An enthusiast's guide to KUF: Heroes

A "small" summary of the factions, their respective heroes (and officers), their equipment and the basics on how most things work in the game.

Why this guide...

TL,DWTR: I've loved this game since I was young and decided to make this guide to help those newer to it or even some who have played it before and maybe did not know things about the game. THIS IS NOT A WALKTHROUGH, SO BEWARE. ALSO, MIGHT HAVE SPOILERS SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes and its predecessor: The Crusaders are a series of RTS (Real Time Strategy) games that have the amazing addition of letting you, as a player, control your hero (or general/commander/captain/etc...) in the midst of combat while still being able to control your other troops from an RTS perspective. The balance between these two mechanics are important for being able to overcome some challenges in different missions (and more so in harder campaigns).

Since I was about 8 years old I had the amazing opportunity to play the crusaders when it came out for Xbox (that old black Xbox that was heavier than a bag of bricks) since my uncle had bought this game for himself. Overjoyed by the gameplay and, to some extend, the complexity of this game I asked my parents to help me get this game. Time passed but we couldn't find it until they "found" the game. In reality they bought the second game that came out for the Xbox, KUF: Heroes. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it so much I had all of the heroes achieve level 99 outside of their campaigns and one of each troop at also level 99. All I could think about was the joy of playing it after coming out of school.

When this game came back to my life thanks to Blueside deciding on having it be available for computers I did not have a second thought and bought. Now I sit in front of my desk and realize that even after so many years I still enjoy this game, even with all the bugs it has.

And so, I've decided to make this guide so it can help others to enjoy this game as much as I have... It might not be for everyone but definitely it is worth every cent paid for it (and ain't like it is expensive so it's fine!).

I'm not making a walkthrough. This is a summary of what the factions are, the heroes they've, their units and the little details that can help you have a small edge over your enemies when it comes to choosing what units you are gonna deploy. There might be spoilers, read at your own risk here.

SKILLS (OR LEVELS)

Skills (or levels) are what determines how strong and proficient your hero or officer is in a certain thing. Heroes are only able to have the melee and scout skills while officers can learn most of them depending on the type of officer you've (which skills are available for officers will be addressed in the "officers" section of each faction). They also determine if your officer is capable or making his troop learn a new job or specialization. They are divided in 2 main branchs which are the magical or elemental branch and the Physical branch. You only have "4" skill slots available and one is always taken by melee. Some skills (like riding and magic skills) take 2 skill slots while others only take one.

Different from the previous game, KUF: Heroes approaches levels in a way that what determines the cost of upgrading an skill to the next level is the OVERALL level of your troop. So, if one of your officers has 3 different skills learned, all of 'em with different levels, it will cost the same to upgrade by one level whichever of them you chose. This punishes troops that had up to 3 skills at the same time making it harder to administrate the experience we get however it also makes having an extra infantry for missions with up to 4 troops available more desirable.

But fret not, you don't need to be picky with your experience now that the game has come to PC (or perhaps only my xbox had that problem). Now there is an amazing feature available at you in the troop management section. By using the X button (or its equivalent in your keyboard controls) you can reset ANY troop to default recovering ALL your used experience on that unit. This allows you to experiment as much as you desire or re do your troop jobs from level one depending on the mission. Some missions allow you to have up to 4 controllable units and 2 supports, some missions only allow you to have your main troop unit or your main and just another one. Thanks to the addition of this feature we now can redirect our experience to the units we plan to use to have an easier time on those missions.


Now, onward to the skills available.

SKILLS: PHYSICAL

Physical skills, as how I like call them, are what usually defines if an officer's troop can learn a job or not. Aside from elemental troops, ghouls, and paladins (more about them in their respective sections), most jobs only require these skills.

MELEE

Melee is what defines how much damage your troops can withstand in... Well... Melee combat. A bit redundant there, aren't we? Anyway, all heroes have this ability and your officers will always have this learned at least on level one. It can not really be "learned" but more like it can only be upgraded since it is mandatory to have this skill and the game makes sure you can't just get rid of it by mistake.

RANGED

Improves the damage from ranged attacks. Pretty much self explanatory in the image. Archers use it and is required for mortars and siege units.

RIDING

Riding is required for cavalry and air cavalry. While it does not increase the damage your cavalry does it improves the ease with which your cavalry maneuvers around the battlefield. When using waypoints this can be important to reduce the time your cavalry takes to turn around.

TEAMWORK

Teamwork is a nice skill. Your sappers and pyrotechs will be able to put traps/mines or disable them faster the more you level this skill up. This will also make your human siege units hit A LOT more. Since siege units can also be used to take down some support units, this will make it easier for you to complete some missions.

FRONTAL

Frontal is the skill that increases the damage of your cavalry but also the damage of their countermeasure troop which are spearmen and axemen. The higher it is the more damage and disruptive your cavalry's attack will be when passing through enemy units and as for axemen and spearmen the easier they will be able to kill cavalry.

GUNPOWDER

As Vincenzo Santorini said in the Atlantis movie "As far as me goes, I just like to blow things up."
Gunpowder is a skill available solely to humans. It increases the damage your mortars and flying mortars do but also increases the damage your pyrotechs do with their mines (only mines, not traps). This is an important skill for mortars since it will also increase their siege damage and make them able to defeat support units faster.

TAMING

Taming is in some way the gunpowder of orcs and is only available to them. It allows them to tame giant beasts and use them in combat. Improves their damage greatly making dirigibles, scorpions and swamp mammoths a lot deadlier. Having enough points of this skill can make missions a breeze if using either dirigibles or mammoths so do not neglect it.

SKILLS: MAGIC

Magic is one thing available in this game. There are 4 main magic skills available to all factions and 2 magic skills that are only available to one or the other faction. Reaching level 5 in any of the main magic skills will allow you to cast an special spell when out of combat (with the unit that has the magic skill) which inflicts elemental damage and the higher the skill the more damage it makes or the more the spell lasts.

• Some troop units are weak to one or other elements and thus the relevance of them.
  
• Some officers can also be magic users, meaning that when assigned to your hero troop unit as officers if you call for their help they will use the elemental magic they've learned as long as you've the adequate equipment on them.
  
• Their max level is 25 and they always take up 2 skill slots.

FIRE

BURN IT ALL!
Fire skill allows you to cast the elemental spell "Meteor" which makes meteors rain down from the sky in the location you chose. Also required for the elemental troop "Fire Wraith".

LIGHTNING

After reaching skill level 5 this allows you to cast the "Thunderstorm" spell making lightning come down from the sky and hit enemies in an area. This is VERY effective versus humans and their metal armors. Also required for the elemental troop "Thunder Rhino"... Which is a Rhino with spikes around its body and uses thunder abilities to deal damage... Very neat.

ICE

"Ice ice baby, ice ice baby"
At level 5 on this skill your troop unit will learn the spell "Blizzard" (charging your enemies 20 bucks for a monthly sub and more money for any services they want to use... Ah, wrong blizzard). As the name of the spell states it summons a giant blizzard in the selected location. One of the things that make this an useful skill is that enemies can be frozen. Frozen enemies can not hit your troops. Troops not being hit means less healing required and less chances of inevitable doom. Sounds nice, uh? Also required for the elemental troop "Ice Maidens".

EARTH

"Every man has a place, in his heart there's a space,
And the world can't erase his fantasies"
Once your skill is at level 5 you will learn the spell "Vine" which... Well, summons a lot of vines in the selected area and poisons your enemies. Earth magic inflicts poison damage which drains your enemies hp away over time. Also required for the elemental troop "Earth Golem" which is a giant golem the size of an ogre, hits like a truck and can withstand a lot of hits...

HOLY

"By the power of the light, be purged!"

Holy is a skill only available to humans and the only way for them to heal their wounds. There are 3 spells that can be learnt from holy. All units can learn Curio (or curation) which heals allies in an area and damages undead (ghouls) as soon as you've level 1 on this skill and the more levels the stronger the heal will be.

The other two spells are available to the "elemental" troop available only to humans that is paladins... I say elemental since it is their only troop that requires learning magic to be used aside from the other 4 main skills. Paladins have at their disposal the other 2 spells:

• Holy explosion, this imbues your paladin's weapon in holy magic dealing holy damage on hit and healing themselves during combat.
  
• Bless & heal, summons a ring of holy magic that spreads around an area healing your allies, dispelling negative effects from other elements and damaging undead units. Your paladins CAN NOT cast curatio while this spell is going on.

CURSE

Curse magic is only available to the hexter faction. It allows you to cast two spells which are:

• Silence makes the target unit unable to cast magic spells. This is very helpful in missions where there are plenty of magic casters that can summon deadly big spells on you. If this is cast on you it will only prevent spells from out of combat, you can still use your officers in-combat spells.
  
• Darkmist summons a giant black cloud around the targeted troop reducing their effectiveness in combat greatly by reducing their damage done and reducing their resistances. Only downside to this spell is that sometimes it can be hard for you to also see in the midst of combat.

Curse magic is also required for the "elemental" troop of ghouls which are dead orcs raised from the dead... Basically zombies. Only available to officers from the hexter faction since their troops are made of orcs.

HUMANS: FACTIONS

Humans are the most versatile of all the factions. They are divided in two smaller factions. Hironeiden and Ecclesia.

Hiroineiden are more friendly than their Ecclesian counterpart. They do welcome other small factions that are not playable into their ranks allowing them to have (during campaigns) two extra kinds of officers, Elves and Dwarves!

Ecclesians on the other hand are a bit more close-minded. Very centered around their religion. Casting out and discriminating other humanoids that are not humans. Ecclesian heroes can not have Dwarves nor Elves as officers until they've finished their campaign or some part of it.

HUMANS: HEROES

Humans have at their disposition 3 campaigns. One is entirely done as an Ecclesian, meaning no elves nor dwarves as officers available during the campaign. Another one is done as a Hironeiden lieutenant, making them available from the "start". And then one (beware of spoilers...) is done as half and a half. You will get this last bit once you play the game.

