The Heroes of Armello

This guide introduces the Games Heroes. Initially it will cover the first 4 Heroes that are available under early release and later be updated with the other Heroes once they are available.

---------
14th Sept 2015- Ring effects updated to 1.0. Notes on 2nd tier and Bandit characters added.
24th May 2015 - Ring effects updated to match changes made in 0.3.4 Build "The Royal Bazar"

Rabbit Clan

Amber - The Far Seeker

Background

Former heiress to the illustrious Rabbit Clan, Amber is not your model rabbit nobility. Well, she is, but she also isn't. Socialite, intelligent, industrious, curious, she ticks all the boxes. Problem is, that last one - curious - well, she checks it ten times over. Lady Amber is more concerned with raiding, well, *exploring* ancient dungeons, derelict ruins and forgotten villages. She’s completely obsessed with the lust of the hunt for relics and trinkets of ages long past - for which she has her reasons.
Books and tales of epic expeditions and grand adventures inspired her and now it’s time for this child of the burrows to venture further than ever before.

Stats

• Fight: 3
  
• Body: 4
  
• Wits: 4
  
• Spirit: 4

Talent

Tomb Raider: When Exploring Dungeons, positive outcomes are more common (Treasures/Stones/Followers). Being attacked by Bane's is reduced.

Play Advice

If you start with the Scratch/Fight Amulet, you'll have 4 in each stat which gives you flexibility in quest rewards and makes Banes/players in the early game more tolerable, and normal Kingslaying easier (focus on body and fight quests for this path). Her 4 magic will give you access to Banish and Teleport to help traverse quests. If you chose other amulets, it might be easier to play like a mage, questing mental stats or Stones and avoiding direct combat. Visiting dungeons is usually a good idea especially during the day turns, giving her a slight edge in Spirit Stone victories, but slightly harder time for Rot victory. The Emerald ring is a great bonus to her combats, while having the money from Pink topaz makes cycling items and trickery far more afforable. The diamond ring should be saved for dedicated prestige victory seekers, but it complements farming the dungeons and choosing treasure/follower rewards from quests. Sunstone is not worth using.

Barnaby Screwloose

Background

Background goes here. Barnaby is a child genius of the Rabbit clan. He designed his own armor and uses pieces of more common gear to modify it as the situation requires.

Stats

• Fight: 4
  
• Body: 5
  
• Wits: 4
  
• Spirit: 2

Talent

Tinker: If he equips one piece of gear over another, instead of losing the old gear, it goes back into his hand, with it's equip cost removed. This allows him to drastically alter his gear at will at the cost of needing to burning unwanted items to get rid of them. Gear stolen from him has the cost restored.

Play Advice

Starting with Wits Amulet, will help maintain playing cards alongside your side gear. Starting with spirit is handy for getting off at least 1 spell a night. Barnaby especially enjoys the Pink topaz ring because all that gear is expensive. Emerald is good for his combat focus. Diamond is less useful to him since he's much less likely to have treasures and followers.

Signet Rings

• Diamond: Gain 1 Prestige for each Treasure and Follower Equipped or Recruited (currently. You can't gain infinite prestige by de-equipping and reequipping treasures as Barnaby).
  
• Emerald: Gain +2 Shield on Plains (This applies if you are defending on a plain square or attacking someone else on a Plain square).
  
• Pink Topaz: Increase your per Settlement income by 1 Gold (gain 2 gold per town, instead of 1 gold per town owned).
  
• Sunstone: In +1 Sun result while you have more than 3 Gold in reserve. (Helps Perils and combats). Relatively worthless.

Bear Clan

Sana - Forest Sister

Background

Some say she was raised by the Druids themselves, or that age-old tales foretold her role in the coming of the rebalance. Whatever her fate, she is akin to the Wyld, and its powers are as familiar to her as a mother’s embrace. Sana lacks material needs or desires, instead following the path of the Wyld and the teachings of old. The clan’s soothsayers speak of prophecy, but Sana remains humble. A sorceress and shaman of incredible talent, the Wyld speaks through her, fueling her immense power. They say she will be the one to bring balance, for it already dwells within her.

Stats

• Fight: 2
  
• Body: 5
  
• Wits: 3
  
• Spirit: 5

Talent

Priestess: When in combat with any corrupted Creature, Sana uses her Spirit as her Fight.

