Value of th new units: Your Thoughts

[Saiko Kila]

Originally Posted by BB Shockwave

I like the Witch Hunter. Even against non-mages, a level 3 unit with 110 HP, that's a good tank.

I used him in that role too, but his defense is on weakish side, comparing to other high-HP units, so can't soak that much. But he's good as a support, and to block or terminate weaker units. His most useful skill is magic shackles, and ability to use both shackles and self-buff together with move/attack in one turn is quite good.

BTW, I have 10th level mage and still can't recruit a single runemage. They're more demanding than some dragons

[BB Shockwave]

I have around 620 Leadership with my Paladin on Level 3 (got Grand Strategy Medal plus took Leadership I skill), I hope I can recruit at least one soon. They are also incredibly expensive... 15.000 Gold! More then Dragons even!

BTW - One correction to note. I have been using Assassins (and they are needed, Debir is crawling with Orcs!) and found out how the "Find Weakness" ability works. Unlike the description, which says you must destroy the enemy unit, it is actually enough to just attack them with Backstab or Murder. Each time you attack an enemy type, the damage bonus goes up by 5% - and unlike Favourite Enemy, this is possible for all kind of units! My Assassins already have 10% bonuses against orcs and goblins. This makes taking care of them and not losing all of them all the more important.

[BB Shockwave]

Finally got enough Leadership to hire one Rune Mage. Must say... AWESOME.

Firstly, something I did not notice before. He has the RUNIC ability that activates only in battle - it does the following:

-Might Runes: Increases the damage (minimum and maximum) of the Rune mage by 2xNumber of Might Runes. (Basic damage is 40-55, with a maximum of 20 Runes, he does 80-95 Damage! )
-Mind Runes: Increases the HP of the Rune Mage by 10x Number of Mind Runes! They have a basic HP of 450, with the maximum of 20 Runes he'd have 650 HP - not that high, but high for a Mage.
-Magic Runes: Depending on the number of Magic Runes you have, the Rune Mage's basic attack can impose different negativ conditions with as 30% chance per hit. I have only got 1 Rune right now, with that, the effect is Helplessness. I wonder what will be the effect on higher levels...

As for the Talents - Destruction is a very Powerfull Astral Damage beam attack, although it hits friend and foe alike, if you position the Mage correctly (with 3 speed it is easy) you can hit multiple enemies at the same time. Resurrection is more powerfull then an Inquisitor's, and also increased by Mind Runes. Illusion is random, and the summoned unit is placed next to the Rune Mage.

I've found 4 of them so far, though it'll be long before I can recruit another one...

[Zechnophobe]

Eh. Rune Mage has some cute utility. But after a while you'll realize:

1) You'd kinda like to use those runes to get some more skills
2) With less than like 10 to 20, his abilities are simply not that great

I mean, 2k leadership is the same as a red dragon, which has 870 hit points without needs like 30 runes stored up, and can fire a line of flame that lights things on fire... and can fly far to get there.

I dropped my Rune Mages after I realized that all their stuff is really weak unless you have a LOT of runes saved up. They are also the biggest pushovers when the AI has them hehe.

[vicheron]

The Rune Mage is interesting but not powerful enough to justify storing up your runes. They should have had some other creatures that use stored runes so you could at least build an army based on it.

[ckdamascus]

It all depends on your game play though. That said, all the rune buffs are CAPPED at 20 spare runes.

Yeah, I have like 40 spare runes from every category, and the bonuses cap.

That said, the top of the line ability (20 magic runes) is.. SHEEP. Too bad it is so random, but hmmm maybe I should use phantom spam on the rune mages to increase the odds of sheeping entire armies.

So, it is not that bad to keep 20 spare runes from every category as an Impossible Mage.

That said, I might be stuck, but I think I just found a solution (phantom rune mages haha).

[edit]
actually, now that I have two rune mages, splitting them up is extremely handy since I now have a fairly good chance of sheeping whoever I target. I can't afford to phantom them yet, as the leadership is too high.

[onepiece]

@vicheronThat would be too powerful or extremely weak.

Since the purpose is creating a unit that gets stronger the more runes you have, thus getting stronger while you don't have better skills, the opposite loses the meaning of sacrificing skills for a stronger unit.
Since most people will have almost the same number of spent runes in every walkthrough (or total number of runes colected), there would be almost no difference from a few runes more or few runes less because every rune would add too little to the overall power.

Think of the Assasin abillity "find weakness" but gaining 0,5% per attack instead of 5%.

[DGDobrev]

In a way, that rune storing strategy will suit the Paladin perfectly. Fight well, lose few units, get Neatness level 3, buy all level 4-5 items and break the ones you will not use. They will yield a substantial amount of runes, which you can happily stockpile for stronger Rune Mage skills.

That's a tactic I will surely try out. A party of Paladins, Knights, Archmagi, Rune Magi and Gorguanas will be a very interesting one.