History Characters / AgeOfWondersRacesAndClasses

* AwesomeButImpractical: Several of their units are very powerful - the Siren has a very strong [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic attack]] and a powerful Dominate ability, while the Kraken is very tough and powerful in general. But their usefulness is crippled by their inability to move on dry land. Even the Druid's Wild Hunt, which gives their armies Floating, does not work on them, so no FlyingSeafoodSpecial for you. Thankfully, their strongest unit - the Lord of the Deep - has Walking as well as Swimming.

* PoisonedWeapons: Barbarian units (and other units if given their enchantment ''Brutal Mark') have the passive Savage Strike, which grants them bonus blight damage every time they score a critical hit. Additionally, their War Shaman support units, as well as heroes/champions with their cultural orb and staff weapons, shoot bolts of blight magic at their enemies.
* ShieldBash: Barbarian Warriors can perform 'shield bash' to try to stun a single enemy unit, while simultaneously entering defence mode.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Of DarkestAfrica, complete with bowguns, animalist spirituality and the addition of African style body paint to the race creator. This serves to differenciate them from the Barbarian culture's horn-helmed tribal-European/Norse vibe.

* GeoEffects: Each spirit animal gives the Primal culture a favored terrain type, providing a variety of bonuses for city provinces and units standing in them. Constructing a spirit temple (after acquiring a spirit node) allows a chosen city to spread the favored terrain to all regions near its borders.

* MirrorCharacter: To the base game's Barbarian culture. Both are primitive tribal societies with an affinity for nature. However, the Barbarian culture emphasizes speed, aggression and rapid expansion on the world map. Primal, by contrast, centers most of its economic and combat bonuses on the exploitation of favored terrain, encouraging the player to fight defensively and expand selectively.

* BodySurf: Dark Elf [[http://aow.heavengames.com/units/unitstats_dark_elf_ts.shtml#Incarnate Incarnate]] unit.

* ShockAndAwe: The Storm Priest.

* PoisonedWeapons: Barbarian units (and other units if given their enchantment ''Primal Mark'') start each battle with the Primal Strike buff (to be renamed Savage Strike in the next upcoming update to avoid confusion/association with the Primal culture), granting them a hefty amount of bonus blight damage on the very first melee attack they make in each battle. On the shooting side, their War Shaman support units, as well as heroes/champions with their cultural orb and staff weapons, shoot bolts of blight magic at their enemies.

!!''Age of Wonders III'' Dwellings

[[folder:Dragons' Peak]]
[[quoteright:83:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragonicon.png]]
[[caption-width-right:83:Dragons in ''Age of Wonders 3'']]

->''The Dragons are an ancient race of powerful reptilian creatures. Born into this world during its creation, the Dragons are said to have shaped the world for the other races to inhabit. Each Dragon type to emerge represented one element; ranging from metals and gems to fire and frost. The Giants came next, shaping the land in finer detail, often changing what the Dragons had formed. This is thought to be the source of the fierce animosity between the two races. All Dragons can fly and possess powerful magical abilities and immunities, combining breath attacks with powerful claws.''
-->--The ''Tome of Wonders''

->'''Units''': Fire Wyvern, Frost Wyvern, Gold Wyvern, Fire Dragon, Frost Dragon, Golden Dragon, Bone Wyvern, Bone Dragon, Obsidian Wyvern, Obsidian Dragon

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Obsidian and Bone dragons are Dedicated to Evil (unless summoned by a spellcaster).
* AlwaysLawfulGood: Gold Dragons are Dedicated to Good.
* BreathWeapon: All full-grown dragons can breathe damaging energy in a cone, but the damage they deal varies on their type.
* {{Dracolich}}: Bone Dragons. They are just as strong as regular dragons, but are undead, with the strengths and weaknesses that entails. Their breath deals Blight damage and their bite can inflict several nasty diseases, including Brain Rot, dreaded by casters.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Pretty standard as far as dragons go, all things considered. As usual, they fly, have a BreathWeapon, are unfathomably ancient, and are some of the most powerful creatures in the setting. There are several types of them, including fire, frost, gold, Obsidian and [[{{Dracolich}} Bone]].
* SummonMagic:
** In ''Age of Wonders III'', a leader may obtain spells that summon Bone or Obsidian dragons. No class learns them naturally, but with some luck they can be obtained from the Wizard Tower Ruins, a Mythical treasure site, or from completing a certain Empire quest.
** Sorcerers can summon Fire, Frost, and Obsidian Wyverns through the Summon Fantastic Creature spell.
* WeakButSkilled: Obsidian Dragons. They are some of the weakest dragons in terms of damage and health, but they have [[StealthExpert Concealment]] on almost all types of terrain that are not just flat plains, which can make them into a really nasty surprise to run into, considering they're still a tier 4 unit. Their Weakening Breath inflicts pitiful damage compared to that of other dragons (8 instead of the usual 20), but can inflict the nasty Weakened debuff.
* OurWyvernsAreDifferent: In ''Age of Wonders'', wyverns are reptilian creatures that resemble dragons but aren't actually infantile form of them. However, ''Age of Wonders III'' does classified wyverns as dragons.

[[folder:Giant's Keep]]
[[quoteright:83:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/giantsicon.png]]
[[caption-width-right:83:Giants in ''Age of Wonders 3'']]

->''According to ancient scripture, the Giant kin helped the Allfather form the continents, with Fire Giants directing the flow of molten rock, the Rock Giants shaping the solidified rock, and the Storm Giants giving the lands their final polish through erosion. The Titans were the masters of the Giants, and they oversaw the work of their kin, until the Giants rebelled. Now, Giants are rarely seen, and they keep mostly to themselves. They can sometimes be rallied behind a cause though, often with devastating results.''
-->--The ''Tome of Wonders''

->'''Units''': Ogre, Fire Giant, Frost Giant, Stone Giant

* TheDragonslayer: The Giant's Keep can construct the Rock of Ages building, which gives produced giants the Dragon Slayer trait.
* FlamingSword: The Fire Giant's weapon is a [[{{BFs}} massive sword]] made out of fire.
* OurGiantsAreBigger: Come in the Fire, Frost and Stone varieties, as well as Ogres, which are referred to as "Degenerate Children".
* OurOgresAreHungrier: Ogre are demi-giants, and although not considered true giants have similar properties to them.

[[folder:Naga Lair]]
[[quoteright:70:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nagaicon.png]]
[[caption-width-right:70:Nagas in ''Age of Wonders 3: Golden Realm'']]

->''The Naga are an ancient race of powerful, reptilian creatures. They tend to hide in their swamps and only come out when provoked or hired in mercenary armies. Ruled by Matriarchs, they have a strictly organized society, so much so that the different roles and duties have started influencing their appearance. All Naga are strong melee fighters, with the slightly dimwitted Glutton the strongest of them all. The Matriarch possesses powerful magical abilities to control her subjects and neutralize enemy threats.''

->'''Units''': Baby Reed Serpent, Naga Slither, Naga Guardian, Naga Matriarch, Mature Reed Serpent, Glutton

* AchillesHeel: The Glutton has a lot of health and several ways to heal itself, but '''awful''' armor for a tier 4 unit, sitting at a pitiful 8 at Recruit rank. This makes them incredibly vulnerable to physical restraints. Even baby spiders (a tier 1 unit), let alone Spider Queens, can easily trap them in webs and prevent them from doing anything for several turns.
* LargeAndInCharge: The Gluttons, who are worshiped by the Naga as a god.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Naga Matriarchs have four arms.
* {{Multiboobage}}: The Naga Matriarchs also have two sets of breasts.
* SnakePeople: They are snake-like creatures with a vaguely humanoid body shape with arms. The Glutton is barely even humanoid at all, though it still has arms.
* SwallowedWhole: The Glutton's attacks may have a chance of swallowing an enemy whole and restoring the Glutton's health upon success. It will release the victim when it dies.

