Tips on exploring the wilderness

[Buddha Bob]

Hey folks,

Noob here. I wonder if you could give me a bit of advice on a good way to explore the wilderness efficiently.

I've tried a little but in my noobness I just see the food and daily wages ticking away as I wonder aimlessly without finding anything.

If there is a good guide, post or Youtube video about this, just let me know. I checked but struck out. There's been plenty of really good info on other topics that's been very helpful.

Thanks in advance!

[Grigsey]

Planning! That's the key.

Make note of good trade routes in your seed. Hit them up as often as you can, get a good stockpile of money. Villages --> trade cities are great. I like to quest out of these places as much as possible early-mid game and swing by whenever I can. Pay attention to rumors at taverns as they can point you towards good stuff or even make buying supplies cheaper.

Food! Stock up on stuff like rations and wine before you leave, save unhold hearts you may have for the expedition and set out from a place w/ taxidermist to make the 15 day wine.

Max out on repair supplies before you leave so you can do several hard fights.

Keep in mind that you may only break even on any given expedition or a loss, but with luck (a fair bit of it) you can come back with either great stuff to sell or if super lucky, a decent famed item or two.

[turtle225]

You can poke your head into white mountains or hills for a second to get a lot of vision.

If you are worried about money then make sure you fight the camps you discover. They should give you enough loot to justify the trip. Orcs especially will usually give you more money than contracts.

[msunavygrad]

Originally posted by turtle225:

You can poke your head into white mountains or hills for a second to get a lot of vision.

If you are worried about money then make sure you fight the camps you discover. They should give you enough loot to justify the trip. Orcs especially will usually give you more money than contracts.

Finding and fighting Orc camps prior to day 15 is key to getting a good start as their weapons sell for $$$, they usually provide furs, and Orc Cleavers are great

[Tephros83]

Originally posted by msunavygrad:

Originally posted by turtle225:

You can poke your head into white mountains or hills for a second to get a lot of vision.

If you are worried about money then make sure you fight the camps you discover. They should give you enough loot to justify the trip. Orcs especially will usually give you more money than contracts.

Finding and fighting Orc camps prior to day 15 is key to getting a good start as their weapons sell for $$$, they usually provide furs, and Orc Cleavers are great

Prior to day 15?.. I'm more trying to get everybody in raider gear at that point by using flails and knives to kill raiders. Orcs slice through thug gear like nothing. Raider gear is only a little safer, but going out into the wilderness at the beginning to find orcs seems dangerous... spearwall I guess

[CHOO CHOO]

I always explore when I get a near-wipe and wages are suddenly down.

[msunavygrad]

Originally posted by Tephros83:

Originally posted by msunavygrad:

Finding and fighting Orc camps prior to day 15 is key to getting a good start as their weapons sell for $$$, they usually provide furs, and Orc Cleavers are great

Prior to day 15?.. I'm more trying to get everybody in raider gear at that point by using flails and knives to kill raiders. Orcs slice through thug gear like nothing. Raider gear is only a little safer, but going out into the wilderness at the beginning to find orcs seems dangerous... spearwall I guess

You will only find low numbers of Orc Young and Berserkers, easily handled by spears and ranged weapons.

[pascal.difolco]

Originally posted by Tephros83:

Originally posted by msunavygrad:

Finding and fighting Orc camps prior to day 15 is key to getting a good start as their weapons sell for $$$, they usually provide furs, and Orc Cleavers are great

Prior to day 15?.. I'm more trying to get everybody in raider gear at that point by using flails and knives to kill raiders. Orcs slice through thug gear like nothing. Raider gear is only a little safer, but going out into the wilderness at the beginning to find orcs seems dangerous... spearwall I guess

arf orcs at day 15 = group dead in 3 rounds. c'mon it's impossible to fight orcs with clubs...

[WarWise]

Originally posted by pascal.difolco:

Originally posted by Tephros83:

Prior to day 15?.. I'm more trying to get everybody in raider gear at that point by using flails and knives to kill raiders. Orcs slice through thug gear like nothing. Raider gear is only a little safer, but going out into the wilderness at the beginning to find orcs seems dangerous... spearwall I guess

arf orcs at day 15 = group dead in 3 rounds. c'mon it's impossible to fight orcs with clubs...

