Short Overview:
-Choose your group of 6 heroes ..and jump into the adventure
-Build your own Party and tweak it for your Playstyle
-Difficulty is decent.. don´t try too hard and fail, before you´re geared accordingly
-The game is turn-based and uses a typical Hex-Grid for Combat
-Upgrading your Gear is mandatory to use higher level Skills
-the red thread is the Story-Campaign.. but you need to interrupt a lot to gear up
-Gearing up costs Gold.. so you need to Grind the maps multiple times
-Great way to earn money is Quick missions
-There is several ways to get stronger, but rising AP is the best.. to use awesome skills!
-Ranged combat has some advantages ..make use of it
-enjoy many different skills/spells
-generating AP is KEY to having fun ;D
-use "terrain"
-use "cover"
-.. good luck..


Playtime:
~20hours with strong ranged-dps team (Custom)
~30+ hours with melee team
~30-40 hours with the pre-configured teams
->> Also, this is one of those few games with real REPLAY value

- turn-based Action on a Hex-Grid
- 30(!) different classes with unique skillsets
- Play 35 Story-missions to progress
- Grind(!) through additional 51 Extra-missions to gear up
- Regularly consult the SHOP -Vendor to buy/change GEAR
- the FUN starts once you´re above 60 ActionPoints and can use the best Skills
- the game is quite tactical - BUFFS & DEBUFFS make a big difference

• Challenging(!) ..it takes some hours to get top gear, so be prepared^^
  
• Difficulty reaches from easy to quite hard..
  
• Difficulty setting: "EASY" is suggested for a fresh Level 1 group

Casual - .. (forget it.. no fun, measy XP + money)
EASY - suggested for Starters
Normal - challenging
Hard - tough
EXTREME - well.. fully geared still a challenge^^

Your preferred Playstyle decides which Party-members you use and how you have to approach your opponents. In general, the first question is "Ranged vs Melee" , the second "Off or Def"..

Ranged vs Melee:
- Melee fighters are quite tough, but fights take longer (movement) and you need healing during the first half of the game
- Ranged fighter is squishy, but can decide the battle very fast once you have enough ActionPoints (AP) available. Also takes very little damage, if played properly.

>>> at start, Ranged is weak and positioning is important or you die, therefore you don´t take as much damage as a Melee. But while leveling up and gearing your group -> your dmd-output is great!


As you can see, some Playstyles are better EarlyGame, while others benefit your LateGame (where more Attacks/turn + higher AP/AP-regen is available)

The game features 30(!) different classes :


* = ranged

Now choose.. ;D

While 15 out of 30 heroes can fight at range, also some melee fighters have Range 2 and allow for attacks from second row behind the tanks. Keep that in mind, when planning your Party!

Decide on your Warband :

You can choose from 4 Presets
...or create your own Party (scroll down)

• Talaren´s Swords (ElvenPaladin, Knight, Pyromancer, StormSeer, Archer, HalfGiant)
  
  
• The Shadow Walkers (Duelist, Ranger, Minotaur, Illusionist, Chronomancer, TreeGiant)
  
  
• The Black Watch (DwarfIronGuard, StonePriest, Golem, Gnome, DragonHunter, WalkingCannon)
  
  
• Ashara´s Chosen (ShadowElfWitch, SkeletonChampion, Assassin, Halfling, Centaur, MageHunter)

..mind that Presets can also be adjusted!

The game allows you to recruit Mercenaries that temporarily fight for you ..for a fee!!

Mercenary stats are solid, but no real help above Level 5^^

Most likely you will not need them at all. But it can help in higher difficulty modes.

Most loot is just for sale and not good enough once you hit level 5+
Your main supplier of all the GEAR you ever need is the Vendor.
Make sure to check regularly and upgrade as much as you can!!




BIS (best in slot):
Best quality you can BUY is "Legendary" (orange) -> item level ~Lv. 50
Expect 60-80k per char

• Don´t use any char twice for first Playtrough to enjoy the atmosphere and voicing(!)
  
• Depending on your Playstyle you need a Tank or not..
  
• Make sure you have 2-3 good Damage Dealers (ideally "ranged" or "Range 2"-melee)
  
• The lower your dmg-output, the more need of a healer.. still take at least 1 healer for first Playthrough

My favourite custom Warband "The ranged Exterminators" (2 archers + 4 mages) :
-Ranger ****
-Pyromancer *****
-Archer *****
-Storm Seer *****
-Shadow Elf Witch ****
-Void Dragon *****

Eats through anything once geared. First levels are a bit iffy, just watch your positioning.
Even geared, avoid melee fighting. In a pinch, take a step away and KILL it^^

Strenght indicator: *** = good , **** = strong , ***** = awesome

• Combat usually happens, if you or the enemy are in Weapon-Range
  
• Range can be a big advantage.. use it!
  
• Positioning is Key.. smart positioning can secure a fight in first turn ;)
  
• If you work with Tanks, make sure they face the enemy first.. and position them always at the FRONT, to protect the squishy mages
  
• Any attack in Melee is followed by a Counter-Attack of the target. To prevent that, target has to be killed.
  
• Hit-Chance depends on your stats, but is reduced by targets Evasion
  
• Crit-Chance depends on your stats, but is reduced by targets Crit-Immunity
  
• Armor reduces incoming Attack-dmg (If the attack hits for 12-25dmg and armor is 15, you only take the 12 minimum dmg!)
  
• aside from those calculations, there is a basic hit-chance and a basic chance to miss (even AP-attacks!)
  
• movement is important.. improving movement-range with Gear can help greatly