How to train your bros?

[Master]

i played beginner it was easy i retired at day 100. Changed to veteran the difficulty spike was huge.I need advice on training specific bros in their intended roles.

Which stats are important for shield bro? perks? gear setup?
Which stats are important for damage dealer bro? perks? gear setup?
Which stats are important for ranged bro? perks? gear setup?

[Bam Bam]

Get to 12 cheap bros as soon as possible. Hire in the 100-250 gold range but avoid Cripples. These will get you through the early game but they WILL all die off and be replaced by better bros. Give them perks that make them useful now rather than later: Adaptive Strike, Gifted, Backstabber ect.

After few weeks or so you can start getting 1k range backgrounds and after a month or so Sellswords whenever you can find them. Stick them in the backline with polearms until they are leveled enough to be safe up front.

Shieldbros only need Brawny and Battleforged, everything else is optional based on his stats and your preferences. I go with Taunt, Rotation, Steelbrow on all of them. Adaptive if accuarcy is a bit low. Gifted if some stats like morale obviously still need a boost by level 11. Frenzy and Berserk if accuracy, fatigue is decent. Fortified Mind if only morale is still poor at level 11. You get the idea.

Low accuracy shieldbros can specialize in Axes to break shields. You need some Hammer specialists to use Destroy Armor, the ones with higher accuracy and fatigue obviously are best for that. Maces and Cleavers can be great too especially if you get some Kopesh cleavers off of Necrosavants. Swords are great all-rounders but I wouldn't get the perk, they have low enough fatigue and Hammer/Macebros can use them on Goblins, Necrosavants ect. without it. Spears are generally not that great past the midgame.

By damage dealers you mean zweihanders? Brawny, Battleforged, Berserk, Reach are core. Rest is up to you.

Archers want Anticipation with 20-30 ranged def and maybe Steelbrow, Disengage. Dodge can be good, Nimble is too RNG based for ironman. Other than that go full offensive perks. Don't bother pumping melee for a hybrid, they suck. Make a Throwing/Archer hybrid if you feel that bro needs to be in formation against Ancient Undead.

[Caveira]

Damage dealer
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=924825413

Tank support (take Taunt instead of Fast Adaptation)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=924825039

Archer
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=924824702

[kirill-busidow]

I experimented heavy with archers (bows).
(not counting Student, it is free):


Critical skills:

Dodge
Anticipation
Bow mastery
Footwork
Berserk
Killing frenzy
Executioner

Nice skills:

Overwhelm
Fast adaptation
Recover (if fatigue less than 90-100).
Nine lives (for Ironman)
Steel brow = Take this or Nine lives
Quickhands - losing 1 shot after 5 turns can matter, also good to keep 1 net and use, also can use shield for free if enemy close and you cant get away (or no footwork = can push enemy)

So-so

Bulseye (doesnt help that much even at highest skill, also you *want* often to miss that target and hit another that is hard to hit due to obstacle/cant be hit)
Nimble = dont rely on it, RNG, i skip it
Fearsome = good vs orc warriors (2-4 not more), but you dont want use archers if many of them

[Master]

hmm great advice. I'm getting tired of this game tho. most aspects of the game are non-linear which is nice, but the most important aspect, combat is quite narrow. seems like you have to conform to a specific build to progress to late game.

Also didnt find the terrain aspects any significant tactical value so far.

[Stormbrooke]

Originally posted by Karn:

Which stats are important for shield bro? perks? gear setup?
Which stats are important for damage dealer bro? perks? gear setup?
Which stats are important for ranged bro? perks? gear setup?

I'm a super geek, I have the stats ranked for each of the roles and then based on those stat preferences I seek out specific backgrounds (aka starting stats), traits, and which stats are starred.

I have a file for example when I'm looking at new bros that says this recruit is best suited to be a bow bro and his specific stats rank him in the top quartile of possible starting stats / stars for this role.

I then have a seperate file that has my perk progressions for each role. It took a while to set this all up but it takes so much worry out of making a "mistake" when chosing bros and leveling up. That said I've probably learned the most from my mistakes. Many new player guides recommend for example not picking a weapon mastery until the end of your build because it is such a complicated choice. I can take them early with comfort now though knowing the direction a certain brother is going.

And I am also always updating what stats are best for each role and what perks to take at each level based on my own play experience and discussions with others here on the forums.

All that said here are some current recommendations I work with. I welcome the feedback of others on these choices:

Tank Bro
mdef
hp
mel
fat
res
rdef
init
rng
I rarely build these, almost always build Spear/Axe/Hammer bros instead, basically face tank and taunt so other bros can kill.


