Party Composition

[Pi is exactly 3]

I'm wondering how people like to build their groups? How many of each class do you keep on hand? How do you handle having having professions in your group?

Thanks in advance for any input

[Wandering Flare]

I went with 2 of each to have all professions and both 1-handed and 2-handed weapons, but the Destroyer sucked ass so I replaced him with another swordsman. 12 people with no animals or slaves worked pretty well.

[➕⁺+₊ ⁺]

2-4 100% crit retaliation swordsmen. 77% guard, 800 armor, guard nullifying attack, damage immunity (30+70%) +1 valor point on every engagement action, status immunity with 10% stacking dmg buff on top, 3-5 attacks per turn + 50% chance for retaliation after disengagement on each of those attacks and one riposte on top (from one particular farmable sword) with +50-60% dmg on those attacks of opportunity, infectious oil + infectious belt flask so 100% application chance, poison/healing oil, flame shield (inquisition equipment, farmable in Gosenberg city)... in short at lvl 12 they dish out like 800-1500 damage against whatever, tanky or not, and if that whatever is still somehow alive after that it def dies next turn from 800-1500 infection dmg+ 20% burn + 10-20% poison kills em for sure (poison is there to give 20% dmg buff from a helmet passive). All while sustaining very little damage, UNLESS there is something that nullifies their guard so basically all the strategy comes to focusing guard-breaking enemy units first

[BenchWarmer]

I have one of each profession, so 10 total. 3 tanks, 2 rangers, 1 archer, 1 spearman, 1 destroyer, 1 berserker, 1 vanguard. The vanguard is the best of all of them.

[Milkman]

I enjoy a group of 8 the cooking I usually do in bunches for levels and bard I ignore....as for classes I highly recommend trying them all....I seem to fall outside the standard as I dislike spear users and am less fussy about swords also....I personally love the berserk and 1 handed mace wielders assassins can tear through enemy well also. I cant seem to find love for the animals I try and try but just seem to turn on them eventually

[Pi is exactly 3]

Great input, thank you!

[KalkiKrosah]

I don't field any spearmen and do fine without any in my warband.

Current setup is this: 3 axemen (2 2 handers & 1 dual wielder with a sickle), 3 swordsmen (1 two hander & 2 tanks), 2 maces (1 2 hander & 1 tank), 3 rangers (2 assassins & 1 mobile team leader) & 1 archer beast master. Only animals I recruit are Alpha wolves, Bears, and Sows. Sows are cannon fodder, Bears are tanks & Alpha Wolves are zerg damage dealers. Animals are disposable to my battles. It's like trading rope for pork and wolf meat to feed the rest.

My single handed swordsmen and maces are tanks with heavy armor and shields. They destabilize and peel enemy armor while tanking enemy damage dealers.

Single handed axeman is another heavy armor guy... I wish I made him into a berserker. The riposte skill costs too much to be useful. The sickle as his off hand weapon is useful though. The versatility of the extra guard, throwing damage and debuffs giving is useful on this build.

My archer is infantryman so I use him as a ranged killer and zone control. Beast master gives him some versatility and protection.

Two handed axemen are 2 builds: AOE & Single target killers. Berserker skill is for boss killing, the round swing is for mob killing. The mob killer is one of my best guys. He hits like a truck and every battle he racks up 2-3 kills nearly every turn he moves.

Two handed hammer guy has the mace that hits extra on armored targets and the poisoned attack on bleeding targets. Good group damage, efficient on action points, just wish they could bring heavier armor but otherwise he is my setup man for all my killers.

The two-handed swordsman is my other AOE killer. Great swords, and that double attack sword move with the fury finisher. Mostly a strength and mobility build. Get in, thrash up a group of enemies then race back out. He can be an off tank if needed.

Rangers are either damage dealing assassins with attacks from behind and high crit, dexterity and mobility. I give them daggers as off hand weapons for added lethality. The tactician ranger is more mobile but trades lower damage in return. His ability is the smoke screen and the sergeant ability and the dash move and first aid too. His weapon is the dagger that attacks 3 nearby enemies and disengages. Off hand is a sickle.

[pd28]

Originally posted by KalkiKrosah:

Single handed axeman is another heavy armor guy... I wish I made him into a berserker. The riposte skill costs too much to be useful. The sickle as his off hand weapon is useful though. The versatility of the extra guard, throwing damage and debuffs giving is useful on this build.

