Hi Folks.
Hope you had a great weekend. This week we are running a series on how you can customize your units as they level up during the game.
Every unit starts with a host of stats split into 4 areas.
Attributes
This section covers the physical capabilities of the unit (e.g. Hit Points, Mana Points, Melee Attack Strength)
Abilities
Covers the inherent 'perks' of a unit (e.g. Walk, Fly, Forester, Cause Sickness)
Movement
Every unit has the same number of Movement Points and this section defines how many points are spent to enter tiles of a particular type. There are 25+ ground types in the game from plains, hill and swamp to ocean, sea and stream.
Combat
Shows all the modifiers that apply to a unit when attacking from a tile (based on the type of ground it is on) or defending in a tile (again based on the ground it is on). As an illustration, Elves are generally pretty cool on Forest or Wood tiles.
In addition there are modifiers to cover Protection, for example whether the unit has protection from Piercing or Slashing attacks (watch out for those Skeletons).
Your Hero starts with a number of points you can allocate in any of these areas. Each unit gains experience by battling enemies and/or casting spells. Whenever a 'level up' boundary is reached the unit will get a fixed number of 'Character Points' that can be allocated to improve the unit in any way you see fit. The number of points available can be set using the Advanced Options discussed in an earlier post.
Most units also have:
Inventory
Here is where you equip each unit using a traditional 'rag doll' figure. Units can carry an unlimited number of items in their 'backpack' and can have up to 23 slots where these items can be 'equipped'. Equipped items affect your character's stats, those in the 'backpack' do not.
The slots available on a unit are varied depending on the unit type. For example, the teachings of Children of the Inner Light devotees require that they cannot wear headgear nor anything on their hands and feet so that they are always fully attuned with their environment. These units do not have Head, Gloves or Feet slots.
And finally Spellcasters have :
Spellbook
Every spellcaster has their own spellbook. By default spellcasters are also limited in how many spells of each level they can have in the book at any one time. As a spellcaster levels up they have access to more spells and/or higher level spells. Getting extra spells requires finding or buying scrolls. These can then be copied into any empty spell slot the unit may have (this also destroys the scroll).
Spellbar
During battle the Spellbar appears along the bottom of the screen and gives the currently selected unit access to 10 spells. Others can be cast by calling up the spellbook for the unit. You can customize this bar for each unt to have your favorites readily available for quick casting.
The next post will cover the Attributes stats in more detail.
Cheers!
Ian & Jann