Wartales is an open-world tactical RPG where you lead a mercenary warband through a gritty medieval world. Unlike linear RPGs, Wartales drops you into a region map and lets you take contracts, explore ruins, and pick fights at your own pace. The turn-based combat uses positioning, engagement zones, and morale mechanics. Between battles, you manage your company's food supply, pay wages, assign professions (blacksmith, cook, thief), and craft equipment. With the Pirate DLC adding naval content and the full 1.0 release, Wartales offers 80+ hours of mercenary sandbox gameplay.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
mercenary management
Your warband consists of recruited fighters, captured prisoners, and trained animals. Each member requires daily food (1 ration/day) and periodic wage payments. Running out of food tanks morale, and unpaid wages cause desertion. The company ledger tracks income vs. expenses — profitable contracts must outpace overhead costs. Prisoners can be ransomed, recruited, or sold to slavers.
turn-based combat
Combat uses a hex-based grid where positioning determines flanking bonuses and engagement zones. Once a unit is engaged (adjacent to an enemy), they can't freely move away without suffering an attack of opportunity. Valour Points build during combat and fuel powerful abilities. Battle maps are environmental — barrels explode, high ground gives accuracy bonuses, and terrain affects movement.
crafting professions
Each warband member can learn a profession: Blacksmith (repair/craft weapons), Cook (prepare meals), Alchemist (brew potions), Thief (lockpick and steal), Angler (catch fish), Scholar (identify items), Miner (extract ore), and Tinkerer (craft traps/tools). Professions use materials gathered from exploration and enemy loot. A well-rounded warband needs at least one of each key profession.
region exploration
The world map is divided into regions with increasing difficulty. Each region has a main questline, side quests, contracts on tavern boards, bandit camps, crypts, and hidden locations. Regions are connected by paths and can be explored in any order, though enemy scaling means harder regions will crush under-leveled warbands. Traveling costs food proportional to warband size.
camp management
Setting up camp at rest points lets you cook meals, repair equipment, assign professions, and manage prisoners. Camp upgrades (hitching post for mounts, cooking pot for better meals, repair station) are unlocked through progression. The camp is also where you spend experience to level up characters and assign skill points.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swordsman | A | Hold the front line, engage key enemies, use Riposte to punish attackers. | Strength, Constitution, Dexterity |
| Archer | S | Stay behind melee fighters, target priority enemies, use Overwatch to zone enemy movement. | Dexterity, Willpower, Strength |
| Spearman | A | Position behind swordsmen, use Brace to control approaches, leverage 2-hex reach for safe attacks. | Strength, Constitution, Willpower |
| Brute | A | Flank engaged enemies for bonus damage, use Cleave on grouped targets, finish weakened enemies. | Strength, Constitution, Willpower |
| Ranger | B | Place traps before combat, switch between thrown weapons and melee based on enemy positioning. | Dexterity, Strength, Willpower |
Swordsman (A-Tier): Swordsmen are balanced frontline fighters with good damage and engagement zone control. Their skill tree includes Riposte (counter-attack after being hit) and Charge (gap-closing attack). Equip them with medium armor for balance between mobility and protection. Best paired with a shield for defensive flexibility.
Archer (S-Tier): Archers deal consistent damage from safety behind the front line. Their skill tree includes Overwatch (attack enemies who move in range) and Rain of Arrows (AoE). Positioning archers on high ground gives +15% accuracy. They're the most reliable damage dealers since they avoid engagement zones.
Spearman (A-Tier): Spearmen have extended reach (2 hexes), allowing them to attack without being engaged. Brace (ready attack that triggers when an enemy enters range) controls enemy movement. Halberd variants add AoE sweeps. Spearmen anchor the formation by punishing enemies who try to reach your archers.
Brute (A-Tier): Brutes use two-handed weapons (greataxes, greathammers) for massive single-target damage. They sacrifice defense for offense, relying on killing enemies before taking too much damage. The Cleave ability hits multiple adjacent enemies. Best when flanking engaged targets.
