Tips for ancient warrior on hardcore

[BOOM-noHAX]

Does anybody have some good tips for this if they have got 100% on it? My population gets destroyed by the raiders and can never recover from those attacks.

[korac]

I think the most important thing to bear in mind in this scenario is that you can never gain a clear technological advantage over the raiders (their tech level always increases to match your own), so the only sure way of having the upper hand on the battlefield is through sheer numbers. In short, don't be in such a rush to push your tech level, focus instead on building a sustainable and ever-growing population.

If you don't mind 'gaming' the game to gain an advantage... you can also delay advancing an Age until just after the next raider attack, as well as to build up extra KP for some immediately useful techs when you do advance. Since such delays also allow you to continue increasing your warrior numbers while the raiders will remain more or less restricted in number (and tech) based on the current Age, it all works to your overall advantage.

Furthermore, advancing the Age immediately after a raider attack, while maybe also diving straight into new military techs, will buy you time before the next raider attack in which to put those new techs to good use and fully equip your warriors accordingly. This will give you a definite advantage in the next raid or two, because the raiders themselves will not all be fully equipped with the latest tech.

And finally, use your superior numbers to overwhelm the raiders with sheer missile power. Killing most of them at a distance, before they can close and inflict serious damage, will help preserve your numbers as well as enable the tribe to more quickly recover from any minor losses.

Edit: To be fair, I should also add that you cannot delay advancing the Age indefinitely, because given enough time the raiders' tech level can and will advance beyond your own, and in that event even your superior numbers will soon be whittled down. As with so many other aspects of this game, it's all about finding the right balance... Sometimes, trial and error is the only way to gain the experience to judge these things accurately.

Good luck! :)

[Cynodontia]

Speed, get Steel Weapons as soon as possible

[Cynodontia]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/858810/discussions/0/3494257539697429816/

Read this discussion. Maybe its helpful

[korac]

Originally posted by JaSaMaViJe:

Speed, get Steel Weapons as soon as possible

Once you get steel weapons (regardless of how quickly you get there) you've already survived through the toughest part of this scenario and it should be pretty smooth sailing thereafter. The question is how best to get there, because that's the part he's struggling with.

"Speed" can work if you don't make too many mistakes along the way (and, to be frank, if Lady Luck smiles on you more often than she frowns...) but if you don't want to have to try again and again and again until you get it right, then it's better to focus on building a powerful tribe using every scrap of knowledge and experience you've gained so far. Do that right and you don't even need to build any serious fortifications, which allows you to focus even more of your tribe's efforts on building warriors rather than walls.

[pdoan8]

15 years till the first Bronze age raider. 25 years till the first Iron age raider. That's quite a long time. I would focus more on growing population. Get to 150+ people before year 25th. 3-to-1 number advantage with some defense structures and bronze weapons would be enough to defeat the Iron age raiders.

[Cynodontia]

Originally posted by korac:

Originally posted by JaSaMaViJe:

Speed, get Steel Weapons as soon as possible

Once you get steel weapons (regardless of how quickly you get there) you've already survived through the toughest part of this scenario and it should be pretty smooth sailing thereafter. The question is how best to get there, because that's the part he's struggling with.

"Speed" can work if you don't make too many mistakes along the way (and, to be frank, if Lady Luck smiles on you more often than she frowns...) but if you don't want to have to try again and again and again until you get it right, then it's better to focus on building a powerful tribe using every scrap of knowledge and experience you've gained so far. Do that right and you don't even need to build any serious fortifications, which allows you to focus even more of your tribe's efforts on building warriors rather than walls.

Yeah, i had no time for a better response. Therefore i wrote a second comment with a Link to a very similar diskussion.
As you can see, if you read it, i had more to say than "speed"

[korac]

Perhaps I should have said so but I actually thought that was a great thread to link, very pertinent to this discussion, and full of lots of useful & very sound advice - much of it from your good self, I must say.

Unfortunately, the only comment you made in this thread was something I have to fundamentally disagree with in terms of how best to approach Ancient Warriors on Hardcore, so I tried to explain why I thought that was a poor strategy to suggest for a first attempt at completing this particular scenario. Or at least, not unless you have already completed it and are replaying simply to see if (or how) you may be able to improve on your performance.

Edit: it belatedly occurred to me - my earlier suggestion of not building any fortifications at all (other than the towers required to meet milestone requirements) is not intended for anybody attempting this scenario for the first time! It's a fun and exciting personal challenge well worth attempting once you have already succeeded at this scenario and are looking for ways to make things even tougher for yourself. It's a pity there's no actual Achievement for it as it's certainly one of the hardest things to achieve in this game, but it is entirely doable.

[Cynodontia]

Originally posted by korac:

Perhaps I should have said so but I actually thought that was a great thread to link, very pertinent to this discussion, and full of lots of useful & very sound advice - much of it from your good self, I must say.

Unfortunately, the only comment you made in this thread was something I have to fundamentally disagree with in terms of how best to approach Ancient Warriors on Hardcore, so I tried to explain why I thought that was a poor strategy to suggest for a first attempt at completing this particular scenario. Or at least, not unless you have already completed it and are replaying simply to see if (or how) you may be able to improve on your performance.

