Battlefield Tactics:

General unit-type tactics

-When leading a large cavalry charge (30+mounted units) against enemy archers or infantry, begin by charging the enemy’s right flank, then veer towards the enemy’s left flank so that your entire line of cavalry troops is parallel to the enemy before issuing a 'charge' command. This will spread your cavalry out to charge and maximize their effectiveness. 

-Keep infantry in formation until after the fighting begins. In fact, unless they're fighting a larger enemy force, leave them in formation.

-Archers can be moved more closely together to maximize their firepower against more compact enemy groups or spread out to make it easier for your cavalry and infantry to advance past them if you're expecting an enemy cavalry charge. 

-Respect the power of polearms. Mixing halberdiers and pikemen into your shield-wall infantry will increase their killing power and survival dramatically.

-Respect the killing power of archers in melee against other infantry. Armored Longbowmen and Armored Crossbowmen will kill all sorts of pure infantry units. Don't be afraid to order them to charge once battle is joined, if you think the odds are bad.  Don't expect a few Huscarls to wipe out a Sarleon archer line!

Small band of soldiers, less than 50 units

-Quality is the key here. Companions, Adventurers, quality mounted units will make or break you on this scale. Mobility, the of yourself and your troops ability to hit and run will determine the ebb and flow of the battle. 

-You may want to build a larger army with archers and infantry, but in the small battles, it is unquestionably the number and quality of your cavalry that determines your success and survival. 

Smaller armies, 50-100 units

-Keep a good 50% balance of archers. Especially in smaller army versus smaller army conflicts, having about half your army as quality archers can be extremely powerful. Rangers, Armored Crossbowmen, Armored Longbowmen, Barclay Sappers, these 

units can decimate the enemy before they close. Each casualty has a measurable impact on your army so play 100% defense. Don't bother with fragile cavalry at this point. Most of the smaller armies you'll be fighting will be sub-factions and not actual Lords, so they will not use the VI but the regular Warband AI. That means they will generally b-line towards your cavalry. Line up your archers, have your infantry form a shield-wall and stand you and your cavalry behind it. The enemy will often just meander towards you and try to push through your archers and infantry to get to you. When they scatter, attack with your cavalry and clean up. Do NOT use this approach if you're fighting an enemy Lord! The VI will behave very differently. 

Mid-range armies, 100-200 units

-As you start to hit 150 or more troops and get into battles with 200 and more enemies, the composition of your army needs to change. 50% archers is no longer effective; the VI will lead enemy cavalry into vulnerable sections of your archers, who will be spread in a long line. They will be numerous enough that cavalry charges will hit your archer line and start chewing them up. Enemy cavalry will attempt to flank you and draw fire on the move while enemy infantry advances. At this point archers should be around a third of your army size and cavalry becomes far more important. You may also find it better to get aggressive, advancing your infantry ahead to soak arrows with their shields while your archers advance behind protected by your cavalry. Battles of this size are rarely one-sided unless one side is drastically larger or superior than the other. Do not lead your cavalry around to flank early because they will likely be isolated and destroyed. Keep them back to meet enemy cavalry charges. After your infantry engages, move them around to flank and destroy enemy archers before attacking enemy infantry. 

Large armies, 200-400 units

-Here is where tactics really start to shine, both yours and the VI’s. If you don't take the time to intelligently manage your troops and their movement and position on the field the VI is going to demolish you. Even if you win it's going to be very, very bloody. Use asymmetric formations, keep your infantry all up behind one side of your archer line and your cavalry behind the other. Consider separating out faster 'shock' infantry like Gladiators and put them past the left or right flank of your archers. That way you can command them to advance a few times and charge to move them past the enemies flank after battle is joined. 

-Watch out for cavalry forces moving to flank your infantry and cavalry to get at your archers. When attacking aggressively, be careful of traps -  the VI will try to lure your cavalry into a charge and then ram them into a tight infantry formation of pikes and spears who will kill even Hero Adventurers before you realize what happened. If you have the best infantry, advance them ahead of your archers -  if the enemy runs out to meet them, great. Move your archers to a flank and let them do their work while your cavalry flanks the enemy to destroy the enemy archers. If they don't, just ram your infantry into the enemy line and then command it to charge. Keep your cavalry on the move so they don't get caught flat-footed. Be aware of where enemy reinforcements will spawn from so that you don't get caught trapped between retreating enemy troops and advancing enemy reinforcements. Don't get lured into chasing retreating enemies back into enemy reinforcements. Reform your troops or the enemy reinforcement charge can do you a lot of damage. Have your archers hold fire until the enemy is close, actively manage your ranged units to conserve ammunition or you'll be facing a wave of fierce and fresh reinforcements with empty quivers and wounded infantry. 