Ranger (B-Tier): Rangers are hybrid melee/ranged fighters using thrown weapons and traps. Their versatility comes at the cost of not excelling at either role. Trap placement before combat creates choke points. Rangers function as support fighters who adapt to battlefield needs.
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Wartales builds guide.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Greatsword | The highest-damage melee weapon with Cleave capability. | Brute build for maximum melee damage output |
| Longbow | The standard ranged weapon with reliable damage at 5-6 hex range. | Archer build — consistent ranged damage from safety |
| Halberd | A 2-hex reach polearm that lets you attack without being engaged. | Spearman build for zone control and safe melee damage |
| Mace and Shield | The classic tank combination — the mace deals blunt damage (effective against armored enemies), while the shield provides +20-30% block chance. | Swordsman build for tanking and crowd control |
| Dual Daggers | The fastest weapon combination with the most attacks per turn. | Ranger or Thief profession characters for flanking damage and poison application |
Greatsword: The highest-damage melee weapon with Cleave capability. Two-handed, so no shield, but the raw damage output compensates. Greatswords are crafted by Blacksmiths from Steel ingots or looted from elite enemies. The endgame Legendary Greatsword variants add elemental damage.
Longbow: The standard ranged weapon with reliable damage at 5-6 hex range. Longbows use Dexterity for damage calculation and benefit from high-ground positioning (+15% accuracy). Crafting better arrows (Iron, Steel) increases damage. The Longbow is the workhorse of any warband.
Halberd: A 2-hex reach polearm that lets you attack without being engaged. The Halberd's Brace ability readies an attack for any enemy entering range, making it the best area denial weapon. Halberds deal less per-hit damage than greatswords but compensate with safety and Brace utility.
Mace and Shield: The classic tank combination — the mace deals blunt damage (effective against armored enemies), while the shield provides +20-30% block chance. Shield abilities include Shield Bash (stun) and Protect (redirect attacks from allies to yourself). The safest frontline loadout.
Dual Daggers: The fastest weapon combination with the most attacks per turn. Dual daggers deal lower per-hit damage but synergize with poison application (each hit rolls poison separately) and critical chance stacking. The backstab bonus from flanking doubles dagger damage.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Tiltren County | Level 1-4 warband | Starting contracts, basic equipment, first profession unlocks, tutorial questline |
| Arthes Region | Level 4-7 warband | Mid-tier equipment, higher-paying contracts, faction reputation rewards |
| Ludern Province | Level 6-9 warband | Steel-tier equipment, advanced crafting recipes, lucrative mining contracts |
| Gosenberg | Level 8-12 warband | Legendary equipment, crypt loot, highest-paying bounties, ghost-specialized gear |
| Drombach | Level 7-11 warband | Naval equipment, ship upgrades, pirate faction rewards, unique coastal resources |
Tiltren County: The starting region with the lowest difficulty. Bandit camps, minor undead encounters, and basic contract boards. The main quest introduces regional politics and warband management basics. Resources are plentiful and enemies are manageable with starting equipment.
Arthes Region: A mid-difficulty region with organized bandit groups, tougher wildlife, and regional faction conflicts. The Arthes questline involves mercenary politics and choosing sides. Better contracts pay more but enemies hit harder. This is where warband composition starts mattering.
Ludern Province: An industrial region with mines, forge towns, and well-equipped human enemies. Ludern's enemy warbands use steel equipment and tactical formations, requiring you to match their gear quality. The Blacksmith profession becomes essential here for crafting competitive equipment.
Gosenberg: A mountainous region with harsh weather, undead crypts, and the most dangerous bounty targets. Ghost enemies ignore physical armor, requiring specialized equipment. The crypt dungeons contain the game's best loot but feature multi-wave combat encounters.
