Wartales Guide: maps, money, crafts, co-op (2023)

Wartales is finally out for PC after a year and a half of early access. This tactical 3D RPG offers a huge, free to explore world in the setting of the Middle Ages and puts you in command of a squad of warriors. What is this game remarkable and what you need to know to get the most pleasure from its gameplay?

The biggest Wartales feature that catches your eye is the seemingly endless abundance of options for what and how to do in the game, that is, your freedom. In the game, you control a group of mercenaries. Your squad receives combat and secret missions from dukes, earls and wealthy merchants, and the main secret of success is the skillful management of your resources. Hunger, Fatigue and other parameters will affect your success or loss. The game has a huge number of branches, individual stories and quests that make the story endlessly diverse. In addition to caring for armor and weapons, your landsknechts can also learn other crafts, such as alchemy or blacksmithing.

Main gameplay

Each game region includes a set of story missions. When you have chosen a map, you can freely move around it, enter cities, take tasks, develop your camp and improve your warriors, complete tasks and quests. When moving around the map, you can press Shift, and this command will speed up the movement of your squad in cases where you need to run away from enemies. You can choose whether to explore the map freely or not, and the difference between these two modes is significant, since in the Adaptive Exploration mode, the enemies in the world will adjust to the level of the player, and in the Region-locked Exploration mode, their level will depend on the region.

And when the battle begins, you are taken from a map to a round-robin game, where your warriors fight with enemies. In each fight, you can alternately select any warrior you want to make a move.

The game was developed by Shiro Games and is available for Windows on Steam. Many critics compare the Wartales with Battle Brothers released in 2015.

Characters customization

When you start the game, you must choose which warriors your squad will consist of. Which weapon you choose for your heroes, such as a bow or a battle axe, will determine their movements and abilities in battle - and during the game you will no longer be able to change weapons, so think carefully before deciding on a weapon. You then choose their Destiny by adjusting their qualities and dispositions, as well as the level of Battle Difficulty and Survival Difficulty, according to whether you are Beginner, Advanced, or Expert, and the Traits of your warriors. The characteristics of warriors are: strength, agility, physique, movement, willpower and critical strike chance. You can continue customizing your characters choosing among a variety of parameters, from hair of your soldiers to the hair of their horses, and be sure to give at least one of your warriors a first aid kit that will come in handy at a critical moment. You can also give your characters professions, choosing from fisherman, alchemist, thief, scientist, miner, and more. The balance of power of your fighters is important and try to increase their level (the maximum level is 14).

How to make money?

You need to pay your warriors, feed and clothe them and give them rest and teach professions in your Camp. You can both produce items and buy them. Of course, it is best to make the most of your own production and save coins for the critical day. For example, if you gave your fighter the Mechanic profession, then he will be able to make many useful things for your squad. But how to earn a lot of gold?

The main way to earn money is to fulfill contracts for dangerous missions for wealthy gentlemen who have many enemies with whom they want to settle scores. You can get the contracts in in city taverns… Of course, the enemies will not sit idly by, and risks and dangers lie in wait for your warriors at every step...

You can also participate in raids to catch criminals and imprison them, or capture enemies in battle and then sell them. Well, there are less dangerous ways to make money, for example, one of the available craftsmen, Tinkerer, can make lock picks that can be successfully monetized (but for that you will have to mine iron ore along the way).

Co-op mode

Wartales also has a corporate mode, with the ability to play with friends, up to 4 players in one game. In co-op mode, each player will lead their own squad. For a successful passage, it is important to discuss the roles of each and decide in advance which player does what exactly.