Huge battles with multiple lords on each side, 400-2500 units

-Don't just leave your allies to it. Regardless of their tactics you have to stay on the move to support them. Hang together or you will surely hang apart. Move immediately to a flank and expect to be on the offense. Let your allies take the bulk of the enemy force. Set up your infantry and archers to attack the next waves of enemy reinforcements. Order your archers to hold fire or they will exhaust their ammunition far too early. After your infantry and archers are positioned to deal with enemy reinforcements use your cavalry to charge the enemy attacking your allies and hit them from behind. When they scatter and retreat reform your cavalry so they don't run off and get nailed by a massive cavalry horde that pops up as reinforcements or leave your infantry and archers unprotected from flanking enemy attack. 

-Keep your cavalry with you or they'll likely get caught up among allied troops as much as enemies, dragged from their horses and killed. Stay on the move. Hit large enemy cavalry formations dead-on, this will grind them to a halt. When possible get them to chase you at an angle relative to your archers so their sides are exposed. Don't hesitate to fall back to allied reinforcements if the battle is turning against you. Always stay focused on where the next wave of reinforcements is coming from or you can find the battle swinging suddenly out of control.

TREEBEARD'S GUIDE TO FORMATIONS:

The new VI (Battle AI) triggers when the Battle Formations setting is turned ON (in PoP3 WB: options in the Camp Menu). It is combined with formations. Both the VI and the player have Formations capability. The VI will use formations in combination with maneuvering in order to give the player a greater challenge on the battlefield. The VI is also responsive to the player’s actions and will react in a sensible way. The VI is dynamic and will not act exactly the same in two repeated battles. If the player finds the VI to be too hard, it can be turned off in the PoP 3: WB settings. When the VI is active the player’s commands have a chance to be spoken. Do not use the Esc key when issuing orders. That will mess up the audio commands because the Esc key cannot be listened to by the code (- TW problem). If you have un-synced audio commands they can be re-synced by selecting a battle group (numeric keys 1 through 0 on the keyboard). On some occasions, the battle order panel may become disabled (it will not trigger by pressing the Backspace key) upon knockout of the player. If this happens you’ll have to watch the battle play out without being able to issue any “post-mortem” commands, so make sure you command your troops wisely. Player battles against the VI incur a small bonus to renown.

I decided to call it VI to make it stand out against normal Native AI and other mods’ AI.

AI means Artificial Intelligence and implies something that is real and has intelligence (- an Intelligent machine for example). An artificial intelligence is creative and can evolve on its own.

In contrast, VI means Virtual Intelligence. Virtual is something that is not real and that simulates something. In this case the computer simulates Intelligence by following logical rules and tracking information on the battlefield. A VI can’t be creative and evolve on its own. It is kind of like comparing “Virtual Reality” with “Actual Reality”.

Vicky is derived from the first letters in Virtual Intelligence. It gives the VI a nice personality tied to a name. Actually Vicky is gender neutral (the name can be derived from either Victoria or Victor), but it is commonly thought to be a female.

Vicky is the player’s challenger. She/He will do her/his best to challenge the player on the battlefield and make the player pay for being sloppy.

If the player likes he can turn off Vicky by changing the Battle Formations to OFF in the Camp Menu under POP 3:WB Options. Of course, once you have met Vicky you don’t want to turn her/him off, would you? That would be Rude!

Cavalry starts in Wedge and I rarely take them out of that formation prior to charging.

Upon charge any formation will be undone.

When Formations is turned ON in the Camp menu, it will add the ability for Infantry to form Ranks, Shield Wall, Square and Wedge. Archers gain the ability to form a staggered line. Cavalry gains the ability to form a Wedge.

