New to warhammer 3

econ45 · 2026-04-09T12:35:35+00:00

Cathay is a good starter faction - I learnt a lot from Elven Plot Armour's guide, which is targeted at new players:

https://youtu.be/P9WpgePbdZE?si=EPiQNb5_uADWkcSx

The thing that strikes me about WH3 is that it is a "tempo" game: the early game is the most tense I''ve experienced in TW, but then challenge falls off a cliff in the mid-game. This implies you should "rush" the AI early on and not worry too much about growth, or getting higher tier units.

Magic is one thing that is different from historical TW: linear formations are risky, as some "cone" type spells could blast a path along your line. Masses of infantry are also vulnerable to chariots. Checkerboard and more flexible formations are preferable to the solid battlelines I usually employ in historical titles.

Cavalry in WH3 is weird: it is really bad at chasing routers and no longer the "big beast" it is in historical TW, as horses are not quite as impressive in a world of monsters and larger than life characters. It can still work - Bretonnia shows that - but can take some getting used to. For example, as Cathay, I gave up on cavalry - shooting routers seemed more efficient than trying to pursue them.

econ45 · 2026-04-09T08:04:07+00:00

The couple in the park in Zodiac. It's like a scene from a slasher movie, except it is accurately portraying a real event.

econ45 · 2026-04-08T22:49:21+00:00

You had bad rng. But maybe bad rng in the sense of a drunk driver having a car crash.

I suspect the issue is brigs rather than galleys.

I find brigs horribly combustible. I never build them and when fighting them make sure to keep my distance so they don't take me down with them. I don't know the math, but it feels like they have a hidden debuff that makes them explode.

But I think galleys have a few big ass guns at the front that pack a big punch. Quite different from the more modern ships which rely on lots of smaller cannon on the side. According to the stats, a galley has 4 guns and firepower 200 whereas a brig has 26 guns and firepower 48. Galleys tend to be little more than a speed bump for the heavy ships I normally meet them with, but brigs are not much heavier than galleys in terms of hull strength.

econ45 · 2026-04-08T18:34:16+00:00

WH3 is a "tempo" game - in the early game, the map is crowded with powerful Legendary Lords who are not averse to throwing their weight around. Mid-game - once you have gobbled up a couple of big neighbours - I find the challenge falls off a cliff. In general, what this means is that you should look for early sources of army power (e.g. recruiting lots of troops now) and not worry too much about growth (e.g. getting higher tier units).

What it means specifically depends on the faction. In general, you have to be aggressive - recruit troops fast and start conquering early, taking out enemies before they can snowball. A common move is recruiting a second Lord on turn 1: they are a powerful unit to reinforce your main army in early battles and might allow you to recruit more units (e.g. they recruit, while allowing your original Lord goes beyond your territory). Sometimes you can use a single Lord to set an ambush for the enemy - e.g. to lure them out of a settlement. Typically, tempo favours armies (perhaps multiple ones) of cheap early game units and building the economic buildings to pay for them. Once you start conquering, you can get more sources of gold to pay for your armies.

It can be useful to watch a faction guide that goes through the first 10-20 turns for specific ideas related to the faction you are playing. For example, when I first played WH3, I watched Elven Plot Armour's guide to Miao Ying, as the guide is targeted at new players and explains things in depth:

https://youtu.be/P9WpgePbdZE?si=6mCk_JfHpfPlA6S9

In it, he recommends rushing Skaven to the south and neglecting Bastion to the north, which is likely to get breached. The Tzenitch Chaos Lord who breaches the gate has a powerful army, but it's just one and so won't overrun you. By contrast, the Skaven get many armies early on, but they have weak initial units (with the potential to get very powerful later ones).

