Defend the Village: A short guide with pictures.

[Armpit_Sweat]

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DEFEND THE VILLAGE

Introduction:

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This will be a somewhat short, but hopefully useful quick-start guide for new players, on how to play Defend the Village mode for cRPG.

Hopefully, it will help to better understand not only the mechanics of the mode, but also improve "player ethics", so we can all enjoy this wonderful new edition to cRPG, as much as possible.

Some sections of this guide might be a little boring or too long to read, in that case, you can skip all other parts, and go straight for the summery section in the end.

What is DtV?

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Defend the Village, is about defending a village from an angry mob of computer controlled invaders. You have to survive 3 consecutive waves, eliminating every single enemy. Each time you pass 3 waves, a new level starts, dead players respawn, and you gain a gold/XP multiplier. Currently, you are getting a reduced amount of XP and Gold, compared to other cRPG modes ( about 50%, correct me if I am wrong ).

DtV bots are strong! They are not intelligent or skilled, but they have high Strength, Agility and at later levels – good gear. If they catch you in the open, and you happen to be slow on foot, they will surround you, and beat you to death. No shield will protect you, no armor will be strong enough. It is not uncommon to see an unlucky full-plated knight, falling to 3 peasants.

Keep in mind, that the number of enemies is depending on the number of players in the beginning of each round! ( about 3:1 ratio ). If you run away from your team, and die in the first wave - remember: In the next wave, your team will face the same number of enemies without you!

I will never say: "This game is not for you! Go play something else!", because i dislike someones plays-style. I believe, that we all have equal rights to enjoy this game in our own way. But being antisocial in a multi-player game with a rather small, but very dedicated population - is not wise. Please, try to maintain your play-style, while being polite to other players. So if few players ask you to do, or not to do something - respect it, after all, you can kill bots in Single Player mods for M&B. Defend the Village mode is all about team-play, and being able to trust the guy next to you!

I apologies for the boring lecture about team-play, you are not in a church. I just felt like spreading some team spirit and love!

How do i survive and kill?
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The shortest answer is very obvious and boring: You win through patience, discipline and teamwork.
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Tactics:

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The basic idea is simple  – find a place, big enough to give shelter for the whole team, that has as few narrow entrances as possible. This is important because of the bot tendency to surround and spam. Players need to block the entrance, and make sure not a single enemy will pass through, to attack from behind or harass archers.
This is achieved through a disciplined formation of shields and 2h weapons. 2H only formations are  possible too, but never a shield only defense. 1H weapons are weak and short, they will be nearly useless against heavily armored enemies and shielders will be forced to break formation, in order to reach an enemy who has a longer weapon.

DtV can be boring for the first few rounds, but if you want to succeed – you will have to be patient, or you will get yourself or/and your team killed.
Above all – stay calm, even if you are about to die. At some points, you might find yourself receiving a lot of team-hits, from an eager peasant behind you. Don't get angry, he is just trying to help! Educate them on the subject, if they don't listen - vote them kicked. Keep your focus on the enemies, you will have plenty of time to discuss tactics between the rounds, or when you are hunting that last filthy Nomad.

EDIT: I have been recently using a Pike with a great success, while standing behind the main line of shield defence. A Pike is capable of hitting enemies above your teammates heads, so it provides extra punch, without the need for extra gaps between the shields. Give it a try!

Tactics in pictures:

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Few examples of what i consider correct and incorrect positioning for the current DtV map:

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Know your enemies: (Provided by Kenji, updated by Lansamur and Blaint)

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Round number / Common Enemy / Boss Enemy / Special Notes

1 / Peasants / Weren  / Agile Back-peddles, Crossbows
2 / Bandits / Varric  / Boss Crushthroughs, Archers
3 / Nomads / Shik  / Cavalry, Horse Archers
4 / Weaboo  / Mylet  / Thrown Shurikens
5 / Sea Raider  / Leiknir / Shield Breaker, Archers
6 / Rohirric / Espu / Cavalry, Shield Breaker, Archers
7 / Vites / Fasader  / Shield Breaker, Crossbows (Or none? I forgot...)
8 / Engineer / Urist / One-Handed Shielders with Crossbows (With deadly accuracy)
9 / Sexy  / cmpxchg8b / I... cannot recall what was special about them, except all female bots.
10 / Tincan / chadz /  Heavily Armored, Mainly 2H/Pole (Flamberge and Bec de Corbin I believe?), Crossbows, too?

