I'm trash at this game...help?

[Khaos]

So, I am garbage at this. Like, scary garbage. Does anybody have any advice? Good starting perk/companion to look for? Builds you suggest?

[Darx]

i have one character that is my meat shield. every point he gets should get into def or ward.
the rest of the team fires with bows or magic at the enemy. so far im doing really well with this strategy.

otherwise try to increase your manpower. but thats a bit complicated.

[BoxingBud]

I actually go with dodge and defense and ward and when said character is in a fight he goes to the front since enemies target him (I have a few characters built like this, it's...cheese but I don't care.). Ward is great but fully dodging is a lot less damage to soak. Those three skill will max befor character level cap IIRC.

[BoxingBud]

My main character started as a magic attacker though. And I think I started with the gruff looking magic guy as well so tanking was an issue in the first area. Once I got a tank I made with the creator he was our soaker and the game went a lot smoothly. I'll get a screen grab.

[BoxingBud]

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198005894566/screenshot/802115428878701456

[BoxingBud]

Actually now that I review, every character gets really powerful and tanky regardless. That being said off the start make a dedicated tank asap. In the first dungeon/jail it's good to keep your distance and lob magic, melee I found difficult. I also don't take advantage of risk strikes as much, later on they win fights for you but off the start that whiff can give the enemy way more hits on you.

[BoxingBud]

A tanky main character off the start in all guard isn't bad, they can draw aggression by going up in front (and they'll still hit ok in melee) then get your buddy to come in and whack them since they won't change focus. Best is if your friend can attack from a distance.

[Ajarn Ubon]

Might be a bit late but here's what I usually do :

1. For MC, pick 'Frugal' as starting trait, 'Neutral' as alignment, and every stats into Utility tree
I usually use my main character as a walking manpower dummy and and ATM machine because I really hate raising useless characters just to get manpower and we're stuck with the MC anyway. On the other hand, monsters have a tons of passives that make them more competent fighters that outscaling story characters or the ones we created. Frugal + Bow solves all the money problems in the early game and allow you to farm and acquire soul weapons much faster. Neutral alignment is the best at getting manpower.

2. Get a tank
The AI in this game is not that smart because they always attack the character who is the nearest and thus you should be able to outmaneuver them easily with 1 tank. In the early game, anyone with 'Robust' or 'Regeneration' perks with few points in Defense tree will do just fine. Always keep moving them around at 1 tile further from enemy melee attackers while your range DPS or mage wither them down.

Preferred choice: 'Incubus' as they build up risk, apply daze, and can recover tons of HP from 'Vampiric'.

3. Get a Mage
A mage can provide supports such as heals, buffs, debuffs, plus their attack range is almost a screen-wide. Any one can be a mage but the ideal traits are 'Mana' for multiple castings per turn and 'Inspiring' for team DPS boost (maybe 'Vicious' as well). Go full 'Blast' or 'Blast/Hunt'.

Preferred choice: 'Rakshasa' as they have both traits I recommended and because I'm a furry.

4. Fourth slot
This one you can pick whatever you like. A second mage is fine though I recommend a normal attacker for faster clearing speed.

Preferred choice: Anybody with 'Overwhelming' trait + 'Trace' (a bow soul weapon, very easy to get). Go 'Attack/Hunt' and laugh as they 1-shot almost anything.

5. Use custom sprite
DO NOT TRY TO RECRUIT EVERYTHING. I've made a mistake before by trying to get all the nude men and monsters into my stronghold. As a punishment for my sins, I stuck with useless characters walking around contributing nothing. Moreover, they'll take up spaces for story character (that are required for cutscenes/achivements) and merchants and stuff. If you see pretty things you like (but don't need) early on, take their sprites and mod it to you characters (go see the guides on how to do this) instead of recruiting them.

Go check out the Google docs/sheets in the guides section if you want to see all your options.

[Khaos]

1) So that was a ton of info, and I'm thankful. I have questions! You say put everything into utility for MC, what one? Split them evenly? Focus on one?

2) You say preferred choice of Incubus, is that a character? Is it one I can just reset for in the beginning until I get it?

3) Where do I find Rakshasa?

[Darx]

actually you can "fire" anyone that you dont want anymore inside your camp.

you are not stuck with everyone forever

[Ajarn Ubon]

Originally posted by Khaos (S'A):

1) So that was a ton of info, and I'm thankful. I have questions! You say put everything into utility for MC, what one? Split them evenly? Focus on one?

2) You say preferred choice of Incubus, is that a character? Is it one I can just reset for in the beginning until I get it?

3) Where do I find Rakshasa?

1. I believe the requirements are at least 11 points in both Thwart and Weave for Neutral characters. Other than that just split the points in the tree based on what skill you want at the moment. It not necessary that you build MC this way since it takes away the potential for 4-god-tier-fighters build or whatever. But for me, I'm fine clearing stages with just 2 DPS and a tank while my MC chipping enemies here and there for a bit of extra money. If you want to learn more about manpower, go to this guide
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=721894777

2. No, incubus is an enemy monster like slime and those fishmen that you can recruit. Story characters (the one that rescue you/NPCs that appears on the map like Bato in stage 3) and the characters you've made that randomly appear are not very well suited for combat and you'll find yourself ditching them in no time if you want to optimized your party.

3. They are quite rare (maybe in only 4 stages). I recommend that you go up to the northern part of the map and visit these 2 stages

Brimstone Lodge - located directly on top of the letter 'P' of Blackglass Sprawl region
Hotel Zisa - located at the water edges between Jamd'uk and Lake Coronet region

These 2 locations alone contain huge variety of good units for you to choose.

Originally posted by Darx:

actually you can "fire" anyone that you dont want anymore inside your camp.

you are not stuck with everyone forever

Yes, I'm well aware of that. But when I start playing this game, I simply went for thralls thinking that they'll give me enough manpower and just upgraded the stronghold whenever I can.
Then I found myself unable to ditch anyone because I won't have enough to manpower sustain the upkeep and will have to keep ditching until I have like 20% of the units left. That plus all the hard work for love potions and save/load attempts trying to find their nude sprites.