Beginning of the game.

1. Creating a character. You will figure this out yourself. If you don’t want to create it yourself, just make money randomly until you find a skin you like.
2.Previous history.You will be asked a number of questions, the initial equipment and stats will depend on these questions. I advise you to choose the most noble background possible for greater intelligence at the start and better equipment.
3.Stats for a character’s stats have a separate section where you can see what affects what, but in the beginning, in my opinion, it’s better to upgrade your intelligence.
4. Arrival in the kingdom. You will be asked which ship you want to board
1) Kingdom of Swad (orange)
2) Sultan’s kingdom (yellow)
3) Khergit Khanate (purple)
4) Kingdom of Rodok (green)
5) Kingdom of Vaegir (white)
6) Kingdom of the Nords (blue)
If you play on a low difficulty level, it is better to go to Vaegir, bandits and robbers in Vaegir have very good equipment.

Character stats.

There are three main sections in character stats: 1) Attributes 2) Abilities 3) Skills
—————————————————ATRIBUTES———————————————————
1.Attributes are the very basics of a character’s skills, there are 4 in total (1)STRENGTH (2)AGILITY (3)INTELLIGENCE (4)CHARACTER
1.Strength. Every 2 points add one health point.
The maximum skill point depends on strength:
1) Vitality
2) Strong blow
3) Strong throw
4) Powerful shot
These skills make up 1/3 of strength, for example: if strength is 3, vitality is not higher than 1
strength 12 Strong throw no higher than 3.
2. Dexterity. Each point brings 5 ​​weapon proficiency points and increases weapon speed by 0.5%.
The maximum skill point depends on agility:
1) Shields
2) Athletics
3)Weapon ownership
4) Riding
5) Shooting on horseback
6)Collecting trophies
These skills make up 1/3 of agility, for example: if agility is 3 - Shields are not higher than 1
agility 12 Collecting trophies 3.
3. Intelligence. Each point of intelligence adds + one skill point.
The maximum skill point depends on intelligence:
1)Training
2)Tracking
3) Tactics
4) Pathfinding
5)Packaging
6) Vigilance
7) Dressing
8)Surgery
9)First aid
10)Engineer
11) Persuasion
4.Character.Each skill point increases the maximum squad size by 1.
The maximum skill point depends on your character:
1)Leadership
2) Keeping prisoners
3) Trade
—————————————————SKILLS————————————————————
A total of 24 skills affect everything from the number of prisoners to the speed of movement on the global map.
1) Vitality: each new level health +2
2) Powerful strike: damage dealt by melee weapons increases by 8%
3)Powerful throw: damage dealt by throwing weapons increases by 10%
4) Powerful shot: damage dealt by a bow increases by 14%
5) Weapon Proficiency: facilitates character training and increases the skill limit by 40
6) Shield Mastery: reduces damage dealt to the shield by 8% increases shield speed
7) Athletics: increases running speed
8)horse riding: increases the speed of the horse
9) Horseback Archery: allows you to shoot more accurately and deal more damage while mounted with a bow
10)Collecting trophies: the amount of loot received increases by 10%
11)Training: your squad gains more experience
12)Tracking: the global map becomes more informative.
13) Tactics: each even level of this skill increases the advantage in battle by 1
14)Pathfinding: movement speed increases by 1
15) Vigilance pack: the squad’s field of vision increases by 10%
16) Dressing wounds: the squad’s healing rate increases by 20%
17)Surgery: 4% chance of surviving a mortal wound
18) First aid: after the battle, the hero and commanders resurrect 5% of health
19)Engineering: the speed of construction of siege towers and buildings in the city increases
20) Persuasion: helps you win people over to your side
21) Keeping prisoners: increases the maximum number of prisoners by 5
22) Leadership: the maximum number of soldiers increases by 5, reducing spending on the army
23) Trade: prices in stores are reduced by 5%
24)Packaging: the capacity of your inventory increases by 6 points
—————————————————SKILLS————————————————————-
How much I play mount and blade, I still don’t understand what they are for. Most likely they do not give a big bonus to speed and damage, there are a lot of different bonuses but all of them are not significant, to confirm my words I will say that my favorite long-range weapon is a crossbow and with a level It was better at firing from a crossbow and did more damage. There are 6 of them in total.
1) One-handed weapon
2) Two-handed weapon
3) Three-handed weapons, joke, polearm weapons
4) Archery
5) Shooting from a crossbow
6) Throwing

Factions (Mount and Blade: Warband)

There are 6 factions in this game. They are given below:

The Kingdom of Swad is a powerful faction. This faction's strongest knights have fairly well-equipped horses. The capital of this faction, Praven, is almost the largest city in the game. Lady Isolde de Suno claims the throne of this faction. This faction is ruled by King Harlaus. The prototype for this faction is Germany.

The Vaegir Kingdom is a faction that exists in the snow. Knights are the weakest. There are many archers, but they aim poorly. Prince Valdym-Bastard claims the throne of this faction. This faction is ruled by King Jaroglek. The prototype of this faction is Rus'.

The Kingdom of Rodok is a faction located in the mountains. They have no horsemen and their foot troops are inferior to the Nords. Lord Castor de Veluca claims the throne. The faction is ruled by King Gravet. The prototype of this faction is Italy.

Kingdom of Nord - northern faction. She has no cavalry. But they have the strongest infantry. Ideal for picking up locks. But it can also be useful in open combat. The Nords have the best fortified castles. Letvin the Wanderer claims the throne of this faction. This faction is ruled by King Ragnar. The prototype for this faction are the Normans.

The Saranid Sultanate is a new faction that exists purely in the warband. The archers of this faction are quite strong. The Mamelukes, in turn, are only slightly short of the Swadian knights. Arva claims the throne of this faction. The faction is ruled by Sultan Hakim. The prototype of this faction are the Arabs.

The Khergit Khanate is the weakest faction in the game. There is only cavalry. But the Khergits have pretty fast horses. Dostum Khan claims the throne. The faction is ruled by Sanjar Khan. The prototype for this faction is the Golden Horde.

When capturing a castle, the character creates his own faction, it is red, and you come up with its name yourself.

Multiplayer.

Mount & Blade: Warband features a multiplayer mode. Multiplayer in this game supports up to 64 players. Some modifications allow the use of multiplayer, the maximum number of players in which is 222. There are different battle modes: Massacre, Wall to Wall, Capture the Flag, Conquest, Battle, Duel and Siege. In these battles you can earn money, which can then be used to buy new equipment for your character.

Satellites

Companions can be found in taverns in different cities. Each of them has his own biography, which he sets out when joining your squad. Some of the companions require an advance payment, some agree to travel with you for free. You can keep several companions at the same time, but they will constantly quarrel with each other. But if you have lost your companion, you can always find him in some tavern and take him back. Below are the relationships of satellites with each other.

Alaen
-friends with Imira
-feuds with Marnid and Nizar

Artinmenner
-friends with Lezalit
-feuds with Jeremus and Cletti

Bakheshtur
-friends with Rolf
-feuds with Marnid and Catherine

Borcha
-friends with Marnid
-feuds with Kletti and Deshavi

Bunduk
-friends with Catherine
-feuds with Lezalit and Rolf

Deshawi
-friends with Kletti
-feuds with Rolf and Borcha

Jeremus
-friends with Firentis
-feuds with Matilda and Artinmenner

Imira
-friends with Alaen
-feuds with Matilda and Lezalit

Catherine
-friends with Bunduk
-feuds with Bakheshtur and Firentis

Kletti
-friends with Deshawi
-feuds with Borcha and Artinmenner

Lezalit
-friends with Artinmenner
-feuds with Bunduk and Imira

Marnid
-friends with Borcha
-feuds with Bakheshtur and Alaen

Matilda
-friends with Nizar
-feuds with Imira and Jeremus

Nizar
-friends with Mateld
-feuds with Firentis and Alaen

Rolf
-friends with Bakheshtur
-feuds with Deshawi and Bunduk

Firentis
-friends with Jeremus
-feuds with Nizar and Catherine
Afterwards, from the companion you can make your vassal with his own army. If your companions end up falling out, one of them may leave, but perhaps you can dissuade him with sufficient persuasion skill. A certain companion does not sit in a certain tavern, they all travel.

