Am I Stupid or Hopeless?

[[TIGS] starsrift]

I have enjoyed many tactical RPG's, from X-Com 1, Final Fantasy Tactics, HOMM, so on and so on - I'm no stranger to the genre.
I've logged six hours in this game and been unable to conquer a single shard. There comes a point where I'm just short of funds to either defend my hexes with guard towers and can't support a sufficient army to take the enemy's guard-towered lands - and trying to wait around for the provinces to grow enough to get the kind of gold per turn I need is all the computer AI needs to walk through my territory and take it, piece by piece. So far I've tried the ranger and the wizard heroes.

Is there some vital trick I'm missing or should I just uninstall and write it off as a bad purchase?

[King Doom]

There's an awesomely fun game here, but right now the economy is god awfully broken. Someone found a way to edit savegames so you can alter the amount of gold you have, really the only way to play is to give yourself 9999 gold when you start the game, let it roll over to turn one so you collect your +3 gold or whatever, then edit it from 10002 to 99999 gold. Game is playable after that.

[d00m]

wot^

You don't need to do that, I'm doing fine without altering anything lol

[Sanctified Reach 420]

yeah but a game should not be played with cheats. Unfortunately alot of people have the same problem with this game being too hard. most just wrote it off, i would if i were you.

[[TIGS] starsrift]

It's tempting to cheat. It seems like the game gets easier as you go on, with the Advantage system and unlocked techs, etc. I could do that.

But I think I'll just try a playthrough with the other two hero types - when playing the wizard, compared to the scout, I noticed that the wizard was a really bad starting hero - and if no dice, call it done.

[dartimos]

You can easily do it without cheats. Grab yourself an archer, they are the most forgiving. Aim for an all evil (bottom row of the military build) or all good (middle row) army. Start with a melee army (barbs / pikemen). Then start exploring areas until you have a solid money base. Not sure if this is the BEST strategy, but it's one that works. The normal temptation is to land grab. Don't land grab, consolidate (ie explore and clear) and then expand.

A hero's weapons last three battles at best. That means early game, if you lose no troops, you will be fighting 3/5 (60%) of your turns getting your income up by 2-10 per while your army will put your negative. In comparison, sitting at base gives you ~30 / turn, you can pick your fights, rebuy lost units and repair your equipment.

Always remember, there is a save option that you can use. Not sure you can kill something? Save it, try it and then load if you find that it's a rough set of minions. The save system IS the tutorial. From what I heard, the original of this system had a very limited save. You can wean yourself off of it as you get more confident and knowledgeable.

[Jman]

Here's what works for me. Immediately get scout and warrior. Scout explores all game. For the warrior either explore or look for goblins/undead to fight. For undead make sure the mix is skeleton/zombie. Hope you get lucky. I usually lose the warrior the first couple levels due to a level 5 zombie vs warrior. Make sure all the army units are bought for warrior. It helps a lot. Scout doesn't need army. I lose scout occasionally due to brigand encounter scouting you can't run from. Make sure warrior focuses defense/resistance. I usually get at least one point for forced march. Focus building up warrior quickly then roll enemy heroes. All money/gear/easy experience should be focused on warrior. I usually go dark knight for the extra gear slots for wand. They usually have resistance. My problem is that is the only way I know how to win. Anything else and the computer rolls me on beginner mode. Wish there was more variety. Late game warrior doesn't need an army. Saves tons on gold as he just chomps through anything but dragons without army. Hope this helps.

[Gec]

Originally posted by TIGS starsrift:

I have enjoyed many tactical RPG's, from X-Com 1, Final Fantasy Tactics, HOMM, so on and so on - I'm no stranger to the genre.
I've logged six hours in this game and been unable to conquer a single shard. There comes a point where I'm just short of funds to either defend my hexes with guard towers and can't support a sufficient army to take the enemy's guard-towered lands - and trying to wait around for the provinces to grow enough to get the kind of gold per turn I need is all the computer AI needs to walk through my territory and take it, piece by piece. So far I've tried the ranger and the wizard heroes.

Is there some vital trick I'm missing or should I just uninstall and write it off as a bad purchase?

Hi, difficulty of game is reworked in 1.1.3 (will be released this monday, and available as beta patch right now), for first 3 difficulty levels, so it should be easier to start.
Game can be played without cheats on any difficulty level. But for game start, choose beginner. Which is not so week.

