Basics of Cav and upkeep?

[Zander131]

Im thinking about trying a cav build but i hear a lot about it being trouble to manage with upkeep. Do you have to pay every time your horse dies or what?
I dont make a lot of money in matches, Im not exactly a good player since im new or do i get a ton of kills currently with my shielder (2-3) a round of seige.

[OpenPalm]

You should have at least 15k in your bank if you want to go cav IMO.  The way upkeep is calculated is complicated.  It's a percentage chance for every second (minute?) you have the weapon in your inventory while you are alive.  WPF is taken into account, the more wpf you have in whatever the weapon is, the lower the chance of breaking.  Arrows have a higher chance of breaking. 

[Zander131]

So, if your horse dies its not gonna hit your bank account at all? And how would you start making a Cav build? start on foot with polearms then get your horse a little later or what?

[OpenPalm]

No, you don't pay any extra upkeep based on if your horse dies.

With most builds, I get 15 str before getting any agi.  With cav I get 12 str and then dump points into agi, usually until I'm 12str/15agi.  Then I put points into str again until I'm at whatever str I wanted to end up with, and then go back to agi.  I've found this makes for the most fun leveling.  You get 4 or 5 ps quickly and feel useful and get kills.  Then you get the agi and actually keep up with people and are able to run away. 

What weapon you start with all depends on what you're going to use on horseback.  If you want to be a pure lancer with all wpf in polearms, then obv get a polearm.  Warspear is great.  If you're going to use a sword while mounted too, then use a sword when you're on foot.

You're using a build calculator, right?  They are very useful when making a character.

[Digglez]

Horses are no different from any other piece of equipment, 4% chance per minute the round goes that you will have to pay 7% of the items cost in repairs.

If you want to do cav but save money, wear your cav gear at the start of the round and just wait for another rider to die and whistle over their horse.  DISMOUNT at the end of the round if you do not want to have to pay for it next round.


edit: added dismount

[Miwiw]

If you want to do cav but save money, wear your cav gear at the start of the round and just wait for another rider to die and whistle over their horse.

Note here, wouldn't you pay for the whistled horse as well probably? I can't remember every doing that though. Or would you just not pay when dismounted in time before the end of the round?

[Pappus]

It is not as expensive as people make it out to be.

x1 multi nets equal for 23k gear, since it is very hard to stay consistently on x1 (and I am currently suiciding right away for hours), I am still making reasonable profit with a nice cavalry setup.

Helm: Nordic
Body: Light Kuyak
Feet: Rus splintered
Gloves: Mail Mittens
Horse: Rouncey(or courser if you want but the rouncey is lovely)
Weapon...

[Elmokki]

Note here, wouldn't you pay for the whistled horse as well probably? I can't remember every doing that though. Or would you just not pay when dismounted in time before the end of the round?

Upkeep afaik applies only to stuff you spawned with. If you don't spawn with a horse, pick up one, and next round have it even though you aren't set to spawn with it, you pay.

Same for starting with dagger. If you pick up a weapon and drop it it's a free round for that slot, if you pick up and don't drop and survive, next round you might have to pay.

[WITCHCRAFT]

Rouncey, light-medium armor, decent shield, and a light lance make for a good "discount" gear set for cav. If you are stuck at 1x forever or trying to build up gold as you play, use the rouncey. The upkeep is only really a problem if you have one of the more expensive horses. A plated charger is as expensive as wearing 3 pieces of plate body armor at once! They don't break more often, they're just the most expensive item in the game.

[OpenPalm]

Upkeep afaik applies only to stuff you spawned with. If you don't spawn with a horse, pick up one, and next round have it even though you aren't set to spawn with it, you pay.

Same for starting with dagger. If you pick up a weapon and drop it it's a free round for that slot, if you pick up and don't drop and survive, next round you might have to pay.

Nope.  I've payed for things I've picked up in battle.

[Phazey]

Nope.  I've payed for things I've picked up in battle.

No. I think you misunderstand. You pay for things you pick up in battle and make it to the end of the round with. As soon as a new round starts and you are still using that weapon you picked up, you might have to pay for it.

So anything you pick up is free. But if you don't drop it before the round ends and you aren't switched to the other team (in which case you revert to default equipment), you 'respawn' with that picked up weapon and run the chance of having to pay it's repairs.

Anything you have in your hands at the start of a round can incur repair costs, regardless of whether you own it or not. You only pay for stuff you had in your hands at the start of the round (the moment you spawn, so to say).