To activate cheats, select the settings menu in the game loading menu and check the box next to “Enable Cheats”. Use the following key combinations in the game:
Ctrl + F5 - during battle your character is controlled by artificial intelligence;
Ctrl + H - heal your character (only during battle);
Ctrl + Shift + H - heal a horse (only during battle);
Ctrl + F3 - cause damage to your character (only during battle);
Ctrl + X - +1000 gold (on the inventory screen);
Ctrl + X - +1000 experience (on the character screen);
Ctrl + W - increases weapon handling skills;
Ctrl + Alt + F4 - all enemies fall unconscious;
Ctrl + Shift + F4 - knocks down the enemy on whom the increase is;
Ctrl + Shift + F6 - knocks down all your allies;
Ctrl + F6 - knocks down one of your companions;
Ctrl + F4 - knocks down one of the enemies;
Ctrl + T - allows you to see all objects on the global map;
Ctrl + left click - teleports you to the point you specify on the global map.
I strongly do not recommend using cheats because of them the game will get boring in a maximum of an hour.
If you still use cheats during a battle using a combination of all opponents falling unconscious, do not accidentally press alt + f4, this will close the game. Also, with cheats enabled, you will not receive achievements.

When you capture a castle, you can appoint yourself as a leader, choose a flag and name the kingdom. In order for vassals to come to you, you need to designate a capital (main city),
for this you will need silks and tools that can either be bought or taken from the peasants, silks cost about 1000 dinars, and tools cost 450. The higher your honor and glory, the more often vassals will come to you. If vassals do not come to you, but you really want you can appoint your companion as a vassal. To do this, go to the squad section, click on the companion, say after clicking I want to ask you and ask him if he wants to receive a land plot, then choose what to give him. Soon you will see him patrolling your lands.
Relations with vassals.
If you already have many vassals and you give away another allotment, relations with the vassal who received the allotment increase and with the rest worsen. If one of the vassals does not have allotments for a long time, relations with him will deteriorate.
You can recruit not only soldiers, but also heroes (vassals) into your squad. There are 16 such heroes in total. But it’s impossible to miss all of them all the time, because... they constantly quarrel with each other, it is usually recommended to have 5-7 heroes at the same time, no more. NPCs can upgrade squad skills, which are transferred to the entire unit. You can have a doctor hero, or an engineer hero, etc. , thereby not spending your points on these skills. Heroes are immortal, they can only be stunned during battle, they can be captured, but they cannot be killed. NPC heroes level up just like the main character. Alayen tactics 1
Artimanner Tactics 2, Engineer 4, Trade 3, Observer, Pathfinder 1
Behetshur
Borcha Pathfinder 3, Pathfinder 2, Observer 3
Bunduk Tactics 1, First Aid 2
Deshawi
Firentes
Jeremus Surgery 4, treatment, first aid, trade 3
Catherine Trade 3, treatment 2, first aid 1
Cage Pathfinder, Observer, Pathfinder 2
Lezalit
Marnide first aid, treatment 1, trade
Meteld Tactics 1
Nizar
Rolf First Aid, Surgery 1, Tactics
Imira first aid, trade 3 surgery, treatment 1

List of 8 NPCs who do not quarrel with each other. (there is not a single Noble NPC in it)

— Deshawi

— Jeremus

— Catherine

— Bunduk

—Marnid

• Bandit? No way, feudal lord!
• The horse as a powerful argument
• Where to go, under whose protection to surrender?
• Hay is straw!
• It's fun to die in company

“Nice little bandage,” he thought. “Oh, if it weren’t for politics, I would create such a gansa and move to the borderlands, rob, rape, kill and burn... To feel young again... Oh, if it weren’t for politics!”

Andrzej Sapkowski, "Tower of the Swallow"

Mount & Blade is an unusual game. The hero here is not at all the savior of humanity, and, by and large, it was humanity itself that sneezed at him from the high dungeon. There are us, there are no us - merchant caravans will still crawl slowly about their business, peasants will travel with caution between town and country, kings and lords will go around their possessions, besiege and defend castles and cities, and those who love easy pickings, as usual , rob the weak and escape from the strong. Our goal, regardless of the chosen path, is simple and unpretentious - to get from rags to riches. Or even to become a king... Mm, well, can we dream?

It’s up to you to decide who you want to be; circumstances can only make the task more difficult or easier. You can remain a free shooter and destroy bandits, or, on the contrary, take the slippery slope of robbery. The smartest move is to submit to the banners of one of the five kings, first as a simple mercenary, and then swearing an oath of allegiance to the overlord, although this does not exhaust the options for the game biography. And everything would be fine, but the principle of “entertain yourself” is not always good. A final goal wouldn't hurt either.

There is only one magic in the gaming world - the magic of money. Soldiers want to receive their sweat and blood-earned pay every week, and as their abilities increase and their equipment improves, the amount increases significantly. Maintaining a large army of scarred warriors costs the leader a pretty penny. You can get hard cash by selling trophies in cities and selling prisoners to galleys. The village brings in a good income, but you still need to get it. Those who choose the path of a merchant will be able to feed only a small detachment.

What about fireballs and other special effects? But they are not in Calradia! A completely earthly Middle Ages and no miracles. The period, however, is difficult to determine - here the Anglo-Saxon culture of the tenth century cheekily coexists with the Italian cities of the Renaissance.

As in life, peoples sometimes live peacefully with each other, but more often, of course, they fight. As arguments, everything invented by mankind at that time is used: clubs, swords, bows, axes, spears... Everyone can choose a weapon according to their hand - both those who like to keep their distance and those who prefer close, maneuverable combat. The defense is not far behind, you can wear anything from quilted armor to three-quarter armor. However, the more weight is placed on the hero, the slower he moves. If you get carried away, instead of a serious fighter you can turn into a barely crawling tin can!

Walk the horse, walk the horse!

The basics of the combat system are intuitive. We can chop - and if the weapon allows, then also stab - from the right, left or from above; We defend ourselves by exposing a weapon or shield to attack. Subtleties are learned in the process. For example, the inertia of the run-up will give your blow additional force, and the spear in the hands of the rider turns into an extremely powerful argument. In addition, the horse can be used like a bowling ball - point it at the foot soldiers, they will scatter like pins.

Learning how to use a bow or crossbow is a little more difficult - the arrow does not fly at the speed of a bullet and is subject to gravity. But the ability to make adjustments for the range and speed of the victim will come quite quickly.

It is better to meet the enemy on a hillock. Let him climb under our arrows!

Sir John Backsworth gathered a thousand Nordic archers on a campaign...

The battle is not only a crazy slashing, but also a series of tactical decisions of the commander. Send your infantry to that hill over there and wait until the archers thin out the enemy ranks, or attack right away? Pull the cavalry aside for a subsequent flank attack? At what point should you unleash all your forces on the enemy? The cost of each such decision is the amount of allied losses.

The composition of the army is already part of the victory. Cavalry is strong in an open field, but on hilly terrain it loses some of its advantages, and a meeting with a dense formation of infantry or, especially, spearmen in such a situation will be fatal for it. Archers are good as long as the enemy doesn't get too close. True, they also have broadswords, but this is of no use except to make the enemy laugh... The infantry inspires respect even without support, but victory will cost too much blood - some will die from enemy arrows, others will be trampled by horses.

There is only one way out - a combination of different types of troops in one army. Ideally, you should select troops for a specific enemy, but this is not always possible, and it is completely unrealistic to control the first castle.

Hay is straw!

Gaining levels traditionally gives us the opportunity to become stronger, more agile and sharper, and we choose which skills to learn ourselves. The list is extensive, the bush of combinations is tall and spreading. Some of the skills affect the entire party - fast movement, healing wounds, tactical advantage in battle... These tasks can be delegated to your companions. They develop in exactly the same way as the main character, only slower - and they are not able to crush enemies as effectively.

The greenhorn recruits recruited in the villages during their travels also receive new stripes and sooner or later turn into veterans, but the path to the heights of skill lies through three or four promotions. At some stages you need to assign a fighter to infantry, cavalry or riflemen. After such a difficult upbringing, you begin to appreciate all your warriors, together and separately...

You can, however, not be bothered by raising an army, but simply purchase the services of mercenaries in taverns - it’s expensive, but good troops are immediately available. But their death hits hard on the pocket - paying salaries regularly is much more profitable than hiring new ones over and over again.

Mount & Blade falls somewhat short of the epic game - the focus on combat is too great and other aspects are frankly poorly developed. But it doesn’t get any worse - it’s a full-fledged role-playing game, wildly dynamic, with a very original concept and an elegant combat system.

