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Unofficial Manual
(version 0.804)



This manual has been prepared by Momaw, who is unaffiliated with Taleworlds or the Mount & Blade project. You are solely responsible for loss of life, limb, property, health, happiness or sanity resulting from use, misuse, or ignorance of the following text. Every effort has been made to ensure that this manual is correct as of its writing, but accuracy is not guaranteed, especially for other versions. Also, any controls or instructions assume default settings.


Table of Contents

 

 

 

Character

Contents\Character...Index

The most important thing you own is yourself. Over the course of time, with practice and better equipment, your playing character can become one of the most powerful people in the land. But it is essential that you have some kind of plan as you roam around battling evil, or you'll quickly find yourself battling alone with no money, and no friends. To develop a plan, you need to understand the different ways that you can improve your character.

Your start at level one, a raw recruit, with 4 attribute points to spend, a number of skill points based on your starting intelligence (based on background), and a number of weapon proficiency points based on your agility (again, based on background). Experience, or XP, is what you will use to advance your character. XP can be gained by defeating enemies in battle yourself, or by commanding your army when they do so; by fighting in the arena; and by completing quests given to you. At certain thresholds you will earn a new character level, where you will get one attribute point, one skill point, and ten weapon proficiency points. Spend these wisely.

Read each section to learn what the different aspects of your character do.

Backgrounds

Contents\Character\Backgrounds...Index

The first thing you have to decide when you start a new game is what sort of background you have followed up to this point in your character's life. Different backgrounds will give you different starting abilities and skills, and different equipment. None of them is really 'better', they are all playable. They just have different ways of playing. Choose a background that most closely matches what you want to play though, because this gives you a good start. A nun can become an expert swordswoman, it just takes a lot longer than somebody who can already pick up a blade. The different backgrounds are as follows.

Attributes

Contents\Character\Attributes...Index

Your character has four major attributes, which affect what you can do in very profound ways. Attributes do two things: they give you some kind of immediate advantage, and they also allow you to increase skills that are dependant on that attribute. See the section on skills for more. When you make a new character, you will get four points to spend on attributes, and at each level-up, you will receive one more. These choices cannot be changed once committed, so be sure!

The attributes are:

Skills

Contents\Character\Skills...Index

There are many skills in the game, each of which has a base attribute. A skill cannot be raised higher than one third of the base attribute: for example, Tactics, which is governed by Intelligence, could not be raised past 3 if your Intelligence was 9. You must first allocate more points to a base attribute if you want to raise skills that are hitting this bottleneck.

Skills come in three types. "Personal" skills apply only to your character and their individual abilities. Just because you're good at riding a horse doesn't mean anybody else automatically becomes good at it too. "Party" skills are ones used by your entire band, and that only one hero needs to have: the hero with the highest rank in that skill uses it for the good of everybody. Pathfinding for example, the art of finding the best route, is a party skill. Lastly, "Leader" skills are only effective if the leader (you) knows them.

The skills with their base attributes and type are as follows:

Party skills used by heroes other than yourself will suffer a penalty in their use, if you are not at least somewhat familiar with the skill yourself. The penalty to the effective level of the skill is a function of the difference between your actual skill and their actual skill.

DifferencePenalty
1 to 20
3 to 5-1
6 to 8-2
9 to 10-3

Weapon proficiencies

Contents\Character\Weapon Proficiencies...Index

There are six weapon proficiencies that each cover a different family or type of weapons. If you plan to do much fighting, you're going to want to increase one or two these to a high level to fight effectively. Which is best? They are all equally useful, and depend more on play style. A higher level of proficiency will let you attack and defend with a melee weapon more speedily, or be more accurate with missile weapons.

At each level-up, you will receive 10 additional weapon proficiency points to spend as you like. Unless you have one or more points of the Weapon Mastery skill, you cannot spend weapon points on proficiencies that have passed 60, but these can still increase through practice. Weapon Mastery not only allows you to spend weapon points at higher levels, it also allows gains from practice to come much faster.

As you get to higher degrees of skill, a proficiency will require more than one weapon point to increase by one degree: that is, if your One-handed Weapons proficiency is at 104, it will take 2 proficiency points to get to 105 instead of 1. Higher degrees of skill also take much more time to increase through practice.

See the section Combat: Weapon types and traits for a run-down on the different kinds of weapon you'll come across.

Appearance

Contents\Character\Appearance...Index

Strictly cosmetic, this allows you to change your character's face to whatever you like. Play as yourself, somebody you know, or the ugliest monster you can imagine. You can change your character's appearance at any point in the game by clicking "Edit Face" in the Character window.

 

 

 

Controls

Contents\Controls...Index

The controls for Mount&Blade are quite simple, though playing well will require far more than just memorizing a few key strokes! Your game controls can be adjusted by pressing the 'Controls' button on the 'Options' window. There are also several choices in the 'Options' window that can change how the game handles.

It is strong recommended that first-time players completed the "Training Course", as well as talk to the Trainer in Zendar to learn how to move and fight before you find yourself on a battlefield!

Moving on foot

Contents\Controls\Moving on foot...Index

The default keys for moving are the familiar WASD combination:

You can sidestep and walk forward/backward at the same time for diagonal movement.

Use the mouse to look around. If you are walking, then using the mouse will change your direction of travel. If you are standing still, using the mouse will orbit the view around your character without changing your character's direction. Just press the Forward key and your character will turn to go wherever the camera is aiming.

