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.
These tips go beyond the basics. They're the strategies experienced players use to play more efficiently, the hidden mechanics most people miss, and the optimizations that compound over a full playthrough.
Essential Tips
1. Feed your troops every day or morale plummets — low morale causes combat penalties and eventual desertion
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.
2. Crafting professions save thousands of gold on equipment — a Blacksmith repairs for free what a town smith charges 50-100 gold for
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.
3. Rest at camps between fights to heal injuries — wounded characters fight at reduced effectiveness
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.
4. Prisoners can be recruited after their Suspicion drops to zero (takes several days)
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.
5. Influence points unlock regional bonuses: market discounts, contract bonuses, and guard assistance
Influence points unlock regional bonuses: market discounts, contract bonuses, and guard assistance. Earn Influence by completing region-specific quests and donating to local factions.
6. Engagement zones lock units in melee — plan your formation so archers and spearmen never get engaged
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.
7. Valour Points (VP) build during combat from attacks and kills
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.
8. Flanking an engaged enemy grants +30% damage
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.
9. Animals (wolves, bears, boars) can be tamed and added to your warband
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.
10. Thief profession allows pickpocketing NPCs in towns for valuable items without combat
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.
Advanced Strategies
Build Optimization
The difference between an average build and an optimized one is massive:
For 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.
- Core gear: Longsword, Kite Shield, Medium Armor, Ring of Strength
- Stat priority: Strength, Constitution, Dexterity
For 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.
- Core gear: Longbow, Light Armor, Quiver upgrade, Ring of Dexterity
- Stat priority: Dexterity, Willpower, Strength
Mechanic Interactions
Understanding how Wartales's systems interact is where the real optimization lives:
mercenary management + turn-based combat: Your warband consists of recruited fighters, captured prisoners, and trained animals. Combined with turn-based combat, combat uses a hex-based grid where positioning determines flanking bonuses and engagement zones.
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). When paired with region exploration, the world map is divided into regions with increasing difficulty.
camp management scaling: 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.
Equipment Efficiency
| Equipment | Best Use Case | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Greatsword | Brute build for maximum melee damage output | The highest-damage melee weapon with Cleave capability. |
| Longbow | Archer build — consistent ranged damage from safety | The standard ranged weapon with reliable damage at 5-6 hex range. |
| Halberd | Spearman build for zone control and safe melee damage | A 2-hex reach polearm that lets you attack without being engaged. |
| Mace and Shield | Swordsman build for tanking and crowd control | The classic tank combination — the mace deals blunt damage (effective against armored enemies), while the shield provides +20-30% block chance. |
| Dual Daggers | Ranger or Thief profession characters for flanking damage and poison application | The fastest weapon combination with the most attacks per turn. |
Location Efficiency
Tiltren County (Level 1-4 warband): 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 (Level 4-7 warband): 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 (Level 6-9 warband): 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 (Level 8-12 warband): 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 (Level 7-11 warband): 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.
Mistakes Even Veterans Make
- 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.
Efficiency Quick Reference
| Aspect | Optimal Choice | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Build | Swordsman | A-tier, best overall |
| Starter | Archer | Most forgiving for learning |
| Equipment | Greatsword | Best resource-to-power ratio |
| First area | Tiltren County | Starting contracts, basic equipment, first profession unlocks, tutorial questline |
| Priority mechanic | mercenary management | Everything else builds on this |
Pro Quick Tips
- 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.
- Start with Archer, switch to Swordsman when ready
- Invest in Greatsword above everything else
- Clear areas in order: Tiltren County → Arthes Region → Ludern Province → Gosenberg → Drombach
- mercenary management + turn-based combat together are stronger than either alone
For full build details, check builds. For progression path, see the walkthrough.