	ADVANTAGES	FLAWS
Fun 8	the freedom of action	repetitive tasks, no ending; sometimes the player has to entertain himself
Graphic arts 7	animation	outdated picture
Sound 7	No	monotony
Game world 10	living world, countries and their relationships, stories of fellow travelers	No
Convenience 8	combat, movement	minor interface flaws, some actions lead to dead ends

Where do they accept seniors?

Deliver me, God, from friends, I will somehow get rid of enemies myself...

Attributed to Cardinal Richelieu

Regardless of the initial choice, our hero appears in the world alone, unknown and with almost no money. To begin with, we will choose small groups of robbers (looters), we still cannot cope with someone more biting. Having dressed up and armed ourselves more decently, we switch to forest and mountain bandits. You can try to chase their steppe bandits, but horse archers will make you sweat, even if Khergits have signed up for our army.

Having pumped up your muscles, you can take on the most serious opponents - sea riders. With them we will gain not only experience, but also decent equipment for the average period of the game.

Advice: If you see some lord fighting bandits, join the party without waiting for an invitation. This will raise your reputation in the eyes of the warlike feudal lord, and in his country they will begin to treat you warmer.

For each battle, the character receives a bit of fame (renown), unless, of course, the victory was too easy. Fame, which is funny but logical, increases the size of our squad - by one person for twenty-five points. When enough of it has accumulated, it will be possible to hire a service to some ruler. Be careful, relations with all the states with which the overlord is at war will deteriorate to minus forty! The mercenary's bread is fresh, and his weekly salary is meager, so he will have to earn his own money for butter and sausage.

The next step is the vassal oath. This requires three things that can be easily expressed mathematically. Multiply your reputation in the country by your reputation in the eyes of the ruler personally and add fame. If the resulting number is more than one hundred and sixty, you can proudly call yourself senor. In exchange for a weekly bag of gold, you will be given ownership of a village, but bad luck - relations with its former owner will deteriorate.

In recognition of my considerable merits, I was asked to choose a coat of arms. From now on it will appear on the shields and tunics of my soldiers. And, of course, on a banner proudly flying over the squad. And then I will order them to decorate the tapestries in the throne room of my castle.

It is important: If the castle or town to which our village belongs is conquered, there will be no way to return the property. If our country re-captures the settlement, it will be in the possession of the one who is given the main lands.

If the royal face on the obverse of a coin gives you heartburn, you can stand on the other side of the barricades and support one of the contenders for the throne. Thanks to your efforts, a new faction will appear on the map - the rebels. Keep in mind that a dashing reformer needs either a thick bag of money or a developed skill of persuasion - he will have to win over to his side the lords who are still imprudently loyal to His Majesty.

You can raise an uprising on your own, but it will be a very difficult and pointless war. First, you will have to accumulate a huge fortune - you will need a serious army, including a hired one - and earn high fame to increase the size of your squad. At least scrape together a hundred thousand and a detachment of about a hundred people for the first time.

You will also need good relations with several villages - take care of completing the tasks there in advance. A high “mentor” skill will also be needed to quickly train troops. Then we free ourselves from the vassal oath and establish relations with all countries, with the exception of the future victim. Subsequently, this will be impossible to do - kings do not negotiate with upstarts and parvenus.

All that remains is a little - to single-handedly destroy the enemy’s army of thousands, because it will not be possible to lure other feudal lords to your side. After capturing all the enemy's cities and castles and destroying all of their units, the enemy will disappear from the map... and that will be the end of it. There will be no coronation; for the whole world we will remain rebels.

This is a bug: if you conquer all the cities and castles of the state and only after that take on the challenger’s task, it will turn out to be impossible due to the absence of lords on the map.

If you don’t care about all this politics, you can put together a small gansa and, without further ado, plunder caravans and villages. Convinced pacifists will also find something to do - trade. But, paradoxically, you won’t earn much from it, and the reason for this is... lack of money among merchants. It will not be possible to resell more than a couple of units of expensive goods, such as spices. If you want to make good money, become a regular at tournaments and bet on yourself. True, all you need here is just a little - learn to win...

Commanding a squad in battle

1, 5 — select all.

2 - select infantry.

3 - select archers.

4 - choose cavalry.

F1 - hold position (troops only hit nearby enemies).

F2 - follow the commander.

F3 - attack! (the command is active by default after the start of the battle)

F4 - dismount/mount horses.

F6 - move forward ten steps.

F7 - move back ten steps.

F8 - tight formation.

F9 - sparse mode (default)

F11 - use only stun weapons.

Baron Germont went to war...

A real war - and I have seen several real wars - from the point of view of order and organization, is surprisingly similar to a brothel engulfed in fire.

Dandelion, “Half a Century of Poetry”

It is possible to do without battles, but it is difficult - since in skirmishes we mainly gain experience, and besides, we came here precisely to fight. Merchants generally don’t need the subtleties of horse combat, don’t you agree? You can quench your thirst for blood and amuse your natural aggressiveness either in war or in a tournament.

Battle in the field. Well, in the field - this is rather conditional; a battle can be started in the middle of a steppe as flat as a table, or in the mountains. Trees make shooting difficult, and rivers slow down progress. The number of participants depends on the size of the armies of the warring parties, including all surrounding sympathizers of a particular cause, and the tactical skills of the commanders. If we fight side by side with our allies, they control their troops independently and, I must say, sometimes quite stupidly.

We wait until the siege tower is rolled up to the wall. We can only hope that the archers will comb our ranks with a not too fine comb.

Storming the castles. The first step is to besiege the castle. Usually there are about one and a half hundred defenders, so don’t get down to business right away or look for garrisons that are understaffed after the last assault. Theoretically, you can wait thirty in-game days until the garrison, starved of crackers and corned beef, surrenders, but this is difficult to implement. You yourself will need serious supplies of provisions in your inventory, and from time to time your allies will be annoyed by the allies of the besieged.

The second way out is to storm. First build a siege ladder (quickly) or a tower (more than ten times longer), the type of equipment for each point on the map is fixed. Then offer the besieged a choice - surrender on pain of death or release on their word of honor. If they don’t leave the castle, it’s their own fault.

It’s easier with a ladder - it’s already there, and the troops will only have to climb up to clash with the enemy; in this case, naturally, the attackers will be fired at from the flanks and pelted with darts. The tower still needs to be rolled up, so the mortality rate of soldiers during the preparatory stage is much higher. During an assault, we always control all available troops - both our own and those of others - unlike a battle in the field.

Assault on cities. Much more difficult than storming castles, since the number of garrisons can exceed three hundred people. All that remains is to either attack in waves and lay down elite troops over and over again, or, being a vassal, hope for the help of other lords and fellow countrymen.

The assault here takes place in three stages. In the first, the defenders place an army in front of the walls. In fact, this is an ordinary field kneading, but on a very limited patch of land - the troops are literally face to face. The second stage - the actual assault and capture of the walls - is the most massive and very bloody. The third and fourth - the battle on the city streets and in the castle; in both cases there are usually about a dozen fighters.

Advice: take care of yourself, especially in the second stage, so as not to lose the battle on the third or fourth because of one thrown stone.

Defense of castles and cities. Rarely, but it happens. There is no point in waiting inside; it is better to break through to help the defenders. Everything happens exactly the opposite - our soldiers are above, the enemies are storming below. It’s difficult to say what the defense of the city looks like, since I have never been in such a situation.

Gladiator fights. Let's leave the war and move on to the favorite activity of every self-respecting knight - tournaments. Although this is too loud a name for this competition. The initial conditions are simple: the player in his underwear and with whatever God sends in his hand is thrown into the arena. If five of the same hungry people win, you get a skinny bag of reward in your teeth. If you manage to manage ten, the bag will become pleasantly thick, and if you manage to fit all twenty, the super prize of two hundred and fifty dinars is yours.

In a word, at the beginning of the game, as I already said, this is a good way to make money, but the picture is spoiled by archers - they chew off precious health too quickly and with impunity, and if you get a bow, you won’t last long either.

The fight for the lady's honor takes place in the tournament arena, but we fight in combat gear. A shameful defeat awaits you, Mr. Impudent!

On a note: in the arena the character has the same health as he had at the start of the tournament battle, and he will be with this after victory or defeat. A healthy character naturally has a better chance of winning.

Big knockout tournaments. Full-fledged tournaments are held quite regularly in various cities. To win, you need to win six fights. It’s difficult to guess what they will be; you may get three teams of five people or two teams of two. And only in the last round you will always go head to head. The equipment is unified and depends on the city where the tournament is held: the Khergits will all be on horses and with darts or bows, the Nords love shields and axes, and so on. The only ones that stand out from the beautifully balanced picture are the Vaegirs - they have both pure archers and melee fighters with shields. I’ll say right away that the former cannot stand alone against the latter.

