Mordheim: City of the Damned # Tips and Tricks

All you need to know about:
Initiative
Weapons
Armor
Leveling
Warband Creation
Damage output
Defence
Attributes
Missions

[@Dja05]

Started a game as the mercs, got my ass repeatedly kicked, restarted a sister band, casted spell with my leader, critical fail, -999 health, decided to watch tips video :v.

[@TheKeldaron]

hope it helps

[@SuperDoggy99]

These are all sound tips, but I would argue that the number one tactic you need to learn in this game is positioning. Knowing how to engage/disengage, and how the environment influences combat is absolutely critical. Understanding how to keep your soldiers grouped, how to move as a unit, delay actions, retreat, etc., are all so vital, and really make any soldier skill/gear setups potentially possible. Sure, high initiative/no armor is the typical/popular/"EZ Mode" advice, but it's not always necessary if you know how to position and use your environment better than the enemy. You can focus on armor/defense if you want; you just have to be a better tactician. High damage/no armor is easier--the "kill the enemy first" advice--but it also has greater risk for long-term development slowdown as you may have to replace a lot more characters if you're running soldiers out of position all the time, missing critical early game engagements, etc. Also, it's important to note that choosing the right missions for your particular warband's strengths can make or break a mission before it's even started. The great thing about this game is that there are thousands of stats, skills, tactics, and environmental combinations to consider, both for short and long-term outcomes, and there really is no "one true way to play" that is better than every other.

[@stevet1396]

I have a combo of heavy and no armor works best for me. Heavy with 2 handers and ambush perks. Then no armor, high ini weapons and crit bonus perks. Then it's as you said all about choosing the engagement wisely. Get the ambush up, to get a jump on them and absorb their first engage then rush with char crit perk guys and usually finish them off right there.

[@ledectur8658]

Comment more accurate than the video. Not that the video is wrong.

[@zhoupact8567]

There is really just 1 warband. The skaven master race.

[@fuzzythoughts8020]

Skaven are fun but as a noob I find the Cult to be the easiest to start with.

[@schpeidermann]

@@fuzzythoughts8020 Cult are the most difficult because of their RNG and their leader. Witchhunters and Mercs are pretty straight forward.

[@fuzzythoughts8020]

@@schpeidermann yeah but the dudes are generally higher strength than other factions grunts and they don't die as easily, which is forgiving to new players. The farthest I got was with skaven though.

[@zax615]

This isn't even humor it's just true, the entire game just gets so easy when you apply skaven tactics to everything

[@Spam387]

Just wanted to say thanks from year 2023, just got into this game and appreciate your videos

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks a lot :)

[@manbearpiglett-4110]

I'm playing Undead using a wave of 5 zombies slowly advancing together while my dreg heroes fire long bows behind them and my vampires sit in reserve. Very thematic and highly effective. Because my main vanguard wave is slow as hell, I equip my 2 vampire bitches with heavy armour and just keep my vampire lord and dreg heroes to run around (collecting items and reinforcing when needed). It's quite an OP setup, works really well. Can wreck most enemies quite easily, my zombies have crazy high HP, vampires have very high damage, it just works

[@TheSilent333]

Wow I've been playing this game with my eyes closed. Thank you so much. This have is so different from anything I've played. You just earned a new subscriber!

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks glad you like it

[@Darkthoughts-z7r]

Literally out numbered a vampire and he terrified and parried his way of dying like he should have. I bottle necked and trapped and he still killed two of my guys outright before taking damage. I’d advise players to find no real comfort. anything that go wrong usually will. Whether it be debuffs from the stone crippling your attack stats right before an engagement or your units repeatedly failing to dodge or parry despite the expertise in such a feat.

[@LOL-zu1zr]

Vampires? Shoot the living crap out of them

[@johnswazey3443]

Nice guide for a very underrated game.

[@robertnoall8847]

Hi, I do not usually post on youtube but I wanted to say thanks for such a good guide to this game, best guide I have seen! Thank You

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks but there is one wrong thing in it, you cant master skills with henchman

[@raifthemad]

"You can either go for dodge, or you can go for parry." - I find, that going all in on melee resistance on one character per party makes them almost godly at tanking. In an undead band, one vampiress usually, without any stances has about 11-15% chance to get hit, if the enemy succeeds the fear save. If not, it´s 1%. And this is not for 2-3 attacks that dodge or parry would give. You can have her tank as many enemies as can fit around her. And with heavy armor, even if they by a miracle hit, they only do 30-35%ish damage. Of course crit resistance is important as well, you don´t want the unlucky hit to matter, so you make sure it´s not a crit.