Spear Bro
mel
fat
mdef
hp
res
rdef
init
rng

The most important thing for a spear bro is for their spearwall to hit (mel), the second most important which most people miss is fatigue so that they can maintain the spearwall for multiple rounds no problem. With those two maxed out, your melee defense will come into play less often so doesn't need to be #1 but still top 3 as your spearwall will eventually be broken and your second objective as a spear bro is to hold the line. Spear bros are a mix of crowd control, defense, and damage. Use on forest maps to completely shutdown a path an enemy can take or at the ends of your front line to prevent enemies from wraping around. Spearwall completely murders anything that does not use tactics (ghouls, wolves, zombies) often without taking damage. Spear Bros are most useful early to mid game and are seen less late game due to heavily armored/shielded tactic using enemies. What might be counter intuitive if you go 100% crowd control build is the lower tier spears with less fatigue will allow you to maintain your spearwall longer albeit you'll do less damage - a one trick pony build though, try after you're use to a normal spear bro.

Perks:
Colossus
Steel Brow
Shield Expert
Spear Mastery
Recover
Battle Forged
Brawny
Hold Out
Rotation
Underdog


Axe Bro
mel
mdef
fat
hp
res
rdef
init
rng

Axe bro's main job is to shield break so that your party can beat down the enemy frontline. In your own front line make sure you space them out with other builds on either side of them so they can shield break for the bros on either side of them. Flail bros can probably be used without a buddy axe bro near by, but they are the best friends of other bros. Some build their axe bros to finish their target then move onto the next, I build mine to jump around the battlefield breaking shields first before concentrating on killing. If you do not build many axe bros consider having a few flail bros as your counter to shields. Others have asked why I put hold out on my axe bros, the reason is again it is not just their attacks that depend on them hitting, the attacks of my entire team depend on them removing shields successfully, so a -15% to melee attack from an injury can turn that whole side of the battlefield down to a slog as the bros beat their way thru the shields. So I use hold out to make sure this doesn't happen.

Perks:
Colossus
Recover
Shield Expert
Axe Mastery
Steel Brow
Battle Forged
Footwork
Hold Out
Head Hunter
Berserk


Hammer
fat
mel
mdef
hp
res
rdef
init
rng

This is the shield bro version of the Hammer bro. As with the two handed version their main job is to shatter enemy armor. Think of it like cracking open a crab to get at the meat - the axe bro removes the shield, the hammer bro removes the armor, yum yum dinner time boys. Remember to delay your men so you can shield break first, shatter second, and damage deal third in the same turn, do this in reverse and you'll waste turns having enemy shields deflecting your blows. Hammer bros that are shattering build up so much fatigue I have gotten to the point of fatigue being the number focus of this build even before melee attack. Too many turns spent with no fatigue left and needing to use recover. More recently I have added quick hands to my hammer builds - I was originally thinking switching to another weapon once armors were destroyed, but surprisingly hammer and mace are working well together. Sometimes I just bop a shielded enemy on the head to buy time for an Axe bro to come by and remove the shield (high fatigue helps here too).

Perks:
Colossus
Quick Hands
Shield Expert
Hammer Mastery
Recover
Battle Forged
Mace Mastery
Underdog
Steel Brow
Brawny

2HW
mel
mdef
rdef
fat
hp
init
res
rng

The build of builds. Many are running teams right now of no shield bros and just 2HW users. GS and split are a very powerful damage dealer in the frontline and Hammers and Axe setups on the ends are common (though GS does well on the end as well freeing you up to use Swing to cover your corners). A lot of folks are probably wondering why I have rdef third on the list and that is because this specific build I copied sits in the second row for a bit before joining the fray, otherwise if in row one might consider fat or hp as third priority. I originally had init high on the list to try and create glass cannon monsters but while they did reap carnage they also often died. I got to the point with my two handers that I needed to make them more survivable when playing harder difficulties. Some of you are going to poo all over the fact that I give them Fast Adaptation and Adrenaline instead of Killing Frenzy - I was there once too, but let me tell you I have become a believer in these two perks. First you usually only get one swing (this is also why mel attack is proritized) you just cannot afford to be missing, Fast Adaptation ensures you are connecting with your monster swings. Second I don't use Adrenaline Rush every fight, but when I do it is to great effect, it's like a second and better Berserk, you just have to be really careful when you activiate it to count out your fatigue for the next couple of moves you do - smashing someone's face in then jumping to the top of the order the next turn to do it again before the enemy even gets to go again can completely remove threats from the board. If flanking enemy archers it's also a nice way to close the gap before they can move. Just be careful about jumping into the center of a bunch of archers - many of my "mawhaha! hello boys!" turned quickly into me getting f-cked hard by them throwing me a dagger party (two archers probably okay, three or four resist the urge even though I know it's tempting to jump down in the middle of them). Melee defense is so important for a 2h'er, for example a heater shield +20 melee defense plus +15 when shield walling, that's a +35 melee defense option you do not have that others can use when they need it, so you need to be really careful about your positioning. I often do not move in melee range until it is my turn for this reason, as tempting as it might be to end the 2her's turn next to the enemy. On perks I have had pathfinder on the build in the past and I am currently missing it and thinking about adding it back. Unlike my shield bros, by 2hers do quite a bit more movement.

