Unrealistic perks

Gameplay
#1

So like so many others that have progressed a fair way into the game have quickly noticed how easy combat has become. I can kill a human enemy in 2 hits with my sword, and it’s completely lost it’s challenge. Personally and in hindsight I believe a number of the increased damage output perks that Henry gains is a major culprit, perhaps with general unbalancing.

What drew me to this game initially was the concept that in fact you aren’t a walking tank, a simple bloke. Silly fallout style perks are not only unrealistic and immersion breaking they are game breaking in this case I’m sorry to say. This sucks big time.

So much so, for me who wants to play a fighting character and be constantly challenged from beginning to end, I feel the games immersive magic is gone and I feel no desire to continue despite the excellent story developing.

I get that the idea is you start out as a weakling who’s never held a sword in his life to developing fighting skills and making an impact on events happening in his world, but the game now feels like I’m the ONLY one developing his skills.

It has simply come apart at the seams and become totally unbalanced. This needs fixing very very badly, be it the developers or a talented modder. For now Im going to stop playing and keep an eye out on the Nexus mods page and on here.

This far outweighs the performance issues and should take priority. But, it’s just my opinion of course

#2

If you have levelled up your combat skills and are an expert swordsman, and then on top of that have top quality full plate - you literally are a walking tank. That was very much the role of heavily armoured knights back then. But yes, it would be nice to have similarly equipped, worthy opponents to fight in the late game. Late/end game content is something this game will need in general. Hopefully we will see a solution to this difficulty curve issue in future.

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#3

I admit I might be over critical of the perk system, and the combat perks in particular. I know a LOT of the other perks are just downright fallout style silly, which is completely at odds with the actual game itself. I was expecting the same level of realism that’s throughout the entire game to also extend to some well thought out, logical and realistic perks.

And again I admit I could be mixing up my two criticisms of the game into one when I’m completely wrong. But you nailed it, bottom line is it’s actually too easy to become the walking one hit tank in medieval equivalent masterchief armour about half way through. And I don’t have a problem with that either, you gain strength and muscle mass and skill as you train and gain experience… that’s not unrealistic.

But the bandits and Cumans have been killing and training welllllllll before Henry. Anyway, it sucks but just gotta wait for a rebalance fix

#4

Yeah, I wouldn’t mind being two hit myself if i fuck up, just as I two hit others. Unless they change how strong Henry becomes

#5

Yeah I gotta agree about the easy combat, at this point very few opponents are a challenge. And the fact is, the AI certainly can pull off the same stuff that you can when you get good at the combat. We see that with Sir Robard in the free sparring. He’s actually a worthy opponent. If you had one or two guys who fought like him in each bandit camp that would go far towards making them more of a substantial challenge. Especially given the profit you stand to earn from clearing out those camps and selling the gear.

As for the perks, I actually really like them. At the end of the day this is still a game, and the perk system is well thought-out and fun, with many perks incurring tradeoffs or having other interesting effects. It allows you a way to define your character. For example, my Henry is somewhat of a ranger who drinks to steady his hands (Drinking Habit), and sometimes overdoes it. A history of life in a poor village has made him used to the gnawing feeling of hunger (Ascetic). He likes to repair his own clothing, and knows that he can make his shoes and clothes fit better, allowing him to run for longer without getting tired (Seven Mile Boots) and look nicer in his clothes (Saville Row). He prefers the wilds, and feels more alive when he’s out of civilization (Savage). In fact, he’s so attuned to nature that animals seldom flee (Wild at Heart), and he seems to move with the flow of the forest with footfalls that never crack a twig (Forester).

See what I mean? Are they “realistic”? No, but they’re fun. They remind me of Fallout, sure, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I like the direction Warhorse went. And the balance isn’t really a problem of player progression anyway, it’s a problem of not providing the player with appropriate challenges as they progress, which has very little to do with the perks.