Your character can wade through water at reduced speed, and skid down slopes, but avoid jumping off cliffs. Trying to go uphill is much slower, and you may have to take the slope at an angle.

Moving on horseback

Contents\Controls\Moving on horseback...Index

While you are mounted, movement is handled a little bit differently:

Your mouse will now change which way you are looking but not which way the horse is moving, it's important to remember that. The mouse controls your head, only.

You can stop your horse by decreasing your speed until you halt. Or if you're walking the horse backward, press 'W' to increase your speed from backward to halt. For a quicker way to stop, use the key combination 'Ctrl+R', which signals your horse that you want him to Rear. That is, to stand up on his hind legs for a second. This will stop you instantly, but you cannot turn until the horse puts his legs down again, so don't try it when the enemy is breathing down your neck.

Horses are not nearly so good at climbing as men on foot, so pay attention to hills. They also don't turn as well, and can collide with trees and obstacles if you don't steer around.

Other controls

Contents\Controls\Other controls...Index

Non-combat/general:

Realtime/combat:

 

 

 

Inventory and items

Contents\Inventory...Index

Your party's inventory is not a backpack, but rather a representation of everything you own, packed onto horses or carried by people in the party. There is no weight limit, but a very great amount of carried weight will slow your party down. You can offset this penalty to a degree by using pack animals, spare horses in your inventory. There are only a limited number of inventory slots available to put items in, one item per slot regardless of its size. You can increase the amount of space you have to store things by putting points into your Inventory Management skill. This is a good idea, because a lot of your income will probably come from selling off weapons and equipment that you scavenge from battlefields.

You can open your inventory window at any point, provided you are not in combat, by pressing the "i" key. During combat, you can still get at your inventory, but you must activate the chest that will be put at your starting location to do so. You cannot retrieve horses from your inventory during combat, though if you equip a new horse in one skirmish of a multi-skirmish battle, you will change horses between skirmishes and be riding the new horse for the next one.

Item stats

Contents\Inventory and items\Item stats...Index

Detailed information about items will be shown if you move your mouse over the item. All items have a weight and a cost. Other information about the item will vary by what sort of thing it is.

Equipped items

Contents\Inventory\Equipped items...Index

Your character has several special slots for items that are "equipped", things that you are actively wearing, wielding or using. With a few exceptions, to use something, you must put it into one of your equip slots. The total weight for all your equipped weapon and armor is called your encumbrance, and is shown below the equip slots. The more weight you are lugging around, the slower your character will move while on foot. You can reduce the effects of carried weight by putting points into the Athletics skill.

 

 

 

Shops and trading

Contents\Shops and trading...Index

At cities and locations, you can usually find one or more people who are willing to do business with you. Some can be found outside in stalls, while the town's general trader will have an indoor office you can find by looking for a sign with a coin purse on it. To talk to a shopkeeper, just walk up to them until you see the "Talk" label, then press the use key. You will have several options available, one of which will be to buy and sell things. Once you have found a tavern or general trader's shop in a city, you will be able to quickly jump to them from the menu when you first arrive, on future visits.

When you're shopping for goods, you have your own inventory on the right side, and that of the shopkeeper on the left. You can arrange a deal by dragging things from his side to yours, or vice-versa. If you change your mind about an item, just look for items with a "Reclaim" or "Return" price instead of "Buy" or "Sell" and put them back on the other side. A faster way than dragging is to hold down the Ctrl key and click on the item. The cost or payment for the total offer is shown near the bottom-center of the screen. Merchants only accept hard cash or goods in barter, no credit. Your own funds are shown below your pool of goods, and the merchant's below theirs.

All shopkeepers will buy all types of goods, but not sell. You can usually find one person that sells weapons, shields and ammunition, and another person that sells armor. The city trading merchant sells horses and bulk goods like food.

Unless you have some skill in Trade, you will be forced to sell goods at a much reduced price than for what they would sell for. Hey, it's used! Trade is a party skill, meaning that as long as one of the heroes in your party has it you get the benefit.

At each city, there is generally one import product, and one export product. If you talk to the merchants in the cities, they will give you an idea of what they export and the best place to sell it. And also what they import, paying top denar for. Making a tidy profit on trade routes is as simple as finding a place that exports what another city imports: buy it cheap, sell it dear. Trade goods are heavy and bulky though, so you should either have enough spare horses to carry all your merchandise easily, or hire some guards for protection. Ideally both.

 

 

 

Horses

Contents\Horses...Index

Getting around on foot is not only slower than riding, it's generally more dangerous. With the greater agility of a mount, you are able to choose your own ground against slower ground troops. You gain a tactically and psychologically important height advantage against men on foot, and if you have a horse trained for combat, they become a weapon in their own right as they bulldoze through enemy formations. A person's social rank could often be determined by the kind of horse they owned, and a knight's mount could be just as costly as his weapons and armor.

Types

Contents\Horses\Types...Index

There are several kinds of horses at various price points, some better suited to a task than others. An archer will not be served best by riding a lumbering armored warhorse, and a lancer should feel rather embarrassed trying to fight from the back of an aged mule.

How and Where to get one

Contents\Horses\Buying and selling...Index

Horses can be bought at the general merchant in various cities, who will each have a selection of mounts to choose from. Hover your mouse over a horse before you make your purchase, to see what kind it is and what kind of abilities it has. In all cases, higher numbers are better:

The toughest animal isn't always the best choice you could make, since you may have to sacrifice speed to get protection. If a horse is armored, said armor comes with it, you don't need to buy the armor separately. Nor can you add or remove armor from the horse.