[[folder:Necropolis]]
[[quoteright:83:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/archonicon.png]]
[[caption-width-right:83:Archon Revenants in ''Age of Wonders 3'']]

->''Archon Revenants are corruptions of the glorious and noble Archon. In life, the Archon were a race of enlightened men. Outwardly very similar to humans, their inner peace and nature resembled that of the elves. Always helping humanity, their most fervent goal was fighting and obliterating the undead, who they saw as their ultimate nemesis. They eventually left, leaving behind tombs of warriors in large necropoles. By some cruel twist of fate, they eventually rose from their resting places as undead themselves. Nothing like their former selves, these Archon Revenants are soulless beings intend on spreading death and destruction. ''

->'''Units''': Archon Revenant Infantry, Archon Revenant Archer, Archon Revenant Caster, Archon Titan, Wraith, Wraith King

* AllergicToEvil: Archon Revenant Infantry have the "Unholy Champion" trait, which gives them bonus fire damage against Dedicated to Good, [[CrossMeltingAura Devout]], Fey and [[EnemyToAllLivingThings Animal]] units. Archon Revenant Archers get the lesser "Good Slayer" trait, which grants extra physical damage against Dedicated to Good targets. Archon Titans also start with Good Slayer, but unlock Unholy Champion as well when they reach veteran rank.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: All Archon units are Dedicated To Evil, the only dwelling race to have a uniform alignment, and their dwellings are always hostile to players by default. While their dwellings can be acquired by a Good empire, their troops will suffer harsh morale penalties.
* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: The Archons were sent to Athla to destroy the undead, but now their own dead have risen as evil monsters.
* GiantMook: Archon Titans, immense mummies swinging huge maces. It actually has the Giant trait, giving it [[BarrierBustingBlow Wall Crushing]], Mountaineering, and +2 vision range. It also comes with Guard Breaker and Overwhelm, allowing it to easily break formations of infantry.
* {{Irony}}: For a race dedicated to fighting the undead, the Archon's own dead are resurrected as evil undead.
* TheUndead: What remains of the Archons.
* WrongContextMagic: The Archons of the past were believed to be immune to necromancy, as they were created to destroy the undead, but the cult of Urrath -- an implied EldritchAbomination -- still managed to resurrect them. The other races of Athla are unnerved by the implications, and give the Necropoli a wide berth.

[[folder:Reef Colony]]
[[quoteright:96:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/merfolkpng.png]]
[[caption-width-right:96:Merfolks in ''Age of Wonders 3: Eternal Lords]]

->''Merfolk are mysterious creatures, able to breathe both water and air. It is said that the few Merfolk cities seen on the surface are just a tiny fraction of the nations the Merfolk have established in the deep beneath the oceans. Although most Merfolk cannot leave the water, the sailors they have enslaved with their magic are sometimes sent onto the land to act as their agents. Sailors also whisper of a mighty Lord of the Deep, a giant being who emerges from the waters to rain lightning down on those who threaten the sanctity of the Merfolk.''

->'''Units''': Baby Kraken, Meramid, Lost Mariner, Siren, Lord of the Deep

* AwesomeButImpractical: Several of their units are very powerful - the Siren has a very strong [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic attack]] and a powerful Dominate ability, while the Kraken is very tough and powerful in general. But their usefulness is crippled by their inability to move on dry land. Even the Druid's Wild Hunt, which gives their armies Floating, does not work on them, so no FlyingSeafoodSpecial for you. Thankfully, their strongest unit - the Lord of the Deep - has Walking as well as Swimming.
* CharmPerson: Mermaid has the Seduce ability while Sirens have the Dominate ability.
* KrakenAndLeviathan: The Kraken and its baby form.
* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: In their flavor text, they are very beautiful but they use their beauty to lure and sink anyone, even women.
* ShockAndAwe: The Lord of the Deep unit deals Shock Damage with his attacks, has the ability to conjure storms at will and with sufficient levels will deal shock damage and stun any melee attacker.
* SirensAreMermaids: The upgraded version of the Mermaids. Their Siren's Wail deals powerful physical damage within an area of effect, and their Dominate ability is stronger than the Mermaids' seduction, but they're still confined to water.

[[folder:Sylvan Court]]
[[quoteright:83:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/feyicon.png]]
[[caption-width-right:83:Fey in ''Age of Wonders 3'']]

->''Fey are supernatural beings with a close connection to nature. As caretakers of the woods they favor deep forests and often shun the other races. However, due to their playfulness, curiosity and carefree nature, the strongly individual Fey can be found all over Athla supporting a wide variety of different causes. All Fey are highly magical and possess unique magic abilities.''

->'''Units''': Buttercup Fairy, Toadstool Fairy, Nightshade Fairy, Unicorn, Nymph

* AlwaysLawfulGood: The Unicorns and Nymphs are Dedicated to Good.
* FairySexy: The Nymphs have the ability to befriend animals and seduce sentient beings that aren't immune to mind control.
* FireIceLightning: The buttercup, toadstool and nightshade faeries' main attack is launching Faerie Fire which deals damage of the three types at once.
* TheFairFolk
* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Come in Unicorn, Nymph, and three tiers of pixie units.
* {{Unicorn}}: It has the ability Phase, which can teleport to any destination within range.

!Classes (''Age of Wonders III'')

[[folder:Dreadnought]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crest_dreadnought.png]]

->''Dreadnoughts work in a world of pulleys, boilers, engines and gears. They are inventors and engineers. The Commonwealth esteems their machines because they can automate everyday chores. Their tanks and battleships allow the common man to safely slay monstrous creatures. However, the power of steam doesn't come without its price, so Dreadnought lords have pioneered new ways of stripping resources from the earth. I once heard one proclaim that when they ran out of fertile lands, they'd invent an alternative fuel. From what I've observed, he is probably right.''
-->--''Gifted Lords of the Third Age'', by Ralinstone Pedant, Chronicler

Dreadnoughts bring in powerful firearms and machinery in order to wage their battles. Due to the fact that most of their units such as the Musketeers and the Cannons must reload, it is more defensive army, in addition to primarily defensive spells.


->'''Units:''' Spy Drone, Engineer, Musketeer, Golem (non-Halfling Dreadnoughts only), Party Robot Prototype (Halfling Dreadnoughts only), Cannon, Flame Tank (non-Frostling Dreadnoughts only), Frost Tank (Frostling Dreadnoughts only), Juggernaut, Ironclad Warship

* BlindedByTheLight: Engineers can throw flash bangs to deal physical and fire damage and inflict blindness on the target. Flash Bang is also one of the Dreadnought's combat spells.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: Spy Drones and Flame Tanks explode and deal damage to any adjacent units upon death. Dreadnought heroes with the Bomb Squad skill confer this trait to units in their stack as well.
* TheEngineer: Dreadnought heroes and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Engineers]] can repair damages and give benefits to machines.
* FantasyGunControl: Averted. This class uses a lot of firearms and powerful cannons.
* FantasticNuke: The ''Destabilized Mana Core'' combat spell. After two turns, a massive, battlefield-wide explosion deals a whopping 60 fire damage to every unit, and 90 damage to all barriers/walls. It also neutralizes all active spell effects, both upon individual units and the map as a whole. If successfully used in a city battle (whether or not the timer runs out before the battle ends), the settlement loses 15% of its population, the city's happiness takes a -300 malus for ten turns, and the happiness of the race that lived in the city suffers a -50 malus permanently.
* FireBreathingWeapon: In addition to their Flame Tanks, their primary form of damage is Fire, which can give an extra boost with Draconian Dreadnoughts. Inverted with Frostling Dreadnoughts, who replace their Flame Tanks with Frost Tanks that deal frost damage instead of fire damage, though they keep the other fire-based aspects of the Dreadnought arsenal.
* GeoEffects: Suppress Nature neutralizes any happiness penalty from terrains and climates.
* {{Golem}}: They're Tier 2 war robots that deal significant melee damage and have fairly high defense against enemies that don't deal shock damage. Halfling Dreadnoughts replace them with Party Robot Prototype which, while weaker than the regular Golem, has a more support role such as gaining the ''Nourishing Meal'' ability, which heals and give happiness to a unit, and gains a rocket ranged attack at gold rank.
* HeavilyArmoredMook: Dreadnoughts are encouraged to build a lot of units with the Armored ability because of the Great Blacksmith and Solid Engineering empire upgrades, which reduces their gold cost and increases their defense, respectively. However, this is downplayed if their race doesn't rely on armored units, like Goblins and Draconians.
* HorseArcher: While Dreadnoughts don't exactly have horse archers, their "Side Arm" empire upgrade grants their cavalry and heroes the [[SwordAndGun "Fire Pistol"]] ability, granting them an extra ranged attack.
* ImmuneToMindControl: Machine units are normally this as most mind control abilities are generally based on the Spirit damage channel, which machines have a default 100% protection against.
* MagikarpPower: It takes a long time for the Dreadnoughts to get their empire rolling. Once they enchant their cities with ''Mana Fuel Cells'', and collect empire upgrades that increase gold production, reduce gold costs and grant nifty upgrades to units, they can crank out enormous mechanized armies.
* {{Magitek}}: Much of their technology relies on mana as fuel, and most Dreadnought class units cost both gold and mana to build.
* ManOnFire: Dreadnought heroes, Draconian Engineers, and Elite-ranked Flame Tanks and Juggernauts can immolate non-Elemental and incorporeal enemies, decreasing their attack, defense, resistance, and morale and deal fire damage at the start of their turn.
* MightyGlacier: Dreadnought heroes are much bulkier against physical attacks than other heroes except Warlord heroes, as they start with extra defense and the armored trait and can receive an upgrade that increases their physical resistance by 20%.
* TheMusketeer: Dreadnought heroes are equipped with a melee weapon of any choice and a musket.
* NoSell: Machine units are completely immune to blight and spirit damage, making them especially dangerous against enemies that specialize in those damage types. Though certain abilities such as the Goblin Blight Doctor's Weakening or spells such as Degenerate from Wild Magic can at least partially get rid of these immunities.
* ShortRangeShotgun: The Engineer's Blunderbuss ability counts as a 'breath' weapon, meaning it hits every unit (including allies) in a short cone.
* SummonMagic:
** Dreadnoughts can summon Spy Drones in the strategic map.
** The Summon Siege Engineer spell allows Dreadnought heroes to summon either a Trebuchet, Flame Tank, Cannon, or Juggernaut in the tactical map.
* SupportPartyMember: The Engineer is very important in any Dreadnought army. With their ability ''Rapid Reload'', they can remove the cooldown of Musketeer and machine units, and ''Maintenance'', which gives healing to a party of machines out of combat, which cannot regenerate naturally, they can provide good benefits to a machine-heavy army. At gold medal, they also get Emergency Repair, which lets them also heal machine units mid-battle.
* SurveillanceDrone: Spy Drones are floating machine summons built for scouting and exploring, and they acquire the True Sight trait at elite rank (which makes them handy for sniffing out concealed units in the world map).