Ellen:

Ellen is a half-elf. Expelled from Arein, having her home burned by elves for the sole reason of being a half-elf. She flees through caves with her mother to Ecclesia where she settles down as a soldier. She starts her campaign as an Ecclesian troop leader with a mage (Ebbard) and an infantry-type soldier (Paltor) as officers. Ellen is one of the first 3 available heroes to play before unlocking the rest and the one recommended to start with. Her first missions can be tedious but run you through the basics and can be vital on avoiding you from making big mistakes in harder campaigns. Take your time to learn the basics, once you've them down to a science the rest of the game will be a cakewalk as long as you don't forget them.

She is a nimble and deadly hero for both enemy troops and their officers/leaders. Some of her abilities allow her to run around the battlefield and she is among the fastest of heroes alongside Cirith and Morene.

For equipment she has 3 available slots:

• The first one is a sword as her main weapon. As all weapons it comes in different shapes (merely cosmetic). Also, like all weapons, it comes in 3 qualities (Top quality having "Mother of Ellen's" and medium quality having just "Ellen's" in the name), the better qualities improving even more her melee skill. Her weapon can also come imbued with an element. Depending on how lucky you are, you might come to a sword of the top quality with an element imbued.
  
• Her second slot is her "accessory", a bow which she uses on all her SP consuming moveset. Comes in 3 qualities, same as the sword and also increases her melee skill (weird as it comes since bows are used by archers and the range skill but ain't gonna fight over it with Blueside). Her accesory also has the opportunity to be enchanted with up to two enchants which are increased EXP gain and increased SP gain.
  
• Her third slot is an armor to increase her defenses. Comes only in 1 quality so the higher the level of the armor the more resistances you will obtain. Her armor also has the chance to be enchanted with up to two enchants out of the 3 available for hero armors: Autoblock, KO Recovery Speed and HP Recovery Rate.

Walter:

Walter is another of the first 3 heroes available to play that do not have to be unlocked. He is a father, a paladin and the leader of the Ecclesian Emissaries or also known as the Patriarcal Guard. In a city/kingdom where faith is everything, he is the second most powerful and influential person only behind the Patriarch.

He is neither the fastest nor the slowest of heroes but more rather in the middle. His special ability allows him to use the Holy Explosion spell available to the paladin troops (since he ALSO is a Paladin). This makes him hit harder (double harder against troops weak to holy) and also heal his infantry troop in the middle of combat. Beware, this ability drains SP constantly so you might run out of fuel if you don't have a way to constantly generate it aside from beating the heck out of your enemies while controlling him. Also as long as the ability is active his attacks will be slower than the usual (but they do hit harder) aside from his riposte ability. During Holy Explosion he can easily overpower even Ogres, so use it wisely.

For equipment he has 3 available slots.

• His first slot is a mace which is his main weapon. As all main equipment for heroes it improves melee and comes in 3 qualities. Holy (top), Walter's (medium) and regular. It can also be imbued with an element.
  
• His second slot is a shield. It increases his resistances making him able to withstand more punishment. Come only in 1 quality and so far I have not been able to find any shield with enchantments for Walter. (If you, as a reader happen upon one be kind enough to leave a screenshot and I'll add it and mention you).
  
• His third slot is his armor which also increases his resistances. Also comes in 1 quality and can have up to two enchantments of these 3: Autoblock, KO Recovery Speed and HP Recovery Rate.

Rupert:

Lieutenant Rupert is an orphan raised alongside Gerald by General Hugh. In Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes, Rupert takes upon himself the duty to bring elves and dwarves as reinforcements by protecting Lieutenant Paroth (a priest) who is the messenger requesting the aid from these two races.

Probably the bulkiest of the characters in the game behind Urukubarr (which does not count since he is an ogre) and Regnier who happens to be an immortal human with super powers... Rupert goes around the battlefield wielding his huge war hammer cracking the heads of his enemies in slow but strong swings. He is really slow moving around the battlefield but compensates with how strong his moveset attacks are. Rupert also has the highest melee available from a single weapon among the heroes (Ellen has 2 weapons so she does not count). Rupert has the advantage of being from Hironeiden from the start so he can recruit either dwarves or elves from the start.

For equipment Rupert has 3 slots available:

• His first slot is his war hammer. It increases his melee and comes in 3 qualities like all heroes weapons which are "Hugh's" (top), Rupert's (medium) and regular. His hammer of choice can also be imbued with an element.
  
• His second slot is his accessory. It's a bottle where he can hold his liquor. Comes in 1 quality. Increases resistances. Can be enchanted with increased EXP gain and/or increased SP gain.
  
• The third slot is armor which increases resistances. Comes in 1 quality and can have up to two of the usual armor enchantments for heroes.

HUMANS: TROOPS

Humans are only able to have themselves as troops and as such they've the biggest amount of troop jobs available. All troops have their pros and cons. I'm listing troops first over officers since most troop jobs can be achieved by any officer and the real importance of which officer to pick comes when you want to optimize your troops by their equipment. Your hero troop as human can chose only between Infantry, Heavy Infantry and Knights depending their melee skill level. All the other officers with the needed skills at their needed levels can chose any job but the Battaloon (only available to you in KUF:TC on campaign). Strengths and weaknesses apply to both allies and enemies alike.

Infantry

Infantry is the basic form of your troops. They carry a sword and a shield and can wield normal or light armor (which somehow gives more resistances than the normal armor). As their in-game description says, they are able to withstand damage better than other troops. Most of the times you will see them around as Non-Playable Units lending a hand in missions by holding enemies at bay. On their own infantry are not capable of achieving much aside from stalling the enemy forces from moving towards you.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Weapon. Can either be a sword or a 1 handed ax (merely cosmetic). It increases the melee skill and also an elemental skill. Comes in 3 quality tiers and can come enchanted with increased EXP gain, Increased SP gain and increased HP of your troops.
  
• Shield. Different shapes which do not affect its effectiveness. Increases your troops resistances and comes with only 1 quality tier. So far haven't found a single enchanted shield.
  
• Armor. Infantry can chose between regular armor or light armor. Of these two, light armor is more expensive but makes your troops move faster around the place and gives more resistances than regular armor. So far haven't found a single armor with enchants.

Usually a transition unit, you wont stay with this infantry your whole campaign and should aim to upgrade to knight as soon as possible since they do more damage and are sturdier than regular infantry.
Pros

• Fastest of the infantry type units available for humans.
  
• Decent defenses when equipped with armors and shields.
  
• The least weak of the human infantry to lightning.

Cons

• Can not withstand as much punishment in melee combat as H. Infantry or Knights.
  
• Take a good beating when attack by enemy Cavalry or enemy archers while in melee combat.

Heavy Infantry

Pretty much self explanatory, Heavy Infantry are the upgraded version of our regular Infantry. Able to withstand more blows in a melee thanks to them donning a sturdier armor. However this armor, being made of metal, makes them prone to take increased damage from lightning attacks. Just as their lighter counterpart they wear a one handed weapon and shield.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Weapon. Can either be a sword or a 1 handed ax (merely cosmetic). It increases the melee skill and also an elemental skill. Comes in 3 quality tiers and can come enchanted with the prior mentioned bonuses for weapons.
  
• Shield. Different shapes which do not affect its effectiveness. Increases your troops resistances and comes with only 1 quality tier. So far haven't found a single enchanted shield.
  
• Armor. Heavy Infantry can only chose heavy armor that comes in 1 quality and its resistances given increase depending on the level of the armor. Haven't found an enchanted armor for them so far.

Pros

• Can handle themselves well versus other infantry in melee to stall them from reaching your archers.
  
• A bit over average defenses when equipped with armors and shields making them better in that term than your regular infantry

Cons

• Still weaker than knights.
  
• Lightning damage and fast troops are their worst enemy.
  
• Slow like a snail.

Knights

Here you've your medieval knights, clad in full plate armor and carrying an absurdly big sword as their main weapon. Thanks to their armor and their weapon that improves their melee skill by a huge amount they are able to withstand the heath of battle and come out victorious as long as you don't neglect them for the whole mission. Sadly they are a metal chunk asking to be hit by some lighting coming down from the sky so beware of the elemental spells.

There are 2 equipment slots available:

• Weapon. Can either be a 2 handed sword or a 2 handed ax (merely cosmetic). It increases the melee skill and also an elemental skill. Comes in 3 quality tiers and can come enchanted with the prior mentioned bonuses for weapons.
  
• Armor. Knights can only buy plate armor that comes in 1 quality level. So far, haven't found enchanted armor for them.

Pros

• The strongest of melee units for humans. Can withstand melee combat for long periods on their own.
  
• Best melee defenses available to them.

Cons

• If H. Infantry took a lot of damage from lightning, these guys are even worse. They take more than double the damage than them from this element.
  
• Can not gain defenses versus ranged, explosion nor frontal unless their officer in charge has a way to attain these resistances (infantry-type officer with a shield or dwarves)

Paladins

Grab your knights, give them holy magics, have them wield a mace and punish the sinners on this world. Paladins are "weaker" knights (but stronger than heavy infantry) when you send them solely to melee combat. However paladins have access to two extra magical abilities from the holy branch aside from the usual curio (curation spell). One is the holy explosion which slowly regenerates their hp while in melee combat and imbues their weapons with holy magic on hit. The other one being a bless that regenerates all troops hp in an area, first slowly then faster, while cleansing negative elemental effects from the troops in the area. These spells make them able to be on par with knights and in the long run (when using their spells) can surpass them. Sadly the paladin job is not available for your main troop.

There are 2 equipment slots available:

• Weapon. A one handed mace that increases both melee and holy skill. Comes in 3 qualities like all weapons. Can come enchanted with the prior mentioned bonuses for weapons.
  
• Armor. Comes in 1 quality, increases their resistances and can ALSO come with the same enchants the weapons have.

Pros

• By the power of the light, be purged. Not kidding. These are the Ghoul's worst enemy.
  
