Which perks do you use the most/least?

[turtle225]

Off the top of you head, do you know which perks you use the most and least? Being the nerd that I am, I decided to analyze all of my level 11 bros from my last 5 runs to see my overall perk rate in recent times. The top and bottom didn't surprise me much, and I could have told you those without checking, but some perks did surprise me on how high they placed.

Here's my own detailed report. If you don't care then just skip over it.

Data is collected over my last 5 runs, only level 11 bros were counted as to not bias toward early perks, though limiting to level 11 does bias against builds that leveled slower as some of my runs had a lot of non-level 11 bros. It also biases against bros who died or got fired, not that I tend to lose or fire bros often but still.

Here are the runs from most recent to least (bros refers to number of level 11 bros).
→ Companions: Day 152, Wages 928, bros 20. Played on +difficulty over time mod.
→ Raiders: Day 114, Wages 727, bros 17. Played on +difficulty over time mod.
→ Poachers: Day 100, Wages 615, bros 7. Played on x1.7 difficulty mod.
→ Cultists: Day 100, Wages 317, bros 11.
→ Companions: Day 166, Wages 743, bros 18. Monolith cleared.

I was going to translate the excel doc I recorded this on into a giant chart that differentiates each run, but I figure you guys probably don't care that much about my own trends and it would take a million years to write the chart. Of interest was that the perk spread on the Cultist run was significantly different than the other runs.

In total I checked 73 level 11 bros. Here is my perk pick rate across those bros over five different runs. Ties are ordered by their placement in the perk tree.

Perk	Pick%
Pathfinder	100%
Nimble	86%
Colossus	73%
Gifted	66%
Berserk	55%
Frenzy	52%
Executioner	49%
Quick Hands	44%
Duelist	34%
Crippling	33%
Dodge	33%
Polearm Spec	30%
Backstabber	29%
Cleaver Spec	23%
Overwhelm	22%
Recover	18%
Xbow Spec	18%
Underdog	15%
Forge	15%
Fast Ad.	14%
Mace Spec	14%
Reach	14%
Adrenaline	12%
Shield Spec	11%
Relentless	11%
Rotation	11%
Hammer Spec	11%
Throwing Spec	11%
Indom	11%
Bags	10%
HeadH	10%
Fearsome	10%
Resilient	8%
Mind	7%
Bow Spec	7%
Rally	5%
Axe Spec	5%
Brow	4%
Brawny	4%
Sword Spec	4%
Spear Spec	4%
Taunt	3%
Flail Spec	3%
Dagger Spec	3%
Nine Lives	0%
Bullseye	0%
Anticipation	0%
Lone Wolf	0%
Footwork	0%

So there's that. Crippling is maybe the most surprising to me. I didn't realize I pick it that much. Fearsome probably seems high at 10%. I think it's bad, but I was experimenting. I've been liking Overwhelm more recently, so it got a boost in recent runs. It makes sense for most the weapon specs to be low since they are competing with each other for usually just one slot or two.

Anyway, which perks do you guys use the most/least? You don't have to do what I did.

[Dimensional Traveler]

You don't have Student on your list. That is always the first perk I select for everyone. Archers get Quick Hands and Bags and Belts. I give everyone a Bandage and archers get a second quiver. The extra two Bag slots are for a melee weapon and shield.

Shield Expert (for front liners) and Fast Adaptation are common picks. I'm still figuring out which others work for my play style.

[Whatever100500]

It's quite biased. You only play early-to-mid part so nimble (no good armor yet) and gifted (low quality recruits) are prevalent, etc.

[The Duck Knight]

adrenalin is by far my most picked perk.
I tend to use it on nearly everyone to enforce a damagespike as huge as possible at the start of the melee.
When I act last on the turn the combatants clash and use adrenalin I can place 3 attacks befor the enemy has a chance to counter.

and that makes recover my second most picked perk, because it works very well with adrenalin.

[Abel]

Interesting!
My last campaign was Cultists, with, to my surprise, a successful Goblin City and Kraken clear around day 100. My perk choices there are representative of what I'd value now. The results for higher level perks don't include recruits that died or were dismissed early because, I just can't account for them.
So, I'll just point out the differences:
→ Pathfinder: closer to 80%, because some Nimble/archer builds couldn't afford it. Was immensely useful for the legendary fights. Goblins in the City started with high ground! This is a perk I had doubts about but now utterly love.
→ Nimble/Forge: 1:1 proportion instead, but some characters don't have either (only Brawny)
→ Colossus: 50%, I'd say
→ Gifted: probably 100% or close
→ Berserk/Frenzy: close to 80%, I'd say
→ Executioner/CS: 0%, Executioner would be > CS if I could afford it
→ QH: 70%, probably
→ Overwhelm: 0%, no room!
→ Underdog: at least 50%, crazy percentage you have there!
→ RA: same
The bottom perks are more or less the same as yours, except for Brawny. I sometimes use LW. I just never pick Fearsome or HH. Resilient only made a big difference in the Goblin City for me, so I don't pick it anymore but I could consider it on Nimble/Dodge characters.