[@voidishprattles4319]

I've managed to get a good warband as humans and skaven, I find the cult very fun, but I struggle alot with the sisters, so I'm excited to hear you say they're the strongest.

[@Billy-bd2oe]

6 years later and this video really improved my playing, even after 100 hours of it =)

[@nickdanger8733]

I enjoy chess and I have watched your logic, I do not fully understand the game but you have help me a lot. Thank you for taking the time to put out these videos!

[@yrussq]

Nice basic tips except i wouldn't bother buffing Alertness/Initiative before i get enough of leadership to equalize morale/morale impact, then intelligence to 9(for Knowledge tactics mastery and Lad's got talent), and only after that i'd buff alertness. In overall game became repetitive very quickly - played like 30+ missions with 100% rate. Tip: - Beware the choke points where you can end up fighting 1 on 1. - Frenzy skill doesn't allow you to parry/dodge so it sucks. - Lad's got talent skill is your friend - it's much cheaper to level up henchman in missions and then upgrade it to hero. - Archers almost completely useless. - Boost the speed of the Impressives with skill. - Improve Ambush - it's your friend - Try to keep your groups not far from each other or do not divide them at all. (and beware choke points) - Place attackers as close as possible to each other when surrounding - All alone condition is you friend. That's why it's good to have a lot of warriors against 1. - Good situation is when 3 of your warriors fighting against 1. Not so good - 2 against 1. 1 on 1 avoid at all costs - allowed only when it's a tactical maneuver or when the backup would get there in 1 turn. - Use Disengage if you've ended fighting 1 vs 1 or 1 vs 2 and run to your team.

[@olivergarcia2304]

Just bought Mordheim and your video is really, really hilfreich! Thanks :-)

[@trobin652]

Same

[@UberMenschNowFilms]

27:38 "You know that Madonna lied?" Your German is showing...

[@oJoJ777]

I was looking for sis kommentar

[@jarlgreen1630]

His German is showing... and it's beautiful :-)

[@Serasphiel]

Great video, I was starting to learn things the hard way (amputee squad hype) this certainly helps.

[@madaraquoi]

That evil laugh at 23:13 is this what this game does to you after hundreds of hours ? 0.0

[@lorenzopalozza6279]

I just have to add a little note: around warband level 3 or 4 you will have one or two blue weapons and your heroes will get access to 6 attack points, in that scenario statistically you will deal more damage with 3 one handed attacks rather than 2 grait weapon ones and the free off hand will grant 10% dodge too!

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks good to know

[@PSXfiles]

Bought the game today during the Steam holiday sale. This helped a lot. Thanks!

[@toxiknao8826]

I did a vampyric speed build my leader and succubus vampire are archers. She also a mean dual wield back up My zombies and ungabunga monsters are in the front lines or ambush if they try to push my archers. Its pretty solid. I also have a spellcaster hero but he has dual wield weapons mix with spell usage.

[@amilitarymind]

Hey thanx for all these great videos on tips and tricks. Really helped getting me started with this great game and not get slaughtered in the beginning :)

[@rayray8731]

Thanks for tips. Although I learned playing that blunderbuss is awesome. Best offensive support ever.

[@samimermer1982]

Duelwield swords+maces at the start for a +4 to hit bonus on maces just for the extra hit early on :)

[@picies2020]

Thank you for this i really like this game but its sooooo brutal starting out... i tried playing ranged and got spanked by the rats smh.

[@IAmTheStig32]

Were you playing an Mercenaries warband? Don't despair, marksmen are like snipers in XCOM - need to be babysat at low levels, but very strong at high levels (and they can take Lad's Got Talent in the intelligence tree to become hero units, at which point they are completely awesome, way better than Youngbloods). It's best to take warriors as all three henchmen at the start and then get a marksman when you get a new henchman slot, by then your warriors will be able to protect him and he can level up safely. If you give him a gun to start with he can sit safely behind melee, take an aimed shot and reload without moving, and the damage is great. As for which gun to take, probably either duelling pistols (high initiative, bonus to hit) or handgun (bonus vs armour, great for taking out Sisters). Later on, longbows are better for raw damage because they can shoot twice but if you want him to use special shots which use more red pips then stick with the gun. Give him a one-handed melee weapon and nothing in the off-hand as secondary; he's likely to be wearing cloth and likely going to be doing mediocre melee damage no matter what, so he may as well have the +20% bonus to dodge and +10 initiative so he has the best chance to duck out the way of a charge swing and then disengage if somebody gets in his face. As for the warriors, don't bother with shields early on, at least wait until Rank 3. I'd go with a two-hander (especially halberds) or dual-wielding weapons to start, it's down to your preference. Keep an eye out for maces and daggers especially because they get bonus to hit and initiative, swords are very good for later for the same reason plus the ability to parry. As for how best to deal with the vermin, keep your guys together and always try to mob and corner them and force them to take all alone checks because they have shit for leadership and will probably fail them especially early on. My favourite warband is the Undead, and let me tell you, forcing those little rat bastards to make fear, terror and all alone checks one after the other is a magical experience. Hope this helps.

