So what affinities are best for different type of units?

[Lampros]

Any rule of thumb list?

[Minoris]

I'm not a min-maxer so this might not be optimal, I don't know. And don't care all that much: the game is easy enough that you don't need to optimize everything to hell and back. Still, I like things to be somewhat better than rock-bottom in terms of synergy so I made myself a little guide. When I recruit units, I try to keep in mind what I want them to be later on and use their affinities accordingly. It looks something like this, although I often deviate from it because I'm too lazy or a unit has a trait that's too good to pass. Affinity scrolls or whatever they're called comes in handy then.

Heavy Infantry

Sentinel: Earth
Centurion: Earth or Fire
Champion: Fire
Zweihander: Fire
Samurai: Earth, Fire, Lightning or Dark, whatever makes it
Paladin: Earth or Water

Light Infantry

Ranger: Lightning or Dark
Assassin: Lightning or Dark
Swordmaster: Lightning or Fire

Heavy Cavalry

Knight: Fire or Earth
Valkyrie: Water or Earth

Light Cavalry

Hussar: Lightning

Archery

Warbow: Lightning first, Fire also good if short on Lightning
Raider: Lightning

Firearms

Gunner: Earth, maybe Water
Dragoon: Earth, maybe Water
Siege Cannon: Earth, maybe Water

Support Units

Templar: Water
Hospitaller (tier 2, but dead-end): Water
Mages: Water or Dark
Sorceress: Water or Dark

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Minoris:

I'm not a min-maxer so this might not be optimal, I don't know. And don't care all that much: the game is easy enough that you don't need to optimize everything to hell and back. Still, I like things to be somewhat better than rock-bottom in terms of synergy so I made myself a little guide. When I recruit units, I try to keep in mind what I want them to be later on and use their affinities accordingly. It looks something like this, although I often deviate from it because I'm too lazy or a unit has a trait that's too good to pass. Affinity scrolls or whatever they're called comes in handy then.

Heavy Infantry

Sentinel: Earth
Centurion: Earth or Fire
Champion: Fire
Zweihander: Fire
Samurai: Earth, Fire, Lightning or Dark, whatever makes it
Paladin: Earth or Water

Light Infantry

Ranger: Lightning or Dark
Assassin: Lightning or Dark
Swordmaster: Lightning or Fire

Heavy Cavalry

Knight: Fire or Earth
Valkyrie: Water or Earth

Light Cavalry

Hussar: Lightning

Archery

Warbow: Lightning first, Fire also good if short on Lightning
Raider: Lightning

Firearms

Gunner: Earth, maybe Water
Dragoon: Earth, maybe Water
Siege Cannon: Earth, maybe Water

Support Units

Templar: Water
Hospitaller (tier 2, but dead-end): Water
Mages: Water or Dark
Sorceress: Water or Dark

This is very helpful - thank you so much!

[This PC]

General rule of thumb I use:

Earth for tankier units meant to take a lot of punishment.
earth increases the amount of punishment a unit can take.

Fire for heavy melee damage and tank units that take less punishments.
fire increases the units strength, and makes it dish better damage in melee combat.

Lightning for rogue types and archers.
lightning increases skl, which increases crit/evasion/hit rate, and str, which increases melee damage.

Water for mages and healers.
Increases MAG.

Light for leaders.
Increases leadership, allowing you to field more units in that squad.

Dark applies to a wider spectrum of things, but also comes with some downsides. The only thing you really shouldn't use dark on is leaders >//<
Dark increases str and mag (?) but decreases loyalty, making it potentially cost more in a squad, and decreases LDR, which makes it able to field less units as a leader.

[pristine20]

ANn dark scrolls are best saved for dragons. They benefit the most from the strength and mag boosts

[Rock]

Dark is great for most things (other than Leaders), but particularly good for units that can use both STR and MAG, like Dragons, Valkyrie, and Paladins. Also can be really nice in combination with skills like Arcane Heart. Dark characters can get really overpowered. Almost always worth picking up Dark conscripts when you see them on the market.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Minoris:

I'm not a min-maxer so this might not be optimal, I don't know. And don't care all that much: the game is easy enough that you don't need to optimize everything to hell and back. Still, I like things to be somewhat better than rock-bottom in terms of synergy so I made myself a little guide. When I recruit units, I try to keep in mind what I want them to be later on and use their affinities accordingly. It looks something like this, although I often deviate from it because I'm too lazy or a unit has a trait that's too good to pass. Affinity scrolls or whatever they're called comes in handy then.

Heavy Infantry

Sentinel: Earth
Centurion: Earth or Fire
Champion: Fire
Zweihander: Fire
Samurai: Earth, Fire, Lightning or Dark, whatever makes it
Paladin: Earth or Water

Light Infantry

Ranger: Lightning or Dark
Assassin: Lightning or Dark
Swordmaster: Lightning or Fire

Heavy Cavalry

Knight: Fire or Earth
Valkyrie: Water or Earth

Light Cavalry

Hussar: Lightning

Archery

Warbow: Lightning first, Fire also good if short on Lightning
Raider: Lightning

Firearms

Gunner: Earth, maybe Water
Dragoon: Earth, maybe Water
Siege Cannon: Earth, maybe Water

Support Units

Templar: Water
Hospitaller (tier 2, but dead-end): Water
Mages: Water or Dark
Sorceress: Water or Dark

What about Learnable Traits? Do you have a general guideline as to how you'd mix and match among unit types to optimize?

[dustin1280]

Dark for everything that doesn't need skill to evolve. (all heavy armor units)

Lightning for everything that needs skill to evolve, MAYBE Dark. (most light units)

Dark or Water for offensive spellcasters.

Water for healers.

Earth for gunners or cannon users.


I find that earth and fire are rarely worth it.

Light is ONLY good if you are specifically looking for a new squad leader.

[Throwaway Name]

Everyone is saying earth for gunners, but I like lightning because SKL is still useful to them. Bullets can be dodged or glanced and you don’t want that to happen. Earth has a SKL penalty!

[dustin1280]

Originally posted by Throwaway Name:

Everyone is saying earth for gunners, but I like lightning because SKL is still useful to them. Bullets can be dodged or glanced and you don’t want that to happen. Earth has a SKL penalty!

Good point, might be good to go with lightning if accuracy/skill is a concern.

[Rock]

Yeah, I've been using lightning for gunners. Earth isn't bad for the health though. I think most of Lysander's guys started off earth for me.