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.
Combat in Wartales rewards knowledge over reflexes. Understanding how each mechanic works — and how they interact — is what turns a struggling player into a dominant one. New here? Start with our beginner's guide for the basics.
Core Combat Mechanics
1. 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.
Why it matters: This is the foundation of all combat. Everything else builds on this.
2. 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.
Why it matters: The most underrated mechanic. Players who master this early have a massive advantage.
3. 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.
Why it matters: Unlocks a new layer of gameplay depth once understood.
4. 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.
Why it matters: The tactical edge that separates average players from advanced ones.
5. 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.
Why it matters: The endgame optimization mechanic. Small improvements here compound into massive gains.
Mechanic Synergies
Understanding how mechanics interact is where real optimization happens:
mercenary management + turn-based combat
Your warband consists of recruited fighters, captured prisoners, and trained animals. When combined with turn-based combat, combat uses a hex-based grid where positioning determines flanking bonuses and engagement zones. This combination is the core of every effective build.
crafting professions + region exploration
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). Paired with region exploration, the world map is divided into regions with increasing difficulty. This is why the tier list favors builds that leverage both.
camp management as a Multiplier
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. This system amplifies everything else — the better your camp management optimization, the more your other mechanics pay off.
Combat by Build
Each build approaches combat differently:
Swordsman (A-Tier)
Combat approach: Hold the front line, engage key enemies, use Riposte to punish attackers. Key equipment: Greatsword Primary mechanic: mercenary management
Swordsmen are balanced frontline fighters with good damage and engagement zone control. Full setup in our builds guide.
Archer (S-Tier)
Combat approach: Stay behind melee fighters, target priority enemies, use Overwatch to zone enemy movement. Key equipment: Longbow Primary mechanic: turn-based combat
Archers deal consistent damage from safety behind the front line. Full setup in our builds guide.
Spearman (A-Tier)
Combat approach: Position behind swordsmen, use Brace to control approaches, leverage 2-hex reach for safe attacks. Key equipment: Halberd Primary mechanic: crafting professions
Spearmen have extended reach (2 hexes), allowing them to attack without being engaged. Full setup in our builds guide.
Brute (A-Tier)
Combat approach: Flank engaged enemies for bonus damage, use Cleave on grouped targets, finish weakened enemies. Key equipment: Mace and Shield Primary mechanic: region exploration
Brutes use two-handed weapons (greataxes, greathammers) for massive single-target damage. Full setup in our builds guide.
Ranger (B-Tier)
Combat approach: Place traps before combat, switch between thrown weapons and melee based on enemy positioning. Key equipment: Dual Daggers Primary mechanic: camp management
Rangers are hybrid melee/ranged fighters using thrown weapons and traps. Full setup in our builds guide.
Advanced Combat Techniques
Damage Optimization
- Match your equipment to your build's stat priorities
- Exploit mercenary management for maximum damage windows
- Chain turn-based combat and crafting professions for combo damage
- Use region exploration to create openings
Survivability
- Learn enemy patterns before committing to attacks
- 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.
- Position using mercenary management to control spacing
- Save defensive options for guaranteed survival, not comfort
Boss Combat
Bosses test your understanding of every mechanic. See our boss guide for fight-specific strategies.
- Phase awareness — Most bosses change behavior at health thresholds
- Patience over aggression — One extra hit per opening beats dying to greed
- Build preparation — Swap gear and equipment for specific fights when needed
Common Combat Mistakes
- Button mashing — Committed attacks have recovery frames. Mashing locks you into animations.
- Ignoring turn-based combat — This mechanic exists for a reason. Players who use it take significantly less damage.
- Wrong equipment for the situation — Check our weapons guide for situational picks.
- Not learning from deaths — Every death teaches something. If you don't know why you died, you'll die the same way again.
- Overcommitting — Trading hits works in Tiltren County but will get you killed in Drombach.
More Wartales Guides
- Wartales Wartales Overview
- Wartales Best Builds
- Wartales Tier List
- Wartales Walkthrough
- Wartales Beginner's Guide
- Wartales Tips & Tricks
- Wartales Weapons Guide
- Wartales Boss Guide
- Wartales Maps & Locations
- Wartales Crafting Guide
- Wartales Classes & Characters
Similar Games
If you enjoy Wartales, check out these related guides:
- Elden Ring Combat Guide — rpg game with similar mechanics
- Baldur's Gate 3 Combat Guide — rpg game with similar mechanics
- Cyberpunk 2077 Combat Guide — rpg game with similar mechanics