[@cbrown9294]

I don’t get why you want initiative. I’m constantly picking DELAY so the enemy goes first so I can ambush and surround him instead of getting ambushed while looking for him.

[@Shnimberz]

I agree with you. I'm not sure why people want high initiative.

[@natetaylor5202]

High initiative gives you the option of going first or last, which is valuable. low initiative locks you into last.

[@Schugger1]

You just earned a new subscription :)

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks :) glad you like it

[@hanswurst5782]

So the popular Steam guides do recommend getting into armor and using parry for tanky builds from Rank 3 on. This makes it look as if clothing and two-handed are actually the way to go until you get mitigation/absorption well above 50%. So basically start building up those skills but only switch to your shield and armor once they are developed and have high base stats?

[@TheKeldaron]

yes that is right

[@Edwoodb3]

Best guide ever! A no nonsense explanation of everything which is important.

[@megamaniac76]

The AI in this game will kamikaze into you every single time.

[@MrLecourbe]

Sadly yeah :/

[@jefframey9561]

Just bought game. Love this vid! Subbed!

[@MyUltra123]

Thanks very much for this, very in depth and yet humorous! liked & subbed. Would love to see a in depth overview of the different warbands and their differences, if you ever have time! despite other comments i found you mic to be acceptable i could understand everything without having to strain. On a final note, how effective would a merc warband be with all greatswords and clothes? Thanks!

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks :) i will make a recording for the warbands, geatswords are good but you will have low ini and the enemy will dodge you better, later on the enemy has so many attacks that dodge will not save you even if you have sidestepp

[@MyUltra123]

ah i see, could i go GS and heavy armour then? or scrap GS altogether perhaps? thanks for your response!

[@TheKeldaron]

i would scrap them they have bad initative, a bonus for the enemy to dodge i think and the critical bonus is not that good to compensate

[@mikem4432]

I wish I had seen this video before starting the game.

[@eskuadh3h371]

amazing guide shallya's gift

[@Tombonzo]

I know this is an olde video, but I just got the game and this was extremely helpful! New sub...

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks :)

[@RonOnTheWay]

I'm playing recently - I struggled with all but chaos previously. I finally got skaven to work by being patient and following this guy's advice.... Also here's a tip - sneak to a high ground spot and wait. Computer will try to jump up and take damage.

[@TheKeldaron]

ahh never to old to learn a trick tahnks

[@vicotage33]

Hello ! You made a mistake, henchman can't learn Mastery skill. Thx have fun

[@TheKeldaron]

sad but true, thanks :) glad someone noticed and informed me :)

[@antoniowindom]

Im confused, what does enemy defense +X (+X) mean? That my weapon somehow improves boosts enemy defenses?

[@FrozenSolid131]

Very nice guide, helped alot cheers!

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks :)

[@DGneoseeker1]

I suck at this game amazingly badly. I've been trying to use Witch Hunters. My guys are somehow just plain awful at fighting despite me trying my best to give them decent weapon skill and dodge chance. Meanwhile enemies even at normal difficulty can do stupid amounts of damage to me.

[@generalwoe359]

Knowledge tactics for parry? Lol. Master flash parry and get the 15% Web of steel, mastered flash parry + master shield specialist Weapon skill also adds to parry for...over 100%

[@caramboulage15]

positive vibes to u my friend, very humorous and good explanation of the most important aspectsd thanks :)). How many hours have u play mordheim ? and ye subbed btw keep it up !

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks :) a lot of hours i fear tryed every warband but mainlly chaos and human an sisters. least with skaven

[@caramboulage15]

i dont like to play with those rats neither ^^

[@TheKeldaron]

but theyr henchman are superior

[@caramboulage15]

i´ve seen some other youtubers prioritise looting the whole map before engaging in fights. Is that really nessecary? ive never played 1 campain that long to tell if i really need the gold that much, or the wyrdstone.

[@TheKeldaron]

you need all you can get training and new leveld recruits cost an arm and a leg

[@DGneoseeker1]

Any tips on ranged weapons? They should be useful, but you get punished far too badly for having a gun out if an enemy attacks you in close combat. I think I'm right in saying you can't even use pistols in close combat, which is completely wrong as far as Warhammer Fantasy rules at least. And you can't use a pistol in one hand with a sword in the other, either. Which would seem like a good compromise.