[[folder:Sorcerer]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crest_sorcerer.png]]

->''After the ascension of the ancient Wizard Kings at the end of the Second Age, a new breed of magicians, called Sorcerers, claimed power. Seeking to unravel the mysteries of cosmos, they've learned to directly tap into the mana currents and wield magic in its purest form. Sorcerers are capable of summoning magical creatures ranging from shock Wisps to extra-dimensional Eldritch Horrors. Being the most magically focused of all the classes, the Sorcerer wields a wide arsenal of combat invocations and unit and domain enchantments. Sorcerer's domains tend to be loaded with protections such as anti magic domes and guarding glyphs, while they cast corrupting magic on their enemies. Needless to say, Sorcerers favor mana over gold and rely on spells instead of brute force. With their arcane knowledge, they strive to restore the dominance once held by the Wizard Kings.''
-->--''Gifted Lords of the Third Age'', by Ralinstone Pedant, Chronicler

Sorcerer may not have the most powerful armies, but they make up for it with powerful spells and summoned creatures. They rely on their Casting Points and high reserve of mana to take advantage of their spells.

->'''Units:''' Wisp, Apprentice, Phantasm Warrior, Summon Fantastic Creature units [[note]]Obsidian Wyvern, Fire Wyvern, Frost Wyvern, Gryphon, Watcher[[/note]], Node Serpent, Eldritch Horror

* TheApprentice: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Apprentice unit]]. They are Sorcerers in training, they can heal summoned units and steal buffs and debuffs.
* TheArchmage: In case the name didn't make it clear enough, the Sorcerer is the most magic-focused class in the game. This is particularly true if their ultimate enchantment, Age of Magic, is up. This is one of the highest-priority Disjunction targets in the game, as it grants the Sorcerer 50 additional casting points '''while halving the mana and casting point cost''' of all their spells. Want to take the seemingly poorly defended city with your army? Oops, that city now has an [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Horror]] protecting it! Want to disjunct the Static Electricity that keeps [[CycleOfHurting stunning your units]], or the Chaos Rift decimating your army? Go ahead, waste your turns and casting points. The Sorcerer will laugh at you and cast them all over again.
* CripplingOverspecialization: High Elf Sorcerers are largely restricted to physical and shock damage, which becomes a problem against, ironically, magical creatures that are resistant to those damage types, like Wisps and Phantasm Warriors. In a MirrorMatch against another Sorcerer of a different race, the Elves may have problem dealing with an army of Phantasm Warriors.
* CycleOfHurting: One of the empire upgrades of the Sorcerer gives all their support units the ability to stun. This, combined with Static Electricity (which gives all allied units Static Shield and all enemies weakness to electricity) makes a Sorcerer with an army full of supports almost impossible to contend with without sky-high electric resistance, otherwise your armies will spend their time getting flanked and being unable to attack.
* EldritchAbomination: The Eldritch Horror, the Sorcerer's strongest summoned units, is this. In addition, they can [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Dominate]] and have Fearsome, which causes enemies to likely panic if they directly attack it.
* ImmuneToMindControl: The Eldritch Horror has Mind Control Immunity.
* GravityScrew: The Double Gravity spell, which causes all flying units to be forced into the ground.
* ShockAndAwe: Chain Lightning, Static Sphere, Lightning Storm, they use a lot of Shock-themed spells and damage. In addition, many of their units deal shock damage.
* SummonMagic: With the exception of Apprentice, most of their units are all summoned in the strategic map.

[[folder:Arch Druid]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crest_archdruid.png]]

->''Arch Druids lead from natural sanctuaries in remote locales. Their cities are natural self-sufficient places founded on the bedrock of natural balance. Their lands burst with life, sweet springs overflow bringing lush wilderness to arid wastelands. Their domains are well guarded by hunters, shamans, and wild beasts. Even the trees appear to bend to the Arch Druid's will. The Arch Druid Lords I encountered ruled with unquestioned power that at times seemed cruel, but upon reflection is justified by their need for constant balance. To master the forces of nature, they do not blindly protect life, for death is the natural consequence of life.''
-->--''Gifted Lords of the Third Age'', by Ralinstone Pedant, Chronicler.

Arch Druid uses the might of nature to inflict damage on their enemies. They use nature-themed spells and powerful animals to fight alongside them.


->'''Units:''' Wild Animals [[note]]Dread Spider Baby, Hunter Spider Baby, Vampire Spider Baby, Baby Reed Serpent, Baby Shock Serpent, Warg, Boar, Dire Penguin, Dread Monkey, Tiger[[/note]], Hunter, Eldritch Animals [[note]]Blight Tusk Boar, Bleak Warg, Gryphon, Dire Bear, Dire Panther, Elephant, Mammoth, Polar Bear[[/note]], Shaman, Gargantuan Animals [[note]]Dread Spider Queen, Hunter Spider Queen, Cockatrice, Mature Reed Serpent, Mature Shock Serpent, King Reed Serpent, King Shock Serpent[[/note]], Horned God, Erymanthian Boar, Ancestral Spirits

