Best and Worst Units

Without question, the most powerful unit in the game is the dragon. It comes in first in stamina, attack, counterattack, speed, resistance, ranged attack, and ammo. It also comes in second in hit points, defense, and morale. A dragon on the battlefield will destroy everything in it's path.

But they are astronomically expensive!

So can you really call dragons the best unit in the game? I say no. Without considering how much gold and gems you have to spend in upkeep, an army of dragons will wipe out your reserves rapidly, leaving you penniless and doomed.

I created a mathematical system by which we compare all of the statistics in the game and compare them. And the results are pretty interesting. Spoiler alert: dragons, it turns out, are not the best unit.

Assumptions

Keep in mind that I'm assuming the the unit lives forever -- so the amount of gold you have to spend to get him is negligible. If you play poorly and your units die regularly, then these numbers mean nothing.

Also, this assumes that the unit is always in battle. You'll have to decide for yourself which units are the best castle guards to leave behind while you're out conquering the world.

Most Efficient Units (Gold)

Of course, if you have a hero who is a ranged class, then you'll play differently than if you make your hero the tank. But at the end of the day, units that drink more gold than blood are impediments between you and victory. So, to keep your treasury from depleting, your armies should contain a mix of units from the following list:

	ALIGN	LVL	GOLD RATING	GEM SCORE	VALUE
GOBLIN	E	1	0.65	0.00	0.65
BRIGAND	E	1	1.10	0.00	1.10
SPEARMAN	N	1	1.23	0.00	1.23
CENTAUR	N	2	4.25	0.00	4.25
HORSE ARCHER	N	2	4.35	0.00	4.35
THUG	E	2	5.06	0.00	5.06
MINOTAUR	N	3	10.30	3.65	13.94
EXECUTIONER	E	3	12.69	0.00	12.69
OGRE	E	3	12.78	0.00	12.78
CYCLOPS	E	4	16.81	0.00	16.81
GIANT	U	4	18.03	0.00	18.03
WARLOCK	EI	4	21.89	0.00	21.89

Most Efficient Units (Gems)

Magic units require gem upkeep. As a result, if you get your hands on a solid source of gem income, you will want to specialize your armies with these units:

	ALIGN	LVL	GOLD RATING	GEM SCORE	VALUE
ELF	GC	1	7.08	4.39	11.47
IMP	EI	1	0.00	4.87	4.87
SHAMAN	U	1	2.15	5.33	7.47
PEGASUS	G	2	5.39	8.35	13.75
MONK	G	2	5.81	9.60	15.40
MINOTAUR	N	3	10.30	3.65	13.94
MANTICORE	N	3	9.61	10.22	19.83
PALADIN	GC	4	24.43	15.15	39.57
TREANT	GC	4	15.36	16.32	31.68

Most Efficient Units (Gold & Gems)

At the end of the day, gems and gold both play a part. Across all units (magical and not), here are the best ones to have in your army:

	ALIGN	LVL	GOLD RATING	GEM SCORE	VALUE
CYCLOPS	E	4	16.81	0.00	16.81
GIANT	U	4	18.03	0.00	18.03
WARLOCK	EI	4	21.89	0.00	21.89
TREANT	GC	4	15.36	16.32	31.68
EXECUTIONER	E	3	12.69	0.00	12.69
OGRE	E	3	12.78	0.00	12.78
MINOTAUR	N	3	10.30	3.65	13.94
CENTAUR	N	2	4.25	0.00	4.25
HORSE ARCHER	N	2	4.35	0.00	4.35
THUG	E	2	5.06	0.00	5.06
GOBLIN	E	1	0.65	0.00	0.65
BRIGAND	E	1	1.10	0.00	1.10
SPEARMAN	N	1	1.23	0.00	1.23
MILITIAMAN	N	1	1.23	0.00	1.23
SLINGER	N	1	1.27	0.00	1.27
THIEF	E	1	1.55	0.00	1.55
ORC	E	1	1.75	0.00	1.75
HALFLING	G	1	1.83	0.00	1.83
BARBARIAN	U	1	2.68	0.00	2.68
LIZARDMAN	N	1	2.85	0.00	2.85
PIKEMAN	L	1	3.78	0.00	3.78
SWORDSMAN	L	1	4.63	0.00	4.63

Deadliest Units

"Who cares about gold? I just want to see damage" you say. Well then here are the heaviest weapons in your arsenal without consideration for upkeep:

	ALIGN	LVL	POWER	VALUE
DRAGON	N	4	8.58	87.18
PHOENIX	N	4	5.52	106.11
DEVIL	EI	4	5.05	49.15
GIANT	U	4	4.99	18.03
PALADIN	GC	4	4.91	39.57
GHOST	EI	3	4.31	37.41
MEDUSA	N	3	3.67	43.39
UNICORN	GC	3	3.65	21.78
MANTICORE	N	3	3.64	19.83
GRYPHON	N	3	3.51	37.61
CENTAUR	N	2	3.53	4.25
HORSE ARCHER	N	2	3.22	4.35
PEGASUS	G	2	2.97	13.75
GARGOYLE	N	2	2.71	22.85
GIANT SLUG	N	2	2.68	5.98
FAIRY	G	1	2.84	14.51
ELF	GC	1	2.82	11.47
HALFLING	G	1	2.73	1.83
DWARF	G	1	2.55	6.67
IMP	EI	1	2.55	4.87

Most Expensive Units (Gold)

Sometimes the gold just isn't there to afford all the good things in life. We all know people who should be fired from their job because they're just there for the paycheck. And if you didn't before, the following is a list of units that should be fired from their job -- because they're just there for the paycheck.

	ALIGN	LVL	GOLD RATING	GEM SCORE	VALUE
ELF	GC	1	7.08	4.39	11.47
DWARF	G	1	6.67	0.00	6.67
BALLISTA	N	2	12.41	0.00	12.41
GIANT SPIDER	N	2	9.80	10.12	19.92
CATAPULT	N	3	45.21	0.00	45.21
KNIGHT	G	3	23.83	0.00	23.83
PHOENIX	N	4	72.43	33.68	106.11
DRAGON	N	4	58.27	28.90	87.18
HYDRA	N	4	35.67	22.12	57.79

Most Expensive Units (Gems)

Some magicians just aren't that good at their job. Unless you have seriously good sources of gems, avoid these units.