Play Advice

Starting with the fight amulet and first quest boost to fight helps nullify her weakness to players and guards, but also makes her less unique a character. To embrace the mage, take the wits amulet and quest for wits first,spirit second- just say away from players/guards. Sana's great at fighting Banes, but get armor before you get too confident or the corruption will negate your advantage (unless you want to Rot Victory. she's fairly good at it). Draw mostly magic, taking items only for equipment, healing, or to save a Hot Rot wine. Trickery are not you friend. She's excellent at kingslaying since her raised spirit often lets her pass the perils whenever she wants (but enter during the day so you avoid guards) Crystallize makes spirit stone victory much easier, while sniping players with spells is a great way to win prestige and keep the king alive. Jade ring is a decent starting ring, but you'll find Amethyst far more useful at generating magic when you need it. Her Quartz ring is a bit hard to use but the only luck free way of cleansing rot. Amber ring caters to the more fight centric Sana.

Brun Oakbreaker

Background

background placeholder. Last of a line of forbidden magic practitioners, the Scarcasters. They store residual wyld energy into the scars on their body and release it to perform feats of great Strength.

Stats

• Fight: 4
  
• Body: 5
  
• Wits: 3
  
• Spirit: 3

Talent

Scarcaster: Every spell card cast gives a stacking bonus of +1 fight Until End of Next turn (based on casting time of each spell) or end of next Combat (All stacks of the bonus). As of 1.0.2 the bonus assists with Fight stat quest risks and is not consumed.

Play Advice

Like Sana, you can either boost his fight to make a straight bruiser, but will get more milage focusing on metal stats. Once again, Draw mostly magic, taking items only for equipment, healing, or to save a Hot Rot wine. Trickery are not you friend. When charged up, focus on eliminating your target as you are much weaker on a rematch. Having lots of cards to burn and the Amber ring will give your high attack much needed control when attacking the king. Cast>combat>cardburn>Cast make the Amethyst extremely helpful. I don't see the value in Quartz for him, since rather than casting rot spells, he can use amethyst to burn them.

Signet Rings

• Quartz: At Dawn, -1 Rot if you’re in a Stone Circle.
  
• Jade: At Dawn, Gain 3 Magic if you’re in a Forest.
  
• Amethyst: Gain 1 Magic for every Magic card burned in Battle.
  
• Amber: Burning Sun or Moon Cards in Battle is always considered a Hit. (This prevents royal shield from working on burned offtime symbols.)

Wolf Clan

Thane - The Winter Wolf

Background

Thane is a name that many who border the clan’s mountainous region know well. From a young pup, tournaments, duels and challenges have fallen in his favor and gained him fame and celebrity status within the clan. This wolf’s skills with a long sword fast became legend, but alas, Thane’s carefree antics drew fire from his father; a weathered, iron wolf of wars passed and adventures trodden, who saw only his son’s inability to lead the clan.
Now with his father slain and his brother in exile, that day has come and this renowned sword is still a pup, not yet a wolf.

Stats

• Fight: 5
  
• Body: 4
  
• Wits: 3
  
• Spirit: 3

Talent

Sword Master: Sword cards Burned in Battle create Piercing Dice. They deal damage through and destroy opponent's shield dice.

Play Advice

Thane's power requires cards in your hand; so raising Wits should be first priority. Getting the Berserker follower is especially useful too, just focus on defense gear since you'll be mostly piercing and can't burn to protect yourself. Magic cards never have the sword symbol, so raising spirit isn't as useful as it is for others. Thane loves combat treasures for farming prestige or Kingslaying. The Celestite Ring makes getting to quests easier and lets you take better advantage of mountain defense and the miner follower. Moonstone or Onyx rings boost your resources to help cycle un-burned cards, the gold from Onyx being more useful. Sapphire's stealth is not worth talking about.

River the Howling Arrow

Background

Background placeholder. River is Thane's sister. Preferred for leadership by the clan for her calm demeanor.

Stats

• Fight: 4
  
• Body: 4
  
• Wits: 4
  
• Spirit: 3

Talent

Huntress: Before initiating combat with a non-ambushing target, shoots an arrow dealing 1 damage. If this arrow kills the target, River does not move into target's space despite using the AP.

Play Advice

River can either raise her fight to match Thane, or adopt more magic stats to synergize with her sniping. She's especially good at defeating characters with Evade, so consider using Wyld Warning to defeat dangerous foes. Her power means she can get an easy kingslay or rot if the game lasts till the king has 1hp, so be wary of those that might attack sooner. Not having to face the king directly lets you be more cavalier with rot gains. Thane's ring notes apply about the same, with Moonstone being a little more useful but still rather weak.