Before each round, you can bet on yourself from ten to one hundred dinars, but the further we move through the stages, the smaller the margin on the bet will be. Winnings are awarded only in case of victory. In addition, the attitude of the townspeople towards you will improve and your fame will increase slightly.

Fight for a lady's honor. Occasionally, one of the court ladies, blushing sweetly, instructs us to deal with the lord who is spreading rumors about her according to knightly concepts. If the matter cannot be resolved peacefully, the action is transferred to the city arena, but the opponents enter the field in their full combat gear, and not in tournament gear. Lady's honor - it's not a mosquito sneezing on you!

My dear Calradia is wide...

In between battles, we move around the map of Calradia. The speed of the squad decreases with the growth of its number, the total weight of items in the inventory and the number of prisoners, and increases thanks to the “pathfinding” skill of one of the characters in the group and spare horses. The higher the speed, the greater the chances of catching up with someone or, conversely, making a tactical retreat. Well, that is, to escape, in other words.

Am I a soldier or a cowboy?! But you still have to drive the cows...

On your travels you can visit villages, castles and cities. Each settlement belongs to one of the five countries and, most often, to one of the lords.

Villages - the smallest and most numerous settlements. Here you can hire recruits from one of the five nations, buy provisions and some goods, meet with the headman - or, if you like lawless entertainment, steal cows or rob residents. The number of recruits directly depends on the attitude of the settlers towards our character - the higher it is, the more there are at a time. This is important in the later stages of the game when losses are high. If the village belongs to us, it brings money and several buildings can be built in it - more, however, for the surroundings than for the useful ones. The village of an enemy nation can be plundered. The reward is not bad, but relations with the residents, the country and the feudal owner will worsen.

On a note: the nationality of the peasants remains the same, no matter how many times the village changes lord.

Locks. In a friendly castle you can relax for a small amount of money (wow, hospitality for reasonable money! Although, on the other hand, not every moneybag can afford to support such a crowd), and in the lord’s hall you can meet with the characters who are visiting there. If the castle is ours, we can leave part of the troops here - that’s what it’s for, the garrison goes beyond the limit on the number of troops. It becomes possible to form armies for a specific enemy. The castle almost always belongs to one village, which also comes under our control. It brings money, but very little, and there are only two improvements - a dungeon and a courier service. Nice set, makes you think...

Cities - as usual, centers of progress and civilization. Be sure to visit the main cultural center - the tavern. There you can meet new characters who want to join our banners, hire a squad of adventurers, meet a slave trader or a bookseller, and raise the bartender’s reputation in the city (I wonder how? Should I give wine to everyone present or tell some clever gossip?).

In the arena, those who wish can take part in gladiator fights. There are four merchants hanging around the market square - you can get weapons, armor, horses and... let's say, other goods from them. You can visit the city residence of the lord and talk with the nobles present in the city. And if you walk around the city, there is a chance you will stumble upon something interesting - a prison where important prisoners are kept.

Sometimes a big tournament is held in the city - a separate line appears in the menu for it. If a player works as a city ruler, a city management menu will be added (with the same two buildings as the castle) and the ability to leave a garrison.

While my troops are breaking through, we will help them by taking out the shooters on the tower.

This is interesting: In the Buluga castle, a real skeleton sits at a high table. Either the current owner was so fond of drinking with the previous one, or this bony evidence was left specifically for the edification of too arrogant guests.

The morale of your soldiers must always be kept at an acceptable level - at least above average. If it falls, people will begin to disperse little by little. The leadership of the commander and the diversity of the diet have a positive effect on the minds and mood of his comrades; the growth of the detachment and the lack of provisions have a negative impact. Gentlemen, you can’t fight much on an empty stomach, that’s an axiom. There is also a variable factor - the influence of recent events. If you have just won a series of brilliant victories, your squad will fly with joy, as if on wings, and vice versa. Over time, what is happening is “forgotten” and morale, so to speak, returns to a neutral level.

What is worth doing on long evenings during sieges is reading. Some of them increase characteristics and skills, while others should be carried in your inventory to improve skills. You can buy them from the bookseller in the tavern.

Very nice, Khan!

The whole world is divided between five large states, whose armies are strong and numerous. They are not particularly peaceful; the country is almost always at war with one or two opponents, or even with all of them at once. The status in most cases is determined at the start of the game, and during the game a truce or declaration of war rarely occurs. The attitude towards the player's squad depends on the reputation - if it is negative, expect guests armed to the teeth.

There are also troops roaming around the map without a specific nationality. Some are neutral towards countries and the player and only fight bandits. Human hunters do so on their own initiative, but refugees don’t have much of a choice. All other “no man’s” units are aggressive, they are trash of all stripes, from lowly robbers to high-level deserters.

Khergit Khanate

The Khergits are most similar to the Mongols. Their army consists entirely of cavalry, only some recruits do not have horses, and almost all fighters, in addition to melee weapons, are armed with either bows or javelins. But even the best Khergit soldiers are less armed and protected than the elite of other powers - such is the price for maneuverability. For obvious reasons, these guys are good on a battlefield that's as flat as the autobahn; hills negate their advantage. They are not suitable for assault due to their weak security, but for defense, where shooters have all the advantages, they are suitable.

The map was decorated with bloody scarlet strokes - this was the beginning of the civil war in the Khergit Khanate.

Kingdom of the Nords

The prototype of the Nords was the peoples of Scandinavia. Their heavy infantry, the Huscarls, are the best in the game. Nord soldiers are most often armed with one-handed weapons and a shield, sometimes they use two-handed axes, and at the last stages they add throwing weapons to their arsenal. In addition to infantry, they can also be trained as archers, albeit of an average caliber. There is no cavalry at all, as well as spearmen capable of resisting it, so in an open field the army of the Nords will experience some difficulties, especially hard against countries famous for their cavalry. But when storming castles and cities, Nords are indispensable.

Kingdom of Rodok

But here we have guests from a later time - Rodok clearly comes from Italian cities of the Renaissance. Their armies, like the Nords, have two branches of development, but their infantry - spearmen, not swordsmen - are better at resisting cavalry than enemy foot troops. There are also crossbowmen who shoot rarely, but it hurts. All troops are equipped with large pavez shields, which can only be used on foot. The horses were spared for the Rodok armed forces.

It may seem that this faction is weaker than others, but in fact, its soldiers can do a little bit of everything, they just need to be used correctly. If there is cavalry against you, tell the soldiers to take the nearest hill and close ranks; let the infantry be destroyed by the crossbowmen as they approach, and just attack the shooters without any fuss. For a siege, you should only take crossbowmen; spears will not help you there.

Svadia

One of the two original playable factions. The image is clearly a collective one, the prototype was European armies. In this kingdom there was a place for all types of troops - infantry, cavalry, and crossbowmen. The Swadian knights are the best cavalry in the game, but you won’t be victorious with them alone. So train everyone.

Vaegir

The second state that appeared in the vastness of Calradia in the very first versions of the game. Probably some of the inhabitants of Svadiya emigrated there. And although they replaced the European setting with a Slavic one, the tastes in terms of recruiting troops remained almost the same - heavy cavalry, infantry and archers instead of crossbowmen. But don’t be in a hurry to be disappointed - Vaegir shooters are famous throughout Calradia for their characteristics and equipment, and also perform well in the defense of castles. When fighting on green plains, they are also worth using, especially if there is some hill nearby.

This is for you, this is for me, this is for me again...

For defeating enemies and completing tasks, the character gains experience, and after gaining a certain amount of experience, the “age” counter increases by one. Naturally, the further you go, the more you need to work to improve yourself. With each level, the character gains one stat point, one skill point, and ten weapon proficiency points.

On a note: The twentieth level is gained quite quickly, but further progress is much slower.

Characteristics

Sometimes his comrades are forced to be frank. If you're bored, you can pass the time by listening to stories from their past life.

Characteristics are the basic parameters of a character; everything else directly or indirectly depends on them.

Strength. Each point adds one point of health, and many types of armor and weapons are not available to very weak players. It’s the latter that we need to proceed from - for any item in the game, a strength value of eleven is sufficient, but for an even count and the development of skills, you can increase it to twelve. You can go higher - this will have a beneficial effect on the damage you deal, but it will be to the detriment of other characteristics.