Often you can find horses that are lamed, or swaybacked (old), or just plain stubborn. These special horses have some issues: Lame horses are very slow due to previous injuries (but can be cured over time), swaybacked horses are a little slower than normal, and stubborn horses require more Riding skill to use. All of them are cheaper than a normal horse, however. Likewise you can find horses that are exceptional specimens. Spirited horses are faster and more agile than normal, while heavy horses have more endurance and a greater ability to trample enemies. But these carry a hefty price premium.

Sometimes you can capture the mounts of fallen enemies after you've won a battle, so it pays to hit the man instead of his animal if that's an option. Horses are sold just like other trade goods, but you might want to keep a spare available in case your favorite horse gets wounded. Even the slowest mule is going to be faster and more agile than a warhorse with a broken ankle.

Using

Contents\Horses\Using...Index

When you get a horse you want to ride, click on it in your inventory window and move it into the box labeled "Horse" to say that this is your chosen mount. If you are drawn into a battle, you will begin the battle already mounted on this horse. Read Combat\Fighting from Horseback for information about using a horse in combat.

Horses are large animals, and have substantial inertia. When you're riding a horse, you will have to hold down the "Forward" key (default 'W') for a second or two while your horse builds up speed. Horses also cannot turn as quickly as a human can so watch where you are going and try to plan your maneuvers ahead of time. You can turn faster when you are moving slowly, so to execute a crisp turn, slow down before you start to turn and then speed up once you're facing the new direction. All horses are slower when going up or down hills, or when moving through shallow water.

To dismount when in realtime or combat, use the mouse to look down at the horse, while stopped, and hit the 'F' key when you see the word "Dismount". Mounting works the same way: move close to the horse and look at it, then use the action key when you see the word "Mount". Note that mounting and dismounting takes a few seconds, during which you are extremely vulnerable. You can start the horse moving as soon as you put a foot in the stirrup, but you can't attack as you haul yourself up into the saddle. To dismount, however, you must be completely stopped.

If you have horses that you aren't riding at the moment, they are shown in your inventory. These horses are considered baggage animals, and can help carry your party's equipment. If you're carrying a lot of weight, having an extra horse around can help your speed considerably when traveling on the world map. Horses in your inventory pool are tethered a safe distance back when you join in a battle, so you can't get a new horse mid-battle from your inventory.

A horse can become lamed if it's taken down by enemy troops, or if it falls too far. Lame horses have extreme penalties to both speed and agility. A horse that is lamed can eventually be healed if you have points in the skill Wound Management. But note that if it was a special kind of horse before being injured (spirited, heavy, stubborn), it will now be a plain horse. Broken bones are nature's way of telling horses to slow down.

 

 

 

Taverns

Contents\Taverns...Index

All cities have a tavern you can visit. You can find a town's tavern by looking for a sign with a pitcher on it. It will cost you 1 denar per 3 people in your party (prisoners included) to sleep at the tavern. This price includes both a bed and something to eat. If it's some time in the day, you can sleep until evening; or if it's night, you can sleep until morning. Sleeping is useful if you dislike one time or another (night fighting is not for the faint of heart), for healing up after a battle that didn't go according to plan, waiting for some troops to become trained, or even staying somewhere safe while waiting for that huge party of enemies you barely outran to go somewhere else.

The other major function of the tavern is to offer troops for hire. These are mostly commoners who are offering themselves out due to financial troubles or because they have a romantic vision of war. Well, they'll learn soon enough. Sometimes you'll find some town's militia to hire too. Select the type of troop you want to hire and click Hire to sign them up one at a time. See the section Party management for more information about hired troops.

 

 

 

Party management

Contents\Party management...Index

Sooner or later you're going to come across a massive horde of people that want to kill you (or at least redistribute your equipment and wealth to themselves), and you're going to think: "Wow, I wish I has some help to take on this massive horde." The good news is, help is out there! Building up your own group of intimidating warriors is not only possible, it's a very good idea.

A party is composed of two types of people:

The party window is accessed by pressing 'P' while not in combat, from either a town or the world map. On the list in the top right corner, you can see some number of labels. Each of these labels can contain one hero, or any number of one type of hired troop; so you yourself take up one label, while 20 militia would all fit in a single label. Your maximum party size is also shown. Don't forget to include yourself in head counts. On the left side of the party window, you see a list of the skills that your party has. Your own character is first, followed by any other heroes that you have recruited. See the section Skills for more info about party skills.

You can talk to party members from the party window, but only if you are on the world map. Exit out to the world map first if you are not there, then the Talk button will be enabled after you click on one of the party labels. Talking to a hired troop can be useful to see what level they are or what skills they have. Talking to a hero lets you tell them how they should spend their level-up points, or you can give them new equipment to use by trading.

Heroes can also separate from your party and form their own party separate from yours. If you do this, they will roam the world map on their own, fighting and capturing. If you like, you can even give a hero some of your own party's troops to help them: just walk your party up to theirs on the world map, and use the dialogue menu. If you don't like the idea of your heroes roaming free (they can be hard to find again, sometimes) then you can tell them to wait at the Four-ways Inn.