• Healing is definitely their forte. Can outmatch most infantry types if used properly.

Cons

• Also clad in full metal armor, asking to be struck by lightning. They take almost as much damage from it as knights do.
  
• Also not able to gain resistances for frontal, ranged or explosion damage unless their officer can get it.

HUMANS: TROOPS

Spearmen

Spearmen are your regular soldiers with spears instead of sword and shield. They are used to combat cavalry and they are very effective at their job. However they are weaker at melee combat than infantries. As a hero they can be a nuisance since they can hit from further away than you can and might not let you move freely as you would wish.

There are 2 equipment slots available:

• Weapon. Either a spear or a spetum (spear with small wings on the blade). Increases both melee and frontal. Comes in 3 qualities and can be enchanted like the prior mentioned troop weapons.
  
• Armor. Comes in 1 quality, you can chose between normal or light armor just like your regular infantry.

Pros

• Will protect you from cavalry.
  
• Can also help to stall enemies but...

Cons

• ... They are not as resilient as your infantry so can go down easier.
  
• Bad at blocking arrows, just not their thing...
  
• Requires positioning to be effective against cavalry.

Cavalry

Grab your spearmen, give 'em a horse and there you go. Cavalry and their heavier allies are great at disrupting enemies not in combat and having them charge through enemies in melee combat awards A LOT of SP. Cavalry (in all factions) has plenty of uses. When charged through enemies not in combat like archers or mortars it will disrupt their attack making them less effective at dealing damage to you. The other uses they've is to funnel you SP and to sometimes drive enemies away or towards you when need be. Mindful of the spearmen and axmen and air cavalry, all of 'em are quite effective at killing your cavalry... Also, enemy cavalry is just as effective at killing your cavalry as your can theirs, make sure if you use your cavalry to hit enemy cavalry to do so from the side or back or you might not like the outcome.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Weapon. A cavalry spear. Improves your melee and frontal skills. Comes in 3 qualities and can be enchanted like the prior mentioned troop weapons.
  
• Riding harness. This is the harness or armor your horse uses. Improves your riding skill. Comes in 3 qualities and can be enchanted with the same enchants your weapon can have.
  
• Armor. Comes in 1 quality, you can chose between light or heavy armor, giving you the ability to chose from physical defenses. Haven't found an enchanted armor so far.

Pros

• Horses are pretty.
  
• Disruptive force that can make your life easier when in melee.
  
• Funnels SP like crazy allowing you to spam spells.

Cons

• Horses don't like spears or flying axes...
  
• Requires constant micro management with waypoints.
  
• If not careful by checking enemy units, can be annihilated from air cavalry, enemy cavalry or spear/axemen.

Heavy Cavalry

Now your cavalry has some nice metal armor and so does your horse, good. Or not so good? Lightning... Heavy Cavalry hit harder and are able to go melee if needed. They are your regular cavalry with better stats to some degree.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Weapon. A cavalry spear. Improves your melee and frontal skills. Comes in 3 qualities and can be enchanted like the prior mentioned troop weapons.
  
• Riding harness. This is the harness or armor your horse uses. Improves your riding skill. Comes in 3 qualities and can be enchanted with the same enchants your weapon can have.
  
• Armor. Comes in 1 quality, it is full plate armor so you can not gain frontal resistance from this. Haven't found enchanted armor so far for 'em.

Pros

• Horses are pretty. And now they are shinny thanks to all that metal.
  
• Disruptive force that can make your life easier when in melee.
  
• Funnels SP like crazy allowing you to spam spells.

Cons

• Horses don't like spears or flying axes...
  
• Requires constant micro management with waypoints.
  
• If not careful by checking enemy units, can be annihilated from air cavalry, enemy cavalry or spear/axemen. Just cuz they are using heavier armor does not mean they are invincible.
  
• And now they are vulnerable to lightning... Since heavy metal armor = lightning damage increased.

Storm Riders

Giant eagles! Like those ones in the LOTR or The Hobbit movies. Storm Riders or Air Cavalry are a support unit. Support units can not be controlled like your regular troop units and they instead are controlled as a "spell" in your spell/abilities interface. By selecting an enemy troop or location and using the "spell" in there your eagles will move there or attack 'em. Air units however are VERY VERY WEAK TO ARROWS so be careful where you position them or you might get in trouble and have them die before you can have them flee.

There is 1 equipment slot available:

• Storm rider equipment. Does not matter if it is the head armor or the metal claws, it is merely cosmetic on that sense. The equipment increases the melee and riding skills. Comes in 3 qualities and can be enchanted like other weapons prior mentioned.

Pros

• Eagles are also pretty.
  
• Good at getting rid of enemy cavalry.

Cons

• Arrows are VERY effective against riders. Archers are their worst enemy
  
• CAN NOT reach enemies in forest areas.
  
• Very weak versus elemental magic, making Drow Archers even more deadly than regular archers since they can imbue their arrows with magic.

HUMANS: TROOPS

Archers

Give your infantry some bows and there you go, archers. These lads are a basic core unit in almost all missions. They are great support when infantries are clad in melee combat since enemies in melee combat are more vulnerable to ranged damage (too busy to block arrows). Also very needed when air support units are involved since it is one of the very few ways to deal with 'em. Their range is fine but definitely not the best. Can shot fire arrows to set forests on fire or can shot arrows from a closer range with increased damage as an ability that costs SP. Contrary to the description, archers WILL use their bows in melee AS LONG AS there are no enemy units near them, once an enemy unit comes too close they will draw their melee weapon and won't use their bows again.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Bow. Well... They gotta have something to shoot enemies with, right? It comes in 3 qualities, always improves the ranged skill and SOMETIMES can improve an elemental skill. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.
  
• Weapon. A one handed weapon, either a sword or an ax. Comes in 3 qualities, improves melee and also sometimes an elemental skill. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.
  
• Armor. Comes in 1 quality, you can chose between normal or light armor just like your regular infantry.

Pros

• Will protect you from air units.
  
• Good at supporting your infantry units.
  
• Can set areas on fire with their fire arrows.
  
• Since they can learn holy magic they can be used to heal your troops while still shooting at them making them even better at supporting your infantry units.
  
• They do increased damage if enemies are facing the sun or if they are positioned on higher ground than the enemies.

Cons

• They are BAD at melee... Do not even have a shield.
  
• If enemies are in forest area or higher ground than your archers they will do reduced damage. Same if you are the one facing the sun.
  
• Requires positioning to be more effective and some maps have a lot of forests...
  
• Cavalry can be troublesome for them since they'll stop their ranged attack animation if hit by a horse.

Longbowmen

Longbowmen are your archers but now they can shoot further away and can actually not die if engaged in melee by 1 infantry unit (as long as the level difference is not that big). In summary, they are Archers 2.0 reloaded.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Bow. Can be a bow or a "long bow"... Does not matter regarding the actual range. It comes in 3 qualities, always improves the ranged skill and SOMETIMES can improve an elemental skill. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.
  
• Weapon. A one handed weapon, either a sword or an ax. Comes in 3 qualities, improves melee and also sometimes an elemental skill. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.
  
• Armor. Comes in 1 quality, it always is light armor.

Pros

• Will do what archers do but better.

Cons

• They still are BAD at melee...
  
• Basically the same as archers, just a bit less bad at it...

Mortars

Now your archers have cannons! Mortars can be used to attack both buildings and enemy units. Their mortars hit will knock down enemies making them also disruptive which can be used to your advantage. They also gain a huge boost in their range, being able to hit enemies who are not even in their range of sight (as long as you were able to see them before).

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Mortar. It comes in 3 qualities, always improves the range and gunpowder skills. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.
  
• Weapon. A one handed weapon, either a sword or an ax. Comes in 3 qualities, improves melee. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.
  
• Armor. Comes in 1 quality, you can chose between normal, light armor, and heavy armor.

Pros

• Does good damage.
  
• Can hit enemies, even if they are in forests
  
• Can destroy buildings like walls.
  
• Very effective versus Swamp Mammoths.

Cons

• Can not hit air units.
  
• Can not learn magic if you want them so their support is reduced compared to units that CAN learn magic aside from their necessary skills.
  
• They are SLOW. Even more if you equip them with heavy armor.
  
• Also bad in melee.
  
• If they are attacking the unit your infantry is fighting their explosions will also knock back your infantry (but won't deal damage to you).

Bomber Wings

Now your mortars have wings and can fly around the battlefield very fast. Sadly they are also prone to explode from arrows. Bomber wings are the second support unit available to humans. Just like mortars, their damage is on the explosion branch and knocks enemies down when hit by it. Can even hit enemies while in forest. However air cavalry can attack them and they won't be able to hit back. Bomber wings are also the "most" effective way to deal with Swamp mammoths as long as there are no enemies that can hit them since the swamp mammoth won't be able to hit them.

There is 1 equipment slot available:

• Aviation Gear. Comes in 3 qualities, improves melee and gunpowder making them do more damage and be more resilient to air cavalry. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.

Pros

• Can hit enemies even if they are inside forest areas.
  
• Very good at killing swamp mammoths.
  Cons
  
  • Completely defenseless versus air cavalry.
    
  • Archers and even more so drow archers are their worst enemy. Very vulnerable to range damage and elemental damage.
    
  • If they are attacking the unit your infantry is fighting their explosions will also knock back your infantry (but won't deal damage to you).
  
  

  Special Mention: Battaloon

  
  The battaloon is a flying unit only available during custom games. Your troops can not learn how to work as this unit even if it is shown. This unit is only available in the previous game series (KUF: The Crusaders) for the last mission. I add this special mention so that you won't frustrate yourself by not being able to chose them and save you the trouble looking around on why you can not... Blueside just won't let you.

HUMANS: TROOPS

Sapper

Sapper can do a variety of things. They can lay traps, remove them, open flood gates... They work very hard. However they are more of an utility unit rather than fighters. Their resistances are weak and are just as bad as archers in melee. With enough teamwork they will be able to remove or put traps as fast as flash would and as such they can be helpful when you would rather not directly fight an enemy at their full strength.
There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Pick Axe Their working tool. It comes in 3 qualities, always improves melee and teamwork. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.
  
