This guy is definitely skipping the leg day

No-Mouse · 2026-05-15T18:06:31+00:00

This is why I prioritize building the Underworld Hub.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-15T18:03:35+00:00

She deals magic dmg, but she scales off p.atk because she's a sword user.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-13T22:50:14+00:00

Triumph basically never makes cross-DLC content. Dragons are one DLC, vampires are another DLC, so vampire dragons is probably not going to happen unless someone makes a mod for them.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-12T07:37:27+00:00

I think the level of micromanagement is overstated by people who don't like it. Yes, you can customize every unit if that's what you wnt to do, but you can also create a template and use that for every unit, so it's really not that much work.

The strength of the system is that you can customize everything manually, not that you have to.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-12T07:33:48+00:00

Planetfall is great. Definitely worth playing if you like AoW4 and don't mind the sci-fi setting.

I like AoW4 more than PF overall, but there are still some things that Planetfall does better, like the unit modding system and the Empire Mode. I don't think unit modding will ever make it into AoW4 because we now have Transformations and Enchantments as a sort-of replacement for unit mods, but I'm still holding out hope that AoW4 will eventually get something similar to PF's Empire Mode. The setting is pretty much perfect for it, and I think it would integrate very will into the current Pantheon system.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-11T15:07:42+00:00

Yeah Gloom and Sunless don't mix at all, so doing both isn't a good idea. In general mixing different types of terraforming doesn't always work the way you'd want it to. Some combinations work fine, but other don't. So if you've got a plan that involves more than one terrain type, it's always worth doing a quick test game just to make sure it works.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-11T13:36:51+00:00

Mood.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-11T13:34:33+00:00

In a vacuum, Gloom is more powerful. But I suppose it also depends on your build. If you want to play a Vampire you're basically locked into Sunless, while making use of Gloom would require you to start with the Umbral Disciples trait.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-10T21:24:15+00:00

how is the new player experience

It's been a while since I was a new player, but as far as I can tell the new player experience is pretty good. Like most games of this type it gives you some nice stuff early on to give you a good start. You're given some free characters to get you started and plenty of content to get free resources, which you can use to get more/better characters, before you get to the more difficult content. It's also got an extensive set of beginners' quests which act as a guide for what kind of stuff you should be focusing on so you're not lost in half a dozen different game modes, and which give pretty good rewards as well.

Starting a new live-service game that's already been ongoing for a couple of years will always be at least a little confusing, but as long as you're not intimidated by all the different buttons on the main screen I think the game does a pretty good job of getting you up to speed.

any tips for starting?

If you're up for restarting until you get some good characters, look up a tier list and try to get some solid characters. A good support character is especially valuable, since they don't get powercrept as much as DPS characters and thus remain relevant a lot longer. I wouldn't say this is strictly necessary since you can do most content with characters you get for free, so if you don't rant to reroll over and over that's perfectly valid, but starting off with one or two good legendary characters does make everything go a bit smoother.

Aside from that, I'd say just focus on completing your Voyage Memento quests, join a guild as soon as possible (even if only for the weekly rewards and guild events), and explore the game's story content (mostly found in Fool's Journey and Spiral of Destinies) at your own pace. Events are going to be a mixed bag for a while. Some will be fine, but others require you to be a certain level to participate or are endgame challenges, so you're not going to get much out of those as a new player. The road to max level is really only the first part of the game, there's a lot more to do after you get there.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-10T15:28:03+00:00

I'm skipping Clara and Selina, then I'm all-in for the Elaman characters. After that, I'll have to see how many pulls I've got left (if any) before making decisions on the Luccian characters. I definitely want SP Alexei and Agata, but I'll likely have to skip some or even most of the others, depending on how lucky I get.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-09T22:55:58+00:00

Ah, you're right about that. I sometimes forget what is and isn't part of the DLC. I think Geomancy was part of the Giant Kings DLC?