In order for the troops to be able to form any formation, they will need to have a certain number. For cavalry the minimum number of troops is 5. For archers and Infantry the minimum number is 12 troops. At any time in a battle when you have issued a formation form command or give the Hold order, the current formation will set up near the position that you (the player) had when you issued the command: infantry to the left, cavalry to the right, and archers up front. 

Player troops start every battle in formation. The AI also uses formations and can move in formations. If the player wants to move and keep formations, then he holds down the Hold order and points the “hold flag” at the position he wants his formations to move. Alternatively, he can use the Advance 10 Steps order repeatedly to move his selected troops in formation. A third alternative is to use the mini-map control panel (accessible by pressing Backspace) and click on a position on it to move and hold that position.

The formation key bindings are:

"J" for ranks – Ranks is a three line deep formation that puts the most experienced troops in the front. It is available for Infantry. The command also applies to Archers, but in their case they will form a Staggered Line.  This formation is good against other infantry and archers.

"K" for Shield Wall –The shield wall command will only affect Infantry. This makes them form three lines. They will have shield units in the front, then short weapons, then pole weapons. This formation is good to use when advancing against archers. 

"L" for Wedge (NOTE: the player should reassign the "L" for "Log" mapping to another unused key) – Wedge commands can affect Cavalry and Infantry. It is a triangular formation that has its tip towards the general enemy position. The formation uses its most experienced troops in the front.  This formation is good to make a dent in a different formation and split it up. It is best used with high level troops that have good armor and weapons.

";" for Square - The Square command makes a square out of the square root of the number of Infantry units. If you have 25 Infantry units the square will be five columns with five units in each column.  This formation is a useful defensive formation against cavalry.

"U" for No Formation (undo formation) –This command disassembles all current formations for the selected troop type(s) and puts them back in Native Hold formation mode.

When will a Formation be undone?  It will be undone when you issue a Charge command. For Cavalry it will also be undone if you issue a Dismount command.

In what direction do formations face? Formations face the general direction of the enemy. 

Please note:  

Treebeard's formations only work against organized armies, like those of the lords, not with disorganized groups like bandits or Vanskerry raiders.

To make Formations work:

1.You must have Battle Formations ON

2.The encountered party must belong to a disciplined faction

3.The battle type must be a regular field battle (- i.e. not a village attack or siege or such battles)

Undisciplined factions are generally troops on the map that have white color. Other undisciplined factions are: Red Brotherhood, Mystmountain, Mountain Bandits, Forest Bandits, Outlaws.

When you are in a Formations and VI battle you'll notice a message at the start of the battle about Forming troops. If there is no such message you are in a battle against undisciplined troops and Formations and VI are turned off.

Disciplined factions are all kingdom factions, heretics, snake cult, noldor, Renegade knights and Jatu. In these battles you'll face the VI and have formations (if you have the Battle Formations option turned ON).

When in a Formations and VI battle it also depends on which group/division you have currently selected. If you have archers listening and you order a square or wedge command it will have no effect. If you select everyone (0) then those who can form for example wedge will do so (if you order wedge). So if you have a selection that consists of less than required troop types for a certain formation, then they won't be able to form that formation.

7. Abyss’s Companion Bubble and Tips on some of the best companion combinations

 (click to show/hide)

Dev Notes: (Revised 9/27/11)

-One companion will tolerate another companion he/she does not like if he/she also has a likeable companion in the party as well. Example: Boadice will tolerate Ansen, as long as Sir Jocelyn is in the party as well (Since Boadice likes Sir Jocelyn), but if you have Ansen and Sir Rayne (who Boadice also dislikes) in your party then it will not work and one or both companions who do not like each other may leave you eventually.

-The maximum allowed companions you can have that will not cause any trouble for you is 11. If you have more than 11, even if every single party member gets along, companions will start to leave you no matter what you do.

-Please note that this initial companion setup was created a very, very long time ago and was originally meant PoP 3.01 for the Original M&B. However, since a lot of this material is still relevant to the WB Port, you can at least get an understanding on what kind of companions will "gel" together sort of speak 

Maximum Companion Count option #1 

Diev-Siggy-Leslie-Kaverra-Lethaldiran-Julia-Alyssa-Alistair

You can add Ansen+Sir Rayne for versatility or Boadice+Frederic for more asskicking power.

 Key Points about Option #1

-Do not raid villages,steal from peasants or rob merchants,otherwise Leslie,Diev,Boadice are upset.

