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How to win the game with each background (v0.1.6)
By Fraggelsmurf
The tricks to complete the game with every background on gladiator difficulty.
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Fraggelsmurf
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Category: Characters, Classes, Game Modes, Gameplay Basics, Maps or Levels, Walkthroughs, Weapons
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
25 Dec, 2022 @ 1:53am
12 Feb, 2023 @ 9:11am
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Guide Index
Overview
General strategy 
Professional Aspirant 
Slave 
Criminal Scum 
Thrill Seeker Civilian 
Former Soldier 
Desperate Politician 
Blacksmith's Apprentice 
How to pick the best match 
Victory Rewards (spoiler) 
Comments
General strategy
Each background has their own victory condition and traits but there are some strategies that are mostly shared for all.

General Strategies
  1. Professional Aspirant is the easiest background
  2. Sell all your armor at the start
  3. Select the safest match with decent reward*
  4. Get a good 1h weapon as soon as possible (recommend swords)
  5. Get the largest shield you can find
  6. Get backup weapon and shield (needed when you repair the main ones)
  7. Get a helmet that gives bonus to fame
  8. After level 8 things get harder and you need to stop training and get better armor*
  9. Keep using the same weapon type to master the skill

Combat strategies
  • Hit parts without armor (more damage to them and less damage to your weapon)
  • Hit their head if there are no weak parts (hold ctrl)
  • Use overhead strike to avoid hitting allies when it's crowded (ctrl)
  • Always keep the cursor on your opponent (easier to hit and parry)
  • Beware of spike traps, they are triggered by buttons
  • Stay safe, ignore the crowd

Between matches
  1. Make sure you have enough health
  2. Make sure your equipment have enough durability for the next match
  3. Check if there are any good gambling bets*
  4. Buy 6 training gear and set training to "Outrageous" on stamina (main) and movement (secondary) before an easy match*
  5. Place a shop order if you need a certain item
  6. Have one auxiliary item slot free in case you get a free item with rank up or event
  7. Check shop discounts and refunds

Scollo upgrades
  • Extra ordinary: Good and cheap upgrade
  • Aspirant Welfare: Not worth it unless you get hurt a lot
  • We who are bout to disenfect: Get it once you have enough money and you don't get fully healed from one healing
  • Greater mending: Often not needed
  • Seal of approval: Only needed for Criminal Scum background
  • Unionise: Seldom used
  • Heirloom: Get it before winning/dying (select your main weapon)
  • Entourage: Great upgrade, but spend the gold on a good body armor before

* Not for all backgrounds
Professional Aspirant
Positive traits
  • Starting specialist combat skills from training in the Scollo
  • Some starting equipment provided by the Scollo
  • It is easier for you to win over the audience during combat
  • Training gear at the Scollo is cheaper

Negative traits
  • Your Scollo takes 50% of all fame you earn

VICTORY CONDITION
  • Reach ASPIRED rank

Background Strategy
  • Train stamina and movement (outrageous with 6 gear) as long as the matches are still easy
  • Keep selecting safe matches with decent reward until you reach aspired rank
  • Before winning, buy the Scollo upgrade "Heirloom" and pass on your sword to the next character
Slave
Positive Traits
  • Unlikely champion: every victory increases all match fame reward by 5%
  • Maximum stamina: +15
  • Stamina regeneration: +10%

Negative Traits
  • As a slave, your Scollo takes 50% of all gold you earn
  • As a slave, you start with one less battle option

Victory Condition
  • 100,000 [FAME]

Background Strategies
  • Don't gamble: Scollo will take 50% of the earnings while you pay for the whole bet
  • Don't train: You already got a stamina bonus and training gear is expensive (Only train if you have more money than you need)
  • Don't fundraise: You need the Fame for victory
  • Very important that you have gear that increases Fame
  • Try to get enough fame to win before things gets too hard since you won't afford any good armor
  • Try to start with a weapon heirloom since new weapons are expensive
  • Use Promote to convert money to fame if you are close to victory
Criminal Scum
Positive traits
  • Deep pockets: additional auxiliary inventory slot unlocked
  • Increased betting pay-out: +150%
  • Bribery assessment is free
  • Bribery is less likely to critically fail
Negative traits
  • It is harder for you to win over the audience during combat
  • Favor with Patrons increases slower. (50%)

