Nope, sorry guys, no dice.
My build for the experiment was
2COM/1CHA Aristocrat
Ruthless/Devout/Cosmopolitan
Eclect
Low Anarchy
I began with a Shayardene name, which I converted to a Karagond one later for more Cosmopolitan points and cred with Nobles. I let the Harrowing happen.
Getting a good rep with the Nobles means Mikal de Rose dupes a Theurge into going off into nowhere. That means a 2COM build fights only 2 Theurges, so you can kill both of them and set fire to the forest.
I followed the winter strategy in my Steam guide, which will easily succeed in Chapter 2 (and get “Lost Not a One”!) and defeat Archon even if you get bad RNG with mules and theurge attacks, so this controls for those variables.
The Recruiter Arm, as the name implies, recruited as much as possible in every run possible. 3 runs with Breden and 2 with Radmar, to avoid Breden ruining the band’s morale.
The Trapper Arm also recruited in every run (3 Breden, 2 Radmar), but in both the last 2 weeks of Winter, it used 50 people to set traps.
I played Acts 3 and 4 exactly the same in both arms.
The Recruiter Arm finished Winter with 113 rebels and defeated Archon in 1 combat round with 131 remaining.
The Trapper Arm finished Winter with 94 rebels and defeated Archon in 1 combat round with 122 remaining.
In this experiment, there are a few things to remember:
- I kept Breden around. A Radmar-only run may have worked a bit differently, and may have favored Trapper a little bit more.
- I did not sell any mules to buy weapons in Chapter 4. I made this decision to have a better-controlled experiment, but both arms having more weapons might have favored Trapper. Or it might have favored Recruiter.
- A High Anarchy game with lots of soldiers and some traps may be better than only soldiers and zero traps, but it’s harder to make a controlled experiment for this due to Mule and Theurge RNG actually mattering somewhat, whereas for my build here it doesn’t matter. But if you want to continue experimenting, I recommend you do so as the following build:
2COM/1INT Helot
Compassionate/Devout/Homelander
Eclect
High Anarchy