#6

Precisely, and I’m not underestimating the difficulty of having to work out how to keep balanced all the different armours combined by your health pool combined with the weapon conditions etc, that’d be a nightmare I’m sure.

But I’ve become boringly strong and deadly and skilful. The best swordsman in the lands one might say going by the utter trail of bodies in my wake without so much as a bleeding wound. I just wanna be the same Henry I was at the beginning but who with great concentration can hold his own in a sword fight against ONE bandit… let alone entire camps single handedly slaughtered.

Anyway I’m more than positive it’ll be fixed

#7

I’ve noticed that hits tend not to incur any health damage if you still have stamina. That seems like a bit of a silly system that could be done away with to make the combat harder fairly simply.

#8

Yes you’re correct, if you have stamina you don’t take damage. Think of it as a second health bar

#9

Oh really? I hadn’t noticed that I’ll have to have a look. So the more stamina the less damage you get? That doesn’t make sense, stamina is stamina or energy reserves, that’s how I see it. Shouldn’t stop sharp steel drawing blood. Maybe it’s a bug?

#10

Yeah I admit I didn’t need to bring my criticism of he style of perks into it. I’m just frustrated the challenge hasn’t extended past 10 hours game time and now I gotta wait when I was enjoying the shit out of it so much. I errorneously turned the blame to the perks as the culprit haha

#11

Do axes have the same beneficial perks when it comes to damage compared to swords? I’ve decided to take the axe route over sword to be a little different.

#12

You know most perks are optional right?

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#13

Anybody else punch the faint hearted knight into another dimension? That guy has to find a new job

#14

Yeah, but we had no idea that they would break the game. They should be something that will make combat a bit more manageable. They shouldn’t make combat a breeze.

What the game needs is level scaling. Higher level enemies need better armor, better weapons, better stats, and be more efficient at killing. And I shouldn’t be encountering unarmored bandits anymore at higher levels. I know it’s unrealistic, but there are already so many unrealistic things done for gameplay sake.

#15

My thoughts to this.
How many men out of the total population would be able man for military service?
How many would really serve?
How many of them would get proper training?
And how many would be able to get good equipment?

I guess it is very clear that there would be only a few man to fit into this frame.

1 Like
#16

And how many of you actually sat down to take a dump in the game? Pretty unrealistic on your part, right?

2 Likes
#17

10 hours is not enough to match the strongest opponents. Did you get the DLC armour or something? If you get plate armour too early in the game, you are basically ruining it for yourself. The game is open ended enough that it will not stop you from getting it if you really try, and it would be horribly unrealistic to nerf the best equipment. If you want a challenge, don’t use full plate armour, at least until you have finished the bulk of the game. I’m about 24 hours in and the only plate I have are some ‘old plate pauldrons’. I’m not playing the game in a ‘gamey’ way, I’m not trying to shortcut to the best equipment and skip all of the content, I’m playing the game following it’s natural pace, I think that’s the most enjoyable way for the first playthrough.

#18

Only a few men is what we are asking for. A few real knights, some better equipped bandits, and better equipped guards, all justified using the lore/story I provided in my other comment.

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#19

If you would say a few real knights and some real knights turned into robber knights i will agree.
In my opinion better equipped bandits or better equipped guards would be to unlikely since some of them wear allready at last partial full plate armour. If than I would go instead for better skills for some guards or bandits since in my opinion a lower social class than a knight as a men at arms or bandit is more likely to have better skills than the money to own and maintain better equipment.

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#20

Um no. The AI is easy mode, you don’t even need full plate. I started a new game so I could start fresh and not pick the perks that made the game too easy. The results so far are the same. Once you get used to the combat mechanics, it’s too easy.

Here’s an example. When fighting Sir Hans first game, I barely beat him in archery and barely beat him in the duel. Second game, completely annihilated him in both archery and the duel.

With raw skill, the game is easy. When equipped with full plate, you’re a god killer. They need to do more than just nerf the equipment. The AI needs to be more aggressive, and their stats need to be buffed.

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