• Knapsack. The bag in their back. It comes in 3 qualities, always improves gunpowder (even if they don't have it) and one elemental skill. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.
  
• Armor. Comes in 1 quality, it always is normal armor.

Pros

• Can save your ass from being busted by enemy traps
  
• Can set up ambush points with traps allowing you to fight weakened enemies after they have come through your sapper's traps.

Cons

• They also are bad at melee...
  
• They are as effective as their teamwork skill level... Low level sappers can be very slow.
  
• Regular movement speed.
  
• Almost anything can kill them fast.

Pyro Technician

Your sappers now are pyromaniacs, great! These lads can also set fire to forests (if you don't feel like using archers) and lay mines. They are technically better than sapper with the downside that they can not learn magic. However their mines will end up dealing more damage than sapper traps thanks to gunpowder increasing the damage of them. Also for some reason they are very weak to both fire and lightning damage...

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Pick Axe Their working tool. It comes in 3 qualities, always improves melee and teamwork. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.
  
• Knapsack. The bag in their back. It comes in 3 qualities, always improves gunpowder (even if they don't have it) and one elemental skill. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.
  
• Armor. Comes in 1 quality, can either be normal or light armor.

Pros

• Extra abilities. Setting a forest in fire can be very deadly to enemy troops.
  
• Their mines damage can be improved by the gunpowder skill.
  
• Can move faster thanks to the light armor being an option.

Cons

• They still are BAD at melee...
  
• Setting a forest in fire is bad for the world... Jokes aside, you can also get caught in the fire and kill yourself in the process.
  
• Very weak to fire and lightning magic which is not a thing with sappers.

Catapult

The main siege unit. Catapults throw big rocks to enemies and buildings alike. With further development in their skill levels they can also throw fire pots to enemies which also deal nice damage. Catapults can also be used against Swamp Mammoths althou they are very slow to move around.

There is 1 equipment slot available:

• Catapult. It comes in 3 qualities, always improves the ranged skill and teamwork skills. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.

Pros

• Does a lot of damage.
  
• Can destroy building.
  
• Has good range.
  
• Can kill mammoths.

Cons

• Useless if they are in melee combat.
  
• They are very slow to move around the battlefield.
  
• Can not hit air units.
  
• Weak to ice magic.

Ballista

Once you reach higher levels in your skills your catapults can be swapped with Ballista. These shoot big harpoons or "arrows" to enemies. You lose the ability to shoot firepots however you gain the ability to hit flying units. They are very effective against big air units (Dirigibles, Battaloon, Bone dragon and Encablossa flyers) and can also destroy building and Swamp Mammoths. Still slow thou...

There is 1 equipment slot available:

• Ballista. It comes in 3 qualities, always improves the range and teamwork skills. Can come with any of the usual 3 enchants for troop weapons.

Pros

• Deals a lot of damage too.
  
• Can hit air units.
  
• Even more effective against BIG air units.
  
• Still can destroy buildings.

Cons

• Still slow to move around.
  
• Can not set things on fire...
  
• Also weak to ice magic.
  
• Useless in melee.

HUMANS: OFFICERS

Officers are the leaders of troop units. You can also have up to two of them in your main unit as help being able to use their special abilities. Officers equipment varies depending on the type of officer and will be addressed in each officer mentioned. Humans have plenty of officers available to themselves and most of them are a representation of their main units aside from 2 that come from allied races. When an officer is assigned to your main troop their weapons or accessories improving their skills won't upgrade your main unit's strength (only your officer's strength) however if they've items that give resistances these will be added to your main troop's resistances stacking along your hero's resistances making your core troop very strong. In this section we will be addressing their special abilities while in your core unit, their equipment and which troop jobs pair up well when assigned as leaders of one.

Mages

Mages are magic users. The thing with magic users is that depending on the level of their elemental skill they will deal more damage when assigned as officer's in your core troop. They can also be used as leaders for troops that require any of their physical skills available to learn. Their special abilities are the next ones depending on their elemental skill chosen and its level on it:




Mage officers have 3 available equipment slots at their disposal:

• Weapon. Either a sword or an ax. Comes in 3 quality levels. Always improves melee and an elemental skill. Haven't found enchanted ones so far.
  
• Staff. This is their magic catalyst (or item used to cast spells). Comes in 3 quality levels. Also always improves melee and an elemental skill. Haven't found enchanted ones so far.
  
• Sorcerer's Cloak. A cloak which increases ELEMENTAL resistances by a huge amount. Comes in 1 quality level. Haven't found these enchanted so far.

Mage officers come really handy when assigned to your core unit since they will provide you with magic resistances from their cloak and their special abilities when in combat are very handy to trim down the enemy forces while in melee. The only downside to having a mage as an officer in your core troop is that their armor wont give you enchantment bonuses, just resistances.

Mages make the best elemental troops thanks to both of his weapons improving melee and an element making your elemental troop benefit from both of them.

Infantry-type Officers

Named them like this since they look like your usual infantry units. These officers are average but they are able to be any kind of available troop unit for humans making them the most flexible of all the officers available to your hero. Their special ability depends on what accessory your officer has equipped. They can either use a shield or a bow as an accessory, the shield will make them run around the battlefield slashing at enemies in front of them while the bow will make them shoot single arrows at enemies near your hero. Still both abilities are average and do not bring much help while in the midst of melee compared to other officer's special abilities.


Infantry-type officers have 2 available equipment slots at their disposal:

• Weapon. Either a sword or an ax. Comes in 3 quality levels. Always improves melee and an elemental skill. Haven't found enchanted ones so far.
  
• Shield or Bow. This is considered as their accessory. Shields give physical resistances and come only in 1 quality level. Bows improve ranged skill and one elemental skill, they come in 3 quality levels. So far haven't found enchanted ones.

As said before, they are average officers. They are neither weak nor special. I wouldn't recommend having one in your main troop since you can obtain the physical resistances from other officers aside from these ones. However as troop leaders they can be useful in the sense that they can be any troop job you like and give physical resistances to them, something that is not achievable by knight officers. They also make for decent archers but definitely not the best officer for that job.

Knight Officers

Knight officers can also have any job available for humans as troop leaders. While assigned to your core as an officer they only have one special ability in which they come to your position, do a spin and hit enemies around you VERY hard. This is a regular ability aside from fending off ogres and elementals is not that worth it.


Knight officers have 1 available equipment slot at their disposal:

• Weapon. Either a 2 handed sword or an ax. Comes in 3 quality levels. Always improves melee and an elemental skill. Can be enchanted with any of the usual 3 weapon enchantments.

Knight officers are below average when assigned to the main troop since they wont provide any benefits to your troop. However they make (arguably) the best knight troop out of all the officers thanks to being able to have the highest melee on weapons available to officers being able to bring something as OP as +40 melee and +50% HP making your knights almost unkillable.

HUMANS: OFFICERS

Paladins

Paladin officers are magic users and as such they share the prior mentioned abilities that mages have. However their equipment can come enchanted. They are best used as healers since their weapon always has the holy skill (all magic users available to humans CAN use the heal ability, it is not exclusive to paladins).

Paladin officers have 2 available equipment slots at their disposal:

• Weapon. A holy mace, characteristic of paladins. Comes in 3 quality levels. Always improves melee and the holy elemental skill. Can be enchanted with any of the usual 3 weapon enchantments.
  
• Armor. A metal armor which comes in 1 quality level and always gives melee and lightning resistances. Can also come with any of the 3 enchants prior mentioned.

Paladin officers are not the best out there. Even thou they are magic users they are best used as healers since their magic ability wont benefit from their weapon unless they are using the holy skill. They do provide decent resistances for your core troops when assigned as an officer.

Not very surprising but they make the best paladins in overall terms. While paladins from knights can have more melee (barely 4 more points from weapons) and as much holy, a paladin officer leading a troop of paladins can have the nasty combination of +100% increased hp with the right enchantments making them ACTUALLY unkillable in melee if you pair that with healing spells and the improved physical and lightning defenses from both the officer's and the troops armor.

Elves

Elf officers are, sadly, only available to hironeiden or after you finish the campaign if playing as Walter. Elves are magic user but also have 2 additional abilities while in the core unit depending on their accessory item. One, when wearing a ring, has them rush around the battlefield slashing enemies just like Lucretia or Ellen would do. Their other one, when equipped with a bow, has them shoot arrows to enemies just like Ellen's special move while moving in a direction.


Elf officers have 3 available equipment slots at their disposal:

• Weapon. An elven sword. Comes in 3 quality levels. Always improves melee and an elemental skill. Haven't found an enchanted weapon so far with these officers.
  
• Ring, Bow or Staff. Rings come in 3 quality levels and improve an elemental skill. Bows come in 3 quality levels and improve the range skill and an elemental skill. Staves come in 1 quality level for elves and improves an elemental skill while allowing them to cast spells when assigned as officers. None of these items have been found with enchantments so far.
  
• Armor. Some weird armor made of leaves... It comes in 1 quality level and provides elemental resistances. Can also come enchanted with increased EXP gains, increased SP gains or increased HP for your troops.

Elves, as officers in your core troops, are to some degree the upgraded version of mages and infantry-type officers all in one while also being able to provide enchantment bonuses. Elves make excellent magic user officers and the second best elemental troop leaders for humans. As for other troop leader units they make by far the best archer troop leader thanks to their bows increasing the ranged skill as much as infantry-type officers do but bringing to the equation the resistances from their armor that infantry-type officers lack and the enchantments that come with their armor.

Dwarves

Dwarf officers have two decent special abilities. One makes them jump around the battlefield hitting enemies in their path, the other one makes them bring out a dwarven cannon and shoot it like crazy. Out of the two, the cannon is by far the most useful. They also have the highest physical resistances attainable from armor that humans can get.