Edit: it belatedly occurred to me - my earlier suggestion of not building any fortifications at all (other than the towers required to meet milestone requirements) is not intended for anybody attempting this scenario for the first time! It's a fun and exciting personal challenge well worth attempting once you have already succeeded at this scenario and are looking for ways to make things even tougher for yourself. It's a pity there's no actual Achievement for it as it's certainly one of the hardest things to achieve in this game, but it is entirely doable.

Why unfortunately? That's your view of things, and it's certainly based on your gaming experience.

I needed a few tries with the scenario and then managed it thanks to forum help, my own experience and the way I described there.
That was my experience. I wanted to reflect that.

I have primarily referred to the discussion because it was the same question and I, but more importantly, others have already given tips. So he does not have to wait for answers but can pick out a few possible answers right away. And depending on his playing style, one or the other will help him.
It was not to refer to my contribution but to the whole discussion.

I read the answers ultimately for the same reason. I want to know how others do it and whether I do not learn one or the other.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[buds]

I can just share my video if you like to watch i have 2 deaths 2 from wild animal and 1 from raider in neolithic. But lots of techniques and using micro. https://youtu.be/ZPYse5ixqPU

I think its old save and i did nit use double platorm or triangular fortificatikn open derense, just a squarr fort in the middle.

[buds]

https://youtu.be/aFFt3bD8ODg Here is copper age

https://youtu.be/5hZj9V2-1Yg Bronxe age

[korac]

Originally posted by JaSaMaViJe:

Why unfortunately?

A poor choice of wording, is all. Regrettably might have been more appropriate, since you did not have time to elaborate on your original reply at the time of posting. I doubt either of us wanted the OP to take it to heart as written and immediately try to go racing through the Ages, only to (almost certainly) fail yet again.

It's a pretty tough scenario for someone still learning the game, no doubt about it. I think we can at least agree that it's not an easy one to beat without some help along the way... :)

[Cynodontia]

Originally posted by korac:

Originally posted by JaSaMaViJe:

Why unfortunately?

A poor choice of wording, is all. Regrettably might have been more appropriate, since you did not have time to elaborate on your original reply at the time of posting. I doubt either of us wanted the OP to take it to heart as written and immediately try to go racing through the Ages, only to (almost certainly) fail yet again.

It's a pretty tough scenario for someone still learning the game, no doubt about it. I think we can at least agree that it's not an easy one to beat without some help along the way... :)

Yes, that's right. In this scenario, help can never hurt.

Which was actually what I wanted to express.

That and that everyone helps as he believes that it is helpful.

[Vahe]

I doubled up the thickness of my walls around towers and gates as soon as possible. Also doubled up the gates and made "kill zones" surrounded by archers since raiders mostly attack gates and towers first, not walls. Raiders have never broken past 2nd level of defense. Just make sure your town has enough materials to repair damage after each attack. I just got to 200 ppl, and 1000 prestige. Wasnt hard to do. Didnt play hardcore though. Dont know if raiders are more punishing... Hope this helps.

[korac]

Originally posted by Vahe:

Didnt play hardcore though. Dont know if raiders are more punishing...

It's been so long since I played Normal difficulty but if memory serves (someone please do correct me if I'm mistaken on something or have missed anything...) playing on Hardcore does the following -

- No Pause option allowing you to look around / plan stuff while still in-game. The only way to pause the game (e.g. for real life distractions) is to hit ESC and go to the game menu.

- Only one ordinary save slot and one autosave slot, I suppose to limit your ability to replay from a particular stage when you discover just how badly you've screwed up.

- At some point it seems predators (bears, wolves, cave hyenas & lions) were made more aggressive and deadly in Hardcore mode, so increasing the challenge in the early ages.

- Human raiders appear to more quickly adopt the latest military technology for a new Age than they do on Normal difficulty, but the actual number in a particular band still seems far more heavily weighted by your own population numbers rather than the current Age.

- Adverse weather conditions (blizzards, storms) sometimes seem more severe and/or longer-lasting.

- Prey animals sometimes seem to spawn less frequently and / or are quicker to begin avoiding areas of human activity from an earlier stage. It's possible that the chance of spawning predators instead is simply increased, which would have the knock-on effect of spawning fewer prey animals.

Some of this stuff is not written in stone, just perceptions and observations which may simply be related to RNG on particular Hardcore playthroughs... but is worth bearing in mind and being prepared for all the same.

[Aigle édenté]

Originally posted by korac:

Human raiders appear to more quickly adopt the latest military technology for a new Age than they do on Normal difficulty, but the actual number in a particular band still seems far more heavily weighted by your own population numbers rather than the current Age.

I don't think the raiders number is related to your population : I had 150 pop and fell to 130-135 before having an even more big attack which I couldn't resist.
No, if I got it right the quantity of raiders depends of what age you're in, and their quality (their tech) increases no matter what age you're in (at least in hardcore mode), so it seems better not to rush in ages to avoid huge invasions.