Ludern

[oulala]

hey.
any advice on doing Ludern? all I gather is dont fight in the swampy areas.

I followed a region locked guide on which order I should complete the different regions, and it indicated Ludern before Grinmeer.

but oh boy do I find it more difficult. I have all the rimesteel gear on 7 lvl8 mercs, I can fight most (healthy) humans and animals all day, but the poison, the mosquitoes, the plague ridden groups....

is there anything worthwhile to get from there? or should I just skip it?

[Spawnling]

Things to get:
The treasure map gives you a smithing item that increases quality chance when smithing/alterating items.

It has a Vanquish mission for maybe the best 1-handed axe (upgradable with natural strike)

In the tomb you'll get Unstable Oil (25% chance to trigger an attack of opportunity when attacking.)

Trackers sell Rat Stew and the bandit camp I think has the recipe for Beehouse (make honey)

How to survive: You can give your melee mercs Antidote (belt item - immunity to poison; Trackers in Grinmeer).
Or the Immunity Oil from Hulburg in Drombach.
Edit: While you're in Grinmeer go to the Goosenberg Apothecary and buy Brave oil recipe.

Edit: Ranged attacks do not trigger the inftected poison cloud, so archers, swings with 2handed weapons (as long as you're not touching them) don't trigger the effect.

[Dirt1970]

What Spawnling said. also one of the crocswine parts makes poison rimesteel throwing daggers. and the swamp parsley

[warrgood]

All of the above, plus training dummy from the ludern arena vendor, and Sleuth bow from the arena champ. This is a great bow if you run with critters and have a beastmaster.
The tomb nets you Haroun's spear and Narse's bow. That bow is arguably the best bow in the game. And if you use both weapons on the same target, you get free valor points.

But you are right, oulala, Ludern is probably the most challenging natural environment in the game so far. And that wandering zombie horde is no joke: Try to avoid camping if you can see them on the screen.
When playing region-locked, it's the only zone I rush through, and I leave it frequently for trade runs. However, once about half your group is level 9, nothing there can stand up to you. Just carry extra medicine and always have some plague remedy.
Upgrade your weapons as high as you can so that you can finish your fights in less than 2 rounds: even four stacks of poison shouldn't kill a merc in that amount of time. It's also helpful to have alot of people with first aid (I try to get it for the whole crew). First aid counters poison, bleed and fire. Just costs a valor point.

One last thing to make Ludern easier: Dried meat. Use it to distract crocswine and cardinal mosquitoes, since those are the fights that usually happen in the swamp gas areas. Ghost packs, bears, wolves and boars tend to live on higher ground.

[oulala]

alright thanks guys, seems there definitly a couple of thing I wanna get there (already have the dummy)
the axe sounds interesting, as well as the spear but I don't have a bowman.

Ill definitely get some of that antidote belt accessory though before going back, sounds like its gonna help alot.

only one thing bugs me:

Originally posted by warrgood:

Upgrade your weapons as high as you can so that you can finish your fights in less than 2 rounds

it usually takes me 3 rounds to finish a fight, not sure I can do it in 2. especially those plague ridden guys that heal inside their own poison (aside from 2 spearmen, I have only shiled tanks that have to go in contact to attack).
and I tried upgrading a 2 star rimesteel axe to a 3 star, but the preview showed it would go from +19 strength to +18... wtf? :D

[Spawnling]

Originally posted by oulala:

alright thanks guys, seems there definitly a couple of thing I wanna get there (already have the dummy)
the axe sounds interesting, as well as the spear but I don't have a bowman.

Ill definitely get some of that antidote belt accessory though before going back, sounds like its gonna help alot.

only one thing bugs me:

Originally posted by warrgood:

Upgrade your weapons as high as you can so that you can finish your fights in less than 2 rounds

it usually takes me 3 rounds to finish a fight, not sure I can do it in 2. especially those plague ridden guys that heal inside their own poison (aside from 2 spearmen, I have only shiled tanks that have to go in contact to attack).
and I tried upgrading a 2 star rimesteel axe to a 3 star, but the preview showed it would go from +19 strength to +18... wtf? :D

An upgrade (stars) should increase stats by 10%.
But I think the person was talking about upgrading the level of unique weapons.

