Characters in Rome II

This guide intends to give an overview of character strategies and provides evolution charts to boost some combos with the appropriate skills. It also gives examples of character groups where all the characters cooperate towards a certain goal.

Introduction

Characters are a very nice feature in Rome II. They can perform actions to hinder your enemies or support your own faction through actions on the campaign map, or when embedded in an army. As in previous Total War titles, they will develop character traits and gain ancillaries that boost/reduce their abilities. But my favorite feature with characters in Rome II is that you can give them skills as they gain experience, thus shaping them for a specific role, and making them very efficient tools to dominate the antique world.

An isolated character has devastating effects, but you can also create groups of characters. As your Imperium increases (you own more provinces), you have the possibility to maintain one more of each character type. When you unlock a new set of three characters, you can try to combine their skill evolution towards a certain goal. Here are two examples: the Rabble-rousers will push enemy settlements into rebellion to ease the conquest, and the General’s best will support a general in a campaign to sabotage enemy armies and garrisons before battle, and protect/help him when maintaining public order in a conquered settlement.

I develop these two ideas in this guide, along with some examples of general/admiral archetypes. It's not sheer never-seen-before genius but it can help, as the skill trees are vast and can be daunting for a beginner.

Actions, experience and skills

Before getting into it, here's a small reminder of how character actions are performed and how experience is gained. I will not repeat here the effect of each action of each agent, it can be found in the encyclopaedia[dsi0fanyw80ls.cloudfront.net].

Agents will get experience either through one-shot actions or long term actions. One-shot actions are targeting enemy armies or settlements, like assassinations, sabotage... Long term actions can be done either in friendly armies or in regions regardless of ownership. When embedding an agent in a friendly army, the action dialog will pop up and you will select the long term action. When an agent is out in the open in any region, there is a button to deploy him, which initiates the long term action, which lasts during the following turns until you move or undeploy the agent.

Tip: when an agent is deployed in an enemy region with an action, the settlement's defenses against the actions of a certain type are lowered depending on the deployed agent (authority for dignitaries, cunning for spies and zeal for champions); any agent can take advantage of this so deploy your agents before making one-shot actions with others. Also the deployed agent can attempt a one-shot action on the next turn, and he will benefit from his own deployment.

A long term action earns the agent 4xp per turn. Here is the experience earned for one-shot actions depending on its outcome:
Failure: 4xp
Opportune failure: 6xp
Success: 10xp
Critical success: 16xp

My advice is to let your agent make long term actions until he gets to rank 3, and then start performing one shot actions to evolve quicker with a reduced risk of being wounded.

Generals and admirals are much more simple with their experience gain. Consider them as agents with only one-shot actions: fighting battles. The xp granted varies depending on the outcome and the odds of the battle. Some examples of what I witnessed:
Crushing defeat: 2xp
Valiant defeat: 6xp
Pyrrhic victory: 6-8xp
Close victory: 12xp
Decisive victory: 10-12xp

When having enough xp, characters get to the next rank and the player can then choose a new skill to unlock, or a skill to improve. It will be difficult for your characters to reach rank 10, as it often takes more time than their natural lifespan.

Also note that every character has an initial trait. In some cases, upgrading this trait is a good alternative to what is proposed in the regular tree. For example, when trying to make a hero for training troops, some of them already have a boost to the experience gained by units of the parent army, so you should upgrade this trait when you have to wait to have the next level of Militancy.

Rabble-rousers

The rabble-rouser combination is very efficient at making a settlement fall into a rebellion. The main intended use for that is to provoke a rebellion on a cumbersome ally holding the last settlement needed to have full control of the province. This approach leads to you conquering the province after the rebellion is over, without any impact on your relationship with the ally or your diplomatic reputation. Politics… Rabble-rousers can also be a very effective combo to prepare the invasion of an enemy region that is of a different culture, even if you’re at war with the bastards.

The overall strategy is based on the spy. All three characters have an authoritarian action on settlements to affect public order in the region, but the spy is the most efficient:

• first her buffs from skills are raw penalty to public order, not a percentage, so you can always count on inflicting an additional penalty between -20 and -60 depending on the level of the spy;
  
• then she acts undercover, that's why your relationship with your ally is not impacted;
  
• finally she can get a reasonable rate of success if she is supported by a dignitary.

To get an ally's region

Move the dignitary to the region, and deploy him there with Corruption (authority). Dignitaries have passive cultural conversion, so wait until there is a reasonable influence for your own culture in the province. The main goal for that is to avoid trouble after your conquest, but a good side effect is that public order will suffer a little.

