Community Challenge #5: the Revenge of the Old Gods

[Santo]

“You weren’t always like this,” a little voice whispers in your ear while you stab a man in the gut. “You ran away without looking back,” the voice repeats while you slit a goblin’s throat, and while you clean your blade in the grass, that soddin’ thread of a voice croaks, “you left us to die at his hands.” It might be your conscience, although you are pretty sure you drowned it in blood years ago. It might be the Old Gods, trying to get you back to the flock. Or the souls of your dead brothers, who raised you and fed you and loved you, claiming vengeance.

And the worse part is that the voice is right: you are a mercenary now, but that wasn’t your destiny -- or so you thought. You were given to a wandering monk by a woman you barely remember – she was a scrawny little thing, even to your child’s eyes; she must have been starving to death, you realized years later. The monk took you to his monastery, and taught you the ways of the Old Gods, and raised you in the Faith until you were ordered a monk.

Then one day a wandering madman came to your door. He raved, foaming and spitting, about some dark god of his – a creature of death and decay, a hungry shadow that lurks behind the veil of reality. You called the rest of the monks to hear his words, but only to laugh and mock him. You remember calling his god a mere bogeyman, the invention of a broken mind. The prior scolded you – “it is not wisdom to laugh at ignorance,” he said – and kindly but firmly sent the stranger away.

But he came back that very night, followed by dozens of men, each of them crazier than the next. Wearing only rotting sacks, howling like rabid animals, they threw themselves against the doors until they gave way, their leader incensing them from the back. “Davkul orders it! Davkul sees all, knows all, consumes all!” The monks retreated to the altar, but they were defenseless. The cultists tore them to pieces with their bare hands, bathing in their blood; then their leader, whom they called High Priest, built a pyre and burnt their bodies and all the sacred icons. They desecrated the altar with blood and feces, and then went away, chanting as if they had just performed the holiest of deeds.

And you know all this because you weren’t with your brothers. You saw them coming from your window – the High Priest in front of his parade of demented killers, holding a torch like if he was trying to stab the sky. You knew what they were set to do, you knew the monks could never defend themselves – and above all, you knew what they would do to you in particular, you who had mocked their dark god. So you jumped from a back window and ran, ran without looking back. You couldn’t run fast enough to outpace the smell of burning meat, though.

You spent the next weeks or months blindly drunk, crying over a tankard, or trying to get yourself killed in a stupid fight, or screaming that the Old Gods would punish the weak like you. Eventually, some wildmen northerners took pity of you (or just decided that a monk, even a drunk one, would make them look more respectable) and pressed you into their mercenary company. With that, they saved your life: you learned to fight and became a fearsome sellsword yourself.

Their company dissolved only yesterday, and you parted ways with them as friends. After years of hearing that damned voice in your mind, you take this separationas a gift from the Old Gods. You convince three of your former companions to follow you. You’ll find a monk willing to join you as well, to be witness of your deeds in front of the Old Gods. It’s time for you to avenge your brothers. It’s time for you to put an end to this High Priest of Davkul and make the whole world know that the Old Gods never forget a slight. If he claims to be the voice of his dark god, you will be the blade of yours.

[TaroEld]

I fear the player banner staff of the prophet doesn't drop, because it is in fact just the same kind of banner the player has.

[Scathe]

Origineel geplaatst door msunavygrad:

Origineel geplaatst door Scathe:

well day 46 I finally found a 1 skull cultist camp contract. camp was cultist den I think. it had 2 fanatics, 1 enlightened fanatic, 6 acolytes, 3 hunters, 2 sacrifices, 1 herald. it was easy but I didn't expect it to be easy so dropped two dogs (and lost 1) and threw a net on the herald. I did dagger the herald.

heavy staff sling is an interesting weapon. I guess it doesn't really compare to barbarian throwing weapons though. it seems like heavy staff sling lies about its effectiveness. when you mouse over the sling itsself, it says 100% armor ignoring, and range of 6 tiles. but when you mouse over the throw stone ability of the sling it says 45-55 damage to hitpoints but only 0-38 ignores armor, and only a range of 5 tiles. it is not the only weapon that seems like it lies with a mouse over, but this weapon only has the one attack, so should reflect it better?

Great feedback! Did you get the Heavy staff? Would you use it? Do you fight the Cultists different from other enemies?