[allez encore un tour]

You forget Steel Brow perk !
A very usefull perk for me, on Iron man difficulty.
I use it on every brothers

[bison]

Biased to multiple Chosen-Unhold Camps, Sea of Tents, 2x Monolith and one Goblin City. For me this is the bread and butter of the game. Sample from 37 brothers all late-game, 1 run before Day 100. Basic QoL only mods, no tryout.

Adren: 70%
Recover: 89%
FortM: 16%
Dodge: 3%
Relent: 3%
Gifted: 100%
ShieldX: 8%
Brawny: 37%
Collos: 37%
QuickH: 27%
Mastery: 100% - vast majority mace mastery (25%), cleaver is second
LWolf: 5%
UDog: 65%
Reach: 16%
Forge: 51%
Nimble: 47%
Indom: 54%
Frenzy: 73%
Berserk: 83%
Duelist: 22%
OverW: 3%
Rotation: 8%
Rally: 8%
Bulleyes: 3%
Executioner: 5%
Pathfinder: 3%
Bags: 10%

Dead Perks:
Fearsome
Resilient
Steelbrow
Anticipation
Taunt
Headhunter

Early Perks
Backstabber - used for trash bros
Fast Adaptation - used for trash bros, some "lategame" failed brothers in the future
9 Lives - can sim well, trash perk as injury avoidance is superior for me.

[Heartlessly]

For LW games where I'm typically not building much fodder. Estimated numbers:
Student 12
Recover 12
Adren 8
Colossus: 4
pathfinder: 1
Bags: 2.5
gifted: 11
Quickhands: 2.5
reselient: 1.5
fort mind: 2
dodge: 1.5
relentless: 1.5
executioner: 2
rally: 1
Rotate: 2
shield mastery: 1
Weapon mastery: 14
Underdog: 8
Reach Advantage: 4
Nimble: 1.5
Forged: 10.5
Zerk: 10
KF: 10
duelist: 2.5
Indom: 7.5
Lone wolf: 0 to 2
footwork: .5

Unused perks: 9 lives, crippling, fast adaptation, brow, bullseye, taunt, brawny, anticipation, backstabber, flail mastery, spear mastery, dagger mastery, crossbow masstery, bow mastery, overwhelm, headhunter, fearsome



For faster games when i use trash and midgame brothers I use every perk except fearsome and overwhelm.

[Jadawin]

Could you share the mods you use to increase the difficulty?

[turtle225]

Interesting stuff all around. Cool to see other's perk spreads.

Originally posted by Dimensional Traveler:

You don't have Student on your list.

Student doesn't really count. I use it pretty often though as well.

Originally posted by Whatever100500:

It's quite biased. You only play early-to-mid part so nimble (no good armor yet) and gifted (low quality recruits) are prevalent, etc.

Of course it is biased, though I disagree with the way you assess that.

It is biased toward my own personal playstyle, preferences, whims, and experiments.

The cultist run pushed up accuracy perks and had less Berserk/Frenzy, which skews the data slightly in regards to those perks.

The only late game bias is that I don't fight Kraken and have no interest in doing so, which means much less Recover usage than someone who is interested in fighting him. I'm entirely capable of beating any other late game encounter with the way I build my team, including legendaries. I played some of these campaigns on +difficulty mods that make late game encounters appear much earlier too.

Originally posted by Abel:

→ Pathfinder: closer to 80%, because some Nimble/archer builds couldn't afford it. Was immensely useful for the legendary fights. Goblins in the City started with high ground! This is a perk I had doubts about but now utterly love.

Day 100 City with Cultists and the Gobs on high ground sounds crazy. Kudos to you for clearing that. Spawing into high ground Goblin horde + Shamans is one of the very few encounters I genuinely fear. Might need more Adrenaline on my team.

Originally posted by Abel:

→ Underdog: at least 50%, crazy percentage you have there!

Probably yeah, but I'm greedy apparently.

Originally posted by Jadawinx:

Could you share the mods you use to increase the difficulty?

Abel made them. They haven't been released on Nexus yet.