	ALIGN	LVL	GOLD RATING	GEM SCORE	VALUE
FAIRY	G	1	1.41	13.10	14.51
ZOMBIE	EI	1	0.00	14.18	14.18
GARGOYLE	N	2	0.00	22.85	22.85
GHOUL	EI	2	0.00	24.17	24.17
MAGICIAN	U	3	18.58	38.41	56.99
STONE GOLEM	N	3	0.00	38.81	38.81
DEVIL	EI	4	0.00	49.15	49.15
VAMPIRE	EI	4	0.00	51.14	51.14

Most Expensive Units (Gold & Gems)

In terms of overall financial health, here is a list of the most dangerously slothful units in the game. Limit the number of these units in your army the second you get the opportunity.

	ALIGN	LVL	GOLD RATING	GEM SCORE	VALUE
PHOENIX	N	4	72.43	33.68	106.11
DRAGON	N	4	58.27	28.90	87.18
HYDRA	N	4	35.67	22.12	57.79
MAGICIAN	U	3	18.58	38.41	56.99
CLERIC	G	3	19.49	32.22	51.71
CATAPULT	N	3	45.21	0.00	45.21
GHOUL	EI	2	0.00	24.17	24.17
GARGOYLE	N	2	0.00	22.85	22.85
FIEND	EI	2	0.00	20.08	20.08
FAIRY	G	1	1.41	13.10	14.51
ZOMBIE	EI	1	0.00	14.18	14.18
ELF	GC	1	7.08	4.39	11.47

Puny Units

These poor bastards are lucky they can get out of bed in the morning. Some may excel in one area, but overall they are vulnerable and weak. When the enemy sees these units, they start to lick their chops.

	ALIGN	LVL	POWER	VALUE
GOBLIN	E	1	1.54	0.65
SPEARMAN	N	1	1.62	1.23
MILITIAMAN	N	1	1.62	1.23
ORC	E	1	1.72	1.75
ZOMBIE	EI	1	1.75	14.18
BALLISTA	N	2	2.01	12.41
GHOUL	EI	2	2.05	24.17
THUG	E	2	2.37	5.06
CATAPULT	N	3	2.21	45.21
CLERIC	G	3	3.08	51.71
OGRE	E	3	3.13	12.78
VAMPIRE	EI	4	3.64	51.14
WAR ELEPHANT	N	4	3.97	35.23
WARLOCK	EI	4	4.11	21.89

Best Tank Units

A tank is a unit with so much hit points that it can stand in the heat of battle and take several waves of damage before it expires. This gives your other units time to pick off the enemies surrounding your tank without any of them being killed off.

For this evaluation, I compared the unit to the upkeep costs in both gems and gold and gave it a mathematical score that allows it to be ranked when compared to the others. Here are the units that came out the best. After all, it's nice to have guys that can take the damage, but if they're draining your coffers dry, what's the point?

	ALIGN	LVL	HP	GUPK	GMUPK	SCORE
DEVIL	EI	4	70	0	20	1.03
WAR ELEPHANT	N	4	120	140	0	1.01
STONE GOLEM	N	3	60	0	10	0.90
CYCLOPS	E	4	100	80	0	0.85
GIANT	U	4	100	90	0	0.85
VAMPIRE	EI	4	55	0	15	0.81
DEMON	EI	3	42	0	8	0.64
OGRE	E	3	68	40	0	0.59
TROLL	E	3	63	50	0	0.54
FIEND	EI	2	29	0	4	0.46
GHOUL	EI	2	28	0	4	0.45
HELLHOUND	EI	2	25	0	3	0.41
ZOMBIE	EI	1	23	0	2	0.39
EXECUTIONER	E	3	43	40	0	0.37
GIANT SLUG	N	2	40	16	0	0.37
THUG	E	2	35	12	0	0.33
GARGOYLE	N	2	21	0	5	0.33
BASILISK	N	2	35	15	0	0.32
KNIGHT	G	3	37	80	0	0.31
CENTAUR	N	2	30	15	0	0.28

Strategy

So, when it comes to taking damage, there's a serious shift toward the evil side of things. If you're a bad person, your guys will generally be able to take a lot of damage and not cost you a lot. Also, once you get buildings at level 4 that can generate some of the big boys, that's when you're going to be able to absorb huge amounts of damage.

But, one of the amazing things that comes out of this list is the position of the level 1 unit "Zombie". Exceptionally cheap, expendable, and surprisingly durable against all units except for heroes. Something to think about.

Best Ranged Units

Ranged attack is a powerful thing. With powerful enough ranged attackers, you can end a battle before it even begins by wiping out enemy melee units before they have a chance to close in and strike or destroy the enemy back line ranged units before they can do the same to you.

There are 27 units with a ranged attack in Eador: Masters of the Broken World. I have listed them all below ranked by their ranged attack.

	ALIGN	LVL	HP	RATT
DRAGON	N	4	150	30
GIANT	U	4	100	20
WARLOCK	EI	4	20	18
DEVIL	EI	4	70	15
CATAPULT	N	3	20	12
MAGICIAN	U	3	15	12
BALLISTA	N	2	18	9
SORCERER	U	2	12	9
GIANT SLUG	N	2	40	8
ELF	GC	1	9	7
CENTAUR	N	2	30	7
IMP	EI	1	8	7
CLERIC	G	3	15	6
HORSE ARCHER	N	2	26	6
SHAMAN	U	1	9	6
MEDUSA	N	3	35	6
ASSASSIN	E	2	20	6
BOWMAN	N	1	10	5
HALFLING	G	1	8	5
CROSSBOWMAN	L	1	10	5
MONK	G	2	12	5
THIEF	E	1	13	5
BARBARIAN	U	1	20	5
SLINGER	N	1	10	4
FAIRY	G	1	6	4
BASILISK	N	2	35	3
GIANT SPIDER	N	2	29	3

Strategy

If you're going to go good, elfs are the best place to start. Their ranged attack is quite potent in the early going. Evil players have the imps. Both of these units are deadly from a distance, but will get slaughtered if your front line fails.

