And while I’m fixing bugs for a Monday update…
Your amount of “Loot” should have increased for that one – not your Wealth, until the end of the winter when all remaining loot is converted to wealth.
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One thing that has this problem though is the tax raid. If you don’t have blyes in the band I think the most you can get out of it is 900 wealth or so. Seems like the band would keep fencing the stashed loot throughout the spring.
It would still bring in less overall than if Bleys was in the band of course.
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Ok, I ran through the game a few more times and I can’t for the life of me how I managed to kill all the Theurges the first time, but now can’t do it again (as a 2COM build). Is there any particular decision or set of decisions you need to make? Or a given number of soldiers you need to have?
Most likely you went with a 2 INT character that self taught Theurgy and kept it a secret throughout the game until the attack in chapter 4. You can usually kill all Theurges if you do so. There might be other ways to do it without needing Theurgy but it’s been a week or two since I played XoR so I probably should play it again soon to refresh my memory
No, it was a 2COM/1CHA Ruthless/Devout/Homelander Helot build both times. I’ve never done a successful Aristo Theurge game. Anyways, to my knowledge, I made all the same decisions at the final battle. A few differences I can think of:
- In the successful playthrough, I had fewer rebels (438) but all of them were armed.
- In the successful playthrough, I called Breden a traitor at the start and told him to go away.
- In the successful playthrough, I did not romance Kala (not sure if relevant).
- In the successful playthrough, I was better regarded among the Helots and Yeomen, I think. I at least had Helots at “on way to folk hero” rather than “popularity growing.”
- In the successful playthrough, I kept Horion and Linos with the band rather than releasing them (and sending out a macabre message after they mysteriously died).
Perhaps there are other differences I can’t remember, but this is all I can think of.
Ignore my last comment, I didn’t see the part that you mentioned playing as a helot. I usually played as a compassionate devout cosmopolitan noble that was 2 INT with 1 CHA that knew Theurgy. But seems as if I’m going to do the complete opposite of it the next time I play XoR but I would assume it has something to do with your helot character having 2 COM with all adult rebels armed and can I ask if you had Sybla train them and set the remaining rebels to training to end every week of the winter?
If you handled all the Theurges you would definitely know for sure that you did, so since you’re confused I have no idea what was up with the archers. But how did you deal with Breden in the second playthrough? That could have made a big difference.
Yeah, I killed them all the first time. You get a different victory message if you do that. The message is below.
Wrt Breden, the second time, Zvad and I secretly betrayed and killed her via drowning. Elery got really pissed off when it happened.
[spoiler]The shaken rebels around you add their shouts to yours.
You hurry back to the top of the watercourse, where the Phalangite advance has faltered. When the cry goes out that their ambush has failed, they stumble back, some of the will visibly going out of them. You brace yourselves for the next round of attack…and slowly, incredulously realize that none is coming. All the movement you can see through the trees is withdrawal. Without Theurgic support, the Phalangites aren’t foolish enough to keep assaulting an uphill position against a force well supplied with archers.
You’ve won.[/spoiler]
Well, all it took me was a COM2 Helot, being ecclect, having compassionate followers, using Suzane and Radmar as leaders and sacrificing two hundred followers, but I pushed the Phalangites away!
But that was bloody. I’m not sure if that’s ever gonna be my canon path. But, hey, isn’t there a way to get the Tagmatarch’s sword if you stand and fight?
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You actually did better than I did. I went from 438 armed adults to 182 (so I lost 256), and this was with killing all Theurges.
No worries though. My MC is Ruthless, and he cares little about the loss of some dirty, lowborn helots!
Isn’t it possible to leave Elery in charge of your band? I kept her alive 'til the end in my most recent playthrough and I think she’s rad, but she didn’t show up in my options.
She can’t be sick / ill when you’re choosing a Deputy, or she won’t be selectable.
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I had many playthrought. One CHA2 ended with -6 adult and 10 child in a 1 band ! I made the fight a the end. So many death
SPOILERS BELOW (Sorry, I can’t get the forum spoiler thing to work).
Ok guys, I did it again. I beat the Archon’s Army and killed all the Theurges before they could burn my rebels alive. As a result, I finished the game with 197 adults (and 173 kids, for what little they’re worth). Build was the same as last time: Starn Thresher, 2COM/1CHA Ruthless/Devout/Homelander Helot.
I called out Breden and sent her away at the game’s start. I actually played the Winter a bit more poorly than I had the first time: I had more Rebels, but not enough money to arm all of them (I only had 402 arms for 475 adults in Act 4). The game also didn’t let me buy anything at Act 4 for some reason.
As far as I can tell, sending Breden away at the start is what makes the difference in terms of Theurge killing. Or maybe keeping the Jongler alive does something too (IIRC, I don’t think I kept him alive in some of my runs). I’m not sure how it works, but that’s just my experience, trying to control for various variables.
I don’t quite understand how releasing Breden (or saving the jongler) logically relates to how many Theurges the Archon sends, though. Well…maybe Breden is the traitor, and if she stays, she is actively reporting your numbers to the Hegemony, which leads to another Theurge.
Oh, and @Havenstone , I found what I think is a bug. Immediately before you sleep with Kala in Part 3, she says “last chance to go back to him” irrespective of whether Breden is a part of your rebellion or not.
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Whoops! Will fix that in the next update–thanks. I’ll also try to see where it’s still possible to end up with a negative number of adult bandits at the end, @Imrahil.
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Just noticed that there’s a Let’s Play video series in progress about XoR:
I haven’t watched more than the first few, but bless the guy–he clearly didn’t appreciate just how much reading he was letting himself in for when he started this, and he makes these videos early in the morning before work. Trying to read a linguistically dense fantasy novel in the wee hours is visibly painful at times, and he needs all the encouragement he can get. If you like these kinds of videos at all, I’d encourage you to head over and let him know. 
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If you have a YT account, I’m sure he’d be tickled pink to have the creator drop in with a compliment.
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Well, I don’t want him to feel pressure to finish because the author is reading and commenting. 
Once he seems sure that he’s got an audience for this one, I’ll join in.
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He chose a 2COM/1INT build…that requires some more effort to leverage its strengths than 2COM/1CHA. I do think the former is a bit better than the latter, but I like the idea of roleplaying a guy with rocks for brains.
He also chose to minmax his way through the winter, which is hard for a newbie (at least it was for me). I would have let Zvad/Breden manage everything, and try minmaxing later. It can be hard if you don’t know how the game works, or how to adjust your strategy depending on randomness or what characters you have.
Anyways, I left an encouraging comment on his video. I hope he enjoys the game, and all that come after it!
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