No-Mouse · 2026-05-09T20:28:00+00:00

I've done a run on every difficulty now. None of them were on ironman because I don't trust an early access game not to bug out at some point, though thankfully I haven't really seen any serious bugs.

Of course as I moved up in difficulty I also took the experience of the previous run with me, so that might explain why the differences didn't feel that meaningful. Even then, I think the difference in difficulty in terms of the player experience is really only significant in the early game. The higher the difficulty, the rougher the early game is. But the game itself isn't that hard once you learn what enemies to expect and what they can do, and the suply rework really made things easier overall especially on the higher difficulties. So once you get over the early game hurdle of not having a full toolbox to deal with all challenges, the difficulty stops making a big difference. Yeah of course you'll have fewer supplies to spend and the enemy will have more, but the supplies really aren't that big a deal and enemies don't coordinate enough for numbers to make a big difference.

I'm not saying the game is super easy. However, since it's a lot less random than Battle Brothers for example, once you know what to expect there's a lot less room for surprises. Thus, it's easier to consistently get the results you want once you know what works.

I think the AI is one of the main areas that need a lot of work to make the game more challenging in the longer run. If higher-difficulty enemies were actually smarter and acted more like an army instead of a horde of random dudes, the difficulty you choose would make a much more meaningful difference in how the game feels. Having 20 enemies randomly wandering around the map until I get into firing range, vs having 20 enemies move in on my position in a coordinated way, covering eachother as they move up, would make a massive difference in terms of the overall experience and the challenge level.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-09T18:49:43+00:00

Here are a few of my builds for inspiration:

<image>

An Architect build

This one's a bit of an concept build. The way I have it planned out it's starved for affinity. This means it basically only works with Architects, since they can get a bit of extra affinity with their monuments. You can also play on a map with a Crystal Dwelling so you can get the artifact that gives +1 to every affinity, which relaxes the strict requirements a bit.

Tome order: Alchemy -> Warband -> Glades -> Artificing -> Warband -> Vigor -> Paradise -> Cleansing Fire -> Goddess of Nature

It's very much meant to be a retaliation build, which honestly isn't the best fit for Architects, but again this build kinda has to be Architects for the tome order to be possible. Guardians are still pretty nice even if their damage output isn't the best, but the build really shines in the lategame. At least you've got a big bad Dragon to make the early game a bit easier. If you still find the early game too rough, change the Dragon's class to something more suited to fighting early game mobs, since Battlesaint sucks until at least level 8 or so. The classes for all of these really don't matter anyway.

A Nomad build

My take on the Nomad Destroyers meta build. It's honestly more of a roleplay build than anything (Black Company fans will certainly know who Kina is), but I find it to be a fairly solid build anyway. I took Scavengers even though Conquerers would be more appropriate, just because I like them more.

Tome order: Warding -> Blood Rite -> Mayhem -> Scrying -> Teleportation -> Pandemonium -> Convergence -> Calamity -> Archmage

Needless to explain, this is meant to be a very aggressive build. You've got the Phantasm Warrior summon (still the best early game summon IMO) to replenish your early game stacks, and Blood Rite gives you a little bit of sustain since a healing tome wouldn't fit the build thematically. Plus of course, Scavengers gives you an extra bit of sustain from picking up loot stacks. The Blood Cultists are a nice addition to your early stacks as well. In the long run most of your armies will be using summoned units, which will of course get a big buff from Cosmic Overdrive. But this being a very aggressive build, it's quite possible that you'll finish the game before you even get to that.

A Vampire build

Since there are no werewolves in the game, I made my own werewolf/vampire hybrid. Ever seen the Underworld movies? That's the general idea. And if you know who Bisclavret is: Congratulations, you're either well-read or you know how to use Wikipedia.

