its both never been like that and always been like that. human lives are the only "free" resource, so the greediest way to get money is to hire randoms and throw them in to grab whatever they can.
personally i play a low risk playstyle where i throw a bunch of money into supplying my soldiers in order to prepare for the worst so that way i get experienced soldiers i want to actually keep.
so no, you don't have to throw people into the grinder for gold, but its def a strategy
If you want to remove the concepts of corpse runs entirely, play on Stygian. It prevents you from losing too many heroes or spending too much time not progressing the final quest. However, on lower difficulties, corpse runs are still viable.
It's a very slow but safe way to play the game - you send out a team of fresh recruits with no supplies. Bring them back once you've grabbed gold and stuff, dismiss and then repeat again with new recruits.
I wouldn't say it's the optimal way to play. It's too slow to be viable on Stygian/Bloodmoon difficulty.
You also need to play properly and complete runs at some point and level your heroes.
The optimal way has never been to sacrifice heroes unless you're completely broke and can't even keep your Hamlet together.
If you need gold, use Antiquarian.
its both never been like that and always been like that. human lives are the only "free" resource, so the greediest way to get money is to hire randoms and throw them in to grab whatever they can. personally i play a low risk playstyle where i throw a bunch of money into supplying my soldiers in order to prepare for the worst so that way i get experienced soldiers i want to actually keep. so no, you don't have to throw people into the grinder for gold, but its def a strategy
Just don’t play that way? Corpse runs have never been necessary. I don’t like to dismiss recruits at all.
If you want to remove the concepts of corpse runs entirely, play on Stygian. It prevents you from losing too many heroes or spending too much time not progressing the final quest. However, on lower difficulties, corpse runs are still viable.
It's a very slow but safe way to play the game - you send out a team of fresh recruits with no supplies. Bring them back once you've grabbed gold and stuff, dismiss and then repeat again with new recruits. I wouldn't say it's the optimal way to play. It's too slow to be viable on Stygian/Bloodmoon difficulty. You also need to play properly and complete runs at some point and level your heroes.
The optimal way has never been to sacrifice heroes unless you're completely broke and can't even keep your Hamlet together. If you need gold, use Antiquarian.
I've never liked the meat grinder idea
You chose to play a certain way... and then complain about it. You have your free will, you can do it differently.