There is a lot of ways to get quite strong quite early.
There is a lot of guys who powergame and manage to get riches and exp quite early.
Some people get tailored maps with great trading routes, meaning that with initial money and just 3 guys you can trade a lot and amass a lot of money in the very first days, then recruit a lot of guys with great gear and start killing everything they see.

If you play your cards right in the right map in the early start you can jumpstart a company that can face more challenges and grow exponentialy in the first days. Takes preparation and knowledege. My play style is more prone to leasure.

[pascal.difolco]

Originally posted by WarWise:

Originally posted by pascal.difolco:

arf orcs at day 15 = group dead in 3 rounds. c'mon it's impossible to fight orcs with clubs...

There is a lot of ways to get quite strong quite early.
There is a lot of guys who powergame and manage to get riches and exp quite early.
Some people get tailored maps with great trading routes, meaning that with initial money and just 3 guys you can trade a lot and amass a lot of money in the very first days, then recruit a lot of guys with great gear and start killing everything they see.

If you play your cards right in the right map in the early start you can jumpstart a company that can face more challenges and grow exponentialy in the first days. Takes preparation and knowledege. My play style is more prone to leasure.

Well unless the map is very rare cheese, even trading takes a couple days per travel and gives less than 1000 gold with the starting 2000, in a couple week you can do like 5-6000 and then what ? You cant get hedge knights with that...

[msunavygrad]

Originally posted by pascal.difolco:

Originally posted by Tephros83:

Prior to day 15?.. I'm more trying to get everybody in raider gear at that point by using flails and knives to kill raiders. Orcs slice through thug gear like nothing. Raider gear is only a little safer, but going out into the wilderness at the beginning to find orcs seems dangerous... spearwall I guess

arf orcs at day 15 = group dead in 3 rounds. c'mon it's impossible to fight orcs with clubs...

I think you underestimate the early game. It is easy to have a full line of spears and swords, with two ranged guys, an axe, and either maces or pitchforks by day 8 without doing anything special. Start a game and see how quickly you can collect basic gear.

[msunavygrad]

Originally posted by msunavygrad:

Originally posted by pascal.difolco:

arf orcs at day 15 = group dead in 3 rounds. c'mon it's impossible to fight orcs with clubs...

I think you underestimate the early game. It is easy to have a full line of spears and swords, with two ranged guys, an axe, and either maces or pitchforks by day 8 without doing anything special. Start a game and see how quickly you can collect basic gear.

Early Orc camps usually come in a pack of 5 so your company should easily out number them. The X-bow will get 2-3 hits while they close, spears take a toll, and barring terrible luck you should have them. You may take losses but the brothers are so new that it hardly matters.

I usually fight Orcs before or at the same time as raiders. Goblins are early game killers - avoid them at all cost. Undead should be hunted at all costs as they provide good helms and good $$$. I'm not a fan or farming for armor as it is easy to acquire and the 1st crisis can be won with armor ranging from 80 - 115 and helms 140 or less.

edit - Undead camps can be dangerous due to Gheists, catching groups departing is the strategy of choice so you can see if they are present. Need a Banner before taking on Gheists unless you feel really lucky.

[Cid]

I don't go exploring unless I have at least raider gear / T3 flails on all/most of my mercs. From my experience it's not worth the risk unless you have the gear for it so your guys don't die. Every death early in the game is a setback if you don't have an equally leveled up replacement for him. Later on when you have a roster of 18+, losing a guy is no big deal.

[Buddha Bob]

Thanks for all the help guys!

[gnorf73]

I think the simplest way to get started is go around hunting groups of thugs for exp, while mostly picking contracts like the one to follow footsteps of thieves or hunt down what terrorizes a village and buy trade goods when the opportunity presents itself. Once you have a decent spearline with pitchforks and crossbows behind it, venturing to the wilderness in further north tends to be where i find the most orcs, down south is usually more goblins. Finding things like abandoned huts that have just zombies and no ghiests are very easy and good for farming exp.

But yeah later on like after the first crisis wandering in the wilderness is probably the most lucrative thing you can do. But for a worthwhile trip you definitely want max tools, 225+ food for a full group of 12, and a decent bank for wages. Orc camps always give you more food so that can be helpful. I usually don't bother venturing out until I can bring enough supplies that I don't need to head back until my inventory is full.

[Phil85]

If you are not against some saved games, you can load up on food and just explore as far as you can go. Then just remember where you want to go and reload the game.