Occidental Heroes: The Complete Guide/Walkthrough

[Jubal]

Occidental Heroes RPG Guide

I've been playing this a bit, it's a nice android game that provides some fairly open ended RPG wanderings and a very nice setting. So without further ado, here's a guide! If anyone has any thoughts/additions, please comment below

The Basics

Adventurer League is set in a strange fantasy-colonial "Occident" - a New World type setting. The tech level is fairly medieval, with no gunpowder, though the general theming seems to be more like 17th century. You play with a team of (usually) three adventurers who wander around doing quests and attempting to get rich and successful. And often failing.

Adventuring
There aren't many things to keep track of as you're moving around the map; you move square to square, using up provisions (which cost money and need to be replenished regularly). The other "party stats" to think about are the resolve of each of your members, how much money you have, and your renown.

You're unlikely to run out of money as long as you keep doing quests; don't be afraid to have plenty of quests on the go at once, up to 5 or 6 is often fine. Saving up can be difficult, especially early in the game; avoid big fighting jobs and work through the fighting pits and some wolf packs/escort quests/deliveries early on so you can get the all important weapon and armour upgrades (see the Map section on where to get various upgrades). You'll get loot from battle but this isn't generally much of a way to make money or something you need to track, just sell it any time you're in a shop and buying supplies (there's no use for loot other than to convert into coin).

Renown you can be pretty relaxed about, it ticks up fairly quickly and the only things it's important for are access to higher value quests in towns, some characters' development lines, and obtaining the hinterland pass. Individuals also have a "renown share" stat, which ticks up alongside the company's total.

Resolve is the trickiest stat of the three to work with; the more your members lose resolve the more they're likely to want to retire, and if they do retire they take away a chunk of the party's money, and of course all their equipment (if they're the party's leader that can include things like the very expensive spyglass). Members lose resolve if they run out of food, if the hailstorm event happens, or if they get wounded in battle. There's no way for them to gain resolve, so conserving it is a key part of the game. You can retire members at taverns and get a read-out of their lives after the events of the game: there's no real "aim" or endgame to ALRPG, but getting happy endings for your characters is perhaps the main objective (happy endings generally seem to occur if they have a share of above 1500 coins when they retire).

Random events will happen on your travels as well as quests. These will mostly be combat encounters, some of which certain party members will allow you to skip over (see the characters section). Combat encounters can include wolves, bandits, cultists, deserters, and Yagight raiding parties (see the enemies section). There are also some non-combat encounters:

• Merchant caravan - fairly common, lets you buy goods and sell loot. On roads only.
• Refugees - gives you the option to give them money or send them on their way. I think giving them money improves your renown though haven't managed to test this. On roads only.
• Late delivery - Dead couriers, you pick up some documents and get a free quest to take them to a city. On roads only.
• Abandoned wagon - you get the option to break in, not worked out which character has the necessary skill yet though. On roads only.
• Lost merchant/lost lamb - you find either a merchant or monk NPC who you get a quest to take to their village/monastery for a reward. On roads only.
• Hailstorm - automatically lose resolve and, if you have them, your pack animals. Possibly the most annoying random event in the game.

Your basic game priorities should be as follows:
1) Always ensure you have enough food, running out is never necessary and never a good idea.
2) Save up and buy upgrades in the relevant towns: weapons/armour top priority (Bessemburg), then the pack animals which let you carry more supplies (Auhert's Beacon), then the hinterland pass which lets you reach the north western part of the map (Auhert's Beacon), then possibly the spyglass (Grionti) if you can afford it/be bothered. The map can also be sort of useful especially if you're new to the game, it's quite cheap and I usually buy it for completeness' sake.
3) Complete any character quests to upgrade your characters further
4) Keep doing circuits of the map, going for high value combat quests to make money and using parcel delivery (or occasional escort) missions to ensure you always have something to do as you move between towns.