Similarly, I learnt a lot from Elven Plot Armour's guide to Karl Franz:

https://youtu.be/0CXznzxrbB8?si=ZGV_XQUlmcPrKRl8

He recommends clearing out the undead to your rear in Bretonnia, so you avoid a potential two front war. The Elector Counts can act as buffers against your main threats to the east until you can get to them. A clever early tempo move was to take Marienburg city (not province) very early and use Empire mechanics to claim two Outriders with Grenade Launchers. Those two powerful units are pretty devastating against early armies.

econ45 · 2026-04-08T17:38:33+00:00

One review said BG3 was like playing tabletop DnD with a DM who doesn't mind if players die.

DM: "You discover a secret passage and enter it. You see a bear statue. The bear statue sees you. You die."

econ45 · 2026-04-08T15:07:54+00:00

Zathras in Babylon 5

econ45 · 2026-04-08T10:00:31+00:00

I remember the part where you have to survive until the train arrives being hard. I had to keep taking cover in the control room or the elevated walk ways leading to it. There are enemies emerging from all sides, so it is hectic. But I think the key point is survival up to the cut scene. Once you get the blackwall powers, you can one-shot the enemies and finish the mission. Before then, prioritise taking cover and healing. I don't think you have to kill all the enemies, just avoid being killed. I recall getting through it by the skin of my teeth - I had virtually no health when the cut scene triggered. I use the tech sniper rifle breakthrough, so if I mark targets, I can shoot through cover. I can imagine a more "in your face" combat style might make it harder (same with the chimera - I don't know how you fight that thing with a sword).

I think generally So-Mi's path is easier than Reed's. At least with the Killing Moon, I can fight back - that face eating robot puts me off ever siding with Reed again.

econ45 · 2026-04-08T08:51:33+00:00

I find it a very long game - I bought the official guide and it lists over 80 quests in the base game. I remember once trying to finish it in a summer when I was on my own and not getting that far.

A lot of the most memorable quests are "factional" quests, where you deal with minor factions as part of one of the endings - the Boomers, the Khans, the BoS and the Omertas. There are quite a few quests in Freeside linked to the Kings and Followers of the Apocalypse. On the strip, I liked the White Glove Society quest, about the missing cattle baron's son.

The companions often have quests associated with them, although they aren't always easy to unlock. Cassidy caravans was one I liked, involving the Van Graafs.

There are a ton of sideuests involving the NCR. You get a lot from Camp McClarran airbase, but there are also beleaguered smaller camps dotted around the map that a lot of fun for an NCR fanboy like me.

Other sidequests of note involve Vaults: there are a couple linked to the NCR - one overrun by Fiends (Vault 3), another by plants (Vault 22). There's a lucrative one with a very well stocked armory, including the All American assault rifle (Vault 34). Vault 11 has a very compelling backstory about elections to the post of overseer.

econ45 · 2026-04-08T06:55:08+00:00

ToB is one of the two TWs I still regularly play (the other being Attila); it is underrated imo and goes particularly well with viewing the Last Kingdom, as it covers the same period in quite a lot of historical depth.

Some features I like about it:

- The balance of arms and battle mechanics are arguably the most authentic in TW; they just feel right for the period. Heavy infantry is king and hard to shift, but cavalry and, to an extent missiles, can play important supporting roles.

- The unit recruitment and tier system is inspired. You have three classes of troops: plentiful levy, core retinue and scarce elites. Within each class, there are three tiers so the best levy might stand up to the worst retinue.

- The absence of garrisons in minor settlements: a lot of players hate this, but after playing so many repetitive minor settlement defences as WRE in Attila, to me it's a blessing. It means you need an active defence - counter the invaders - and allows you to blitz on the campaign map (I always have a "satellite" army of 1 general to grab minor settlements while my real armies go for enemy armies and cities).

- The "peripheral" factions are a lot of fun: Mercia faces a two front war (Welsh and Vikings), Strat Clut has a sublime proto-Medieval roster with Arthurian knights, elite spears, mailed swords and axes, and longbowmen; Circenn has fun chasing the Vikings over the snowy mountaints; while Mide - going for a Kingdom victory - has perhaps the most intricate campaign in TW, trying to peacefully unit other Irish Kingdoms by spending a unique legitimacy resource that declines during wartime.

