Can We PLEASE do something about wages?

[Eeo]

To be clear, I've played the game to the point where i have a company of 14 dudes, all about level 6 now, 1 bear, 4 wolves, and a boar. I have killed a couple timed contract bosses, cleared the starting location, and run around in 3 different regions afterwards. Wages are actually a problem.

The concept and realism of wages are neat, don't get me wrong. The issue is that I'm now being forced to run around looking for pointless time-sink fights to complete crappy bounties (unless i succeed on negotiations for them at least twice), and hopefully find prisoners wherever I go. My ratio of [Here are some pointless, time consuming errands you can't play the game without running : Actually interesting story/side quests] is now like 15:1. I have to literally spend an hour of time building up a bank to be able to spend 15 minutes going to and from an actual quest.

This is so irritating and time consuming that I've actually not played the game in over a week, because every time I think about wanting to explore the world I remember that I'm being Time-walled by what amount to idiotic chores that give me neither enjoyment nor progression. The food bit isn't as much of an issue; even with needing 80ish food /week (bears eat 12 apparently) I can manage that by buying some food and hunting as I find animal packs. But wages are so INCREDIBLY annoying to deal with that I just can't be bothered to play what was otherwise a pretty decent game.

Please, for the love of w/e god you believe in, make wages less central to the dynamic of the game! You built a fantastic world I can't even be motivated to explore because it feels like I'm ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ working a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ job inside of what is supposed to be a form of relaxation and enjoyment!

[Lemonidas]

i get your point , but doing only bounties and selling bandits prisoner is not enough also buy stocks at the market sell them elsewhere in the bandit camp in tiltren region near the hunters camp they sell stolen stocks which you buy very cheap i put it in depo put a thief there to make it NOT STOLEN and sell it in towns. When you recruit new mercenaries watch for the ''volunteer'' trait i suppose you know but will write it for others... it lowers wages by half , also since you sell prisoners steal food and raw materials for repairing armor and shields don't buy it since you know you will lower your suspicion by selling bandits at prison , and mobs always drop some loot rubbish armor , weapon you know .. sell it also get from the compendum as fast as possible with knowledge points the perks ''rationing'' (lower food by 3 its still better than 0) ''frugality'' (lower wage by 10%) '' for glory'' and ''for money'' gain 5% more influence and money from battles , also get as fast as you can the Bard profession and sing in every town you go that's easy 75 gold at 3rd level bard companion + some times a small trinket , try to aim always to use the Apple Pancake makes you move more on the map with fatigue lower by 35% your team will sleep more rarely which saves you hours passed in work rather than sleeping and wage day comes fast , I know i feel it too sometime no enjoyment nor progression but i think you are not giving everything from yourself to think economical again sorry if you know some of these stuff but i prefer to write it for new players to take example hope it helped cheers !
oh also i personally don't recommend region locked mode.. bounties in lower level regions give little gold also caravans sell lower level equipment plus mobs drop low level equipment which you sell at little gold not worth the time.. sitting in the biggest level region to watch for caravan rare armor and weapons is a pain since in free mode you can search on the all regions and bounties give more gold since enemies scale as your team , think about the influence as second currency always barter for more gold .
I Farm easy influence just because my companions relations are high and farm more happiness when i put them together in my save i cant get lower than 3k influence and my gold is around 40k which again wages don't lower it much since i do chores around passed almost all missions don't have nothing more to do i don't plat wait for the new update with new region and i am ready for it. As far as i see when you progress more in the missions and at late game you have items to help you manage your team better and with new unlock perks etc selling a lot stocks at city markets increase your selling price to the npc in time.. in the begining profit is very low but later is high farm iron + a chance for those gems easy sell at merchants since you get it for free and don't need the iron sell it too.. i have around 12 mules all with horseshoe it stacks i have double or triple moving speed and move around regions faster

[Saphariel]

if you have problems with wages its just bad managment, ran also 14 dudes never had a problem with wages, can go out and explore for days without the need for hunting nor be concerned with wages, I am playing with free mode, dont know about region locked how it goes

[Krel Backstabba]

Perhaps, this is a group composition problem. How much of your budget goes to acquiring repair kits and medicine? But I wouldn't know, I am replaying Tiltren and trying different builds for the moment.

[Kruppe]

Originally posted by Ee'O:

To be clear, I've played the game to the point where i have a company of 14 dudes, all about level 6 now, 1 bear, 4 wolves, and a boar. I have killed a couple timed contract bosses, cleared the starting location, and run around in 3 different regions afterwards. Wages are actually a problem.

