Age of Wonders 4: Best Units of Each Type

Age of Wonders 4 has a variety of unit types. Some of them come from the culture of the city that produces them, some are unlocked by the various Tomes you can research, and you can pick up a few exotic units by clearing and annexing Ancient Wonders.

However, not every unit is equally good and useful. High-tier units tend to be more dangerous, but they often come with gimmicks that can make them less useful than a standard low-tier warrior. So which culture's units in Age of Wonders 4 can take on all the rest?

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The Unit Categories

Age of Wonders 4 Base Units — The six basic units of a High culture in Age of Wonders 4.

Every combat unit in the game fits into one of 14 categories. They are:

Battle Mage
Fighter
Polearm
Ranged
Scout
Shield
Shock
Skirmisher
Support
Mythic
Siegecraft
Tower
Hero
Ruler

Each category has its own unique icon, and this icon appears on top of the unit's picture in recruitment lists and in armies. This lets you know at a glance how to use the unit in question.

Battle Mage

Battle mages use spells to damage or debuff enemy units. Their basic attack is ranged, repeats (they can attack once for each action point they have left), and usually deals some sort of elemental damage. Battle mages can deal a decent amount of damage, but they can't take a hit. The battle mage icon is a fireball.

Fighter

This is the most basic type of unit in the game. Fighter units can have special abilities, but all this unit type does is deal melee physical damage. They usually get repeating attacks and can take a few hits. The fighter icon is a pair of crossed swords.

Polearm

Polearm units are straightforward, much like fighters, but they get one special ability: when other melee units attack them, polearm units get to inflict their retaliation strike first. This includes charge attacks by shock units. The polearm icon is a set of three speartips.

Ranged

Ranged units deal physical damage from a distance. Some of them have repeating strikes, while others have single strikes. The ranged icon is a bow and arrow.

Scout

Scout units aren't good in combat. Their main purpose is to explore the map using their fast speed and good vision range. Scouts are cheap to produce, and your scouts all dying usually signals the end of the early game. In combat, scouts are fast and have some kind of ranged physical or elemental attack. The scout icon is a stylized compass.

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Shield

Shield units are like warriors, but with better armor and the ability to protect nearby units. If you defend with a shield unit, adjacent allies all get +3 Defense. The shield icon is a sword and shield.

Shock

Shock units tend to be faster than normal. They can charge at enemies to deal extra damage, knock them out of defense mode, and prevent them from using retaliation strikes (unless the defender is a polearm unit). Shock units also have single attacks instead of repeating attacks: single attacks deal more damage than an individual repeating attack, but they always end your unit's turn. The shock icon is a fist.

Skirmisher

Skirmishers have both melee and ranged attacks. The melee is usually a repeating attack and can deal more damage, while their ranged option is a single attack. Skirmishers can't take as many hits as a melee unit, but they can run from enemies without taking opportunity attacks, and they can avoid enemy ranged attacks. The skirmisher icon is a dagger and an arrow.

Support

Support units are similar to battle mages, but their abilities focus on buffing and healing allies instead of harming enemies. They still get a basic elemental attack, but it's a single attack instead of repeating. They also get a special defense mode that gives adjacent allies extra Resistance. The support icon is an ankh.

Mythic

Mythic units are powerful, and they don't fit any of the above molds. This means they have a special gimmick, and you'll need to figure out how to use that gimmick if you want to wield them in battle. The icon for mythic units is a set of three stars.

Siegecraft and Tower

These two unit types only show up during siege battles. Siegecraft units show up on the attacker's side, assuming they built the right siege projects, and towers appear on the defender's side. Siege weapons of either type can deal a lot of damage to several units at once, but most of them can't move and none of them have a lot of hit points. Siegecraft units have a gear icon, while tower units have a tower icon.

Hero and Ruler

Hero units gain experience differently from normal units, plus they can equip magic items and different weapons that can change their attack type. A hero unit can mimic one of several unit types, or be a mix of several at once. Rulers are just like heroes, but if your ruler dies, you can't cast combat or strategic spells until they return from the void. The hero icon is a winged helmet, while the ruler icon is a yellow crown.