Agility. Each point invested in the characteristic increases the speed of the weapon by half a percent and adds five points to the skills related to weapon mastery. Minimum requirement for a cavalryman - good horses require high skill! - twelve. There are no such strict requirements for infantry, but even here the higher the better.

Intelligence. Each point invested in this characteristic gives another one to increase your skills, and almost half of your skills depend on it. Intelligence is perhaps the main weapon of a commander, invest in it to the maximum.

Charisma. The second most important characteristic. Most characters are needed for the sole purpose of increasing the size of the squad (each point increases its size by one), but the further you go, the weaker the effect. But for the charming merchant prices will become more profitable, and the search for goods will be much easier.

Skills

Skills make the difference between characters. There are a lot of them, there won’t be enough points for them all, you’ll have to choose a specialization. But it’s not entirely narrow, since you won’t be allowed to develop one or two skills indefinitely - the upper limit depends on the characteristics associated with them: for every three points in a characteristic, a skill can be raised by only one.

Personal skills affect only one character, be it the main character, his fellow travelers or soldiers. They are usually classified as combat weapons. Group, such as movement or construction, for the entire squad at once. It’s better to develop them from your comrades. Skill leader similar to personal ones, but only matters for our gaming incarnation.

It is important: group skills do not work if the hero possessing them is seriously injured.

Ironflesh, personal, force. Each level increases health points by two. This is not much, the average value for a character is forty-five, but good health has never bothered anyone.

Power Strike, personal, force. One of the most important skills for any fighter is that each point invested increases the damage inflicted by non-range weapons by eight percent. But this enhancement does not apply to a ramming blow; the weight of the horse still matters there.

Power Throw, personal, force. The effect is similar to the previous one, but the enhancement applies to all throwing weapons and adds ten percent damage per level. In addition, a certain level of skill is required in order to use the best examples of throwing weapons. In general, the value is low; throwing axes and darts are not very useful in battle due to the small number of them in a bundle.

At the tournament, teams are selected randomly. This time we dressed in blue.

Power Draw, personal, force. Another analogue, but necessary for using bows. The advantages are even stronger - for each level there is fourteen percent increase in damage. If you live among nomads, it is mandatory to develop it; for others, it is optional.

Weapon Mastery, personal, dexterity. The initial level for the development of weapon skills, which you can rise to by investing the appropriate points, is sixty. Each skill level increases the limit by forty. It makes sense to study up to the second level, because the further you go, the higher the cost of growth. And no one canceled natural growth during use.

Shield, personal, agility. Reduces damage from a blow received on the shield by eight percent, increases the “speed” of the shield and the area it protects. Another important skill is that the shield shatters during battle, and it’s better to happen late than early.

Athletics, personal, dexterity. Increases the speed of a character moving on his own two feet. Useful in two cases - with active participation in tournaments, where most fights are on foot, and with too aggressive single attacks, when the horse can be killed. Although the latter becomes irrelevant over time - horses in heavy armor rarely die.

Riding, personal, agility. Another key skill - the ability to ride a particular horse depends on it; the required value can be up to six. It also increases the speed of movement on horseback, which is important.

Horse Archery, personal, agility. Responsible for the accuracy of shooting from crossbows and bows from a horse in motion. At a low value, the sight “diverges” and accuracy decreases; at an increase, the spread decreases.

Looting, group, agility. Each level gives ten percent above the loot, and the loot increases not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively.

Trainer, personal, intelligence. And here is the number one skill in the entire game - each hero gives experience to each character in the party below him. The number depends on the level - 4, 10, 16, 23, 30, 38, 46, 55, 65, 80. The effect comes from each hero in the group - there will be five of them, all five of them will share experience.

Advice: It makes sense to develop the skill for all characters from the eleventh level in order to train not only recruits, but also second-level troops.

Reading traces (Tracking), group, intelligence. The first level, without much detail, shows traces of the movement of groups on the map, the second gives information about the number and time of passage. Further development of the skill is meaningless.

Tactics, group, intelligence. A very specific skill, its effectiveness depends on the size of the battle and the size of the units. If the second exceeds the first, not full armies fight, but parts of them. In this case, the numbers are compared, on the basis of this the advantage is calculated, and then groups of troops are deployed (the rest come in waves of reinforcements). It’s tactics that influence your advantage: every two points in a skill increases it by one.

On a note: when splitting up an army, the troops from the top of the list are deployed first, the rest arrive in order of location.

Path-finding, group, intelligence. The second most important skill is that the group's speed increases by three percent per level. Few? At one time - yes, but several points will give a noticeable increase. And this is an opportunity to catch up with the enemy or get away from him.

Spotting, group, intelligence. The group's vision radius increases by ten percent per level. Useful, but not the first thing.

Inventory packaging (Inventory Management),leadership skill, intelligence. Inventory capacity increases by six cells (base size - thirty). It is purchased as needed, but practice shows that there are not enough initial ones to store loot, food for troops and spare horses.

My troops are already on the wall, but from the gloomy faces of the soldiers it is clear that victory is still far away.

Wound Treatment, group, intelligence. The party's healing rate increases by twenty percent per level. The benefits are invaluable, unless you intend to create a squadron of “Combat Prostheses”...

Surgery, group, intelligence. And here’s another candidate for leadership among skills - each level gives a four percent chance that the fighter’s wounds will be non-lethal and after healing he will get back into action rather than try on a wooden suit. Perhaps this is the only group skill that makes sense to develop in the main character, since he is significantly ahead of his teammates in levels.

First Aid, group, intelligence. Immediately after the battle, heroes restore five percent of their health for each level. Such a medical orderly should be kept at the very tail of the squad so that he appears on the field as rarely as possible. However, this applies to all doctors.

Engineer, group, intelligence. Having a character with this skill in your squad reduces the time it takes to build siege ladders and towers during assaults on castles and cities, and also reduces the time and cost of constructing improvement buildings in your possessions.

Persuasion, personal, charm. Necessary when playing on the side of a pretender to the throne, in order to lure other vassals of the king, or during the “making peace” task. It will also come in handy in more prosaic situations - when completing a quest to repay a debt (you can reduce the amount of the deposit) and recruiting soldiers from among prisoners.

Prisoner Management, leader skill, charm. Each level increases the maximum number of prisoners by five. Three levels are more than enough, a yasyr rarely has more than fifteen people, and two are enough to complete tasks.

Leadership,leader skill, charm. Each skill level increases the squad size by three people, increases morale and reduces the cost of maintaining troops by five percent. The latter is especially important - the final troops of all factions are expensive.

Trade, group, charm. Each level reduces the penalty on prices when trading by five percent, that is, the fork when buying and selling becomes narrower, and selling trophies becomes more profitable. In addition, it affects the speed of searching prices in cities for profitable trade in goods.

Weapon Proficiency

When shooting from a bow, we give advance movement and correction for range. It sounds complicated, but after a while the prospect of shooting from fifty meters will not make you shudder.

It affects, as you might guess, the effectiveness of using a particular type of weapon. You can develop by investing the appropriate points, but only up to a certain limit. Initially, the value is sixty, but can be increased by developing the “weapon mastery” skill. Higher is also possible, but in a natural way, skills grow with use. But in both cases, progress slows down over time.

One-Handed Weapon. Everything that can be held in one hand, but is not a pole weapon - swords, axes, clubs and varieties of the above. It is preferable to use a two-handed weapon, since using a shield gives a huge advantage to survivability in battle.

Two-Handed Weapon. The same swords, axes and clubs, only held in both hands.

On a note: Some types of swords can be one-handed or two-handed, depending on the presence of a shield in the left hand. The skill with weapons also changes.

Polearm. This includes spears, staves and all types of halberds. They can be either one-handed or two-handed. However, there are exceptions - some light spears are considered one-handed weapons. For a cavalryman using a ramming attack, the skill grows very quickly, but to begin with, you can invest a certain amount of points.

Archery. Affects the use of only one type of weapon - the bow. To develop or not is a matter of playstyle.

Crossbows. The same, only for crossbows. Develop as desired.

Throwing. This category includes all types of throwing weapons - knives, axes, darts. Since all this is extremely ineffective in combat, there is no point in developing the branch.

Is the helmet on the wrong head, the sword in the wrong hands?

To prevent this from happening, dress yourself and dress your comrades correctly. This is done in the same way as in most games - with the help of a “doll”. The armor cells are fixed, each fragment protects its own part of the body. The helmet covers the head, the armor covers the torso (and many examples also cover the legs), shoes naturally cover only the legs, but gloves for some reason add protection to the torso.

