Maiden knight (really short guide for first steps)

[MAKAIROSI]

So at start the maiden knight is really really bad, but once you get to levels 2 and 3 you can easily take on multiple opponents. First of, you need to realize she is meant to be played with weapon/shield. Although the game does let you play in your own style, you will need a lot of time to progress in any other field(s) with her.

So, the first skill you need to take is the first shield skill. Then the shield bash, and then the passive skill that grants 25% chance to bash per block. That's when you can easily handle opponents.

You can then advance however you want, however i'm thinking of going mace (if you've seen its skills you'll know why) rather than sword. However i still haven't found a skillbook for mace.

Anyway, the point of this post is how on earth do you get to level 2 or 3 since she'll die all the time?

1. Buy a week or 2 at the inn.
2. Don't loot any death caps or the other bad mushroom. I have tons and haven't used them yet.
3. Hunt moose all the time. There are plenty if you go 1 map left, and 1-2 maps up. When you kill it you will gain its hide, its meat and its antlers. Sell hide and antlers to the blacksmith, find a place where you can cook (there are many in the village) and right click- cook. The cooked venison heals 40% hunger and spoils in 6 days. You will hardly need any other food intake.

To hunt them you can chase them to an edge of a map. They are programmed to run away from you so they will have nowhere to run and you can safely kill them. Same goes for other game too.

4. Wolves and bandits are the best way to gain xp early on if you can kite them. You will need 1 at a time until you get the passive skill i talked about above.

5. Focus on gaining money and gaining items with more protection. I don't know what that does but i suppose it negates a portion of damage. At least it makes the game easier. I think the very first thing i did was to repair the cuirass. It costs about 500 gold and the repaired version gives +2 protection (or, the damaged version removes 2 protection). Then focus on building your protection.

6. VERY IMPORTANT: If you encounter a fight between bandits and wolves, stay around - not too close. You will gain xp for whoever dies. When the fight ends, either finish the fight if you're feeling bold, or simply leave and save.

7. Save often. If you've bought a week or two, it doesn't cost anything. Simply get back to the inn when you're feeling unsure.

Until point 5, you should keep your inventory as clear as possible so that you can get back with as many pelts as possible. Afterwards, when you're able to take 2 or more bandits/wolves at once, you will always need:

8. One wooden cast item to heal broken limbs. One rag for bleeding. One booze item if the pain becomes too much. One of the herbs that heal drunk state. Only use if absolutely necessary!

9. Keep in mind which one is the most valuable item, since you may fill your inventory with garbage that sell for 10g.

10. Took me a while to realize, you can get a free bow and arrows at the building where the elder is. Search the containers on the first floor. You will hardly use it, but it's handy. The most important thing is to get that shield passive.

I have come to a point that i love playing the maiden knight - though i still think the dwarf and the sorceress may be op - especially towards mid-game or end-game.

[ContrarianOrange]

I don't think you need to buy more than a day at the inn. You can go back as many times as you want! Check the log it saves?

[SoulnMind]

This isn't the end all be all approach, how I get rolling with Arna is I sell her Weapon and Shield immediately check the Smith for a War Scythe (cheapest Greatsword that I've seen) and Specialize in Greatswords getting both active skills. You can charge 5 tiles making chasing down deer/moose/rabbits/boar much simpler.

Not a fan of bows missing non-stop without the correlating skill to increase accuracy+picking up all the arrows. I also loot all the gear in the armory and sell all of it for some extra cash initially. If there is no War Scythe available at the smith you can always restart/sleep for 3 days to have the merchants restock.

Also everytime you start a new playthough the map is different, so you might no always have forest so readily available next to the starting town.

Early is very rough no matter the build from what I've tried so far, you have to pick your fights and be smart about pulling enemies and avoid bears at all costs. They are sure fire run enders early if they get on top of you. Kiting and spacing/using chokes is paramount to success early on.

Something to keep in mind is all merchants buy things for higher prices that they sell. IE: Tailor buys pelts/cloth/leather gear for more. Smith buys metal weapons/jewelry for more. Carpenter buys wood items like bows/shields for more etc.

Before you get some decent gear you primarily want to be fighting wolves/bandits one at a time for exp and hunting deer/moose/rabbits/boar for pelts for the money.

The run I'm doing now is with Arna and this time I've mixed Geomancy in with the Greatsword skill set, which has been pretty fun and surprisingly good. I can wait till an enemy engages me, push them into me with Runic Boulder to get a stun off, Petrify an enemy if I'm getting overwhelmed + I have extra defensive options with Stone Armor.

This has been a Perma-Death run as well. So I think build diversity is very high, I'm sure if you play your character properly you could make many different build types work. Game is more about knowing what you can handle and when and how to utilize your build to its best.

Also, I never bothered to repair her starting armor, its not worth the repair cost imo. Better to just save up the coin and buy something beefier if you're going the melee route.