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Units by Culture

Age of Wonders 4 Pikemen — A peasant pikeman in Age of Wonders 4.

Each of the six cultures has access to six unique units. And while the Mystic culture has three subgroups, most of their units are also the same. Since scout units are never very good in combat, this guide will set them aside and focus on the other four. Note that to recruit each unit type, the city's Town Hall must be the same level or higher than the unit's tier.

Feudal

Name	Category	Tier	Special Abilities
Archer	Ranged	I
Peasant Pikeman	Polearm	I	Feudal Training (unit gets extra XP and becomes a Defender upon reaching the Legendary rank)
Bannerman	Support	II	Bullwark Standard: the caster and adjacent friendlies get extra Defense and Resistance. Soothing Standard: the caster and adjacent friendlies get +20 temp HP and +10 Morale.
Defender	Shield	II
Knight	Shock	III	Inspiring Killer (gives double the Morale bonus to everyone after killing an enemy)

Feudal units all get the Stand Together special ability, which gives them +20 percent damage when an ally is adjacent. However, doing this can be dangerous since it makes units vulnerable to area-of-effect attacks.

High

Name	Category	Tier	Special Abilities
Dawn Defender	Shield	I	Shield of Light (Dormant, extra Defense and Resistance)
Dusk Hunter	Ranged	I	Seeking Arrows (Dormant, extra attack range)
Daylight Spear	Polearm	II	Guardian (Dormant, two retaliation attacks instead of one)
Sun Priest	Support	II	Twin Awakening (target and additional friendly unit within 2 hexes become Awakened and activate Dormant traits for 3 turns) Mending Awakening (target gains +30 temp HP and becomes Awakened for 3 turns) Radiant Light (Dormant, base attacks may inflict Distracted, causing all attacks for the rest of the round to be flanking)
Awakener	Battle Mage	III	Exposing Light (targets in 1-hex radius lose Defense and Resistance) Radiant Light (Dormant, base attacks may inflict Distracted)

The High unit gimmick centers around Awakening, which gives each unit a buff appropriate to its type. This can be powerful, but it means you need a Sun Priest in every army. High-culture factions also get the spell Awaken Inner Radiance, but casting it means you can't cast a different spell.

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Industrious

Name	Category	Tier	Special Abilities
Anvil Guard	Shield	I	Taunt (high chance of forcing enemy to target unit, also enters Defense Mode)
Arbalest	Ranged	I	Overdraw Crossbow (costs 3 action points, but deals extra damage and acts like a Charge attack)
Halberdier	Polearm	II	Rune of Retaliation (attackers take 40 percent of the damage they deal)
Steelshaper	Support	II	Strength from Steel (replaces Defense and Resistance buffs with temp HP and Strengthened stacks that add damage) Grant Defense (no action point cost; target unit gets +2 Defense)
Bastion	Shield	III	Defensive Sweep (enemies adjacent to target take half damage, unit enters Defense Mode) Inspiring Defense (no action point cost; unit and adjacent units get +1 Defense)

All Industrious units also have Bolstering, which gives them +1 Defense when hit by a physical attack and +1 Resistance when hit by an elemental attack. In addition, their melee units get Watchful, which lets them use two retaliation attacks instead of one.

Of the six basic cultures, Industrious is definitely the most defensive. It's the only culture to come with two Shield units, and its Support unit assumes you'll be buffing your units' defenses with tactical spells. It's a great culture if your favorite tactic is to outlast your opponents, but it's a terrible choice if you prefer aggression.