All active members of a party (those who aren't prisoners) can either be fit or wounded. If a hero is wounded, you will see their current health after their name as a percentage. Low numbers are bad. If they become very badly hurt, they will not show up in combat with you. If a hired troop is wounded to the point of being unfit for duty, they will not be sent into battle either. The number of troops who are fit for battle is shown as a different number than the total number you have hired. If a party slot's label reads "Farmer 3/5", then you have 5 farmers total, only 3 of who are in a condition to fight and will be deployed.

Your party has a Morale level: this is how enthusiastic your troops are to be serving under your command. You can make your party's Morale go up by defeating enemies, and by offering better food to eat. When you hire new troops, they enter your company at a morale level of "average", so bringing in a lot of fresh recruits at once will tend to move your party morale to "average" from whatever it was previously. The more veterans you have, the happier your party will be.

Hired troops

Contents\Party management\Hired troops...Index

Troops can be gotten from a town's tavern, just ask about it. You can only hire the most basic kinds of followers: if you want to have better troops, you'll have to train them yourself, either by means of the Training skill, or just by having them survive a few battles.

You can also attempt to gain new troops by freeing them from enemy parties. Troops that were held as prisoners by the party you defeat can be taken into your own group on the same screen that you claim prisoners from. Troops gained this way do not have any hiring cost, but they will still draw a weekly wage. If you decide not to take some or any of these troops after rescuing them, they will form themselves into a new group (see: World Map\Party Types\Rescued Prisoners). You can add ANY troop type to your party this way, even those who are normally hostile toward you, like Bandits.

Minions cost denars to hire (unless you rescue them), and more to pay their wages. They don't fight for you because they like your sparkling personality: they are paid weekly. The total cost of your party's wages are shown in the bottom right corner of the party window. You can also click on a single party slot to see how much that particular kind of troop costs to maintain: this cost is per man, not for the whole pile. Be sure to have enough hard currency on hand to pay them between trade runs or hunting expeditions, as troops will start to defect if they aren't paid regularly. Better soldiers require a higher wage: you can hire a decent-sized mob of farmers with clubs and pitchforks for the same cost as a single armored knight ahorse, but you should consider the power and ability of the units in question.

When you see the message "Some troops are ready to upgrade", you should open the party screen and see what your options are. Any troops with a + sign after their name has enough experience to upgrade into a more powerful troop. Click on their slot to see how many are ready to upgrade (they gain experience individually), and what you can make them become. Sometimes you will have a choice of two different kinds of soldier that a given minion can become: for example, Swadian militia can become either footmen (light infantry) or skirmishers (light archers). Consider what kind of party you're building before upgrading, or what kind of troops you need most, because you cannot change one type of troop into another once you close this window. You do not have to upgrade troops as soon as they are able, or even at all if you don't want to pay for their higher wage.

If the burden of paying for some of your troops is just becoming too great, you can also choose to disband troops. Each click dismisses one man. They leave instantly and permanently.

 

 

 

The world map

Contents\The world map...Index

The world map shows the entire region, and is how you will move to different cities and locations. To get to the world map, just press Tab if you're currently controlling your character in the city view, or click "Leave" at the city menu. Once you're there, moving your party on the world map is as simple as clicking the left button where you want to go, either on the ground or on a city, and waiting while your party is in transit. Time will pass for everybody while you are moving, but you can pause time at any point by pressing Spacebar. Time will also pause automatically when you reach your destination. If you just want to wait in one place, hold down the spacebar.

Parties

Contents\The world map\Parties...Index

Yours is not the only group in the world; as you travel, you will see other parties moving around the map as well. Some friendly, some hostile, and some totally disinterested in you. If you click the left button on a party instead of on a city or a location on the map, you will follow them as they move.

Parties are color-coded to identify their status:

Hostile organization (Vaegir/Swadian)

Hostile unaffiliated (bandits, etc)

Neutral

Quest-related ally

Quest-related enemy

Your party

The number above a party indicate how many people are in that party. If there is a second number after a plus sign, like "+8", this shows how many additional prisoners are being held by that party. Hold your cursor over a party to get more detailed information. In this picture, we see that the party has 33 men who are able to fight out of 38 total (implying 5 wounded), with a prisoner train of 6 prisoners; the party is currently idle.

The distance you can see other parties at is adjusted by the party skill Spotting. If you have several ranks in this, you can see enemies before they see you and maneuver appropriately, a valuable benefit. Note that traveling at night will reduce the Spot radius of all parties on the map.

If you have anybody in the party with the Tracking skill, you will see colored arrows on the ground. These arrows indicate tracks or signs of movement that a party has made as they travel through this area. The color shows how old the track is (red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue) and the size shows roughly how big the party was. And which way they went obviously. Move your cursor over a tracking arrow to get more information. If your skills are high, you get a gradually better estimate of how many people were in the party, and eventually even who they were.

Speed

Contents\The world map\Speed...Index

Your speed while traveling on the world map is influenced by five things:

Depending on the type of party you have assembled (or haven't assembled!), speed can be the deciding line between life and death. Unless you have the men to fight off anybody who takes an interest in your group, then traveling slower than potential enemies in your area is a bad idea.

Party types

Contents\The world map\Party types...Index

There are many different factions that you'll run into, in the game. A party's type will usually dictate what sort of troops make up that party (e.g. a party of Bandits will be made of... Bandits). You should move the mouse over the party just to be sure, though, as both enemies and allies can rescue prisoners to build up their group, just as you can.