Battles
The combat system is simple but nicely tactical; your people move around on a small hex map, with a (usually greater) number of enemies starting at the other end and some cover and impassable squares depending on the type of terrain. There are a few different types of basic character/move/special ability, detailed below. Note that most characters cannot skip turns/stand still, and doing so is actually quite a powerful ability in this system. The turn skip button is unlockable and available to most characters as the result of their quest line/character development being completed (see the characters section).

The battles are pretty brutal and can go wrong very easily and quickly; each of your characters has just 2hp, if they lose one they are wounded after the battle (which is a bad hit to their resolve, see above) and if they lose both they literally just die on the spot, which not only loses you them and all their equipment but IIRC hits everyone else in the party's resolve as well. You can retreat if all your people are at the bottom end of the map AND not in contact with any enemies, but avoid this where possible, especially if you have pack animals as these will be immediately lost in any retreat.

There are three main types of fighter you can have (and this also broadly counts for most enemies as well):

• Fencers - probably the weakest and hardest to use class. They have a number of potentially powerful special moves including lunge attacks (move in a straight line then attack), dual attacks (attacking multiple opponents at once), and sweep attacks (stepping around an opponent then attacking)
• Men at Arms - you need at least one of these in your party, they're the fairly simple to use tank class of the game. They can take one (two when upgraded) hits in battle without getting wounded.
• Archers - the ranged class, probably generally the most powerful in the game. They can hit any opponent up to three squares away (four when upgraded) in a straight line.

Generally running with 2 archers/1 MaA or 2 MaA/1 archer seems fairly optimal; fencers seem to struggle badly against armoured enemies, a close combat fighter who can't take much punishment doesn't work so well with these mechanics and especially in forests their movement abilities can be rendered useless. Fencer-type enemies are, that said, some of the most dangerous, especially if you're running with 2 archers as they can very easily dodge round your men at arms (and enemy parties will usually outnumber you).

Terrain & Location Types

This contains a run-down of the types of terrain and special location you'll find while wandering around the Occident.

Types of Location

Villages & Towns
Most settlements have a similar pattern, with three basic buildings/features as follows:

• Some sort of administrative office, where you can complete and gain certain quests including most higher level ones.
• A tavern, where you can complete and gain lower level quests.You can also retire party members at any tavern.
• A shop, where you can buy supplies and sell loot.

Villages all follow this basic pattern. There are four towns on the map - Auhert's Beacon, Bessemburg, Grionti, and Capriss - which have additional features or special associated quests. Administrative office quests gained from towns are I think often higher level than those in villages, and some higher level quests can only be found in towns. If your party drops below three members you can only hire new people in the towns (excluding Capriss).

Monasteries
There are three monasteries on the map; they are the start and end points of certain specific quests.

Ruins
There are numerous ruins around the map, most of which are only important within certain quests. The hinterlands has rather more ruins than the eastern/southern parts of the map.

Gated Bridges
There are three of these, leading to the Hinterlands. There's no way of getting through them without a license, and once you have the license there's nothing more to do with them; when you pass through them the game will note that your pass is checked, but there's no effect of this.

Other
There's a fort in the hinterlands, and a Yagight town very deep into/beyond the hinterlands. Not sure what effect if any these have as of yet.

A Traveller's Guide to the Occident

This contains a detailed overview of the different bits of the map. The provincial designations, excepting the hinterlands, are entirely my own and not reflected in game, but they do make for a convenient way of cutting the map up.

Auhert's Land
Broadly covering the starting area, from the river south of Auhert's beacon up to the start of the Northwoods, and from the coast to the river that cuts off the hinterlands.

Auhert's Beacon
This is the capital of the Occident.