But four cells are allocated for weapons, which we can arrange as we please. Everything fits here - swords, a crossbow and bolts for it, shields... This is already room for tactics: you can take a bow and three quivers of arrows, or a sword, a spear and two shields, or in addition to the right blade, grab throwing axes. There is also a special cell for a horse. It doesn’t matter that we have a whole stud farm hidden in our inventory, you will move in battle on the chosen horse.

All items of equipment in the game, in addition to combat qualities, have weight and requirements for the character’s characteristics (the lower they are, the better). The “price” is formed by the game based on all parameters: an excellent and light thing with low requirements will cost a lot. Almost everything can be obtained in battle. Really valuable things are rarely found, but above average quality is guaranteed. For the rest you will have to visit the merchants.

A hero with a pike is enough for any enemy infantry.

Weapons, as we have already seen, are divided into six large groups, but even within one of them you can find completely different objects. Let's take, for example, a sword... and we will see that there are a whole dozen options! Do you want them to only be able to chop or also stab? Or spears. Some of them also allow you to hit the enemy with the shaft, like a club.

Let's add three types to this damage — cutting, piercing And stunning (blunt). The first two cause mortal wounds, and a stunned enemy can be captured. The previously mentioned capabilities of different attacks may differ in the type of damage.

Any melee weapon has similar characteristics. It is his type - one-handed, two-handed or polearm, kinds And damage magnitude, attack speed And length. We've dealt with the first ones, let's take a closer look at the remaining ones. Speed ​​is an important parameter, but not the main one; the higher it is, the faster you throw punches and the less likely it is that you will be “interrupted,” so to speak. But the length determines from what distance you can reach the enemy and whether it is possible to remain beyond his reach. It is especially critical for a cavalryman with a spear - in a clash, the one who hits first wins, and if you have a short weapon, there is a considerable chance of running into the enemy’s pike. A ramming blow will penetrate even the best armor...

Bows And crossbows are also similar in parameters, but the former require the “tension force” skill, and the latter require the “strength” characteristic. They also have damage dealt, attack speed, although in this case it can be called rate of fire, and accuracy - the higher it is, the smaller the spread of arrows. Required for bows and crossbows arrows And bolts. They have two parameters - quantity in quiver And damage modifier. A typical pack contains thirty arrows and twenty-five bolts; The quantity may vary slightly, which will affect the price.

It is important: While on horseback, shooting from bows and crossbows to the right is impossible, since the character holds small arms in his left hand. Alas, the rule “if you want to live, you won’t get so excited” doesn’t work here.

Throwing weapons it is arranged in the simplest way - number of items(usually there are only seven of them), view And amount of damage, and attack speed.

Shields For some reason in the game it was classified as a weapon, but despite this, you won’t be able to hit someone over the head with a shield. They differ from their “brothers” in the class in that they break in battle. The parameter determines how long the shield will last under a hail of blows strength. Of no less, and perhaps even greater, importance resistance, reducing damage. If it is equal to one and a half dozen, the shield is almost always enough even for the most difficult battle. The last value is coverage area, which provides passive protection from arrows and the likelihood of repelling a blow.

On a note: A shield destroyed in battle does not disappear forever and is restored after the battle. And when thrown behind his back, he passively takes damage from arrows and throwing weapons.

WITH armor everything is very simple. There are two options − armor And strength requirements. We are gradually replacing them with the best examples, dressing ourselves and our fellow heroes from the most skilled armor makers.

Horses are like people

A good horse is not a luxury, but a necessity; a hero on foot is much less useful than a horseman. The horse is mortal - it has its own health, albeit significantly greater than that of the heroes. Protects her armor, and knightly horses have it more reliable than the best armor.

Value speed It is known in pursuit of horse archers, and it is not very pleasant to receive a spear in the back from a scoundrel chasing you. Maneuverability affects the horse's turning radius, and indirectly affects the number of attacks against enemies, especially infantry. The next characteristic, perhaps the most important, is swoop. The war horse, crashing into the midst of enemies, inflicts damage on them and knocks them to the ground. The higher the parameter, the less likely it is that the horse will get stuck. The best horses in the game generally cut through infantry formations like a hot knife through butter.

There is life in the old dog yet?

Some equipment will have to be kept in your inventory. Firstly, the food. The more numerous the detachment, the more it, excuse me, eats. A varied diet is the key to high morale, and if there is nothing to eat, get ready to watch sad, sour faces around you day after day. Secondly, stock up on horses to compensate for the penalties from the weight of the load. The quality of the horses does not matter; you can take the ones that are the most unavailable. Archers and crossbowmen can add spare arrows or bolts to this small list.

A cheerful company sits at the stove

Hero	Level	Friend	Enemies	Group Skills
Alayen	2	Imira	Marnid, Nizar	Tactics (1)
Artimenner	7	Lezalit	Jeremus, Kleti	Track Reading (1), Tactics (2), Engineer (4), observation (1), trade (3)
Bakheshtur	5	Rolf	Catherine, Marnid	No
Borcha	3	Marnid	Deshavi, Kleti	Reading traces (3), finding a path (3), observation (2)
Bunduk	9	Catherine	Lezalit, Rolf	Mentor (2), tactics (1), first aid (2)
Deshawi	2	Cages	Borcha, Rolf	Reading traces (2), finding a path (3), observation (3)
Firentis	6	Jeremus	Catherine, Nizar	Mentor (1)
Jeremus	4	Firentis	Artimenner, Matheld	Wound treatment (4), surgery (3),
Catherine	8	Bunduk	Bakheshtur, Firentis	First aid (1), trade (3)
Cages	2	Deshawi	Artimenner, Borcha	Reading traces (2), finding a path (2), observation (2)
Lezalit	5	Artimenner	Bunduk, Imira	Mentor (4)
Marnid	1	Borcha	Alayen, Bakheshtur	Treatment of wounds (1), first assistance (1), trade (3)
Mateld	7	Nizar	Jeremus, Imira	Tactics (1)
Nizar	3	Mateld	Alayen, Firentis	No
Rolf	10	Bakheshtur	Bunduk, Deshawi	Tactics (2), surgery (1), first aid (1)
Imira	1	Alayen	Lezalit, Mateld	Wound treatment (1), surgery (1), first aid (3), trade (3)

In addition to the nameless and faceless soldiers, there are other characters sitting in the city taverns who can be attracted to your side. This will allow you to develop group skills that affect the entire squad. In addition, heroes, like all other “famous” characters, are immortal; in battle they can only be wounded, but not killed, which will save us a lot of time. There are also disadvantages, and quite a few. Unlike soldiers, who gain experience much faster than the main character, heroes mature at a natural rate. And since they grow into adulthood, gradually killing their enemies, the pace of their maturation cannot be called fast.

Marnid is a legendary figure and appeared in one of the earliest versions of the game. Now this hero is just one of many.

On our travels we may meet sixteen different heroes. They all have their own preferences and tastes, in addition, each has a positive attitude towards one of the characters and a negative attitude towards two (the attitude is always mutual). You can gather everyone in your squad, but nothing good will come of it - squabbles will begin between hostile heroes, and someone may leave the group. However, two enemies get along well in the same company; it’s enough to ask them to shut up once. This is what the authority and personal charm of a commander means!

Some characters, with their own skills, can be useful from the very beginning, others cannot do anything at all. It must be said that professionals often have a skill that exceeds what is possible in terms of characteristics.

Advice: the lower the initial level, the easier it is to raise a suitable hero; the initial characteristics differ slightly.

As we can see from the table, the clear leaders are the engineer Artimenner and the healer Jeremus, and their conflict can be quickly hushed up. It’s worth taking Lezalit to use the “mentor” skill over time. Perhaps you should encourage someone to specialize in trading and develop charm - Marnid would be just the thing.

If you want to make heroes an important and combat-ready part of the army, choose conflict-free combinations.

Good luck on your path to the heights of fame and fortune!

For an optimal and quick start, the following items are required:

• Initial capital (tournaments, earnings)
• Correct Mercenaries
• Properly upgraded satellites
• Correct choice of the first direction of impact

So point by point:

1. Creating the Right Character

Let's look at the key skills and understand why we need them or don't need them.

Key.