-Do not run from battles,or Sir Alistair,Sir Rayne,Frederick are upset.

-Do not fail quests,or Alyssa is upset.

-Do not fail to feed or pay the men,do not get slaughtered or Kaverra,Siggy,LethalD,Julia,Ansen are upset.

Maximum Companion Count option #2

Adonja-Donavan-Kassim-Ediz-Riva-Sara-Roland-Jocelyn

You can add ANY combination of the inner circle to this build.ie,Boadice+Ansen,Frederick+Sir Rayne,Ansen+Sir Rayne etc.

Key Points to Option #2

-Do not raid villages, steal from peasants or rob merchants,otherwise Jocelyn and Roland are upset.

-Do not run from battles,or Donavan,Ediz,Sara are upset.

-Do not fail to feed or pay the men,do not get slaughtered or Adonja,Kassim,Riva are upset.

Maximum Companion Count option #3 (For the not so honorable players) 

Alistair-Adonja-Donavan-Kassim-Ediz-Riva-Alyssa-Ansen

The upside to this choice is you get Ansen and Alyssa.

OR

Alistair-Siggy-Donavan-Kassim-Ediz-Riva-Sara-Sir Rayne

The upside to this choice is you get Sigismund and Sir Rayne.

Key points to Option #3

-With the above groups, FEEL FREE TO raid villages, steal from poor miserable peasants, rob merchants and GET AWAY WITH IT.

Maximum Companion Count Option #4 (For the Chivalry Haters)

Roland-Jocelyn-Diev-Sigismund-Leslie-Kaverra-Lethaldiran-Julia-Boadice

Key Points about option #4

-This is probably the most hard core, kick ass warring joint ever. 

-Though you lack a medic with this build.

-Feel free to run from battles as much as you like, surrender, pay off bullies and bandits, leave some men behind to cover your escape, and even then everyone is happy!

Maximum Companion Count option #5 (You simply don't like Egalitarians and It’s survival of the fittest)

Leslie-Diev-Donavan-Frederick-Jocelyn-Boadice-Ediz

Upon this seven, you can either add;

Alistair + Alyssa or Roland + Sara by choice.

Key points about option #5

-It would appear that Double A's would be a better choice. Unless you're a real big fan of funny moustaches and  man-eaters.

-The upside of this build is that you don't have to feed your men any more, or pay them. No companions will object. You can get slaughtered like lambs, and everyone's happy.

-This build is also quite versatile in skills distribution of companions.

-But the downside is it has all the rest of the some packages mentioned already. So, Can't go raiding stuff or surrendering, or failing quests with this group.

It has often been asked on this forum how you can recruit lords in Prophesy of Pendor and although a multitude of threads have been written on the subject, I think that a concise thread might be of some use. This thread will explain how to get lords and hopefully help you enjoy Prophesy of Pendor.

How to recruit lords?

There are two ways to recruit lords. One of them is to befriend them and then take them prisoner, the other is to destroy their faction.

1. Befriend lords and take them prisoner

In order to befriend lords you need to increase your relationship with them. The relationship is shown in points. You can see it when you talk to a lord and move the courser over his face, which can be seen in the upper left corner of the conversation screen. You need to have a relationship of at least seventeen points with a lord to be able to recruit him. When you take a lord with whom you have 17 relationship-points or more prisoner and talk to him by clicking on "talk" in the party window, he will offer you to swear homage (or something along those lines). Accept this oath and he will be your vassal. Taking him prisoner will see the relationship decrease a few points, but if you give him towns, castles or villages or help him in battle, those points will quickly be back.

To gain those relationship-points or more, you can do several things:

-Do quests for the lord.

-Help him in battle.

-Beat him in battle and let him go instead of taking him prisoner.

-Gain honor. (You gain honor by letting lords go free instead of taking them prisoner and by freeing Noldor prisoners from your party (to do this go to the party screen, select a Noldor unit and click on "talk". After you have some honor your relationship with some lords will automatically improve from time to time, without any action on your part).

2. Defeat a faction

-When you defeat a faction the lords of that faction will be randomly shared between the remaining factions, so you stand a pretty good chances to get lords this way, although you could have the bad luck to get the worst lords or the lords who hate you (you could of course also have good luck and get the best lords).