Some tips that may help you. Choosing hero:
1. Warrior is best one to start. He can expand or explore locations alone, without any troops. Just buy him some fine equipment on defence and attack, and learn skills that gives your defence. At the beginning, you may support your warrior with some cheap and strong melee units like spearman, robber, barbarian. Expand provinces in first round from your castle. They are weakest. Than try to capture provinces of second round.

At level ~3-5 you'll find that you don't need army anymore and you can play with warrior alone.
This will let your hero levelup much faster, cause all battle exp goes only to warrior.

Pay attention on your hero stamina stat. Without stamina, hero is useless.
When you attack, counterattack, move through hills, swamps and desert you lose 1 stamina. If you move and attack at same turn, you lose 2 stamina. If your stamina is low, your attack and defence will be much lower. When your stamina is 0, you can not move and counter attack, and forced to rest.
Press rest button to prevent hero from counter-attack and recover some stamina. Try not to move through lot of hills and swamps. Don't move alot through deserts.

Build magic buildings that gives you healing spell. Or you can build necromancy or chaos schools. To learn skeleton/zombie raise, or imp summon. They should help you a lot.
Heal yourself (if you got this spell) before you win battle, so you have as much hp as possible.

Build Tavern->Inn which gives you contract with defender "Adventurers" They are very strong so buy them at your captital province.

Build recruit point or second rank military building that gives you defenders. Defenders can be placed in any province to defend it from enemy. If you have found enemy player. Buy defenders on provinces, that he can capture.

Don't buy troops in your garrison, cause they require gold/gems each turn. Place only 1 rebel or other unit in garrison to prevent castle from fast capture.

Open statistic screen to see what is your expenses.

Buy buildings in provinces (some castle buildings give you access to them). Buy mills on plain provinces, sawmill on forest, mine on hills. They will raise your gold income.

This should help you to start game.

Scout and Commander heroes are also good.

Wizard is extremely hard to play.

Hope you'll be fine.

[red255]

*Started my first campaign a while ago. On beginner and I'm taking my time.
First two heroes I bought off the bat were a warrior and a scout.

they both got armies. I gave them slingers and militia.... ideally I go with barbarians and shaman later for the last two level 1 unit buildings. because magic damage is so useful.

anyways the warrior is OK, slow starting but he got archer skills as an upgrade so he can ranged poison alot of minor things and runs toward the enemy and destroys them (has a NASTY two handed sword)

wears all sorts of heavy armor.

the archer I doubled down on ranged skills, and he can one shot anything short of a dragon.

you want to carry a spare feathered arrows because they break quick make outposts in the places on the front line (or capture them)

there were two lords on the island and my archer captured one. my warrior is doing alright

have a commander and now a wizard to explore and put out fires back home.

again running out of money is from using guys with too much upkeep. use slingers. they are cheap. and with double throw or whatever they do well enough. and when they die. its not real big deal either.

the barbarians kill the goblins and stuff strong against ranged.

hero spells are mainly magic missle, web, and cure wounds. though the global ritual helps for that too.

again I'm just starting out. but yeah my first thought was to make bowmen, but they are too expensive to use.

the scout has impressive range.

Commanders are OK. but not truly ''good" No I'm impressed with my scout scout. and my warrior scout.

nothing can hurt my warrior scout. and he's not even wearing the regeneration belt I found. its somewhat hilarious watching him clear melee that are foolish enough to attack him while his army kinda just watches

scout scout is my main. but warrior scout gets the job done. the commander/scout is only passable.

the wizard I just made.

I lose my armies all the time. but you can replace them with outposts.

have not found the second lord's castle yet. but I've been taking my time.

[[TIGS] starsrift]

I am continuing to read the tips, thank you all! Most of them are things I've already figured out or tried - but it's good to hear them anyway, as confirmation that I've at least been -trying- to do the right things! Thank you for the heads up on the patch, Gec.

So far my Warrior hero game is going okay, but I don't think it's got anything in particular to do with how I'm playing - the shard has two choke points because of a mountain and sea and one choke point is locked up with neutral guardians, so the AI can't pressure me on multiple fronts, only the one. He walks in every few turns and lets me slaughter his hero. I've gotten a second hero, and I think I'll be able to get the first levelled up enough to start moving through enemy outposts to their castle, so I think, maybe, I've got this shard locked up as a win.

Hopefully the second shard will be easier, will those unlocked techs I'll be getting!

[hghwolf]

I~ve actually found the Wizard hero to be the one I have the easiest time with. Rush for Magic Arrow and Bowmen or Crossbowmen, load up and eliminate most early neutral defenders before they even get into attack range. Then find chokepoints, splat Adventurers there until your Wizard is an Archmage and can spam offensive magic twice a turn.