• Shield mastery.
  Upgrade to 4. This is a skill of first importance, as it allows you to avoid taking damage when you don’t need it. Allows you to withstand crossbowmen's shots and not receive damage from spears through the shield.
• Horseback riding.
  Upgrade to 4. We need to mount a horse with maximum armor in order to live longer. A person on foot dies many times faster than a horseman. + The skill is responsible for the speed of movement on the global map.
• Finding the way.
  Allows you to control the location of the battle and the opponents you are fighting.
• Keeping prisoners and/or collecting trophies.
  Skills that will allow us to quickly assemble a strong army, dress ourselves and our companions in the best armor, and also pay for the war.
• Wound dressing and surgery
  Surgery allows you not to lose soldiers, even if the battle does not turn out as you planned, and bandaging once again reduces the recovery time of your troops after such battles.

Secondary skills.

• Education.
  The first of the secondary skills. Yes, it is very important. Yes, it's useful. Yes, you can’t go anywhere without him. But it is secondary, since its advantages in the presence of a constant war will be lost against the background of the experience gained from killing opponents.
• First aid
  Skill is needed. And the higher it is, the faster your companions will be pumped. But I still can’t even think of classifying it as a Key Skill – it’s not as important as the skills above.
• Engineering.
  The skill is not needed in the first couple of games, but then it will save a lot of time and will not allow the enemy army to have time to engage in battle with you when you have not yet captured the castle/city.
• A strong beat.
  Impact force is important. But we rely on the strength of our army, not ours. If we want to play one person, we go to Skyrim or other similar games, but here we have armies.
• Leadership.
  In principle, an important skill - it allows us to have more troops and pay less for them. Moreover, the longer we play, the less significant the first plus is - an increase in the number of troops, since fame will increase our troop limit much more.

The rest of the skills are chosen based on what you like best, but it doesn’t matter. These are the key ones.

Character stats:

Strength - 12-14. Depending on the weapon you prefer. You can wear the best armor anyway.
Dexterity - 12. Needed for Horseback Riding 4 and Shield Mastery 4. Moreover, if the second is not so important 3 or 4, then for Horseback Riding it is important to have a fourth level.
Intelligence - optional, more precisely, so that there are enough skill points for the following skills:

• Shield Mastery 4
• Horse riding 4
• Pathfinding 5
• Keeping prisoners and/or collecting trophies 3-4
• Dressing wounds - 5
• Surgery - 5
• First aid - 5
• Training – 5
• Engineering - 5

Charisma - depending on what stage of the game you are at. If everything is fine with you and you have already captured the first castle/city, then you don’t have to download it. If you are not developing optimally as in this guide, or you have simply taken your time and your opponents are already running around with huge armies, then perhaps it makes sense to level up your skill more so that you have something to counter these “titanics” that will be sunk.

I prefer to go to Intelligence and pump up Training, Surgery, Wound Dressing and First Aid to 10. Because you will get the maximum increase in troop experience daily (from the maximum possible), and you, your troops and your companions will die less often, faster restore health, and start recovery with a higher % of health.

So, the character is created. We select a place on the map from which we start. The optimal choice is Swadiya, Praven. Let's look at why. We must focus on mounted troops, since their survivability is many times greater than that of infantry, even at a tier (level) higher. When choosing cavalry, I first of all start from how versatile it is; no one can compete with the Swadian knights here. No one has such powerful armor, armored horses and the right weapons. Khergit and Vaegir horsemen are not bad either, but the efficiency of each Swadian horseman will be ~2 times greater than any of these.

We start in Praven. The merchant offers us a job... Of course we agree, since an extra coin won’t hurt us. But there is no need to get hung up on the quest and immediately run to complete it - our task is optimal and fast leveling, so there is no point in us looking for five recruits around the area. We’d better go to the tavern for now and look for suitable companions. We need everyone, having recruited a new companion to our team, the first thing we do is send him to get the right to the throne for us. We will need this parameter when we capture our first castle and we need to attract lords to our side. This parameter is one of the three key ones that are checked when trying to recruit a lord.

We need money to recruit satellites. First of all, we go into the arena and ask where the tournaments are held. First of all, we are interested in tournaments in Svadia, Nords or Vaegirs. Since they will be on our way to the coast, where sea robbers live, where we will make our way for mountains of gold and slaves. Tournaments in this part of our continent are won quite simply and quickly. Key points: don't rush to death, command your troops. Sometimes it's better to wait until other teams kick each other and go behind them. There is no need to fight 1 on 1 with someone - you can almost always retreat and get in the other opponent’s back when he is not expecting it. This will bring you your first experience, level up your skills, and every kill in the tournament brings you closer to the coveted 3980 coins upon victory. Of course, you must bet on yourself every round. If you have financial problems, then bet only in the first round, but I advise you to be confident and traditionally sell everything, including food, horse and shield in order to make the maximum bet on yourself in the first tournament. If we haven’t managed to rob anyone yet, then at the start we received ~400 coins, which, if we win the tournament, will bring us about 3000 coins.

So, we won one or two tournaments. We have ~7000 coins in our pocket. And we are rapidly approaching the coast. On the way, we go into cities and check taverns in search of companions. This is a very important point, since after the 30-50th day we will not have time to visit cities. We will remain on our own and there will be no opportunity to leave for a long time. We also look at the horse dealer for a wounded destroyer or any horse with protection from 40. This is one of the key points, since without a horse with a sufficient level of armor we will not live long. A horse with about 10 armor is killed with three or four hits from sea raiders. So we have a horse that we spent up to 1400 coins on. Please note that we must buy a lame horse - it costs much less, but after a few days of being in the inventory they will cure their injury, and by this time you will just need it.

On the way to the sea, we have another rather important task - we need to hire 5-7 Swadian recruits in the villages, as well as in any city, at an expensive price, hire 3-5 mercenaries, any type will suit us, the main thing is that it is mounted. It is also advisable to buy a shield. In principle, anyone with strength from 300 and size 100 will do. Weapons can also be purchased, or you can wait a bit. If you have leveled up the Keeping Prisoners skill, I still strongly advise you to buy yourself a Forge Hammer. It is not at all expensive, but it has two very important properties for us - it stuns opponents rather than killing them and allows us to become the famous slave trader of Caldaria. And also the second, but no less significant property - it breaks through the block and shield. And this is perhaps the best that can happen. Yes, it is a little short - 75 is really not enough. And if you have enough money, then I advise you to purchase a Heavy Iron Mace:

Its length will allow you to strike the enemy without receiving a response.

So. We're on the coast. We are armed and have a small detachment behind us that will become the backbone of our army. We select a smaller detachment of Sea Raiders. It is advisable that your first battle takes place with no more than 7-8 opponents. This will allow you to win without any problems, but the loot (production) from them will still be decent and there is still a chance of getting good armor with armor characteristics of 37/12. Also, if you have not yet purchased a shield, then normal shields also drop from them. The tactics of the first battles boil down to the fact that you order the infantry to take a position further away from the battlefield. This is done by pressing button 1, then hold down F1 and see the flag, which is the rally point for the Infantry detachment. After this, we take a cavalry detachment (number 3) and place it behind the hill / just further away from the place of the intended meeting with the enemy. Now everything depends on us - our task is not to die, but to force opponents to spend throwing weapons. It deals very high damage at a short distance, but if you maintain the distance, you can manage to dodge the spears and axes flying at you. After the raiders throw out their throwing weapons, we begin to stretch them out and kill them one by one with our Iron Mace, at the same time giving the order to the cavalry to attack 3-F1-F3. Archers pose a danger, since removing the shield at a short distance from them can cost you your life, you cannot open up. We need our cavalry to put them out of action. After this is done, we calmly finish off the remaining raiders. Congratulations, you have received your first few slaves, fame and up to 1000 dinars per drop. If only we sold it. But we’d better put it on ourselves and repeat the procedure, but we can now behave more brazenly - we’ll survive one arrow. This operation is repeated several times while there are small detachments (up to 15 people) on the shore. We sell loot and slaves in Rivacheg

The next step is to move towards Kudan, killing detachments of Taiga robbers along the way. They love spears, so they are a little more difficult, but their armor is worse and they die easier. The tactics are pretty much the same. But we remember that the damage of throwing weapons is insane - one hit on us and dinner will be in shackles (slavery). They reached Kudan, sold what they got in a fair battle and those they captured on the battlefield. And we head back towards Praven to turn in the quest to the merchant. On the way, we attack the Forest Robbers and, since our Swadian recruits are already partially heavy horsemen and infantrymen, we send them to the attack as well. By the time we reach Praven, we will already have 3-4 knights and 2-3 heavy horsemen, unless something unexpected happens along the way and you somewhere encounter a larger detachment than planned. Also, most likely, some detachment of Forest robbers will have headhunters in captivity, whom, after victory, we will gladly hire. They don’t ask for a lot of money every week, but the benefits they provide are significant - cavalry and crushing weapons, which give us slaves. It is worth upgrading them only if you have lost some of the Swadian horsemen or knights. Otherwise, it's a waste of money, both on improving them and on weekly maintenance.

