Risen/Undead question(s)

[qwefg2]

I know it may be stupid to ask... but are they any good or what's the value of them?

On the surface it seems simple. Free skeleton minions who gain more bodies and power the more you kill your foes.

Yet they don't rank up like your fleshy units do, tend to be a bit weaker, and only murder, more undead, and necromancers seem to be able to have their passive heal them.

I like undead in most games and like the necromancer build idea... but considering you need a special item just to summon them and the big bad undead Knight and Mage seem to be enemy AI locked... what good are my garden variety 5 skeleton minions when the fleshy variants hit just as hard, but can be upgraded by skill tree or just upgraded into better hitting harder units?

Am I missing something that explains their charm or are they a gimmick unit with little value?

[Teemo Teemosson]

So far they appear to be somewhat gimmicky. I tend to use them for bait squads to lure in the enemy and not risk my more valuable units.

[nvmvoidrays]

so wait, we can't get the Archmage/Knight risen as a player? well, that sucks.

[mprater8378]

The general sentiment seems to be the “permanent” Risen are much better than raising randomly. So you can position your squad (I.e. skellies with guardian = front end).
Emperor’s Missive is great for additional survivability. Yes Skellies are tier 1 but you can have three in one slot plus reraise in battle through kills.

You have the option of an archer, champion, spearman, shield bearer, or sword fighter.

[cyntheone]

Persistent risen are pretty good with either the legendary lich skull item in the squad, or a necromancer. If they die 1 will come back each round, and if you kill units they can re-spawn mid combat too! if you have a decent setup they will heal after each part of an engagement, and full power they actually hit pretty hard as long as you give them a little skill or the bow which gives + to hit. The necromancer also can summon more of them with his attack to get them rolling right away on the offense.

I found a front line squad of the front line fighters(warrior, that get guardian, give them resolve so they take 25% less damage in the beginning when they are below half hp), some champions and a polearm user (to increase attack power for the champions) along with the necromancer and an oracle to protect them while they are squishy starting out is an absolute beast. They are tankier even than Diana with 3 tier 3 healers and her templar sisters, as healers have fatigue. The heals from kills do not fatigue, so a risen unit like that can fight an infinite number of units without an issue. So in certain circumstances they are actually pretty badass. Not to mention they hit much harder then a very defensive unit like Diana and her Templars with 3 healers.