Let's Play! Mount and Blade

Knight's a jerk?

...I want a soda now!!!

*SHOT!*

We're going to talk specializations a bit later.

And if it's throwing weapons I will choke you out personally. In a couple hours I'll tally the votes, then get to to explaining the stats and moving from there.

So far, Female is winning by a vote. Son of a traveling merchant is winning over warrior by one vote. Growing up as a smith is winning by 4 votes over the others. Loss of a loved one is winning by 1 vote. And going to Rhodoks is winning by one vote. That's the one we have the fewest votes on. C'mon people, you got a short description of their cultures, pick one for fun and profit!

Edit: Oh, and since it's the only one with consensus, the Bear banner is winning.

Male, russian, something with a bear, and a professional drunkard.

Hmmm...

I didn't vote for location before. Go with the Serranid Sultanate.

Noble father, born a street urchin, became a university student, motivated by lust for moneys and power-ups, BEAR FLAG, Rocksland.

I'll close up voting at 5pm PST and we'll get to the second part of character makeup, stat choices! It'll be a much smaller one, much quicker, then we can start this badboy up.

I vote for the Khanites. Because Mongols are badass.

Yeah, well, let's just say this game doesn't have widely-feared Khergit hordes. Mostly they get steamrolled by anyone with heavy cavalry which is three of the five other factions... and Nord Huscarls (heavy infantry) are just fine with killing the horse and THEN the rider. Khergits never heard of "horse armor" apparently.

Edit: Fine, fine, shutting up about game mechanics.

Alright, time's up! Our character is made, the backstory given. Now is something even more important: The stat screen!



As you can see, there's a lot of information on this page. These are the pre-set stats from our background history. As you can see, our gal has some well rounded stats, and is a heck of a trader. Unfortunately, she's not all that great with weapons just yet, something that will have to be rectified! Everything on screen ties together in a way, and everything is based on the attributes on the lower left. Let's go over them!

Strength: Every point in this skill adds 1% to your weapon strength and 1 hit point. Many armors and weapons have a minimum strength required to use (though not all) so this will be important if we want to do any fighting, which we will. A strength of 10-12 is important to equip most anything in the game. Skills Associated with STR: Ironflesh, Power-strike, Power-draw, Power-throw.

Agi: Every point put in agility adds to your weapon speed and gives you 5 points to put in weapon proficiency. Skill associated with AGI: Weapon-master, Shield, Riding, Athletics, Horse archery, Looting.

Int: Many, many skills depend on your intellect. Probably one of the most important stats in the game to boost, every point put in to Intelligence gives you one extra skill point to use. Skills associated with INT: Trainer, Tracking, Tactics, Path-finding, Spotting, Inventory Management, Wound Treatment, Surgery, First Aid, Engineer, Persuasion..

Cha: Charisma is the hallmark of a leader, and important if you want to build any sort of decent army, keep them happy, and get away with paying them less. Every point in Charisma ups your troop limit by 1. Skills associated with CHA: Prisoner Management, Leadership, Trade.

It's a lot to take in, I know. And I'm not going to go over skills here, but point you toward This important wiki explaining all the skills.

One important fact about skills that needs to be reiterated: Skills can only raise to 1/3 of its associated stat. So if my STR is 9, I can only raise Power Strike to 3. There are various books that help raise skills, but they can only go to 10 total. As you can see, our Hero has a trade of 4 despite not having enough charisma, thanks to her background. That means we won't be able to raise Trade until we have 15 Charisma, which is a ways off.

Finally, weapon proficiencies. They are self explanatory as to which type of weapon each effects. The higher your proficiency, the more damage you do with that weapon, and the faster you swing (with melee) or the better your accuracy (with bows/thrown). You can only raise it with points to a certain point, tied in to your Weapon master skill. You raise the skill by using that kind of weapon in battle, or using the points given when you level.

As you can see, our weapon skills are really very low, especially with any sort of bow. It'll take a lot of levels and practice to get them up to a decent level, but the more you use a weapon, and the higher your weapon master skill, the faster you can get better.


Now, I know that was a lot to take in, and I promise this is one of the last really long tutorials for awhile. What I need from people right now is what stat should we be going for at these early levels? What skills should we invest in? And finally, what sort of weapon should we use? Practice will make perfect, and purchasing/finding weapons can be hit or miss, but I will focus on what the consensus deems important. Vote!

Also, suggestions/voting for a name begins now!

Max out your int and charisma. You're a leader of men. You shouldn't be expected to fight with the dirt with the grunts.

I think you should be a trader! Everything into Charisma! All your skills into Trade, then Persuasion! Gotta get those good deals!

And for combat skills, what trader fights? Throw it all into Throwing Weapons! You won't use them!

Yessir, nothing can go wrong with this build!

... ACK, stop choking me!

What was the chosen background?

Charisma! Why fight your enemies when you can trade for all their money instead.

Charisma. You've already got enough int for the single int-based leader skill (inventory management) to last you a while. Everything else can be done by lackeys companions. Crossbow to take pot-shots at things that get past your troops, and one-hand secondary for anything that survives the archers. It goes without saying that you'll be behind the archers, or on a hill nearby, commanding your men. Those who would rule a country do not wade into the bloodbath like some barbarian.

Ah, right, sorry. The final tally was a Woman, born daughter to a traveling merchant, who apprenticed to a Craftsman and became a Smith, who eventually left home because the loss of a loved one. And we'll be starting in the desert, with the Serranid Sultanate.

Traders need to know how to fight to defend their caravans.

Crossbow main weapon, with one-handed weapon secondary.

Charisma as your main stat so you can leisurely ride at the back of your massive cavalry, with a few points in agility so that you don't completely suck in combat.

I was pretty much thinking the same thing as Algy...only as far as banners go, I really like the second to last one on the top row of the last page. The one thats purple and black with a flower in the middle.

Bit late to the party there Korasy. He's already started the game!

When we eventually get a flag, I think I agree with the BEAR FLAG.

I'm not really sure on the stats, but charisma and crossbows seems like a good enough plan to force you into.