Dwarf officers have 3 available equipment slots at their disposal:

• Weapon. An ax that comes in 3 quality levels. Always improves melee. Haven't found enchanted ones so far.
  
• Dwarven Cannon or Glove. The cannon comes in 3 quality levels, it always improves ranged and gunpowder skills. The dwarven glove comes in 3 quality levels and it always improves an elemental skill. Haven't found either of these items enchanted so far.
  
• Armor. Dwarven armor comes in 1 quality level. Gives the highest physical resistances available to humans. So far haven't found any armor enchanted.

Dwarf officers are nice when your core unit needs physical resistances (versus melee and ranged for example). Their cannon special ability is the most helpful of the two, if it does not kill the enemies he hits they will be knocked down which is always helpful. Dwarf officers however can only learn 2 elemental magics making them the officer with the least elemental skills available.
Dwarves make the best mortar, pyro technicians, and bomber wings out of all the officers thanks to their dwarven cannon improving the gunpowder skill which is essential for the damage these 3 units do.

DARK LEGION: FACTION

The dark legion is compromised of dark elves reigned by half-vampires. Under their command we have both orcs and dark elves as their troops. They are both available to all Dark Legion heroes in the game allowing for a wide array of troop units combined to compensate not having as many choices on their own compared to humans.

All Dark Legion Heroes have Dark Elves as their main troop unit infantry. They can have, during their campaign, all the officers from both races available.

DARK LEGION: HEROES

Leinhart:

Leinhart is a half-vampire. As such he is able to be in plain daylight and not burning to a crisp nor affected by holy magic. Leinhart is the sole heir to the kingdom of Vellond which is reigned by his father Valdemar; however as half-vampires who are immortal he still is a child to the eyes of his father. Throughout the game he tends to be a bit of arrogant and proud, not taking advises from his Lich Officer Devald kindly. He is one of the 3 first available heroes able to be played as soon as you open the game and the one that introduces you to the dark elves and orc troops.

He moves slowly around the battlefield unless you use his "B+Y" ability that can move him from one side of the battlefield to the other in half a second. He deals decent damage but his special ability (Y button) is mediocre at best. His moveset is a weird mix between slow (since it seems he likes to WALK around the battlefield) and really fast when attacking since his XXYY combo has him jump several meters in the air just to stick his sword on the ground (and enemies) on his way down then doing a back flip. Also when knocked back he will do a big back flip fit of the best gymnastic athletes.

For equipment he has 2 available slots:

• Weapon. His base weapon is a serrated blade. Has many cosmetic appearances when buying a new weapon. Comes in 3 qualities and can come enchanted with the curse effect on hit.
  
• Tuxedo. His fancy outfit is a tuxedo, it comes only in 1 quality so the higher the level of the armor the more resistances you will obtain. His tuxedo also has the chance to be enchanted with up to two enchants out of the 3 available for hero armors: Autoblock, KO Recovery Speed and HP Recovery Rate.

Cirith:

Cirith is another hero from the Dark Legion. She is a Dark Elf, also known as Drows. Drows in this game have the tendency to be almost naked and she ain't an exception. She is described as a gorgeous elf even to drow standards. She also has darker skin color than most drows. She is an spy and expert assassin too. She was present in the previous game as an officer to Lucretia and the events of her campaign in heroes happen right after the last mission of Lucretia's campaign. The most annoying part of playing as her is perhaps dealing with her sister who seems to be as dumb as a rock and Elcam who is a male drow who is completely nuts about her and never stops reciting poems about Cirith in prose.

For equipment she has 3 available slots:

• Weapon. Her base weapon is a Katar (The origin being the Indian Dagger named just like that). Has many cosmetic appearances when buying a new weapon from what looks like a 3 bladed shuriken to different Katar shapes. Comes in 3 qualities and can come enchanted with any kind of elemental on hit ability (aside from holy).
  
• Accessory. Her accessory is jewelry which comes in 1 quality level, provides multiple elemental resistances and can be enchanted with any elemental damage on hit, increased EXP, increased SP and increased HP.
  
• Armor. Her armor is... well, what little clothing that covers her. Comes in 1 quality level and can be enchanted with the usual hero armor enchantments.

Morene:

Morene is the last hero available from Vellond, just like Cirith's her campaign happens right after the end of Lucretia's campaign in the last game. Morene is a half-Vampire just like Leinhart who also seems to somehow be the lover of both Valdemar and Leinhart (father and son? That's creepy). She is cold-headed and seems to have a strange hate for Drows, even those that serve under her. She is really good at killing enemy troop leaders with her skill set or getting rid of the whole enemy troop when her melee skill is 30+ when using her SP spender ability "B+Y". Sadly a lot of her missions for some reason do not make much sense when compared to other campaigns that intertwine with hers.

For equipment she has 2 available slots:

• Weapon. Her base weapon are bone blades which are those things that come out of her wrists when fighting. Has many cosmetic appearances when buying a new weapon. Comes in 3 qualities and for some reason they VERY RARELY come enchanted with the curse affix.
  
• Leather Armor. Morene seems to be into BDSM and uses some leather armor that does not leave much to imagination, it comes only in 1 quality so the higher the level of the armor the more resistances you will obtain. Her leather armor also has the VERY SLIM chance to be enchanted with up to two enchants out of the 3 available for hero armors: Autoblock, KO Recovery Speed and HP Recovery Rate.

I want to add that I have not been able to often find her items enchanted no matter how many times I check the inventory. Out of perhaps over 300 reloads I've found her bone blades enchanted with curse twice and her leather armor enchanted with any of the affixes just once for each affix. This is rarely a thing with other heroes and I'm unsure if this is intended by blueside or might come as a bad RNG programming thing in the game. So do not stress yourself much about trying to get some nice enchanted gear because you could spend the whole month reloading.

DARK LEGION: TROOPS

The Dark Legion, or Vellond's forces, have at their disposal both Drows and Orcs. However for the purposes of this guide I'm gonna mention only Drow forces in this section and Orc forces in their own section (Hexter: Troops) since the Drow officers always have Drows as their troops and the Hexter officers always have orcs as their troops. Dark elves have two unique abilities to their own and shared among ALL of their troops and these are the Tree of Healing and the Elemental Boost which I'll address in this section since they are exclusive of them. Another unique feature of Drows is the ability to self heal their wounds while in forest areas (as long as there are enough trees around) making them formidable enemies or allies when fighting in this kind of terrain. Also drows are ALWAYS weak to the Earth element.

Tree of Healing

Just like the fact they can heal themselves while in forest areas, Drows can invoke an special tree which gradually heals them a huge amount of hp. There are downsides and upsides to this ability.

Pros

• Can heal all your allies in the nearby area.
  
• If you have the SP, can be cast multiple times in the same area and strengthen the heal making your units almost invincible as long as the multiple trees last.

Cons

• The SP cost is 3 times the cost of the human's heal (450 SP vs 150 SP)
  
• Can not be used by an unit that is already in combat, must have your troops out of it.
  
• It does not damage Undead enemy units like the Human's curio.

Elemental Boost

Drow troops are the only troop that has the ability to empower their attacks to also deal elemental damage. There are some rules to this spell and priority list that applies to the core unit of your hero since it is the only troop unit that can have 2 elemental skills thanks to your officers. Had to do a lot of testing with my own officers so this priority list MIGHT not be 100% accurate and as such if you've found something different feel free to comment about this.

Rules

• Your troop must be able, after having their required basic skills, to learn an elemental skill. As such this excludes both the cavalry units available to Drows since it uses all their skill slots available.
  
• Your troop MUST be out of combat to cast it. This means that the infantry must cast this before going into melee.

Priority list

• Elemental Boost will ALWAYS pick the elemental skill that has the highest level.
  
• When the elemental skills are at the same level (say both your officers already have it at level 25) the elemental boost will pick them in this order: Fire > Lightning > Ice > Earth > Curse.

All Elemental Boost have a hit on effect depending on the element. These are:

• Fire: Enemies burn in flames. While burning in flames your enemies are not able to attack (you'll see them moving their arm around) and will have their hp decrease gradually over the duration of the effect.
  
• Lightning: While trying to attack enemies sometimes will have their attack interrupted by this effect. Also, their overall Hp seems to decrease (seen when fighting versus Scorpions and enemy troop leaders).
  
• Ice: On hit enemies might be frozen, effectively immobilizing them and being unable to make any actions.
  
• Earth: Enemies color will turn green meaning they are poisoned. The poison status will drain a good chunk of their hp (if not killing them).
  
• Curse: When enemies are hit by the curse effect they start taking a lot of damage and deal barely any damage to you... This one was a bit tricky but seems to lower both their offensive and defensive abilities to almost nothing (or perhaps nothing).

Dark Elf Fighter

Dark Elf Fighter are the weakest of all infantry in the game. This does not mean they are useless. As mentioned before, they can benefit from elemental boost and from passive self healing while fighting in trees. As such, with the right elemental skill and in the right terrain there is not a single infantry at the same level that should be able to beat drows if properly equipped.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Sword. A sword that always improves melee and an elemental skill. Comes in 3 qualities and can have any of the 3 usual weapon enchantments plus the addition of the increased HP recovery enchantment.
  
• Shield. Drow infantry use a shield as their accessory; it always improves physical resistances. Comes in 1 quality level and so far have not found an enchanted one.
  
• Armor. Drow fighters can either use normal armor or scaled armor which is superior but more expensive. Both always come in 1 quality and no enchanted ones found so far. (Scaled armor gives roughly 10 more resistances than regular armor at max level, Ex: 24/24 vs 34/34)

Pros

• With proper preparation drow fighters can overcome other infantry types thanks to their elemental boost and self heals.
  
• Always a fast unit, no matter what armor they are using.

Cons

• Outside of forest almost even archers can beat them (not really but as I said, almost.)
  
• You might need to get into a mission just to check what kind of enemies you are fighting to min-max your troops by changing the elemental skills.
  
• As all infantry, they are weak to cavalry.

