Larian Studios Forums Dragon Commander Dragon Commander - General "Wrong" decisions making Chapter 3 impossible?

Well, just arrived at chapter 3, lucky me. It goes without saying, that this thread will contain spoilers, so dont complain.

I mostly met the decisions, that are good for people and bad for the purse. Now i have -35 gold from it every turn and getting therefore only 5-6 gold per turn. Fatty McFat meanwhile posses the whole damn map and just spams his units like nothing. I dont know what to do, how to counter or whatever else there is to do.

I cant concentrate my units, because he spams all my countries, i cant build enough to keep up with "Trololol, ive got 10 new units every round bashing your capital"

thinking about reducing difficulty to normal, but wouldnt be that fun. Anyone with a trick? I mean, one battle i nearly always win for sure if my dragon participates, though i wished i wouldnt have to wait until the enemy is knocking on my last building when the timer allows you to spawn.

Build alot of iron clads to block passage to your capital. Also take note of where his factories are and blockaid his factories from using the seas to get to your territories. Once you do this his attacks are going to seem rather feeble since the bulk of his assaults are on his transports. Also destroying his factories with a strategy card would be handy as well.

Step 1 don't patch the game, apparently the latest patch on Steam upgrades the AI on the campaign map. Before then the AIs not very smart at using the seas to get to you, if you can consistently win battles you are involved with you might just be able to win. Chapter 3 is essentially a line, you need to retreat your forces whenever they are near your opponents except for a single force you are managing yourself. If you take out the territories to the east of your capital you should gradually be able to get into the point where even without giving ground you are only fighting one battle a turn.

If you can scrounge enough gold to get a reasonably sized patrol force of ironclads you should also be able to mop up his scattered sea forces using only the imperial army. Make sure you have a few mercenaries back in case of emergencies before you try this if at all possible. If you can get a parliament and a tavern they will gradually help you gather useful cards to help dig out of this situation.

That said it might be impossible. All that idealism might not be healthy!

With income of -35 gold a turn, I'd say that yes, you are likely in an unwinnable situation. This game did not promise that you could win from any situation, no matter how impossible-seeming.

I've beaten Chapter 3 on Normal, and tried a few Custom Campaigns on it as well. My strategy suggestion is as follows:

1) Move the Armours/Transports on the island to the capital.
2) Move your units SW of the island to the capital.
3) There are 3 territories that are occupied by only Troopers. You can't defend them, consider those countries lost for the moment. Send those Troopers to reinforce the nearby countries that have stronger units.
4) Your forces should now be concentrated in 3 countries, all of which have War Factories (or are your Capital. Build units there to bolster the weaknesses in the rock-paper-scissors matchups. (If a country has Hunters, but no Armours, build Armours.)
5) Hang on and hope for the best.

Yeah, i know, i should have hoarded my riches in chapter 2^^
If i give up countries i will have a negative gold income (right now its about +1) and then there is no hope unless i sell my soul to the highest bidding^^

Yeah.. you can milk a ton of gold at the end of chapter 2. I went into chapter 3 with like 900 gold, played some cards and built like 25 units the first turn, and it was a steamroll from there.

You clearly don't know what's good for the people if you're in such financial problems. Some Emperor you make.

Well, the military is, not the people. And i rather have difficult battles than choosing the easy way by tormenting my people

Its true that you would want to make people happy and be a popular ruler but at the same time you don't want to give EVERYTHING to them. some restrictions must be made. there are a few things that you must take into consideration like whether or not something sounds good on paper AND in practice. Some moves may not be popular but at the same time is a necessary restriction if you think about it realistically. You don't want there to be so few rules that there might as well not even be a government! (look up the tale of "The lord of flies" and see the results of what happens when authority and government is absent.)

You're tormenting your people only with your presence in such a position of power.

Well, yes, ofcourse and i clearly see, that those decision are bringing me on the brink of defeat, yet they were the right thing to do. Some wars go on for decades, people can just wait them over. They have to live somehow. So yes, my ass is getting grounded every now and then and i have to strategize rather than steamroll, but it was worth it.

As a strong ruler with principles you loose all the money for bribes and whatever is taken for healthcare/development rather than just hoard it all and build armies. Thats what makes this game times better than Fable III in this regard. In Fable you could make all the "good" choices and still have your money in the end. In Dragon Commander you will get fcked by those who cruelly use their people to pull every last coin out of them.

Touching the abomination that is Fable III...

You almost gave my nonexistent heart a heart attack with that horrible taste in video games.

Well, i almost gave a fuck

You better add that to the list you're bad at.

What a shame.

I had no money cap in chapter 2 (don't know why, maybe because I sacrificed all my brides), so I waited for like multiple thoursand gold and in chapter 3 litterally shat him with juggernauts and impfighters. I thought, how boring. Played on normal on patch 1.0.20.

Negative gold for a turn or two isn't going to make that big a difference, losing your troops (or more than 10 gold or so of them) is. And if the choice is between losing a land tile or losing 20 troops AND a land tile the choice is obvious. Besides which if you lose one territory and gain one you might not even end up losing anything. That said you will probably have to go into negative gold for a little while to gain map control. If you're going to win that's what you're going to have to do to get there.

Well, maybe, but if i loose 1-2 units every time he attacks, i cant win as i will constantly have less and with a negative gold income i wont be able to build new ones aswell, hence just bleeding out.

I know this goes against your every creed and your very being, but get good.

Yeah, if you end up locked in a situation where you can't regain those territories then you're screwed. If you can weather the storm a couple of turns while you consolidate your forces and prevent your opponent facing you on two fronts you can pull out of it.

Dont know if you played chapter 3, but the whole thing is one front.