This is a lot easier as a Mercenary with no threats to any faction, but naturally you can change it up as you declare yourself to one faction or become independent yourself. The most important rule of trading is buy low and naturally sell high, but naturally you have to buy the right items.

Items you want to buy most of the time and their price ranges.

1) Iron - Buy between 0-170 and sell for around 300 or more

2) Oil - Buy between 250-370 and sell for around 500-550 or more

3) Salt - Buy between 0-170 and sell for around 300 or more

4) Dates - Buy between 0-60 and Sell for around 170 or more

5) Linen - Buy beween 0-180 and sell for around 280 or more

6) Cloth - Buy between 0-260 and sell for around 400 or more 

7) Spices - Buy between 0-680 and sell for around 800 or more

8 ) Flax - Buy between 0-60 and sell for around 160 or more

Those are the main commodities you want to focus on and will give the most profit out of all other items.. Speaking of the others items below are the items you should avoid because the profit margin to them is way to low:

1) Hide

2) Ale

3) Dye

4) Tools (some may disagree, but the profit margin is never anywhere good for it to be profitable in terms of quantity available)

5) Leatherwork

6) Wine

7) Wool

8 ) Pottery

9) Raw Silk

10) Velvet (another one that be nice if the price is right, but quantity is usually very small)

11) Furs

Those items you want to avoid buying, unless you see them like super cheap, then purchases of Wine, Leatherwork, Dyes, Tools, or Velvet could be worthwhile for a tiny quick profit, but overall it's usually not available in good quantity, so it hardly makes it a must have to buy.

And now the best places to find good quantity of the better items you want to buy:

1) Iron - Sanderfall

2) Oil - Laria

3) Salt - Singal, Torbah and sometimes Windholm as well

4) Dates - D'Shar territories of Singal, Ishkoman, Torbah, and also Nal Tar too.

5) Linen - This tricky cause Linen is usually available everywhere, you just have to find the right price for it. Usually I find the best prices for it in either Ishkoman or Poinsbruk.

6) Cloth - So far the best prices I've found for this is in Ravernstern Territories of Rane and Poinsbruk, and sometimes Laria as well.

7) Spices - Mostly fine the best price of this in Nal Tar only.

8 ) Flax - Best prices I've seen for this is in Fierdsvain Territories of Valonbray, Javiksholm and Windholm.

Best places to sell your best commodity items:

1) Iron - Almost everywhere, ironically you can make really good sell prices in Ravernstern, Rane, and Poinsbruk and sometimes D'Shar territories too so it's short and quick.

2) Oil - Empire Lands of Cez, Ethos, Janos sell well here, and sometimes D'Shar Territories too. 

3) Salt - Ravernstern Lands sells Salt well, and makes a good route back and force from Ravenstern Lands to D'Shar Lands.. 

4) Dates - Fierdsvain territories of Valonbray, Javiksholm, and Windholm is where you will be getting rid of most of this stock.

5) Linen - Everywhere really, just need to find the right price if you have a good surplus of it based on the sell prices I suggested above.

6) Cloth - Same as above, everywhere, just find the best prices you can for it.. Sometimes Avendor and Marleons can give you good sell prices on this too. 

7) Spices - Another everywhere, just find the best prices that sell your spices for over 800 Denars, so you can make maximum profit on it.

8 ) Flax - Hands down Avendor, I've seen them sell there for over 250 a pop.. If you lucky you can get Flax really cheap in those Fierdsvain territories, so this would be a killer profit for you. 

Now, in terms of what route to take. I basically go around like this..

1st Part of the Route:

Ishkoman ---> Torbah ---> Singal --> Nal Tar:

- Grabbing what Salt, Dates, and Spices I can for good price

- Selling left over prices of maybe Oil or Iron that I've picked up on the way

2nd Part of the Route:

Valonbray ---> Javiksholm --> Windholm --> Avendor ---> Marleons

- Grabbing what Flax I can find for a good price and by Windholm restock on Salt if the price is good

- Also selling any leftover Oil. Iron, Salt,  or Dates from my previous routes if the price wasn't good.