• The Fighting Pits are useful in the early game, there are five tiers of fight, always with 3 opponents though the final tier opponents are extremely tough. A character who would normally be wounded takes no hit to their resolve if this happens in the fighting pits, and a character who would usually be killed is only wounded, so this is a very good place to practice battles in the early game without risking the death of a party member. The final fight is genuinely extremely difficult and one of the only times you'll face opponents who are as tough as you are and have most of the advantages you can get yourself; this can be left to later in the game, but is useful for the money and for some characters' development.
• You can get the hinterland pass at the Viceroy's palace, it costs 150 coins and you need a certain level of renown to be allowed to buy one.
• You can buy pack animals and the map in the market here.

Eltevedt
A village, on the road north of Auhert's Beacon just past the road fork that leads inland to Auhert's Crossing.

St Agar's
A monastery, nestled in the mountains just west of Auhert's Beacon, though you need to go round through a lot of forests/hills to get there.

Auhert's Crossing
A gated bridge to the hinterlands. If you turn west at the road fork north of Auhert's Beacon the road takes you to Auhert's Crossing.

Northwood Province
The forested areas in the northeast of the map, characterised by forests and hills mainly.

Bessemburg
This is the town for the region, a mining centre, right in the north next to the "Glittering Spires" mountain range and by the river that forms the border with the hinterlands (so it's a long way from the sea). Importantly it's where you buy equipment upgrades for your party members.

• You can get masterwork bows for archers (+1 range upgrade) and custom-fitted cuirasses for Men at Arms (+1 armour). These are hugely important advantages to have and should be bought as soon as you can afford them. Avoid buying them for any party members who already have very low resolve, though, as they'll end up retiring shortly thereafter with 200 coins' worth of equipment on their person!

Cosgrave Point
A village, on the shore where the road turns inland to head to Bessemburg (or south to head to Eltevedt and Auhert's Land).

St Gyle's
A monastery, in a small patch of mountains/hills immediately south of where the road forks north to Bessemburg.

Ironpass Bridge
A gated bridge to the hinterlands. If you continue west at the road fork south of Bessemburg the road takes you here.

Sunshore Province
South of the large river that runs east-west across the map.

Grionti
This is the town for the region. It's got a large forest to the north, with a road cutting through the middle of it; the fork in the road that leads there is a bit east of Hrok's Crossing, and it's the next one west after the fork that leads down to Artahanna.

• You can get a spyglass here. It's very expensive at 350 coins, and if you know your way around the map or have already explored most of it then the extra sight range won't help a great deal, but it can be nice to have if you like making sure most of the map is explored.

Artahanna
A village, found by turning south at the fork a little way after the bridge south of Auhert's Beacon where the road turns west-east.

Hrok's Crossing
A village by the river, northwest of the forests near Grionti and close to the Long Bridge.

The Long Bridge
A gated bridge to the hinterlands, north of Grionti and just east of Hrok's Crossing.

The Hinterlands
The northwest part of the map, only accessible once you have a permit to get there.

Capriss
This is the town for the region, just off the main road that loops around south of the forests and east of the mountains. It's mostly a ruin built by some past culture in the region. Unlike the other towns it's primarily full of scholars and seems to be run by the "Archaeologie", a sort of scholarly institute.

• Almost all of Capriss' quests are unique, though it can be the endpoint of certain other regular escort/delivery quests. Capriss quests include the furrier quest (which seems to be a one off), an artefact looting quest, and hunting for scholars' research notes in various hinterland ruins.
• The Prorector never seems to give quests; all of Capriss' quest starts are in the tavern.
• Unlike the other three towns you don't seem to be able to recruit new adventurers in Capriss.

Deadlake
A village, just north of where the road from Auhert's Crossing meets the one from the Long Bridge, and a bit southeast of Capriss.

Hettering
A village, the only one in the game to be a long way from any roads. It's deep in the forests north of Capriss next to the mountains - just keep going north from where the road turns from north to northeast (around where Fort Venture is) and you'll get there eventually. Generally it makes sense to avoid deliveries etc to Hettering, as it's so isolated and takes a long time to get to. It can be useful for resupplying when doing the dire wolf quest, though.