In the later stages of the game, alignment won't matter as much -- though devils are a fantastic unit for evil players. Centaurs, slugs, and dragons (all neutral) are crazy awesome not just because they deliver a lot of damage, but because they have plenty of hit points to give -- allowing them time to escape.

Best Melee Units

Melee refers specifically to damage done when a unit is attacking an enemy in an adjoining hex. High melee units can roll across the battlefield tearing through enemy lines. Some troops might be great at range, but when the enemy closes in, they fall to pieces. Here is a list of the best fighters in one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat:

There are only two units in Eador: Masters of the Broken World that can't do melee damage -- the catapult and the ballista. That leaves 64 other units vying for the crown of best melee fighter. I have listed the top thirty below, sorted by their levels and ranked by their melee attack:

	ALIGN	LVL	HP	ATT
DRAGON	N	4	150	40
CYCLOPS	E	4	100	35
PHOENIX	N	4	70	35
WAR ELEPHANT	N	4	120	33
DEVIL	EI	4	70	33
DEMON	EI	3	42	20
OGRE	E	3	68	19
MANTICORE	N	3	50	19
MINOTAUR	N	3	52	18
GRYPHON	N	3	42	18
THUG	E	2	35	14
BASILISK	N	2	35	12
CENTAUR	N	2	30	12
FIEND	EI	2	29	12
HORSEMAN	N	2	30	11
ORC	E	1	23	9
BARBARIAN	U	1	20	9
LIZARDMAN	N	1	20	8
BRIGAND	E	1	17	8
SKELETON	EI	1	9	8
ZOMBIE	EI	1	23	7
DWARF	G	1	21	7
SWORDSMAN	L	1	17	7
THIEF	E	1	13	7
IMP	EI	1	8	7
PIKEMAN	L	1	18	6
GOBLIN	E	1	12	6
CROSSBOWMAN	L	1	10	5
ELF	GC	1	9	5
SPEARMAN	N	1	17	4

Strategy

Sadly, this list seems to lean heavily toward the evil units. However, there are some key neutral units that good players could lean on for dispensing vicious justice. Early on, you'll want to look to an alliance with the lizardmen or the barbarians to create armies with brute force front lines supported by ranged units. Later, you'll have to mix and match advanced units to see how your armies balance out.

12 Units That Cost No Gold

When it comes to reducing costs, nothing beats free. In Eador: Masters of the Broken World, there are twelve units that require zero gold in upkeep -- shifting the upkeep burden instead to your crystals. If you have a steady income of crystals and you can afford it, raising armies with these guys in them will help you save more gold.

The codes in parenthesis are as follows: (Alignment/Level, Gem Upkeep)

• IMP (EI/1, 1 GM/T)
• SKELETON (EI/1, 1 GM/T)
• ZOMBIE (EI/1, 2 GM/T)
• HELLHOUND (EI/2, 3 GM/T)
• GARGOYLE (N/2, 5 GM/T)
• GHOUL (EI/2, 4 GM/T)
• FIEND (EI/2, 4 GM/T)
• DEMON (EI/3, 8 GM/T)
• STONE GOLEM (N/3, 10 GM/T)
• GHOST (EI/3, 13 GM/T)
• VAMPIRE (EI/4, 15 GM/T)
• DEVIL (EI/4, 20 GM/T)

Skills and Attributes

Every hero -- like the units he commands -- has a series of statistics that govern his effectiveness during battle or exploration. Attributes are the numbers that determine outcomes of probability and skills are the numbers that determine effectiveness of actions.

Hero-specific Attributes

• Health
  Health is more complex than you think. It improves three universal attributes for the hero: hit points, stamina, morale. All classes need to make sure they occasionally upgrade this skill to keep from being overwhelmed later in the game. However, if you play your hero as a tank, then this is probably the only attribute you need to level up.
• Magic
  How many spells the hero can learn. This stat is critical for mages.
• Command
  How many units a hero can have with him on the battlefield. This stat is particularly important for commanders.

Universal Attributes

• Hit Points
  Total damage a unit can absorb before dying; <50%, unit attack is weakened; =0, unit dies. Regenerate 10% per turn when out of combat; more with certain buildings.
• Attack
  Damage dealt by a unit to an enemy during an attack by said unit.
• Counterattack
  Damage returned to an enemy by the unit after it is attacked by said enemy.
• Defense
  Reduces damage the unit takes from melee.
• Ranged Defense
  Reduces damage the unit takes from arrows and missiles.
• Resistance
  Reduces damage the unit takes from magic attacks and all counterattacks.
• Speed
  Total action points for attack or movement during each turn; altered by certain types of terrain.
• Attack Range
  Ranged-only damage dealt by a cast projectile.
• Range
  Ranged-only maximum distance of attack with projectile or healing actions.
• Ammo
  Ranged-only, =0, ranged attacks cease until more ammo is found. Ammunition is restored instantly after combat.
• Stamina
  Unit energy reserve spent on attacking, special skills, and movement; <5, attack and speed decrease; =0, the unit must rest (skips a turn). Energy is instantly restored after combat.
• Morale
  Increases when a unit kills an enemy or an enemy dies on a neighboring hex; decreases when the unit is heavily wounded or an ally dies on a neighboring hex; if morale >15, boosts attack; <5, weakens attack; =0, the unit panics and retreats. When out of combat, this attribute gradually returns to its base level.

Battlefield Travel Skills

Some units fair better in adverse terrain conditions than others.