* TheBeastmaster: Much of their units are summoned animals, in addition, they can buff and debuff animals and mounts.
* {{Druid}}: Yeah it's kind of in the name.
* ForestRanger:
** The Hunters are their class archer unit, who have the ability to traverse tough terrain, swim, and deal bonus damage against animals.
** Arch Druid's empire upgrades benefit archer units, including their own Hunters. These upgrades include Hunter's Finesse[[note]]It grants Archers Razor Projectile to inflict bleeding[[/note]], Favored Enemies[[note]]It grants Archers and Supports Monster, Giant, and Dragon Slayer[[/note]], and Long Strider[[note]]It increases Archer and Support's movement by 8.[[/note]].
* GaiasVengeance: Many of their spells uses vines and nature to defeat their enemies. In addition, they can summon [[PhysicalGod The Horned God]].
* GeoEffects: One with the Element is cast to give the empire a connection to nature. It gives an increase in happiness bonus and lessened happiness penalty to the race's disliked and hated terrain and climates.
* GreenThumb: Most of their spells that don't summon animals involve commanding plants instead, such as impaling an enemy with sharp roots or crushing city walls with vines. Their Shamans get the ability to trap enemy units in roots, and The Horned God inflicts the same effect with its melee attacks.
* ImmuneToMindControl: Shaman has the Mind Control Immunity and, if you researched Beast Mastery, all of your animals and monsters receive Mind Control Immunity and 2 bonus resistance.
* NatureIsNotNice: Druids may be protectors of nature, but that won't stop them, their forces, the animals under their command and even the plants they control from wrecking your army in many horrific ways. Just like other classes, they are in no way bound to any alignment, so a druid can range anywhere from a Pure Good tree-hugging hippie to a Pure Evil [[GaiasVengeance walking natural disaster]].
* NatureLover: In a darker way than usual, as shown by the above quote.
* PoisonousPerson: Their spells and units inflict much blight damage as it is part of nature.
* PowerOfTheSun: The Sunburst spell calls a burning ray that would deal fire damage to an enemy army on a map. In addition, it inflicts unhappiness bonuses and population loss to a city that is targeted.
* ShockAndAwe: The Horned God can use the ability Call Lightning to summon a lightning bolt that strikes the target and adjacent hexes and has a chance of inflicting stun. Arch Druid heroes can learn "Call Lightning".

** Arch Druid leaders can summon animals and the Horned God on the strategic map. Elite-ranked Horned Gods can summon an animal companion of their own, the Erymanthian Boar.
** During combat, Arch Druid heroes can use the combat spells Call Ancestral Spirits and Call Beast Horde to summon an Ancestral Spirit and a horde of beasts, respectively, that last until the end of combat. In addition, Call Beast Horde can summon beasts at the start of the opponent's round.
* WarElephants: Arch Druids can befriend or summon Elephants and Mammoths. Both are similar in stats and abilities, down to even learning [[ExtraTurn Killing Momentum]] upon reaching Elite rank. Befriending an elephant grants the player the achievement "Elephant Whisperer."
* TheWildHunt: The Arch Druid's ultimate Strategic Spell, The Wild Hunt, grants all of their units (except for Sea Monsters and Machine units) Floating and Strong Will.

[[folder:Rogue]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crest_rogue.png]]

->''Rogue Lords are masters of propaganda. Any foolish citizen who refuses to accept their lies disappears without a whisper of protest in the middle of the night. Rogues employ political scandal, poison, assassinations, theft, blackmail, and bribery to appease their subjects and manipulate rival lords. Rogues often have two faces: one they show the public, the other is a ruthless schemer directing their secret police force to brutalize his enemies. Rogue troops rely on stealth and speed, patiently waiting in shadow for the perfect moment to strike.''

Rogue are cunning and manipulative, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Good at disorienting their enemies and uses a lot of abilities that buff your units and debuff your enemies.


-> '''Units:''' Grimbeak Crows, Scoundrel, Bard, Assassin, Succubus, Lesser Shadow Stalker, Shadow Stalker

* ArmorPiercingAttack: Rogue heroes can learn Armor Piercing to deal additional damage against armored units. In addition, they can learn Stronger than Steel, which gives Armor Piercing to the Rogue hero's army.
* BackStab: Rogue heroes, Assassins, and Shadow Stalkers (and their lesser form) have the Backstab ability, which allows their flanking attacks to deal additional damage. The Cruel Backstab empire upgrade grants the ability to irregular and infantry units.
* CastingAShadow: Rogues are associated with magic that allows them to [[FogOfWar shroud their domains in shadows]], summon elementals of cold darkness, and turn an ally into a living shadow.
* CombatPragmatist: Uses a lot of dirty tactics to give them the edge, such as blinding, backstabbing, sabotage, inducing panic, infiltration, etc.
* CreepyCrows: Rogues can summon Grimbeak Crows that can be deployed as spies.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Rogues use a lot of sinister ploys to win battles, but they can be good or evil depending on their alignment. In fact, the ability Courtesan Ambassadors, which can be researched very early and improves relationships with independent cities (leading to a good synergy with the good-inclined Keeper of Peace specialization), encourages playing a LovableRogue archetype, despite the dark and creepy flavor of some of their abilities such as Corrupted Killers.
* DealWithTheDevil: The Rogue can train Succubi, and one of their empire upgrades is described as forging "a Dark Pact with forgotten gods".
* HeroKiller: Rogues can learn the Assassins of Kings upgrade, which grants their party the Hero Slayer ability.
* {{Invisibility}}: The Rogue's ultimate Strategic Spell, Age of Deception, renders all of their armies invisible.
* PoisonousPerson[=/=]PoisonedWeapons: Rogues specialize in blight damage. Moreover, Rogue can gain blight resistance. This can used in ways, such as either enhancing Goblins' already high blight damage and resistance or giving High Elves blight damage and removing their blight weakness.
* SmokeOut: The Smoke Screen spell which could be cast into the battlefield. While it doesn't allow your units to escape (as it is already covered with Cunning Escape), it boosts your units' defense against ranged attack.
* StormOfBlades: Rogue heroes can cast Rain of Poison Blades to deal both physical and blight damage to a single target.
* SuccubiAndIncubi: The Succubus unit. They are beautiful WingedHumanoid female demons clad in {{Stripperific}} armor that can [[CharmPerson seduce]] enemy units.
* SummonMagic: Rogues can summon Grimbeak Crows into the strategic map.
* WeakButSkilled: They focus mostly on Irregular units, which tend to be weaker and squishier in direct combat than other units. They are also the only class that can neither summon nor produce a tier 4 unit, with the tier 3 Shadow Stalker serving as their ultimate unit instead unless their leader chooses one of the Eternal Lords specializations. Finally, they have almost no means to heal their units. They make up for it with tricky tactics and units that can pop out of nowhere and deal tons of damage without taking much in return.

[[folder:Warlord]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crest_warlord.png]]

->Warlords see safety in war. One warlord told me that a nation at peace was a nation breeding cowards to be enslaved. Warlords rule by the Law of the Sword, establishing leadership based upon annual bloody tournaments of battle. Many warlords are clever tacticians, while others are legendary warriors unto themselves. Though they tend to trust the power of their well-trained arms over supernatural powers, Warlords will sacrifice everything to protect their homelands. They train in strong armor, with an assortment of weapons, and view scars as badges of honor.
-->--''Gifted Lords of the Third Age'', by Ralinstone Pedant, Chronicler

Warlords strive on warfare. They uses strong units and... well, strong units. Much of their spells help them do war efficiently like buffing units and debuffing enemies.


->'''Units:''' Scout, Berserker, Monster Hunter, Mounted Archer, Phalanx, Warbreed, Manticore Rider

* ArmyScout: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Scouts]]. In the map, they can traverse water and mountains as if they could fly, but they have low HP and stats, meaning that they are not meant to be direct combat units.
* TheBerserker:
** [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Berserkers]], they do a lot of damage and when in a higher level, can inflict bleeding and not spend action points when retaliating.
** The ''Steadfast Ward'' spell also give the unit 2 turns to keep fighting, even when he is at 1 HP, making them fight 'til their last breath.
* BloodKnight: As shown by the above quote, warlords tend to be quite bloodthirsty.
* BoringButPractical: Warlords don't get many fancy spells and have no summons outside of specializations, but they make up for it with powerful conventional armies. The spells and hero skills they do get are also geared more towards empowering their own troops, rather than affecting or damaging the enemy directly.
* BornInTheSaddle: The Thoroughbred Mounts empire upgrade increases their mounted units' health, which improves the survivability of their racial mounted units and their class mounted units, like the Mounted Archer and Manticore Rider.
* FatalForcedMarch: Their Death March strategic spell allows an army to double their normal movement at a cost of [[CastFromHitPoints half of their current health]]. While it will make a Warlord's army mobile, it also puts them at risk of ambush from enemy armies that catch them in a weakened state.
* FragileSpeedster: The Scout unit. They're unsuited to direct combat, but they can Sprint to avoid attacks of opportunity while moving near enemy units. Combined with the Backstab trait they gain at rank 4, this makes Scouts useful for harassing the enemy's flanks and tying up support/archer units.
* GladiatorGames: Their second tier Class building is called the Gladiator Pit which produces Phalanx and Warbreeds, as well as give happiness to the city that produced the building.
* HalfHumanHybrid: The Warbreeds are giant creatures born from an ogre and your chosen race. They retain traits of your race while possessing monstrous traits like Wall Crushing and Regrowth.
* HeroKiller: {{Invoked}} with the Hero Slaying strategic spell, which grants the caster's unit the Hero Slayer ability.
* HorseArcher: The Mounted Archer unit. They also resemble Mongolian horsemen.
* HunterOfMonsters: The Monster Hunter unit. They have the Slayer trait against monsters, animals, dragons, giants, elementals and fey, and gain Slayer for undead and summons as they rank up. Their protective gear also affords them 20% resistance to [[FireIceLightning fire, cold and shock damage]], which magical creatures are likely to utilize.
* ImmuneToMindControl: The Berserker and the Manticore Rider, which are ridden by Berserkers, have Mind Control Immunity so they cannot be stolen from you.
* InstantMilitia: Raise Militia summons irregular units based on the Warlord's race at the cost of population.
* OurManticoresAreSpinier: The Manticore Rider. It is a cavalry unit with Flying that are very powerful with their high attack damage, immune to mind control, and capable of inflicting Cripple to enemies.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuys: They live and breathe on warfare. Their Warrior Culture empire upgrade removes the "enemy in domain" and "enemy at the gate" morale penalty, allowing to fight to the bitter end.
* UncleSamWantsYou: The Draft strategic spell invokes the imagery with a bald man pointing toward the player. It grants happiness and they cannot desert if their happiness is too low.
* WarIsGlorious: Many warlords enjoy fighting and becoming very strong.

