A guide to the Markgraf

An in-depth guide to the Markgraf faction

Faction overview

The Markgraf is an unusual faction to play as that is sort of a cross between two others--the Necromancer and the Burgmeister. In Conquest of Elysium 4 the Markgraf was a fairly weak faction, and unfortunately this is largely unchanged for Conquest of Elysium 5. While not a strong faction, it has some fun and unique mechanics to play with.

Advantages

The Markgraf is really good at getting large armies together quickly, mostly comprised of swarm units. Like the Burgmeister, they can field huge numbers of (fragile) troops with minimal expense. Where they differ is their ability to raise undead troops, which are a little hardier than their national troops. A combined Markgraf army with undead front-line troops guarding masses of crossbow troops in the rear can be quite formidable.

Ritual-wise, the Markgraf is very similar to the Necromancer, and uses Hands of Glory as their special resource. Where the Markgraf breaks from the Necromancer is the way that they upgrade their commanders. The Necromancers' mages upgrade themselves, whereas the Markgraf uses their mages to upgrade their more mundane commanders, which are cheaper and more common than mages, so you can theoretically pump out powerful undead commanders at a hefty rate.

Disadvantages

Succeeding as the Markgraf can be an uphill battle. Their units are weak, and more importantly, they're mostly Slow so take a while to move around the map. While they can raise dead, they can only upgrade undead Hoburgs, which are barely more effective than their non-upgraded versions. The Markgraf's mages are weak too. They can be upgraded and focus on Necromancy like the Necromancer, but none of them except the Markgraf himself can learn spells higher than Level 2.

The biggest obstacle to the Markgraf faction is that they're highly dependent upon securing an Old Castle Ruin quickly, since that's the only way to get Vampire and Ghoul commanders. Depending on how the map generates this can be easy or almost impossible. (In rare occasions when playing Markgraf in the Empire age, I've seen some maps that generate with no castle ruins at all) Without an Old Castle Ruin the Markgraf is seriously limited in their advancement.

Even if you manage to conquer an old castle ruin and get your better units online, the Markgraf doesn't have much of an endgame compared to the other factions. The endgame usually relies on fielding lots of strong mages, which you don't have. And you don't have advantages for troop production that other weak mage factions like the Baron have that let you snowball early.

Lastly, there's an issue that even if you manage to field a good number of mages and upgrade them with good spells, Necromancy is a really bad school of magic for a faction geared toward a mixed army. Lots of Necromancy spells indiscriminately hit friend and foe alike. If you're fielding an undead-only army, this isn't a big deal since most of your spells don't work on undead. But with a Markgraf, you're liable to nuke all the Hoburg units in your army if you bring your more powerful spells online.

Abbreviations

These are the abbreviations I use in this guide:
HP: Hit Points
STR: Strength
Mor: Morale
MR: Magic Resistance
IN: Initiative
RNG: Range
DAM: Damage Dealt

National Troops

These are your national troops, recruitable from any citadel.


Hoburg Militia
Cost:15 for 50 gold
HP:2 Str:2 Mor:3 MR:6 Armor:0
Attacks:
Slow
Staff: IN:5 RNG:1 DAM:(1-3)-1

Weak and ineffectual. Unless you have no iron at all and desperately need troops, there's never any reason to recruit these.


Hoburg Slinger
Cost:15 for 50 gold
HP:2 Str:2 Mor:3 MR:6 Armor:0
Slow
Attacks:
Sling: IN:2 RNG:4 DAM:(1-2)-1
Dagger: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-3)-1

Hoburg Slingers aren't quite as useless as Hoburg Militia but they're generally not worth recruiting as their damage output is pretty poor for a ranged unit.


Hobmark Crossbow
Cost:15 for 50 gold, 5 iron
HP:2 Str:2 Mor:3 MR:6 Armor:0
Slow
Attacks:
Crossbow: IN:2 RNG:5 DAM:(1-5)-1 fires every other round
Dagger: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-3)-2

These guys will be the backbone of your forces. The most efficient way to kill things with the Markgraf early on is with a hail of crossbow bolts from swarms of Hobmark Crossbows. Even in the endgame you'll want lots of these guys backing you up.


Hobmark Soldier
Cost:15 for 50 gold, 5 iron
HP:3 Str:2 Mor:3 MR:6 Armor:1
Shield; Slow
Attacks:
Spear: IN:6 RNG:1 DAM:(1-4)-1

The Hobmark Soldier is weak, slow, and dies easily, but serves as a semi-effective meatshield for your troops with some armor and a shield. You'll want to have a full row of these guys blocking off your squishier ranged and mage units, at least until you can summon some Soulless to replace them.


Hobmark Defender
Cost:15 for 50 gold, 10 iron
HP:3 Str:3 Mor:4 MR:6 Armor:1
Shield; Slow
Attacks:
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)-1

Hobmark Defenders are like Hobmark Soliders with better morale and a more damaging weapon. They don't really last longer than the Soldiers though so I don't find the additional Iron cost to be really worth it.


Hobmark Hammerer
Cost:10 for 30 gold, 5 iron
HP:3 Str:2 Mor:4 MR:6 Armor:2
Slow
Attacks:
Lucerne Hammer: IN:5 RNG:1 DAM:(1-7)-1

Hobmark Hammerers are heavily armored, have good initiative, do pretty decent damage with their hammers, and are surprisingly cost-effective. However, without a shield and with only 3 HP Hobmark Hammerers still die pretty quickly so they're not usually a good investment.


Hobmark Pikeneer
Cost:10 for 30 gold, 5 iron
HP:3 Str:2 Mor:4 MR:6 Armor:2
Slow
Attacks:
Pike: IN:2 RNG:2 DAM:(1-5)-1 Long reach

Hobmark Pikeneers are useful as you can put them behind your front rank and have both attack simultaneously. That being said, the front rank tends to melt pretty quickly so they probably won't stay in the second rank very long. In theory they're a useful unit.


Markgraf Guard
Cost:10 for 40 gold, 10 iron
HP:4 Str:3 Mor:5 MR:6 Armor:2
Shield; Slow
Attacks:
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)-1

Markgraf Guards are your best frontline unit--heavily armored, carrying a shield, and even have enough HP that they might survive a hit. They're expensive and not fantastic, but probably your best overall meatshield in your starting arsenal.


Hog Hussar
Cost:5 for 50 gold, 10 iron
HP:5 Str:3 Mor:5 MR:6 Armor:2
Shield; Battle Fast
Attacks:
Lance Charge: IN:5 RNG:1 DAM:(1-6) first attack only
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)-1
Gore: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-8)

Hog Hussars are your elite "cavalry" unit. They're your sole national unit that isn't Slow, have good armor and a shield, and pretty good weapons too. They're still quite fragile and difficult to field in large numbers with their cost. They still make an excellent unit to fill out a scouting troop led by a Markmeister because of their speed.