Fort Venture
A military fort, some way north of Capriss, on the edge of the huge northern forests. It does not appear to have any functions/anything one can interact with.

Beyond the Colonies
Areas to the west of the Sunshore region (and the mountains/woods north of Grionti), but still south of the river.

St Cithia's
A monastery, on the other side of a large plains region, a long way west of where the Sunshore province roads/settlements end. It's the only location in this area and is something of a pain to get to (especially if you're not well kitted out to face Yagight raiders on the plains), so be careful before accepting low-value escort quests to go here.

Beyond the Hinterlands
Areas to the west of the mountain range that cuts down across the Hinterlands. Not distinguished from the Hinterlands ingame, and thus needs the permit to access.

Enemies

A complete guide to all the foes you'll find on your travels around the Occident, and their abilities!

Beasts
Bear - Found generally in forests or ruins. Always solitary. 3hp, can make sweep attacks.
Wolf - Found generally in forests or ruins in small unmixed packs up to about 5 wolves. 1hp, can make lunge attacks.
Dire Wolf - Found only in the pine forests of the hinterland in small unmixed packs up to about 5 wolves. 2hp, can make lunge attacks.

Bandits
Come in mixed groups, anywhere from 2 to as many as 8-9. Found more or less everywhere.
Bandit - 1hp, no special abilities. Least tough foe in the game.
Bandit Archer - 1hp, regular archery (3 squares).
Marauder - 1hp, 1 point of armour.

Yagight Raiders
Come in mixed groups, anywhere from 2 to as many as 8-9. Found more or less everywhere though especially on the plains/hinterland regions.
Berserker - 1hp, can make double attacks and sweep attacks.
Spearman - 1hp, can make lunge attacks.
Spear Thrower - 1hp, regular archery (3 squares).
War leader - 2hp, can make lunge and sweep attacks.

Cultists
Come in mixed groups, anywhere from 2 to as many as 8-9. Found especially on roads.
Cultists - 1hp, can make lunge attacks. Dangerous in numbers.
Acolyte - 1hp, regular archery (3 squares).
Warrior priest - 1hp, 1 point of armour.

Deserters
Come in mixed groups, anywhere from 2 to as many as 10-11. Found more or less everywhere. Deserters are by far the toughest enemies you'll have to face thanks to the fact that most of them are armoured, and in large numbers can prove a real challenge to overcome.
Deserter/Halberdier - 1hp, 1pt of armour. Can make lunge attacks and quite hard to take down, so extremely dangerous especially if closes in on archers/backs them into a corner.
Deserter Archer - 1hp, regular archery (3 squares).
Sergeant - 1hp, 1 point of armour.

Characters

Fencers
Flamboyant Brigand (Grif the Hand)

• Lets you skip random encounters with bandits.
• Can get hinterland permits without the necessary renown by bribing the guard at a bridge instead of getting one from the Viceroy - this costs 300 coins instead of the usual 150.
• Can use the "abandoned cart" random encounter to gain 600 coins (at a renown penalty, but a modest one compared to the gain).
• Not sure what if anything develops his character - may not have a development line; renown, movement, all quests, and up to 1500 coins don't seem to trigger anything.

Dashing Lieutenant (Maerk Inulli)

• Starts with a large resolve bonus.
• When his renown share reaches 50 he is famous enough to complete his development, and gains the ability to skip turns.

Impoverished Nobleman (Nerian de Leux)

• Allows you to access town leaders/the Viceroy with lower renown than you'd otherwise be able to.

Wandering Monk (Brother Hiri)

• Allows you to skip cultist random encounters.

Army Surgeon (Galin Ardanne)

• Has the special "a friend in need" quest line, starting in a tavern, where he hears of an old friend with a bad injury in Hettering. If he goes to Hettering and heals the friend, he gains the ability to skip turns, and can optionally do an extra quest to retrieve a stolen artefact the friend had and return it to the Archaeologie for a couple of hundred coins. Both the initial and extra quests are optional; not sure what happens if you refuse to do either stage.
• Has a "better than average chance" to save a fallen party member from death (other than himself).