[[folder:Theocrat]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crest_theocrat.png]]

->''Because theocrats tend not to wield many offensive powers, it is tempting to believe that territories ruled by theocrats are easy to conquer. History has proven this to be foolishness. Theocrats lead the masses by the heart. They heal, persuade, minister and convert. Their zealots are fiercely loyal, convinced to the core that any action they perform will earn them a greater reward in the afterlife. Theocrats bestow power upon their most faithful from two theological sources: the Mandate of Heaven or the terror of the Underworld.''

Do not underestimate Theocrats just because they are not as offensive as a Warlord. They have strong healers, great buffs, religious fanatics, and divine retribution to fight for the light.

->'''Units:''' Cherub, Martyr, Crusader, Evangelist, Exalted, Shrine of Smiting

* AntiMagicalFaction: The strategic enchantment ''The Great Purge'', which "channels divine power to cleanse the land of supernatural beings" and provides all infantry and cavalry units with Dragon Slayer, Fey Slayer, Monster Slayer, Summon Slayer and Undead Slayer.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent:
** The Exalted is one of their strongest units, with their ability to fly, strong attack and Spirit damage, immune to Spirit damage and Mind Control, and the ''Resurgence'' ability which resurrects them should the Theocrat be victorious and they fell in battle.
** The Cherubs are weak but effective scouts for the Theocrat. Unlike the other class units, cherubs need to be summoned with a strategic spell.
* ArchEnemy: Necromancers, which Theocrats suffer MutualDisadvantage with. On the one hand, Theocrats rely heavily on Spirit and sometimes Fire damage, which undead are naturally weak against, and they can give their party buffs such as Holy Champion and Undead Slayer, and their Evangelists can spam Turn Undead. On the other hand, Necromancers possess a spell that drops the resistance of Devout units while boosting that of undead, and can give their units Devout Slayer and Support Slayer, tearing through Theocrat armies that rely heavily on units with those tags.
* BackFromTheDead: Their main schtick is their ability to come back from the dead. The Theocrat hero can cast the spell ''Rebirth'' on a single target to gain Resurgence, which resurrects the unit if they are killed in battle. In addition, the Theocrat hero can learn ''Divine Justicar'', which grants their '''entire party''' Resurgence. Lastly, the Exalted starts with Resurgence, which allows them to serve as vanguard against fortified cities and defensive line.
* ChurchMilitant: Uses holy warriors as their main method of warfare.
* CombatMedic: Theocrat heroes and Evangelist are great healers, but they can still fight.
* CombinedEnergyAttack: The Prayer Bolts of the Shrine of Smiting are empowered by the faith of every Devout unit on the battlefield controlled by the Theocrat. Used within an army consisting entirely of Devout units, a Shrine of Smiting effectively has twice its stated power. In a massive battle involving several armies, it can easily be three or four times as powerful, felling even powerful units in one blow, especially if Armageddon is active.
* CrystalDragonJesus: The Theocrat religion, complete with robed evangelists, knightly crusaders and feather-winged angels.
* EasyEvangelism: Theocrat heroes and Evangelist can Convert enemy units.
* TheHeretic: Theocrats use Mark of the Heretic and Denounce City spells to give the Heretic debuff, which Devoted units deal more damage against.
* HeroicSacrifice: Martyr has the Absorb Pain ability which takes in damage that would have been inflicted on the unit they use the ability on. They can be damaged and even killed from this, but they'll die for you. Exalted can get this ability if they are [[MagikarpPower evolved]] from Martyr. So can Theocrat heroes.
* HolyBurnsEvil: Theocrats have many ways of countering undead and "Dedicated to Evil" units, like Spirit damage, Holy Champion, and TurnUndead.
* HolyHandGrenade: Uses a lot of Spirit damage. The Shrine of Smiting gets more powerful, the more devoted units are in the army it is in.
* ImmuneToMindControl: The Cherub and Evangelist have Mind Control Immunity. Though the Exalted and Crusader do not strictly possess the Mind Control Immunity, they have 100% base Spirit Resistance which, given that all conversion abilities are spirit-element checks, grants effective immunity to mind control unless generous debuffs are applied.
* LightEmUp: A lot of their abilities focus on Spirit damage in the form of bright yellow/white holy magic.
* LightIsNotGood: Theocrats may be worshippers and church officials, but their alignment can make the difference between the GoodShepherd and the SinisterMinister. The Cherub's description implies that the unnamed Theocrat religion may be a PathOfInspiration.
* ThePaladin: The Crusaders are their infantry class units. They are immune to Spirit damage and mind control, increase the effect of Guard, and deal Fire damage against Undead, monsters, and evil units through the Holy Champion trait.
* StoneWall: Crusaders are heavily-armored infantry with shields and a trait that boosts their physical and nonphysical defenses by 20% while guarding -- While capable on the offense (as they deal bonus damage against certain unit types), you're incentivized to park them in guard mode to serve as roadblocks against the enemy advance. For the best results, pair them with a Martyr to absorb what little damage they ''do'' take.
* SummonMagic: Theocrats can summon a Cherub in the strategic map.
* TheEndIsNigh: The Theocrat's ultimate Strategic Spell ''Armageddon'' "foretells the end of the world". The caster's Empire gains Strong Will and ignores some morale penalties (secure in the knowledge that they're going to be rewarded in the afterlife), while enemies have their will undermined, becoming unable to naturally recover health and gaining a massive weakness to Spirit (given that almost all of the Theocrat's nastiest moves involve Spirit damage or a Spirit resistance check, this is bad news).
* TheMedic: Theocrats has a large access of healing abilities and health regeneration. Evangelists can heal adjacent units as an ability, and they grant bonus healing to living units in their stack.
* ThePaladin: Crusaders. Immune to spirit damage and mind control, highly defensive when guarding, and they deal extra fire damage when attacking undead, monsters, or evil beings.
* TurnUndead: Evangelist and Theocrat heroes can get this ability to cause an undead unit to panic.
* UselessUsefulSpell: Theocrat heroes can learn the ability Absorb Pain, which transfers damage done to the target on the user. This is great on a low-tier, weak, and easily replaceable unit like the Martyr. Slightly less great on a hero, which, most of the time, is the most valuable thing in the party while having only mediocre health compared to a high-tier unit. [[NotCompletelyUseless Mildly less useless]] if the leader has ample casting points and Resurrect Hero researched (it's possible to resurrect a hero for only 80 mana and casting points, while a high-end unit could take 2 or 3 turns to build and far longer still to train to its full potential), but still usually not the best use of a powerful hero unit.