Little Soulless Soldier
Cost:15 for 5 iron, requires 15 Little Soulless
HP:4 Str:3 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:1
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable(Destroy); Shield; Clumsy; Slow
Attacks:
Spear: IN:6 RNG:1 DAM:(1-4)

An upgraded Little Soulless. They cost no gold, but require 15 Little Soulless to buy. Being undead, they are hardier than your typical frontline troops but they're still pretty terrible. They can't hit anything since they're Clumsy. Fielding them in number is difficult. And honestly whether or not you'd want to haul Little Soulless back to a citadel to upgrade them is debatable.


Little Soulless Defender
Cost:15 for 10 iron, requires 15 Little Soulless
HP:4 Str:3 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:2
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable(Destroy); Shield; Clumsy; Slow
Attacks:
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)

The Little Soulless Defender costs 5 more iron than a Little Soulless Soldier and is a much better unit. They're still pretty terrible though. I guess if you happen to have 15 Little Soulless on a citadel, there's no reason not to upgrade them.


Little Bane Fire Crossbow
Cost:5 for 10 hands, requires 5 Little Longdead
HP:1 Str:2 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable(Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian
Attacks:
Bane Fire Crossbow: IN:2 RNG:5 DAM:(1-5)-1 Decay (MR check), fires every other round
Fist: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-1)

Little Bane Fire Crossbows have fantastic weapons--Decay is a death sentence--but with only 1 HP and no armor, they can't survive being hit. They're not going to be around long-term. If they were cheaper in Hands they might be worth it.


Ghoul Guardian
Cost:10 for 5 iron, 5 hands
HP:4 Str:3 Mor:10 MR:6 Armor:2
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable(destroy)
Attacks:
Ghoul Hammer: IN:5 RNG:1 DAM:(1-7)-1 Ghoulifies, Poisons (MR check)

You can only hire these guys once you have a Ghoulgraf. They're kind of like slightly stronger Hobmark Hammerers. They're not super survivable but the Ghoul Hammer is an interesting weapon as anything they kill with it will turn into a ghoul and join your forces. If you have a surplus of Hands they're worth considering.


Catapult
Cost: 1 for 50 gold, 25 iron.
HP:10 STR:4 MO:4 MR:5 AR:0
Slow, Immobile
Attacks:
Boulder: IN 1 RNG:16 DAM(1-30) Siege Weapon, Fires every other round, scatter
Shortsword: IN: 3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)

A catapult. It's the only siege engine you get except if you luck out and summon a Ziz with Greater Summoning. Useful for defending or attacking fortresses.

National Commanders

These are your recruitable national commanders and in the case of the Grand Nekromant, their normal upgrades.


Markgraf
HP:7 Str:3 Mor:6 MR:7 Armor:1
Leadership; Slow
Attacks:
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)

The leader of your faction, the Markgraf is a pretty decent unit with high stats, for a Hoburg. You generally want to keep him out of battles if you can, though, until you can (hopefully) find a ruined castle where you can upgrade him.


Markmann
HP:5 Str:3 Mor:6 MR:6 Armor:2
Large Shield; Slow
Attacks:
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)-1

The least useful of your commanders, the Markmann is only marginally better than a typical Hoburg unit and only serves to ferry units from point A to point B. They're cheap gold-wise of course.


Markmeister
HP:6 Str:3 Mor:5 MR:6 Armor:2
Shield; Leadershop; Battle Fast
Attacks:
Lance Charge: IN:5 RNG:1 DAM:(1-10)
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)-1
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)-1
Gore: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-4)

The Markmeister is your best national commander. You don't really want to risk them in actual battle, but they're one of the few units you have that isn't Slow so they're good for scouting, usually leading a troop of Hog Hussars or any other non-Slow units you manage to find. Markmeisters can eventually be upgraded into Ghoul Barons or Malefic Markmeisters as well.


Nekromant
HP:3 Str:2 Mor:3 MR:8 Armor:0
Sense Dead; Slow
Attacks:
Necromancy LV1
Dagger: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-3)-1

Your national mage, the Nekromant will be essential to your strategy. They're weaker than a lot of national mages in that they can only upgrade once, but they're pivotal for upgrading your Markgraf. With the Twiceborn ritual you can "upgrade" them to Corpse or Ghost Nekromants by killing them off. Lastly, they're your most important unit for raising the dead. Raising the dead allows you to summon undead units at the cost of some sanity. There are other units you have access to for raising the dead, and even some that can reverse the effect of insanity, but Nekromants are cheap(ish) and disposable so they're good candidates for throwaway units that exist to raise dead and then get offed by something once their insanity goes too high.



Grand Nekromant
HP:3 Str:2 Mor:3 MR:9 Armor:0
Sense Dead; Slow
Attacks:
Necromancy LV2
Dagger: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-3)

Once you upgrade the Nekromant by using Ritual of Mastery, they become a Grand Nekromant. The Grand Nekromant is the mostly the same as a Nekromant except they can cast Level 2 Necromancy spells. They can't go any higher and learn Level 3 Necromancy. If a Grand Nekromant dies after having cast Twiceborn they will revive as a Wight or Grand Ghost Nekromant. Grand Nekromants are also pivotal for turning your Markgraf into a vampire. They can raise the dead like Nekromants, but you don't really want to be investing Hands into a Nekromant that's going to be insane all the time. Leave the raising to a disposable tier-1 Nekromant.

Special National Commanders

These commanders are upgrades that require special conditions to summon.


Malefic Markgraf
HP:17 Str:5 Mor:15 MR:8 Armor:3
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Regeneration; Immortal; Banishable; Slash Resistance; Blunt Resistance; Flying; Cannot Pass Rivers
Attacks:
Necromancy LV2
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)+2
Life Drain: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-8)

The Malefic Markgraf is an upgrade to the Markgraf. He needs to be in a ruined castle, and a Grand Nekromant has to be there to cast the Blood Rite ritual. The Malefic Markgraf is a great unit--it's a heavily-armored caster that can fly, is resistant to all kinds of damage, and is immortal so long as you still control the ruined castle you spawned him in. The Malefic Markgraf can raise dead, and any sanity lost from doing so can be regained by eating settlements. The downside to the Malefic Markgraf is you need access to a ruined castle to get one.


Malefic Master
HP:20 Str:6 Mor:15 MR:9 Armor:3
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Regeneration; Immortal; Banishable; Slash Resistance; Blunt Resistance; Flying; Cannot Pass Rivers ; Regain Sanity(1)
Attacks:
Necromancy LV3
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)+3
Life Drain: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-9)

The Malefic Master is an upgraded Malefic Markgraf. He has better stats across the board and slowly regains lost sanity, plus is your only unit that can cast Level 3 Necromancy spells. The Malefic Master is also your only unit that has access to the Blood Servant ritual, which he can use to turn Markmeisters into Malefic Markmeisters. Malefic Masters are great leaders and really effective in battle, but you might want to consider parking them at your ruined castle to pump out Malefic Markmeisters and/or Ghoul Barons rather than lead directly.