• Hovering
  unit immune to terrain consequences; unit can share a hex with friendly troops and can be trampled.
• Flying
  unit immune to terrain consequences and trampling; unit cannot share a hex with friendly troops.
• Forest Knowledge
  travel through forest hexes only costs 1 movement point and no stamina; unit obtains additional defense.
• Hills Knowledge
  travel through hill hexes only costs 1 movement point and no stamina; unit obtains additional defense.
• Swamp Knowledge
  travel through swamp hexes only costs 1 movement point and no stamina; unit obtains additional defense.

Ranged Attack/Defense Skills

These are skills that are specific to ranged class fighting units.

• Armor-piercing Shot
  ranged, enemy ranged defense -50%
• Heavy Ammo
  ranged, enemy ranged defense -1. Duration: 3 turns.
• Petrification
  ranged, unit freezes enemy, preventing movement but increasing defense; duration reduced by enemy resistance skill.
• Poison Shot
  ranged, unit poisons enemy, reducing hit points; amount depends on skill level. Duration: 3 turns.
• Precise Shot
  ranged, unit attack ignores some enemy ranged defense; amount depends on skill level.
• Web
  ranged, unit entangles enemy, preventing movement; duration reduced by enemy attack skill.

Melee Attack/Defense Skills

These are skills that are specific to melee class fighting units.

• Armor-piercing Strike
  melee, enemy defense -50%
• Bloodsucker
  melee, unit restores hit points based on damage dealt; amount depends on skill level.
• Cause Disease
  melee, causing damage adds poison effect
• Charge
  melee, if attacking on the move; bonus damage based on distance traveled.
• Crippling Strike
  melee, enemy speed -1. Duration: 2 turns.
• Crushing Blow
  melee, special strike, +50% damage at the cost of some stamina.
• Damage Armor
  melee, enemy defense -1. Duration: 3 turns.
• Damage Weapon
  melee, enemy attack -1. Duration: 3 turns.
• Does Not Fight
  melee, unit can’t attack or counterattack
• Intimidation
  melee, unit decreases the enemy morale; amount depends on skill level.
• Mass Attack
  melee, unit attacks all enemies in neighboring hexes.
• Parry
  melee, for the first time in a turn, its defense is increased; amount depends on skill level.
• Poison Attack
  melee, unit poisons enemy, reducing hit points; amount depends on skill level. Duration: 3 turns.
• Poison Flesh
  melee, poisons attacker when damaged
• Precise Strike
  melee, unit attack ignores some enemy defense; amount depends on skill level.
• Roots
  melee, unit entangles enemy, preventing movement. Duration: 3 turns.
• Round Attack
  melee, unit attacks all enemies in neighboring hexes at the cost of some stamina.
• Soul Stealing
  melee, on enemy death, unit steals its soul to restore hit points; amount depends on skill level.
• Steal Ammo
  melee, unit decreases enemy ammunition reserve by several units; amount depends on skill level.
• Stunning Blow
  melee, unit attacks reduce enemy stamina; amount depends on skill level.
• Trample
  melee, unit can trample enemy if enemy hit points remaining after the attack are equal to or less than the level of the ability; on death, unit moves to enemy hex. Flying enemies are immune.

Magic Skills

Some units have a small amount of natural magical affinity.

• Cause Vulnerability
  melee magic, the unit bestows "Vulnerability" spell on the enemy.
• Energy Control
  ranged magic, ignore some enemy resistance; amount depends on skill level.
• Fire Arrows
  ranged magic, normal and bonus magic damage; amount depends on skill level.
• Magic Shot
  ranged magic, ranged damgage instead counts as magic damage; countered by enemy resistance.
• Magic Strike
  melee magic, melee damgage instead counts as magic damage; countered by enemy resistance.

Activated Action Skills

Some units have bonus actions they can activate during battle.

• Collect Ammo
  activated, unit will scavenge for ammo. Duration: 1 turn.
• Extra Shot
  activated, spend stamina to use ranged attack twice per turn
• Forced March
  activated, unit’s speed +1, cost: stamina. Duration: 1 turn.
• Healing
  activated, heal a unit within shooting range; effectiveness depends on level of ability; collectively, all units possessing this ability boost the healing rate of the entire army when not in combat.
• Master of the Undead
  activated, unit raises dead enemies as skeletons.

Buffs

Boosts to friendly unit stats and attributes.

• Agility
  buff, unit immune to counterattacks
• Berserker
  buff, unit immune to fear; when activated by heavy damage, attack increases by level of ability and wounds do not reduce these effects
• Feels No Pain
  buff, wounds have no impact on unit’s attack.
• First Aid
  buff, hit points while resting; buff to out-of-combat HP regeneration rate
• First Strike
  buff, unit counterattacks before enemy attack; negated if both units have first strike.
• Forager
  buff, reduction in unit upkeep cost; amount depends on skill level.
• Intrepid
  buff, unit morale always remains unchanged.
• Mediation
  buff, unit recharges several units of magic while at rest; amount depends on skill level.
• Poison Immunity
  buff, unit immune to poison.
• Recuperation
  buff, unit recovers more stamina when resting; amount depends on skill level.
• Regeneration
  buff, unit recovers some hit points per turn; amount depends on skill level; hit point restoration boost when not in combat.
• Reincarnation
  buff, upon death, unit rises with full health once per battle
• Necrophagy
  buff, unit recovers some hit points by eating a corpse; amount depends on skill level.
• Smite Evil
  buff, unit inflicts extra damage on enemies with tainted souls.
• Spell Immunity
  buff, unit immune to spells.
• Tireless
  buff, unit immune to fatigue caused by travel or combat.
• Tolerance
  buff, unit immune to morale decrease caused by conflicting alignments with hero or fellow soldiers.

Debuffs

Reductions to enemy unit stats and attributes.

• Hex
  debuff, single enemy attack, armor, and resistance skills -1. effected by enemy resistance. Duration: 4 turns.
• Siege
  debuff, enemy fortification defense reduced; amount depends on skill level.

Toxic Troops

Reductions to friendly unit stats and attributes.

• Marauder
  reduces income from post-battle loot by a certain percentage.
• Plunderer
  reduces income from province in which the unit is located by a certain percent.