Dark Elf Knight

Dark Elf Knights are stronger Drow Infantry... They do what Drow Fighters do but just a tad bit better. Still you do not lose anything from upgrading your drow fighters to knights so you should do this as soon as you can. They share the same equipment as drow fighters with the exception of armor available which always is Scaled armor for Knights.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Sword. A sword that always improves melee and an elemental skill. Comes in 3 qualities and can have any of the 3 usual weapon enchantments plus the addition of the increased HP recovery enchantment.
  
• Shield. Drow knights use a shield as their accessory; it always improves physical resistances. Comes in 1 quality level and so far have not found an enchanted one.
  
• Armor. Drow knights use scaled armor which is superior to the regular armor but more expensive. Always come in 1 quality and no enchanted ones found so far.

Pros

• They do what drow fighters do but better.

Cons

• Still weak to earth elemental damage.
  
• Cavalry still hurts them bad.
  
• Even if more resilient than drow fighters they still are weaker than the upgraded infantry versions of other factions when out of woods or without elemental boost.

DARK LEGION: TROOPS

Dark Elf Cavalry

Dark Elf Cavalry are the only cavalry available that do not use a harness as equipment and as such the only cavalry that has no way to improve their riding skill with equipment. However they have among the best versatility since they are the only cavalry capable of healing your troops (thanks to drows being able to cast the tree of healing). Pairing their amazing mobility around the field.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Sword. Drow cavalry use a sword as their main weapon, it improves both melee and frontal skill. Comes in 3 qualities and can be enchanted with increased EXP, Increased SP gains, Increased HP of your troops and increased HP recovery rate from healing.
  
• Shield. Drow cavalry use a regular shield like your infantry would and they increase your physical resistances, the shield comes in 1 quality level and so far have not found any enchanted shield.
  
• Armor. Drow cavalry can buy either normal or scaled armor, has the same effect as it has on drow infantry. Comes in 1 quality and haven't found any that are enchanted so far.

Pros

• Great mobility as all cavalry with the addition of being able to cast a healing spell on the run.
  
• The cavalry that takes the less damage when going through enemies.

Cons

• Still weak to earth elemental damage.
  
• They can't improve their riding as other cavalry can aside from manually leveling it up, meaning their ability to turn around is somewhat lower in comparison once fully equipped.

Dark Elf Archers

Dark elf archers, as most elf archers in games, are expert marksmanship who also are able to imbue themselves with elemental magic to make their arrows even more deadly. When properly optimized, drow arches can even make longbowmen look like weak archers versus flying units. Sadly they can lack abilities like fire arrows to burn forests or direct shot.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Bow. A bow that comes in 3 qualities, always improves the range skill and an elemental skill. Can be enchanted with increased EXP, Increased SP gains, Increased HP of your troops and increased HP recovery rate from healing.
  
• Sword. A sword as their secondary weapon, it improves both melee and an elemental skill. Comes in 3 qualities and can be enchanted with increased EXP, Increased SP gains, Increased HP of your troops and increased HP recovery rate from healing.
  
• Armor. Drow arches can either use normal or scaled armor. Increases physical resistances and come in 1 quality level. So far have not found any enchanted armors.

Pros

• Amazing at shooting down air units.
  
• With the proper elemental skill and elemental boost they can decimate enemy infantry easily.

Cons

• Lacks direct damage abilities like direct shot.
  
• Can't burn forests in fire to catch enemies off guard
  
• Also weak to earth element.

Dark Elf Cavalry Archers

Grab a horse. Now grab your archers. Put them on horses and there you go. Now your archers can run fast like the wind and shoot at enemies without being caught in melee. Cavalry archers can even keep shooting at enemies as long as you waypoint them with the enemies to their left side. This makes them amazing since they do not risk themselves to get caught with infantry. Beware thou, as all cavalry they are prone to run into spearmen or axemen and instantly die.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Bow. A bow that always improves ranged and an elemental skill (even if you can't learn one as cavalry). Comes in 3 qualities and can have any of the 3 usual weapon enchantments plus the addition of the increased HP recovery enchantment.
  
• Sword. A sword that always improves melee and an elemental skill (even if you can't learn one as cavalry). Comes in 3 qualities and can have any of the 3 usual weapon enchantments plus the addition of the increased HP recovery enchantment.
  
• Armor. Drow cavalry can use either normal or scaled armor which is superior to the regular armor but more expensive. Always come in 1 quality and no enchanted ones found so far.

Pros

• Pretty horses with barely clothed chicks running around and shooting arrows? Yeah...
  
• Hard to get stuck in melee since they can keep moving and shooting.
  
• Can also easily support your units with tree of healing thanks to their amazing movement speed.

Cons

• Probably the cavalry that requires the most micro management to use them at their best.
  
• As all archers, they are weak in melee if they somehow get caught...
  
• But since they also are cavalry they are weak to frontal...
  
• Can not benefit from elemental boost making them (when steady) worse than all the other archers.

DARK LEGION: OFFICERS

Dark Legion heroes also have access to the hexter officers but they'll be addressed in their own section. The Dark Legion exclusive officers (while in campaign) are female and male dark elves.

Female Dark Elf

Female Dark Elf Officers are the only ones who can be dark elf cavalry making them still relevant compared to their male counterpart. However equipment wise they are a bit lacking compared to male dark elf officers. Female Dark Elf officers have 3 different special abilities. They are magic users if equipped with a booster but also have 2 abilities, one related to melee and another one related to ranged.


Female Dark Elf officers have 2 available equipment slots at their disposal:

• Weapon. An elven sword. Comes in 3 quality levels. Always improves melee and an elemental skill. It can come enchanted with Increased EXP gains, Increased SP gains, Increased troops HP and Increased Hp recovery rate.
  
• Shield, Bow or Booster Shield comes in 1 quality, always increases physical resistances. Bow comes in 3 qualities, always improves ranged and an elemental skill. Booster comes in 3 qualities and always improves an elemental skill. Haven't found any enchanted so far.

Female Dark Elf officers, resistances wise, are lacking if you want them for officers in your core troop. However they are the only ones capable of both elven cavalry making these almost nude chicks relevant to your army if you need a fast and reliable source of healing. My personal recommendation is avoiding them unless you want either of the cavalries.

Male Dark Elf

Male Dark Elf Officers are kind of a rare breed... Aside from officers available for recruitment at the pub you only see TWO male dark elfs in the whole game which are Rithrin and that nuthead Elcam. Dunno if they are scarce or what but no wonder those female dark elves are so crazy about Regnier being so muscular and sexy in his loins. Just like their female counterpart, these officers can be magic users, have a bow to shoot arrows around like the infantry-type officers from the humans do or rush around the battlefield hitting whatever is in the way in a very fast demeanor (just like all elves).

Male Dark Elf officers have 3 available equipment slots at their disposal:

• Weapon. An elven sword. Comes in 3 quality levels. Always improves melee and an elemental skill. It can come enchanted with Increased EXP gains, Increased SP gains, Increased troops HP and Increased Hp recovery rate.
  
• Ring, Bow or Booster. Rings come in 3 quality levels and improve an elemental skill, this is required if you want him across the battlefield rushing with his elven gracefulness. Bows come in 3 quality levels and improve the range skill and an elemental skill. Boosters come in 3 quality levels and always improve an elemental magic. So far have not found any enchanted ones.
  
• Armor. Something that kind of resembles an elven mail armor. It always gives physical resistances. Comes in 1 quality level and haven't found any enchanted so far.

Male Dark Elf officers are better used as either extra infantry, drow archers or magic casters in your main unit since they WILL always provide physical resistances. You could bring a female dark elf but the only reason you would want to do that is because you want to use the female dark elf arrow ability and you like suffering from taking extra damage by forfeiting those extra physical resistances.

HEXTER: FACTION

The Hexter faction is special in its own way. Before the events of the crusaders, hexter was a region ruled by orcs and ogres. As such, the only available troops for them (during their campaign) are those derived from, and only from, orc/ogre/lich officers.

This is relevant towards the last campaign (Urukubarr's) since it might make you have to change the way you play to overcome challenges. There is a reason why his campaign's difficulty is called "Hell".

HEXTER: HEROES

I'm assuming you've already played Leinhart's campaign by now since Urukubarr's is supposed to be the last campaign you play... But there are spoilers ahead.

Urukubarr:

Urukubarr strong. Urukubarr smash. Urukubarr end you. No but for real, I dunno if Regnier beat the crap out of him so hard he went retarded in crusaders but there DEFINITELY is a difference in the way he speaks in heroes and the way he speaks in The Crusaders. During his campaign he can actually connect words and make full sentences in one go. In KUF: Heroes, Urukubarr is the strongest warrior in all of the Hexter region. He is a hulking ogre who can beat the crap of ALMOST everyone (*looks at Regnier*). In any case, Urukubarr's campaign is by far the hardest in the game and not even Regnier's nor Kendall's campaign from the last game are actually this hard. Just his first mission is a REAL pain in the arse if you don't know how to properly use your cavalry. To make it even better, Urukubarr DOES NOT have access to Dark Elves until he finishes his campaign. That means your only way to deal with flying units is using Drakes and the only way to heal is through the orcs' special ability (which will be addressed in the next section). So, buckle up your belt and get ready for a good beating when you start his campaign but I assure you that you will end up liking him because who does not want to go Hulk mode once in a while, uh?

For equipment he has 1 available slot:

• Necklace. It comes in 3 qualities. Just like Ogre officers, Urukubarr's only available equipment is a necklace. It improves the melee skill, gives 1 physical resistance and 1 elemental resistance. Can come enchanted too with increased EXP gains, Increased SP gains, Increased troops HP and Increased Recovery rate.

I REALLY recommend you try to aim for a Hexter's necklace (top quality) that also gives you increased recovery rate. You are gonna thank me later if you do try to get one.