Ghoul Baron
HP:5 Str:2 Mor:4 MR:6 Armor:2
Sense Dead; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Enables Recruitment (Ghoul Guardian)
Attacks:
Necromancy LV1
Ghoul Hammer: IN:5 RNG:1 DAM:(1-7)-1 Ghoulifies, Disease (MR resist)

The Ghoul Baron is an upgrade to the Markgraf or a Markmeister by using the Flesh Rite ritual in a ruined castle. Only use this on Markmeisters as it's a terrible waste of your Markgraf when you could turn him into a vampire instead. Ghoul Barons are weak necromancy casters and can eat villages to restore sanity. Their weapons are pretty great too, but you probably don't want your Ghoul Barons getting into direct fights. The real advantage of a Ghoul Baron is that they open the door to recruiting Ghoul Guardians at any citadel you own.


Ghoulgraf
HP:6 Str:2 Mor:4 MR:6 Armor:2
Sense Dead; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Enables Recruitment (Ghoul Guardian)
Attacks:
Necromancy LV2
Ghoul Hammer: IN:5 RNG:1 DAM:(1-7) Ghoulifies, Disease (Hard MR resist)

Ghoulgrafs are an upgrade to the Ghoul Baron. They can cast Necromancy LV2, have an additional HP and their Ghoul Hammer is a little nastier but otherwise everything about Ghoul Barons apply to them.


Malefic Markmeister
HP:15 Str:5 Mor:15 MR:8 Armor:3
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Regeneration; Immortal; Banishable; Slash Resistance; Blunt Resistance; Flying; Cannot Pass Rivers; Leadership(1)
Attacks:
Necromancy LV1
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)+1
Life Drain: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-6)

By using the Blood Servant ritual, a Malefic Master can convert Markmeisters into vampires--Malefic Markmeisters. The vampire Markmeister is straight-up a better upgrade than the ghoul upgrade, but is more limited in that any Nekromant can ghoulify a Markmeister; only the Malefic Master make more vampires. The Malefic Markmeister is essentially a weaker version of the Malefic Markgraf. Their stats are a little lower, and they can only use Level 1 Necromancy spells. They can otherwise do anything that a vampire Markgraf can do. Plus they have Leadership, which Malefic Markgraf/Master does not.


Malefic Hauptmarkmeister
HP:16 Str:5 Mor:15 MR:8 Armor:3
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Regeneration; Immortal; Banishable; Slash Resistance; Blunt Resistance; Flying; Cannot Pass Rivers; Leadership(1)
Attacks:
Necromancy LV2
Shortsword: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)+1
Life Drain: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-7)

Using the Ritual of Mastery ability with a Malefic Markmeister will upgrade them to the Malefic Hauptmarkmeister. The stat boosts are minimal; the addition of level 2 Necromancy and rituals are the primary difference between the two units.


Corpse Nekromant
HP:8 Str:4 Mor:8 MR:7 Armor:1
Sense Dead; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Regain Sanity(1)
Attacks:
Necromancy LV1
Staff: IN:5 1 DAM:(1-3)+3
Life Drain: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-8)

If a Nekromant casts Twiceborn in a citadel and dies, they come back as a Corpse Nekromant. Corpse Nekromants are hardier and more powerful than living Nekromants, and slowly regain lost sanity. They're decent leaders but should be quickly upgraded when possible.


Wight Nekromant
HP:10 Str:4 MR:9 MR:8 Armor:1
Sense Dead; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Regain Sanity(2)
Attacks:
Necromancy LV2
Staff: IN:5 RNG:1 DAM:(1-3)+3
Life Drain: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-9)

The Wight Nekromant is an upgraded Corpse Nekromant. The Wight Necromant can cast Level 2 Necromancy spells and has better stats than the Corpse Nekromant, but the biggest difference is the rapid regaining of sanity per month.


Ghost Nekromant
HP:8 Str:4 Mor:8 MR:8 Armor:0
Stealth; Spirit Sight; Sense Dead; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Causes Fear; Plane Shift; Floating; Ethereal
Attacks:
Necromancy LV1
Life Drain: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-9)

Nekromants that die after having cast Twiceborn in a graveyard come back as Ghost Nekromants. Ghost Nekromants don't regain sanity like Corpse Nekromant but in other respects are a superior unit. They're Ethereal, Floating, and can travel to Hades at will. The only disadvantage to them is that graveyards aren't as common as citadels (though the Markgraf starts with one by his home base)


Grand Ghost Nekromant
HP:10 Str:4 Mor:8 MR:9 Armor:0
Stealth; Spirit Sight; Sense Dead; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Causes Fear; Plane Shift; Floating; Ethereal; Regain Sanity(1)
Attacks:
Necromancy LV2
Life Drain: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-10)

The Grand Ghost Nekromant is the upgraded version of the Ghost Nekromant. Grand Ghost Nekromants can cast Level 2 Necromancy spells, have better stats than Ghost Nekromants and naturally regain lost sanity. They're probably your best commander other than the vampire commanders.

Raised Dead

These units are summoned with the Raise Dead or Reanimate animals rituals.



Longdead
HP:5 Str:4 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:1
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian; Shield
Attacks:
Varies

A chaff unit that can spawn with a variety of different weapons. Note that some of the above stats can vary based on equipment. Longdead are better in combat than most of your other Raise Dead summons since they can actually have a weapon. They're less useful to you than they are to a Necromancer since you can't upgrade them. They're still useful as disposable targets.


Soulless
HP:10 Str:5 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian; Clumsy; Slow
Attacks:
Fist: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-1)+1

A trash meat shield unit. They can't hit anything since they're clumsy, and they're slow too. Unlike the Necromancer you can't upgrade them either. Still, they're hardier than most of your national units, so they're useful as a wall of meat to stand there while you pepper the enemy with your crossbows.


Longdead Vanara
HP:3 Str:4 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian
Attacks:
Varies

An garbage undead monkey whose sole reason for existing is to take attacks and die instead of a more valuable unit.


Soulless Vanara
HP:10 Str:5 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian; Slow; Clumsy
Attacks:
Fist: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-1)+1

They're Soulless, only they're monkeys. Less useful to a Necromancer since you can't upgrade them; indistinguishable from humanoid Soulless to you since you can't upgrade either unit.


Little Longdead
HP:1 Str:2 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian
Attacks:
Varies

Utterly worthless units; one of the worst in the game. Spawns with a variety of different weapons, though with only 1 HP won't get very far. Can be upgraded into Bane Fire Crossbows though which are useful in the right circumstances. Hard to get in numbers unless you kill off your own troops and resurrect them, or get into fights with other Hoburgs.


Little Soulless
HP:4 Str:3 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian; Slow; Clumsy
Attacks:
Fist: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-1)

These guys don't have much use other than to soak up a hit or two for a better unit behind them. Like regular Soulless they can't hit anything since they're clumsy, and even then they deal pitiful damage. Though difficult to gather enough units to do so, you can upgrade them at a citadel to units that can soak up an additional hit or so and maybe deal a little bit more damage if they manage to hit, but even then they're strictly chaff.


