New player. Matthias Lund question (narrative question)

[LinkR87]

Not sure if I am missing something, but why exactly am I trying to kill this poor man? It would make sense I guess if he competently lost his mind and needed to be put down because his grief has turned into a murdering psychopath, but he's literally standing in the middle of nowhere minding his own business hunting down bandits. The same thing I have been doing for the past hour.

I'd leave him alone, but reading up on it, he's the area boss. So I guess I'm expected to face him? I feel like I'm the bad guy here.


Also, what's the deal with poison on him? The debuff says it will deal 5 damage to him, but it's doing just 1. I don't see any stats on him that would be protecting him from it.

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Story wise:
Matthias is no longer sane, and is a danger to all.

Frankly, he sounds suitable for us as a recruit. OTOH, I'm not going to inflict another tragedy on Mrs Lund, so I never kill him.

[LinkR87]

I now know the pain that is being on the receiving end of an anime power fantasy tragic backstory protag. It's like they decided to do a live action of Berserk and chose Gallagher for the role of Guts. I think I might need to just let him have this.

[Robin of Spiritwood]

On the bright side
your squad gets to find and liquidate the Bandit that killed the little girl. He's in the Bandit lair in the mountains.
Sadly we don't get to skin and tan his hide.

[Ninth Hour]

Originally posted by LinkR87:

Not sure if I am missing something, but why exactly am I trying to kill this poor man?

These were exactly my thoughts when I faced him. I still defeated him anyway, for the sake of completeness, but derived no moral satisfaction from the act. Sure, Lund may be mad with grief, but you don't receive any hint that he is actually murdering innocents. Arguably, his brand of retribution would be tolerated in a wartorn world rampant with banditry.

None of the other region bosses, for that matter, seem to clearly deserve their fate. They are all just hiding out. You are never explicitly told what their crimes were- only that they happen to be on the wrong side of a conflict or antagonized a powerful faction. In fact, they don't even attack you, when you find them. You truly feel like an amoral mercenary when you take them down.

Spoilers (regarding two of the other region bosses):


The Ghost of Harag is a veteran from an old war between Ludern and the Edoran Kingdom, who took refuge in the mountains. He is basically a "loose end" from a now ended conflict. It is implied that he may be hunting Edoran troops. I'm not sure that there is explicit exposition about this. In any case, he is like those stranded Japanese soldiers from World War II who hid in the jungles of Southeast Asia and continued to stage guerilla actions long after the war ended.

Colonel Alexa Grantham is a former Legion officer who became a wanted fugitive for some unspecified action against her command. Because you never learn what her crime was, killing her makes you feel like an unquestioning pawn of regional powers.

I haven't faced the other region bosses yet but I'm guessing that they have a similarly hazy backstory.

[dq_177]

Originally posted by Ninth Hour:

You truly feel like an amoral mercenary when you take them down.

I mean that's the concept of the game from the start, so its not like its something sprung on you all of a sudden.

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Originally posted by dq_177:

I mean that's the concept of the game from the start, so its not like its something sprung on you all of a sudden.

Yep, exactly.
Once we entertain a contract, we fulfil it. It's a code. Of course, if we get paid more not to fulfil it, that would be another ah-- superceding -- contract for profit.

[Ninth Hour]

Originally posted by dq_177:

I mean that's the concept of the game from the start, so its not like its something sprung on you all of a sudden.

By the way, this is not a complaint. Just an observation, I agree that it is fitting thematically.

Some games in which you play mercenaries may allow you the pretense of at least fighting for an honorable or just cause (e.g. in Jagged Alliance, you are on the side of scientists trying to cultivate a lifesaving plant and, in part 2, your mercenary group is hired to overthrow a cruel dictator). But this game really commits to the amorality of the concept.

You are never afforded even a hint that you might be doing the right thing. Supporting one side is as good as any other, which is reinforced by the rewards being identical in many scenarios, no matter who you side with.

Also, whether intentional or not, the game incentivizes you to steal, as some items are so valuable and expensive (e.g Skill Mastery books) and the consequences so minimal, further enhancing the lawless feeling of the world- and your mercenary vocation.