When the cultural balance is in your favor (not less than 20%), enters the spy. The spy should use her Incite Unrest (authority) action until public order reaches -100. When the rebels show up, they are not so many and can easily be crushed. They need time to get more forces, so the spy must give them as much time as possible by hindering the armies in the region using Poison Provisions/Poison Wells (cunning). Using an ancillary that increases the chances of critical success is recommended, as it will pin down the region owner's army and prevent them from moving against the rebel army.

The champion is not used against allies because it has a negative impact on your relationship with them. He can sit with the army you'll use to crush the rebellion when the settlement is in their hands.

To get an enemy's region

The technique is basically the same, except that you can use actions of the dignitaries and champion to go faster and get better results, at the cost of diplomatic penalties with the target faction and their allies.

First you should move the champion and the dignitary in the region. Deploy the champion with his Guerrilla Activity (zeal). While he enjoys a little raiding, raping, killing, the more educated dignitary will have an easier job to convert the locals to your brilliant culture (hem…) with his Cultural Propaganda (zeal) action and his passive conversion.

Once again, wait until the cultural influence of your culture is at least 20%, and take the spy to the coveted region. Again, deploy the dignitary in the region using Corruption (authority) and Incite Unrest (authority) with the spy; you could ask the champion to stop killing the slaves and try to convince them they should revolt against those responsible for their fate (hem…) – the Rally Slaves (authority) action, but he will probably be more effective in his guerrilla stance.

Once the rebellion is started, continue to hinder the place with actions to reduce the capacity of the garrison to defeat the rebels, and give them time to have a decent army to assault the settlement. The spy can Poison Provisions/Poison Wells (cunning), the champion can Assault Patrol/Assault Town Watch (zeal) and the dignitary should keep converting the people with Cultural Propaganda (zeal).

Skills to develop for the rabble-rousers

Skill chart for the spy:
Rank 2: Agent 1
Rank 3: Disruption 1
Rank 4: Agent 2
Rank 5: Disruption 2
Rank 6: Agent 3
Rank 7: Disruption 3
Rank 8: Spy 1
Rank 9: Furtiveness 1
Rank 10: Mass Poisoning 1

Skill chart for the champion:
Rank 2: Champion 1
Rank 3: Warfare 1
Rank 4: Militancy 1
Rank 5: Warfare 2
Rank 6: Militancy 2
Rank 7: Warfare 3
Rank 8: Militancy 3
Rank 9: Paragon 1
Rank 10: Paragon 2

Skill chart for the dignitary:
Rank 2: Dignitary 1
Rank 3: Philosophy 1
Rank 4: Provocateur 1
Rank 5: Philosophy 2
Rank 6: Propaganda 1
Rank 7: Propaganda 2
Rank 8: Propaganda 3
Rank 9: Philosophy 3
Rank 10: Dignitary 2

General's best

This group of characters can prepare an assault on an enemy army or settlement, making your army’s job much easier. In the meantime, they can support your general depending on the current needs of his army and empire (defense against character actions or reduce the upkeep).

Preparing an assault

The champion is the main character of this group. He can deal severe blows to enemy generals and armies before an assault. The hardest blow to an army is to kill their general, using the Single Combat (authority) action, thus removing all the passive bonuses he brings to his army, along with its morale boost during battle. One or two turns before that, the Assault Patrol/Assault Town Watch (zeal) actions can be used to inflict severe losses to the elite units of the enemy. This is particularly effective when defending against an invader, as his elite won’t replenish in the meantime.

The spy will be embedded in the general’s army during a campaign, with the Military Intelligence (cunning) action. She will boost his cunning, making him better at ambushing/avoiding ambushes, and protect him from agent actions at this critical moment – you don’t want the same combination to bring down your general, do you? What’s more, the spy can combine efforts with the champion to reduce enemy forces before an assault, using the Poison Provisions/Poison Wells (cunning) actions.

The dignitary has a small role in the preparation of an assault. Supposing the champion failed to assassinate the enemy general before an assault, he offers a chance to reduce its influence on his troops with the Undermine Authority (authority) action. If your army seems to be outnumbered, with several enemy stacks converging on your position or dangerously approaching one of the settlements you conquered recently, he can slow them down using the Undermine Authority (authority) action. Any successful agent action reduces the movement of the target army, and a critical success stops them right where they are. As the dignitary develops the Dignitary X skill, he has more chances to stop them.

Consolidating a conquest

The champion should get out and inspire the local population with Military Fervour (zeal) as soon as the conquest is done and before ending the turn. This will improve the public order of the conquered province, and reduce the conquest penalty. This way it will take less time before having a public order high enough to move your army.