[[folder:Necromancer]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crest_necromancer.png]]

->''Life and Death, separate as night and day,\\
Only a Necromancer could realize the true power found in the twilight between the two.\\
Only a Necromancer could push a man to the brink of death, and hold him there forever, a ghoulish shadow of his former self.\\
Only a Necromancer could pierce the veil and drag out the shadow creatures that lurk in the darkness, to be his slaves in the light.\\
Only a Necromancer could stand as lord of a lifeless land, hollowed out and filled with dark power, and laugh when you called him evil.\\
For what use has a man of good and evil, when he's standing in the gateway to Eternity?''
-->--''Shadow Puppets'', by Grimber Ambule, Necromancer

The Necromancers was first introduced in the ''Eternal Lords'' expansion. Master of dark arts and death, any of their units and spells themed around undead warriors and inflicting debuffs against the living.


->'''Units:''' Cadaver, Lost Soul, Reanimator, Banshee, Bone Collector, Death Bringer, Dread Reaper

* AboveGoodAndEvil: As shown by the above quote, Grimber Ambule, who serves as the writer or the subject of the flavor text for many units, holds this view.
* AchillesHeel: [[HolyBurnsEvil Spirit damage]] is highly effective when battling Necromancer armies, particularly against their rank-and-file ghoul troops, who suffer from a whopping 60% weakness to the element (due to the Ghoul and Undead traits stacking) by default. A savvy necromancer player will do everything they can to mitigate this flaw when theocrats come calling, such as fielding heroes with the "Protection from Light" leadership trait, or by fielding spirit-resistant tigran ghouls.
* AnimateDead: Their main shtick, and with multiple varieties. They can even use a spell called ''Animate Ruins'' to resurrect the entire populace of a ruin into a ghoul city.
* TheApprentice: Reanimators, Necromancers in training. They can heal undead units and resurrect dead units as either Cadavers or ghoul units under Tier 2.
* ArchEnemy: Necromancers have skills geared towards battling Theocrats - the combat spell ''Desecration'' slaps a resistance debuff on all units with the Devout trait, while the strategic spell ''Enemy of the Faith'' grants the Necromancer's armies Devout Slayer and Support Slayer. Necromancer armies in turn are highly vulnerable to [[HolyBurnsEvil spirit damage]] and abilities [[TurnUndead that counter the undead]], which Theocrats specialize in.
* OurBansheesAreLouder: The Banshee units. They play a more support role as their ability Wail of Despair would inflict Despair debuffs to enemies within its range, eroding morale and making them vulnerable to units with Exploit Suffering.
* ChillOfUndeath: Cold damage is a frequent secondary effect in Necromancer attacks and spells, and undead troops boast an inherent 40% resistance to cold damage.
* TheCorruption: One of their Strategic spells, "Corrupt the Source," allows them to turn Great Farm or Spring of Life into Corrupted Farm and Corrupted Spring, respecitvely, in order to allow undead cities to gain population.
* DarkIsEvil: A lot more than Rogue, considering that they can summon and raise the dead and cause trouble for the living.
** A Necromancer player is incentivized to [[RapePillageAndBurn plunder]] captured settlements for money (considered to be a [[KickTheDog particularly]] evil act by the KarmaMeter), since they can quickly recolonize the settlement with ''Animate Ruins'', and they won't suffer from any Race Happiness penalties in their empire due to ghoul city populations lacking Happiness.
** Additionally, Necromancers benefit greatly from the Destruction specialization, which favors evil acts. ''Hasty Plunder'' and ''Scorched Earth'' both favor necromancers due to the aforementioned ''Animate Ruins'' strategy. Blight Empire turns the terrain of the domain to Blight (which most other races dislike at least, but Undead are indifferent towards, meaning that anyone trying to attack your cities will be at a morale disadvantage). Finally, ''Wreck'' can make the difference in a battle against another necromancer or a dreadnought thanks to its ability to render undead and machines vulnerable to blight damage.
* DeceasedAndDiseased: Necromancer attacks and spells frequently feature blight damage, and one strategic spell takes the form of a MysticalPlague. Another strategic spell, ''Rotten Wall'', surrounds a city's walls in a miasma of poisonous corpse gases during siege battles.
* DemBones: Cadavers and Bone Collectors. Cadavers are cannon-fodder skeletons that necromancer heroes can spawn once-per-battle from a dead unit via a special ability. They can heal themselves by devouring corpses in battle, but slowly decay outside of battle unless a necromancer or domain structure grants them healing. The Bone Collector is a BodyOfBodies in the shape of a GiantEnemyCrab that can be strengthened by sacrificing Cadavers to it.
* FearlessUndead: Undead troops are immune to most morale modifiers, and ghoul cities entirely lack happiness.
* GrimReaper: The Dread Reaper, one of the Necromancer's strongest units. It has the ability Invoke Death which either reduces the enemy's maximum health by 40 or inflict [[OneHitKill instant death]].
* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Somewhat distinct from regular undead, ghoul units are {{Palette Swap}}s of regular units, with stat modifications to represent their undead status. Ghouls are mainly created from dead cities, but can be acquired through other means, like having stacks of living units drink from a Well of Souls, or through certain battle effects.
* ImAHumanitarian: Cadavers can devour corpses to replenish its health. Necromancer heroes can also cannibalize corpses through an upgrade.
* OurLichesAreDifferent: Your heroes, once you research Harbingers of Death, become archliches, which grants bonuses to units in their army and turn all living units into ghouls. In addition, the leader can get [[SoulJar the Phylactery]] upgrade, which enables them to continue spellcasting and research even while recovering from injury.
* LifeDrain: While some units have this ability, all Necromancer heroes and Infantry, Irregulars, and Pikeman units gain this ability through the Vampiric Hunger empire upgrade. The Dread Reaper gains a stronger version of life drain.
** The Syphon Life spell deal blight and spirit damage to a target and heal any adjacent friendly units.
* MagikarpPower: A lot more than Dreadnoughts. Necromancer has a very bad early game since they don't have a good economy and requires killing enemy units to gain population and no regeneration. Eventually, by the late game, they are nearly unstoppable.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass:
** Necromancer empires cannot directly control non-dwelling cities without transforming their populations into ghouls. Ghoul cities completely lack Happiness, which means their production output is fixed; however, this also means that Necromancers can settle any ghouled race they own in any terrain or climate with no penalties. Outside a particular building chain, they cannot gain population naturally, but after every battle the player's nearest ghoul city will absorb the casualties as new population, and certain spells allow Necromancers to siphon population from enemy cities.
** Ghoul troops are immune to most morale modifiers, making them difficult to demoralize yet also unlikely to score critical hits. Since they have the Undead trait, they cannot heal or regenerate without assistance from Necromancer heroes, Reanimators or certain spells and structures. They also gain weaknesses to [[HolyBurnsEvil spirit]] and [[FireKeepsItDead fire]] damage, in exchange for cold resistance and complete immunity to blight.
* MysticalPlague: One of their Strategic Spells is "Undead Plague". It lowers the target city's happiness and siphons their population to boost your nearest ghoul city.
* TheNecrocracy: Necromancers (who themselves are living, until the right empire upgrade is researched) exclusively rule cities that are populated by undead creatures called ghouls -- they cannot absorb any living cities, and the relevant option is replaced by a ritual to [[ZombifyTheLiving transform captured populations into more ghouls]].
* {{Necromancer}}: Naturally.
* NoSell: Undead units such as ghouls enjoy 100% resistance to blight damage.
* NotTheIntendedUse: The Reanimate Undead hero abilities are primarily used to raise the army's own fallen undead. You can't use them on the living to turn them to undead... but you can totally use them on the '''enemy''''s undead units to raise them as '''your''' servants. And if you happen to have the Greater version, you can do this to tier 4 Archon Titans and Bone Dragons.
* ThePlague: The ''Undead Plague'' spell, in which a targeted living city loses happiness and constantly loses population for each turn. The lost population is converted into undead population for the nearest ghoul city you own.
* SinisterScythe: The Necromancer hero's weapon is the scythe.
* SoulJar: The ''Phylactery'' empire upgrade makes leader resurrect in 1 turn after their death instead of the usual 3 turns as long as the throne city is still active. In addition, research and spells are still active while the leader is in the void.
* SummonMagic: The Lost Souls, Banshees, and Dread Reapers can only be summoned in the strategic map and cannot be produced in your cities.
* TheUndead: All of your units except for heroes, summoned units and machines. Heroes can become [[OurLichesAreDifferent liches]] through the "Harbingers of Death" empire upgrade.
* TheVirus: Death Bringers and high-leveled Necromancer heroes have a chance of inflicting the ghoul curse upon living units they attack - should a cursed unit die in the same battle, they will reanimate the next turn as a ghoul unit under the Necromancer's control. Fortunately, if the unit successfully resists the curse, they'll be immune to it for the rest of the battle.
* WalkingOssuary: Bone Collectors are gigantic heaps of bones in the form of a [[GiantEnemyCrab fiddler crab]] (with a dragon's skull serving as the claw) that can consume corpses n the battlefield for healing and a stacking buff to health, resistance and attack.
* ZombieApocalypse: The Necromancer's ultimate strategic spell, ''Age of Death'', creates one of these - For as long as the spell remains in place, the casualties of any battle in the world have a 35% chance of reanimating as a stack of ghoul units under the Necromancer's control.
* ZombifyTheLiving: Necromancers cannot own cities with living populations -- when capturing a city, the "absorb city" option is replaced with "ghoul city", a dark ritual that transforms the populace into undead. Heroes with the arch-lich trait will also ghoul-ify any living units that start the turn in their stack.