VICTORY CONDITION
  • 20,000 [FAME]
  • 80% or more Favor with all Patrons

Background strategies
  • Try to win as much money as possible with gambling
  • Try to get good relationship with patron Alloura first since she can affect favor
  • Use bribery once you are close to getting enough favor to win (assess first)
  • On "Adoring fan" event: Report him to get favor
  • Get the Scollo upgrade "Seal of approval" early
Thrill Seeker Civilian
Positive traits
  • Lower health increases Stamina Regeneration
  • Free man: match skips are 50% cheaper (I don't know what match skip is)

Negative traits
  • You must pay your Scollo a service fee every week, when possible. Cost: 500 [GOLD]

VICTORY CONDITION
  • Kill 80 Aspirants

Background strategies
  • Start this background with a good sword as heirloom if possible
  • Always select matches where you can kill as many people as possible (don't select 1 vs many!)
  • Select gambles that involves killing or dismembering
  • Try to kill enough people before things gets too hard
Former Soldier
Positive traits
  • Some skills from your former profession
  • Some starting equipment from your former profession
  • Maximum health: +20

Negative traits
  • Maximum stamina: -20
  • Stamina regeneration: -5%

VICTORY CONDITION
  • 100,000 [GOLD]

Background strategies
  • Don't forget to train your stamina
  • Be sure to sell all your armor at the start since you need the stamina
  • Spend your gold and don't start saving for victory until you have good armor and Scollo upgrade "Entourage"
  • Select safe matches until you have enough gold to win
  • Convert fame to gold with fundraising
Desperate Politician
Positive traits
  • Personal Guard: You start with the Entourage Scollo Upgrade unlocked and it is always active
  • Influential: You gain weekly fame based on your total patron favor.

Negative traits
  • It is significantly harder for you to win over the audience during combat.
  • You start with no combat skills whatsoever and training gear is more expensive
  • You have only 50 health (not listed in description)

VICTORY CONDITION
  • Majority Vote: Reach 90% Favor or more with at least 3 patrons

Background strategies
  • Sell the large fancy mug weapon for 5,000 gp!
  • 1 vs 1 matches are very easy
  • 1 vs Many are not as dangerous and often worth the big reward
  • Try not to get hurt at all
  • Try to get good relationship with patron Alloura first since she can affect favor
  • Use bribery once you are close to getting enough favor to win (assess first)
  • On "Adoring fan" event: Report him to get favor
  • Get the Scollo upgrade "Seal of approval" early
  • Donate money to the plague treatment event to get patron favor
Blacksmith's Apprentice
Positive traits
  • The blacksmith will repair 500-1000 durability for free each week
  • Deep pockets: You start with an additional auxiliary inventory slot unlocked
  • Maximum bargains: The shop is discounted much more frequently

Negative traits
  • Scavenger: All items you buy from the shop have 10-20% durability
  • You cannot sell equipment, instead you gift equipment to the blacksmith

VICTORY CONDITION
  • Give the blacksmith equipment worth 100,000 gold

Background strategies
  • Accept that you have to wait 1 match before you can use bought items
  • Buy better items when you can and "sell" the ones that you don't need anymore until you win
  • Keep track on Discount and Refund every week (top left corner)
  • Buy items cheap and "sell" them when they are worth as most
  • Repair your items when you can, it's free
  • Buy extra auxiliary inventory slots for storing items
How to pick the best match
Your only objective is to survive and earnings are just means to survive better in the future.
How a match goes also affects your earnings. Healing and repairs takes money away, and winning bets adds to them.

Match types
  • 1 vs 1: Can be quick but the enemy is tougher
  • 1 vs Many: Very dangerous. Avoid!
  • Many vs 1: Easy and quick match. Perfect when training or healing
  • Many vs Many: Team vs Team. Takes more time but allows you to kill more enemies
  • Pit Fight: Several smaller teams fighting each other. Takes more time but allows you to kill more enemies

Match traits
  • Prestigious: Minor bonus, not important
  • Luck of the draw: Avoid this if you have good weapon and shield to keep the advantage. If you need to repair your weapon/shield and do not have a backup, then this trait can be good
  • Entourage: Great trait if you have the Scollo upgrade
  • Shrouded: Never take this trait if there is a risk for "1 vs many" match
  • Insurance: The best match trait!
  • Spoils to the Victor: You need to enter the match with worse items to get better ones. This traits lowers the match earnings and the new item is often not worth the difference. Don't take stupid risks for this trait!