The Purifier in Grinmeer sell Bleeding Oil recipe, which might help your tanks dealing damage.

[mrak20105]

Originally posted by oulala:

alright thanks guys, seems there definitly a couple of thing I wanna get there (already have the dummy)
the axe sounds interesting, as well as the spear but I don't have a bowman.

Ill definitely get some of that antidote belt accessory though before going back, sounds like its gonna help alot.

only one thing bugs me:

Originally posted by warrgood:

Upgrade your weapons as high as you can so that you can finish your fights in less than 2 rounds

it usually takes me 3 rounds to finish a fight, not sure I can do it in 2. especially those plague ridden guys that heal inside their own poison (aside from 2 spearmen, I have only shiled tanks that have to go in contact to attack).
and I tried upgrading a 2 star rimesteel axe to a 3 star, but the preview showed it would go from +19 strength to +18... wtf? :D

Playing in Luderne without an archer? Yes, it will be a long fight ;)). Cardinal mosquitoes attack ignoring "defense". Your tanks will not stand for long, waiting for the opponents to run up to them. In addition, no one remembered about the midges, against which only fire works. That is, you should have one companion with a torch, or an archer with a bow with a fire arrow. I do not know your gaming settings, but in Luderne, it will be difficult for you without an archer and without an antidote, even if you play on normal difficulty.

[oulala]

Originally posted by mrak20105:

Originally posted by oulala:

alright thanks guys, seems there definitly a couple of thing I wanna get there (already have the dummy)
the axe sounds interesting, as well as the spear but I don't have a bowman.

Ill definitely get some of that antidote belt accessory though before going back, sounds like its gonna help alot.

only one thing bugs me:



it usually takes me 3 rounds to finish a fight, not sure I can do it in 2. especially those plague ridden guys that heal inside their own poison (aside from 2 spearmen, I have only shiled tanks that have to go in contact to attack).
and I tried upgrading a 2 star rimesteel axe to a 3 star, but the preview showed it would go from +19 strength to +18... wtf? :D

Playing in Luderne without an archer? Yes, it will be a long fight ;)). Cardinal mosquitoes attack ignoring "defense". Your tanks will not stand for long, waiting for the opponents to run up to them. In addition, no one remembered about the midges, against which only fire works. That is, you should have one companion with a torch, or an archer with a bow with a fire arrow. I do not know your gaming settings, but in Luderne, it will be difficult for you without an archer and without an antidote, even if you play on normal difficulty.

yep no archer, but ive got a sword that creates fire under enemies I hit (granted its more than one).
now, im definitely not returning untill I make antidotes for all me characters. sounds like its going to make things alot easier.

as for mosquitos, is there any reason to wanna fight them? otherwise I can just courageously run away.

[mrak20105]

Originally posted by oulala:

Originally posted by mrak20105:

yep no archer, but ive got a sword that creates fire under enemies I hit (granted its more than one).
now, im definitely not returning untill I make antidotes for all me characters. sounds like its going to make things alot easier.

as for mosquitos, is there any reason to wanna fight them? otherwise I can just courageously run away.

This sword won't help against midges. Only a torch will help if a companion gets close to the midges. Or an archer with a fire arrow, or throwing a fire bottle. Of course, you can run away from a fight with mosquitoes, but isn't it interesting to fight a new enemy? You can lower the difficulty to learn the enemy's strength and weakness. I advise you to hire an archer, this is even more important than belt improvements against poison. Mutant boars wound with bleeding, so only brands from the helmets of Alazar swordsmen will help. At the same time, an archer - an infantryman, can not run through poisonous puddles, but stand in anticipation of the enemy, and inflict damage to four opponents.