Unit Citations

As your troops perform admirably for you (get upgraded through experience), you can present them with awards for their heroism and dedication. The advantage is that they then perform better in combat; the disadvantage is that they cost more gold (or gems) to maintain.

Medal of Agility

• Ranged Defense +2
• Stamina +2
• Gold Upkeep +3

Medal of Courage

• Morale +4
• Attack +1
• Gold Upkeep +3

Medal of Healing

• Healing +2
• Ammo +1
• Gold Upkeep +3
• Gem Upkeep +1

Medal of Resilience

• Health +4
• Defense +1
• Counterattack +1
• Gold Upkeep +4

Medal of Resolve

• Resistance +2
• Morale +2
• Gold Upkeep +3

Medal of Zeal

• Stamina +3
• Counterattack +1
• Gold Upkeep +3

Order of the Defenders

• Defense +2
• Counterattack +1
• Gold Upkeep +4

Order of the Marksman

• Accuracy +1
• Ranged Attack +1
• Gold Upkeep +8

Order of the Victor

• Hit Points +5
• Morale +3
• Attack +2
• Counterattack +1
• Gold Upkeep +10

Order of the Willful

• Attack +2
• Counterattack +2
• Gold Upkeep +5

Pennant of Fire

• Ammo +1
• Resistance +1
• Fire Arrows +3
• Gold Upkeep +7
• Gem Upkeep +1

The Hero's Cross

• Attack +2
• Counterattack +2
• Armor +1
• Resistance +1
• Gold Upkeep +10

Badge of the Battleman

• Ammo +2
• Stamina +2
• Gold Upkeep +4
• Gem Upkeep +1

Badge of the Mercenary

The unit is signed with the Mercenaries Guild and demands higher wages for its services.

Star of the Mage

• Ranged Attack +1
• Energy Control +1
• Gold Upkeep +5
• Gem Upkeep +1

Spells

Here's a list of the magical spells in the game:

Necromancy Spells

• Raise Skeleton
  Raise a slain unit as a skeleton.
• Raise Zombie
  Raise a slain unit as a zombie.
• Resurrection
  Bring fallen allies back to life. Undead and mechanical creatures are immune.
• Summon Imp
  Summon an imp to a neighboring hex, caster sacrifices three hit points.

Damage Spells

• Fireball
  Strike several enemies at once with magic fire.
• Exorcism
  Inflict damage on demons and the undead.

Buff Spells

• Bless
  Increase the target defense and attack values.
• Air Shield
  Increase the target ranged defense and resistance values.
• Inspiration
  Restore the target morale.
• Haste
  Increase target speed and gradually restore stamina.
• Astral Energy
  Restore target stamina and increase its resistance.
• Slow
  Reduce target speed and gradually reduce stamina.
• Restoration
  Heal the target, restore 12HP, cure poison, and reduce duration of hostile enchantments. Undead and mechanical creatures are immune.

Debuff Spells

• Curse
  Reduce target attack and defense values.
• Mass Curse
  Reduce attack and defense values of enemy army for 6 turns.
• Vulnerability
  Reduce target defense and resistance values.
• Fear
  Reduces target morale.
• Dispel
  Dispel enemy incantations and inflict damage on summoned creatures.
• Life Drain
  Steal hit points from target and give them to caster.
• Word of Power
  Subdue a target with a resistance of three or less for one turn. Undead and mechanical creatures are immune.

Magic

Magic is the use of gems to dispense death to your enemies. Spells are specific to the battlefield and are used during combat; rituals, on the other hand, are bigger.

Not every hero class is as capable with a wand -- though they can all cast their own brand of magic. Mages, obviously, are the masters of this mechanic.

Gems

Gems are collected as loot after a battle. Every time you cast magic, you use up crystals. It is highly recommended that you save up your crystals for later in the game when you have to fight bigger, badder enemies.

Scrolls

Before every battle, you memorize a particular number of spell scrolls. You then have total access to those scrolls once you are fighting your enemies and your hero unit can use one scroll per turn until they run out. Each scroll can only be used once, however you can put as many of a single spell into your loadout as you have slots available.

Spell scrolls can be found on the bodies of dead enemies.

Loadout Slots

You have a limited number of slots to add scrolls to when you go into battle. However, as you level up, new slots may open up. There are also different tiers of slots. Higher tiered slots boost the damage or healing effects of your magic.

You can access your magic loadout and read new scrolls in the library screen.

Rituals

A hero is only required for a ritual if he is benefiting directly from the rite. Otherwise, you can simply cast it when ready. Rituals are grand magical doctrines that cause horrific damage or benevolent grace on a particular province or capital. Rituals effect your karma.

Hero Equipment

Your heroes can arm themselves with weapons, armor, and other pieces of equipment that will allow them to dominate the battlefield.

Inventory

Your inventory screen is split in half. On one side, you have all the possessions you have on your person; the other has a collection of weapons you have obtained and are keeping in your cache. You can move weapons from one to the other at will once you are in your castle.

Tip #5: Your personal inventory contains an area where you can keep items that you're not wearing. They're kinda like backup weapons and stuff. This is also where the stuff you grab after a victorious battle will go. If this area fills up, you won't be able to gain any post-battle loot. So clear this area out often and only keep a spare weapon and maybe one or two accessories when you go off to war.

When heroes gain loot, sometimes they end up with duplicate or better gear and their old gear becomes superfluous. In those cases, you can sell the loot to get it out of your inventory and turn it into gold. Of course, you can also purchase new weapons if you find something being generated by a building that is bigger and better than what you have currently. Be sure to check the inventory screen after you upgrade your buildings to also upgrade your gear.

After your buildings gain level four, the best loot will come from the battlefield loot you get after a victory. The bigger the enemy force, the greater the probability that you'll find something sweet after you win.

Repairs and Broken Equipment

All gear that you are wearing when you go into battle will deplete as you are hit. As a result, you'll have to repair the equipment every time you return to your castle. If you fail to do this, you will eventually break your weapon after it runs out of durability points. Once this happens, the weapon is all but worthless and you may have to waste a turn in battle to switch it for any backups you keep in your bag.