Signet Rings

• Sapphire: Mountains grants Stealth day or night.
  
• Moonstone: Kills in combat grant 1 Magic point.
  
• Onyx: Kills in combat grant 1 gold.
  
• Celestite: No Mountain movement Penalty.

Rat Clan

Mercurio – The Grinning Blade

Background

Mercurio, well… what is there to say. Scoundrel. Scumbag. Romantic. Wiley. Flamboyant. All with a wit like diamond and a tongue of silver. This self-proclaimed Lord rose up out of the shanty towns of the rat capital on the backs and out of the pockets of others. Taverns speak of a rat that always wins, gets the girl, saves the village and feeds the riches to the poor. His victims may speak it a different way. Quick with a dagger, and quicker with his tongue, that’s the true Mercurio.

Stats

• Fight: 4
  
• Body: 4
  
• Wits: 5
  
• Spirit: 2

Talent

Scoundrel: Steal 1 gold from the owner of a Settlement when you claim it.

Play Advice

Merc lacks magic, adding a point from the starting amulet gives him a lot more options to thwart his opponents. From there raising fight, body, or wits makes sense. Use his power to keep your adversaries poor and your large hand to burn surefire combat victories. With high wits, breaking the perils with card burns is feasible and Expendables makes it even easier. It also assists in Rot victories if that's a goal. Without traversal magic getting stones isn't as easy. The Turquoise ring greatly increases his survivability but save an AP item (or wait until people are far) for the palace or you'll be easily pushed out. Ruby ring is a fairly reliable fight bonus but don't overburn cards on your might not get the roll. Stealth in towns is of middling use since you won't be hiding in them as much as letting them change hands for more income. Scouting towns aids dropping cards on people you might have lost track of.

Zosha the Assassin

Background

Placeholder. A secretive figure from Rat Socieity's dark side.

Stats

• Fight: 5
  
• Body: 3
  
• Wits: 4
  
• Spirit: 3

Talent

Shadow: Has stealth at night when moving to/between all tiles except the palace.

Play Advice

Most players will find starting with +1 body much easier. Avoiding rot can be especially critical since you have lower life. Since most banes attack at night, her stealth should keep her safe. With the evasion ring, she can often afford to keep her body low and experiment with magic. Sword burn ring is good for people that focus on raising her body. Stealth in towns is a bit more useful since you can keep yourself from being targeted during the day. Scouting towns keeps you in the upper hand during a night movement.

Signet Rings

• Opal: Gain Stealth in Settlements Day and Night.
  
• Obsidian: At Night, Gain Scout on all settlements and surrounding hexes.
  
• Ruby: Your first naturally rolled Sword in battle explodes.
  
• Turquoise: Gain the Evade Ability at all times. (Note this lets people easily push you out of the palace walls unless you have Lionheart armor)

Bandit Clan

The bandit clan is still under beta testing and will be released for purchase to coincide with the IOS version release of Armello. Estimated date between December 2015 to March 2016. Those conducting the Beta can share access to other players during purely Private (Friends list or AI only) games. Bandit characters cannot be used in Public multiplayer until after their public release.

Twiss - Master Thief

Background

Placeholder. Legendary thief known for leaving acorns at the scenes of her crime. Her guild was destroyed by order of the King and thus seeks vengeance. Fun fact, will drop a bunch of acorns everytime she is injured.

Stats

• Fight: 2
  
• Body: 4
  
• Wits: 5
  
• Spirit: 4

Talent

Pickpocket: Twiss always has Evade active while defending and outside the palace. When she evades an attacking player, she steals a random card from their hand.

Play Advice

Like Sana, Twiss will start Terrible at fighting. She does not get better versus Banes or the King, but her evade+wits means you basically can't be killed unless you foolishly attack someone aggressively. Your existence is to troll the other players by getting in their path. You can try to spend an amulet and 1st/3rd quests to bring her up to passable fight, or you can embrace her substantial potential with spells raising Wit/Spirit/Body. The mage strategy pretty much requires a prestige or spirit victory, but there's not a better character at cycling spell cards for Rot if you absolutely must witness a squirrel beat up a lion. Amethyst ring by far assists her the most, but you can use Stealth in town ring to lay surprises for people. Avoid River and Thane as they can pierce damage through your Evade.

Sylas- Fisher of Souls

Background

Placeholder. A very sad story about how his whole village was murdered and he was tortured because he stole a precious fish from the king's waters.

