is 10 the total max on party skills?

[Bobby Digital™]

i have a couple books in my inventroy, so now im at 8+3 for surgery/healing.

in one thread on the wiki, it was said the max is 10, so does the game recognize the skill as being 11 or is it actually 10 max?

[Tuidjy]

The maximum effective value for a party skill, in Native, is 14, which is reached when the player has a natural 10 in the respective skill.

For many skills, that 14 is a game changer, for example:
- 14 Engineering lets you build ladders so fast that you could assault and take over a castle before you are caught by lord chasing you.
- 14 Surgery allows you to keep four out of five casualties alive, almost halving the number of dead compared to Surgery 10.
- 14 Path-finding makes you able to move really fast, so that you could catch a dozen steppe bandits with a 100 strong group of huscarls, should you wish to do so.
- etc.

Even combat beast characters, who concentrate on Strength and Agility at the expense of Intelligence should aim for a bonus to Engineering, Surgery, Path-Finding, etc. My own characters usually go for 10(+2)

[Bobby Digital™]

ty for the response and the info.

atm, i am just working on becoming a great commanding leader, trying to have the largest army i can. i am being a merc for different factions, really just trying to eliminate nords and rhodoks and possibly going to try to put one of the bastards in charge of a faction.

[✚ Mariel ✚]

Surgery and engineering are particular valuable because they're a percentage of 100%. At 40% survival rate an extra 4% survival rate won't seem like much, but at 76% survival rate another 4% brings down your deaths by nearly 20%

On the other hand, wound treatment is always an extra 20% of the base heal rate, at 14 WT you'll be healing at 380% rate vs 300% at 10 WT, which is alright but not a game changer

First Aid is pretty amazing too, 14 First Aid and you'll be more or less fully healed at the end of a fight. This is very useful for keeping your support companions conscious so you don't lose your pathfinder and get caught while weakened by an enemy lord

Pathfinding is still just a set extra % move speed, however the difference between 10 and 14 could be the difference between capture or escape. If a lord is chasing you at 7.4 and you're moving at 7.0... well, if you could be moving at 7.2 the lord would take twice as long to capture you

Persuasion is amazing for starting your own kingdom. With 14 persuasion and very high honour, you can persuade those juicy honourable lords to join you, give them a few castles each and never have to worry about them, they'll follow you forever while you steamroll the map with 3000 troops and lords that always love you provided you release every enemy lord you capture

IMHO int builds are the best, if you get enough str/agi to use the best gear then you'll be plenty strong enough and can get 30 intelligence without too much trouble :D

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by Kiri:

Persuasion is amazing for starting your own kingdom. With 14 persuasion and very high honour, you can persuade those juicy honourable lords to join you, give them a few castles each and never have to worry about them, they'll follow you forever while you steamroll the map with 3000 troops and lords that always love you provided you release every enemy lord you capture

You are right about the value of persuasion, but persuasion is not a party skill, so technically you are achieving all that with just a 10.

IMHO int builds are the best, if you get enough str/agi to use the best gear then you'll be plenty strong enough and can get 30 intelligence without too much trouble :D

There are two optimal builds - Maxed Str&Agi (combat beast) and Maxed Int with decent Str&Agi (glorious leader) While the glorious leader is amazing and leads campaigns like this, the combat beast can pull off combat rounds like this[i.imgur.com].

[Bobby Digital™]

i like these ideas, i'm pretty much doing a glorius leader and i am enjoying it.

right now i have 12 str and 12 agil, 30 int and 14 charisma. the str and agililty let me wear the best armor and have a balanced grand lance + my sword & board.

i have skill points saved up and with your recomendations i think i will put them in persuasion and enginerring. i already have surgery maxed with the help of a book in my inv, enough first aid to get heroes to about 60% after being injured and i think a 7 in wound treatment.

question about starting my own kingdom, does this involve helping the bastards take over a faction? what happens if i take over a castle(s) , will all the factions be upset or just the faction i took castles from?

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by Bobby Digital™:

question about starting my own kingdom, does this involve helping the bastards take over a faction?

Completely separate path through the game. Helping a pretender (they are not all bаstагds) to the throne makes you a vassal who can remain a marshal forever, but still just a vassal.

Becoming a monarch in your own name is completely different, and you start by either taking over a walled fief while independent, or by rebelling over a walled fief that you took, but the king assigned to someone else.

what happens if i take over a castle(s) , will all the factions be upset or just the faction i took castles from?

Depend on your right to rule, your relations with the other factions, and your relations with the other kings. Still, if you do not feel ready to fight whole factions, you are probably not ready.

The other way (rebellion) is easier to pull off. Going from mercenary captain to king is the macho way - you never bend knee to anyone.

[Monid]

Very interesting information.

I read some time ago (could have even been for M&B), that if you put your medic companion at the bottom of your troop list so he doesn't join the fight with the risk of him getting knocked out, his surgery skill will still apply to your party during a battle. Is that true?

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by Monid:

I read some time ago (could have even been for M&B), that if you put your medic companion at the bottom of your troop list so he doesn't join the fight with the risk of him getting knocked out, his surgery skill will still apply to your party during a battle. Is that true?

Yes. This is a very common strategy.

The only problem with it is that by always doing so, your medic will fall behind on experience. Personally, I only do it if the battle is likely to go on for a while, and last multiple rounds - as in sieges, for example. Otherwise, I just make sure the medic stays behind, but still participates, and even charges when the battle is already decided.

In most mods, my medics get crossbows (or guns, slings, magic spells, etc.) and are assigned to the archers division. Other times I make a separate division for them, and even add some tough bodyguards.

[Bobby Digital™]

how do you move heroes in the troop list?

[Tuidjy]

You open the party screen, and use the [Move Up] and [Move Down] buttons in the upper right hand corner of the middle panel to position your companions or troops where you want them.