Longdead Giant
HP:20 Str:7 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:1
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian
Attacks:
Broadsword: IN:4 RNG:1 DAM:(1-6)+8

If you cast Raise Dead on a tile where some giants died, you can get these units. They're much stronger than your typical zombies, with more HP, armor, and they pack a punch too. Still they're disposable and probably won't last more than a few fights at most.


Soulless Giant
HP:60 Str:8 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian; Slow; Clumsy
Attacks:
Fist: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-1)+8

Soulless Giants are like other Soulless in that they're hardy and terrible at hitting things. Soulless Giants aren't going to be killing much but they're giant sacks of HP and are great at soaking up hits.
Unfortunately you can't get very many of them since dead giants are pretty rare.


Longdead Animal
HP:3 Str:4 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian;
Attacks:
Bite: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5)

Chaff, and less useful chaff than regular Longdead since they have fewer HP and no weapons. They might be easy to summon in numbers if you're up against a Druid or your map is full of Ancient Forests.


Restless Carcass
HP:11 Str:5 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian; Clumsy; Fast
Attacks:
Antlers: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-3)

The Soulless equivalent of an animal, Restless Carcasses are more useful than their human counterparts. They still have troulbe hitting things, but they're fast, have a little more HP, and when they do hit, hit harder. They're still just meatshields though.


Longdead Beast
HP:18 Str:6 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian; Causes Fear
Attacks:
Bite: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-10)
Claw: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-6)

Longdead Beasts are one of the more useful zombie summons, but they're hard to find outside of Ancient Forests. They deal quite a bit of damage, have a good amount of HP, and cause fear. They won't last terribly long since they can't heal, but they're nice to have.


Carcass Beast
HP:42 Str:8 Mor:99 MR:1 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Lifeless; Amphibian; Clumsy
Attacks:
Bite: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-8)
Claw: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-4)

Carcass Beasts are giant animal Soulless. They're one of the better summons you can get, as they have tons of HP, making them great meatshields. While they can't hit easily since they're Clumsy, they do deal decent damage when they manage to hit their targets.

Lesser Summons

These are units summoned with the Lesser Summoning ritual.


Bane
HP:25 Str:6 Mor:8 MR:6 Armor:2
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable
Attacks:
Bane Blade: IN:4 RNG:1 DAM:(1-10)+2 Sweep; Decay(standard save)

You only get one per cast of Lesser Summoning, but the Bane is one of your better summons. Good HP, good armor, and a great weapon. The Bane Blade can hit multiple enemies at once, does great damage, and if the target fails a MR check gets hit with Decay, which is a death sentence.


Dire Wolf
HP:46 Str:7 Mor:7 MR:5 Armor:0
Acute Senses; Fast
Attacks:
Horrible Howl: IN:1 RNG:3 DAM:(1-7 Fear) cone 6
Bite: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-17)

Dire Wolves are surprisingly good summons--lots of HP for a 1-tile unit, great damage with its attack, and its howl is great at causing morale checks and causing enemies to flee. You only get one per cast though, so they're hard to accumulate in numbers.


Dispossessed Spirit
HP:1 Str:1 Mor:99 MR:5 Armor:0
Stealth; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Ethereal; Mindless; Plane Shift; Floating
Attacks:
Touch of the dead: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-3) Weakness(standard save)

An absolutely worthless unit, Dispossessed Spirits are one of the weakest units in the game. They're a complete waste of a Lesser Summoning spell--hope you don't get them.


Ghost Warrior
HP:6 Str:4 Mor:6 MR:6 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Ethereal; Banishable; Plane Shift; Floating
Attacks:
Spectral Sword: IN:4 RNG:1 DAM:(1-6)

Ghost Warriors are pretty good frontline units, and are better than their stats would suggest as they're ethereal and hard to hurt. Being spirit units they're extra useful because they can float over bodies of water and aren't affected by most terrain either. They're not a great result from Lesser Summoning since you can just recruit them so long as you can take over a citadel in Hades, but they're expensive to buy that way too.


Mound King
HP:6 Str:5 Mor:15 MR:5 Armor:1
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Heals; Pierce Resistance; Shield; Banishable (Destroy); Lifeless; Amphibian
Attacks:
Broadsword: IN:4 RNG:1 DAM:(1-6)+1

Mound Kings are unusual for a Lesser Summon as they're commanders. They're pretty mediocre commanders as they can never heal, but as Amphibians they can lead troops of zombies underwater. They're not a great result from a cast of Lesser Summoning, but they have their uses.


Raven Familiar
HP:2 Str:1 Mor:2 MR:6 Armor:0
Farsight; Sense Dead; Tiny; Fast; Flying
Attacks:
Beak IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-1)

Pretty mediocre units, the Raven Familiar is a support unit. It's not going to be of any use in combat, but its Farsight and Sense Dead abilities are pretty useful on the map. They're kind of a waste of Hands but they're not completely useless.


Shade
HP:5 Str:4 Mor:99 MR:6 Armor:0
Stealth; Spirit Sight; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Ethereal; Mindless; Plane Shift; Floating
Attacks:
Touch of the dead: IN:3 RNG:1 DAM:(1-4) Weakness (standard)

Shades are like Disposessed Spirits that aren't completely worthless. They have some decent survivability compared to some of your undead units, but they're mostly chaff.


Shade Beast
HP:5 Str:4 Mor:99 MR:6 Armor:0
Stealth; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Ethereal; Mindless; Plane Shift; Fast; Floating
Attacks:
Reanimating Bite: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-5) Reanimates victim

Shade Beasts are like Shades but better. They're fast and surprisingly good at mounting fortifications and munching on enemy archers. If they manage to kill an enemy unit, they also reanimate it as a zombie for your forces.


Spectral Archer
HP:4 Str:4 Mor:6 MR:6 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Ethereal; Banishable; Plane Shift; Floating
Attacks:
Spectral Bow: IN:2 RNG:5 DAM:(1-3)
Spectral Weapons: IN:4 RNG:1 DAM:(1-3)

Very effective ghost archers. Hard to kill because they're ethereal; in many ways they're your most useful ranged unit as they are largely unaffected by terrain and can pop in and out of Hades at will, providing you've got a ghost commander leading them. Like Ghost Warriors, you can hire them in Hades so you can get access to them without Lesser Summoning. Still, they're a good result from the ritual.


Spectral Horseman
HP:13 Str:5 Mor:16 MR:6 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Ethereal; Banishable; Plane Shift; Floating; Fast
Attacks:
Spectral Lance: IN:5 RNG:1 DAM:(1-10)
Spectral Weapons: IN:4 RNG:1 DAM:(1-6)

Spectral Horsemen are really nice ghost cavalry units, and are exceptionally good at ignoring enemy fortifications. They do good damage, and are difficult to kill. You can hire them at citadel in Hades, but they're very expensive (150 gold for 3) so Lesser Summoning can sometimes be a better way to get them, unless you're unlucky and only get 1 per cast.