There are three types of parties that bear special mention:

 

 

 

Combat

Contents\Combat...Index

At some point, you're going to want to really hurt somebody. Or somebody is going to want to really hurt you, and you have to return the favor before you wind up dead. You should engage in battle only when strictly necessary or when you're confident of the outcome. Sending men into a battle when you're not reasonably certain to win is wasteful of lives and money. But if you must fight, fight well. You should have a good understanding of the weaponry available and how to use it before you venture out into the realm of Calradia. Be sure to talk to the trainer in Zendar, as he has a lot of experience with teaching would-be adventurers how not to die. It is strongly recommended that you complete his training program.

Weapon types and traits

Contents\Combat\Weapon types and traits...Index

Each of the weapon proficiencies has a different family of supported weapons that you can choose from. Which proficiency you choose will ultimately depend on which you enjoy playing the most. Some particular kinds of weapons also have special behaviors.

One handed weapons: These offer the best mix of striking power and attacking speed, and let you use a shield for improved defense. Some weapons have extremely limited reach, like a dagger or hatchet. These generally also do not allow you to parry with them because they are so small. Some have minimum strength requirements to use them.

Two handed weapons: More reach, more power, less speed. Better on the attack than defense, it will only take one or two hits by most of these to flatten an opponent. Most have minimum strength requirements to use them. A two-handed weapon of note is the bastard sword: using both hands is faster, but you can also choose to equip a shield and use it with one hand.

Polearms: These are all very long, giving the agile user an advantage against enemies who have weapons with less reach. They fall into two general categories: first, purely stabbing weapons like a spear, and second, polearms that perform other attacks like the glaive and poleaxe. Some kinds of polearms require both hands, other can be used with one or two.

Archery: A hand bow allows the user to launch arrows far beyond the accurate reach of a thrown missile. They come in many sizes, increasing in power with length or materials used. The hand bow is generally a faster and superior weapon to the crossbow, but also requires much more training to use effectively. Better bows have a minimum requirement in the Power Draw skill to use them.

Crossbow: A crossbow allows a relatively unskilled user to aim accurately, without relying on experience and intuition as with the hand bow. They are ideal for those who wish ranged capability without devoting the extensive time needed to master the hand bow. The crossbow must be reloaded manually after each shot: simply use the Attack button a second time to begin reloading. Note that you cannot move while reloading or the process will be aborted.

Thrown weapons: All of these require only one hand, so are unique among the ranged weapons in that they allow you to use a shield between throws. The compromise is that, while they can do a lot of damage, your accurate throwing distance is usually much less than that of a bow or crossbow. Heavier thrown weapons will require a point in the Power Throw skill.

Damage

Contents\Combat\Damage...Index

To begin with, damage comes in three types:

If you turn on the option "Show Damage", then when you score a hit (or receive one,) you will be shown how much damage was applied and to whom. This can prove useful in training your combat reflexes. Generally, a good hit will also result in a solid slicing or stabbing noise, while poor hits give more of a thump sound.

The amount of damage you inflict or receive depends on several different factors. The first is, obviously, the damage rating of the weapon used. A number is rolled randomly, between half the weapon's rated damage and its full rated damage. So a mace that's rated for 20 damage will roll a random number between 10 and 20. Your proficiency with the weapon type influences this roll. Your skills will add to the damage: Power Strike for melee weapons, or Power Draw/Throw for ranged weapon.

For melee weapons, the weapon's impact speed will also play a role. Impact speed, or your speed bonus, is a result of which way you were moving when you struck the blow in relation to the target, and where in the stroke the weapon hit. If you're sidestepping left past an enemy, you'll do more damage if you strike right to left (opposite their motion relative to you), than if you strike left to right. And most weapons will do more damage in the middle of their stroke, than in the beginning or end: jabbing somebody with a spear is more effective if you've got some weight behind it, than if the point runs into them immediately. Your speed bonus can be positive (extra damage) or negative (less damage), even to the point of doubling your hit or negating it entirely.

Where you hit the target can have an affect as well. You will hit where you're looking, to a degree. To try for the feet, aim low; to hit the head, aim high. Blows to the feet will generally do less damage, and blows to the head will do more.

The armor of the target reduces the damage that is inflicted. After your weapon's rating, your skills, and the impact speed are calculated, this number is your "base" damage. Armor reduces this damage by a random factor of between one half and its full rating against cutting damage, or between one quarter and one half versus piercing or blunt damage. For example, mail armor with a rating of 20 can block between 10-20 points of cutting damage, or between 5 and 10 points of piercing or blunt damage.

Fighting in melee

Contents\Combat\Fighting in melee...Index

The first thing to know if you're fighting with a melee weapon is how to defend yourself. Defense is always more important than attack. As long as you can keep an opponent's blade out of your body, then you can wait as long as it takes for them to screw up and leave you an opening to attack. By holding down the Right Mouse Button, you will raise your shield or weapon so that you block your opponent's strike.

A shield can block all types of strokes that are coming from ahead of you, and can intercept incoming missile weapons. Pay close attention to your shield's durability, it takes damage with every hit it absorbs. Your shield is repaired automatically, but only after the fight is over. If it's wrecked during the fight, it will lose one level of quality (becoming "battered", etc). If it's already "cracked", and gets wrecked, then it's permanently destroyed.