General match strategies
  • Always check what matches you can choose from and use fame to get all the information you need
  • Always check if there are any good bets that can be combined with a match
  • Pick a match where you don't get hurt and where your armor and weapon does not get damaged (if possible)
  • By looking at earnings, number of teams, arena etc. You can figure out other information that is hidden.
  • Be wary of higher difficulty on some matches (see the skulls)
Victory Rewards (spoiler)
Slave: 1000 Fame after every rank up
Former Soldier: Start with an additional 0-10 in all skills
Proffessional Aspirant: Begin with an additional match option unlocked
Thrill Seeker Civilian: Audience fame multiplier maximum is increased to 2.5x
Desperate Politician: 1000 Gold after every rank up
Blacksmith Apprentice: Shop discounts are 25% more frequent
8 Comments
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Fraggelsmurf  [author] 12 Jan @ 10:25am 
Sorry, but I will not update this guide anymore.
I tried v.0.71 and did not enjoy the changes and think they ruined the game.

Starting traits can be minor to major where you have one less hand which means no shield. One less leg means awful mobility and makes it harder to survive. One of the new backgrounds starts you at level 8 so you get no advantage from a good start and have to adapt to the end game right away and to win this, you have to defeat a high level boss WITH an entourage.

There are also special matches where you get traits as rewards but they are super random and can be ridiculous deadly. One is match gear in a war setting and it quickly turned into a 1 vs many scenario, but you have no advantage in gear. Another match had auto crossbow firing into the fight so gets injured or killed by shots in your back.
Fraggelsmurf  [author] 2 Dec, 2024 @ 4:12am 
I am playing Early Access Update v.0.71 to see what have changed and will update the guide shortly.

Thanks Hesheudh for the suggestion and clarification!
I think heavy weapons are a riskier strategy, but it might be me being unskilled.
D 31 Dec, 2023 @ 5:00am 
note: match skip is rerolling the match options (costs fame)
Grandsgt Rocket 2 Mar, 2023 @ 4:12pm 
Iron Hanian Clava, Heirloom it. Win legacy, rinse and repeat.
Fraggelsmurf  [author] 7 Feb, 2023 @ 11:16pm 
I will try the new backgrounds and update the guide
Leader of the Shits Given 13 Jan, 2023 @ 1:51am 
I had been playing for a few hours and honestly having trouble even approaching victory. After just reviewing the general tips here, my longevity skyrocketed. Subsequently, following backstory specific strategies further assisted in a total completion of all backstories. Super helpful guide!
D 6 Jan, 2023 @ 4:43pm 
TBH, all I've been doing is:

Equipment:

Weapon: Heavy Hammer
Helmet: That Golden Wreath, baby
Armor: >= +10 FAME Armor Pieces

Training:

* 6/6 TRAINING between every match; just don't flail around wildly and you'll be fine!
First 2-3 Matches:
Primary: STAMINA
Secondary: MOVEMENT

Subsequent Matches (Alternate as the Situation Demands):
Primary: DASHING, MOVEMENT, WEAPON SKILL
Secondary: STAMINA, SHIELD

Haven't had to stop training yet...just wish my Shop rolls were a little better... :(
DuckieMcduck 31 Dec, 2022 @ 12:43pm 
Neat guide. I'd argue a very good helmet (>65% with little stamina loss) as Heirloom is better than a weapon, they're very expensive and can save your run because it's the most commonly hit body part, followed by arms and the chest.

You can early game risk 1vMany against Pit Slaves/Criminals/Civilians at the start for a cash boost, as their gear is junk and do little damage

Luck of the draw can be nice if you have good armor: most enemies will generally find trash weapons, so it's not as scary as a geared up squad of Blademen helicoptering towards you.