Men at Arms
Disgraced Palace Guard (Torun Sacanti)

• Allows you to access town leaders/the Viceroy with lower renown than you'd otherwise be able to.
• When you defeat the final enemies in the fighting pits, he decides that a life of fighting and adventuring is better than guard work anyway, and thus gains the ability to skip turns.

Betrayed Mercenary Captain (Ryke Elliam)

• Allows you to skip deserter random encounters.
• Has the special "back from the dead" quest line. He will find some members of his former mercenary company in a tavern, and will need to fight them near to that settlement (doesn't seem to be always the same one, have triggered it in Bessemburg and Eltevedt). This then leads to another town (which may always be Grionti, has been every time I've done this), where the party will need to go to find information about where the main mercenary group are, costing 200 coins though some characters may be able to skip this. They will turn out to be nearby at the "Sorrows" ruin. When reaching the ruin you get the grisly details of the captain's past, and the option for your company to abandon him to his fate (at which point he dies instantly). If you fight with him, it's a very difficult fight against a large group of deserter-type enemies, including his former lieutenant. If you win and he survives, he gains the ability to skip turns, having closed that chapter in his life.

Grizzled Army Veteran (Vogl Hinnse)

• Allows you to skip deserter random encounters.
• Gives bonus information about characters beyond their name and base type when you recruit new ones to your party.
• When his share of the party's money reaches 1500 coins, he can skip turns as he now has a "nest egg" to ensure his children's future. Getting a party this wealthy takes a long time and is quite a difficult challenge.

Unscrupulous War Profiteer (Simi the Boxman)

• Significant bonus to looting, loot carrying ability, and money found after battles.
• Can use the "abandoned cart" random encounter to gain 600 coins (at a renown penalty, but a modest one compared to the gain).
• If you pass through any ruins and interrupt a Yagight ceremony, having him in your party can allow you to loot a bonus artefact which can be sold to the Archaeologie for around 80 coins.
• Not sure what if anything develops his character - may not have a development line; plenty of renown, movement, all quests, and up to 2000 coins don't seem to trigger anything.

Noble's Second Son (Vissnir du Cireon)

• Starts with a large resolve bonus.
• When his renown share reaches 50 he is famous enough to prove himself to his family, and gains the ability to skip turns.

Archers
Naturalist (Dr. Kirran Laviotti)

• Probably the most useful character in the game, with an easy character development line and a wide range of map/random encounter advantages.
• Protects you from the hailstorm random event - the hailstorm protection is particularly useful as it means you don't end up losing your pack animals to this event.
• Allows you to avoid the bear and wolves random encounters.
• Can forage, so uses up no supplies, improving your profit margins.
• For his character development, he sates his wanderlust simply after moving around a certain amount; keep travelling around enough of the map and this will trigger automatically. This then allows him to skip turns.

"Civilised Savage" (Jeri Wind-sense)

• Allows you to skip Yagight random encounters.

Cowardly Bowman (Tivoyn Sentieco)

• Gets an indicator in battle of all nearby squares that are "in danger" (aka where an enemy can attack in their next turn). Makes him good for newer players especially.
• After a certain number of battles, he will reassess his "cowardice" and realise that his innate sense of danger is actually a tactical advantage. This lets him skip turns.

Poacher (Mickan Loyko)

• Can forage, so uses up no supplies, improving your profit margins.
• Once his share of the party's money is over 1000 coins, he has enough to sort out his "legal troubles" back home. This lets him skip turns.

Mysterious Stranger (Hal Rigger)

• Only character that immediately starts with the ability to skip turns, making him very powerful early in the game.
• Not sure what if anything develops his character - may not have a development line; plenty of renown, movement, all quests, and up to 2000 coins don't seem to trigger anything. This is especially odd as the character bio hints that the Mysterious Stranger's past may catch up with him at some point.