The concept and realism of wages are neat, don't get me wrong. The issue is that I'm now being forced to run around looking for pointless time-sink fights to complete crappy bounties (unless i succeed on negotiations for them at least twice), and hopefully find prisoners wherever I go. My ratio of [Here are some pointless, time consuming errands you can't play the game without running : Actually interesting story/side quests] is now like 15:1. I have to literally spend an hour of time building up a bank to be able to spend 15 minutes going to and from an actual quest.

This is so irritating and time consuming that I've actually not played the game in over a week, because every time I think about wanting to explore the world I remember that I'm being Time-walled by what amount to idiotic chores that give me neither enjoyment nor progression. The food bit isn't as much of an issue; even with needing 80ish food /week (bears eat 12 apparently) I can manage that by buying some food and hunting as I find animal packs. But wages are so INCREDIBLY annoying to deal with that I just can't be bothered to play what was otherwise a pretty decent game.

Please, for the love of w/e god you believe in, make wages less central to the dynamic of the game! You built a fantastic world I can't even be motivated to explore because it feels like I'm ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ working a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ job inside of what is supposed to be a form of relaxation and enjoyment!

I haven't read all the responses in total but a good path forward on krowns management is 1) to trade and sell merchant goods
2 ) perhaps reduce your team size - 14 mercs is quite a lot - saying that when i first started in february i got my team up to 25 or so - i've since dropped it to 15 and now run just 10 - big teams cost money.
3) steal items - get suspicion up - attract guards - kill them - get more gear - sell the gear - sell stolen items in black market - rinse and repeat if you like
4) reduce animals in your merc party - you really only need bears (for awhile) to push your mercs up to fighting level 11 guards (which you can capture and bring into your merc party after reducing your team down to 10 or so - I've gone as low as 6 when I get to level 9) ----- the rest of the animals (with perhaps the exception of some timely crocswine) are really cannon fodder and just force you to buy more food
5) start a new game and try something different - there are tons of merc attacking combinations
6) or, just wait until the next update arrives - but revisit once a week to get the gold weekly weapon :)
hope that helps...

[warrgood]

Agree with Kruppe, especially point 1: trade goods. I'll buy all they have in whichever town I'm in, then take every other contract except rats in the region.

Even 4 cheap contracts can cover my wages through the next rest (running with 12 mercs & 4 horses). Then I go back to town, buy up whatever has restocked and go get paid for the cheapies.

Often there's a trade contract, so I take it and sell whatever they required. If they want 4 pottery and I sell them 7, I make an even bigger profit and still get the contract payment. I do the same in the next town.

All my story quests are done, so I'm just banging around to get my last 4 up to level 9, racking up some cash and extra knowledge points for the next expansion.

Got 25K in Krowns with only 1 prisoner turned in and the only guards I've beaten on were Septelle related. About to change that- they have the best armor, after all...

[BedlamBetty]

the guards only have their version of the best armours available and that is also dependent on which region the guards are from.
Taking contracts that require killing units from the legion and from the bandits will give the same spread of possible top tier armours that have all the same stats as attacking guards in Vertruse and Ludern, but with less walking around.

[CCK]

The OP didn't mention ponies? Sure need the pony carrying capacity if you start tradings between towns/regions.

[Eeo]

I DO also have 4 ponies. The Company eats a lot, but I have a good Cook, so food hasn't been an issue; just have to hunt every so often to keep the drying rack full. Actually like half my weight is just food atm, I can go a week or so without stocking up more. Krowns though... even lvl 4 prisoners are only netting me 80 or so a pop, cheap quests give like 200-300 with negotiation but theyre rarely together or in the same direction i actually WANT to go, idk how anyone even begins to have money in this game. A Trade run for me, (did one once) only netted the same profit as an unnegotiated cheap quest, ~150 total gain. My loss per every 2 days is fking 300. The numbers you people are posting are so out of touch with my experience that I can't even begin to understand what you're doing. I literally can't even complete a second region because of how expensive this nonsense is; every time I do 1 story quest I have to spend another hour --or two sometimes, if my negotiations for quests failed AND i cant find any handy prisoners/outlaws to turn in-- doing chores to reset myself. It's been mind-numbing.

I DO obviously also steal whereever I can, because I obviously can't afford not to. I also sell pretty much everything I loot that isn't food.