!Cultures (''Age of Wonders 4'')

[[folder:Feudal]]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/culture_feudal.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Feudal Culture in ''Age of Wonders 4'']]

->''A hierarchic society where lords ladies and knights reign over peasants. All stand together when their fertile realm is threatened.''

-->'''Units''': Scout, Peasant Pikeman, Archer, Bannerman, Defender, Knight

* BlueBlood: Feudal rulers and heroes can gain one of the five "Feudal Lord" skills that grant a decently-sized boost to one particular resource in the city they govern, or in the case of the "Lord of War" skill, a bonus to their army whenever it wins a fight.
* EvolutionPowerUp: The relatively weak and basic T1 Peasant Pikemen have a trait that lets them earn XP faster, and can eventually become the tough and shielded T2 Defenders upon reaching gold rank.
* JoustingLance: Early cavalry spears/lances are, expectedly, the weapon of choice for their Knights. Rulers can take lances and horses as their starting equipment.
* KnightInShiningArmor: Knights are a Tier III mounted shock unit that can deal massive damage with their heavy charge strike, and possess the Inspiring Killer trait to doubles their allies' morale gain when the Knight kills an enemy, as well as Giant Slayer, increasing their damage further against units classified as Large Targets.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The ''Hold the Line'' spell and "undying loyalty" hero skill makes targeted units 'steadfast', unable to drop below 1 HitPoint for a single combat round.
* MedievalEuropeanFantasy: [[CreatorProvincialism With a slight Scandanavian flavor.]] Their units resemble early-to-high middle age soldiers with kite shields, longbows and mounted knights.
* TeamSpirit: Their "Stand Together" perk, which increases the damage of units by 20% so long as they stand adjacent to other units with the same ability (and can be given to non-Feudal units through ''Singet of Knighthood''). Tight formations are further encouraged by the Bannerman, who cast all of their buffs in a small area around them. If you start as a Feudal race, your heroes can pick up "stand together" as a skill, as well as "feudal ruler" which gives adjacent units a further +10% damage and +1 defence.
* TorchesAndPitchforks: The Peasant Pikemen are somewhat evocative of this aspect, at least the pitchfork part, wielding crude polearms and repurposed farming tools as weapons. Augment them with the Tome of Pyromancy and they get both their torch and pitchfork all in one.

[[folder:High]]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/culture_high.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:High Culture in ''Age of Wonders 4'']]

->''A highly developed society whose members strive for harmony. When threatened, however, they wield their guiding light as a weapon.''

-->'''Units:''' Lightseeker, Dawn Defender, Dusk Hunter, Sun Priest, Daylight Spear, Awakener

* {{Expy}}: Gameplay and theme-wise, they are very reminiscent of the Archons and the High Elves from the previous games, and High factions related to both groups appear during the story.
* LightEmUp: High units make heavy use of the spirit element, and the awakening buff always provides a bonus +4 spirit damage to attacks regardless if the unit has dormant traits. Of note is "exposing light", an ability of the Awakener battle mage and available to heroes as a skill, [[WeakenedByTheLight which inflicts a penalty to defense and resistance in a 1-hex area]]. The Sun Priest has "radiant light" as a dormant trait, which causes their spirit bolts to [[BlindedByTheLight blind]] targets.
* LightIsGood: The most outwardly nice of the cultures, with glittering white towers, shiny armor and light magic. Simply choosing High nets your faction a +10 modifier on the KarmaMeter, making you count as Good from turn 1.
** LightIsNotGood: That said, there's nothing stopping the player from amassing negative karma as a High faction, or even taking villainous society traits like [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Scions of Evil]] to counteract the culture's inherent positive karma. Notably, the High culture's special "alignment agenda" provides bespoke bonuses for being at "neutral" and "pure evil", as well as "pure good".
* MasterArcher: High culture's archers have a distinct range advantage over other culture's archers thanks to the specific bonus they get from the Awaken mechanic, which increases their attack range by +1. This can be stacked with the similar increase archer units get from reaching the highest experience rank, as well as the Seeker Arrows enchantment, allowing them to potentially reach range 8 as opposed to the maximum 7 for other cultures.
* NoPointsForNeutrality: A variant. The alignment agenda provides bonuses for being "pure good", "neutral" or "pure evil", but no bonuses for simply being "evil/good" or "very evil/good" -- you need to maintain strict neutralty or go whole-hog on being good or evil to benefit from the mechanic.
* SuperEmpowering: The "Awaken" mechanic: High culture's main tactical specialty, using the special abilities of the Sun Priest and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Awakener]] they can unleash the hidden spiritual power of their units for a few turns, granting bonus spirit damage and activating "Dormant Traits" in units that have them (which the native High units have, and can be granted to other units, except shock, skirmisher or fighter types, via the Dormant Enchantment). For High culture factions that decide to play against type and become pure evil, they start every battle with all their units already Awakened.

[[folder:Barbarian]]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/culture_barbarian.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Barbarian Culture in ''Age of Wonders 4'']]

->''A people who thrive on war and aggression. They value strength and prefer to charge head-on into bloody battles.''

-->'''Units:''' Pathfinder, Sunderer, Warrior, Fury, War Shaman, Berserker

* BarbarianTribe: The Barbarian culture is primitive and warlike (giving their ruler mixed nature and chaos affinity) and their units are clad in ramshackle PeltsOfTheBarbarian.
* TheBerserker: The name of their T3 shock unit. At low health, they [[CriticalStatusBuff become temporarily unkillable, uncontrollable and ignore the damage penalties from fallen individuals for a turn]]. The ''Song of the Reckless'' spell, exclusive to Barbarian rulers, also bestows berserk and three stacks of strengthen on any friendly unit for three turns.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Being a BarbarianTribe, this culture naturally favors axes, with [[TheBerserker Berserkers]] in particular hauling great-axes as broad as their chests.
* HorseArcher: Fury archers normally fight on foot, but convert into this trope if their race is given a special mount trait.
* IncreasinglyLethalEnemy: Furies and Berserkers have the "frenzy" trait, giving them a stack of strengthened every time they perform an attack, increasing the damage of subsequent attacks.
* PeltsOfTheBarbarian: Their dress code is furs, bones, leather and crude fabrics.
* ThePioneer: Unlike other ArmyScout units, Pathfinders have the ability to found outposts (at double cost) without the presence of a HeroUnit, enabling Barbarian empires to expand ''very'' quickly in the early game.
* PoisonedWeapons: Barbarian units (and other units if given their enchantment ''Primal Mark'') start each battle with the Primal Strike buff (to be renamed Savage Strike in the next upcoming update to avoid confusion/association with the Primal culture), granting them a hefty amount of bonus blight damage on the very first melee attack they make in each battle. On the shooting side, their War Shaman support units, as well as heroes/champions with their cultural orb and staff weapons, shoot bolts of blight magic at their enemies.
* ShieldBash: Barbarian Warriors can perform 'shield bash' to try to stun a single enemy unit, while simultaneously entering defence mode.

[[folder:Industrious]]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/culture_industrious.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Industrious Culture in ''Age of Wonders 4'']]

->''Master builders who value grand cities and strong armor, preferring a defensive attitude over an aggressive one.''

