High Scoring Strategies

[walkstheplanes]

So I'm having an informal competition with a friend of mine, both of us trying to one up the other in terms of scoring.

It goes without saying that I'm turning off map reveal, turning the difficulty on hardcore, and turning off all resources. Also, I'm speeding through my game as fast as possible to get that wonderful time bonus.

My question is regarding starting character, fame, and followers.

In regards to characters, the Outlaw comes to mind because it has the highest scoring multiplier. However, because of his lower fame acquisition, it would seem that by end game, his fame is only 500-600 vs. a potential 1000+. As a result (I think this is how it works), the visitors all level in the 6's and 7's at Max, bringing my final score down in regards to both Fame and Follower Level.

I'm wondering, should I try a Journeyman or Assassin, who's multiplier is not as high (knocked down by x0.45), but can gain more fame and higher level followers, or should I continue my game with the outlaw and optimize depending on that? In my play throughs, I did not notice much difference, but my characters always died before I could see end game.

Here's a link to my current high score:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q30/walkstheplanes/screenshots/hinterland2.jpg

[Bokuden]

Yes....I too desire this knowledge

[walkstheplanes]

Well, when I manage to play through a another successful hardcore game, I'll let you know my (limited) findings, but this game isn't very good for comparative playthroughs due to the random nature of the game itself (not a bad thing).

Wait a minute... I KNOW YOU.

[Vulturetx]

with the Outlaw setup as you described I have gotten 84K a couple of times. And I was pausing to up that complete time bonus. (got a 3.6 in that I think)

[walkstheplanes]

What were the levels of visiting villagers, and what fame did you manage to reach?

[Gerblyn]

I've personally given up rushing for high scores because I found it frustrating dying all the time as I rushed everything. However, I did figure out a few things before I gave up:

1. The outlaw's extra score multiplier more than makes up for his lack of fame
2. Food is worth more than gold, so try and get a lot of farms early on and build them up into plantations
3. Speed is the ultimate factor in deciding your score, everything else is secondary (except your starting settings)

From speaking to the people in the Post Your High Score thread, the fastest way seems to be to get a party with 3 active healers (Priests, Herbalists, Doctors) and do all the fighting yourself. They should heal you so fast that you never need to run back to town so you can just keep fighting as long as you like. I think that the people who got scores of 115,000+ managed to complete the game by day 40 using this technique. I've never tried it myself though, because I personally like having a party full of fighters and wandering round with your own medical team feels like cheating :)

[walkstheplanes]

Thanks for the tips!

Yes, the 3x medic seems almost exploitive, but hey, if it works, it works. I haven't tried it yet, but I might do it just for kicks. I usually end up with 3 warriors and 1 healer, with an army of apothecaries churning out healing potions.

In my last game, my Outlaw garnered a good amount of fame, so I suppose mileage varies, depending on the number of requests and whatnot.

[Bokuden]

I find it difficult to keep my healers from geting targeted

[walkstheplanes]

The mobs tend to aggro whoever's doing the most damage to them... Just keep yourself between the badguys and the healers and they'll target your first. If they start going after one of your healers, smack the guy a little and he'll start focusing on you.

Similarly, if you're leveling your healer up with a weapon, gear him up for defense and little offense so the mobs still focus on you.

[Aureus]

The mobs tend to aggro whoever's doing the most damage to them...

That's what I thought at first but it's not as simple as that.
Oddly, mobs tend to focus on archers even when they are equipped with a crappy bow (basic composite bow for instance) while my character beats them with an enhanced exceptional long sword (11+ damage, fast), so...

[walkstheplanes]

That's what I thought at first but it's not as simple as that.
Oddly, mobs tend to focus on archers even when they are equipped with a crappy bow (basic composite bow for instance) while my character beats them with an enhanced exceptional long sword (11+ damage, fast), so...

I just noticed that too -- they prefer to go after the ranged attackers. My wizards are attacked in the same fashion.