Tip #6: The primary purpose for the bag is to carry spare weapons. If you are diligent in repairing your weapons every time you return to base, you will not need these backup weapons and you'll save the space for loot.

Equipment - Weapons

Weapons are categorized into ranged, magic, and melee. If a ranged hero is rushed and has to attack an enemy unit in a neighboring hex, he'll have to switch to a melee weapon. So be sure to keep one on him.

Equipment - Armor

Armor is all about reducing the amount of damage you take with each hit. At the start of the game, maximize your armor; later on, you can go without because of your ability to slaughter enemy units much more quickly.

Equipment - Accessories

These little objects accentuate various skills and generate buffs and debuffs on you or your enemies.

Terrain

In the infrastructure game, the shard has its own terrain; in the combat game, the battlefield has its own terrain. Knowing how the terrain works is critical to preventing accidentally undercutting your plans or winning a battle before you even fire your first shot

Battlefield - Swamps

Stay out of swamps at all costs. Swamps drain the stamina of your units twice as fast. If a swamp sits between you and your melee foe, let him walk into the swamp before you attack him.

Battlefield - Forests

When facing ranged enemies, forests are your friends. Sitting in a forest and firing out of it will reduce the amount of damage you take from arrows and other projectiles.

Battlefield - Hills

Hills are difficult to get on top of and cost a bit of stamina, however they grant you fantastic range and a bit of bonus defense that can turn the tide of battle.

Battlefield - Ponds and Mountains

These two features are known as impassable terrain. But that's a misnomer because flying units can easily pass through these areas without penalty. So keep that in mind when setting up your battle plans.

Combat

Managing provinces is only half the game; the other half is combat.

Combat is all about conquering shards and provinces. The tiny nuances of dominating the field of battle can take weeks or even months to perfect. But once you do, you can handle the unpredictable nature of warfare and then use it to your advantage.

Turn Based Strategy

On your turn, each of your units has a certain amount of spaces that they can move OR they can attack. As you upgrade units, some of them will be able to attack twice or move more often. But for the most part (and especially at the start of the game), each unit is very limited in it's action.

After you take your turn, then your opponent can move all of his units or attack and then the turn reverts to you.

However, there is a catch. Whenever you attack a unit, if it is not killed straight away, it will counter-attack you. And depending on the units and heroes involved, some counter-attacks can be devastating.

Tip #4: occasionally, because units can counter-attack, it's better to sit back and let the enemy rush you rather than the reverse. When an enemy strikes, you counter attack and damage them to some extent. Then on the next turn, if you're able to kill them outright, there's no counter-attack. This can precipitate a huge swing in momentum.

Unit Stats

Each unit (hero or troop) on the battlefield has three stats:

• hit points dictates the health of the unit; when this level gets to zero, the unit dies and is removed from the field (unless it's brought back as a skeleton by a necromancer
• morale dictates the courage level of the unit; when this level gets low (because he sees comrades in nearby hexes die), he will run away and leave the battlefield
• stamina dictates the energy level of the unit; when this level gets low, the unit becomes fatigued he is forced to skip a turn in order to rest.

Tactics

The goal to winning is to clear the battlefield by any means necessary. The first way is to scare the people from the field by killing their friends and frightening them into abandoning their position. Another way is to slaughter them outright. You can also position your troops behind hills at the start and then allow your enemies to exhaust themselves climbing over hills and trudging through swamps before they get to you.

These tactics apply to units and heroes.

Initiative

Maybe not when you first start, but who goes first will change your strategy. This is determined by comparing the initiative of both the attacking force and the defending force:

• If the attackers have the most initiative, they go first.
• If the defenders have the most initiative, they go first.
• In the event of a tie, the attackers go first.

Initiative is one of the stats held by the heroes and troops. The more troops you have and the more you level up your force will dictate your total initiative.

Karma

Your decisions in the game effect your karma score. Based on how you treat your populace, you will either be hailed for your benevolence, reviled for your ambivalence, or feared for your tyranny.

Being evil or good doesn't pigeonhole your decisions, so don't think that you'll have no choice but to slaughter a small town just because on the turn prior you rehabilitated the reputation of a band of criminals by ending them. Your karma also plays a part in how the game ends.

Contingencies

Your karma score is effected by several game mechanics:

• NPC interactions (citizens)
• Demigod conversations
• types of magic you cast during battle
• types of buildings you construct in provinces
• types of troops you hire

Scope

Your personality and some of the options you have while you are interfacing with citizens and other demigods. Beyond that, very little else in the game is contingent on extreme levels of karma.

Provinces

The subdivisions of a shard are known as provinces. Each shard has a varying number of provinces based on its size and shape.

Diplomacy

When you first decide to conquer a province and bring it under your control, assuming you have a high enough level of diplomacy, you'll be able to negotiate with the locals. By paying them cash or giving them something else they want, you can buy their loyalty and invite them into your realm without bloodshed.

War

Of course, if you're not in the mood, you can strike down their offensive and, frankly, smelly army and rebuild from scratch.

Distance

How far away a province is from your castle is a consideration. The further away it is (by counting provinces between castle and province), the harder it is to conquer and the harder it is to hold on to. As a rule of thumb, the longer it takes your hero to walk there, the more difficult that province is going to be.

Exploration

Every time you take over a province, as you can imagine you only see a small tiny fraction of the province while you are conquering it. By sending a hero to the province to explore it further, you can increase the exploration level of each province -- finding new and secret locations like underground temples, dark forests, and dungeons.

Explore every province (when you have time) until you reach 100% to get all that you can out of your province. Any province that is not fully-explored has a cap on it's population. Also, this is a great way to train your heroes and troops. Just keep in mind that deeper you explore your province, the harder the enemies will get.

Provincial Towns

You have no say over how the towns in the province grow or maintain themselves -- which is nice because don't you have enough on your plate already. You're a demigod, after all.

