easiest way to win ?

[qmuddy]

darwin is the one i've been using, is there another explorer i should try for easiest game ? thanks

[Hightower]

try nikola tesla he has a tesla gun that makes a lot of damage hope that helps :D

[TFJ]

You can try using Mary Kingsley. It's pretty easy to ignore most enemies with her.

[artemi714]

I really like Marie Curie so far. Her ability to choose from 5 perks lets you get some pretty nice combos, and her dice lets her focus on combat and support characters, so getting an attack animal works well for her. My favorite perks so far are Polyglot, Good Reputation, Explosives Expert, and Eagle Eye. If you can get a rifle, she's pretty well set for most combat you could run into.

[Elegant Caveman]

Originally posted by artemi714:

I really like Marie Curie so far. Her ability to choose from 5 perks lets you get some pretty nice combos

I second this. Being able to choose between 5 perks instead of 3 gives you a lot of flexibility, and almost assures that you'll be able to pick a perk that suits your playstyle.

Can't say I'm a huge fan of her starting companions, though, so I'd suggest maybe trying to switch those out sooner than later, and not to waste upgrade points on your missionary unless you decide to keep him, for some reason.

I found Richard Francis Burton to also be a decent starting choice, though with a heavy focus on combat (something to keep in mind, in case that's not something you're interested in).

My best game so far has been with Frederick Courtney Selous. Not specifically because of his perk (which is alright, though not amazing), but more because of his starting equipment (a hunting rifle and a camp site straight from the beginning is very useful) and because it made me realize how powerful a hunting party can be. He's not available as a first choice, but it's relatively easy to unlock him (all you have to do is "confront a tiger").

If you're not going for a pacifist playthrough, don't underestimate how helpful firearms can be. I had two shotguns in one game, and a shotgun with a hunting rifle in another (yes, you can have multiple weapons).

In all my games so far (not that many, I'm a new player), I've found that the main thing I keep having trouble with is running out of space. I'd suggest trying to get a good pack animal (the water buffalo, camel and giant tortoise all start with 4 item slots) as soon as possible, and upgrading them to their maximum (which I believe is +3 slots).

Another thing I've noticed is that taking one's time and ignoring the other explorers (i.e. not trying to rush each map) can be quite beneficial, as long as you can manage your sanity. Having a hunting party (i.e. strong combat dice and a cook) helps a -lot- with this, as can having a camp site (Frederick Courtney Selous starts with one, but you can get lucky and buy one even if you don't start with one).

If you clear out a map (or, well, clear out a good chunk of it, instead of rushing), the extra loot you get can easily make up for the fame bonus you'd get for rushing.

I've only been playing on the easiest setting up to now, so obviously, that makes it a lot easier, but I get the impression this might be a viable strategy on normal mode as well; hopefully, someone with more experience can chime in about that.

Even if it's not, playing on the easiest difficulty and taking your time can be a good way to learn the game, so I'd still recommend trying that out.

EDIT:

I just finished my first Normal game, testing out the advice I gave above.

I took Nikola Tesla. His perk is kind of nice, but nothing amazing, I was hoping it would grow as he'd level up (finish expeditions), but it's "stuck" at level 2, which gives you an extra 20 max sanity.

Starting with a cook was the main reason I took him. I got lucky and replaced my donkey with a water buffalo very early (the first native village I visited, I think). I got Tim Timster & Luis pretty early, then replaced them with a british soldier. I then replaced my starting parsi trader with a bedouin; I had the water buffalo, soldier & bedouin for about half of my expeditions.

Raising the cook to at least level 3 (which gives you +10 sanity per overcooked meat) and upgrading my water buffalo as soon as possible made a big difference.

I got quite unlucky, though, insofar as that I never saw a single gun for sale, so combat was a bit trickier than I might have otherwise liked (I ended up using quite a bit of dynamite & spears in combat, and a few bullets).

I didn't rush at all, trying to clear maps as much as I could, yet I still usually managed to get to the pyramid before the other adventurers. I think I only came in 5th place (no speed bonus) on the last map, I ended up finishing most in first place, and a couple in 3rd.

I marvel at how much of a difference the meat from the cook makes; before I started using cooks, I'd waste a lot of time resting (in villages, camp locations, etc.).

I want to try a pacifist run next, to unlock a few more explorers, and I'm kind of worried about how that's going to go...

[Ajvar the Boneless]

Every explorer is different, and as long as you can adapt your play style to their particular quirks, winning isn't that hard outside of Certain Death. That being said, you're still not meant to clear each run successfully. This is still a rogue-like to a degree, and dying is part of the game.

Personally, I find Darwin to be one of the weaker explorers. He's got a strong start because of his shotgun, which trivializes most fights on the first 2 missions, but once higher health enemies start showing up things get much harder for him if you're rplaying aggressively.
His butterfly passive basically comes down to an extra 60 or so saniity per mission, which isn't very much compared to simply having a cook or a soldier.

Tesla can be extremely flexible if you get lucky with a trader early on, because trading his gun lets him buy a ton of useful stuff.

Alexandra David-Neel can run an all-animal party and go on a cocaine-fueled murder spree for most of the game, since she can't proc any negative afflictions as the only human. Cocaine is really cheap to trade for in villages, since the high chance of one your trek members developing afflictions from using it is normally very high. Her animals will just start feeling a bit limited with the powerful enemies showing up on the last 2 expeditions.

That's the beauty of this game. So many subtle differences that might (and should) affect your entire gameplay.

[Elegant Caveman]

Originally posted by Mr. Steven:

Alexandra David-Neel can run an all-animal party and go on a cocaine-fueled murder spree for most of the game, since she can't proc any negative afflictions as the only human.

Are explorers not affected by the negative side effects of coca leaves?

The wiki says "Coca leaves may also reveal or inflict mental ailments upon explorers.", so that's a bit confusing. Is it that explorers used to be not affected, but now they are? Or the other way around?

[Ajvar the Boneless]

Originally posted by Elegant Caveman:

The wiki says "Coca leaves may also reveal or inflict mental ailments upon explorers.", so that's a bit confusing. Is it that explorers used to be not affected, but now they are? Or the other way around?

It's confusing, but unless there've been some major changes in the 1.0 release, only secondary trek members can gain any ailments at all. Take cocaine, go crazy :D

[artemi714]

I feel like giving a tiger cocaine would just make it even more lethal lol