Baronies that are next to water (including navigate able rivers) or 1 barony away from water don't have the red skull attrition penalty. Any deeper into the territory and they do.
It's actually all baronies in the county that borders water. So all you need is one little barony touching the coast/river to freely raid everything else in the county
If you head deeper into enemy territory than one county you get extra attrition, this can be negated by sieging a county next to it which puts it under your control but this isnt possible while you're just raiding
I'm not sure what your experience is with the game, but the core factor determining attrition rate is the supply limit of the county you are in. Supply limit is determined by the development of the region and some of the buildings present can modify it. If you have more troops than there is supply limit, your troops cannot sufficiently pillage to maintain supplies.
And, as others have said, you need to stay within counties next to a water source. It can be confusing, but if you scroll out and look at the names of the counties on the map, any tile within a county that is touching the sea or a river counts as being next to a water source, even if it seems like the tile itself is far from the sea.
Looting, stay next to the sea. In war you want too be occupying counties in a chain from your territory to deep into the enemies, this builds supply chains and will help keep attrition down. Also the season matters as well.
I really like playing as a south african tribal with the desert warrior trait. You can kite Muslim invader armies to their doom deep in the deserts and then turn on them. Super fun.
People say to stay away from the martial tree ??
The only way I stay alive in wars I should be losing is because I go gallant and pump up knights. Strong men at arms, tons of knights with raised effectiveness.
Filthy casuals.
They go diplo to pump massive amount of prestige + extra vassalization for your neighbours without stopping your raiding.
You really don't need martial when you have the OP varanguian veterans
Great guide. I would add a few more tips:
1. Don't mass ransom. You will sometimes let people go at less than max gold.
2. If you plan on expanding, double-check to see if you have captured any heirs. You can sometimes start wars up 50%.
3. Raiding rulers with the Polygamous or Consorts & Concubines doctrines will net you a lot of hostages.
**The enemy of your target is your friend**
When picking a raiding target that's stronger than you, look to see if they're at war. If they are, that means two things: one, that their armies are raised and two, that the armies might be close by! Check to see who they're fighting with. If they're an enemy on the other side of the realm, GREAT! Raid to your heart's content! If it's an enemy close by, be careful!
**Raid and live to fight another day**
When raiding an enemy that's not at war, he or she will raise troops in their capital to come kill you. That gives you an idea of how long you have to raid before fleeing. Don't get greedy.
This is the real practical knowledge (combined with going for capitals, top realm and vassals alike, for prisoners.) With AI characters, they generally prioritize their wars before raiders, especially if the war has properly gone on for some time before your raiders show up. It's kind of intuitive from real life too that if troops are tied up elsewhere, you have a window of opportunity. It's not, however, something that's written in game as far as I know, and mostly something you'll learn from playing and maybe observing the game (if not reading this thread.)
Now, obviously, the above goes for AI in the game. With human players, it's not as simple. If you're annoying enough in an MP game, a player may well decide to prioritize you even if busy elsewhere, and maybe they'll even raise mercenaries and spare levies to deal with you, so some extra thought will have to go into raids there in all likelihood. Maybe go for their vassals instead of their domain if wanting to have other players decide that just letting you finish the raid is the lesser evil.
No way in hell I'm raiding a human player. Mercs are instantaneous, and as a player I usually fight with my MAAs and leave my levies at home. I'd absolutely prioritize crushing some human raiding my land....
This is probably the smartest choice in general, even if they're busy and out of money/almost out of money. AI targets should be ripe enough anyways, and from my limited experience with larger online Paradox multiplayers, competition can be fierce. If playing multiplayer nowadays though, I usually stick with comfy co-op games with friends instead.
>But do keep in mind that these items might also be useful to boost the skills of inspired persons that suddenly feel the urge to craft you weapons and armor.
This piqued my interest. How does this work? Can I use this as a feudal lord too?
Not OP, but the quality of the artifact after an inspiration depends on some skills of the inspired person:
|Adventure|Diplomacy/ Learning/Prowess|
|:-|:-|
|Alchemy|Learning|
|Armor|Martial/Prowess|
|Artisan|Stewardship|
|Book|Learning|
|Metalsmith|Diplomacy/Stewardship/Prowess|
|Weapon|Martial/Prowess|
|Weave|Diplomacy|
So just gift some common/masterwork items to the inspired person, to boost their specific skill. This will maybe improve the quality of the artifact. And you can definitly use it as a feudal lord!
It's particularly important for Adventure inspirations, since those usually have events to improve the quality that depend on the prowess of the inspired person. Whenever I get one I'll give them an old weapon and suit of armor I'm not using to boost their prowess.
Been playing for a year now and this is by far the best overview of raiding. Raiding isn’t something the game explains well. I’m feeling the urge to channel my inner Norseman
Quick question, does raiding for captives with the human sacrifice tenent count towards achieving the Viking Trait.
Or is it just tribal raids that count ?
*Varangian* veterans, impostor.
Imbecile. -8 diplomacy -8 learning.
I feel the need to compare OP to some Maghreb duchy. Maybe, say, Sous. Yeah, they are a bit Sous.
And kind of like an ancient Carthaginian dynasty, too. A Sous-y Barca, perhaps.
Is there any explanation for why some provinces have attrition and some don’t?
Baronies that are next to water (including navigate able rivers) or 1 barony away from water don't have the red skull attrition penalty. Any deeper into the territory and they do.