- You'll probably get some wicked prices to sell Flax over at Avendor

3rd Part of the Route:

Ravenstern ---> Sanderfall ---> Rane ---> Poinsbruk

-Looking for Cloth-Linen in Ravernstern, Rane, or Poinsbruk

-Mean money maker is the Iron in Sanderfall, usually very good prices and probably one of your best profit margins too as you begin to sell it everywhere else.

-You'll mostly get rid of most of your Salt here, as they usually sell for good prices

-If you went to Avendor and Marleons, then you may need to reverse your route into Ravernstern lands for efficiency, so start from Poinsbruk, then go down to Ravernstern. OR you can hit Avendor and Marleons on the way back from Ravernstern Lands after Laria which is part of my 4th Route here, however you'll probably run out space to carry all that Flax you got for a good price over in Fierdsvain lands. 

4th Part of the Route:

Laria ---> Sarleon ---> Ethos ---> Cez ---> Janos ---> Repeat back to Ishkoman

-Laria is the main money place for Oil, sometimes extremely good buy rate, thus you can make an extreme profit from it if you’re lucky. One time I brought over 11 Oils there for 150-170 a piece, and since they mostly sell for over 500, I assume you can do the math here on profitable that was.

-If you didn't hit Avendor and Marleons yet, you can do so here as well, so basically you would do Laria ---> Marleons --> Avendor, then back to Sarleon after and continue the route to Empire Lands.

Naturally, that's about it, but the most important thing to remember too, every town you visit, always check the Tavern as you never know what rumors or good mercenaries you may find there (Barclay Sappers and Heavy Footmen are pretty darn good for an early game), and most importantly if travelers give you maps to treasure chests, and those various loot items which are always good profit too and part of your route.

Are you tired of being just 1 point of powerdraw away from using that shiny Ruby runed bow? Are you cursing the gods because you are too weak for plate armor when you're the ruler of Pendor and at level 50? Well then, spit no more your venomous bile, because this is the guide that will help you plan your skill upgrades and show you how to avoid ineffective upgrading when you need one more level and/or the stats to equip an item.

Step 1: Determine your strength threshold.

Strength is the be-all and end-all indicator of what equipment your character can use and is most often the stat to which people fail to assign enough points to equip some extra nice equipment. From bows, to crossbow, armor and huge honking halberds, the level of your strength will dictate how much access to the equipment pool of POP you can attain.  

Note that, for bows, even though the minimum powerdraw is covered, there is a significant bonus to accuracy if you have +3 to the power draw requirements. That is the benefit of powerdraw.

Also, be aware that certain prefixes will have an effect on both the quality and ability of equipment and what stats are required to use them. These are the one which modify:

Melee weapons:

“Heavy” prefix - +1 to strength requirement.

Bows:

“Strong”: +1 to powerdraw requirements

“Masterwork”: +3 (?) to powerdraw requirements

Horses:

“Stubborn”: +1 to riding requirements

“Spirited”: +1 to riding requirements

“Champion”: +2 (seems to be inconsistent) to riding requirements

Strength 9

At strength 9 (the bare minimum level) you have access to chain mail and its equivalent; a huge improvement over the non-strength-required armor. It also allows for power draw 3 which the D'Shar bow, the best bow for mounted use requires. Laughably, at power throw 3 you are able to use all throwing weapons bar special modifiers, so take that into account. Note that, with one more point you unlock the light crossbow and hunting crossbows, the heaviest crossbows that you can use on horseback. The maiden crossbow has a slightly higher accuracy and speed, but will not be found in markets.

Strength 15

At 15 strength, all melee weapons are unlocked. This category includes halberds, lances and 2-handed war hammers. These provide, for non-combat orientated characters seeking a good weapon to cleave the skulls of heavily armored knights an excellent range of weaponry. Also, at power draw 5, the composite bow is unlocked. The composite bow is the best common bow in terms of firepower but cannot be used on horseback.  The heavy crossbow, is my personal preferred crossbow.  It does very high damage without the huge drop in speed from the siege crossbow, which is also unlocked at this level.

Strength 18

All plate armor is unlocked at this point. As well as the siege crossbow for those not interested in using bows. The Noldor bow is also unlocked, a great bow if you can get your hands on one!

Strength 21

The penultimate threshold, this level of physical prowess allows you to use the legendary runed bow at powerdraw 7. Powerdraw 7 is an absolute must for archer characters if they wish to reach the peak of their potential. Some of the high level plate harness is also unlocked but their stats do not differ too much from regular armor.