HEXTER: TROOPS

All the orc troops are available to the dark legion campaigns but they also are the only troops you can use as Urukubarr during his campaign. Orcs are generally weak to ice. Orc troops (except for ghouls, support units and scorpions) can recover their hp WHILE in combat by using their special ability:
Sadly, it has a higher cost than Curio (from humans) and it ONLY heals the troop that uses it. Compared to the tree of healing it is a big downgrade on that matter. However it CAN be cast while in melee combat, it is an instant heal and with good cavalry the sp cost shouldn't be much of a problem. Now that we've addressed that matter we go onward to the troops.

Orc Infantry

Orcs are usually the toughest of all the units in the game, no matter what you compare them to. Even their infantry running almost naked around are though as heck and can handle a lot of damage. Their only literal weakness is ice magic. They even have improved resistances to all the other magic types and only explosion physical damage has a -4 resistance...

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Axe. An ax that always comes in 3 qualities. It improves the melee skill. Can come enchanted with Increased EXP gain, increased SP gain, Increased HP of your troops and Increased HP recovery rate.
  
• Shield. A small round shield. It always improves 2 physical resistances. Comes in 1 quality. Haven't found any enchanted shields so far.
  
• Armor. Orc Infantry uses either clothing (a loin) or Light armor. They always increase physical resistances, light armor giving more than the clothing. Comes in 1 quality and haven't found any enchanted armors so far.

Pros

• Though guys.
  
• Sexy loins

Cons

• Maybe because they always are on their loins they are weak as hell to ice magic.
  
• They are a bit dumb... But that's all orcs in general.
  
• Really a transition unit, you always want to go for their heavier allies as a job.

Orc Heavy Infantry

Now our sexy orcs in loins have decided to equip some weird mix of japanese armor with weird medieval helmets. These guys are the most though infantry in the game and have resistances to everything but ice. Definitely a force to be recognized.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Axe. An ax that always comes in 3 qualities. It improves the melee skill. Can come enchanted with Increased EXP gain, increased SP gain, Increased HP of your troops and Increased HP recovery rate.
  
• Shield. A shield that always increases physical resistances. Comes in 1 quality level. Haven't found any upgraded ones so far.
  
• Armor. Orc Heavy Infantry change their loins or light armor for some heavy nice armor which provides good physical resistances. Always comes in 1 quality and haven't found enchanted armors so far.

Pros

• Strongest infantry of all thanks to their multiple resistances.
  
• Even thou they are heavy infantry their movement speed is actually not hindered like that of human heavy infantry.

Cons

• Still weak to ice magic.
  
• Compared to knights, their weapon is not as good as theirs.

Orc Axeman

What's better than an orc holding an Ax? An orc holding two axes... Even more if he throws them. Orc Axeman are the dark legion/hexter version of spearmen. They are very effective vs cavalry and thankfully they never run out of axes for some strange reason. Still not as good as your infantry but they can wield heavy armor too so can be helpful in a pinch versus archers.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Ax (R). The Right hand ax comes in 3 qualities, always improves the melee skill and can be enchanted with Increased EXP gain, increased SP gain, Increased HP of your troops and Increased HP recovery rate.
  
• Ax (L). The left hand ax comes in 3 qualities, always improves the frontal skill and can be enchanted with Increased EXP gain, increased SP gain, Increased HP of your troops and Increased HP recovery rate.
  
• Armor. Orc axmen can use loincloths, light armor or heavy armor. All of these come in 1 quality level and the heavier it is the more expensive it becomes. So far haven't found any enchanted armor.

Pros

• Always good to have frontal unit to counter enemy cavalry.
  
• Actually better than their human counterpart at melee...

Cons

• Orcs are still weak to ice.
  
• They require more gold to be better than spearmen once fully equipped.

HEXTER: TROOPS

Orc Rider

Turns out orcs are great at taming big wild beasts. So happens too that in this game's universe boars are so big they can easily be used as mounts. As such orc riders are the hexter's cavalry just like humans would ride a horse. They, however, use an ax, morningstar or scythe as their weapon of choice.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Two Handed Ax (R). The two handed ax comes in 3 qualities, always improves the melee & frontal skills and can be enchanted with Increased EXP gain, increased SP gain, Increased HP of your troops and Increased HP recovery rate.
  
• Harness (L). The harness comes in 3 qualities, always improves the riding skill and can be enchanted with Increased EXP gain, increased SP gain, Increased HP of your troops and Increased HP recovery rate.
  
• Armor. Orc rider use light armor. All of these come in 1 quality level. So far haven't found any enchanted armor.

Pros

• Easy to obtain thanks to their lower exp cost than their heavier version
  
• Cavalry is very necessary for hexter campaign to funnel SP to your troops.

Cons

• Orcs are still weak to ice.
  
• Basically just a transition unit from their heavier friends.
  
• As all cavalry they are weak to frontal.

Orc Axe Rider

Your regular orc riders but now they are wearing some nice heavy armor making them more mean and dangerous. Also their boars have some sturdier armor too... Still weak to spears thou.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• Two Handed Ax (R). The two handed ax comes in 3 qualities, always improves the melee & frontal skills and can be enchanted with Increased EXP gain, increased SP gain, Increased HP of your troops and Increased HP recovery rate.
  
• Harness (L). The harness comes in 3 qualities, always improves the riding skill and can be enchanted with Increased EXP gain, increased SP gain, Increased HP of your troops and Increased HP recovery rate.
  
• Armor. Orc rider use light armor. All of these come in 1 quality level. So far haven't found any enchanted armor.

Pros

• They do what regular orc riders do but kind of better.
  
• Thanks to their armor they can actually take some damage.
  
• Can still self heal themselves.

Cons

• The only officer that can make their troop's job into this unit does not offer many items to improve the troop.

Orc Sapper

These boys are the only way dark legion heroes get sappers. Just like your regular human sappers they can set traps, remove them or open dams of water. However there is not a "more" specialized unit like Pyro Technicians for humans.

There are 3 equipment slots available:

• PickAx. The pickax comes in 3 qualities, always improves the melee and teamwork skill and can be enchanted with Increased EXP gain, increased SP gain, Increased HP of your troops and Increased HP recovery rate.
  
• Knapsack or equipment. The knapsack comes in 1 quality, always improves the melee and teamwork skills, the equipment always comes in 1 quality, only improves the teamwork skill and they can be enchanted with Increased EXP gain, increased SP gain, Increased HP of your troops and Increased HP recovery rate.
  
• Armor. Orc sapper use loincloths. Comes in 1 quality level .So far haven't found any enchanted armor.

Pros

• They will save your ass from traps.

Cons

• Weaker than infantry so not a good idea to have them in melee.
  
• If you are not used to setting traps they are kind of useless as a troop.

Orc Ghoul

Braaaaaaaaains... Well, not quite right but ghouls are basically orc zombies. They are a fun bunch and surprisingly enough they are actually quite good at melee and do some serious damage. They can also explode themselves like kamikazes and do some heavy explosion damage to enemy units. However they CAN NOT heal themselves like other orc troops can and only a drow unit is capable of healing them. They are to some degree the counterpart of human paladins and require the curse elemental skill to be made. However paladins do some serious damage to them and any human troop that can cast curio.


Ghoul troops do not have equipment.

Pros

• Nice explosion damage.
  
• Can cast dark mist and silence.
  
• Great at melee.

Cons

• Orc ghouls are weak to both ice and holy magic.
  
• No equipment so you need a good officer to make up for it.
  
• Can't heal themselves like most orcs do.

HEXTER: TROOPS

Scorpion

Orcs turn out to be good with giant beasts. The scorpion is the only siege unit available to both hexter and the dark legion with their quake attack. Scorpions are great at keeping enemies at bay. Their hard carapace makes them almost invulnerable to damage aside from getting smashed in the head and fire.

There is no equipment available for scorpions.

Pros

• Can destroy buildings
  
• Stingy boy.
  
• Can be versus a lot of enemies and won't take much damage.
  
• His shockwave is so disruptive that enemy lines break apart.

Cons

• Weak to fire...
  
• Can be easily killed if someone smacks him in the head...
  
• Has no equipment available.

Dirigible

Dirigibles are gigantic flying monsters who drop their bellies on top of the enemy troops and do some serious damage. However with how big and "slow" they are they make excellent target practice for archers and ballistas. They also can not fight back to drakes or eagle riders.

There is no equipment available for dirigibles.

Pros

• Can decimate enemy troops when properly used.
  
• Can damage enemies even on forest areas.

Cons

• If you don't watch out for archers they are gonna obliterate this unit.
  
• Can't fight back air units.
  
• Weak to all magics, so drow archers are even deadlier.

Black Wyvern

These are the equivalent of your storm riders. These bad boys use their nasty breath to deal damage to enemy troops and they can also damage flying units. However, as all flying units, they are weak to archers.

There is no equipment available for Black Wyverns.

Pros

• Can fight back air units.
  
• Can move fast around the battlefield.

Cons

• Archers...
  
• Can't attack on forest areas...
  
• No equipment.

Swamp Mammoth

These beasts are the lost cousins of the ice mammoths it seems. They are gigantic, have tons of HP and do A LOT of damage to enemy troops. Swamp Mammoths are only vulnerable to explosive damage from mortars, bomber wings, catapults, ballistas and scorpions shockwave. Also CAN be killed with spells like meteor but also takes a lot of time and SP to do that (and requires high fire elemental skill level).

There is no equipment available for swamp mammoths.

Pros

• Big boy.
  
• The sturdiest of all support units.
  
• Can decimate the enemy on its own if they lack means to kill him.

Cons

• Human siege units are this mammoth's worst nightmare.
  
• Slowest unit in the world... Not even Rupert is as slow as this bugger.
  
• Sometimes they get stuck in the map because of path finding issues.

Special mention; Bone Dragon

The Bone Dragon is a unit shown in the jobs available however you are NOT able to select this on KUF: heroes. It was an unit only available to Regnier in his campaign in the previous game. You also won't see any of these boys around in the game. Just a disclaimer so you don't get frustrated since you can't pick them.