[Desperado]

My 2cents, rotation/pathfinder is mandatory for all exept ranged they get footwork/path.
1 pure tank, 2 Forge/reach/recover for corner, and polearm/ranged/2handers like usual builds.

I'm realy dependant of rotation, and fatigue.

[suejak]

I don't keep my bros in Excel so I took some time to type some into an Excel sheet. I stopped when I got bored, so I suppose this is not very complete data :P

Also, I've decided to screenshot every guy who gets to level 11 from here on out, because I realized from looking at screenshots how many cool bros I've forgotten since those runs disappeared. Runs end but bros are eternal.

Regardless, it feels kinda suejaky so here you go.

Nimble	72%
Killing Frenzy	68%
Colossus	60%
Gifted	56%
Recover	56%
Berserk	52%
Pathfinder	48%
Dodge	44%
Relentless	40%
Rotation	40%
Underdog	32%
Duelist	28%
Battle Forged	28%
Quick Hands	28%
Overwhelm	24%
Indomitable	24%
Brawny	24%
Crippling Strikes	20%
Backstabber	16%
Sword Mastery	16%
Mace Mastery	16%
Executioner	16%
Throwing Mastery	16%
Bags and Belts	16%
Fortified Mind	12%
Rally the Troops	12%
Axe Mastery	12%
Hammer Mastery	12%
Footwork	12%
Fast Adaptation	12%
Adrenaline	12%
Shield Expert	8%
Bow Mastery	8%
Polearm Mastery	8%
Reach Advantage	8%
Anticipation	8%
Bullseye	4%
Xbow Mastery	4%
Nine Lives	4%
Lone Wolf	4%
Head Hunter	4%
Resilient	4%
Spear Mastery	4%
Flail Mastery	4%
Cleaver Mastery	4%

Backgrounds: I recorded these too but calculating the % seemed like a pain... Cursory overview shows a ton of adventurous nobles and sellswords, possibly because they're common or possibly because I have a thing for them. Many thieves, houndmasters (?), fishermen (??), gravediggers (guilty as charged), brawlers, wildmen, caravan hands. Ignored all the cultists because that's a thing. Surprisingly 3 bastards?? I don't remember 2 of them.

[turtle225]

Having Frenzy a fair bit over Berserk seems kind of unusual. I usually take both together because of the synergy and rarely just one.

Checking backgrounds is interesting. If I check the 78 backgrounds across 4 of the campaigns (Cultists excluded) then I have 12 Hunters, 8 Brawlers, 6 Companions, 5 Squires, 4 Barbarians/Gambers, 3 Miner, Sellsword, Ad. Noble, Hedge Knight, Caravan, Farmhand, Butcher, and then 2 or less of a bunch of stuff.

Strangely enough I have no thieves in my last 5 runs which seems crazy to me. I really like thieves.

[lasteldar]

Originally posted by Desperado:

My 2cents, rotation/pathfinder is mandatory for all

I would tell rotation OR pathfinder, because these two are good for different ways, first for a dense formation(more defensive gameplay type), second for new adrenaline rush meta(more offensive free formations).

[andrekroon27]

Hmm, well I dont have time to do a full spread right now but I'll list my current cultist run which is biased a lot towards nimble compared to my usual BF heavy playstyle and I have experimented with skipping UD and running OW and things like that.

Lvl 11: 13
Training: 4
Dead: 2

I have more dead but those two are the ones I remember builds of and reached any significant lvl. One reached lvl 8 or maybe 9, though the only screenshot I have is from lvl 8, and the other reached lvl 11 but I killed him off.

I will also be counting those in training with the perks I expect to take, though this could end up changing by 1 or 2 perks here or there if they roll poorly.

Battleforged: 6
Nimble: 13
Colossus: 10
Fast Adaptation: 2
Crippling Strikes: 1
Bags: 3
Adrenaline: 10
Recover: 15
Executioner: 4
Bullseye: 1
Dodge: 4
Fort Mind: 3
Quick Hands: 5
Gifted: 19
Backstabber: 1
Shield Expert: 1
Brawny: 3
Relentless: 4
Rotate: 5
Rally: 2
Mace: 1
Hammer: 2
Axe: 3
Cleaver: 2
Sword: 2
Polearm: 2
Crossbow: 2
Bow: 1
Throwing: 1
Reach: 6
Overwhelm: 5
Underdog: 11
Berserk: 13
Killing Frenzy: 13
Duelist: 3
Indom: 5

[Vaemar]

I'm really surprised on how you guys don't pick most of the time the Rotation perk.