Strength 30

This is it. Beyond this level, there is no material incentive to get any stronger. At strength 30 the demon skin and Noldor armor is unlocked. The very best in defense and weight ratios, they are nonetheless incredibly difficult to obtain, often requiring well over a 100k to buy or incredible luck to loot. Also skills cap out at level 10 so even if you add more points above 10, you won’t benefit from doing so.

Step 2: Determine your Agility Threshold

For The main equipment affected by agility is horses and shields.  Though they are not as crucial to equipment as strength, agility points are point for point much better than strength. That extra 1% speed will save you from that blow that could take off more than the 1hp that strength gives. The real use for agility in regards to equipment is on horseback, hence the priority on riding.

Riding 1

Every character should start with at least 1 riding in order to ride that a sumpter or saddle horse. Even though it's useless in combat, it does provide a speed boost on the overhead map and your character will be thankful for a horse to ride on instead of having to hoof it for miles.

Riding 2&3

At riding 2, access to the Gold Mane Courser is unlocked. It is the fastest courser with the exception of the much rarer Noldor horses. You can stop here, if you are not looking to crash hundreds of pounds of horse into your foes. Also, hunters are quite good for those looking for a fast horse able to trample the rabble.  They won’t do much good against an armored knight on a warhorse, however.

Riding 5

At Riding 5, warhorses are unlocked. They are less heavily armored than chargers but still fast. These are the most balanced horses all around. Noldor dark horses and gold leafs are also unlocked, and are great for people lucky enough to loot them.

Riding 6

This unlocks the best and heaviest class of horses. In order of light to heavy, they are the Crimson Steel, the Ironbred and Netherworld Charger. The Noldor spirit horses are also unlocked at this level.  These are hands down the best horse for a speed, charge and defense combination. A charge by a Noldor spirit horse hits an enemy so hard and fast that, with the exception of the heaviest defense line, it will simply cleave right through an infantry line.

Shields

Only level 3 matters because that unlocks the Noldor shields which are on par with the Ornate knight’s shield. Although there are significant performance differences amongst top-tier shields, the other shields are perfectly adequate for most battles, provided they don't last too long. (Even then, you can equip one from a dead enemy on the field.)

Step 3: Determine your Stats/Skills distribution.

Once you have decided on what level of equipment you wish to equip, the big puzzler comes when you decide where and how to allocate your skill points. Naturally, you'll be tempted to dump many points into strength and agility but with the use of the Elixir of Akron you can gain at least 2 points each in strength and agility and allocate the rest of it to Intel and Charisma. (Generally, it is good to level up to 18~21 strength and 15~18 agility before using an elixir.) 

Charisma based character 

Being a CHA based character is not very good. That is the only stat that affects leadership skill, because it is a personal skill. Charisma is only really important for leadership, which is very useful for recruiting and maintaining a large army. On the other hand, with books and achievements, you can gain around a 3 boost to leadership and stop roughly at around 21 charisma. Since prisoner management is useful but exponentially becomes weaker I recommend capping it at around 5, max. As for persuasion, the opportunities to use persuasion are fairly low and you can get around the need for it by having high honor, and good party management, although it is good for persuading lords to join your side and for keeping companions from leaving your party when disgruntled.

The charisma-based characters tend to be fairly good at gaining lots of cash. Simply being a mercenary with high persuasion and leadership means that one can indefinitely sustain a very large army. Trade and prisoner management also help in buying equipment and in selling your loot for really good prices.

Thus, in order of importance;

1:Leadership

2:Prisoner Management

3:Persuasion

4: Trade (Leslie has this at 5)

Intel-based character

Intel characters are far more flexible than Charisma based ones, thanks to the huge pool of skills that benefit from it and the extra point of skill gained, which can be put into your stats. If you have any doubts or need an extra skill point, this is the place to put your point. However, all intel skills are party skills which means that, inevitably, there's always someone who can do it for you. Nonetheless, the limited number of skill points means that it is always a good idea to invest some points into intelligence, especially considering how party skills work. The best way to utilize an intel character is to read as many books on party skills, then top up that value to multiples of 2 in order to get a bonus to your other party members.

