Exile Princes - FAQ Thread

[Jubal]

For any questions people want to ask, now the game is released Click on each subtopic to see the relevant FAQs.

Basics and controls

Q: How do I change the volume?
A: Press M to toggle between a range of volume levels.

Q: What are the hotkeys?
A: It depends on which screen you're on. M for volume toggle is universal, and H always repeats the hotkeys list. If you're in a menu, Esc leaves the menu.

• On the map: WASD or arrow keys to move, and X to search. C key to save, and ESC to return to the menu. Q key to check your quests, R for your army, Z for your stats, and F for faction information.
• In cities: W to go to the Castle, T for the Tavern, A to hire troops, X to search city, S for a rumour and D to leave, you can also use Z to check your stats, Q to list quests, and R for your army readout.
• On a decision screen: click Yes or press Enter, or No or press Backspace to choose. Z to list stats and Q to list quests.
• In battle: W to fight a round of combat, A to switch attacker, D to switch defender, S for attack ability and F for defence ability. Z to retreat.

Combat system

Q: How does combat work?
A: Combat works in rounds: in each combat round, each side's attack unit attacks the opposing defence unit. Various abilities can change this basic system - for example, passing attack, which deals damage to the enemy's attack unit and bypasses their defence unit, or pikes which can let a defence unit damage their attackers - but most of the time, it's each attacker against the opponent's defender.

As units spend more time in combat, they lose resilience points (RES). When RES goes below zero, it starts draining the unit's other stats, leaving it weakened and more vulnerable to opposing attacks. A large part of the combat can sometimes involve finding ways to save your best attacking units for when the enemy are already weakened. You can rotate through your units freely and swap them out as you see the need.

Q: How is damage actually calculated?
A: Each member of each attack unit deals an attack, generating a random value between their attack value and double their attack value. There are 2% chances of critical hits and failures: critical hits multiply the attack value by 2.5, fails divide it by same. The defence value is similarly calculated as being between defence and double defence: note this is calculated separately for each attack, so if you have a defence 4 unit and defence 2 attackers, they can basically only deal damage when they get those rare criticals (though when the defender is worn out, it's a different matter).

The damage is then applied to the unit: for multiple-person units, damage is only dealt in person-level units (so e.g. if I have 5 guys wit 3 hit points each, an attack with 2 resultant damage will be shrugged off). For units with only one member, they just take the damage directly to their hit point total.

Q: Why are my troops running away?
A: The SPI (spirit) stat of troops affects their likelihood to run. Being exhausted, taking losses, or seeing the army as a whole take losses are all things that will cause units to flee, even if they're not currently in combat.

Q: What are some useful strategies?
A: For simpler and easier battles, it's often good enough to just plug your best attack and defence units into each slot and have at the enemy. For more complex battles, think of resilience as really your core resource. If you have an enemy too high-defence to beat, you can use a weak unit in the attack slot, using their resilience to grind down the opponent until they start weakening and you can send in a strong attacker to really do the damage. For high-attack enemies, abilities like Dodge, Feint, and Divine Protection which waste the opponent's attacking turn can be invaluable. Looking for troop upgrades and better units can help too: companions can keep gaining stats over time, and The Exile Princes is a game that tends to reward better stats over simple numbers.

Gameplay/Early Game

Q: How do I spend adventuring points?
A: You'll get offered upgrade possibilities as end-of-week events: you can't just spend the points as soon as you get them. They're not super frequent, not least because the jumps are quite large (so e.g. +1 attack is actually a pretty large bonus). Adventuring Points can also unlock random event opportunities to interact with companion characters if you have any, those also turn up as random end of week events.

Q: How do I train troops?
A: Training troops requires them gaining XP: they usually gain this by being in the attack or defence slot during a combat round, though other events and character abilities can help. If they have enough XP and at least one upgrade option then you'll get random events at ends of weeks asking about upgrading them. If they have multiple upgrades possible, the offered upgrade will be random: you might want to reject an upgrade if you need a different specific endpoint. You can check what a unit's upgrade options are in the army menu.

Q: Which troops do I need to train for a specific quest?
A: If a city has asked you to train units, they will always be trainable from that city's citizens. Citizens develop into a tier two "guard" unit, one of the upgrades from that unit will be what the city requests from you in a standard training quest.

Q: I didn't find a fugitive murderer despite checking all the fields in the area?
A: Try again! A tile on the map of The Exile Princes represents an area more than large enough to fit a city into - you won't necessarily find any specific thing in an area the first time you look there. Think of each search as rolling the dice on looking, you may need to leave & return to have another go later if a fugitive is staying in hiding successfully.