Wight
HP:20 Str:6 Mor:8 MR:6 Armor:1
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable
Attacks:
Life Drain: IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-8)

Wights are interesting units in that they can heal themselves with their primary attack. They've got good HP and some armor, but you only get one per cast which isn't fantastic. Still, they're among your hardier lesser summons and you can get some good utility out of them.

Greater Summons

These are units summoned by the Greater Summoning ritual.


Banshee
HP:8 Str:4 Mor:9 MR:8 Armor:0
Spirit Sight; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Ethereal; Banishable; Causes Fear; Plane Shift; Floating
Attacks:
Death Wail: IN:8 RNG:1 Dam:(1-999) Burst 25(standard save)

Banshees are something of a glass cannon. They're a little on the fragile side, but if they manage to close ranks with the enemy before getting shot up, their Death Wail straight up deletes anything that doesn't make their save.


Carrion
HP:18 Str:4 Mor:15 MR:5 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Immortal; Putrid Explosion on Death(5); Flying
Attacks:
Bite: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-7)
Claw: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-5)

These units are commanders, but they can't lead other units. When they die they explode and deal damage to everything around them in a small radius. Then they reform so you can keep throwing them at the enemy over and over. You probably don't want Carrion with your main army as when they go off they'll kill your own units too. They can be situationally useful, especially in groups, but aren't fantastic units.


Death Knight
HP:33 Str:7 Mor:9 MR:8 Armor:3
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Ethereal; Banishable; Pierce Resistance; Regain Sanity(1); Fast
Attacks:
Necromancy Lv2
Lance Charge: IN:5 RNG:1 Dam:(1-15)
Mace: IN:3 RNG:1 Dam:(1-5)+6
Firey Breath: IN:7 RNG:1 Dam:(1-7) burst 1
Hoof: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-5)

Death Knights are one of your better commanders. They're hardy, fast, and have good armor, can cast Necromancy spells, use lesser rituals, and have a good set of attacks.


Dracolich
HP:150 Str:10 Mor:99 MR:8 Armor:2
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable(destroy); Never Heals; Pierce Resistance; Mindless; Lifeless; Causes Fear; Putrid Explosion on Death(5); Giant
Attacks:
Putrid Cloud: IN:4 RNG:4 (1-6) wide cone 10; disease(hard save)
Bite: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-19)
Claw: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-17)

Dracoliches are very powerful units that are hardy, deal lots of damage, have a powerful breath weapon, and explode on death like a Carrion. Their biggest problem is that they're zombie units and can't ever heal, and will be straight up destroyed if banished. Still they're one of the best units you can field.


Ghost
HP:8 Str:4 Mor:8 MR:8 Armor:0
Stealth; Spirit Sight; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Ethereal; Causes Fear; Plane Shift; Floating
Attacks:
Life Drain: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-10)

I'm honestly not sure why Ghosts count as a major summon; they're not bad units but they're weaker than most of your other greater summons. They can heal themselves with their Life Drain in melee but otherwise there's really nothing special about them. They're absolutely not worth 75 Hands.


Tartarian Spirit
HP:122 Str:12 Mor:10 MR:8 Armor:2
Spirit Sight; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Pierce Resistance; Causes Fear; Giant; Mountain Move; Passwall
Attacks:
Necromancy Lv2
Geomancy LV2
Tartarian Chain x2: IN:5 RNG:1 Dam:1-7(+20)* Shield Negating; Enslave (standard save)

Tartarian Spirits are probably your overall best summon. They're hardy, have powerful magic and attacks, and a lot of great abilities. They can Passwall so they can enter Agartha or Inferno freely if you want to visit those planes. Geomancy is also one of your best weapons if you're facing undead as well, as the other magic paths you have easy access to, Necromancy and Unlife, don't work well against undead and lifeless units.


Wraith
HP:25 Str:4 Mor:8 MR:7 Armor:0
Stealth; Spirit Sight; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Ethereal; Plane Shift; Floating; Library Mastery
Attacks:
Unlife LV1
Wraithsword: IN:4 RNG:1 Dam:(1-10)+3 Sweep

Wraith Lord
HP:25 Str:4 Mor:8 MR:9 Armor:0
Stealth; Spirit Sight; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Ethereal;Immortal; Plane Shift; Floating; Library Mastery
Attacks:
Unlife LV2
Wraithsword: IN:4 RNG:1 Dam:(1-10)+3 Sweep

Wraith King
HP:25 Str:4 Mor:8 MR:10 Armor:0
Stealth; Spirit Sight; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable; Ethereal; Immortal; Plane Shift; Floating
Attacks:
Unlife LV3
Wraithsword: IN:4 RNG:1 Dam:(1-10)+3 Sweep

Wraiths are fantastic units, but they only really shine if you have access to a Library to upgrade them. Their greatest strength is their access to the Unlife magic path. Wraith Lords and Wraith Kings are also immortal as a bonus. Wraiths are your only native unit other than your Markgraf himself that can make it to Level 3 magic. Of course that's predicated on having access to a Level 3 library, which is a big if.


Ziz
HP:130 Str:9 Mor:99 MR:7 Armor:1
Cold resistance (100); Shock Resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Causes Fear; Giant; Flying
Attacks:
Drop Boulder: IN:1 RNG:50 Dam:(1-60) Siege; Scatter; Attacks once every 3 rounds
Bite: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-21)

The Ziz is essentially a flying siege unit that can attack once prebattle is over. They're pretty hardy and decent units, though you probably want to save them for actual sieges, otherwise they'll get slowly whittled down since they don't heal. If you want to embark on the probably fruitless venture that is conquering Orcus' citadel in Hades, you'll probably need a lot of these, since you can't get catapults down there.

Other Summons

These units are summoned by special, specific rituals (rather than being selected from a pool like Lesser/Greater summoning)


Raven Spy
HP:2 Str:1 Mor:2 MR:4 Armor:0
Stealth; Farsight; Sense Dead; Tiny; Noncombatant; Fast; Flying; Stupid
Attacks:
Beak IN:2 RNG:1 DAM:(1-1)

The Raven Spy is unsurprisingly summoned with Raven Spy ritual. It acts as an invisible scout which is Stupid so will move about the map at random. Despite having a weapon it's a noncombatant which means it can't fight and will immediately die if found by an enemy. Can be slightly useful but is unpredictable so regular scouts are usually better.


Ghoul
HP:10 Str:5 Mor:10 MR:4 Armor:0
Sense Dead; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable(Destroy)
Attacks:
Ghoul Claw: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-4) Ghoulifies; Disease(hard save)

You can get Ghouls with the Ravenous Curse ritual. Any living unit killed by a ghoul will also be raised as one of your ghouls as well. They're kind of like slightly stronger Soulless. They're decent meatshields and they can technically replenish their numbers when they manage to kill something. They're not usually worth nuking a village for but at least you don't lose sanity for summoning them.