Drombach: The pirate-themed coastal region (DLC content) with naval combat, port towns, and sea-based contracts. Drombach introduces ship management and boarding actions. The region's questline involves pirate factions and naval territory control.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Feed your troops every day or morale plummets — low morale causes combat penalties and eventual desertion. Assign a Cook profession to a warband member to prepare meals that provide morale bonuses on top of base nourishment.
- Crafting professions save thousands of gold on equipment — a Blacksmith repairs for free what a town smith charges 50-100 gold for. Assign Blacksmith to your highest-Dexterity non-combat member.
- Rest at camps between fights to heal injuries — wounded characters fight at reduced effectiveness. Camps cost 1 food per person but heal all injuries and reset abilities. Never fight consecutive battles with injured troops.
- Prisoners can be recruited after their Suspicion drops to zero (takes several days). Captured enemies are free recruits with random stats — keep the good ones and ransom the rest for gold.
- Influence points unlock regional bonuses: market discounts, contract bonuses, and guard assistance. Earn Influence by completing region-specific quests and donating to local factions.
- Engagement zones lock units in melee — plan your formation so archers and spearmen never get engaged. Use swordsmen as a screen, spearmen at 2-hex range behind them, and archers in the back row.
- Valour Points (VP) build during combat from attacks and kills. Save VP for decisive abilities like Shield Bash (stun), Rain of Arrows (AoE), or Healing Salve. Don't waste VP on minor situations.
- Flanking an engaged enemy grants +30% damage. Position your Brute or Ranger to attack enemies from behind while your Swordsman holds their engagement. Flanking is the most important combat tactic.
- Animals (wolves, bears, boars) can be tamed and added to your warband. Wolves provide flanking partners, bears tank, and boars charge. Animals don't require wages but do eat food.
- Thief profession allows pickpocketing NPCs in towns for valuable items without combat. Assign your highest-Dexterity character to Thief and pickpocket every merchant you visit.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Growing the warband too fast — every member costs food and wages daily. A lean team of 6-8 well-equipped fighters outperforms 12 poorly equipped ones with constant food shortages.
- Ignoring engagement zones in combat — moving away from an engaged enemy triggers an attack of opportunity. New players lose characters by accidentally walking through enemy engagement zones.
- Not assigning professions early — professions level up with use, so assigning a Blacksmith on day 1 means they're skilled by mid-game. Waiting until you 'need' a Cook means suffering through morale problems.
- Exploring high-level regions too early — enemy difficulty doesn't scale to your level. Walking into Gosenberg with a level 3 warband means instant party wipe against level 8+ enemies.
- Selling all loot instead of salvaging — Blacksmiths can break down equipment for crafting materials worth more than the sell price. Salvage steel weapons for ingots instead of selling them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is Wartales?
A full playthrough exploring all regions takes 60-100 hours. The open-world structure means you can rush the main content in 40 hours or spend 150+ hours completing every contract, exploring every crypt, and maxing all professions. The Pirate DLC adds another 20-30 hours of naval content.
Is Wartales turn-based or real-time?
Combat is turn-based on a hex grid with initiative order. Exploration on the world map is real-time — you move your warband between locations, encountering events and enemies. Camp management is also real-time with a pause option.
Can you play Wartales co-op?
Wartales added co-op multiplayer where players share control of the warband. One player manages the roster while both control units in combat. Co-op works for the full campaign including all regions and DLC content.
What is the best starting warband composition?
Start with 2 Swordsmen (frontline), 2 Archers (backline), 1 Spearman (zone control), and 1 Brute (damage). Assign professions immediately: Cook, Blacksmith, Thief, and Scholar as priorities. This covers all combat roles and essential professions within 6 characters.
What to Read Next
- Best Wartales Builds — Detailed breakdowns with gear, stats, and playstyle guides
- Wartales Tier List — Current meta rankings
- Wartales Walkthrough — Step-by-step progression from start to endgame
- Wartales Beginner's Guide — First session essentials
- Wartales Tips & Tricks — Advanced strategies and hidden mechanics
