Overview
Mercenaries are powerful troops available to any faction. During the Prepare for War! phase of the round, you can swap any one of your currently selected troops to be replaced by a mercenary. You can do this only once per round, however, so be careful when making your choices, as they will persist through the next rounds as well.Mercenaries are all unique, and in the right situation they can prove very effective. Knowing each mercenary can give you the edge, or even help you retaliate when your opponent has earned the advantage. Here you will find the tips and tricks you need to confidently bring these troops into battle.
The Witch: Cackling Bombardier
Mercenaries can prove to be extremely useful allies on the tabletop. Each mercenary is unique and can be drafted to replace an existing troop in the Prepare For War phase of each round. All factions are able to choose mercenaries during this phase.
The Witch’s attack applies a damage-over-time effect to a group of enemies each time she throws her curses. Any enemy unit that is affected by the Witch’s Curse will also suffer a reduction to their attack and movement speed, a great advantage when it is constantly applied. She is particularly unique because she can fly, allowing her to ignore boundaries set by the board’s terrain. This makes her effective at dealing with those pesky Necromancers when they start summoning their hordes in the enemy’s back line, where they are normally out of reach. She is able to wear down enemies before they even get to your controlled zones.
Be careful, though, as a few volleys from Flesh Lobbers or Archers are enough to bring her down. On the other hand, her flight makes her invulnerable to melee troops and she is able to harass them with abandon. A single Witch can do a lot of damage to large groups of light enemies like Knights or Skeletons over time.
When there are no enemies to attack, the Witch will return to a nearby friendly Stronghold where she will patiently wait for a new target to attack. This behaviour can make her easy to counter. If the only enemy troop on the table is a ranged unit, the Witch will move to attack it, allowing the enemy to shoot her down before she can make any more attacks.
Bombers: Mischievous Saboteurs
Bombers are trained saboteurs. Recruiting Bombers gives you a direct line to destruction as they deliver payload after payload of explosives to your enemy’s Strongholds. These expert infiltrators will touch off their explosive payload the moment it reaches its destination and leap high into the air to make their daring escape.
Bombers are extremely simple. All you have to do is deploy them anywhere on the table and they will find the nearest enemy Structure, at which point, they will arm their big bomb and begin their charge. Bombers have a short delay after being deployed as they arm their big bomb for delivery. This can leave them open to attacks. Bombers do not have a lot of health, and as such, they can be easily defeated during their delay period by Ranged Troops. In order to overcome this, just make sure that there are plenty of allies nearby. Bombers will slip under the feet of friend and foe to make their way to their target.
Bombers are inexpensive at a small cost of only 2 Mana. Their low cost paired with their high speed makes them great for sniffing out Traps before you send more valuable Troops down a certain path. Just drop a Bomber and see if it triggers any Traps on the way to a Stronghold. If they reach the Stronghold without an problems, you can safely assume that there are no Traps in the way of your other Troops, at which point, you can start deploying your bigger Troops to put on the pressure. If you’re quick, you might be able to trigger a Spike Trap with a Bomber and then deploy another Bomber right away to sneak passed the trap before it rearms itself.
Bombers deal damage only to Structures. They ignore Troops entirely and only care about blasting bricks off of [/b]Structures[/b]. Use them where your opponent has lost focus. Use them early to sniff out Traps and assess a lane for threats. Use them when there are plenty of allies nearby to give them some cover and increase their chances of reaching their objective. Beware, though, as Bombers can be picked off by splash damage as the enemy attacks nearby allies. They’re cheap, so you can use them often to apply pressure to your opponent.
War Clerics: Holy Healers
War Clerics are excellent allies on the battlefield, foregoing offensive abilities to heal nearby allies instead. War Clerics fill an area around them with healing waves periodically, and can keep your Troops healthy while they assault the enemy’s fortifications.
War Clerics deliver their magical healing in periodic waves. When the wave passes over an ally Troop, the Troop will be notably healed. The healing increases along with the Cleric’s level, and they level up by healing. Dedicated to their craft, War Clerics will stay back when possible and never pursue enemies. When deployed without other Troops, War Clerics will stay near a friendly Stronghold and wait for allies to come near; at which point, the Clerics will follow their allies to assist them.
War Clerics, obviously, are more effective when they are deployed in groups. In fact, when five War Clerics are advancing with a group of allies, they will be able to heal the group enough that they will not perish to the Dark Shroud power spell. This can make defending against incoming hordes much easier when your opponent chooses Dark Shroud as their power spell. In order
to ensure your Clerics are with a group of allies, you can deploy them nearby a friendly [/b]Stronghold[/b] where they will wait together. Then, once you’ve charged up enough Mana, drop other Troops nearby. The freshly summoned Troops will all advance together and hopefully endure enemy defences.
Undying Horror: Monstrous Immortal
The Undying Horror is a gigantic insectoid creature. It creeps quietly through the air at a slow, menacing pace. As it reaches its target, it releases a bombard of offensive, glowing spittle. Those who find themselves too close to the Horror’s target will fall victim to its literal splash of nasty phlegm.
The Undying Horror is the most relentless Troop yet. When the Horror has been defeated, it will not perish. Instead, it will retreat to the safety of its cocoon. If the Horror spends enough time in its cocoon, it will be reborn with all of its health, ready to fight again.
The Undying Horror can put immense pressure on a Stronghold of your choice. Placing the Horror as close as possible to an enemy Stronghold early in the round will likely make your opponent divert some forces to take it down. Likewise, it is very difficult for most Troops to destroy the Horror’s cocoon when alone, and your opponent will need to spend plentiful Mana on their defence if they do not want the Horror to return and continue its assault.
The Horror does not deal exceptional damage, but with its ability to return from the dead, you might be able to deal a substantial cumulative damage over an entire round while only deploying a single Horror. The key to an effective deployment is protection. Keep your Horror protected when it falls into its cocoon and it shall return to deal more damage. Keep this up for a whole round and the Horror will present a lot of value to you.
The Undying Horror is a flyer, meaning that Melee Troops cannot reach it at all, unless it is in its cocoon form. You can use this most effectively against Human players. Their Archers will struggle to shoot it down at low levels, and Wizards will prove to be an expensive price to pay in order to destroy the Horror’s cocoon with their heavy damage fireballs. Stasis and Harden are both great spells for keeping the Horror alive. Harden will reduce the damage the cocoon takes, and Stasis can freeze those Troops that deal heavy damage.
Remember, deploy the Horror early to maximise its cumulative damage over a round. Use spells to protect the cocoon. Place the Horror as close as possible to enemy Strongholds to put pressure on it immediately.
