Why are agents so terrible?

[Sky Sweeper]

Can anyone explain to me why when I recruit agents they have a ton of negative traits right off the bat? And I mean traits like "Thin Skulled" or "Not Quite Right". These seem to appear on every agent, and I don't know how to NOT have them spawn with them...

[Tommy Gray x Land Raider]

Yeah, we could use a mod to get rid of those traits. After all, they are irritating and they don't show them when in recruitment, only once after the recruitment has been made.

[Sandman]

Well I mean you would have to be a little off to go around enemy territory starting fires and risking your life for $400 and no salary.

[Sky Sweeper]

Originally posted by Sandman:

Well I mean you would have to be a little off to go around enemy territory starting fires and risking your life for $400 and no salary.

yeah but you would also expect that to not give them a -5 to cunning and therefore make them terrible at doing it.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Sky Sweeper:

Originally posted by Sandman:

Well I mean you would have to be a little off to go around enemy territory starting fires and risking your life for $400 and no salary.

yeah but you would also expect that to not give them a -5 to cunning and therefore make them terrible at doing it.

Well, when you have to choose between 4-5 dirtbags, you don't get many choices. I'm just glad that agents actually matter in this game and are almost necessary compared to previous TW games where it was like some optional mini-game.

[Chaoslink]

Someone once told me that the higher tier the building that allows recruitment of the agent, the better the agents are that get recruited, not like free XP ones, just simply having say your market be the 4th tier over 2nd.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Chaoslink:

Someone once told me that the higher tier the building that allows recruitment of the agent, the better the agents are that get recruited, not like free XP ones, just simply having say your market be the 4th tier over 2nd.

Depends on the faction I believe. Some of the higher tier buildings just give a better public order bonus and that's it.

[JKtay]

I believe the faction and province you are recruiting from play a part in this.

[Chaoslink]

Originally posted by Sandman:

Originally posted by Chaoslink:

Someone once told me that the higher tier the building that allows recruitment of the agent, the better the agents are that get recruited, not like free XP ones, just simply having say your market be the 4th tier over 2nd.

Depends on the faction I believe. Some of the higher tier buildings just give a better public order bonus and that's it.

Well according to said person, even those buildings, the 'only public order' buildings make it rarer to get bad traits on recruited agents and more likely to get good ones. The idea is that the higher tier buildings are better places to recruit from. No confirmation there though, just offering a rumor.

[Tommy Gray x Land Raider]

Well, every time I did it, recruiting them even from the highest tier, they still get those traits. The AI doesn't have agents with those traits. Just me. Agents recruited from the lowest level don't get those traits for the AI. And that is on easiest difficulty.

[Lord General Nacho]

Your Rank 10 Agent: FAILURE FAILURE OPPORTUNE FAILURE FAILURE

Their Rank 2 Agent: CRITICAL SUCCESS SUCCESS CRITICAL SUCCESS

[Kinphon]

Well that's mainly because from hard on up, AI agents get a bonus to success chance while you get a malus.

Also remember that there are a lot more AI than player and that you always forget when they have big losing streaks.

[Sandman]

Also remember that certain agents counter others. So you need to look at the enemy agent's attributes compared to your own.

[Sky Sweeper]

Originally posted by Sandman:

Also remember that certain agents counter others. So you need to look at the enemy agent's attributes compared to your own.

.... that doesn't account for the fact that they get desaturous traits on recruitment. Can't really do anything to stop that, so it just makes me want to avoid agents entirely.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Sky Sweeper:

Originally posted by Sandman:

Also remember that certain agents counter others. So you need to look at the enemy agent's attributes compared to your own.

.... that doesn't account for the fact that they get desaturous traits on recruitment. Can't really do anything to stop that, so it just makes me want to avoid agents entirely.

I have a hard time winning without them. Especially factions that are sensitive to religious differences. I have multiple priests deployed in some areas.

I need champions to raise stacks quickly and to vet up my stacks that are already there.

I need spies to see the map and keep those other agents off me.

Avoid entirely? I couldn't do it.

[Sky Sweeper]

Originally posted by Sandman:

Originally posted by Sky Sweeper:

.... that doesn't account for the fact that they get desaturous traits on recruitment. Can't really do anything to stop that, so it just makes me want to avoid agents entirely.

I have a hard time winning without them. Especially factions that are sensitive to religious differences. I have multiple priests deployed in some areas.

I need champions to raise stacks quickly and to vet up my stacks that are already there.

I need spies to see the map and keep those other agents off me.

Avoid entirely? I couldn't do it.

I never said I could either, it's just I'm really turned off from using them as they constantly get terrible traits for no apparent reason, so I can't strategically do anything to prevent it. It's a really frustrating mechanic in a strategy game.