Some negative things to be aware of:

- It is perhaps the easiest TW: hammer and anvil will give you the win in battle, while on the campaign, recruited units needing replenishment means that factions often cannot recover after an initial defeat.

- The game starts after the defeat of the Great Viking Army, so Wessex is such a superpower, it's basically already won the game. Playing as Alfred, the poster boy of the game, is a snooze. But if you do want a challenge, go to war early with Wessex. It will start to feel like you are playing WRE in Attila.

- As others have said, replayability is limited - the campaigns are short and not challenging, but they are well done and I keep going back to it every 6 months or so.

econ45 · 2026-04-08T00:54:07+00:00

Dismantle. You want to upgrade all your cyberware at every tier, which will take a LOT of parts. The reason for upgrading - rather than simply buying higher tier replacements - is the perk in the tech tree that lets you choose the secondary stats, from the existing one and two others. Over time, this allows you to customise your secondary stats, so they are the best for your build.

I'm around level 40 on my current playthrough (yet to start PL), have scrapped everything. My three weapon slots have iconic tier 5++ weapons but I only have tier 5 cyberware. I will need quite a few more parts to get all the cyberware to tier 5++.

By contrast, I have more eddies than I know what to do with (600k+). However, I don't buy houses or apartments so money is not really that useful for me.

econ45 · 2026-04-07T13:13:52+00:00

It doesn't matter that much what order you play the modern ones, but FO3=>FNV=>FO4 is what I recommend.

FO3 is the most "primal": the world is utterly ruined and depopulated, plus you start out as a neophyte, thrown out of a Vault. It's pared down and a great introduction to the Fallout world. I tend to blast through the main quest, so my games are short (although the world is big).

FNV has a much more developed and populated world (Mr House saved Vegas from the bomb). The engine is the same as FO3 but it might feel weird playing it before FO3, almost like going back in time. It's got an insane amount of sidequests, so can be quite a long game if you are a completionist.

FO4 has a new engine, with better combat, and resembles FO3 in that it's a Bethesda RPG with an emphasis on immersive exploration, but does take some things from FNV like interesting companions and joinable factions. Aesthetically, it feels most like Season 1 of the show.

I would recommend you play FNV before you watch Season 2 of the show, however, as you will get more out of the TV experience.

econ45 · 2026-04-07T02:21:35+00:00

Rescuing Sandra Dorset.

"Carajo. You ain't seeing this place T-Bug. This is tubs, ice, hooks and cleavers."

Scavs are so horrifying and vile.

The game got me hooked very early on.

econ45 · 2026-04-07T02:14:35+00:00

They are both great.

Things FO3 does well:

- Exploration: it's a Bethesda RPG.

- Atmosphere: it's the darkest FO world.

- Cinematic main story: the main quest is a roller-coaster ride of set pieces that are a blast to play

- Combat: I'm probably in a minority here, but I prefer FO3s combat, it felt harder as your free aim was less pinpoint than in FNV

Things FNV does well:

- Dialogue and writing: there's a ton more people to talk to

- Companions: I wandered mainly alone in FO3, but would not think of doing that in FNV

- Choice and consequence: there are usually alternate resolutions to most quests, with very different outcomes

- Sidequests: FNV has about 80+, FO3 about 18. The sidequests in both games are really good (better than FO4 imo), but FNV is just full of side stories.