If you don't have a shield, then you can only use the Right Mouse Button to parry with your weapon. Parrying can only block one type of stroke at a time, like an overhead chop, or a slash from the side. Parrying has no effect on missile weapons. When you're parrying you should watch your opponent to see what kind of stroke he is starting to make, and block once he starts his stroke. A quick weapon is better on defense than a big and heavy one. Don't try to parry too soon, or he will just change to a different type of stroke and bypass your defense.

When that right time comes, you need to decide what kind of stroke you're going to try. You choose which way you want to attack (in the default control method) based on where you are looking relative to your opponent: if you are looking to the left of them, you get a left arrow, and will slash from right to left. A downward arrow means an overhead chop. An upward pointing arrow will give you a thrusting or stabbing action. Not all weapons support all types of attack: stabbing somebody with a club wouldn't do much anyway. Stabs and overhead chops are harder to hit with, but may do more damage, if you hit the head, or a different kind of damage if your weapon has a point. For example, an arming sword can be used to slash and chop with cutting damage, or you can stab with it for piercing damage. Slashes are easier to hit with because they cover such a large area.

Generally, landing a hit is about timing. You need to time your stroke so that you can bypass their defense, either shield or parry. Don't attack in a frenzy and hope to get lucky, as this will lead to you getting hurt: patience is the key. Wait for them to drop their shield to attack, or perhaps dodge back when they swing then step forward and whack them while they recover. Be calm and methodical.

Fighting at range

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If you're carrying a ranged weapon, you can attempt to hit the enemy before they can hit you back. Unless of course, they also have a ranged weapon. Users of the bow and crossbow cannot use a shield since their weapon requires both hands. If you have a thrown weapon you can use a shield if you like, but not at the same time as you throw obviously.

To launch a missile from a ranged weapon, turn to face the target and hold down the Left Mouse Button. This will cause the targeting indicator, a large white circle, to shrink down as you aim. If you're using a hand bow, you should release the button promptly when the indicator is at its smallest: if you wait too long, muscle fatigue sets in and your aim will wander. A high level of skill can increase the amount of aiming time you have. Crossbows allow you to aim as long as you like, as do thrown weapons, since you are not constantly fighting the bowstring while trying to aim. If at any time you wish to stop aiming your shot, click the Right Mouse Button to abort.

The amount of ammunition you have left is shown just above your remaining health. Missile ammunition is refilled for free, automatically at the end of a battle. But during the battle you are limited to whatever you have in your quiver, unless you go back to your inventory and retrieve more if you have it. A good tactic for characters who depend heavily on ranged weapons is to carry more than one bag of ammunition in their equipped weapons list.

The missile from a ranged weapon can go anywhere inside the target indicator when you release it. Characters who are not very good with a bow will have to depend pretty much on luck to hit anything until they get more practice. Trying to use a ranged weapon from a moving horse is also very difficult, and you'll not be very accurate unless you have points in the Horse Archery skill. There is no penalty for using a ranged weapon if you're on a horse but not moving.

Missiles have some amount of windage to them: that is, the farther away from your target you are, the more you need to aim over their head so that the projectile falls down to them when it reaches that distance. The Zoom key can be invaluable here (hold Shift) because you can watch your shot to see where it lands in relation to the target and adjust your aim. Thrown weapons have a much more dramatic arc than arrows and bolts, which limits their effective range. Missiles also are not instant: you will need to lead your target if it's moving. Thrown weapons move slower than arrows and bolts, which again limits their effective range. Crossbows, especially heavier ones, will launch their missile with very great speed, so less lead and windage is needed to hit the target compared to hand bows.

If you are shooting at an enemy with a shield, and he realizes it, he will simply block your projectile with his shield. You can get around this by having an ally distract the enemy so that he's not facing your direction. Shooting somebody in the back isn't perhaps very honorable, but trust us: he'd do the same to you. If you're confident of your abilities and only facing one opponent, you could also wait until he gets within with range and lowers his shield to attack you. You then have a very brief window of opportunity to get a shot in before they gut you. You can break a shield with many hits, but it will require a lot of ammunition. Throwing axes and javelins are more effective at ruining a shield than arrows and bolts.

A last note, it is wise to pack a backup weapon unless you are very confident of your own capabilities and your party's ability to distract the enemy. If you run out of ammunition, or a melee enemy starts landing hits on you, a ranged weapon is no use at all.

Fighting with a lance

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Lances and most other kinds of polearms can be used from horseback in a special kind of attack. This involves getting up to a high enough speed, "couching" your weapon (grasping it firmly under your arm), then running it through an enemy. This type of attack can deliver tremendous damage, but is tricky to pull off sometimes.

First, the prerequisites. You need to be on a horse, capable of a moderate speed of 6 or more. So don't try lancing from the back of a lame mule. A high Agility is also a desirable trait for your horse since it makes maneuvering for and landing your hit easier. You need a polearm. Lances, spears, military forks, and many more are all suitable weapons. A longer weapon is usually more desirable than one that does higher damage, because it means you can hit the enemy before he can take a swing at you (or your horse).

Get some distance between you and the enemy forces, then slow and turn around to face them. Spur your horse up to its maximum speed. If your mount is fast enough, you will drop your weapon from an upright carrying position to a horizontal killing position. DO NOT TOUCH THE ATTACK BUTTON: The lancing attack is automatic, provided you have enough speed and a suitable weapon. What you need to do is turn your horse as you come up on the enemy, so that your weapon's point impales them. It's easiest to aim the lance if you position your camera view so that you're looking down the lance instead of from one side or the other. If you're attacking troops on foot, you will need to look down at them slightly or the point will pass over their head. On the other hand, if you're attacking other horsemen, keep your view fairly high so that the lance hits the man and not the horse (unless you are actually trying to kill it).