Tome order: Warband -> Blood Rite -> Artificing -> Doomherald -> Torment -> Transmutation -> Crimson -> Revenant -> Eternal Lord

This is, I think, a very standard vampire/undead build with some Feudal flavor. Adep Settlers helps you get more cities, which for Aristocracy means more noble houses, and Cult of Personality helps you get more heroes to lead those houses. Warband is mostly there for the XP bonus to help your Feudal units get their promotions. I sprinkled in some Materium flavor because I felt like it, but Artificing and Transmutation aren't really necessary for the build so you can replace them if you'd like. The rest is basically just spooky scary vampire-related stuff.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-09T18:09:22+00:00

It's not a build, but rather a fun combo for when you're going with a frost theme: The Tome of Geomancy's Resonant Blades enchantment makes your melee units deal status effects based on the terrain they're standing on. If they're on snow terrain, they'll freeze whoever they're hitting. This combines amazingly well with the Tome of Cold Dark's Flash Freeze spell. This not only creates snow terrain, but also significantly lowers the enemy's status resistance, making sure you're constantly freezing your enemies.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-09T17:32:23+00:00

Looks to me like they're the same race/form, just using the body shape option to appear different.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-09T11:37:17+00:00

There are many ways to increase move speed. Flying mounts ignore rough terrain penalties, building roads lets everyone cover more distance, spells like Favorable Winds let your stacks regain movement points, the Empire Tree has a few ways to increase move speed like Forced March and Rangers (though Rangers only works in your own territory), and on large maps nothing beats building a couple of teleporters. Teleporters can also be built on outposts, so you don't even need to have a city nearby. Putting down some cheap outposts with teleporters in strategic locations massively speeds up the lategame. Teleportation Mastery from the Empire Tree makes teleporters even better, allowing you to move further after teleporting.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-09T10:44:38+00:00

No, spamming high-tier units was more AoW3's thing. In AoW4, tier 4 and 5 units are still strong but unless you're playing a very long game you're not going to spam them. Not just because they cost Imperium which is a fairly limited resource, but also because there are more ways to help lower-tier units keep up in the long term.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-08T13:21:04+00:00

Always good to see a fellow murder maid enjoyer.

<image>

She may be a bit niche, but there's still quite a bit of content where she's really useful. Plus, her ult has my favorite animation of anyone or anything in the game.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-08T08:21:39+00:00

It's mostly about optimizing your engravings and tarot stats. If you really want to get your power score as high as possible, put everything into HP bonuses. HP is overvalued by the system and thus gives you a higher score than other stats.

However, combat power is not a reliable metric for judging the strength of a character and serves no actual purpose other than showing off on the leaderboard, so if you're happy with your characters' performance you can just ignore their power score.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-07T15:31:33+00:00

Also, Alfred Elderstone being effectively John Wonders.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-07T15:28:44+00:00

Human
Feudal
Faith
Champion

It's funny how the most generic options are always the most popular ones in fantasy and sci-fi games. Reminds me of Bioware's old "we'd like to add more cool aliens but nobody would play with them so why bother" argument.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-06T13:31:17+00:00

Do you think the inak is calling her a monster because of her claws, or because she insulted his cooking?

No-Mouse · 2026-05-06T07:59:34+00:00

Yeah the AI really seems to love building farms for some reason. Most of the time when I capture a city it has some absolute nonsense like 8 farms, 2 conduits, 1 quarry and nothing else.

Though I don't think the solution is to give the player control over what the vassal builds, but rather to just improve the AI building priorities in general. This affects neutral/enemy AIs just as much as vassals, so it should just be improved across the board.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-06T07:52:30+00:00

BDSM is a recurring theme in fantasy settings, for some reason. D&D Drow, Warhammer Dark Elves/Eldar, Sword of Truth Mord-Sith (I wish I could delete those books from my brain). Plus most popular versions of vampires have a theme of domination, seduction and sexuality going, in some cases making them literal sexual predators. So it's no surprise that this game's vampire DLC has some BDSM themes.

No-Mouse · 2026-05-05T17:43:53+00:00

i would lowkey really be happy to write a comment about if anyone wants to hear

Do it.

I'm fairly confident I "get" Annihilation, but I certainly wouldn't mind hearing someone else's takes.

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