mikeprichard

Thanks, Mechalibur - especially to avoid running out of stone for more useful buildings, I'm also planning to forgo the shop discounts and not build many/any mills or bakeries in particular, and to keep my Ro rep as high as reasonably possible. It's just my completionist nerd personality that wants to figure out how things work like this under the hood, but when I finally play I may do some testing myself as you suggest and revisit my post here. I'm probably the only one who cares, but there may be at least one other nut out there.

Ah, of course - manually comparing one report to the previous; makes sense. And if anyone can help me confirm/edit the bolded "???" items in my longer post above, I'd be obliged - I'm assuming the lack of responses simply means people don't know, but any confirmed info could help. One major thing that seems like it could be fairly easily confirmed is whether changes to theft stats imply a change in the chance of theft occurring at all every two days, or in the amount/percentage of the resources that are stolen consistently each period. The manual and tooltips suggest the former, but it seems people are reporting that when they start seeing theft, it's consistent and always in the same amount - and I know the info in the manual and tooltips hasn't always been correct in Spidweb games!

When these things happen, do you get an in-game message re: the theft chance/amount increase? Just wondering how you knew. And I do realize at some point I need to just play the game myself, lol - just waiting for 1.02.

Thanks as always, Mechalibur - would you be able to share (or could I determine myself through the game files) a list, along with the resulting theft chance/amount increase values? Again, if it's possible to search the game location/dialogue files for specific text, that would help fill in a couple of the missing items I'm looking for.

I suspect there will be quite a few things we'll never know for sure about the exact resource mechanics per my edited post above, but it may be possible to confirm one point: are there any "actions" you can take during/related to quests etc. under my item 2c) above that would increase your theft chance? I'm thinking particularly of the "Reducing the risk of theft" section of nlambert's "Queen's Wish 2 index [Spoilers]" topic. E.g. it's noted there that letting Dastan go during an audience will reduce the theft risk (I assume only in the Gentle Coast) by an unspecified amount, but will not letting him go have the opposite effect? Moreover, are there other actions separate from the choices in that list that would directly increase theft rates? If theft chance modifiers are somehow searchable in the game files this could be a relatively easy check, but if not, it may be another thing that's impossible to confirm.

Scanning through this topic again and trying to tie the info together, it seems that if one's interested primarily in a munchinky min-max-ish run and not too bothered by the ending text re: mom's opinion (and also doesn't care about having a "Haven loyalist" code to use in QW3), Queen ("Q") values can largely be ignored in favor of Ro ("R") values, yes? Of course, there are certainly going to be Ro-friendly moral choices I'm not likely to make, and I know I'm simplifying here, but it seems broadly accurate.

I counted up the resources available throughout the game from Randomizer's list, and compared them against the requirements to build all 10 structures in all 7 forts (just to compare - I know building all 70 isn't possible), and after quicksilver, stone is in fact the second most limiting resource by a fairly wide margin, with iron then wood being distant 3rd and 4th. I think Randomizer mentioned in one of his big topics that iron is 2nd, but that's probably a holdover from QW1 when I think that was the case. Of course, if you choose not to build too many structures that use a lot of stone (and there are several), you may not notice, but there it is.

Hope you don't mind that I mentioned this to Jeff on Steam, since I know he's working to fix potentially more serious bugs/plot holes for version 1.0.2 and beyond, and he generally doesn't read the forums here - https://steamcommunity.com/app/1947750/discussions/0/3427823723510153332 If you really think this was a bug and have more info to share with him there, please feel free! (He doesn't see how this could have happened without more info.) If not, no worries of course.

Also, this is probably obvious from context, but would you please add the "Qs" to the end of the following in the list? "I ordered that the Ro be utterly crushed." +6 "I ordered that the Ro be reclaimed, but slowly and cautiously." +1 "I gave no orders to attack." -12 Approved Yvette +3 Approved Abelin -4 Approved Aato +3 Approved Lawita -4 I can already tell this guide is going to be essential to my min-max-ish playthrough. Great work, again.

Thanks, folks - sounds like Spectral Armor isn't great if it's only a temporary HP buff, and now through the magic of word-searching I've found the clearer description ("creates shield that absorbs damage up to its duration"); the description "ability to improve armor" in part of the post above led me to think of more permanent crafting/equipment upgrades instead. Also, I'd already thought the theft reduction - assuming -10% worldwide, which Randomizer hasn't contradicted - wouldn't be worth it, given you're passing up other slick benefits from a different dedication. Still, I'm editing my post in the Resources topic to account for this potential benny. This hasn't changed my personal plan to dedicate 3 to Ro (because Aid to Peace isn't worth it), 3 to Industry (because the Mad Flurry upgrade with 2 is apparently important, while the Knowledge benefits at 2 don't strike me as great), and 1 to Knowledge (because Energy Potions).