Q: Why do I keep getting ambushed?
A: You generally only get ambushed in forest terrain. If you use Search Area it usually reveals ambushes in adjacent squares, so if you have to go through a forest but want to avoid combats then you can go slowly & carefully by searching repeatedly.

Mid to late game

Q: How can I gain control of cities?
A: There are three ways. A city can be captured by siege, you can win an election, or a city will join your side if you have high relations with them. Sieges are moderately tough battles, varying according to the city's wealth, faction, leader traits, and amenities. Elections rely on your knowledge of the city: listen for rumours to work out what people want. Cities need a very high relationship to join your side without an election or siege, but the required relationship can be lowered significantly if members of your house have friendly relations with the city's current ruler (look for events at feasts to accomplish this).

Achievement Hunting

Q: How do I get the no combat achievement?
A: Fighting any round of combat will remove the achievement trigger, so you don't just need to not attack, you need to avoid all combat. This is possible by focusing on escort and delivery quests, and on the election and city champion victory paths. Avoid forested areas to reduce the chance of ambushes.

Meta questions

Q: Where can I get the game?
A: Currently on Steam! There may also be a future release on Itch.

[The Seamstress]

I have finally won some cities, but don't fully understand how the taxes & expenditures thing works: I get told that cities are in debt but I don't really know how to fix or avoid that?

[Jubal]

I have finally won some cities, but don't fully understand how the taxes & expenditures thing works: I get told that cities are in debt but I don't really know how to fix or avoid that?

In your castle, holding court is the key mechanic here: you can do it every two weeks, and you'll get various opportunities like raising/lowering taxes and army size plans. You should try and hold court often if you want to keep good hold of a city.

For a temporary but large reduction in expenditures you can also disband or remove some of the troops the city has in its defending force, inspecting the city's army can also be done via going to your castle.

[The Seamstress]

I see, thank you!

[The Seamstress]

I acquired a new weapon in some city tunnels and it says "Bonus XP/gold vs. wibulnibs" - does that mean I get more XP and money when fighting wibulnibs?

And, uhm, can I dump a boyfriend? Lol. He disapproves of all my court rulings in favour of women & non-humans and is slowly but surely starting to get on my nerves with that behaviour.

[Jubal]

I acquired a new weapon in some city tunnels and it says "Bonus XP/gold vs. wibulnibs" - does that mean I get more XP and money when fighting wibulnibs?

Yep!

And, uhm, can I dump a boyfriend? Lol. He disapproves of all my court rulings in favour of women & non-humans and is slowly but surely starting to get on my nerves with that behaviour.

As long as you haven't declared true love and "locked" the relationship in place, you will occasionally get chances to end a relationship - and you should get those more if you annoy the character enough. You should also be able to end a relationship simply by firing the character from your party entirely.

[The Seamstress]

Thanks! That's my money problems sorted. And the berating-boyfriend problem too, hopefully...

Another question: How exactly do my companions gain ATT, DEF etc. skills? Sometimes I walk around and it says "XY has gained a +1 bonus to whatever" and it seems rather random? Do they have to participate in fights as attack/defense unit to level up their skills or does it just happen as part of them travelling with me?

[The Seamstress]

How can I buy a ship? I remember being offered one when I played the demo, but no such luck in the current game. Do I have to do anything or does that happen randomly?

[Jubal]

To buy a ship, you need to be in a city that borders the relevant water, and Search City: if you get a chance to decide which district to go to, you'll only get the event if you're in the district with the port. Beyond that it's random but shouldn't be an uncommon chance.

EDIT: also companions and skills, didn't notice that one: they just get a bonus of some kind, randomly selected, for every certain amount of XP that they get - which they get as usual so by fights, or by anything else that would normally give XP.

[The Seamstress]

Thank you!

[The Seamstress]

If I start a new game, will the current one still be saved/playable or does the new one delete it?

[Jubal]

If I start a new game, will the current one still be saved/playable or does the new one delete it?

Saves are per character name, so as long as the new characters have unique names you can have as many save files as you like

[The Seamstress]

Saves are per character name, so as long as the new characters have unique names you can have as many save files as you like

Good to know. Thanks! I feel a bit stuck in my current game which is why I haven't played in a while, but I'd like to try a new one some time.

[Jubal]

I have added some notes on the combat system as someone on the Steam Forums was asking for them.