However, you can construct three buildings in a province to help it along. Buildings like taverns and breweries not only generate more revenue (increasing your gold in the process), but can provide critical resources to keep your citizens happy (or drunk, as the case may be) and not rioting.

Pyrrhic Provinces

While it's generally a good thing to pick up provinces along the way, some provinces are more trouble than they are worth. They have a constant stream of bad news and are always asking for more gold to bail them out of some jam they got themselves into. Beware these ne'er-do-wells.

Corruption

As you can imagine, provinces far away from your castle can become quite corrupt, requiring you to show up with a small force and crack some heads.

Guards

You can assign guards to maintain law and order in troublesome provinces. However, as provinces grow (in size and/or ire), you will have to assign additional guards to protect your interests. You can construct special buildings to improve and diversify the types of guards you send out.

Even More Corruption

Some guards are just filthy corrupt. They'll glean some of your tax revenue for themselves or -- debateably, even worse -- they'll eat a few of your citizens. You'll have to root them out and have them killed.

Shards

Floating in the astral are various shards of differing sizes and difficulty. As you progress as a demigod, you'll want to invade and conquer nearby shards and bring them under your control -- increasing the revenues you can work with.

Provinces

Each shard is subdivided into provinces. Each province has a little town, a local population, and may contain some resource or another that you desperately need. The people there have needs and will occasionally come to you with their problems -- allowing you to either help, ignore, or rebuke them.

Navigation

Each shard is an open world -- that allows you to reach your enemy's stronghold by whatever means you choose. You can conquer all of the provinces at once, skirt the edges of the shard and then come in from a strategic direction, or plow through in the most direct fashion and slaughter everyone with a grand army.

Shard Conquering and Ownership

Each shard you consume makes you more powerful. The number of provinces you own on a shard is irrelevant; the only thing that matters is who controls the capital. You can win the capital of a shard without owning a single province and you will take control of the rock.

Resources

Every shard has a particular set of resources. As you lash together more and more shards, you'll gain extra resources to develop bigger and better units, buildings, etc. You don't need to have all of the resources, but it's nice when you do because the resources lower the cost of certain units.

In addition to the construction benefits, the resource deposits in Eador: Masters of the Broken World can also generate tax revenue -- which can rescue a critically low cache of gold. Always keep an eye out for provinces that have a convenient resource that you can exploit and annex those provinces first.

Partial List of Resources

• Horses
• Mithril

Economics

Your economy is based around two currencies: gold and magical gems. How you protect the coffers and how judicious you are with your spending will decide whether you succeed or fail in your quest to become the one god.

Gold

Gold is produced through taxes and found in battle. As a result, every turn you will gain some gold and spend some gold. Ideally, the amount coming in should be more than that going out. There are no credit cards in this game, so if you run out of cash, horrible, horrible things will ensue.

Random events and troops are your primary avenues of lost revenue. Whenever fate asks you to aid your people, you'll have to weigh the theoretical costs of failing to act (unhappiness, possible revolt) against the actual costs of losing gold. In the same way, your armies can be stunningly powerful, but they may drink your banks dry while conquering lands on your behalf.

Tip #3: Gold is primarily used to hire and maintain the troops in your army. As those troops become more seasoned and increase their levels, they'll cost more. If you find yourself bleeding out gold, you might want to consider losing one or two veterans and replacing them with scrubs. But do this sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.

Tip #4: Assigning expensive troops to guard your castle is a great way to keep them from upgrading further and costing you more money.

Gems

Exclusive to magic, gems are easier to save up but also equally easy to blow through if you're not careful. While in combat, your hero can use gems to attack enemy forces using magic. However, you're going to want to save these opportunities for later in the game when you are facing the forces of other demigods. At the beginning, use magic only when failing to do so will cost you your hero's life.

You pick up gems after you defeat an enemy force.

Some of your magically-inclined troops also need gems as part of their payment schedule. If you hire too many of these powerful yet expensive units, you could find yourself depleted of gems -- which will cause a crisis in the later stages of the game.

Economics and Karma

Beware allowing your gold levels to dwindle. If you are approached during a random event by people who desperately need your help, failing to cover their needs because you have ignored your budget may cost you good or bad karma that you might need later in the game.

Armies and Troops

After building the appropriate buildings, you will be able to hire various units to march with your hero as part of his army. So, you can't hire -- say pikemen -- until after you build their first level one building.

The Garrison Screen

The garrison screen is divided in half -- one side dedicated to the units that are available for hire and have been hired and the other dedicated to your currently selected hero and his army. You can then interchange units as you see fit.

Hiring

You are going to lose many, many, many soldiers. Resign yourself to this now. The reason I know this is because no matter which hero you choose, you will never be so powerful at the beginning of the game to protect all your guys.

As a result, you will be quite familiar with the garrison screen as you will constantly be looking for the next batch of mooks to absorb the arrows.

Costs

Whenever you hire troops, not only do you need to spend money immediately to retain their services, but you'll also need to pay them as you go along. Lowly level-zero units cost very little, so you can have many of them. However, as the units upgrade, you'll need more and more gold to afford to keep them. Keep an eye on your troop costs and plan accordingly.

Troops

The troops that you hire will accompany your hero into battle. Your troops cannot travel around the map without a hero. So they must remain in the garrison and the hero must come to pick them up.

While in battle, each unit will gain experience on an individual basis based on what each individual unit does. So if one unit kills three bad guys, he will gain more experience than a unit that kills only one enemy. Just as your hero does, when a unit upgrades, you'll be able to select specific skill boosts (like counter-attack +1).

Tip #2: whenever you are given an opportunity, use your ranged units to get an enemy down to minimum health and then bring in a melee unit to finish the guy off. Doing this will give experience to all of the ranged units AND they guy who finishes the job. However, only do this when you have like two or three enemies left to contend with; while facing eighteen bloodthirsty lizardmen, just kill them as fast as possible.

Each of the units is an individual; units do not stack. So as a result of the layout of the combat arena, you can only have so many units (plus your heroes) on the map in a single assault.

Alignment

Every unit that ever ends up in the army for either side has an alignment. Their alignment is based on their inclination to help the local population, look out for themselves, or stay completely ambivalent to all things political.

