Character build strategies (Rome)

This guide serves to develop **character builds** suited for a certain goal in combat. Unlike Expeditions: Viking, with Classes being the dominant factor In **Expeditions: Rome** which determines which skills can be accessed a character, this guide is split up in sections for each of these five classes. In these sections, contributors may add their builds using a Sub-heading 1.

User may also mention recommended equipment for certain builds and which Weapon skills a certain weapon should have, along with the suggested Weapon skills for a certain build. On vannila version, the game allows the player character to reach level 16-20, thus allowing one to fully develop two specialisation. See Experience points for a full list for the needed experience.

## Princeps

The following items are recommended to a Princeps:

* Mithridates' Crown provides lofty bonuses to resistances and armour. As such, it can make a princeps with a rank III version of the crown and other equipment and the passive skill Bastion, a nearly invulnerable juggernaut to either direct damage.
* This warrior should have Ancile or Dumnorix's Shield for the third act. The latter shield on its own, is able to provide the unit 94% piercing resistance with the crown, thus enabling the unit to change other adjustable affixes to bludgeoning and slashing damage. With flawless defense, it's possible to obtain 94% resistance for all types of damage for many turn with the latter shield.

### Defensive orientated (focuses on defense)

 2nd level 4 skill.
 3rd level 4 skill.
 4th level 4 skill.

When it comes a defense orientated Princeps, start with the Brace and Fortress skills. Then take the Repair skill. Those willing to take Flawless Defense skill from the Vanguard specialisation, should now take Hardened and Flawless defense, before going further with the Defender specialisation. Then take the Bastion skill, followed by Protect, and take two ranks in Shake it Off.

Then take the skills of Shieldwall, Guardian Angel and the third and final rank of Shake it Off. From then on, the princeps can now develop a second specialisation. In case of developing the Vanguard specialisation, Take the second rank of Hardened and then the first rank of Best Defense. With the third layer, take the skills of Adrenaline Junkie, Taunt and take the third rank of Best Defense.

### Defensive orientated (first jack-of-all-trades)

 2nd level 4 skill.

When it comes a defense orientated Princeps which no specialisation at the beginning, start with the Brace and Fortress skills. Then take the Repair skill. At this point, the jack of all trades starts, by taking the Knockdown skill, with the two ranks of Nimble. Those willing to take The Vanguard skills of Hardened and Flawless defense, these can be taken. Else, move on the next section.

At this point, focus on the defense skills. Continue by taking the Bastion skill, followed by Protect, and take two ranks in Shake it Off. Then take the skills of Shieldwall, Guardian Angel and the third and final rank of Shake it Off. At level 12 or 14, one can now either choose to take skills from the Vanguard and the Veteran specialisation or fully focus on one specialisation. But its highly unlikely to gain new fourth active and passive skills.

### Offense orientated (Veteran)

 2nd level 4 skill.
 3rd level 4 skill.
 4th level 4 skill.

When it comes to offense, a princeps should be developed as a veteran first. Start with the knockdown skill and then take the Brace and the passive Bastion skill for the most vital defense skills. Then fully develop the Nimble skill. The headbutt skill should be next, with the fifth skill being Stand Fast. The battering ram skill is nice for increase minimum and maximum damage for all shield skills. Then fully upgrade the War Cry skill, it's a nice skill for neutralising dangerous group for a turn or making a line of defense easier to take down.

Then start developing the Vanguard specialisation, starting with Hardened. Take the Flawless Defense and then the Best Defense skill. Then develop the Taunt and Adrenaline Junkie skill, before upgrading the Best Defense once more. Then take the Bull Rush skill (which can be quite devastating) and the Avenger passive skill.

From this point on, one can develop skills according to your own insight.

## Sagittarius

### Hunting sniper

 2nd level 4 skill.
 3rd level 4 skill.
 4th level 4 skill.

The weapons for this build which are most suited are Izil's Bow and when **barrage** is gained, a two-bow setup just for three extra ranged attacks when the ability is activated, is worth the loss of a melee weapon. The Bow of Ogmios is a very nice bow for this build, but late available. In the meantime, any good bow will do.