Since they are all party skills, they are all equally important and their relevance determined by your individual style of play. (Let somebody else do it and send them into a little corner every time you enter a battle.)

Knights derive only from Noble Recruits, who are spawned weekly by towns, villages and castles owned by you. (how many, depends your Renown and Honor, the more chivalrous you are, the more noble recruits you will get each week) To find out whether you have any Noble Recruits open the “Reports menu” and check your Character Report which will tell how many noble recruits have joined your cause. These Noble Recruits have their own troop tiers and most importantly, the higher parts of the tiers will allow you to be able to induct them into a particular Knighthood Order that either you establish in your Town/Castle, or an existing one that’s already there in the Castle/Town you own. Note: That before any kind of Noble recruiting can be done, you will need the building called “Training Ground” built in your Town/Castle. It’s very important to remember that you can only recruit your nobles in a Town/Castle, YOU CANNOT, recruit any nobles if you only own a Village, so keep that in mind and get a castle/town quickly!

Once you have a training ground in a town or castle, talk to the steward there and in the War Room, say "View noble recruits". Each Noble recruit you "accept into your court" (next option if you have them) will cost you 500 denars.  That's 500 denars per Noble Recruit, not 500 Denars for all.  

You should get only one type of recruit, depending on the faction you have chosen allegiance too or based on the culture you choose if you went the “King” route in your game.

- Sarleon: Sarleon Nobleman (upgrades to Sarleon Squire-at-arms -> Sarleon Knight)

- Ravenstern: Ravenstern Nobleman (upgrades to Ravenstern Squire-at-Arms -> Ravenstern Knight)

- D'Shar: D'Shar Nobleman (upgrades to D'Shar Noble Raider -> D'Shar Noble Cavalry)

- Fierdsvain: Fierdsvain Noblewoman (upgrades to Fierdsvain Sword Maiden -> Valkyrie)

- Empire: Empire Nobleman (upgrades to Empire Light Cavalry -> Empire Horseman or Empire Noble Legionnaire Recruit -> Empire Knight)

- Pendor: Pendor Nobleman (upgrades to Pendor Squire-at-Arms -> Pendor Knight -> Pendor Grey Archer or Pendor Foot Knight

-You need a Training Ground already built, which you should already have by now

-You also need 20,000 Denars, so save up!

-Some Orders require a Qualis Gem to get them started, but some do not just pay attention to the specific requirements of each faction on whether or not a Qualis Gem is needed. (It’s always good to save the first Qualis Gem you get so that you can establish any Order you wish if you meet the other requirements)

-Most importantly you need to have positive relations with the Knighthood Order you want to establish and the best way to increase that is through helping them in battle and the “Heartbeat” or new quests that randomly come into play as you own Villages/Towns/Castles – the quests may include a quest from some particular orders. Sometimes your relation with a certain faction will help you get those specific faction Orders easier (like Empire Immortals and Shadow Legion Centurions are pretty easy to get if you’re an Empire Vassal for example)

-Yes, they are called “Heartbeat” Quests. You will receive these quests through the Steward or Elder of your owned Village, Town, or Castle.. As you travel around the World map, you’ll receive a message that your town/castle steward or village elder wishes to see you on an important matter. That is the sign for a “Heartbeat” Quest so  go back to your village/town/castle and talk to your Steward/Elder.  He will let you know what the situation is. Keep in mind you can get more involved Heartbeat quests when you own a Town or Castle, rather than a Village and also remember that picking the most expensive option is usually not the best course to solving the quest as each choice will give you a random result, some will be positive and some will be negative and  very unpleasant.

Solving the Murder Mystery Quest

If you solve the murder mystery, you will receive a handsome reward. The report that someone's wife died will appear onscreen BUT to get that quest, you must own about half the map -  9 cities, and be at war with another faction: 

a) Be on "friend - relation 50" terms with a lord, in your faction 

b) Be able to enter that lord's castle 

c) Be at war with another faction

d) Talk to the ghost lady in your buddy lord’s castle

e) Investigate the people she tells you about by talking to them. 

To complete the quest, you must confront the guilty party, and then inform the other suspects that you find them innocent. Then, go back and talk to the ghost and she’ll reward you. (Make sure you have some room in your inventory.) There is plenty of allowed time for this quest, so don't worry if you can't finish it immediately because the castle is under