Stats

• Fight: 4
  
• Body: 5
  
• Wits: 3
  
• Spirit: 3

Talent

Butcher: Every time he kills a guard, Sylas gains a stacking +1 static sword in battle. This stack resets to 0 when he dies.

Play Advice

Sylas does not like being killed, so stacking his high body even higher is useful. Carrying a bounty and killing guards is going to make a prestige victory nearly impossible, so raising wit or spirit to have a way through the gates is important. Unlike most players, you want to enter the palace at night so a whole bunch of guards at dawn tries to stop you while you have high defenses or buffs from spells. Pink Topaz provides money for getting items and healing potions, while Amethyst combined with Wits boosts his spell prowess. The Celestite makes getting his key quest easier while giving him places to hide when people are gunning for him.

Scarlet - Bandit Queen

Background

As a young fox, a soothsayer told her she'd unite rival clans. A natural leader who creates order out of chaos.

Stats

• Fight: 4
  
• Body: 4
  
• Wits: 4
  
• Spirit: 3

Talent

Revolutionary: When Scarlet rescues a terrorized settlement, she draws a follower card.

Play Advice

Scarlet is very similar to Amber, with the option of keeping magic low instead of fight. She also loves the trickery deck, since it and being prestige leader are the main way to get settlements terrorized "just so she can rescue them". You can use Malice Rising to summon banes on villages too, but the rot infection usually isn't worth it unless you found a Cleansing spell. Being able to find the warlock is a great boon to Rot paths.

Horace the Iron Poet

Background

Placeholder. The 9th member of the King's now defunct order of Knights. He fights in the memory of the King he once loved.

Stats

• Fight: 5
  
• Body: 5
  
• Wits: 3
  
• Spirit: 2

Talent

9th Knight: The King's guards still respect Horace. As long as he doesn't have a bounty, Horace may enter a guard's space and they'll trade places with him.

Play Advice

Horace is the most melee centric of all the characters. Even if you raise spirit your wits is also low so it's probably best to play like Thane focusing on Prestige or Pure Kingslay. Take advantage of your awesome power to put guards where you want them and almost never getting a bounty (you can even enter the palace on a guards square before the bounty triggers). Celestite or Pink Topaz are his best rings, since he'll never cast well and doesn't need stealth.

Signet Rings

The Bandits stole a ring from each of the other clans.

• Black Opal: Gain Stealth in Settlements Day and Night.
  
• Celestite: No AP penalty for climbing mountains.
  
• Pink Topaz: Settlements give 2 gold at dawn instead of 1.
  
• Amethyst: Magic cards burned in battle grant +1 Magic.

[NoWere]

it'd be awesome if this guide could update for the new dlc heroes, or even if there was a new guide for them. i cant find one

[Seiko300]

Limits? there are limits on guides???

[TheStratovarian]

Barnaby, Taking the spirit up can be a good thing, because you can use the stat booster cards for any wit challenges , or spirit for a little extra magic. The other, is that most magic cards at the 3 range really are good for barnaby and tend to Tree/Sun symbols, so you can burn them to get attack. Regeneration, Haste (Great for if you nab the full plate) Evil Eye (for extra cards, and wits challenge specials, that are often followers) Teleport, and perhaps the big one, Cleansing Wyld. Baranaby doesn't have a good way to get rid of rot without a spirit of 3 sadly.

[TheStratovarian]

Brun, The quartz can be very strong if you are dealing with either a rot group, or massive bane spawning session. (And a few game can be this.) But really, all the rings have their uses for him. It just depends on who you face. Though admittedly, the Jade is just so good for both him and sana, its at times hard to justify others if you have a high wits. Amethyst for the same reason, get into a fight, or a few spells dropped, and you can pay for that spirit stone victory with ease and wreck your foes. Brun can with some good cards, get and drop rot like its hot with proper cycling. Wits really helps him so darn much.

[TheStratovarian]

Apologies to the drop of three comments here, but limits you know.

A great guide, and hopefully we can enjoy the bandi clans soon.

Zosha with opal or obsidian makes for a great prestige victory route, a hidden kings unofficial right hand/paw here that you hunt down foes that hide and destroy any chances of prestige gathering, though not without risks. Shana makes the opal ring very good, given how often they hold a spirit strike, or inferno if you dont have strong body. I like the obsidian ring myself, given how common the spyglass is for offsetting the penalties to aiming for Battle Armors (And balancing out your low health pool) The ranger cloak makes her invisible 90% of the game if you can luck out there. (and very tempting trickery theft target.)