Dunno how well this works in the later game but it`s served me well up to now - Just met Darion.

[Aquillion]

Wizards are easy if you lean heavily on Necromancy, since gems tend to be more plentiful than gold in the early game, and undead only cost you gems.

Either way, though, I think the problem some people are having is expanding too fast. Don't do it, it's a mistake. You only get a tiny boost to your gold income from a new province. Most of your gold income early on should come from exploring; do that until you have a decently-strong warrior, scout, or necromancy-focused wizard. Get a second hero as fast as possible (once your first one is set up) for the same reason.

Also, try to avoid buying unnecessary defenses. They're expensive. Losing a province temporarily is not the end of the world as long as you have a strong hero nearby to crush the enemy hero responsible and take it back; this is another reason not to expand too quickly early on, since you can easily use your heroes for defense as long as your territory is small.

[Msc. Alex Baldin]

Originally posted by Aquillion:

Wizards are easy if you lean heavily on Necromancy, since gems tend to be more plentiful than gold in the early game, and undead only cost you gems.

Either way, though, I think the problem some people are having is expanding too fast. Don't do it, it's a mistake. You only get a tiny boost to your gold income from a new province. Most of your gold income early on should come from exploring; do that until you have a decently-strong warrior, scout, or necromancy-focused wizard. Get a second hero as fast as possible (once your first one is set up) for the same reason.

Also, try to avoid buying unnecessary defenses. They're expensive. Losing a province temporarily is not the end of the world as long as you have a strong hero nearby to crush the enemy hero responsible and take it back; this is another reason not to expand too quickly early on, since you can easily use your heroes for defense as long as your territory is small.

I've played as a necro and it's fine. I've put some magic missiles and killed some golbins, then i get my squad. When one skeleton dies, another comes from the underworld!

[ShiftyPhooka]

I honestly don't think this is a 'casual gamer' type of game. Winning is definantly possible but it is a MUST that you think and stratigize and manage all that you do. A lot of the recent "Strategy" games I've played lately were very simple to master in my estimation. Not so with this game. So I think it delievers fairly well for a strategy turn based game. I have done fairly well so far and enjoy the challenge. I have not reached the end of my first play-through yet, so my opinion may change. But for now, if your having trouble instead of thinking that things are imposible without cheating, look for what you might be doing wrong. So far as I can see the game developers didn't make an impossible game, just a difficult one. Enjoy and once you find a way to beat it, I hope you will find a greater sense of acomplishment to match. Commander is by FAR my favorite hero btw.

[CyberDown]

You might be stupid for all i know but this game is really rough to start out in, and early game is damn hard if you dont get a lucky start.

Theres so much complexity to just about everything that it takes many failed games to realize whats going on, even if you are very familiar with other games like it.

My suggestion is to make a few custom games, set swamp land to minimal, resources to abundant, locations to many, free settlements (mob controled provices) to weak. Set your AI opponents to just a few so you have a lot of time to build and figure out stuff.

If you have a lot of hills build some buildings that related to hilly ground like the diggers guild ect, or lots of forest then the forest guild or whatever.

Remember that the warrior is early game faceroll hero, wizard is really hard to get started, but once you get the higher end magic youll faceroll with him before your units even get attacked.

Ranger is a good all around.

Commander is expert mode and a very late game hero...damn near worthless at the start and mid game. However, once you get the higher tier troops, and the means to completely fill out the commanders ranks, im pretty sure hes hardcore.

You need to right click the provices you take over, build structures in the provences (requires buildings in your capital to do) and you need to hire guards or the NPC opponents can just waltz in.

Also dont over build your army early, the upkeep will kill you.\

Lastly...Loot makes a HUGE difference. Ive had games where my ranger went all game with crap city built bows and struggled. Had another game where i got this epic bow that one shot everything and then turned them into skeletons for my army, and then i found ammo that was epic too...i was unstoppible.

[Promilew]

I think you should start with a scout because he explores quikly and is more of a all-rounder. Second hero should be the warrior and by the time you are able to hire him you have probably found some armor for him. I tried having the warrio as a first hero but the armor you can buy for him in the beginning suck and it takes a while to find better and playing with him is challenging.

I found the wizard to be a hero killer but only late in the game. You need to have the sleep spell and something like blindness (both tier 2 spells) and a medium size army. Simply sleep the enemy hero on the first turn and then you have 5-7 turns to destroy his army. Then blind him and he is helpless.
You should def. save the commander for last because it takes a lot of gold to keep up so many units.