Should I accept vassalge to a faction that is getting owned?

[Gexagon]

Hey guys im kinda a noob, have about 30 hours into the game. But i got an invitation from the king of swadia to become a vassale. The problem is Swadia is getting totaly owned in my game right now. They have no cities left, and only some castles, and I think the king himself is being held captive in a nord castle...So would it be a good idea to accept the vassalge?

Another question, lets say I do join a faction, what happens to the businesses that I opened in citeis that may be part of an enemy faction?

[Red Bat]

Kind of. If the faction has very little land, then when you reclaim their land you have a good shot at being given a good amount of it as fiefs. The downside is you will have to do all the heavy lifting until Swadia becomes strong again. Factions don't normally make comebacks on their own in this game because factions with less land will also have fewer lords.

You won't get money from businesses that are being run in enemy lands until they are no longer your enemies.

[Mike]

you also run the risk of being captured yourself and possibly losing some equipment while accepting the vassalage as you may need to go deep into enemy territory

[cqqks]

(Native, single player) If a king offers you vassalage, it means that you've reached a point in the game where you can go to any king and ask to become a vassal. When riding through other kingdoms, you'll find that other kings will offer from time to time also. It's not a rare occurrence. The offers only come if you don't belong to another faction and you're not a mercenary. Should you join Swadia? Yes, but make sure to save your game before accepting and don't delete it, just in case you're not happy with the decision. Or try it out as a mercenary first, the contract only last 30 days. There's no better way to learn the game than saving and going for it.

[lionhart]

Related question: does anyone know what happens when you are a vassal to a faction that gets eliminated? Normally you can't switch factions unless you either a) rebel, or b) ask to be released from your oath. But if your faction is eliminated and the king disappears, then neither would be possible. How do you switch factions then?

[Mike]

from my experience being in defeated factions im not sure a faction can be officially Eliminated unless you leave yourself however i could be wrong

[lionhart]

Originally posted by Mike:

from my experience being in defeated factions im not sure a faction can be officially Eliminated unless you leave yourself however i could be wrong

I guess technically a faction cannot be eliminated until all of its vassals have defected to another kingdom. So even if your faction lost all of its territory, and all the other vassals defected except you, the faction still exists because you are still a vassal? In that case the king would still be running around the map as a party of one, and you could still go to him and ask to be released from your oath. At that point the faction would (I think) immediately cease to exist, since you were the last vassal and you left. It all makes sense, it just never happened to me before.

[Zhdanovskiy]

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[kevinshow]

I usually like the save the game at the point where I have built up my character, funds, and companions, and I'm ready to make a decision on what to do next -- be it a vassal, merc, or my own kingdom.

That way, I may make a play through for the next 500 days doing something....then I can come right back to the saved game and redo another 500 days, making new choices and options, without having to rebuild again.

I would suggest that you could try this. Pretty much in any game, the character joining a particular faction can turn the tide of war for that faction, so even if they are almost wiped out, you will make a difference.

In fact, there are some players who play in such a way that they try to keep all the factions balanced, since when they are ready to take over their own kingdom, it's easier to take out factions that are not overly powerful. On the other hand, it's also very rewarding to have defeated a large and really dominant faction.

[cqqks]

Originally posted by lionhart:

Originally posted by Mike:

from my experience being in defeated factions im not sure a faction can be officially Eliminated unless you leave yourself however i could be wrong

I guess technically a faction cannot be eliminated until all of its vassals have defected to another kingdom. So even if your faction lost all of its territory, and all the other vassals defected except you, the faction still exists because you are still a vassal? In that case the king would still be running around the map as a party of one, and you could still go to him and ask to be released from your oath. At that point the faction would (I think) immediately cease to exist, since you were the last vassal and you left. It all makes sense, it just never happened to me before.

Until I played the game that I'm playing now, I would have agreed with you. The first kingdom that I eliminated after becoming king was Lady Isollo of Suno. I didn't get more then 5 ft. out the front door of her last castle when the game announced Swadia had been eliminated, leaving 3 nobles still attached to the kingdom.

[lionhart]

Originally posted by cqqks:

Until I played the game that I'm playing now, I would have agreed with you. The first kingdom that I eliminated after becoming king was Lady Isollo of Suno. I didn't get more then 5 ft. out the front door of her last castle when the game announced Swadia had been eliminated, leaving 3 nobles still attached to the kingdom.

That still leaves my original question then: what would happen if you were a vassal to a faction that got eliminated? Would you be stuck in some sort of endless limbo where you could neither join another faction or start your own kingdom? Because the game does not give you any other way to defect except by rebelling against the king.

[cqqks]

Originally posted by lionhart:

Originally posted by cqqks:

Until I played the game that I'm playing now, I would have agreed with you. The first kingdom that I eliminated after becoming king was Lady Isollo of Suno. I didn't get more then 5 ft. out the front door of her last castle when the game announced Swadia had been eliminated, leaving 3 nobles still attached to the kingdom.

That still leaves my original question then: what would happen if you were a vassal to a faction that got eliminated? Would you be stuck in some sort of endless limbo where you could neither join another faction or start your own kingdom? Because the game does not give you any other way to defect except by rebelling against the king.

Here's my best answer to your question, and please (anyone) correct me if I'm wrong. The game is geared towards you the player to become King of Calradia. I've never seen any kingdom eliminate another. They 'll grind each other down to several (2 or 3) properties and make peace. The only person that can eliminate a kingdom is you. You can do it as a king or as a vassal for another kingdom. Now that brings up my own scenario question: You've just rebelled and started your own kingdom. You weren't prepared for 3 kingdom to attack you at the same time, what happen's if you lose your property?

[Paperclip *PIRX*COP*]

Originally posted by cqqks:

I've never seen any kingdom eliminate another.

The factions can eliminate other factions in native. On one of my games, the Nords, Swadians, and Rhodoks ganged up on the Vaegirs and then wiped them out completely. After that, all three declared war on the Khergits and did the same thing. At that point, the Swadians and Nords stabbed the Rhodoks in the back and declared war on it, with the Sarranids joining in with those two.

All of that happened with no involvement on my part whatsoever -- the entire time, my character was busy minding his own business running quests, killing looters and setting up businesses and was never a vassal or a mercenary for any of the groups.

[cqqks]

Paperclip; Of all the games I'ved played, never saw it happen. Thank you for the correction.

[Paperclip *PIRX*COP*]

No problem. Welcome.

[lionhart]

I have seen the AI completely eliminate factions. It is rare but it does happen.

Originally posted by cqqks:

Now that brings up my own scenario question: You've just rebelled and started your own kingdom. You weren't prepared for 3 kingdom to attack you at the same time, what happen's if you lose your property?

This has actually happened to me, so I can answer it. When you lose your last fortress, the game tells you that your court has nowhere to go, and your faction disappears from the map and from the faction list. At this point you have two options:

1) You can go to one of the other kings and ask to become a vassal. The king says he is willing to forgive you for declaring yourself a king, and he accepts you as a vassal. In fact you can even do this if you still have properties; you get to keep them but they become part of the kingdom that you joined.

2) You can stay independent and try to take another fortress. It does not matter how much time passes; when you eventually take another fortress, your faction reappears with the same name that you gave it before.

I have also seen scenario #2 happen with the AI controlled factions. In one game, the Swadians lost their last castle, however a few of their war parties were still in the field, and they had enough strength to retake the castle a few days later. When they did, Swadia reappeared on the map.