Perks:
Colossus
Fast Adaptation
Steel Brow
[enter weapon here] Mastery
Reach Advantage
Battle Forged
Recover
Footwork
Berserk
Adrenaline

Bow Bro
rng
rdef
init
fat
hp
mdef
res
mel

This is specifically one of my Archer Bro builds, for hybrid x-box polearm builds you want mel attack (mel > init) up there and because you are closer to the enemy line as an x-bow/polearm user you probably want to go the armor+battleforged route instead of building a nimble character, as being that close you will get criticaled by enemy archers at some point and armor is a better defense for that. Remember that x-bow users have a lower range so can wear heavier helmets with greater vision penalties too. Fatigue will be more important for hybrid builds than initiative (mel > fat > init). Again many will poo poo that I put Fast Adaptation on the archer build but recently I have been playing with them farther back than normal so that they are routinely firing from max range. Fast Adaptation helps me hit with those lower hit % but is more a personal playstyle than a choice for everyone. Right now this build is awesome against living enemies - the crippling strike + overwhelm combo let's him esstentially range debuff enemies. And it gets benched against undead - hybrid xbow/polearm will stay on the roster just remember that x-bows do basically no hp damage to skeletons so use your x-bow man as an armor remover and then switch to polearm when you're down to damaging hp. I'm okay with Bullseye, I agree it's not the top range choice you'd think it'd be desite its name and picture, but I do use it enough when firing into crowds for it to have kept its place on the build - remember it's not only to get that pesky marksman behind enemy shield users, it can also be used to fire thru your own frontline especially the kite shield users - don't risk it if losing the fight, but when moping up the enemy and the frontliner you're shooting thru is nice and healthy go for it to speed things up, more of lazy tactic than a safe one cause yeah once in a blue moon you'll injure you're own bro. Haven't killed one of my guys yet, suppose it'll be a good test to see if I built the frontliners right to survive a critical to the head. Nine lives after nimble cause yeah you have to build assuming a hit will get through at some point. Chosing light armor to take advantage of Nimble has the benefit of ensuring you have a good fatigue pool and probably won't need recover. Bows+Iron Lung work really well together with Dodge, as bow use little fatigue and Iron Lung plus your namal +15 fatigure a round ensure your Dodge defense stays really high. Eagle eye goes without saying.

Archer Perks:
Fast Adaptation
Bullseye
Anticipation
Bow Mastery
Footwork
Dodge
Nimble
Nine Lives
Crippling Strikes
Overwhelm


Sergeant
res
rdef
mel
fat
init
hp
mdef
rng

I feel like Sergeant builds are moreso playstyle builds than any other role. This one is a copy of my polearm user as I like to use the banner but others swear by their range sergeant builds. Also you will need to decide for your Sergeant are they 100% your res buffer first and a combatant second, or do you prefer them to be more balanced. This is one of my balanced builds, for pure res buffing initiative and fatigue would be higher on the list. You'll notice many of my other builds do not prioritize res - this is because I have a high res banner user sergeant who can spam rally, even against Ghiests I seem to be doing okay with this setup. This version has quick hands on it as he throws a lot of nets for me. Polearm+Berserk is really nice, I can often cherry pick the kills with this character 6 AP attack, 3 AP remaining, +4 AP from Berserk (7 AP), 6 AP attack again. He works really well behind an Axe Bro or moving behind a frontline bro that needs help. Usually you want him to start in the middle somewhere so he can get the whole party with his buffs.

Perks:
Recover
Fortified Mind
Rally the Troops
Polearm Mastery
Anticipation
Steel Brow
Battle Forged
Quick Hands
Footwork
Berserk


Hope this helps you start thinking about your own builds. I don't pretend to present these as the end all be all of the builds, just where I currently am in the science of building better bros. I am still working on creating a pure polearm and dodge melee fighter builds that I like otherwise I would have shared those as well.

Good luck!