[MAKAIROSI]

Yeah, i suppose diversity is very high. For me, her shield skills look op, at least for mellee. I should edit what i said about mace skills, i just look at her one-handed sword ones and there's a skill that raises block even more, so maybe sword-shield is op too. There is also an active rush skill like the one you mentioned.

However, it's all kinda meaningless if there's a level cap, since that would lock you into a very specific build - and would completely waste the sorceress' unique skill.

Does anyone know if there is a level cap ?

[Acanthus]

I basically progress like cloud. Geomancy is a great support splash for a 2h melee build, as it adds a defense buff, battlefield control, and a bit of AoE. Her starting with willpower also really helps in landing the cc.

Her only real flaw is that she will fumble spells (I'm sitting at 19.5%). Fumbling is a non-issue with greatsword though, as feast of steel guarantees crits at the cost of 25% damage and crit effectiveness, but your crit efficiency is really high anyway. I'm currently at 164%. As a result, I consider agility and perception dump stats for her. Strength and Willpower are your main stats (Willpower will affect your Geomancy cc and all your cds), and Vitality is important as a secondary stat to give you higher hp/energy and restoration. Mostly the energy imo because fumbling spells is expensive energy-wise. You could make a case for dumping vitality and using agility instead, but your dodge and stealth are going to be bad no matter what, and you can buy crowbars for traps.

[MinenSpecht]

Originally posted by MAKAIROSI:

Does anyone know if there is a level cap ?

Yes. LVL 30

[Johnny]

Buy the backstep and aoe sword skill. Look for counter stats on sword and shield. Finished the current game and not died once. (Bought block and charge after that)
When I bought block and shield bash it was much harder.

[MAKAIROSI]

Originally posted by Johnny:

Buy the backstep and aoe sword skill. Finished the current game and not died once.
When I bought block and shield bash it was much harder.

I saw the backstep skill just now, and you're right, it's really cool. However, i wasn't talking so much about shield bash, but about the passive that auto-bashes per block.

Originally posted by MinenSpecht:

Originally posted by MAKAIROSI:

Does anyone know if there is a level cap ?

Yes. LVL 30

Any way to remove the cap? I surely hope the cap is here just to have players within a limit as they add new stuff. It's a bit counter-intuitive to have a cap in such a game.

I mean, i completely understand you have to impose limitations, otherwise the game might break, or become extremely easy. But there are 10000 skill trees, so 30 seems a bit low imho. I'd say 100 is more proper. But meh, that's just me, i hate level caps in single-player games.

[MinenSpecht]

Originally posted by MAKAIROSI:

Originally posted by Johnny:

Buy the backstep and aoe sword skill. Finished the current game and not died once.
When I bought block and shield bash it was much harder.

I saw the backstep skill just now, and you're right, it's really cool. However, i wasn't talking so much about shield bash, but about the passive that auto-bashes per block.

Originally posted by MinenSpecht:

Yes. LVL 30

Any way to remove the cap? I surely hope the cap is here just to have players within a limit as they add new stuff. It's a bit counter-intuitive to have a cap in such a game.

I mean, i completely understand you have to impose limitations, otherwise the game might break, or become extremely easy. But there are 10000 skill trees, so 30 seems a bit low imho. I'd say 100 is more proper. But meh, that's just me, i hate level caps in single-player games.

There is no need to as the skill system will be revamped anyway.

[Sarina]

Originally posted by Acanthus:

I basically progress like cloud. Geomancy is a great support splash for a 2h melee build, as it adds a defense buff, battlefield control, and a bit of AoE. Her starting with willpower also really helps in landing the cc.

Lol i also use a 2h / geomancer hybrid build.

Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

[MAKAIROSI]

Originally posted by Sarina:

Originally posted by Acanthus:

I basically progress like cloud. Geomancy is a great support splash for a 2h melee build, as it adds a defense buff, battlefield control, and a bit of AoE. Her starting with willpower also really helps in landing the cc.

Lol i also use a 2h / geomancer hybrid build.

Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

Well, now that savegames have become obsolete, i think i'm gonna go that route too. The thing is that if you max the entire shield tree, and get the passive that grants raise shield, you can pretty much have free "raise shield" and "shield bash" in an entire fight.

Also, what happened with achievements? I can't find mine anywhere.

['Strict]

Don't think there are achievements.... ? The Demo has them but I don't have any in the bought game.

[GuildOfCalamity]

Also I found travelling the roads results in discovering broken horse carts which always have good loot.

[MAKAIROSI]

Ok, so i replayed with greatsword and you were right. Although she (obviously) doesn't block as much, she has such a huge damage that i can take on multiple enemies from level 2 even.

[Zekamashi]

I was destroying everyone using dual swords. The hardest part or you can just call it the boring part is grinding those pelts. Once I got the money and bought some gears it became too easy until patch came and my save is dead.