I have to say, the stronghold meta game is by far my least favorite thing about PoE. Similar to how in XCOM it's freakishly hard to hold onto all of the continents, I feel like I'm being punished for going through the game at the pace I want to.

Basically, I'm just wondering what you all think about the importance of preserving as many turns as possible - basically, trying to blitz through the first part of the game, then trying to scrape together money to build all the buildings, all while not completing any quests. The gamer in me wants to really crush this mechanic while the sane person in me just says "ignore it/treat it casually". What do you all think?

"ignore it" sounds like a solid approach here.

I have to say, the stronghold meta game is by far my least favorite thing about PoE. Similar to how in XCOM it's freakishly hard to hold onto all of the continents, I feel like I'm being punished for going through the game at the pace I want to.

 

Basically, I'm just wondering what you all think about the importance of preserving as many turns as possible - basically, trying to blitz through the first part of the game, then trying to scrape together money to build all the buildings, all while not completing any quests. The gamer in me wants to really crush this mechanic while the sane person in me just says "ignore it/treat it casually". What do you all think?

 

The game gets easy enough without doing things like this. Though it would be nice if they removed these kind of abuses in PoE2.

I did what the OP suggests in my last run-through and it works exactly as he believes it would.  There are enough "turns" in the game that I wouldn't suggest crimping your playstyle just to preserve them, but it does make sense to build out the stronghold as fast as you reasonably can (for example by cleaning out Raedric's castle early in the game while postponing bounties to the mid-to-late game). 

You'd be deliberately annoying yourself with makework for a set of benefits that you will be too powerful to really need, and that you wouldn't even really notice if they were gone. It'd be like grinding for 40 hours to make the final boss battle 20 seconds shorter. Don't worry about it.

Honestly just build the main keep when you can. Grab the curio shop and botanical gardens when you can. Then just ignore the place entirely if you want. Keeping the place low on prestige is actually beneficial, anyways. Some of the minor adventures have really nice rewards. Minor adventures themselves can become harder to get than legendary adventures by the end of the game.

 

There is no rush at all to upgrading. It's unnecessary.

Okay cool thanks all. I can breath easier knowing it's pointless to worry about it.

On a side note: I am currently well into Act III on my second playthrough (didn't finish the first one, but sunk some 50 or 60 hours into it), and have not experienced a single attack on my stronghold in over 105 hours on this playthrough. On my first run, it happend once.

 

I find that really bewildering, since other threads infer that this is acutally a thing for quite a few players.

 

Additionally, it is not like I put any thougth into maximizing my defense stat while keeping my prestige low. I did however try to have something building at the stronghold at all times and hired 8/8 stronghold defenders pretty early (most of them with 1/1 in defense/prestige).

Edited June 15, 20169 yr by Faldorn

On a side note: I am currently well into Act III on my second playthrough (didn't finish the first one, but sunk some 50 or 60 hours into it), and have not experienced a single attack on my stronghold in over 105 hours on this playthrough. On my first run, it happend once.

 

I find that really bewildering, since other threads infer that this is acutally a thing for quite a few players.

 

Additionally, it is not like I put any thougth into maximizing my defense stat while keeping my prestige low. I did however try to have something building at the stronghold at all times and hired 8/8 stronghold defenders pretty early (most of them with 1/1 in defense/prestige).

This is strongly affected by your advancement through the Endless Paths. Clearing different levels decreases the change of attack from associated monsters, and once you've dealt with the Master all attacks in my experience cease. Besides that, it's just RNG.

 

With regard to the topic of the thread, I'm currently finishing up a completionist run of the game, and am currently on turn 232. As XP gain increases in the late game, and the speed at which turns advance along with it, you'll have your stronghold in tip-top condition long before you run out of turns unless you're deliberately being tardy with the upgrades or rush through the game.

Can anyone tell me what the stronghold meta game is all about? Why would you even consider saving turns?

 

As an aside, after dealing with the master below by letting her take over the dragon hunter's body, I still got periodic attacks from monsters and humans which I had to rush back to defend.

 

Didn't have any hirelings, but maxed out stronghold upgrades.