[LinkR87]

I get what you guys are saying, and I fully back the idea of contesting with the moral gray area of just blindly following contracts to make ends meat. It's just that I wasn't even given that as a reason for going after this head pulping monster of a man. I wasn't even hired to do it. I can't even argue that I did it in my own self interest. I'm just expected to do it because he has an icon on his head. This isn't even about morality. It's a to do list.

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Originally posted by LinkR87:

It's a to do list.

Or a to Don't list.
You do not need to kill him to be successful. Or, fight him just for fun.

The Tavern Emissary gives a mission to kill him, if you chose to accept that mission. This tape will self destruct in 5 seconds.

[Ninth Hour]

Originally posted by LinkR87:

II wasn't even hired to do it.

Well, it is one of the contracts offered. So if you're going to fight him anyway, you might as well be paid for it.

A case could be made that, unless you're a completionist, you could let this one go. There are no major repercussions. Lund's legendary hammer isn't even that useful,

Lucilla, just like the 2-handed Deserter's hammer, needs a rework, Both of them currently operate the same way. They set up an AOE attack that does not trigger until the next round. This is way too long and gives ample opportunity for the target to evade the attack. It's also the reason why Raiders (the Outlaws that wield the Deserter's hammer) are such a joke of an enemy.

Every time I see them, I just ignore them, as I know they won't damage me on their turn and can be easily dealt with before they can fire off their action in the next round.

To make the main attack of both weapons work, you basically have to use them only on enemies who have already taken their turn, which is at odds with the current system of combat, which incentivizes you kill enemies BEFORE they get their action.

Since the AI is not smart enough to target units that have already moved, the Raiders end up being very ineffectual. They target units that still have an action, so when it is your turn, you simply move away, totally nullifying their attack.

If both weapons could be triggered on the next available action rather than the next round, they would be significantly better, You could still escape their attack but the time window would be much narrower.

Sorry, just realized that this was a bit of a digression but it is not totally irrelevant- if you're going to fight a boss, the reward should be worth it and, sadly, I have to say it isn't.

[hodie]

Yeah the Emissary contracts gives the most context "...wanted for a string of murders". There's tangible evidence of that in a couple of locations but whose to say he hasn't attacked others on the road too, though that would be more believable if he aggro'd when you interact with him as otherwise the victims all appear to be ne're do wells. Btw Has anyone tried interacting with him after retrieving the Lund belt accessory from the body in the mountain camp - wondering if there's an alternative ending?.

[LinkR87]

Originally posted by Ninth Hour:

Originally posted by LinkR87:

II wasn't even hired to do it.

Well, it is one of the contracts offered.

So one does exist? Ok, well that changes things for me a little. I have yet to find it, but it is good knowing one exists.

[Stardustfire]

Its a Red Contract, and for his mindstate, i was a little puzzled whos skin he used for his Weapon Handle (look at the description of the weapon after you aquired it and you will understand what i mean)

[PotatoBasket]

Originally posted by Robin of Spiritwood:

Story wise:
Matthias is no longer sane, and is a danger to all.

Frankly, he sounds suitable for us as a recruit. OTOH, I'm not going to inflict another tragedy on Mrs Lund, so I never kill him.

Think if your spouse, a gentle and loving parent, suddenly lost their mind and started butchering anyone they came across? I think giving him the end he so clearly seeks is ending the tragedy she's already experiencing. Either way you are playing as mercenaries. If you want to do it, do it, if not, don't. It's all grey and gold in this game.

[Kai]

He's a silly excuse to put a raid boss in the game... That does freaking 81 damage at level 3 in a AoE and acts so fast every cycle he can wipe out your units if you finish your unit's turn near him... He'll act like 4 times in a row without giving you a chance to move.

I don't see how this is balanced since the boss is suppose to be 'level 3', but has 90 HP and 90 armor, and all DoT is on a per cycle rather than per turn basis.

This game has a major problem, and that's in the turns cycles as the characters do not have a speed stat that governs their turns like in other RPGs...

Heck your 'turns' is dictated on team advantage, so if you overwhelm the enemy by outnumbering them, that's when you get to have 4:1 turns ratio.

There's 'Ghost' animals as supernatural fights, and then there's this giant dude who's 3 times taller and wider than your characters and swinging a 2h warhammer the size of a house.

I guess if you seriously wanna kill him, you'd want a army of Archers to pelt him to death with arrows. You don't wanna get close to him, plus debuff does not seem to work.