Well…
They exist. And Breden has one of their codes.
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Yeah, I played many times before I finally (accidentally) got the hidden achievement where you find out about Abelard (I will not say more to avoid spoilers.)
Anyways, what makes Rebels a top-tier game is how it combines roleplaying, min-maxing, and epic fantasy. Very few games can get that combination right.
That said, Pon Para also does well at combining those things, and has innovative stat mechanics.
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I’m a big Pon Para fan – and in general a fan of the author. Comparisons to Kyle’s work are high praise indeed. 
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Haha, no problem!
I appreciate Kyle Marquis’ innovative gameplay mechanics. Transcendence in Tower Behind the Moon was fun, and took thought to exploit. And of course, Pon Para’s attribute + skills system allowed the player to generate and roleplay a dizzying array of builds.
That said, Rebels is also a very deep game, and even now I’m still learning new things here and there! For example, I used to think runs where you let the Harrowing happen were categorically easier than runs where you stopped it (and then had to manage the winter).
Then I decided to do a Ruthless/Skeptical/Homelander (all red bars!) 2COM/1CHA Aristocrat run. I quickly realized that getting Ruthless points was a limiting reagent, and you had to do specific things to proc all 3 attribute bonuses (along with the help from the Noble Faction, without which the run fails.)
I will say that my favorite “rebels” were aristocrats leading elite revolts, either via military skill or theurgy. On the other hand, I also had lots of fun with Helot and high anarchy games.
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There is a game two in the making- but it is considered rude to ask.
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I’m really sorry. I didn’t know that. Thank you for answering me tho. The thread was too long and I couldn’t read all of it so that’s why I asked. Again, I’m really sorry.
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It’s all good, don’t worry- feel free to ask any questions you have and we’ll be glad to answer them!
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Ok guys, time to reupload the Anarchy Challenge!
What is the most amount of Anarchy you can produce while successfully completing Act IV (obtain the Ghost in the Woods achievement)?
As an aside, should we start expanding the game’s Wiki? I can add strategy sections, I’ve probably played every type of run you can do.
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76 is my record.
And it’s a wiki, so go ahead.
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Ugh, my record is 75.
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You have my blessing and thanks for adding a strategy section to the Wiki.
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Thanks! The goal is to create mini-guides for every build there is. I don’t want to do blow-by-blow guides, because then you end up writing books (and the guide may fail due to RNG anyways). Instead, the goal is to discuss principles and strategies that people can use for success.
I think new players should start with Charisma builds, because they are generally the easiest to essay. Combat builds are generally the hardest. However, for players who want an easy combat build, I’m writing one now.
The Cavalier
2COM/1CHA Aristocrat
Ruthless/Devout/Homelander (can also go Compassionate or Cosmopolitan, going Skeptical is harder and requires specific moves)
Low Anarchy (Let Harrowing Happen)
Stack credibility with the Noble faction to proc Mikal de Rose duping a Theurge, then you can neutralize all enemy Theurges and steamroll the Archon in battle. Also it’s a very easy and RNG-proof winter, of course.
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I’m surprised to hear this. When I started playing, I found the hardest builds to be Charisma focused, and the easiest were definitely Combat focused. I still find Combat combined with high anarchy the easiest to achieve for newbies. I mean, it’s literally smash everything - consequences be damned. Easy enough for newbies.
Also, if you’re the guy that wrote the aristocratic wisard guide, I just wanted to say I found it really useful.
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Thank you! And yes, that is my guide. Some players will want to tweak the winter run so they proc both the Merchant and Noble bonuses, but they aren’t necessary to steamroll the Archon on the 2INT/1CHA build.
Anyways, to your point: there’s no right answer, and this is just my opinion. I grade a build’s difficulty on how easily (or not) it can defeat the Archon, and how much finesse you need to pilot it.
2CHA builds butcher the Archon (even without the suicide bombing), because of their massive numbers and getting to keep Zvad. Additionally, 2CHA builds use the Player as the primary recruiter, which means they don’t have to balance Breden and Player/Radmar runs to avoid Breden becoming too influential. You simply are a lot more free to make solid moves on a 2CHA build.
2COM builds don’t have those numbers or Zvad, and they need to be played more skillfully throughout the Winter to beat the Archon without multiple lieutenant deaths. It’s easier to pilot them if you spam Traps (though very slightly less effective when I ran controlled trials against non-trap runs), but still not as easy as piloting a Charisma build. For what it’s worth, it took me a while before I could play 2COM effectively (on runs where you stop the Harrowing), but I figured out Charisma builds instantly.
However, there is a 2COM build that is both effective and easy to play, which is the “Cavalier” that I detail above. I discussed it in the final subsection of my guide, and am writing about on the Wiki. For the romantics who want to roleplay as Jacobites, this is the build you’re looking for.
For the Spartacus fans…it’s gonna be quite a bit more work. But don’t worry, we’ll have builds for you.
Anyways, I had a few questions for the crowd at large before writing more builds:
-
Do people generally prefer playing Noble or Helot characters?
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Do most players let the AI run the Winter, or do it themselves?
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For me I like playing as a noble and I always do Winter myself since you can do a lot better then the ‘‘AI’’.
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You absolute legend. The aristo theurge build is the best way to crush the Archon by far. I found COM2 builds really force you to ruffle little feathers in the winter and leaves little room for error in the archon’s attack. Theurgy is just that powerful, I suppose. Incidentally, I found CHA2 builds honestly the most balanced. You can gather quite the army but can do very little yourself.
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On another note (and, I frankly don’t know if I am even asking in the correct place, the mods will have to decide my fate here) I was considering making a community discord server for XoR. Simply put, a more advanced chat room for XoR community members ( and sir @Havenstone if he decides to join ) which could include a bunch of channels for all things XoR-related, so basically a easier to scroll through, off-topic condensed version of the forums. I have a lot of experience with server making and especially the discord platform, so if anyone is interested I will make it public. ( Again, I am sorry for the off-topic nature of this post but I simply don’t know if I need to make a separate thread entirely for this. Just let me know and I will fix everything as intended, I love this community a lot especially for the nice mods.)
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+1 for that idea, but since @Havenstone said he has a pretty tough day work (made even tougher by coronavirus), I don’t think he can be online on Discord too often. Might even be overwhelming in worst case scenario. Otherwise this will be fun, and I always love more casual author-reader interactions 
There was a Choice of Rebels Discord server for a while last year (and you’re right, I didn’t have much time to spend on it). It petered out after a few weeks, though… I think one of the key people responsible for starting it got disgruntled with CoG policies and disengaged, and there wasn’t enough of a community going to keep it alive.
With COVID-19 eating me whole on my day job, I will continue to not spend time on Discord, I’m afraid… but I’m happy for the game to be discussed there.
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