Age of Wonders 4: Eldritch Sovereign Guide

The Age of Wonders 4 DLC "Eldritch Realms" adds a lot of new material to the game. You get three new tomes, two new story realms, and a brand-new ruler type called the Eldritch Sovereign.

The Eldritch Sovereign isn't the first new ruler type added by an Age of Wonders 4 expansion, but the way it works is very different compared to your other options. Managing these options, both on the world map and in combat, will determine just how effective this otherworldly ruler can be.

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Thralls

Age of Wonders 4 Enthrall Population — The Enthrall Population ritual spell in Age of Wonders 4: Eldritch Realms.

One thing you get from an Eldritch Sovereign ruler (or hero) is a special global resource called Thralls. You can collect Thralls from a few different sources:

You get Thralls after winning battles. The number of Thralls you get depends on the number and tier of the enemies you defeat.
Eldritch Sovereigns give you access to a spell called Enthrall Population, which converts one owned or vassal city's Population into three Thralls.
If you also have access to Souls as a resource, you'll get free access to a pair of spells that convert three Thralls into 30 Souls or vice versa.

Something worth noting is that you can collect both Thralls and Souls from the same combat, and gaining both at once won't reduce the total number of either you collect. Since you don't lose Souls or Thralls by using the conversion spells, this means a Shadow Affinity faction with an Eldritch Sovereign can be especially effective.

The way you use Thralls is in special ritual spells that call for Thralls instead of Mana. Ritual spells don't have a specific theme to them, but they give you bonuses you can't get from other sources. To access ritual spells, you need to level up your Eldritch Sovereign character and take the special hero skills that only this ruler type has access to (more on that below). Note that ritual spells are strategic only: no combat spell calls for Thralls.

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Skills and Signatures

Age of Wonders 4 Eldritch Hero Skills — The special Eldritch Sovereign hero skills category in Age of Wonders 4.

Eldritch Sovereigns get a special Hero Skill group named after themselves. This replaces the Warfare group that the normal two ruler types can use. Eldritch Sovereigns also get a starting skill for free called "Enthralling Presence." This skill unlocks Thralls for your faction and provides you with the Clairvoyance Ritual.

One other thing every Eldritch Sovereign gets for free is the ability Eldritch Mind Control. This is a three-action ability that lets you control an enemy unit for one turn. If it fails, the unit still loses two actions during their next turn.

Skill Name	Skills Required	Number of Other Skills Needed	Primary Effect	Secondary Effect
Astral Wisp Ritual	None	0	Access to Astral Wisp Ritual spell	+5 HP, +1 Resistance
Delirium	None	0	Access to Delirium combat debuff
Eldritch Phase I	None	0	Can teleport up to 4 hexes away
Eldritch Rituals	None	0	Access to Dark Knowledge Ritual and Mesmerizing Draft Ritual	+10 HP
Desperate Anguish	None	2	Access to Desperate Anguish combat debuff
Eldritch Influence I	None	2	+4 Imperium per turn, +15 World Map Casting Points, +15 Combat Casting Points
Phantasmal Ritual	None	2	Access to Phantasmal Ritual	+10 percent Magic damage
Quickening Ritual	None	2	Access to Quickening Ritual	+20 percent Evasion against Physical Ranged and Magic attacks
Astral Siphoner Ritual	Astral Wisp Ritual	4	Access to Astral Siphoner Ritual	+5 HP, +1 Resistance
Eldritch Phase II	Eldritch Phase I	4	Can teleport up to 6 hexes away
Eldritch Influence II	Eldritch Influence I	4	+6 Imperium per turn, +15 World Map Casting Points, +15 Combat Casting Points
Mass Phantasmal Ritual	Phantasmal Ritual	4	Access to Mass Phantasmal Ritual	+10 percent Magic damage
Forgotten Tome Mastery	A Forgotten Tome Signature Skill	6	Forgotten Tome skills cycle in 3 turns instead of 4
Mage Bane Ritual	Astral Siphoner Ritual	6	Access to Mage Bane Ritual	+5 HP, +1 Resistance
Tentacled Escape	None	6	This hero returns with 50 percent HP if it dies in combat but its side wins

Outside this new category, Eldritch Sovereigns can learn Battle Magic and Support skills as usual. Having two Sovereigns at the same time won't give you special access to new ritual spells, or discounts on the spells you can already access, but the secondary bonuses these skills provide mean you may want to take them anyway.