I'm planning my eventual munchkin/min-max-lite playthrough, and am interested in others' thoughts/info on the rewards for dedicating forts in certain ways. My initial thinking for a good balance is 1 to Knowledge (for Energy Potions), 3 to Industry (for more speed, accuracy, improved Mad Flurry, and "Spectral Armor"), and 3 to Ro (for "Resolve to Ro", and secondarily for the "opinion" boost). A few specific questions, in addition to any general feedback others' may want to share on their preferences: 1) What exactly are the benefits of the "Spectral Armor" equipment upgrades, and do people think they're worth it? 2) What exactly are the benefits of the "Respect to Ro" "opinion" boost? Is it only the flat +8 modifier to Ro reputation mentioned in another topic, or does it also offer other unique benefits? 3) Re: "Aid to Peace", the top post here notes "-!0% theft reduction". I assume this is 10%, but either way, could Randomizer please edit the post to correct? Also, it notes "...to all Forts", but I thought theft rates/amounts were calculated on a region- and/or world-wide basis (see e.g. the description for barracks/guard towers/fort upgrades that indicate they reduce theft "in this region") rather than on the basis of each of the seven separate forts? Thanks as always for any info and tips!

(EDIT: I'm trying to clean up this and my earlier posts in this topic through text strikethroughs in my above posts and edits in this post, as I think they clutter the forum with certain incorrect assumptions from my side, and I can't delete my posts. Apologies to the moderators if my approach here isn't appropriate.) I think I've been making this much more complicated than it is and taking things in a wrong direction. I also incorrectly assumed and was concerned that resource losses due to theft would now accumulate over time, rather than only being part of the one-off calculation against your resource inventory each 2-day period similar to QW1 - Mechalibur has shown that it's still the same as QW1 in this respect, so no need to worry on that account. (https://steamcommunity.com/app/1947750/discussions/0/3314107765690352597/#c3427823723507969545) That said, it seems the mechanics are still fairly similar to QW1 (with the major exception that resources are immediately and permanently spent on/invested in structures, rather than being regularly accumulated or expenses being regularly deducted every 2 days), but I'd appreciate any fixes/additions to my below current educated guesswork, especially for the "???" points/values in items 2) and 3). Cheers! ------------------------------ 1) Your resource inventory as reported every 2 days is the total of all resources you've so far collected from any source, with all known available sources listed in Randomizer's top post in this topic, less the total of all initial costs for buildings you've so far constructed in all forts. Note that unlike QW1, removing a building after initially constructing it will not remove its associated cost, so once you initially build something, you've irrevocably committed those resources. 2) Any resource theft as reported every 2 days is counted as an offset against your resource inventory. If theft occurs, it will deduct from your total resource inventory for that period. The amount deducted begins with a "base" amount of 20???% at the start of the game on Normal(???) game difficulty up to 30% on Torment game difficulty, and is then affected by the following factors: a) building barracks and guard towers and upgrading forts, which reduce the theft amount in that region (barracks: -5%, guard towers: -5%, upgrade fort: -5%) b) gaining "Aid to Peace" by dedicating four forts to the Ro, which reduces the theft amount in all regions(???) (-10%) c) taking certain actions/completing certain quests, which either reduce or increase the theft amount in that region(???) [actions to reduce thefts are listed in the "Queen's Wish 2 index" topic, while actions to increase thefts include appointing bad governors, supporting women in the Low Dhaga, and burning groves in the Kranas Woods] (???%) d) your reputation with the Ro, which either reduces or (???) increases the theft amount in that region(???) (???%) e) reclaiming the second fort in a region, which increases the theft amount in that region(???) (+20%) 3) You'll suffer penalties for the next 2-day period if amounts stolen for any particular resource are greater than your available inventory of that resource for any 2-day period. Each single unit of any resource in "deficit" for the period results in a 2% penalty to your ???, up to a 20% maximum penalty. NOTE: Especially as removing a building after initially constructing it will not remove its associated cost, while quicksilver (until the late game) followed by stone (toward the late game) are in limited supply, you must be extremely careful when planning your fort purchases from the beginning to avoid a situation later in the game where you have an insufficient "cushion" against thefts and are unable to build/maintain all desired structures. ------------------------------