This build is completely focuses on these two specialisations. Stat with the quick shot skill, followed by lure. This allows the unit to deal with units in low cover or give them a skill to incapitate a weakened unit or an untrained unit for an action point and quick shot is an excellent offensive skill, though somewhat unreliable. At this point, either go completely for the Hunter specialisation or switch to Sniper if long-range is desired (skip next section).

When continuing with the Hunter specialisation, take versatile and either take the second rank or the skirmisher passive skill related to it. Focus your attention completely on the pinning shot passive skill, as this allows an archer to slow down advancing melee fighters quite effectively. Skill points eigth and nine should be spend on Barrage and Find weakness before turning to the sniper specialisation.

With the sniper specialisation, start with the passive skill marksman, followed either by ranging shot+spotter or full mark target for the third and fourth point. The focus then should be Walk or your shots for at least two investments, as this increases the optimal range for attacks (no damage loss). In case of not equipping this unit with Izil's Bow, Eagle Eye can be considered, but it's not the best skill point investment. The seventh point can be Walk your shot, mark target or ranging shot. The eight and ninth skill should be assist and seize ground. It's not known if a killed target from 12 hexes or further could restore Barrage when depleted of charges.

Skill point 19 and 20 can be invested in skills left out of the two specialisations.

## Triarius

### Ideal support unit

* The Rod of Ascelpius is one of the few items boosting the amount of health restored with healing skills. This should be given to the main healer.

 2nd level 4 skill.
 Optional level 4 skill

In case you want to develop the ideal support unit, Syneros is a good candidate for this role, also due to his unique unarmed skill of healing allies, not being limited by charges or uses. Start with Logistics and then fully develop the War Horn skill, as this makes the duration last longer, meaning that the attack bonus is longer in effect and the user may spend another turn for another purpose. Then select the Inspire skill.

After Inspire, the next goal is to develop the medic skills of the unit. After logistics, go for the cure skill and then spent one point on the field medic skill. the fourth point can be spend on field medic or logistics. Now you have access to the third layer, with the first priority being the Revive skill. The passive skill Good as New is the second goal, before spending another skill point on Revive. The Interference skill is a nice passive skill for both pike and staff wielders (staff wielders can attack from 2 hex range).

Then return attention to the Flagbearer section. Invest skill point in the passive skills, until the third layer is available, which should be used for Orator and then for the Ruse skill and another skill. The eight and ninenth point should be invested in the arousing speech skill.

## Veles

The Veles character depends highly on Focus points for their combat effectiveness, make sure to equip the dagger which gives the highest amount of points when the amount of focus generation per attack is still low. Double dagger can also work, but it limits access to other weapon skills.

### Veles starting skills and equipment

* Check the daggers closely for focus point generation. Especially early in the game, the generation of focus points is critical. In the worst case, equip two daggers for more focus points. Daggers with the Weapon skill One-Two are early focus generators.
* In case of not developing the brawler column, the skills of Tactical Advantage and Feint are powerful skills for flanking manouvres and penetrating enemy lines with lesser risk for the Veles. It takes two skills points to have them both and three to fully develop them. In case of lacking skill points, take only the tactical advantage skill.
* The Distinct Roman Galea is also great for getting focus points, but that helmet becomes available mid-game, at the start of The Number of Death side quest.
* Another great helmet for the Veles is Scipio Africanus' Helmet, which will allow the player to carry over an unused action point to the next battle. This is slightly earlier available than the previous helmet.
* The Spear of Achilles gives the Veles access to the reaping skill early and thus not only for Brawler builds. This should be given to a Veles with high damage output, which can be achieved with skills such Sneak attack, bloodthirsty and first strike.
* Give the Veles a Talisman which increases Focus maximum.
* Fur hats from Act III can also give +5 focus and can have the Distinct Roman Galea's charm attached via the forge. Doing this allows you to give up Bestia's armour in favour of Orgetorix's Armour (Early Act III - Supply Lines) sacraficing the 75% extra Focus for +6 Penetrating Damage - at this point Bestia (or your Veles Character) becomes effectively the only warrior ever required from that point onwards. With a little care he can clear almost every battlefield on his own in the first turn.