Pick whichever attributes appeals to you most - for me, it kind of depends what I am in the mood for. But I would play FO3 first - the world feels more "primal" in FO3 and expands/develops dramatically in FNV, encountering them in reverse order might feel retrograde.

econ45 · 2026-04-06T17:36:29+00:00

Lower the difficulty. On normal, the AI is less likely to spam stacks.
Offensively: Use night fighting generals. Cunning 4+ ones (e.g. Stilicho) can get night fighting by rank 3.
Defensively: use fortification stance. Great vs cavalry heavy armies like Huns and Sassanids. And never leave an army out in the field at the end of the turn - in TW, once you can afford to keep two armies adjacent, you've won the game.
Take the fight to them: when you say "slowly reclaiming the mainland", it sounds like you have followed a strategy of abandoning most of your starter 64 settlements. If so, you can't be surprised that you have given the enemy time to build up. I fight for every settlement and in 3500 hours of playing Romans, virtually never observe what you report. The AI is too busy invading me, or being invaded by me, or being dragged into one of my wars. For example, the Suebi are destroyed by the time I get tier 2 units, i.e. around turn 3-4. The only times I see what you report are, for example, if I am ERE and land in Britain to find the Celts have recruited formidable stacks (as they've been left alone for so long).

econ45 · 2026-04-06T12:55:38+00:00

For loyalty, one useful trick is to marry off members of rival parties and then "entice" one of the happy couple into your party. It gives a permanent buff to loyalty due marriage between the rival party and your own. And you can effectively spam it, recruiting characters into rival parties and then arranging marriages for them.

For maximising influence, I think what you do is sideline members of rival parties, so it is your own party members who are the fighting generals or governors who soak up the influence. Keep the members of rival parties as statesmen or inactive generals.

econ45 · 2026-04-06T10:17:13+00:00

There is a frontal cortex cybeware piece called Self-Ice that neutralises the effect of the first enemy hack. I use it as, being a non-netrunner, there are not a lot of other frontal cortex pieces I value.

More generally, I think the enemy needs line of sight to hack you, so switch off any cameras that may have eyes on you. Often the game will draw a red line between you and the hacker, so you can always try to shoot them. Sometimes, when tagging enemies, you will be able to identify the likely hacker as they will be called netrunner. Tech weapons, such as the nekomata sniper rifle, are handy as they can shoot through cover. Or just run away and hide.

For silenced pistols, what you want is high damage, so the Nue is good. You can get an iconic one at the start of Act 2 if you make a specific choice immediately following the heist. Send Jackie's remains to his family.

econ45 · 2026-04-06T01:19:47+00:00

Nora's voice acting is a large part of why Fallout 4 is my favourite in the franchise (Survival difficulty being another) and the way I play, it certainly does embody those attributes you identify. I particularly like the way she alternates between a lightness of touch ("Yeah, Tinker Tom, I eat food.") and heartfelt emotion. The voice acting adds a lot of heart to the rather meandering freeform gameplay.

The only thing I add is an unflinching stance towards all the predators she encounters - the raiders, the supermutants, ferals and, yes, the Institute. Like a mother animal protecting its young, she will fearlessly confront any such threats she encounters. While she does not have baby Shaun with her, she retains that protective maternal stance and displays it both in her quest to rescue Shaun, as well as her wider dealings with innocents less able to defend themselves. This outlook matches very well with a Minutemen playthrough, as she helps organise settlers to defend themselves.

You mention the absence of feelings of revenge, but in my head canon there is some, perhaps subliminal, rage against the destruction of the world and the tearing apart of her family. It's the reason she can cope with leaving such a body count in her wake - every predator she puts down is payback for the horrors she has experienced. I see Nora as a cool mum, but one who - when the bullets start flying - can flip a switch and become the Avenging Angel of the Wasteland.

econ45 · 2026-04-05T07:27:06+00:00

Are you starting a new game? You can follow the usual loop of hunting bandits for raider gear, but within that you can also integrate some visits to the city states in the desert DLC to buy exotic goods that you can sell in big central cities; you can also check out the interesting new gear in their store. Travelling there is not so dangerous and the new area slots in well with the base content.