Little Ghoul
HP:4 Str:4 Mor:10 MR:5 Armor:0
Sense Dead; Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Banishable(Destroy); Slow
Attacks:
Ghoul Claw: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-3) Ghoulifies; Disease(hard save)

Little Ghouls are Hoburg ghouls, also summoned using Ravenous Curse. They're weaker than Ghouls and you usually get them from eating Hoburg villages, though you can get them from regular villages as well. Not a great unit overall, and certainly not worth losing a village over.


Flesh Golem
HP:26 Str:5 Mor:99 MR:4 Armor:0
Shock Resistance(100); Poison Resistance(100); Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Mindless; Lifeless
Attacks:
Fist: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-1)+4

Flesh Golems are summoned with the Create Flesh Golem ritual. They're straight meatshields. They do okay damage and aren't undead so can't be banished. They're pretty cheap, too, and don't cost sanity to create. Their primary downside is that for a disposable unit, they take a very long time to gather in numbers.


Abomination
HP:131 Str:10 Mor:99 MR:7 Armor:0
Cold resistance (100); Poison Resistance (100); Undead; Sleep Immunity; Charm Immunity; Never Healing; Pierce Resistance; Banishable (Destroy); Mindless; Causes Fear; Giant; Causes Fear; Absorb Dead(3); Giant
Attacks:
Fist: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-1)+2
Gore: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-6)
Foul Claw: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-5) Disease(hard save)
Claw: IN:2 RNG:1 Dam:(1-5)
Incorporate: IN:1 RNG:1 Dam: Absorbs non-giant units (standard save)

Abominations are summoned with the Animate Abomination ritual. Abominations are a bizarre zombie unit that has a lot of attacks, but whose most notable ability is their Incorporate and Absorb Dead abilities. Incorporate straight up eats adjacent units who fail their save, up to 3 at a time. Eaten units heal the Abomination and are slowly digested. Absorb Dead absorbs up to 3 corpses on the present tile at the end of the turn, healing the Abomination and even increasing their HP past its maximum. Abominations are great units, but they're very hard to summon, since it's rare to find a tile with 50 corpses required.

Necromancy

Necromancy is the school of magic most readily available to the Markgraf. You're not as good at it as the Necromancer class, though. It's much harder to access the full suite of Level 3 spells as a Markgraf, and many Necromancy spells are geared for an undead-only army that the Markgraf usually won't field.

Level 1 Necromancy

Black Cloud
This spell diseases a group of non-lifeless units in burst 5, with a standard MR check applying to resist the effect. Disease reduces unit strength by 1 and slowly kills them outside of combat. It's not a really useful ailment to apply as 1 less strength isn't that big a deal, and presumably you don't want the enemy surviving to experience the out-of-combat effects.

Bolt of Unlife
Does 1-6 magic damage with a difficult MR check negating. Doesn't affect lifeless units, and any units killed by this spell come back as a Soulless on your side. A pretty good level 1 spell.

Decay
Hits a single unit with Decay, with a standard MR check negating. One of your best Level 1 spells as virtually nothing can survive Decay, even if they win the battle.

Disease
Inflicts Disease on a single unit, with a hard MR check negating. Disease is not a good ailment to apply in general so this is not a good spell to pick unless you have no other options.

Drain Life
Deals 1-6 magic damage to an enemy, draining any HP damage dealt and giving it to the caster. Probably the best level 1 damage-dealing spell as it works on anything that's not Lifeless, but the range is short.

Fear
Deals 1-12 "Fear" damage--if the roll is higher than the target's morale, it turns and flees the battle. Can be resisted with MR, but is a difficult save. A decent spell; if it works it gets rid of the target for the duration of battle.

Raise Longdead
Summons a Longdead for the duration of the battle. Not a bad spell to spam, but it's more useful when you've got a small army as they'll spawn close to the caster, which is usually at the back of the army where they'll do less good, unless they come with bows.

Reanimation
Summons a Soulless for the duration of the battle. Like Raise Longdead, a good spammable spell, but Soulless do even less good than Longdead at the back of your army as they're primarily meatshield units.

Strength Sap
Hits units in a burst 3 group with the Weakness debuff. Doesn't work on undead or lifeless units, and can be resisted but only with a difficult MR save. Weakness reduces Strength and damage of a unit by 2 which makes it a much better affliction than Disease.

Level 2 Necromancy

Bane Fire
Hits a target with 1-20 Magic damage, with a burst 9 Decay explosion on hit, which can only be resisted with a hard MR save. A great spell that (often) kills a single target and dooms others near it.

Cloud of Death
A burst 25 Decay spell. Has a standard MR check instead of a difficult one, but can potentially wipe a significant portion of an enemy army, though not immediately. Note that your own units can get caught in the blast, so this spell can be dangerous.

Dance Macabre
Summons 1-5 Longdeads, but otherwise the same as Raise Longdead. Much better than that spell for quickly adding temporary units to your army.

Dark power
This spell does 1-7 magic damage to 3 units in range. It can't be resisted and all damage done is added to the caster's HP. Doesn't affect Lifeless units though. A great spell for damaging enemies and keeping your caster alive at the same time.

Finger of Death
Deals 1-999 damage to a single non-Lifeless target, which almost always kills it. Even if they somehow manage to survive, they'll be paralyzed unless they make a standard MR save. A very good spell.

Plague
A burst 25 Disease spell with a standard MR check. Only enemy units are affected, but as Disease doesn't make that much difference in battle, you probably have better choices available for a spell slot.

Soul Vortex
A burst 9 Drain spell that does 1-6 magic damage and adds any damage done to the caster. Potentially much deadlier than the semi-equivalent Dark Power spell, but can only be cast from somewhat short range.

Terror
A burst 25 Fear spell with a difficult MR check. Slightly less effective than the Fear spell at routing units as the "fear" damage is only 1-8 instead of 1-12, but affects a bigger group. Won't affect your own units.

Weakness
A burst 25 Weakness spell that can be resisted with a difficult MR save. Situationally useful, but also can affect your own units. Of course since undead and lifeless units are not affected, there's a good chance that won't matter.

Wither
A burst 5 Decay spell. It has less range and a smaller area of effect than Cloud of Death, but is harder to resist as it requires a difficult MR check. Also can hit your own units.

Level 3 Necromancy Spells

Army of the Dead
Summons 1-18 Longdead for the duration of the battle. Like the other summons, they are summoned close to the caster, but this spell can rapidly build up a wall protecting your rear ranks. A pretty good spell.

Bane Fire Vortex
Deals 1-30 magic damage in a burst 9 blast, but can be negated by a standard MR check. Also hits units with a burst 3 Decay secondary effect, though that's negated by an easy MR check. This spell can wipe a significant chunk of units, but only if they fail their MR checks. It's not that effective against units with high MR values. Also note that any of your own units caught in the blast can be affected.