### Veles duelist.

 2nd level 4 skill.
 3rd level 4 skill.

In case you desire a Veles with high amount of focus points and damage, take this strategy. The first thing to develop is the Duelist column. Start with Shiv and take the first rank of Bloodthirsty. Then take the first two tiers of Born-Ready to have some points at the start of the battle, which grants them some focus points at the start of each battle.

With four skill points, the third column become available. Take skills points five to seven to take the third tier Born-ready and take the dodge skill and the passive skill related to it. The eight skill point should be spent on the skill Quick-witted for more Focus points with all attacks from then on.

With Quick-witted unlocked, start developing the assassin specialisation. Start with Cheap shot and assassinate, and then the two other skills to gain access to Focus Master. This should be fully developed. The seventh skill point investment is up to the player's desire. Then develop the rush skill. After that, the player can further develop the character in a way the player desires.

### Veles assassin

 2nd level 4 skill.
 3rd level 4 skill.

In case you desire a Veles with high amount of focus points and damage, take this strategy. But instead of focusing on the duelist specialisation, take the assassin specialisation. The player can either take brawler or duelist as the second specialisation. Start with cheap shot, followed by two ranks in Sneak attack, with either Lone Wolf or Assassinate as fourth point investment.

Either way, the player can decide for heading on or a detour. In case of heading on, take the other passive skill not chosen earlier. With Lone Wolf, the Marathon skill allows a Veles to advance deep into enemy lines when the ranks are open, but that is a risky stategy. If taking more precaution, take the two ranks of Focus Master and the fourth layer skills are open. Start with first strike, this will increase damage considerablely and rush allows the restoration of action points at high focus point costs, but it worth the investment.

#### Duelist detour and specialisation

When taking a detour or completing the second specialisation, the skill of Shiv, two ranks of bloodthirsty and further increase the damage output of an assassin. When not taking duelist as second specialisation, investion skill points should stop here. Continue with the assassins specialisation or with brawler. When taking the duelist specialisation, the skill of dodge and the passive skill related to it, are the next goals. Then focus on Born-ready for the sixth and seventh skill investment, with quick witted as eight skill point investment.

#### Brawler specialisation

With the assassin specialisation finished,

### Veles brawler (jack of all-trades start)

 2nd level 4 skill.
 3rd level 4 skill.
 4th level 4 skill.

The Brawler build can either fight with a dagger/spear or sword and fist or completely Unarmed and should have one slot unarmed and another single weapon with fist. In case a character is needed for the Rome sections, either the player character or Bestia Tabat can fill this role. In case there aren't enough unarmed skills at the beginning, equip the brawler with a dagger for Focus point attacks. In case of weapon skills, daggers and swords have the most interesting Weapon skills for a Veles.

Start with tactical advantage as the first active skill, followed by Pankration. Then take the Cheap shot skill from the assassin specialisation and sneak attack, followed by born-ready and the bloodthirsty skill (first rank) from the Duelist specialisation. This should give the brawler some basic offensive skills which are lacking in the beginning, before devoting to the specialisation.

After the detour, continue the specialisation of brawler with the feint skill, followed by the second rank of tactical advantage. With the third layer open, continue with the pugilist skill, followed by fully upgrading boasting, or taking the clear path skill, then followed by boasting. With seven skill points invested, the fourth layer is open, which should then be invested in Reaper, followed by Reliable, either the first rank or both ranks, depending on player choices.

From then, focus on the assassin specialisation. Players can also opt for the second rank of Bloodthirsty of the duelist for more damage. Either way, take the passive skill of assassination and then the Lone Wolf passive skill. Then become the master of focus by taking its two ranks. The seventh assassin skill should be used for Marathon or for the second rank of Sneak Attack. Then take the skill of first strike for more damage (not known if this works combined with sneak attack) at the early stage and the two ranks of rush. At this point, the player is likely near the end of the game, thus the remaining skill points can be invested freely.