Origineel geplaatst door TaroEld:

I fear the player banner staff of the prophet doesn't drop, because it is in fact just the same kind of banner the player has.

that post by msunavygrad had confused me and I thought there was an item called heavy staff, so thought it was from the prophet/herald set of enemy. of course I got the heavy staff sling if I'm giving feedback about what it looks like in my inventory.

day 48, night, walking in woods, got an event where I find cultists butchering a nobleman. had 3 options, chose the first option, something like "charge right in" it caused me to start a fight against 15 cultists in which I was not in formation. it appeared to be the "you're surrounded" type of battle. wether or not I was surrounded, wether the cultists were all acolytes and sacrifices or all defilers, I didn't care, soon as I saw the battle threw me out of formation I said that's bull, I attacked them and they were distracted, no way I deserve to lose formation, let alone be surrounded. re-load, no more feedback on that event. sorry.

[TaroEld]

The event feedback is already sufficient, apparently I had to explicitly set the formation due to it being a forest battle.

[msunavygrad]

Origineel geplaatst door Scathe:

day 47 fought a roaming cultist band consisting of 2 defilers, 4 fanatics, 2 mancatchers, 1 prophet, and 1 hunter.

That is a tough group.

Origineel geplaatst door Scathe:

I think I might use the net-polearm of the mancatchers on one bro, at least when not having many nets. my polearm bros are quick handsy anyway and definately have room for it. still did not get a staff off the prophet and did not get the crazy scythe off the one defiler I killed. feel gypped.

You are really going to like using the Mancatcher, it provides a lot of tactical options.

[msunavygrad]

Day 45, 56 Battles fought. I have 7 level 7 Brothers, 4 Level 6, 3 level 4/5 and 4 other. Cultist loot is 1 Cultist scythe, 3 mancatchers, and 2 heavy staff slings. All helmets have been sold off due to the resolve penalty.

The Cultists make the roads more dangerous, giving more chances for battle. I have not ventured out into the wilderness at all and I have been getting all the fights I can handle.

I am pretty happy at the combat mix as I have seen; Goblins, Orcs, Bandits, Nomads, Barbarians, Cultists, Undead, and the odd beast. Very happy that the Cultists are not the focus of play, I can find them if I want to but am free to do other things.

[Scathe]

Origineel geplaatst door msunavygrad:

Day 45, 56 Battles fought. I have 7 level 7 Brothers, 4 Level 6, 3 level 4/5 and 4 other. Cultist loot is 1 Cultist scythe, 3 mancatchers, and 2 heavy staff slings. All helmets have been sold off due to the resolve penalty.

The Cultists make the roads more dangerous, giving more chances for battle. I have not ventured out into the wilderness at all and I have been getting all the fights I can handle.

I am pretty happy at the combat mix as I have seen; Goblins, Orcs, Bandits, Nomads, Barbarians, Cultists, Undead, and the odd beast. Very happy that the Cultists are not the focus of play, I can find them if I want to but am free to do other things.

nice, I think we're on a similar pace, yeah I'm happy with the amount of cultists I've faced as well.

day 51, I don't have any brother that has been in every battle. if I were to hazard a guess I'd say maybe one of my two level 8's has only missed about 5 battles, he has 61 battles fought. I have two level 8 bros, six level 7, four level 6, and 1 each levels 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. 17 total bros. my obituary includes a level 3 bro killed by a brigand leader, and a level 6 bro bled to death because of a cultist defiler. two bros have also suffered permanent injuries and been retired, one brought back as a drill sgt. my retinue includes a cook, a cartographer, and a drill sergeant. I feel the need for a blacksmith bad with so many bros going battleforged so fast and slow repair times on 200+ armors. I'm not sure if I should fire the cartographer or wait for about 420 more renown. the cartographer has paid for himself already as I've done some solid wilderness exploration.

I think my cultist kill count stands at 39, including 14 acolytes, 5 sacrifices, 8 fanatics, 4 hunters, 2 enlightened fanatics, 1 herald, 1 preacher, 1 prophet, 2 mancatchers, and 1 defiler. I have looted 1 sacrifice collar, 2 mancatchers, and sold off all other cultist loot including the heavy staff slings.

[msunavygrad]

Day 51, We join the Barbarian King in a fight against the Undead. Everyone is very heavily armored except for my guys. The King's vassal is a really rough looking fellow, happy he is on our side. We lose one level 7 front line mace fighter for nothing special in loot - disappointing.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2526349723

Day 52, 63 battles. On the way back to cash in the Contract we get the Necropolis Map event, so now we know where that location is.

[Scathe]

Origineel geplaatst door suejak:

Finally, I'm not sure I mind hiring cultists because I think they can be considered a different warring sect, ex-cultists who still harbor some sympathy for the religion itself, undercover secret cultists, stuff like that. We'll see.

you know, different warring sect actually has me considering restarting this challenge as cultist origin. the mod provides the opportunity to equip my cultist team with cult headgear, armor, and weapons, and gives playing as cultist origin actually more of a roleplaying feel given you have cultist gear for yourself now.