HEXTER: OFFICERS

Hexter has 3 officers and they can also be used by the dark legion faction.

Orc Officer

Orc officers althou small are the only officers capable of having all the job units at their disposal. Their special ability is just having them run around the battlefield swinging their ax and hitting enemies. Their usefulness comes in the ability to also be ground cavalry or air cavalry, something that neither ogres nor liches can achieve.


Orc officers have 2 available equipment slots at their disposal:

• Weapon. An ax. Comes in 3 quality levels. Always improves melee and frontal skill. It can come enchanted with Increased EXP gains, Increased SP gains, Increased troops HP and Increased Hp recovery rate.
  
• Shield Shield comes in 1 quality, always increases physical resistances. Haven't found any enchanted so far.

Orcs are fine as troop leaders, they can be anything they want. I would not recommend them as officers in your core unit thou. Their most useful job is that of cavalry thanks to the increase to the frontal skill in their weapon boosting the unit's attack power.

Ogres

The hairless small brothers of King Kong, ogres are gigantic humanoids with huge arms that usually are the chieftains of tribes since hexter's is always ruled by the strongest. They can be quite disruptive in combat and do decent damage to enemy troops. They however lack the ability to make air cavalry or ground cavalry. They still make excellent swamp mammoth units. These bad boys also have the peculiarity of being able to do ELEMENTAL damage with their special ability is they (aside from melee) also have an elemental skill learned. I do not know if this is actually intended or not but I surely have used this to my advantage. This also makes them fine officers for the core unit since their ability does some decent AOE damage that when paired with a good elemental skill versus the enemy makes it even better.


Ogre officers have 1 available equipment slot at their disposal:

• Necklace. The Necklace comes in 3 qualities, always increases the melee skill, provides 1 physical resistance and 1 elemental resistance. It can come enchanted with Increased EXP gains, Increased SP gains, Increased troops HP and Increased Hp recovery rate.

Ogres are amazing for Orc infantry, support units or as your core unit officers. If you do not need an extra spell caster while in combat for your main unit I would recommend having one of these, they are always fun to watch when they jump to wreck havoc. They only have 1 equipment slot however it provides decent stats for your troops and shouldn't be neglected.

Liches

Skelly boy! Liches are magic wielders and can use any element aside from holy. They also have at their disposal the curse magic even on combat. They however lack equipment that improves a troops strength.


Lich officers have 1 available equipment slot at their disposal:

• Ring. The lich's ring comes in 3 qualities, always increases an elemental skill. haven't found any enchanted ones so far.

For the hexter hero this is the only source of magic damage in combat. They are not bad officers but can't really support their units that much. Even lackluster for making elemental troop units since they only boost an elemental skill and no melee at all. Their most useful unit is ghouls or as an officer with Urukubarr to cast magic in the midst of combat. Otherwise (dark legion) you are better off using other caster units.

ELEMENTAL UNITS

Elemental units are available to all the factions. They require 1 elemental skill and the melee skill... All the elemental units are worth giving a thought since they are good at melee even if their numbers are few (ice and fire with 4 units, earth and lightning with 1 big unit).

Earth Elemental

This is a single unit troop, hulking like those ogres and since all his attacks apply the earth elemental bonus it can be very effective versus drows. They are a pain to kill as a hero since even strong attacks sometimes do not knock them back.


There is no equipment available for Earth elemental.

Pros

• Great at melee.
  
• Can poison enemy units.
  
• Eats drows for breakfast.

Cons

• For some reason, very weak to thunder magic...
  
• Slow mofo. (still faster than swamp mammoths thou)
  
• Can still be overwhelmed in melee if fighting too many enemy troops.

Ice Maidens

Ice maidens will chill your heart and you won't either know if you want to run or fall in love. There are four units in this troop. This elemental unit has the particularity that they sometimes vanish and can't be hit making them hard to kill with slow attacking heroes... All their attacks inflict the ice elemental affix chilling the enemies. All of these things make them amazing at melee combat too. They are weak to fire magic, probably because you are melting their heart.


There is no equipment available for Ice Maidens.

Pros

• These ladies smack orcs very hard.
  
• Fast, nimble, can move around the battlefield almost as fast as cavalry does.

Cons

• Weak to fire...
  
• Can be knocked back a bit easier than the rhino and earth elemental.

Thunder Rhino

Either this is the lost child of Zeus or a Rhino was out in the sabana and was hit by a thunder in the middle of a storm. The thunder rhinos are a single unit troop that can only be hit from the sides. While slow moving, it can attack quite fast while in combat by rushing and smashing anyone in their path or casting some weird thunders around like the mage's spell in combat. Knight should be very wary of fighting these bad boys.


There is no equipment available for Thunder Rhino.

Pros

• Humans are scared of this guy.
  
• Has a lot of HP so they can withstand a lot of punishment just like Earth Elemental.
  
• Just like the scorpions armor, these guys can't be hit in certain areas.

Cons

• Somehow they are weak to earth element.
  
• Can still be smacked in their sides
  
• Since it is a single troop unit, can be overwhelmed when fighting many enemies if left alone.

Flame Wraith

Flame wraiths are a four unit troop. They, as the other elemental troops, are good at melee and do fire damage on hit. They sometimes do a small explosion when attacked to much to push enemies back and always explode when killed. They are not particularly strong against any faction but still useful (meteor is a very strong spell). They also are as fast as Ice Maidens.


There is no equipment available for Flame Wraiths.

Pros

• Fast unit.
  
• Meteor is a very nice spell and they require the highest possible level of the elemental skill so it hits like a truck.

Cons

• Weak to ice magic.
  
• They are easily killed when too many enemies around.
  
• Strong attack heroes make them poop.

TIPS & USEFUL INFORMATION

If you've reached this far I want to thank you for reading any part of the guide or all of it. If you've any suggestions they are very welcome. For the last part I want give a few tips that might help you overcome challenges or make the game more fun for you.

• Each time you load the game the items available at the shop will be reset and different. You can use this to try and fish for a nice top quality item with some nasty enchantments that will make your troops A LOT stronger.
  
• It is ideal to first buy items and rise the level of your main core unit since they will most of the times take all the damage. Also if they die it always is game over even if all other units are alive. The amount of available SP also depends on your hero's level.
  
• You can either chose to buy items as you gain experience or wait until the max level for items to avoid expending extra gold for a momentary upgrade. I rather do the second in most heroes (except Ellen since she takes a lot of missions to reach level 29). Once you reach level 29ish the items in the shop will hit the max level they can achieve. Even if you are level 60, weapons and equipment stay at a max of level 29. This can make some early missions a bit harder for you but in the end the last missions end up being easier thanks to being able to use that saved gold into better items for your other troops.
  
• Archers are almost always a needed unit for support in melee. They can make all the difference in making a smooth mission or hell.
  
• When playing as the dark legion heroes I always recommend using an elemental skill with archers. It will make the job a lot easier. There is no need to have it to max level, even on level 1 you can use the elemental boost and get that extra edge. Same applies if you are using a drow infantry.
  
• The amount of gold you receive from a mission depends on how much SP you used during the mission. Try to not have max SP ever since you will be wasting any SP generated and that means you also are losing potential gold gains.
  
• Cavalry is one of the most useful units in the game thanks to them giving a lot of SP so you can use spells and special abilities. Do not forget they give a lot of SP when the troop they are charging at is already in melee. They get a lot less SP when that troop is not in melee combat.
  
• Even if some units that are not infantry are bad at melee compared to a regular infantry, do not forget they can be used to keep dangerous enemy troops in combat so they can not be a nuisance. An example of this would be using cavalry, spearmen, axemen or even sapper to get in melee combat versus enemy archers. Since archers also suck at melee combat your troops wont be taking as much damage as they would take from letting those archers shot their arrows freely.
  
• Do not be afraid to lose a battle or quit it and change your troops job. Sometimes it is required to see how the mission goes so you can adequate your army to the task.
  
• Do not get frustrated from path finding issues. They are being slowly taken care of by the blueside team. This is a 15 years old game and has its bug like all games do.

I hope I was of any help to you. Feel free to share the guide and add your own tips in the comments or things you've found are different from what I mentioned. As I said before, this is all I've found so far by playing the game plenty of hours and testing how some things work.

[Gropalopagus]

A tip you might want to add at the end

- enemies will not retreat from melee, if melee troops are chasing your archers way point them through you core infantry's combat and then retreat them again once their pursuer is engaged and they will be free to resume healing and shooting.

[Vostroyan55th]

hey dude many thanks for this detailed guide! i'm halfway through Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders and will be playing KUF: Heroes soon!

[任剣堂]

Thanks for the guide, learned a couple new things.

I remember playing this game back in the day (and not having played TC) and wondering how on Earth I'd ever get the Battaloon and Bone Dragon, so putting those notices in is appreciate, if too late to save me from the frustration ;)

[Guaseth]

Amazing guide, just wanted to correct something about paladins: They have a third form of equipment: Shields, which means, that unlike knights, they can get bonuses against arrows, gunpowder and frontal

[aotc117]

Awesome guide and very punny! Thanks :)

[Marcus]

An entertaining and very informative guide. Thanks for making this. Made the game easier to play after reading this.

[Vvv]

I rly enjoyed reading this. Thx. Also I never knew there was so many combos possible.

[[K9]-Ŧƛ§§àĐǟʁ]

fire

[復活した黒]

Small corrections as someone who modded the game a bit:
The amount of Gold generated from SP is not the one you used, but rather the one you received over the course of the Battle x2. This is literally what one of my starter mods for Ellen does. It generates for example 250000 SP, which at the end of the Mission then gets calculated x2, meaning 500000 Gold. Another example is that the more skill of the attack type you have, the higher the SP generation becomes. I gave my Troop a Weapon for this, that generated 68000 Melee (Limit). Attacking even one enemy filled up the entire SP bar from 0. Using this, I placed 5 Enemies on a Map and did not use any form of thing that requires SP. The end result was 1m gold, which pretty much confirms this.