Thanks, Mechalibur; that's helpful. The piece I still don't get is the period of "income" for resources against which the theft is calculated - again, I'd thought once you initially collect the resources, they're yours, and there's no hidden ongoing accumulation of stuff, but clearly that's wrong. (cleanup of incorrect/misleading assumptions - sorry for all my posts spamming this topic; I'll just summarize in my 9/1/2022 post further below)

Oh shoot, so ongoing shop maintenance really is a thing... I'm a bit confused now as to the specific mechanics. The instructions note: "If theft reduces the resources coming in below the amount you have already spent, you will get penalties in combat." Still not sure how this exactly works in practice, considering I initially thought there were no resources "coming in" on an ongoing basis - I'd thought it was very simply "you get X resources, you spend Y resources". Real examples of how the system works, including sample timeframes/amounts for calculating the use of resources, would be great. (cleanup of incorrect/misleading assumptions - sorry for all my posts spamming this topic; I'll just summarize in my post 9/1/2022 further below)

Right, my concern is there really now might be a clock ticking in the background - the longer you play without getting to the next fort and using available resources to build all the buildings you want, the less you'll have available throughout the entire playthrough to do so considering the drip-drip of theft over time. I don't expect it will be too punishing for a thorough player, but it still seems it could be kind of a bummer for those like me who don't want any "time pressure". And silly question - if the game won't let you build with resources you don't have, and theft won't ever take you below 0, how exactly do you go into deficit (and rack up penalties) in the first place? I know it happened to me in the demo since I was starting to play by QW1 rules, but now I don't know how. (cleanup of incorrect/misleading assumptions - sorry for all my posts spamming this topic; I'll just summarize in my 9/1/2022 post further below)

One more question (since I only played the demo and haven't yet started a "for-real" playthrough - I've got other games for now, and am waiting for 1.0.1/1.0.2 anyway). As a very, very thorough completionist who likes to play RPGs leisurely without any explicit or implicit "time pressure", thinking further on this, I'm a bit concerned that the fact that resources are apparently finite across the entire game and aren't produced daily/weekly coupled with the theft mechanic could eventually put you into a resource death spiral if you play the game too long. E.g. to use simple numbers that illustrate the principle I have in mind, let's say you buy/collect 100 wood over the course of the entire game from all available sources, and spend 75 making buildings. If you then play too long, will occasional thefts start chipping away at your 25-wood "cushion", to the point where you'll eventually be in the hole and suffering penalties with no possible way to get back in the black? I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here - i.e. maybe getting to 0 in a resource isn't a problem in itself, as long as you don't try to build another building that would put you in a deficit - but any insight would be appreciated! (cleanup of incorrect/misleading assumptions - sorry for all my posts spamming this topic; I'll just summarize in my 9/1/2022 post further below)

Great info - much obliged!

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It would be nice if he'd tweak the report UI a bit to clarify the system, but I know he tends to be a bit set in his ways after version 1.0 launches! Either way, it's cool.

Yeah, I'm surprised Jeff didn't highlight this (that I saw at least) in his blog posts/other news bits for returning QW1 players. It's a major change, but one I happen to like.

It looks like there's some significant duplication of posts/info in this topic (the post starting with "Low Dhaga - southern" was apparently posted twice; there may be other duplications as well). Would you please be able to remove the duplicated info for ease of use? Also, you write in https://spiderwebforums.ipbhost.com/topic/27810-qw2-advice-for-playing/ that monsters now give 1-24 experience, but here you state they give 1-12. Could you please confirm which is correct? Thanks for this awesome resource, as always!

You can always count on Randomizer! Thanks as always for the great info.

Thanks for the inside info, Randomizer! It sounds like the "tweaks and improvements" only refers to underlying performance/system compatibility changes, rather than any adjustments to gameplay or UI.

Hi all - I'm checking in since I just read in Jeff's newsletter and on Steam news that QW1 was recently updated to 1.03 to include "better, revamped character art and a lot of tweaks and improvements." I suspect a detailed changelog specifying the exact tweaks/improvements doesn't exist, but if one does and I'm just missing it, will someone please provide a link/copy here? I doubt the changes will be enough to get me to start another playthrough, but I am curious about any hints of what's in store for QW2. Cheers!

Oh yeah, those Anama playthroughs in some games... good point.