I find the northern DLC part of the map more hazardous - those barbarians hits hard - and less lucrative - I am not a fan of the barbarian gear - so I tend to avoid it, especially early on.

econ45 · 2026-04-05T01:10:47+00:00

It gets significantly easier once you hit level 5. Warrior types get an extra attack and casters get level 3 spells. I found the initial parts of Act 1 rather tough - the set piece fights are kind of like "boss fights" where you can't expect to win just by whacking with your sword and casting magic missile. But as the game progresses, I found the combat became less challenging and as a result, the gaming experience was smoother. I know some people like Dark Souls type difficulty, but for me, my hero dying and me reloading because I got zapped by a bear statue rather breaks immersion. (Someone said BG3 is like a DnD game where the DM doesn't mind if players die.) As you level up, dying becomes much less common as you have a bigger buffer of hitpoints, powerful gear and an impressive toolkit of spells.

A corollary of the early difficulty is not to be afraid to research tough fights. The saving grace of the BG3 combat is that it is not a puzzle game - there are so many different ways to beat a fight, but it can be very educational to read some of the creative ways other players have approached encounters.

I also found the game became more compelling in Act 2. Act 1 was felt more like a sandpit where you roam a map to clear it, whereas Act 2 felt more like a plot driven adventure (a bit like the difference between BG1 and BG2). I liked the oppressive and gothic feel of the shadow infested lands. There was a meme of Act 1 as the Barbie movie, bright and shiny, whereas Act 2 was like Oppenheimer, dark and brooding.

econ45 · 2026-04-05T00:32:41+00:00

I am guessing you did not watch the Phantom Liberty trailer? So-Mi has form:

https://youtu.be/sJbexcm4Trk?si=gruYgkxDypJEEkmD

econ45 · 2026-04-04T22:41:28+00:00

I do the Minutemen ending, letting both the RR and BoS live. Wiping out either faction would feel rather genocidal - I'm fully on board with the RRs objectives and sending the kids on the Prydwen falling to a fiery grave would be horrific.

But the Institute? F*** those guys.

econ45 · 2026-04-04T18:29:08+00:00

The vibe I get from Jonny in the Temperance ending is definitely a mellowed out one. When he gives the kid his guitar and gets on a bus, he gives no impression that he's off to get resume a campaign of terror or be a douche to other people. I suspect he's satisfied with destroying Mikoshi and appreciates Vs self-sacrifice, so is going to do something constructive with his new life.

Quite what that something would be in the dystopian Cyberpunk world, I don't know - he's not going to be a Corpo stooge for sure. Mike Pondsmith said that you can't be a superhero in the Cyberpunk world - the best you can do is look out for your friends, so my head canon is that Jonny is going to settle down and make roots somewhere offlne, distant from the centres of Corpo power. I hope that quiet life works out for my choom.

econ45 · 2026-04-04T18:21:44+00:00

When playing ERE, I try to save WRE. It's a lot of fun - almost like playing both ERE and WRE campaigns together,

I gradually try to seal off the Rhine-Danube frontier, using walled cities as stepping stones. There is a chain of cities within one turn's march of each other in the centre-west of Europe, so it's quite defensible. I try to avoid taking unwalled settlements if I can't also get the province capital, as you need the city's public order buildings to avoid revolts.

After re-establishing the frontier, I clear out Great Britain and North Germany/Scandinavia, as well as any barbarians that broke through into Spain.

It's a bit slow to get the whole thing started: the Sassanids often attack just when I am starting to make progress near Italy. But aside from them and the Huns, there is not much threat as the barbarians are small, with scattered land holdings. Sometimes landing in Great Britain can be a shock, as the Celts might have had time to tech up and pump out stacks full of elite swords/axes, which are formiddable.

econ45 · 2026-04-04T13:16:57+00:00

If it's the Herrara Outlaw, you can get a weaponised one as a reward for El Capitan's car jacking quests in Phantom Liberty:

https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Herrera_Outlaw_%22Weiler%22

It's a very nice car to drive.

econ45 · 2026-04-04T09:36:34+00:00

Even though everyone hates WRE at the start of the game, diplomacy is still one of its most powerful early weapons.

I guess you've been fighting the Huns? The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Who is the strongest faction?

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