Black Death
Attempts to Disease every unit on the battlefield, friend or foe, that's not Lifeless and thus unaffected. A standard MR check negates the effect. This is a terrible spell for the Markgraf as there's a very good chance you'll be running around with a significant number of living Hoburg units that will be affected. Disease does little to affect the tide of battle, but it sure will kill off any affected Hoburgs that survive the battle quickly!

Chill of the Dead
This spell deals 1-13 unresistable cold damage in a burst 25 blast. Units that survive and aren't undead or lifeless will be afflicted with Weakness ailment if they don't make a difficult MR check. One of the best damaging spells in your arsenal. Will hit your own units though.

Death Spell
Does 1-20 Magic damage in a burst 25 blast. Unresistable and no type of enemy is immune to it. Probably the best damage spell available to you. Unfortunately will affect any of your own units caught in the blast.

Invulnerability
Will make the caster immune to non-magical piercing, blunt, and slashing damage. A nice effect to be sure, but is it really worth using a spell slot for this? Most of the time your caster will be in the back ranks and won't get hit with weapon attacks anyway. Not bad if you're up against a lot of long range archers I suppose.

Shade of Death
Hits the entire battlefield with Weakness, except for undead and lifeless units which are immune. Requires a difficult MR check to resist. A great spell, though it kind of neuters any Hoburg units you bring into the battle.

Soul Drain
Does 1-5 Magic damage to the entire battlefield, and adds any HP drained to the caster. Doesn't affect Lifeless units though. A fantastic spell, but you have to be very careful with your army composition as you risk wiping out a large portion of it. This especially applies to the Markgraf, who's likely to have a decent contingent of living units.

Tendrils of Death
This spell hits 7 targets with Disease, Decay, and Weakness simultaneously if they don't succeed a difficult MR check. It's a lot less indiscriminate than a lot of your ailment spells. Plus, it has the added benefit of weakening affected targets significantly until Decay eventually kills them.

Unlife Magic

Unlife Magic deserves a special mention as your Wraith summons can use it, and they can upgrade all the way to Level 3, giving you full access to all the path's spells. Unlife spells are, with the exception of two spells, a subset of the Necromancy magic path, focusing primarily on damage-dealing spells. It's a smaller spellbook but the ratio of good to bad spells is much better so it feels like less of a roll of the dice when you send a Wraith to the library.

Level 1 Unlife Spells

Aura of Unlife
One of the two unique Unlife spells, this spell deals 1-6 Magic damage to any non-Lifeless unit adjacent to the caster. It's not terrible if you get surrounded, but the Wraith isn't a combat caster so you're also less likely to succeed in the casting.

All of the below level 1 spells are identical to their Necromancy counterparts:

Bolt of Unlife
Drain Life
Strength Sap

Level 2 Unlife Spells

All Level 2 Unlife Spells are identical to their Necromancy counterparts:

Dark Power
Finger of Death
Soul Vortex
Weakness

Level 3 Unlife Spells

Symbol of Unlife
The second unique Unlife spell, Symbol of Unlife is a large burst 100 blast that does 1-2 Magic damage to enemies only, and can be resisted with a standard MR check. Anything it kills is revived as a Soulless. It doesn't sound like much but cast multiple times can be quite effective.

The other two Level 3 Unlife spells function as the Necromancy Level 3 spells of the same name:

Chill of the Dead
Soul Drain

Rituals

Core Rituals

Lesser Ritual of Mastery (10 hands)
This ritual will give your unit an additional Level 1 ritual.

Ritual of Mastery (60 hands for tier 1 mages, 30 hands for tier 2+ mages)
This ritual will give your unit an additional Level 2 ritual. It will also upgrade a Nekromant into a Grand Nekromant, a Corpse Necromant into a Wight Nekromant, and a Ghost Nekromant into a Grand Ghost Nekromant.

Ritual of Grand Mastery (240 hands)
Only the Malefic Markgraf can use this ritual. It upgrades him to a Malefic Master and gives him the Blood Servant ritual.

Level 1 Rituals

Raise Dead (2AP)
Your bread-and-butter zombie creation ritual. This will revive humanoid Longdead or Soulless, the variety and quantity of which will depend on the location. (e.g. if there are dead giants where you cast the spell, you'll get zombie giants) The more dead you raise, the more insane the caster will get. Each turn, insane commanders have a % chance equal to their insanity level to refuse to act

Reanimate Animals (2AP)
This ritual is identical to Raise Dead, except it will raise dead animals rather than humanoids. You'll get notification on the ritual screen whether or not there are any dead animals where you are. Zombie animals are generally less useful than zombie humanoids, but depending on the location you might get more bang for your buck with this.

Minor Summoning (10 Hands)
Minor Summoning gets you some basic units.You either get a single Bane, Dire Wolf, Mound King, Raven Familiar, or Spectral Horseman, or a handful of Dispossessed Spirits, Ghost Warriors, Shades, Shade beasts, or Spectral Archers. It's a cheap ritual but most of the units are low-quality.

Twiceborn (30 Hands)
This ritual will bring the Nekromant back as the undead when they die. Nekromants that cast this ritual in citadels come back as Corpse or Wight Nekromants, and Nekromants that cast this ritual in graveyards come back as Ghost or Grand Ghost Nekromants. This is a critical ritual for your Nekromants as their undead versions are so much better, to the point that you probably want to straight-up suicide them once it's cast. Any battle afflictions come back with the Nekromant when they get upgraded, so the most efficient way to bring them back as undead is to put them on a frozen water tile and let them drown when the weather heats up.

Flesh Rite (50 Hands)
This ritual will turn a Markgraf or a Markmeister into a Ghoul Baron. Both the target unit and the caster need to be in an Old Castle Ruin. Ghoul Barons can be upgraded into Ghoulgrafs and are better units than the base Markgraf or Markmeister, but it's a terrible waste to use Flesh Rite on your Markgraf when Blood Rite exists.

Dark Knowledge (3 Hands)
Dark Knowledge reveals a 3x3 tile area around a spot where there are a lot of dead. Useful when you're looking to find a spot ideal for using Raise Dead, but also somewhat useful as a scouting ritual as well. Overall it's fairly situational.

Raven Spy (5 Hands)
This ritual summons a Raven Spy, an uncontrollable scout unit that randomly wanders the map. Except at the beginning of the game when you have none of the fog of war cleared, this isn't terribly useful as the Raven Spy is erratic, unpredictable, and easily killed.

Level 2 Rituals

Major Summoning (75 Hands)
This ritual will summon a Banshee, Carrion, Death knight, Dracolich, Ghost, Tartarian Spirit, Wraith, or Ziz. They're all single units and range from very powerful (Tartarian Spirit) to nearly worthless (Ghost). The Markgraf doesn't have access to a lot of good units, and this ritual is your best avenue to getting something decent.