You will find it difficult to lance uphill because you can't get up enough speed. Going down steep hills will also slow you down. Try riding across the slope, rather than against it. Water will prevent you from lancing at all, and trees and rocks may make it difficult to maneuver. Sometimes it's best to know when terrain is simply unsuitable to lancing, and switch to another weapon.

Fighting from horseback

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There are some special things to note when you're fighting from the back of a horse, both for melee and for ranged weapons.

For one- or two-handed weapons (not polearms), when striking at a person on foot, the best tactic is to slash at them just as you are passing, not when they're still slightly ahead of you. Stabbing or overhand swings are better suited to fighting a mounted opponent. Two-handed melee weapons can only be used with one hand from horseback, which results in speed and damage penalties being applied. Polearms from horseback work a little differently, in that when you ready your weapon for a thrust, you can aim it anywhere you like with the mouse.

With a horse, you can trample enemies, which is extremely useful. Horses deal "blunt" damage whenever they hit an enemy on foot with sufficient speed, so you can knock enemies unconscious by trampling them. Or if they are carrying a shield, you can hit them with horse's shoulder to make them stagger, and slash at them before they can get their shield back up. Note that this doesn't work well against foot soldiers with polearms, because they can get a hit at your horse before they are knocked down. If your horse takes a strong hit in the chest with a polearm, you will be halted, which is very dangerous if you're surrounded.

For ranged weapons, first, your accuracy and damage will suffer a great deal if you do not have the skill Horse Archery and attempt to launch your missile while moving. An unmoving horse does not have this penalty but you are obviously easier to hit like this. Hand bows can only shoot to the left side of the horse, because you're holding the bow with your left hand. Sorry, no option for left-eyed archers. Crossbows can fire to either side, but note that only the Hunting and Light crossbows can be reloaded on horseback; the others can be fired, but not reloaded. There are no limitations on thrown weapons from horseback.

Fighting against horses

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Enough about riding down the poor ground pounders, what are you supposed to do if you ARE a ground pounder and some armored warhorse comes thundering at you? You might be fighting on foot by choice, or you may have had your horse killed under you. Either way, understanding the tactics is essential if you want to live.

What makes a horse dangerous? Speed, and mass. It's a huge animal that will knock you down and trample over you if you get in its way. Or the guy on its back has a long pole which he will use to run you through. The key to defeating a horseman while on foot, is to take away their advantages. There are two tactics you can use that are very effective.

The first tactic is to simply pick a location that makes it difficult for a horseman to come at you full speed. Steep hills and obstacles like rocks and trees will slow and funnel them, giving you time and space to maneuver around them. Shallow water is also an extremely effective defense.

The second tactic is to carry a long polearm, and use it to stop the horse. Spears, lances, and pikes are your anti-cavalry tool: a strong hit to the horse's chest as it approaches will cause them to stop and rear. The hardest part is timing: you want to have your weapon reach full extension, at the same time as the horse runs into it, for maximum damage and safety. If you wait too long, your spear won't be in a position to hit the horse before you're run over, or, the horse will be stopped close enough that the rider can still chop at you with their weapon. And if you thrust too soon, your strike will be wasted, the horse won't stop, and you'll be flattened.

 

 

 

Prisoners and slavery

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Since the nation of Calradia has frontage on a sea, there is some amount of shipping traffic. And shipping traffic means galley slaves to row ships into harbor, or when the wind is not blowing the right way. There is a man in Zendar who will buy slaves from anybody who cares to offer them, if you don't have any moral problems with selling people into an ugly and probably very short career. They also have needs of slaves for grueling work at the Salt Mines.

To take somebody as prisoner, first you will need at least one point in the Prisoner Management skill. If you do not have this skill you will not be able to have any prisoners at all. In battle, you should use a weapon that does "blunt" damage, like clubs and hammers. These weapons will knock an enemy unconscious instead of instantly killing them. You can also simply run them over with a horse since horses deliver "blunt" damage. After the battle, if you win, you will be given a chance to take all unconscious enemies as prisoner. Prisoners will slow your party down, and make it cost more money to sleep at taverns, but they are worth a fair bit of money.

If you have any prisoners in your party, you can drag them back to one of the two locations that buy slaves and turn them in for 20 denars per head. When you talk to the slave buyer, just say that you have some merchandise to offer. Click on the type of person you want to sell down in the lower-right corner, and use the Sell button to release them one by one.

 

 

 

Castles

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There are two notable castles in Calradia, at opposites sides of the country. These have a long and dark history, and rarely does any particular group manage to keep control of them for very long. If you find that one of these castles is held by hostile troops (as seems likely, given their history), you can choose to assault it. This is a very dangerous thing to do, since any castle is bound to be heavily defended by archers.

When you first arrive at the castle, you must order some of your men to set up ladders to assault the walls. Expect casualties from the storm of arrows that meet them. Once the ladders are in place, you can move in with the rest of your troops.

If you are victorious against the defenders, you can use this castle for yourself. The primary feature open to you is that you can garrison the castle with a large number of your troops. Troops that are garrisoned do not draw a weekly wage, and they can become healed over time. Note that troops lose all experience they had gained toward upgrading to a new type and must start over again once you take them into the field. They will not revert to a lesser type of troop, however.