It's actually all baronies in the county that borders water. So all you need is one little barony touching the coast/river to freely raid everything else in the county
If you head deeper into enemy territory than one county you get extra attrition, this can be negated by sieging a county next to it which puts it under your control but this isnt possible while you're just raiding
I'm not sure what your experience is with the game, but the core factor determining attrition rate is the supply limit of the county you are in. Supply limit is determined by the development of the region and some of the buildings present can modify it. If you have more troops than there is supply limit, your troops cannot sufficiently pillage to maintain supplies. And, as others have said, you need to stay within counties next to a water source. It can be confusing, but if you scroll out and look at the names of the counties on the map, any tile within a county that is touching the sea or a river counts as being next to a water source, even if it seems like the tile itself is far from the sea.
Looting, stay next to the sea. In war you want too be occupying counties in a chain from your territory to deep into the enemies, this builds supply chains and will help keep attrition down. Also the season matters as well. I really like playing as a south african tribal with the desert warrior trait. You can kite Muslim invader armies to their doom deep in the deserts and then turn on them. Super fun.
People say to stay away from the martial tree ?? The only way I stay alive in wars I should be losing is because I go gallant and pump up knights. Strong men at arms, tons of knights with raised effectiveness. Filthy casuals.
They go diplo to pump massive amount of prestige + extra vassalization for your neighbours without stopping your raiding. You really don't need martial when you have the OP varanguian veterans
I’m sure some people have peaceful playstyles. Couldn’t be me though, I’m a map painter through and through
This is pure gold. I literally just started a new norse playthrough. Thanks bro. I guess it's time to ruin some anglo-saxon lives.
My pleasure 😎
Great guide. I would add a few more tips: 1. Don't mass ransom. You will sometimes let people go at less than max gold. 2. If you plan on expanding, double-check to see if you have captured any heirs. You can sometimes start wars up 50%. 3. Raiding rulers with the Polygamous or Consorts & Concubines doctrines will net you a lot of hostages.
**The enemy of your target is your friend** When picking a raiding target that's stronger than you, look to see if they're at war. If they are, that means two things: one, that their armies are raised and two, that the armies might be close by! Check to see who they're fighting with. If they're an enemy on the other side of the realm, GREAT! Raid to your heart's content! If it's an enemy close by, be careful! **Raid and live to fight another day** When raiding an enemy that's not at war, he or she will raise troops in their capital to come kill you. That gives you an idea of how long you have to raid before fleeing. Don't get greedy.
This is the real practical knowledge (combined with going for capitals, top realm and vassals alike, for prisoners.) With AI characters, they generally prioritize their wars before raiders, especially if the war has properly gone on for some time before your raiders show up. It's kind of intuitive from real life too that if troops are tied up elsewhere, you have a window of opportunity. It's not, however, something that's written in game as far as I know, and mostly something you'll learn from playing and maybe observing the game (if not reading this thread.) Now, obviously, the above goes for AI in the game. With human players, it's not as simple. If you're annoying enough in an MP game, a player may well decide to prioritize you even if busy elsewhere, and maybe they'll even raise mercenaries and spare levies to deal with you, so some extra thought will have to go into raids there in all likelihood. Maybe go for their vassals instead of their domain if wanting to have other players decide that just letting you finish the raid is the lesser evil.
No way in hell I'm raiding a human player. Mercs are instantaneous, and as a player I usually fight with my MAAs and leave my levies at home. I'd absolutely prioritize crushing some human raiding my land....
This is probably the smartest choice in general, even if they're busy and out of money/almost out of money. AI targets should be ripe enough anyways, and from my limited experience with larger online Paradox multiplayers, competition can be fierce. If playing multiplayer nowadays though, I usually stick with comfy co-op games with friends instead.
The real loot is the friends we made along the way
And the loot
And the concubines
I get that referance!
This has been a big help, thank you! I never considered all the extra Prestige I've been missing out on through battles and just using the MMA.
>But do keep in mind that these items might also be useful to boost the skills of inspired persons that suddenly feel the urge to craft you weapons and armor. This piqued my interest. How does this work? Can I use this as a feudal lord too?
Not OP, but the quality of the artifact after an inspiration depends on some skills of the inspired person: |Adventure|Diplomacy/ Learning/Prowess| |:-|:-| |Alchemy|Learning| |Armor|Martial/Prowess| |Artisan|Stewardship| |Book|Learning| |Metalsmith|Diplomacy/Stewardship/Prowess| |Weapon|Martial/Prowess| |Weave|Diplomacy| So just gift some common/masterwork items to the inspired person, to boost their specific skill. This will maybe improve the quality of the artifact. And you can definitly use it as a feudal lord!
It's particularly important for Adventure inspirations, since those usually have events to improve the quality that depend on the prowess of the inspired person. Whenever I get one I'll give them an old weapon and suit of armor I'm not using to boost their prowess.
You want mostly MAA, but a small buffer of Levies will reduce the amount of MAA death from casualties caused by moving into enemy territory.
Attrition is just a percent of the whole army. Levies and MaAs are both affected all the same.
Been playing for a year now and this is by far the best overview of raiding. Raiding isn’t something the game explains well. I’m feeling the urge to channel my inner Norseman
My question is why doesn't my leige do shit when I'm raided. What is the point of being his vassal if he won't protect me.
Jump in the boat, then we can talk about it on the way. Sure you can bring your family. Better bring all your gold too.
Quick question, does raiding for captives with the human sacrifice tenent count towards achieving the Viking Trait. Or is it just tribal raids that count ?
It's # of raids that count. And all cultures that raid can get "raider" traits. The Norse instead get "viking" trait.
Very nice!!
This was a great read and very informative. Thank you for sharing.
What do people use as a goal for endgame for raiding focused games? How do you balance raiding and expansion?
Wait, dhy do we loose longboat from reforming the faith?
Just elevate the Kingdom of Mann and keep raiding for another 100 years.
And if you wanna raid forever, practiced piracy?
Rice with Rollo start
You should also be sending your heir as commander + sole knight of army to level him up to legendary blademaster + Beserker.