A sentinel is probably the single most useful character to have. Ovation initially seems underwhelming because it relies on you having the max number of units engaged before riposte makes it worthwhile, but once you get a skill upgrade book to give you party wide inspiration it is completely awesome - everyone moving at double speed just makes battles so much easier. Give them any of the high end axes, single or double handed, and the upgraded recklessness skill and they can start every fight with a real bang

The one spearman I wouldn't be without is a harpooner with upgraded skill armed with the unique weapon "crocsting". If you add in a few range enhancers, including the aim skill you can set big numbers of enemies bleeding and then knock them back and slow them down. Along with hunter archers I find this build gives you the most effective crowd control without the high VP cost of the spearwall or the inflexibility of the infantryman barrage

[warrgood]

My favorite team mix is 2 berserkers -give 'em legendary axes and they do serious damge. The one with the Nephti's also gets a legendary shield so he's not a glass cannon. Between 2 and 5 swords, mixed one and 2 hand. usually fighters. Destabilize is awesome when the enemy starts with 60+% guard and hardcore training lets me laugh at your puny fire and poison! 2 maces, usually smashers-3 archers: all hunters. 1 assassin and 1 harpooner.

Everyone gets legendary or at least upgradeable weps as soon as I can acquire them. Everyone gets upgraded skills as soon as they can,

This setup provides a nice balance of dps, aoe dps, ranged and tanking, but it's not a guarantee I'll walk away from every fight without losing someone.
I'm sure there are better ways to make a team that does more damage or has higher survivability, but this is my 'favorite' mix, not necessarily the best that could be made.

[CavalierArcher]

I don't think anyone really answered the professions part? And this is the area where people really start to push band size too big as they want it all (which you don't need). It really comes down to composition and your personal play style. But here are the professions you can consider to rotate in and out.

The scholar is only really busy after you've raided a tomb. So I tend to get him late and then 'park' him in a trading post when not studying relics.

Bard I use here and there, and often as a captured prisoner. (CON and WILL can be picked up on other mercs, and its a profession that's quite limited)

Woodcutter, Thief, and Fisherman are in the middle. I tend to keep dedicated, but you can swap them out.

The rest (Smith, Cook, Miner, Tinker, Alchemist) I keep as 'essential'. Smith because the crafted armor is good for most of the game. Cook gets you super foods for buffs, and the Miner for late game materials. Tinker upgrades your camp. Alchemist because oils are so good.

I keep to about 12 mercs, and will mid to late game fill out specialized roles and park them in the trade posts until needed. I take 1 or 2 bears to tank.

[Wandering Flare]

Originally posted by CavalierArcher:

I don't think anyone really answered the professions part? And this is the area where people really start to push band size too big as they want it all (which you don't need). It really comes down to composition and your personal play style. But here are the professions you can consider to rotate in and out.

The scholar is only really busy after you've raided a tomb. So I tend to get him late and then 'park' him in a trading post when not studying relics.

Bard I use here and there, and often as a captured prisoner. (CON and WILL can be picked up on other mercs, and its a profession that's quite limited)

Woodcutter, Thief, and Fisherman are in the middle. I tend to keep dedicated, but you can swap them out.

The rest (Smith, Cook, Miner, Tinker, Alchemist) I keep as 'essential'. Smith because the crafted armor is good for most of the game. Cook gets you super foods for buffs, and the Miner for late game materials. Tinker upgrades your camp. Alchemist because oils are so good.

I keep to about 12 mercs, and will mid to late game fill out specialized roles and park them in the trade posts until needed. I take 1 or 2 bears to tank.

Scholar is a good source of Knowledge if you just leave him on the lectern all the time, Bard can save a level for a good few companions if they have 14 Willpower.

[Nabster]

1 men and 9 women, one person for each vocation. 3 alpha wolves.

[Rizzit]

i was at 10 ppl but the fights just took ages and its near impossible to play the strength of all units, so Ive cut it down to 6 as the cycle times get practically doubled. My MVP is the executioner. no legendaries, no item farming, you equip him with a good axe and he just keeps on rolling every fight. i gave him an enhanced visibility helm for the attack of opportunity. as for tanks i have a protector whos also straight forward. second tank destroyer to stall. my archer is also delivering after a lot of tweaking, infantryman as barrage doesnt shoot your own units, so i sit him behind the frontline and the 3 shots mostly get in.

now the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ part:

my spearman harpooner has mixxed results. functional duo is ♥♥♥♥, the damage is too low, upgraded piercing throw is decent, and fervent support only is good if you have another weapon but the crafted spear ability is meh. also balling too many units near each other is really bad against aoe or fire.

my cutthroat is also mixxed. against Stars or Bosses he absolutely melts faces. but half the fights he idles around waiting for an opportunity to kick in, so hes useless often. it takes alot of setup to make him work, and thats a problem as my executioner takes also a lot of setup to work, but if i jump my executioner correctly he takes down 4 people and just keeps on attacking until everything is dead.

[Kruppe]

Originally posted by Pi is exactly 3:

I'm wondering how people like to build their groups? How many of each class do you keep on hand? How do you handle having having professions in your group?

