Kingdom Come Deliverance: Oh Crap

Warning: Spoilers

Henry enjoyed another loopy adventure with Hans Capon. He should have found Hans sooner but apparently the concept of a third floor escaped him. Sure I’ll blame Henry for that. Hans really is a bad influence on Henry. He eventually resisted offering Hans hypocritical advice though he was tempted to. In the end this encounter furthered Henry’s transactional relationship with Theresa so all is well.

So far the game has made it pretty easy for Henry to do the right thing or at least live with some questionable outcomes but he has now made a fateful decision to catch up with his reprobate companions Matthew and Fritz. Up until now Henry’s career path has not been disrupted by their shenanigans but they cannot be dissuaded from their latest scheme. Faced with equally awful actions Henry has opted for avoidance. I can’t help but think of my earlier assumption that the player will be able to take Henry in one moral direction or another but this is another layer. I have encountered these kind of loyalty choices in games before but this one really puts Henry’s character to the test. It feels like a turning point but who knows if it is really. Games can be flakey that way.

So I have once more returned to thoughts of progressing the main story and consulting guides to prepare Henry. This lead me to a whole new understanding of combat. Why does this keep happening?

According to my new understanding, the stamina bar is more important than the health bar. Henry’s predominate view of combat so far has been greyed out and blood stained. I have been trained to accept this by games that allow me to play on easy difficulties and regenerate health in battles. As long as my character maintains health and keeps bludgeoning enemies, the number of opponents or stamina quotient doesn’t matter much. For poor Henry though defending himself or attacking eats stamina. One on one he can dodge and run around, regenerate stamina and minimize damage but when multiple enemies start whaling on him he loses health and stamina fast. This is much more realistic but confounding for some one like me. I have read over and over that Henry can only deal with mobs by strategically isolating members but I struggle with that in practice.

I also learned that the mace is the only practice weapon that inflicts damage for what reason I have no idea. By focusing on stamina, Henry can now survive training sessions with Captain Bernard longer. Henry's armour still gets destroyed so he carries a practice set that’s cheap to repair. He has also discovered the virtues of Aqua Vitalis. I’m not sure how long I’ll have the patience for training mace skills but will report once Henry has moved on.

Next Post