Gear and Skills:

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Judging from my observations, a good mix of shields, 2h and archers is needed. Stacking shielders is not as good as it seems at first... At round 5 and up, you will face enemies with 2h axes and mauls, so shields are getting destroyed rather quickly, and a ”naked” shielder panics, going in a headless chicken mode.

If you can – take a blunt 2h or polearm. Occasional knockdowns help, and hammers/mauls are capable of smashing through enemy shields. WPPs are not as important in DtV, as they are in PvP modes, so even if you are using a 1h weapons, you can take a backup 2h/Polearm maul with you A 1h axe can be a good option too, as they have higher damage output, and help against shields. A 2nd/3rd shield is always nice to have, at least a cheaper "low budget" version, to save some gold on the upkeep.

If you are using a bow, or a crossbow – take the most damaging weapon from your arsenal, and aim for the heads. Expert archers might have something to add here, since bow is not my personal weapon of choice. If you are lucky to have a good team - you will never have to use a backup melee weapon, and you will be able to focus on shooting. On the other hand, there can be a shortage of good shooting spots, if you have many archers on your team, so having a 1h might be useful... More input from archers is needed here!

Please note, that siege equipment is disabled in Defend the Village mode, so ladders, siege shields and construction sites will not work. ( Kenji's tip )

As for skills, it is best to have more Strength/PS as a melee fighter, and more WPP as a ranged fighter.

Summery:

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If you are a new player: Let someone else to be in the front line. Watch and learn.

If you are in the front line: Don't move. At all. Ever.

If you are in the front line and have a 2h: Don't move. At all. Ever.

But there are only 5/10/15/25 enemies left!: Don't move. At all. Ever. Let someone else go instead. Or dont take a spot in the front-line.

If you are in the front line with a shield: Don't attack. Don't move. Don't turn around.

If you are covering a doorway with a shield: Give space for the 2h to strike. Don't block them.

If you are an archer/crossbow build: Aim for the enemies who are far away. Land headshots.

If you run away form your team: Fight and die. Don't come back with 10 enemies behind you.

If the front line has been breached: Stay calm! Kill the enemy. Restore the front line asap.

If someone in the front-line got killed: Fill the spot asap. Stay calm.

If you want to be a hero: Wait for the 3rd wave. Team needs you alive until then!

Final notes:

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All of the above, is my personal view on what this mode is about, and how it should be played. You are most welcome to disagree, and leave your comments. Hopefully we all benefit in the end!

Please, be gentle, i am just trying to help new players, as there are plenty who look confused, and make it hard to enjoy this fun mode for themselves and other players! If some things sound harsh - its to keep it short, not to insult anyone

Have fun and good luck!

[Tzar]

Also if you hold your gold dear don't join a DTV server until they fix the damn thing... 


Good guide tho nonetheless 

[Kenji]

You could also put this in (In any manner you'd like):

Mob Type / Boss / Note

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• Peasants / Wyren / Agile Back-peddles, Crossbows
• Bandits / Varric / Boss Crushthroughs, Archers
• Nomads / ? / Cavalry, Horse Archers
• Weaboo / Mylet / Thrown Shurikens
• Sea Raider / ? / Shield Breaker, Archers
• Rohirric / ? / Cavalry, Shield Breaker, Archers
• Vites / ? / Shield Breaker, Crossbows (Or none? I forgot...)
• Engineer / ? / One-Handed Shielders with Crossbows (With deadly accuracy)
• Sexy / ? / I... cannot recall what was special about them, except all female bots.
• Tincan / chadz + All other rounds' bosses / Heavily Armored, Mainly 2H/Pole (Flamberge and Bec de Corbin I believe?), Crossbows, too?

The question marks are the ones that I've forgotten ever since the last victory, please fill in the blank for me. If anything else needs correction or addition, please go right ahead.

Last time I remember: If situation allows, we'd normally break formation to hunt down the last few bots of the wave (They were mainly ranged).

Unless it is the last wave, a shielder will lure the last bot to a safe distance around the safe house to allow the team to regroup before another wave spawns, then kill the last bot to proceed.

Edit: Also mention that the mode disallow any siege items (such as ladders) and horses around somewhere in your guide may help, too.

[Vibe]

Good guide. Too bad DTV has been overnerfed and not many play it anymore.

[Armpit_Sweat]

Thank you for your feedback guys!
I have to admit - DtV in its current state is not a goldmine I make very little gold playing it, even though my DtV gear is worth no more then 20k. I hope some adjustments will be made to balance upkeep/gold ratio in DtV, as it is the only mode where expensive gear is always a good idea.

Thank you for the list of DtV enemies, Kenji  ! It have been added to the OP.