I'm considering restarting at all because I'm not finding myself enjoying the deserter origin much, it had been under-played by me but yeah, still not a fan of it. also because I'm regretting perk choices on several of my highest level brothers.

[msunavygrad]

Origineel geplaatst door Scathe:

Origineel geplaatst door suejak:

Finally, I'm not sure I mind hiring cultists because I think they can be considered a different warring sect, ex-cultists who still harbor some sympathy for the religion itself, undercover secret cultists, stuff like that. We'll see.

you know, different warring sect actually has me considering restarting this challenge as cultist origin. the mod provides the opportunity to equip my cultist team with cult headgear, armor, and weapons, and gives playing as cultist origin actually more of a roleplaying feel given you have cultist gear for yourself now.

I'm considering restarting at all because I'm not finding myself enjoying the deserter origin much, it had been under-played by me but yeah, still not a fan of it. also because I'm regretting perk choices on several of my highest level brothers.

Go for it. The Cultist Origin Resolve buffs are the perfect foil against the Cultist Faction.

[msunavygrad]

Day 53, destroy Orc camp contract. Expecting Orc Young, but find myself in an Orc v Orc melee. So my 12 vs 27 Orcs, 6 of which were Warriors. The dust settles and a few Young supported by all 6 Warriors charge my line. Sadly I have the wrong weapons for Warriors as I was only expecting Young, so I lose another experienced front line fighter for some worthless loot. Seems the RNG has been hitting me with the low percentage events this run. The events are fun and interesting, but more dangerous than normal.

Day 54, attacked by the Necropolis Hunters trying to take back the map. A mix of Armored Zombies, Gheists, Alps, and an Undead Champion. Fortunately I have the Banner guy still in the lineup and we just squeak by without any losses. We got this nice mace for our efforts.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2527314130

[msunavygrad]

Day 56, stumbled across a Cultist Camp and engaged. It was 12 vs 20, the Cultists were highlighted by 6 Enlightened Fanatics, 4 Mancatchers, and 2 Hunters.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2527665921

We survived, barely. Needed several rallies, and dogs helped. Those Enlightened Fanatics are really tough and hit hard.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2527666602

Have had a rough few days fighting battles against; Cultists, Orc Warriors, Undead Map Hunters, and the Undead Hoard while helping the King. Desperately need to rest and rebuild from losing three brothers with another badly wounded.

[msunavygrad]

Day 60, we come across a group of 9 Cultist Roamers (Acolytes, Fanatics, Sacrifice, and a Prophet) and cut them to pieces. We got to enjoy the victory for about 10 seconds when an event fired and we had to decide to fight Mercenaries or turn over our cargo.

The last thing I needed right now was another unique hard fight, so I sadly had to turn over the cargo. We were just too beat up from the last several unique battles to take on another one. It sure rubbed me the wrong way, but I suppose this game has taught me to live and fight another day. I have to say, we sure are popping all the odd fights possible it seems.

Overall 71 battles in 60 days, seems we can't take a swing a dead cat without getting into a scrap.

[msunavygrad]

Day 61, come across some 9 Cultist Roamers engaged with some hapless Bandits. The Bandits are killed off before we can catch sight of them, leaving 2 Enlightened Fanatics and a mix of Fanatics and Acolytes supported by a Prophet. We cut them apart while defending a low ridge.

Immediately after we are jumped by some Barbarian Thralls and Reavers, they prove to be no match but we lose a named shield for some worthless loot. Up to 73 battles in 61 days.

[msunavygrad]

Day 62, One Skull Contract. A Cultist Camp with 6 Enlightened Fanatics, 2 Fanatics, 2 Defilers, 2 Sacrifices, and one Prophet. We were able to defeat them, just barely. Need a timely rally after a Sacrifice. The Enlightened Fanatics hit hard and can take a lot of punishment with their Nimble.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2529545597

I am still happy with spears, maces, and throwing weapons, although all spear guys are going to need quick hands to swap weapons as damage is at such a premium.

[turtle225]

I'm on day 30 now. Haven't run into any more issues so that's good.

I've only fought Cultists a couple of times. Still only seen their early game stuff for the most part.

I have a glass cannon backline right now and a generally lame frontline. I lost a decent bro I was going to use as a Spear Duelist because I forgot to re-enable Spearwall as I was speeding through a battle and then two Nomads walked up a bonked him with 2Handers