The dignitary will replace the spy when the general is sitting on a settlement that was just conquered. With the Military Administration (authority) action, he will reduce the upkeep of the army, saving money that can be used to repair/convert buildings of the conquered settlement. His late development in the Philosophy skill speeds up the cultural conversion, which reduces the time your army will have to remain stationed in a conquered settlement to maintain public order.

Meanwhile, the spy should make Counter Intelligence (cunning) in the region to spot characters/armies of other factions. If there is trouble ahead, return to the configuration to prepare an assault.

Skills to develop for the General's best

Skill chart for the champion:
Rank 2: Paragon 1
Rank 3: Valour 1
Rank 4: Paragon 2
Rank 5: Valour 2
Rank 6: Champion 1
Rank 7: Valour 3
Rank 8: Warfare 1
Rank 9: Warfare 2
Rank 10: Warfare 3

Skill chart for the spy:
Rank 2: Spy 1
Rank 3: Reconnaissance 1
Rank 4: Furtiveness 1
Rank 5: Reconnaissance 2
Rank 6: Mass Poisoning 1
Rank 7: Reconnaissance 3
Rank 8: Mass Poisoning 2
Rank 9: Mass Poisoning 3
Rank 10: Agent 1

Skill chart for the dignitary:
Rank 2: Dignitary 1
Rank 3: Philosophy 1
Rank 4: Martial Philosophy 1
Rank 5: Dignitary 2
Rank 6: Martial Philosophy 2
Rank 7 : Dignitary 3
Rank 8: Martial Philosophy 3
Rank 9: Philosophy 2
Rank 10: Philosophy 3

More suggestions

Here I sum up some interesting suggestions that came up from the comments. So far there is one, but don't hesitate if you have fun ideas.

From CarpalTunnel:

As mentioned before, the agent actions will either half (regular success) or cancel (critical success) the movement points of the target. A critical success with Wreak Baggage Train (zeal) is more likely to occur, so that can be used in combination with a poison spy to stop and damage an enemy army for several turns, until you are ready to teach them some respect.

Generals and admirals

Generals will usually work alone, as their skills impact only the army they lead, but I also give an example of how they can cooperate.

Morale master

Morale is the most important factor in a battle. So the best general in my opinion is the one that boosts the morale of his troops while dumping the enemy’s. The main skills to develop for this guy are in the authority and zeal trees. The possibility to use just Offense and Defense skills is appealing, but it would mean that your general does not have a very high authority, which defeats the purpose of having a good commander. This commander works well with the General’s best group of agents, which means he will have a cunning boost to allow him to make ambushes.

Skills for the morale master:
Rank 2: Commander 1
Rank 3: Warrior 1
Rank 4: Offense 1
Rank 5: Defense 1
Rank 6: Great Leader 1
Rank 7: Dread 1
Rank 8: Dread 2
Rank 9: Great Leader 2
Rank 10: Great Leader 3

Defender of the city

There will always be a hot spot in your empire where an enemy will keep pressing to conquer one of your provinces. Having a general specialized in the defense of such hot spots allows to use other armies in conquest while this guy will protect the area until backup is available. He will boost his army’s defense skills, and increase their replenishment rates to support multiple waves of assault. Problems arise when an enemy lays siege and tries to obtain surrender. Making a sortie will put you on the attacker side, thus removing all your bonuses. So this general should make sure that the enemy cannot reach the protected settlement without fighting his army first. If this is not possible due to the terrain, for example if there are too many possible accesses to the settlement, the Siegecraft skill should allow him to wait for reinforcements. Securing promotions for this general is good as he remains in friendly provinces.

Skills for the defender of the city:
Rank 2: Strategist 1
Rank 3: Warrior 1
Rank 4: Logistics 1
Rank 5: Defense 1
Rank 6: Logistics 2
Rank 7: Defense 2
Rank 8: Siegecraft 1
Rank 9: Defense 3
Rank 10: Siegecraft 2

Great conqueror

To expand your empire, you need a genius of siegecraft. No subtle strategy here, it’s just about move, conquer, consolidate, repeat. The last skill can be difficult to choose, because so many are good. Note that the defence skill is prefered to offense, because the goal here is to reduce the holding time of the enemy, and force him to sally out and meet you or surrender. Also, should enemy reinforcements arrive, your army will be able to sustain the assault.

Skills for the great conqueror:
Rank 2: Strategist 1
Rank 3: Warrior 1
Rank 4: Siegecraft 1
Rank 5: Defence 1
Rank 6: Siegecraft 2
Rank 7: Defence 2
Rank 8: Siegecraft 3
Rank 9: Defence 3
Rank 10: Tactician 1 - this increases movement range, which is good for a very mobile general, but Despoil, Logistics and Dread are tempting choices too

Aide de camp

First I had this idea about using one of them generals for military administration (replenishment through logistics, better recruits...), but this did not seem viable as a general sitting idle at home will not get experience, thus no skills. But then I though of him more as a mobile aide de camp, who can participate to every battle of another army as a reserve force (through reinforcement). The aide de camp can then get experience and what's more he will always be at hand.