Barbarian

Name	Category	Tier	Special Abilities
Sunderer	Skirmisher	I
Warrior	Shield	I	Shield Bash (target has a high chance of being Stunned, Warrior enters Defense Mode)
Fury	Ranged	II	Frenzy (each time the Fury hits, it gets +10 percent damage, up to a max of +50 percent)
War Shaman	Support	II	Invigorate (friendly units in 1 hex radius get +10 temp HP, +10 percent damage, and Regeneration)
Berserker	Shock	III	Frenzy (as Fury above) Berserker's Rage (when down to one-third HP, the unit becomes uncontrollable for one round but can't die)

Shield Bash is an incredibly effective way to prevent enemies from taking turns, plus the Warrior unit drops into Defense Mode even if it fails. Frenzy makes Furies and Berserkers more effective the longer they stick around, and while the War Shaman heals less HP than other support units, it can buff everyone with everything it has using a single spell.

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Mystic

Name	School	Category	Tier	Special Abilities
Arcane Guard	All	Polearm	I
Arcanist	All	Battle Mage	I
Soother	All	Support	II	Soothing Breeze (target and extra friendly unit within 2 hexes gain +20 temp HP)
Spellshield	All	Shield	II	Stunning Flash (has a chance to stun every adjacent enemy unit)
Summoner	Summoning	Support	III	Spirit Summon (what they summon depends on the affinity of the last friendly combat spell) Astral Bond (target Magic Origin unit gets +2 retaliation attacks, +30 accuracy, and +10 percent damage after each hit)
Spellweaver	Potential	Battle Mage	III	Weavers Overchannel (faction leader can cast one extra spell this round) Arcane Conduit (get +5 combat casting points when present)
Spellbreaker	Attunement	Battle Mage	III	Star Purge (enemy units in 1-hex radius lose all buffs and take damage; Magic Origin units take double damage) Attuned Cast (get +10 combat casting points when present)

Aside from the unique tier-three unit, each Mystic school also gets a different combat buff.

Attunement Mystics get Star Blades, which gives all units an elemental damage boost based on what combat spells you've cast.
Potential Mystics inflict Dissonance with each strike, which turns into lightning damage when casting an overcharged spell.
Summoning Mystics get Astral Resonance and Astral Connection, two buffs that improve Magic Origin units.

School differences aside, Mystic units are only a little more interesting compared to Feudal units. This is because Age of Wonders 4 expects you to bring in plenty of Magic Origin units when playing Mystics, even if you don't go all-in with the Summoning school.

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Dark

Name	Category	Tier	Special Abilities
Dark Warrior	Shock	I
Pursuer	Ranged	I
Night Guard	Polearm	II
Warlock	Battle Mage	II	Weakening Bolts (standard attack, but also has a high chance to inflict Weakened) Sundering Curse (target takes damage and suffers -2 Defense, -2 Resistance, and Weakened)
Dark Knight	Shock	III	Dark Surge (deals damage in 2-hex cone, double damage if target has a debuff)

The Dark culture is the only one to not get a Support base class, but that's because they don't need it. Every Dark culture unit has Cull the Weak, which provides the following benefits:

Base physical attacks have a high chance to inflict Weakened, which lowers the target's damage by 10 percent each time, up to a maximum of -50 percent.
Melee attacks against Weakened enemies deal extra damage, and heal the attacker by 10 temp HP.

While Materium and Shadow aren't opposing affinities, Industrious and Dark cultures are exact opposites. Industrious players must focus on buffs and attrition, while Dark players survive by inflicting debuffs and dealing damage. As such, aggressive players will feel right at home using Dark units, while defensive players will have a nightmare on their hands.

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Which Culture's Units Are Best?

Age of Wonders 4 Massive Fight — A single huge battle is about to begin in Age of Wonders 4.

If you favor defensive tactics, Industrious is the best.
If you favor aggressive tactics, Dark is best.
The Feudal culture has a few Morale boosters, but its lack of focus makes it less effective.
The High culture has powerful units, but you have to spend time and turns on applying an otherwise useless buff.
The Mystic culture has interesting perks, but its basic units are almost intentionally boring.
As such, the culture with the best base units is Barbarian. A well-timed Shield Bash can save a combat, Frenzy and Invigorate cover offense and defense, and extra critical hits that deal extra damage are always nice.

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