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Eldritch Sovereigns also get unique access to a set of Signature Skills. These Signature Skills replace the normal set a hired hero can access, and what you can choose from depends on how many Signature Skills you already have.

Skill Name	Slot	Prerequisite	Affinities Added	Abilities
Madcaster	1	None	+1 Astral, +1 Chaos	Chaos Pulse (random effect debuff) Expert Channeling (30 percent Mana discount on Enemy Army, Damage, and Debuff Spells)
Mindbreaker	1	None	+1 Order, +1 Shadow	Eldritch Truth (inflicts Madness or Insanity) Eldritch Breach (hero ignores up to 3 Status Resistance)
Fleshweaver	1	None	+1 Shadow, +1 Nature	Possession (target non-Hero gets Empower buff) Fleshweave (get two Fleshlings for free at start of each combat)
Cosmic Caster	3	Madcaster	+1 Astral	Cosmic Pulse (empowered Chaos Pulse) Savant Channeling (Forgotten Tome spells deal extra damage)
Havoc Caster	3	Madcaster	+1 Chaos	Havoc Pulse (targets take two effects from Chaos Pulse instead of one) Chaos Channeling (all damage spells get free chance of causing a negative status effect)
Enthraller	3	Mindbreaker	+1 Order	Enrapturing Truth (Eldritch Truth can fully dominate target) Manipulator (Eldritch debuffs can target two enemies instead of one)
Mind Devourer	3	Mindbreaker	+1 Shadow	Mind Shattering Truth (Eldritch Truth deals 20 unblockable Physical damage) Mindrend (deal extra damage to targets with mental negative status effects)
Fleshsculptor	3	Fleshweaver	+1 Nature	Greater Possession (target non-Hero gets Greater Empower buff) Fleshsculpt (get a free Flesh Abomination instead of two Fleshlings)
Puppeteer	3	Fleshweaver	+1 Shadow	Puppeteer's Possession (group of up to 3 non-Heros get Empower buff) Puppeteer's Domination (Eldritch Mind Control with better odds and longer control time)

For the second and fourth Signature Skill slots, you get to choose between five Forgotten Tomes of Magic. Each Forgotten Tome gives you access to a different set of three abilities, but they otherwise work the same:

At the start of each combat, your Eldritch Sovereign can use a randomly chosen ability from the Forgotten Tome.
After four combat turns (or three with Forgotten Tome Mastery), the Sovereign will lose this ability and gain a new one from the same tome.
The new ability can be the same one you had earlier, but you can now reuse it.
Every Forgotten Tome ability can target any location on the field, effectively making them free tactical spells.
Taking a Forgotten Tome will give your hero +1 to the matching Affinity.
There is no Forgotten Tome for Materium.
You can't take the same Forgotten Tome twice.

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Eldritch Sovereign Items and Slots

Age of Wonders 4 Relic — Crafting a relic in Age of Wonders 4.

The unique skills that Eldritch Sovereigns get are both useful and versatile, but this ruler type does have some downsides. This mostly has to do with the limitations they have for their item slots.

Sovereigns can't equip Leg items or Mounts.
Sovereigns can only wield Relic weapons (and only Sovereigns can wield Relics).

You can build Relics in the Item Forge and give them any of the normal damage types, but they also have access to the unique Cosmic Damage. Cosmic Damage deals equal amounts of Lightning, Fire, and Frost damage, and a tier one Physical Relic deals 16 damage compared to the 18 total damage of a Cosmic Relic.

However, Relics have a pretty big disadvantage compared to normal magic weapons: its normal ranged attack requires three Actions, not one. This means you can't move a single hex if you plan on attacking with your Relic (although you can use Eldritch Phase to teleport since it's free). On the bright side, the Eldritch Sovereign gets so many special abilities that you probably won't ever use the Relic to attack.

The Eldritch Sovereign ruler uses some completely new game mechanics, and they affect both combat and world map turns. Figuring out how to use them can be difficult, but mastering them can be incredibly rewarding.

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