[Corwin]

How about xp in DTV,  did it get nerfed as well?

[Vibe]

How about xp in DTV,  did it get nerfed as well?

Yes, everything nerfed to a third I believe. (or by a third?)

[Armpit_Sweat]

Edit: Also mention that the mode disallow any siege items (such as ladders) and horses around somewhere in your guide may help, too.

Yes, this one is important to clarify, since siege shields and construction sites seem to be very attractive for DtV!
Will add it to the OP. Thank you!

[Penitent]

Nice guide!
I'd also recommend: If the enemy is a wave of archers, let them use up their arrows.  Don't go out into the arrow-storm or chase them.

This is a really fun mode...I wish they brought the XP/GOLD back to normal now.  Now that there are 3 waves, it is much harder than when it was first released.  It's hard to get above 2x now.

[Kenji]

Thanks for putting it up there, I'm certain Fasader, cmpxchg8b, and Shik (Nomad?) are in the boss list somewhere along the rounds.. Just need to make sure

I guess it's time for me to return and Defend the Village once again!

[Lansamur]

• Peasants / Wyren / Agile Back-peddles, Crossbows
• Bandits / Varric / Boss Crushthroughs, Archers
• Nomads / ? / Cavalry, Horse Archers
• Weaboo / Mylet / Thrown Shurikens
• Sea Raider / Leiknir / Shield Breaker, Archers
• Rohirric / ? / Cavalry, Shield Breaker, Archers
• Vites / Fasader / Shield Breaker, Crossbows (Or none? I forgot...)
• Engineer / cmp / One-Handed Shielders with Crossbows (With deadly accuracy)
• Sexy / Shik / I... cannot recall what was special about them, except all female bots.
• Tincan / chadz + All other rounds' bosses / Heavily Armored, Mainly 2H/Pole (Flamberge and Bec de Corbin I believe?), Crossbows, too?

Somewhat updated, correct me if I was wrong

[Armpit_Sweat]

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• Peasants / Wyren / Agile Back-peddles, Crossbows
• Bandits / Varric / Boss Crushthroughs, Archers
• Nomads / ? / Cavalry, Horse Archers
• Weaboo / Mylet / Thrown Shurikens
• Sea Raider / Leiknir / Shield Breaker, Archers
• Rohirric / ? / Cavalry, Shield Breaker, Archers
• Vites / Fasader / Shield Breaker, Crossbows (Or none? I forgot...)
• Engineer / cmp / One-Handed Shielders with Crossbows (With deadly accuracy)
• Sexy / Shik / I... cannot recall what was special about them, except all female bots.
• Tincan / chadz + All other rounds' bosses / Heavily Armored, Mainly 2H/Pole (Flamberge and Bec de Corbin I believe?), Crossbows, too?

Somewhat updated, correct me if I was wrong

Thank you for your input, Lansamur! The list have been updated now, along with some corrections/additions to other sections.

[Kenji]

There are some mistakes I'd like to correct, apologies since they were mistaken in the first place from me.

Peasant Boss is spelled Weren, not Wyren.
Shik is in the Nomad rounds, confirmed (Not sure if she appears in Sexy rounds, too).

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And I like the formation photos you added up there, it's really helpful for those who'd probably just type tl;dr if they don't have the patience.

OP mentioned 2:1 ratio in the What is DtV part of the guide, I soloed til weaboos and found out I have to kill 9 enemies + 1 boss to advance each round, so the ratio is actually 3:1.

Though DTV isn't always full of players, often times I'm the only shielder with 2 other 2H/Pole hitters, while the rest take care of the backdoor ninjas.

And there are cases when an admin changes map to Forest Hideout or Kir'Thaen, which they have different legit camp spots. (But camping tactics is around the same, always a shielder with 2H/Pole spammers.)

[john_pullinger]

Excellent guide! I'd like to second the notion of bringing the XP and gold back up to normal now that we're getting three waves, too. With the sparse teams I'm getting on the servers these days, we're not even making it past the Bandit round most of the time. I've been the only shield guy on my team far too often, I think Doctore was the only other one yesterday when I hopped on with Lexor, we had a hard time holding the door once half our team charged out to the beach to go peasant-hunting. x_x

-John

[Blaint]

boss-list:

• Weren
• Varric
• Shik
• Mylet
• Leiknir
• Espu
• Fasader
• Urist
• cmpxchg8b
• chadz

i think this is the right order ...

btw i think they wanted to implent another group of enemys:
medival:
Longbowman
Man_at_Arms
Knight

i never saw them on the battlefiel ;)

blaint