Welcome back, Commanders.
During our breakdown of the Commander's role, we briefly touched on the importance of Revival Spells. These spells, chosen before heading out on a quest, will have a major influence on your overall strategy!
Players can choose from up to three randomly determined Revival Spells each time the Commander returns to take their physical form. Each Revival Spell has its own associated Talents, Skills, Turn Bonuses, Resources, Movement Points, and Mana.
This selection changes every time the Commander returns to the Capital meaning you may not get the same Revival Spells appearing the next time you venture out. Therefore, after completing or failing a mission, the Commander will always be presented with an entirely new choice to make, and a new strategy to pursue!
A woman of many talents
When selecting a Revival Spell, you’ll be presented, initially, with two options. Both options have an associated Talent which will alter certain aspects of the Commander's playstyle. All Talents provide some form of passive buff to the Commander that will aid you on your next quest.
For example, one Talent grants extra movement steps while another grants the Commander an additional 10 Mana. Some Talents provide boosts to combat stats, such as the Blood Rage Talent, which increases the Melee Damage of all your units by 7 but prohibits you from making Ranged Attacks.
Other Talents are less general and are instead tailored toward specific army builds. A commander that likes to recruit units from the fiery Zildarya Camp may want to invest in the Fire Affinity Talent which grants Zildarya units 5 additional shield points. Or, if a player prefers to use Gryphons, there is a Talent for boosting all Gryphon units’ dodge and magic resistance by 5%.
At first, Talents will be randomly assigned to a Revival Spell loadout. However, you can permanently unlock a Talent by building the Training Grounds site at the Capital. Upgrading the Training Grounds further will unlock the ability to choose between any Talent, regardless of the Revival Spell.
The Oracle of Drairthir
Once you’ve sufficiently upgraded your Talents in the Training Grounds it’s time to head over to the Oracle. The Oracle is another structure in the Capital that will need constructing before you can begin utilising its progression tree.
After gathering enough resources, you can then use the Oracle to upgrade your Turn Bonuses. Each Revival Spell comes with three random Turn Bonuses that the player can use after expending all their movement while exploring a map.
A Turn Bonus must be selected before continuing, these can range from recovering extra HP or Mana, adding additional Steps, and gaining extra resources. Like the Talents, Turn Bonuses start out being randomly determined, however, you can upgrade the Oracle to unlock the ability to swap one of the three Turn Bonuses for a specific one.
The ability to select between Turn Bonuses gives the Commander a noticeable advantage when replaying a quest to complete challenges. For example, if a player found that they were lacking in resources, they can select one of the Iron or Granite bonuses. Or, if a player struggled to navigate a particularly expansive map, investing in the Extra Steps bonus may save on precious Food Supplies.
Magic, amplified!
Despite her talents, The Dragoness is only able to revive the Commander thanks to the incredible power supplied by Níwenborh’s Magic Amplifier.
The Magic Amplifier is one of many buildings that can be upgraded throughout the game. However, unlike other upgrades, the Amplifier uses a specific resource called Dragon Stone which can be acquired by completing challenges and achieving additional Victory Conditions during quests.
Commanders will need to prioritise how to spend their precious Dragon Stones within the Amplifier’s progression tree. For example, players can upgrade the Commander’s maximum Mana, unlock additional skills to learn on the map, increase the size of the army in town by 1, and increase the maximum resources available through Revival Spells.
Choosing a Revival Spell can feel like a gamble at first, but a veteran commander will soon learn the strengths and weaknesses of each one. Eventually, you will be able to tailor these Revival Spells to suit your play style.
Soon you will be able to create a deadly combination of Units and Revival Spells that complements one another. Just remember that while Talents and Turn Bonuses can be altered, Skills and Resources will remain fixed to that Revival Spell.
Stay tuned as in our next post we’ll be talking more about restoring in the capital of Níwenborh and taking a closer look at the buildings you’ll be able to unlock.
See you soon!
- Crazy Goat Games & PQube
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