Thanks in advance for any input

for me - 12 is ideal number
3 rangers, 1 in each mini group of 4 mercs each; 1 ranger focuses on poison, one on bleeding, one on fire
1 archer
1 pike
1 sentinel
1 executioner
1 fighter
1 fighter
2 destroyers
1 2h with dagans

split them into 3 groups of four mercs each, gear weapons, armour. belts, oils all coordinated to yield poison, infectious, bleeding, infectious, and fire, infectious - captain is pike, 2 lt's are rangers - this gives me a number of great attacking options depending on the enemies.... so i organize my battle map to keep the poison givers together, the bleeding givers together and the fire givers together - for example, all my fire guys are immune to fire - 2 fighters, 1 ranger with fire salve belt, 1 archer with appropriate bow, as needed... the game has any number of different skills and builds - experiement with what you like and what works best - if you want a guide without spoilers read Kruppes Crucial Clues here on steam; i'll update it with the next patch/update - enjoy and good luck

[Tom Cormie]

After several restarts, I got rid of the animals, except for the work ponies. Now I run a balanced party. 12 companions, 2 of each class. 8-9 level now.

Swordsmen: Protector 1H + shield, Swordmaster 2H

Protector is main tank. Counter attack, Hardcore training + shield with ripost
Swordmaster is off tank/DPS. Bulwark, Hardcore training + "Prosperity" legendary 2H sword with knockback from Bernna's Arena

Warriors: Berserker 1H + shield, Berserker 2H

Recklesness, Battle cry for both of them.
The 1H axe is the Legendary "Nepti's Axe" from vertruse tomb. 3m AoE srtike with 1H axe
The 2H axe is an upgradable rare axe with Raging spirall skill


I play with Desereter starting team, they handle the special challenge: Kill the leader first

Brutes: Destroyer 1H + shield, Smasher 2H

Destroyer is main tank. Armor breaker, Guard breaker + shield with ripost
Smasher is DPS. Armor breakeer, Guard breaker + "Dagans hammer" legendary 3m AOE from Tiltren tomb

Spearmen: 2 Harpooner

2 ranged/long reach melee DPS with multiple destabilization and bleed skill
One of them: Sweet spot, Preparedness
The another: Fervent support, Preparedness

Rangers: 1 Assassin, 1 Poisoner

The assassin is full throwing build, "Rain of dagger" main weapon, poisoned throwing knife
The poisoner is the finising member. "Viper" legendary poison build dagger from Smot's Arena, poisoned throwing knife

With the Instinctive Throw skill they are very mobile. Both are excellent against enemy archers.

Archers: 2 Hunter

One of them: Reinforced arrow skill with a bow that is guaranteed to do critical damage on a full HP opponent. One shot kill on opponents with weak armor.
The another: Precision skill with "Knock back" skill.

Everyone uses two oils. The first is the "Sharpening oil" for everyone. In addition the 6 heavy melee uses Sticky oil (start the battle with Deflection), the hapooners uses Shielding oil, and the 4 DEX based characterr uses Swiftness oil.

[Solstius]

Disregarding my EA File since that's more or less my testing team. The following is my team:

Starting Composition - Apprentice Friends

Main Lineup: 10

FOUNDING FOUR
- Ranger - Strategist (Captain)
- Swordsman - Fighter (1st Lieutenant)
- Brute - Destroyer (2nd Lieutenant)
- Archer - Hunter
OTHERS
- Spearman - Halberdier
- Warrior - Berserker
- Ranger - Assassin
- Archer - Hunter
- Fighter - Fighter
- Brute - Destroyer

The composition for the team would change according to what tasks I'm undertaking, as well as which Region I'm working at, but this list will be my general go to, with the Founding 4 members always staying within the team unless I'm training a new recruit for both level AND Trait acquisition.

In terms of general go to battle approach, I'd usually divvy em up into 2 groups of 5, each with an Archer and at least 1 Tank. The other approach I go with is 3 groups of 3 and 1 lone "Champion" to solo enemies while I keep others to work as a group. The Champion role will change depending on the composition of the enemy we fight, but it's almost always a damage dealer. My Founding Fighter usually undertakes this role.

Every unit I build and train always aims to achieve at least 16 Movement, Willpower at the Cap and at least 20% base Crit Rate. This is my go to approach when it comes to training units, as such, whenever I try to recruit new guys, besides looking for key traits, I do my best to look for those with 15+ Willpower, if not, at least close to it. This way, I can spend less AP on Willpower and spend more of them on Crit Rate or Movement.

I'd only deviate from this training method IF I have a very specific build in mind and the unit is likely to stick around for that one very specific purpose. This would include Profession designation and gearing as well.