So this guy should be here to recruit fresh troops with good initial XP, and exchange these recruits with depleted cards from the main army for fast replenishment.

Skills for the aide de camp (for generals):
Rank 2: Strategist 1
Rank 3: Commander 1
Rank 4: Infantry/Cavalry/Artillery Command 1 - the choice depends on your play style, but I strongly recommend Infantry Command, as infantry is the main body of an army in general
Rank 5: Logistics 1
Rank 6: Great Leader 1
Rank 7: Logistics 2
Rank 8: Great Leader 2
Rank 9: Great Leader 3
Rank 10: General 1 - this means cheaper units, but you can add another Infantry/Cavalry/Artillery Command skill to have more XP


Skills for the aide de camp (for admirals):
Rank 2: Strategist 1
Rank 3: Commander 1
Rank 4: Artillery Command or Naval Assault/Support 1 - once again the choice depends on your play style, personally I prefer the support ships
Rank 5: Logistics 1
Rank 6: Great Leader 1
Rank 7: General 1 - as you will lose more units in naval battles (due to ramming and ships taking fire), it is preferable to reduce cost of recruitment
Rank 8: Great Leader 2
Rank 9: Great Leader 3
Rank 10: General 2

Armies

They are not actual characters, but armies also have the possibility to unlock some traits through military traditions. This can also be used to adapt the forces to specific roles, and combine armies to cumulate the benefits.

Grand Camp Following

This military tradition deserves a section for itself. Whenever possible, upgrade it, whatever the army. It boosts morale a lot, and morale is all you need. Moreover it makes your troops cheaper to maintain. Need anything more? Ok, they'll also have a better replenishment rate.

Coordination between Masters

All factions have military traditions that boost a specific kind of unit. For example Cavalry Masters, Indomitable Infantry etc. There are also traditions that boost a certain type of fighting style, like Accomplished Skirmishers or Formidable Fighters. The idea is not to combine them in one army, but to maximise one aspect per army, and to keep those armies close on the campaign map. You will then have one army for the melee infantry, and one for the range infantry etc.

Drill Instructors

Remember the aide de camp general above? His army should develop the Veteran Army military tradition. Thanks to this he will recruit units with even more experience!

Conclusion

That's it folks. These are just examples to give an idea of how characters can evolve and how they can be used together. Maybe I'll add some more ideas as they come, or if you have some, post them as comments and I'll develop them in the guide! Thanks for reading and have a good game!

[Rana]

Stealing Food via Spies is also useful as the enemy faction suffers attrition, and boosts your own food source.

[Pokes]

As of 2018, it doesn't look like this correlates with the new update

[Asurbanipal]

@Morvys: Thanks! Regarding your question, it's been a while since I wrote this guide, but I guess it's because General/Admiral has weaker morale bonuses than Great Leader, and I always favor morale above other things. Also I try to keep my recruitements to a minimum (if played right, it's cheaper than to recruit often at a discount, not mentioning experience). The obvious exception is naval battles, where you will lose ships no matter how you play.

[robindumbleton]

After 3000 hours of play there were still some stuff I learnt .Thanks

[Asurbanipal]

Hi, glad you enjoyed the guide. Regarding the champion, I find it wasteful to mobilize him to just add experience to your units, and it does not rise that fast. For the spy I would sayt it basically depends on the difficulty setting, the AI is making much more clever moves in higher difficulties and having a spy scouting to avoid ambushes can be great. Still these uses of characters are straightforward, I didn't think much about combos using these skills. If you find something don't hesitate to share it here!

[Harper]

Asurbanipal, thanks for sharing guide and looks like you put a lot of thought and effort into it. Have you tried using champion as trainer embedded with army to develop the army skills and using spy as scout? The champion cannot currently be embedded with the navy for their training however.

[Asurbanipal]

Thanks for the hint, I added a section in the guide to report the info directly.

[Cernd]

In effect if you have a zeal spy and a poison spy, you can basically bring an army down to <5% health while freezing them in place for several turns. Much easier to freeze them with wreak baggage than any other agent action.

[Cernd]

I just meant that the chance to freeze with wreak baggage train with just a couple of zeal points is much much higher than to freeze with even full cunning (tested with a skill points mod).

[Asurbanipal]

@CarpalTunnel: Yep, that's correct, but any other offensive action will either half the movement capacity of the target (regular success) or freeze it (critical success); I haven't been trying with the latest patch though, maybe some changes here?