Battles

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When two or more parties hostile to each other meet on the world map, a battle will break out. If one of the involved sides is friendly to you and the other is hostile, then you can decide to join in and help your allies. Or you can pick a fight on your own just by intercepting (or be intercepted by) a hostile party. Once battle is joined, you will be given several choices depending on the parties involved.

If you have joined a battle that was already in progress, then you will command a mixed force consisting of both your units and those of your allies. Or if you have arrived at a battle in progress and neither side is your enemy, your only choice will be to not get involved. The battlefield is not the appropriate place to make a political statement by joining one side or the other on a whim.

Skirmishes

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A battle is fought over the course of one or more 'skirmishes', based on the option "Battle Size" in the options window. "Battle Size" dictates the maximum number of troops that can be deployed by either side into the skirmish, so if you set it to 20, then you can only mop up 10 enemies per skirmish. A large party will take quite a while to grind through, be it yours or theirs.

Troops that are wounded in one skirmish will be wounded for all remaining skirmishes in the battle. Likewise, the health levels of heroes is carried over from one skirmish to the next (though you regain some health based on your party's First Aid skill). You can disengage from a battle after a skirmish if you want to, but by doing this you forfeit all battlefield salvage from enemies you have defeated up to that point.

Over the course of a skirmish, troops will continue to arrive in the area. Enemy reinforcements as well as friendly can arrive after a skirmish has begun. Only those parties that started the battle can have reinforcement waves: another party cannot join from the world map.

A mission is over once one side's troops including reinforcements are entirely defeated (dead or unconscious). A battle is likewise over when one party is entirely slain or wounded.

You can abort a mission once it's started by pressing the Tab key if you are far enough from enemy forces to escape. Not all of your men may be so lucky: some may be killed or wounded as they try to disengage. Only try to retreat if things are looking very grim.

Tactical Advantage

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Choosing the right time to attack and the right ground to attack on is just as important as picking and equipping the right men. Before you deploy into a mission you should consider what the tactical situation is.

Normally, a mission is split down the middle between friendly and hostile forces if the parties involved are roughly equal in number. If your maximum battle size is 20, then there will be a maximum of 10 friendlies and 10 hostiles in the mission. Tactical advantage modifies this division in a good or bad manner. A positive modifier means that the balance of power will be shifted in your favor: you will be able to deploy more troops into the mission than your opponent. Negative modifiers mean you will be outnumbered during the mission. Your tactical advantage is modified by the party skill Tactics, and by the total number of troops that are in the parties of the combatants.

Being outnumbered isn't always a cause to immediately panic. If you have six armored knights and they have a dozen guys wearing skins and throwing rocks, it won't really hurt to be outnumbered since your men will carve theirs up like ham. Other times, a negative tactical advantage is an indication that you should be looking for the nearest escape route unless you're very skilled in combat.

Commands

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As the leader of your party and a hero of promising skill, you will always be given command of the allied forces on a mission. Choosing the right commands to give your men can gain you a serious edge. Or an early grave.

First, select who you want to give orders to:

Second, give an order to that group of men

Losing

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The enemy was too powerful. The sun was in your archers' eyes. The meat was undercooked and you spent half the night at the latrine. You hate Mondays. Whatever went wrong, we understand. Nobody can expect to win all the time in a sport so complex and unforgiving as combat, and the sooner you can analyze what went wrong and patch your men up, the sooner you can exact revenge.

If you sent your men in without you, and they were all defeated, then you can withdraw and hope that the enemy force doesn't pursue you.

If you went into battle personally and were defeated, but you still have troops in your party in fighting condition, they will drag you out and patch you up as best they can. At that point you can choose to flee, or to engage the enemy again.

Finally, if you are defeated and there are no troops left to rescue you, the battle is over and you have lost. The enemy may take some or all of your troops as prisoners, and will help themselves to the supplies and equipment carried by your baggage train. You will keep your experience for personal kills during the battle, but no more will be awarded.

Winning

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If on the other hand, your forces are victorious, you will gain four things when the enemy party is defeated. These resources are shared between allies; so if you had one ally in the battle, and the battle results in ten enemy prisoners, you will only have the option of taking five of them.

First, you can take any unconscious enemies as prisoners, either as part of a quest, or to later sell them as slaves. Remember that to knock an enemy out without killing them, you need to use a weapon that does "blunt" damage like a club, or trample over them with a horse. If you sent in your men without you, sometimes they can manage to beat an enemy or two into submission for you, but if you take the field they will generally be more bloodthirsty and kill enemies outright unless they have a blunt weapon.

Second, you make take any prisoners that the enemy party had, and adopt them into your own party. See Party Management\Hired Troops for more information.

Third, you may help yourself to anything that the enemy troops carried. Usually it will be pretty beat up but sometimes you can find pristine equipment. Weapons, armor, ammunition, even their food and mounts are yours for the taking. Note that you'll never be able to salvage absolutely everything, but only a random selection. Looting the battlefield works just like buying goods at a merchant, but here there is no cost.

And last, you will get a large amount of experience above and beyond whatever you personally earned for enemies defeated. This experience is shared amongst the entire party, so you will not get all of it unless you fought alone. As commander, you get the largest portion, while other heroes get a lesser but still substantial amount, and hired troops get only a small amount of experience.

Index

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Last updated 2007 February 13

Page background and title image are from the game;
Eogan contributed proofreading;
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