• GOOD
  LVL1 - DWARF, HALFLING, HEALER, FAIRY
  LVL2 - DRYAD, MONK, PEGASUS
  LVL3 - KNIGHT, CLERIC
  LVL4 - NONE
• CHAMPION OF LIGHT (GOOD + MAGIC)
  LVL1 - ELF
  LVL2 - NONE
  LVL3 - UNICORN
  LVL4 - TREANT, PALADIN
• EVIL
  LVL1 - THIEF, GOBLIN, ORC, BRIGAND
  LVL2 - ASSASSIN, HARPY, THUG
  LVL3 - OGRE, EXECUTIONER, TROLL
  LVL4 - CYCLOPS
• EVIL INCARNATE (EVIL + MAGIC)
  LVL1 - IMP, SKELETON, ZOMBIE
  LVL2 - HELLHOUND, GHOUL, FIEND
  LVL3 - DEMON, GHOST
  LVL4 - VAMPIRE, DEVIL, WARLOCK
• NEUTRAL
  LVL1 - SPEARMAN, BOWMAN, LIZARDMAN, MILITIAMAN, SLINGER
  LVL2 - BALLISTA, BASILISK, HORSEMAN, CENTAUR, HORSE ARCHER, GIANT SLUG, GARGOYLE, GIANT SPIDER
  LVL3 - CATAPULT, GRYPHON, STONE GOLEM, MANTICORE, MEDUSA, MINOTAUR
  LVL4 - HYDRA, DRAGON, PHOENIX, WAR ELEPHANT
• LAWFUL
  LVL1 - CROSSBOWMAN, SWORDSMAN, PIKEMAN
  LVL2 - GUARDSMAN
  LVL3 - NONE
  LVL4 - NONE
• UNSCRUPULOUS
  LVL1 - BARBARIAN, SHAMAN
  LVL2 - SORCERER
  LVL3 - MAGICIAN
  LVL4 - GIANT

When units of opposing alignments are thrown together into an army, the units take a hit to their morale. This effect is negated for units that have the "tolerance" skill. Ideally, you should have a good army, an evil army, a lawful army, and an unscrupulous army to prevent these problems. It's a pain, but it can be done. Obviously, neutral units are a huge bonus as they can drift between armies.

Construction

Constructing buildings in your castle and upgrading them to their maximum potential is paramount to winning the game. The buildings themselves have various prerequisites and needs. But overall, if you look at how these buildings are set up, patterns will emerge that I will be covering in my advanced strategy posts.

In the meantime, simply familiarize yourself with the construction screen.

The Construction HUD

Whenever you are inside your castle, you can access the construction window by clicking on the little hammer icon. When you do so, you'll be shown the Wheel of Quarters, the building level buttons, and a grid showing what combination of buildings you are currently looking at and icons representing buildings that can be built and some which cannot.

There are also other buttons here for sorting the list. For instance, one of the buttons will remove all of the buildings that are not available at the moment. I'll leave it to you to experiment with the buttons to figure out what they do.

The Queue

You are only permitted to build one building per turn.

However, you can set up the next four turns worth of buildings by clicking on the queue icons above each building to add them to the queue.

The Wheel of Quarters

In the bottom left-hand corner of the construction HUD, you'll see a wheel of buttons that allows you to access various types of building. They are as follows:

• Military (generate units)
• Craftsmen (generate equipment)
• Magic (generate knowledge)
• Temples (reduce hero costs; add courage)
• Entertainment (improves mood of populace)
• Trade (generates tax revenue)

As you click on each section, you'll see buildings pop up that are either immediately available or have some prerequisite that you haven't accomplished yet. Most buildings require other buildings to be built in advance. So you'll have to plan ahead a little to maximize your efficiency.

Shard Specificity

Each shard has a different set of resources than it's neighbors. Each building in your construction window requires certain resources to complete. As a result, you may not have full reign over every building in your castle build until you conquer enough shards to supply all the resources you need to plop the structure you want.

Building Levels

Most buildings begin at level one and then climb as you upgrade them -- granting you bonuses to their properties and produced units. Of course, upgraded buildings also require more gold to maintain, so you'll have to balance how quickly you construct with how quickly you expand your reach.

The level one buildings are in the screen designated with the "I" button. The buttons labeled "II", "III", and "IV" will grant you access to higher level options for only those buildings currently constructed.

Limits

Some buildings have a limit on the number you can produce. As a result, there are certain units that will never be on the battlefield at the same time because both unit production buildings are level four and there is only one available slot -- so you must choose between them.

Some buildings require an alliance with a race that can produce the building in order for it to function. Since only one alliance can be formed at a time, it's important to plan for that.

Starting the Game

Having trouble getting started? Here's what I recommend:

Step One: Choosing a Class

You must decide which class you prefer. This will result in the recruitment of a hero of the same class. Each class in Eador: Masters of the Broken World will have it's benefits and drawbacks. They will be discussed in another post.

Step Two: Soldier Up

You need to get your heroes to recruit soldiers. No matter how powerful they become, your soldier will never be able to do it all on his own. So go get him some backup.

Step Three: Castle-mania

Get to know your castle. You want to construct the appropriate buildings in order to make it as efficient as possible. Which buildings should you construct? I'm going to cover that in at least one other post, as that's going to be a hugely complex topic.

Step Four: Stay Local

Here's something most people don't know: the provinces directly adjacent to the castle are the easiest to take over -- either using diplomacy or warfare. Then the provinces touching those are the next easiest and so on spiraling outward.

Step Five: Assume Your Hero is a Liar

Heroes are notorious for being all, "Yeah, we'll roll right over them." and then losing 90% of their army. Always look at the number of enemies and see if it's something you can handle. Assume three enemies is a solid victory and five enemies is something you should put on the back burner.

Step Six: Keep Reading

In this blog, I'm going to cover a lot of advanced strategy. Keep checking back from time to time to see what else I've learned about the game that may make your strategy more efficient and successful.