[@TheKeldaron]

shortbows are good thanks to more critial hitting

[@DGneoseeker1]

On a completely unrelated note, I'm confused by the veteran system. How does it work? I managed to get a couple of skills unlocked and into slots, but now everything has a red X on it. I can't even upgrade the skills I already got. I thought I had two skill points to spend. Next to the warband name there's the number two, which I thought was my veteran skill points...

[@TheKeldaron]

when you acive certain goals (collekting that number of wyrdstone, doing akt II of skaven and so on) you get veteran points and than you can buy with that points for every new band you create. but only until the points are used up than you have to gather more. but every new or exitsting warband gets all the total points to spend

[@DGneoseeker1]

Mystery solved. I was looking at the wrong number, apparently, Must have been warband experience or something. A new veteran point popped up after the next mission and I was able to upgrade. In theory I can have rare guns randomly showing up in camp now.

[@owenperkins9234]

Started Human mercs and took heavy armor and halberds. They are level 6 now and my leader is unharmed.

[@liambreaden2681]

2 handed weapons are all good until you fight skaven then good luck trying to land a hit.

[@bullvyithefell-handed7171]

Question. I know as you progress you need to come up with more and more wyrdstone. Do you have any advice on this?

[@TheKeldaron]

fast units to collekt wyrdstone take enemys down that have it

[@johndonachie8272]

can you do a melee build for the human mercenaries that would be most helpful

[@ScenOne]

i love when you have to aggressively research a games little tricks before you can actually play....

[@SuperLapplander]

? You can still attack and then dodge/parry so why keep saying dont use them? Also you can combine the dodge skill and the other dodge/parry for more dodge, aswell as the movement skills. Also if you have more in one atteibute then maybe you cant pick up the skill that you want. I have been playing with the possessed (1st warband) and im nearly at full lvl with all my guys and dodge/parry with no huge problem. My footmen have 1-h + Shield and they have no problem to stay alive. Have 2+1 ranged units (one is my hero when Its needed) and if you just position them safely behind your meatwall they are doing alot of damage. I dont think many of your tips are that helpful.

[@theexiledv2323]

Longest I lasted was 10 battles after that my party was so crippled from injuries I had to restart and the ai always knows where you are and is always fresh seriously fuck this game

[@gangstalkerofgangstalkers]

nice thanks

[@lofissure5757]

CLOTH ING, HOORAY!

[@2much4skyrim]

Your English is very good so it's kind of jarring when you say "rise" instead of "raise".

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks :)

[@2much4skyrim]

@@TheKeldaron , You're welcome! I'm guessing there have been 4 years worth of patches, would you change any of your tips and tricks?

[@TheKeldaron]

@@2much4skyrim will have to look at it first

[@fuchnorris6277]

11:44 "what??" for example. Sorry i just can't make out the word you are saying there.

[@TheKeldaron]

i think bracers the fisty things of the guys that fight with bare claws or hands

[@fuchnorris6277]

@@TheKeldaron thanks that does make sense

[@VitaminXism]

good video however your voice volume is very low in this video. I have everything maxed and can only just hear you if i listen closely, just fyi. Good advice though

[@TheKeldaron]

thanks glad you like it still working on that microphone

[@VitaminXism]

one of my Verminkin, Hirt Fetch, has been doing really well for himself, until he ran into a witch hunters great sword. Now he's megalomaniacal, and is calling himself MurderlordHirtFetch, and since my leader has lost his arm, he hasn't been able to stop him from renaming the warband too! Murderlord Hirt Fetch's Warband is doing quite well despite all their injuries ;D Still waiting to get a Rat Ogre though, not sure when that will happen

[@TheKeldaron]

got a new micro now

[@RomanowRomanow1]

there is some permanent progression in this?

[@logansaxby7224]

I'm on my 5th failed warband, I've watched your videos. This game is garbage. Your videos are great though, made me buy the game

[@TheKeldaron]

yes it did

[@LaPtaVerdad]

Trash game but absurdly addictive xD Have been playing for 6yrs and still have 0 idea how to use consumables

[@kinglu6360]

You sold the game to me, too bad you can't get a tip.

[@TheKeldaron]

what tip do yoou need ?

[@jft2649]

At this point i have mastered the game enough that after 200 battles (mostly brutal) none of my units got injured. I went about youtube looking for tips i didnt know or something i could learn. Nice to see i have a much more superior strategy and ingame knowledge than the video creator. But sad i didnt learn anything.

[@lonewolf5238]

Wow, you should produce a tips video, then. This guy's pretty damn good. If you can do better, there are a lot of players like me who would love to see it.