Welcome back, Commanders!
In one of our previous updates, we looked at the importance of Restoring the Capital of Níwenborh, with its various buildings and structures being vital in your fight against the Shai-Va.
We’ve also explored how to spend your resources to upgrade the Commander and her revival spells. Today we’re switching focus to the units that you will be building your armies with and leading into battle.
In Níwenborh, there are plenty of majestic, deadly, and outright bizarre creatures willing to join the Dragoness’ cause. Before they can be recruited however, these beasts will need a camp in which to train. There are four such camps that can be constructed during the campaign, with each one linked to one of the Drairthir Peninsula’s major regions.
The Emerald Sea
Lush and verdant, the humble Forest Camp is the first recruitment building that you’ll be constructing in the new capital and is home to Centaurs, Tree Ents, Harpies, and Griffons.
During the tutorial, you’ll unlock your first two units from this camp, the Centaur and the Tree Ent, two loyal beasts that you’ll find to be particularly valuable during the early quests.
Centaur – Equipped with their trusty bow and possessing decent manoeuvrability, the noble Centaur is well adapted for ranged combat. Their bow attacks are beholden to effective range bands, so you’ll need to find the sweet spot in order to deal maximum damage. If an enemy unit closes within melee range, Centaur’s will no longer be able to fire their bow and will instead switch to their weaker sword attack. Similarly, if an enemy is too far away then their arrows will be far less effective.
Tree Ent – The venerable Tree Ent is an ancient and ponderous creature capable of devastating close combat attacks. Ents have far more health and shield points than Centaurs, making vastly more durable on the battle grid. Conversely, they are incredibly slow and lacking in initiative which means that they will act later during a round. Ents can however cast the Slow spell which will severely limit an adversary’s movement, allowing them to level the playing field!
Aside from the Centaur and Tree Ent, the following units are also available for recruitment from the Forest Camp.
Harpy – The winged Harpy is an excellent support unit that can quickly change the tide of battle. While Harpies aren’t particularly powerful in direct combat, they have two spells at their disposal which are designed to disrupt and debuff enemy units. Exhaust can be used to decrease a hostile target’s attack power while Blur increases a friendly unit’s dodge %. Both spells last for 3 turns and can make for some interesting and potentially devastating combos when combined with other spells and unit abilities.
Griffon – The majestic Griffon is a highly mobile unit that can fly across the entire battle grid in a single turn. You’ll find the Griffon’s manoeuvrability especially useful for engaging pesky ranged units early on in a battle. It’s speed also means that it can easily escape from danger, which is important considering its below average health and shield!
To bolster its already impressive adaptability, or assist a slower target, the Griffon can cast the Initiative spell to increase a unit’s initiative by 10 for 10 turns.
An Icy Domain
The second recruitment camp that can be constructed at the capital is the icy Frosthyll Camp. The frozen lands north of the Capital are full of terrifying supernatural beings that can add a magical edge to any army. The Frosthyll Camp is the first to introduce spells that affect the entire battlefield, buffing ALL units on the grid. You’ll need to think carefully as to when you deploy these spells as they have the potential to backfire if you’re not careful…
Winter Elf – Similar to the Centaur, the Winter Elf is a ranged combat specialist. At first glance this unit may not appear as powerful as the Centaur, having both weaker attack power and health. However the Winter Elf has access to the wide reaching Reign of Arrows spell with increases the ranged attack of all units on the battle grid by 5 for 3 turns.
Mountain Thing - As its name may suggest, this cavern dwelling monstrosity is a disturbing sight to behold. Despite its grotesque appearance, the Mountain Thing has access to the Flash Heal spell which will restore 10 points of health to a target unit. The Mountain Thing also has a large amount of health so it can be deployed in a more defensive role if you find yourself lacking mana.
Werewolf Grunt – This lupine creature is an incredibly nimble and powerful unit with strong defences making it the perfect choice for fulfilling a tank role within your army. As if its raw strength wasn’t enough, the Werewolf Grunt can unleash Mass Rally to boost the melee attack of all beasts on the grid by 5 for 3 turns.
Undead Soldier - The very definition of a meat shield… even if there isn’t much meat on the bone of this undead horror. While the Undead Soldier lacks attack power, it has one of the largest health pools of any of the recruitable units in the game! These creatures are best used to distract and block enemies from attacking more vulnerable and valuable targets.
From Camping to Glamping
You’ll notice that every time you unlock a new unit, the camp itself will change physically to reflect its growth. Not only will you be unlocking units over time, but each unit within the camp can also be improved with multiple upgrades.
For example, Centaurs can be upgraded with Reinforced Arrows to increase their attack range by 1 and later with the Life Sigil which increases their base health by 2. Some units also make use of the same upgrade, so you’ll quickly be able to get to grips with shaping your army towards a specific strategy.
That’s all for today but stay tuned for our next post where we’ll be exploring the next batch of units from the sun-scorched Ashen and fiery Zildarya camps.
The Dragoness: Command of the Flame launches on 1st September 2022!
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