The mod ,as far as I have used it, is helpful but combined with what advices you and the other people gave.

The AI problems in TW3 are obvious and can be softened a great deal by mods like this or Hecleas AI BUT not eradicated.

[Zefar]

Elspeth is akin to being Karl Franz but with a stronger roster on your side. You're going to deal with wars on at least a few fronts.

Just have to try and quickly end them. Then go for Vlad. After that it might become easier.


Gelt? Well if you don't go back to the Empire you can have a breeze with the factions near cathay. I found his campaign to be real easy.