Full Quest List

Combat Missions
Bear
Wolves
Bandits
Yagight
Deserters
Cultists

Escort Missions

Delivery Missions

Longer Quests

[Vaknuva]

As of 7/20/2017 Army Surgeon (Galin Ardanne), has a "better than average chance" to save a fallen party member from death (other than himself).  He can use this ability multiple times a game, but I don't know how it works if 2 or more party members fall in the same battle.
Other than that, Great Guide!

[Jubal]

Thanks for the info! I should get the quest stuff written up at some point, I got distracted by other projects for a while.

(Also, welcome to Exilian!)

[gberklay]

Well done! Makes the game more fun !   

[Jubal]

Thanks, glad you found it useful (and welcome to the site! )

[AshardMerja]

One can gain resolve by accomplishing a flawless victory or an Epic Victory!  . Good Gaming Everyone.

[Jubal]

Thanks for the tip

I should really get back and play some more of this sometime...

[Bobsonbob]

I have some tips to ad.


Selling loot and buying supplies:
Some places offer more expensive prices, ex, dont buy supplies from capriss because its worth 5 instead of the usual three. General rule is that big cities like the starting town, bessemburg...etc. Places that have a three cost are the best. This will be significant later on, buying supplies and selling loot never really ends. A good price for loot is almost 2 gold per loot piece. Worse prices are one loot for one gold.

Loot actually has a use beyond selling. Later in the game, you can trade it for new archer weapons in the natives village, since they dont use money.( You need a quest to get you on their good side, "Civilised Savage" (Jeri Wind-sense) unlocks this, he has a special quest.


Speaking of special quest...Characters like Unscrupulous War Profiteer (Simi the Boxman) and Jeri do have character development. They have special quests. Simis quest involves saving a priest.( keep accepting quests from monasteries. Same for Griff and so on. Just keep quest searching, then you will find a special quest and that if character will be involved more than normal. (Ex, Simi will speak up and give some suggestion instead of being a quiet npc, then its their special quest).



You want lots of supplies, the resolve loss is very painful if you are starving, loosing one point per block until you reach a major city( You could loose 15 resolve, or more if you go in a big forest w no pack animals and start starving ). You want to cross roads only which eat three food per step if you are low. Forest, and rocky hill will eat much more.

The quest reward hints at the battle difficulty. Deserters w a 100 gold prize quest is easier than deserters w a 160 prize quest. If you are not confident, just farm XP w delivery quest or random encounters for a while.



Special mention for Bessemburg and hettering. Bessemburg sells the best gear and I dont mean what is in the shop. If you venture to Hettering, a mining villlage deep in the forest, you have a chance to get an ore delivery quest. It is always an ore delivery quest to Bessemburg w a gain of about 110 gold w each delivery. It also unlocks on piece of powerful armor or weapon. It is expensive but it is much stronger than anything being sold. Each ore quest lets you buy one special piece of armor or weapon for one fighter. It has to be repeated many times for full gear. There seem to be a period of time before the quest resets, so do other things before checking.


I dont get why the twin swords has the lowest recommend, he does the most damage. You have to play smart with that class, because its fragile, dont always charge in unless its an easy fight or you have some help to divide the damage or cover from an archer. It is quite satisfying to trigger a double or even a triple attack w him.

one of the twin swords, Brother Hiri, starts w special holy swords. His weapon is almost end game quality, stores dont normally sell anything better. He will do a lot of damage. He can also skip cultist encounters, which is very useful early game, and you can filter how you build XP. ( bandits, and delivery quests or escort quests are easier for XP and money)

[Jubal]

Thanks very much, good additions! And welcome to Exilian

I think there must have been some updates since I last played which may have shifted the game balance a bit? I should definitely get a new download of this and play it again sometime soon, then update the OP...