Along the way, in addition to horses, we go to trading shops in cities and collect the right equipment for our companions. It consists of the following Heavy/Siege Crossbow and Heavy Godedag:

and any horse with armor from 40.

All companions, except Jeremus and, possibly, Deshawi, are pumped up first to Strength 10, in order to equip both the Godendag and the Crossbow, and then agility is pumped up to 12, so that they can mount the right horses. Their further pumping depends only on your imagination and desires. It doesn't really matter anymore. Unless I prefer to further upgrade their Intelligence and develop the Training skill, so that the places of the Knights and Horsemen who fell in battle would be quickly taken by new, upgraded units.

Jeremus and Deshawi are pumped up a little differently - yes, first of all, they pump up Strength and Dexterity to 9, in order to give them a Godendag (not a heavy one, which requires 9 strength, as well as a Heavy crossbow, which also requires 9 strength) and put on Gunter. All other points are invested in Intelligence and the skills that depend on it, in order to get maximum bonuses from the synergy of skills as soon as possible. For those who didn’t know - In addition to the maximum level of the squad’s skills, the skill of another squad member is added to it, which is in second place in its leveling, but with a decreasing coefficient. The maximum level of a skill with maximum synergy is 14. When leveling up skills for synergy, the emphasis is on Surgery and Pathfinding in order to choose opponents and the location of the battle, as well as suffer fewer fatal losses in these battles. After leveling up Intelligence to 30 and leveling up key skills to 10, level up Agility to 12 and take horse riding and shield skills to level 4. How to pump further does not matter.

If there is an expensive tournament somewhere, we win that too. Arriving in Svadiya, we take the task of destroying the Forest Robbers Camp from, most likely, Count Delinard and easily complete this task. We immediately hand him over before Delinard runs far away, and he loves it.. If not all the satellites have been collected yet, then you can take a detour to the Vaegirs through all of Caldaria in search of satellites and the correct weapons for them:

Easy way to play:
1. Select a Nobleman character with a noble pedigree.
2. Choose a start in Praven.
3. We complete all tasks from the merchant.
4. We accumulate troops from the villages and fight with the robbers. We sell trophies, not forgetting that we also need to arm ourselves.
It is recommended to fight the bandits in stages, starting from the weakest to the strongest:
a) Forest robbers
b) Highlanders
c) Northern bandits
d) Sea robbers.
d) Bedouins
f) Nomads
5. Along the way, we complete tasks that we take from lords, village elders, and cities with point 4
6. Sufficiently armed, we begin to take a closer look at the politics in the game.
7. If, after completing all these points, you have still not been offered land (have not been offered to become a vassal), then we will force ourselves to become friends with some king.
8. Having received a village, you need to protect and develop it (build a school, then a mill, then a messenger post, then a tower). Visit your village periodically, as bandits may appear there.
10. Getting more lands is not easy. Villages may give you (they are of little use), but castles and cities are all the kings of misery in this.
Having accumulated 120 elite troops, we go to storm the fortress of the enemy state. After capturing it, demand it as a reward. You need to win over as many lords as possible to your side during voting. Immediately approach the king and your lord friends from your kingdom, and talk with them about this topic. (upgrade the persuasion characteristics to lure them to your side)
11. Having received the castle, rejoice and do not capture other cities and fortresses until the end of the war. Otherwise, you will not receive them as a reward (if the war is not long and new territories are almost never captured).
12. In the next war, capture the enemy city. You must have at least 150-160 elite troops to successfully capture a city with 300 troops (the main thing is not to die in battle)
13. You can get married from the point of acquiring a village. But it is necessary to do this. How? Ask bards and similar people in taverns, learn poetry, dedicate victories in the tournament to an unmarried Lady. Having reached a +10 relationship with her, negotiate with her father for permission to court. Next, approach her and select the penultimate line in the dialogue. Then it's up to you!
14. Strengthen power, build relationships.
15. Everything is in your hands! Independence or war for the throne of the kingdom!

How to become a king:

There are several ways. I will describe the 2 most popular and simple ones.

1. To become independent along with your possessions, you must capture 2 cities or castles in 1 war in a row and demand them as a reward. They will give you one, but they will squeeze the second. This will cause a dialogue to appear. I think there is no need to explain what to choose in it, but you will immediately have a war with the kingdom from which you separated.

2. In the halls of cities and castles you can meet characters who dream of regaining their throne. You can use them.

Adviсe:
Improve relations with all kings.
Don't conflict with lords.
Do not rob caravans if you do not want to ruin relations with the state and want to have a noble reputation.
Don't rob peasants.
Arm yourself as best as possible! No need to buy. There are trophies!
Recruit companions (some of them are in conflict with each other!!)
Participate in various tournaments and feasts!
Learn to use all weapons! (extremly necessary)
The larger the army, the more provisions there should be in the backpack.
Command warriors on the battlefield.

Clue:
To stand on the strategic map and wait (not pause) hold spacebar.
When selling/buying, hold Ctrl.
When you are using throwing spears (for example, in tournaments) and they are almost out, then press X and you will hit the spear instead of throwing it.
If you want to speed up time, you don’t have to visit cities and pay money for it. Set up your camp and that's it!
It is necessary to maintain morale in the squad. Otherwise the warriors will start leaving!
Hire mercenaries only in case of real need (expensive to maintain)

Your army should be multinational - then it will be much more effective.

During your travels, engage in trade with cities. Buy cheap fish from the Nords and sell them in the desert.

This is the minimum knowledge that a beginning player should know.

Creation of a kingdom in Mount and Blade- this is a very quick and simple matter, but keeping this very kingdom afloat is a whole science! The best way to create a kingdom is with the help of a mod. You can create a kingdom in absolutely any environment and version of M&B, but if you create it in, you will have many more functions that, unfortunately, are not available in simple Mount and Blade. There are several ways to create your kingdom in Fire and Sword:

Mutiny

Starting a rebellion is the surest way to try to start a civil war, overthrow the king from the throne and take his place. To raise a rebellion, you need to find a contender for the throne. Usually such people travel around cities in search of support. Candidates for the throne must be sought in the throne rooms. After you agree to help the applicant win the throne, an internal war will begin in the faction and, depending on the relationship with the lords of the current faction, you will be able to lure them to your side, which will improve the military situation in your favor. In fact, from the rebellion to the very end, you are the marshal of the rebel troops and after the faction is completely captured, the pretender to the throne will disappear and become a full-fledged king, and you will become his right hand.

Capture territory

The second opportunity to create your own kingdom is to capture the fortress. Since version Mount and Blade: Warband Just such an opportunity arose. Just capture a castle or city and the war will begin.

Poaching Lords

When the kingdom has already been created, it is time to begin strengthening it. At the beginning, it is unlikely that many lords will agree to go over to the side of your kingdom, so you will have to use the services of (non-player characters). Among all, there are 6 heroes of noble origin who, upon receiving an estate, will not spoil your reputation in the eyes of other lords. noble birth:

1. Alaen
2. Bakheshtur
3. Firentis
4. Lezalit
5. Mateld
6. Rolf

Of course, not all of them will be friends with each other and this will have to be dealt with. Lords, like , will not just come to you (as already reported above); first you need to have at least a good relationship with the lord and a couple of free villages. When you talk to lords, ask questions about the king and politics. You need to offer the lord something that is not in his kingdom (during the dialogue you will see everything). You can talk to the lords if there is no one nearby and you are alone with him. Never ask the lord to give an answer right away, as there is an 85% chance of failure. Intrigue him with your conversation and don't ask him to give an answer. Believe me, in a week or two the lord himself will come to you to take the oath. Please note that persuasion skills, personal relationships and the right to the throne influence how to lure people to your side.

Right to the throne

Well, the last very important aspect of the kingdom is the right to the throne. This indicator is very important when creating a kingdom, and the higher it is, the less often other kingdoms will attack you, the easier it will be to make peace and lure the lords to your side. You can obtain the right to the throne by concluding peace, sending diplomatic envoys to neighbors, or.