But having read all the replies, I'm beginning to think the issue is that this isn't actually an adventure/combat/rpg/strategy game; it's an economic game. You have to do SO MANY THINGS just to keep your little Warband afloat that all the focus is completely diverted to that nonsense INSTEAD of the world/story/combat/RPG/strategy that the game is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ SOLD AS

[BedlamBetty]

That is what the posts are telling you?
You are out of touch.
What you should be understanding from the posts is that you're doing something wrong.
I'd suggest your party size is a serious detriment to any balancing of your budget.
Don't just grow aimlessly, if you look for information on good ways to start the game, you can find them.
Treat your mercenary band the way you would your life, make a plan, set out goals that are attainable and reach them.
Wages are a core mechanic that is easy to overcome, but sets limitations to early expansion and favours time management in a player early in the game, much like food and fatigue in that sense.

[CCK]

Just checked an old save; my team wages was 268 Krowns when they were lvl#6 (11 companions). An trading contract between Tiltren and Vetruse was 200 Krowns. My reserve cash was 2.6k
Right now my team is all lvl#9 (22 companions), wages is 600 Krowns. An trading contract between Tiltren and Vetruse is 260 Krowns. My reserve cash is 40k.
I never do prisoner handover just because i do not want spending time+fatigue involved travelling between jails.
I would say my 70% income is from contracts (trading+bounty hunting), 30% is mix of selling loots+stealing+quest rewards.

[drake_hound]

The problem is COMBAT it seems... you run around with 6 dudes 1 bear that is 7 Fighters that are optimal... and rest of garbage Wolves and Boar they are even lower then Plate and Shield wielding Prisoners..

Your combat slows down a lot with those animal farm. and then you need to feed them.
So you need to carry more food then anybody else.
I know cause while testing the junk Prisoners... the combat slowed down a lot .
When a Level 5 Spearman/Sword man/Ranger is more usefull then a level 9 Boar or Axe wielding Prisoner. more time spent in combat is more time spent RESTING thus paying more wages.

The main income after level 6 is contract and the loot that you SELL .. the money is bonus to cover the 60-100 gp repair cost. so you need to be quicker in combat.
But my Animal FARM .. useless aside from the BEAR .
More normal class mercenaries means more LOOT from Contracts. animals don't use armor or weapons.

So get rid of that animal farm and see your combat speed increase thus your travel speed.
Thus less need of food and travel time.

[drake_hound]

Here is another tip , stop hauling around more then 10 carcasses (5 rest).. sell them to the vendor for 1GP and buy them back for 1 GP so you can create your cured meat.
Repair at the Blacksmith , cause repairing with materials is often more expensive. 5GP a repair mat and 0.5 Weight.

[Dreadstone]

How dare you criticize the Wolves!

#WolfPack

[WingT74]

meh, it's the game. It's a core game mechanic. It's part of surviving. At the end of the day, there isn't THAT much to explore. Explore areas around contracts you're doing, on the way there and back. trade goods between towns and explore on the way there and back. It's a game mechanic...would be like saying you need to turn off damage or make it show bows can shoot across the board or in monopoly so you don't have to pay when landing on someone's board walk.

[drake_hound]

Originally posted by Dreadstone:

How dare you criticize the Wolves!

#WolfPack

What is good with the wolfpack BLEED stacking, when the basis of a optimal character is that 1 good Character can kill 1 Oppenent with use of valour points.
Can wolfs tank ? can they generate Valour ? but bleed.... so you want to waste 3 wolfs that is 3 toons , with 1 attack to kill 1 person ?

Atleast those prisoners can tank with platemail and shield.. with 50% guard. takes 6 or more hits before they die.

Ohno the Enemies fight back.. and wolfs have to run away .. look Bear can take 5-6 and incase of a uber critical hit it still can survive.
A wolf dies in 2-3 hits. let alone those with Critical/ Oppertunity attack.

Don't get me wrong.. love Wolfs and Pets and Animals. but 1 attack and low amount of HP isn't cutting it when normal fighters have options and able to generate Valour that is much needed to quickly dispatch key enemies.
Even buddy was traded in for a bacon necklace that I never used.
(this on top of the 10% starting constitution... to get bears with 800 HP)

Now anything is playable .. even having 2 Mole Rats and summoning Mole rats by turn 2.. cause you hit them with torches or poison cloud. but having too many mole rats only means you have nothing to tank with. or nothing that can generate Valour Fast.

The boar can tank... eh not very well, even 25% damage reduction doesn't cut it. that is 25% guard which even medium armor wearer can get. you don't toss those to the frontlines facing 3-4 enemies.