Create Flesh Golem (5 Gold, 5 humanoid corpses, 2 AP)
Creates a Flesh Golem. Flesh Golems are cheap and hardy, but whether it's worth summoning one of these or using the corpses to create more chaff undead is debatable. It takes a while to call up enough Flesh Golems to make a difference too.

Ravenous Curse (40 Hands)
This ritual summons a pack of Ghouls or Little Ghouls on a settlement of village size or smaller. it also reduces the settlement's size by 1 level, or destroys it outright if it's a farm. Ghouls are significantly better than most Raise Dead undead and don't cost any sanity to call, but by using this ritual you're permanently reducing your income so that needs to be taken into account.

Animate Abomination (50 Hands, 50 corpses, 2 AP)
Summons an Abomination, a powerful unit that can eat enemies or corpses to increase its power. Abominations are definitely nice units, but A) finding a spot with 50 corpses is difficult and B) whether or not a single Abomination is more valuable than 50 chaff undead is highly debatable. If the cost was a little less extreme this ritual would be a lot more useful.

Blood Rite (125 Hands)
This ritual turns your Markgraf into a vampire, the Malefic Markgraf. The Markgraf obviously has to be present and it can only be cast in old castle ruins. Casting this ritual should be one of your primary goals, as it opens the way to getting both Necromancy level 3 and the Level 3 ritual, which is one of the few tools the Markgraf has to set them apart from other factions.

Level 3 Ritual

Blood Servant (75 Hands)
Only the Malefic Master can use this ritual, and needs to be in an old castle ruin along with a Markmeister. The ritual turns the Markmeister into a vampire, the Malefic Markmeister. Vampire Markmeisters are less powerful than the vampire Markgraf, but they're one of the best units you can get, so pumping out as many as possible is one of the best use of your Hands of Glory.

General Advice

Early Game

The early game is most critical for the Markgraf as there's not a lot of room for error. You start the game with the Markgraf, a Nekromant, 10 Hobmark Soldiers, 5 Hobmark Defenders, and Hobmark Crossbows. Assign as many of these as possible to your Nekromant and start expanding. Your immediate goal should be to secure a supply of iron and Hands of Glory, with the former taking precedence. Though you start with a graveyard right by your citadel, avoid the temptation to immediately raise dead with your Nekromant. Your first Nekromant should be leading your forces and providing some backup magic; you can't afford to waste turns with him going insane. As soon as another Nekromant becomes available and you can afford him, buy him, and he can be in charge of raising your undead army.

Once you have a little iron and gold coming in, you'll want to keep an eye open for a Markmeister. Your Markmeister, hopefully with a contingent of Hog Hussars to protect him, will serve as your scout troop. Your goal with this troop is to scout the area, grab any very easy targets of opportunity, and locate an Old Castle Ruin. Conquering this castle ruin should be your first medium-term goal. Hopefully the map is generated in such a way that it's easy to locate and conquer.

In the interim, you should be buying as many Hobmark Crossbows as you can afford and bringing them to the front. Hobmark Crossbows with a screen of shielded Hobmark melee units or undead will be your primary expansion army. Hire Nekromants whenever you can afford them, and focus your Hands on upgrading them to Grand Nekromants and/or using Twiceborn, preferably on a graveyard.

If you get the ball rolling early on you can field a pretty huge army. Your units die quickly but should be able to overwhelm most other armies by an unstoppable hail of crossbow bolts. If you find any weak-ish opponents, now is a good time to try to pick them off before they can get large enough to counter your wave tactics. Barons are particularly dangerous as they can snowball into equally large armies of much better units. Try to kill them before they can get to that point.

Mid-Game

Hopefully you've been able to locate and conquer an Old Castle Ruin. This is your new home base; get your Markgraf there as soon as possible with a Grand Nekromant and upgrade him into a Malefic Markgraf. Then save up the Hands for a Grand Ritual of Mastery to upgrade him into a Malefic Master. Once you have a Malefic Master, you can start spamming vampire commanders by hiring Markmeisters at the old castle ruin and immediately turning them into vampires.

At this point you'll probably be a little less reliant on your Hobmark Crossbows and hopefully have some decent mages, preferably having turned into undead mages via Twiceborn. You'll want to split your Hands income between creating new vampires and using Greater Summoning and hoping for Tartarian Spirits or Wraiths. Tartarian Spirits are excellent units that are on par with a lot of end game summons so getting them online early will make a big difference. If you can't manage to find or conquer an old castle ruin, focus all your hands in summoning greater undead and hope for the best.

At this point you should be trying to take out as many opponents as possible with a combination of greater undead, Necromancy spells, and Hobmark Crossbows, and hope they don't start unlocking abilities that you don't have a good method of dealing with. If you can get to your opponents before they can put together a doomstack or get powerful area of effect magic online, you can be quite a force to be reckoned with. Just don't let them get to that point.

Endgame

Markgrafs don't have much of an endgame. Vampire commanders are great but by themselves won't usualy turn the tide of battle on their own--though their immortality goes a long way. A major goal of the Markgraf is not to get this far, and take out the other factions in the early or midgame. If you've reached a point where you've conquered half the map and another faction has conquered the other half, you're probably on the back foot. Try not to let it happen.

Exploring the Planes

The Markgraf isn't great at exploring the other planes. Tartarian Spirits can get to Agartha and Inferno using Passwall, but are unlikely to make much headway there on their own. Likewise your vampire commanders can fly, but will have difficulty conquering the Sky plane without flying units for backup.

Hades is accessible by plane shifting with your Ghost Nekromants, but can be a tough nut to crack for the Markgraf. You'll have to build an army once you get there, as most of your best troops can't plane shift. Conquering a citadel to recruit some more troops is reasonable, but taking on Orcus' palace is probably not feasible without a lot of grinding. Most of the other "boss class" fights on the planes are going to be harder than otherwise for that matter.

Also the Plane of Fire and a large part of Inferno are mostly off-limits. You don't have any fire-immune troops that can survive those areas.

[Draken]

3. Shades, Dire Wolfs, Ghosts and Banshees have a secondary scout role as you do not get any mercenary Scout offers. So getting at least one of those or a Ghost Nekromant in your armies to avoid ambushes. Dire Wolfs have Acute Senses, the other units have Spirit Sight.
4. Killing your own units isn't actually that bad from time to time. Especially in the beginning hiring some Hoburg Militia to die might be a good idea. After all you can use them to body block a second time after raising them. Or for getting Little Bane Fire Crossbows. Or as chaff to stop the enemies from rushing your vampire casters before they start blanketing everything with death spells.

[Draken]

Nice Guide. Thanks for your effort.

1. Carrion's death explosion causes disease. This is a death sentence for most living units. Very useful, even if the kill might happen later.
2. Disease is an important debuff when fighting regenerating enemies, like trolls, as it cuts their regeneration rate in half. That means that a combination of Decay + Disease will kill a regenerating unit.