-->'''Units:''' Pioneer, Anvil Guard, Arbalest, Halberdier, Steel Shaper, Bastion

* AdaptiveAbility: The main tactical mechanic of the Industrious culture. Whenever an Industrious unit (or other units with their cultural enchantment, Rune of Industry) gets hit by at least one attack in a turn of combat, they gain a stack of Bolstered Defense/Resistance, adding one point to the respective damage reduction stat, and the Steel Shaper and Bastion are further capable of adding extra Bolstered Defense (and Resistance too with the right Tome enchantments) stacks with their special abilities. Steel Shapers can also use their other special ability to convert these Bolstered stacks into healing and a damage increase, and the Industrious culture gets two spells unique to it that add healing and Bolstered Defense to a unit, or convert all units' Bolstered stacks into a damage increase simultaneously.
* CitadelCity: The "Bastion's Barricade" building available at tier III, which boosts the city's fortification value by 20 points (enabling Industrial cities to have the highest possible fortification in the game) and gives the defender a pair of free [[EliteMooks Bastions]] during siege battles.
* HeavilyArmoredMook: Played straight with the [[StoneWall Anvil Guard and Bastion]] shield units, who have the appearance with the defense stat to match. Downplayed with the Halberdier, who lacks a helmet and appears to be wearing an outfit that leaves his pectorals uncovered, and has a lower defense in comparison, though he still benefits from Bolstering all the same, and has the same resistance stat as the Bastion.
* IShallTauntYou: Anvil Guard can afflict an adjacent enemy unit with "taunt", forcing the target to ignore orders and spend the next three turns automatically attacking them.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Their main forte, having more native shield units than the other cultures.
* NonElemental: The Steelshaper support unit's "steel blast" is one of the few magic-tagged attacks in the game that uses the physical damage type, normally reserved for mundane attacks.
* {{Prospector}}: The Pioneer can prospect provinces with cliffs, mountains, or subterranean stalagmites to obtain gold, production, or an item. This gives Industrious empires an early game advantage in their economy or hero development.
* StoneWall: Industrious units are heavily armored, have two different shield units, and encourage patient, defensive tactics centered around their AdaptiveAbility: Building up stacks of Bolstered Defense to weather the enemy assault, before converting it all into healing and Strengthened for a decisive counter-attack.

[[folder:Dark]]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/culture_dark.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Dark Culture in ''Age of Wonders 4'']]

->''A dictatorial civilization where the strong and ruthless dominate the weak. They use forbidden magics to maintain control and weaken their enemies.''

-->'''Units:''' Outrider, Dark Warrior, Pursuer, Warlock, Night Watch, Dark Knight

* {{BFS}}: Dark Warriors, the culture's [[{{Mooks}} basic T1 melee unit]], are [[DashAttack shock]] infantry armed with greatswords.
* BlackKnight: Dark Knights are the Dark Tier III unit that serves as a mounted shock unit. In addition to their charging attack penetrating through charge resistance, Dark Knights can cast [[HerdHittingAttack Dark Surge]] to deal ice damage against multiple enemies in front of them.
* DarkIsEvil: The most outwardly sinister of the cultures, themed on bullying the weak and maintaining control over a downtrodden populace. Simply choosing Dark nets your faction a -10 modifier on the KarmaMeter, making you count as Evil from turn 1.
** DarkIsNotEvil: That said, there's nothing stopping the player from amassing positive karma as a Dark faction, or even taking positive society traits like [[AlwaysLawfulGood Devotees of Good]] to counteract the culture's inherent negative karma.
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The "overlord's tower" structure, which prevents provinces from breaking away from the city as a consequence of low stability.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown:
** Dark Warriors, Night Guards, and Dark Knights have the Cull the Weak trait, which increases their damage dealt by 20% against enemies suffering from 'weakened' and grants a stack of regeneration upon striking weakened enemies. The Dark enchantment spell Brand of Wrath gives the Cull the Weak trait to non-Dark units.
** Dark Knights' Dark Surge spell deals double damage against enemies afflicted with any negative status effects.
* ProudScholarRace: Of the evil MadScientist variety. Their starting Shadow affinity (as well as later empire skills granted by it) provide knowledge bonuses to cities they govern, and many of their cultural structures are themed around interrogation and unethical experimentation. While any culture can build prisons and crypts to gain knowledge and mana from hero captives and corpses respectively, the Dark culture has some extra buildings that further expand on those bonuses.
* RepressiveButEfficient: While Dark can build ''some'' structures to increase city stability for the sake of boosting their economy during good times, they have little to fear from the consequences of low stability. The first town hall upgrade, the tier II "dread spire", outright negates the economic penalties of low stability, while an "overlord's tower" building available at tier III prevents provinces from breaking away due to low stability.
* TortureCellar: The "toture dungeon" replaces taverns in Dark cities, providing a bit less stability in return for some knowledge income, as well as a bonus of 2 knowledge for every HeroUnit stored in your faction's prison.

[[folder:Mystic]]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/culture_mystic.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Mystic Culture in ''Age of Wonders 4'']]

->''A culture of scholars, driven to study every corner of the Astral Sea. They prefer to find answers through research and arcane prowess.''

-->'''Units:''' Mystic Projection, Arcane Guard, Arcanist, Soother, Spellshield, Spellbreaker

* ArabianNightsDays: The overall aesthetic of the Mystic culture.
* AstralProjection: The Mystic culture's scout unit. It is the only scout unit that is not mounted, and thus the slowest-moving, but makes up for it with the ability to float across rough terrain and pass through barriers in combat.
* BlindedByTheLight: The T2 Spellshield has the ability "stunning flash", which deals light FireIceLightning damage to all adjacent enemies and has a 60% base chance to stun them.
* DeflectorShields: The Mystic cultural spell ''Magic Shield'', which provides two stacks of Bolstered Defence and Bolstered Resistance to a single target.
* DispelMagic: The T3 Spellbreaker unit's secondary "star purge" attack deals splash damage and removes all buffs from enemy units caught in its radius. If the targets are of magical origin (fey, undead, etc.), [[SituationalDamageAttack the damage is doubled]].
* FireIceLightning: Mystic culture's main damage forte. All their cultural shooting units are either supports or battle mages whose base damage is split into three equal amounts of fire, frost and shock damage. All Mystic units (including Champions and Heroes) have the "Attunement: Star Blades" trait, that gives them a random 1-point cumulative bonus (up to three stacks) in one of these three damage channels for their primary attack every time a spell is cast by their side. If you start as a Mystic faction, you can give "Attunement: Star Blades" to Wizard Kings and Dragon Lords as a learnable skill, and to all non-Mystic units with the "Scroll of Attunement" MagicEnhancement.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: Mystic is the only culture that has an inherent incompatibility with a society trait, namely the Fabled Hunters trait, because they have no physical ranged units that could benefit from it.
* ProudScholarRace: Practically stated in their description, and they are not too far behind Dark in terms of research bonuses. They're associated with the Astral affinity, which gives skills geared to magic and research.
* SquishyWizard: While capable of raining punishment from a distance and synergizing strongly with a magic-heavy playstyle, the Mystic roster's emphasis on ranged firepower makes them vulnerable to fast-moving enemies that can close the gap and lock down their battle mages.

[[folder:Reaver]]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reaver_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Reaver Culture in ''Age of Wonders 4: Empire & Ashes'']]

->''A society of industrial opportunists. Pragmatic and brutal, they combine the material and the arcane, expanding their dominion through conquests and hunts.''

-->'''Units:''' ''Observer, Mercenary, Harrier, Magelock, Overseer, Dragoon, Magelock Cannon''

* AppealToForce: Since they start with 0 whispering stones by default, the Reaver culture can instead "intimidate" free cities and vassals to bring them in line, paying a cost of [[{{Plunder}} war spoils]] to advance to the next relations level as well as being able to use war spoils as an alternative to gold or mana to trade with them. In diplomacy with other empires, Reavers can perform the unique "Declaration of Supremacy" pronouncement, spending an upkeep of war spoils to negate the opinion modifier caused by grievances.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Magelock muskets and pistols ignore half of enemy armour by default.
* BoomStick: Downplayed, as they only use them at point-blank, but the Mercenary's halberd has a mini-magelock attached to the end of it which they use to knock back enemy units and then step into the tile they previously occupied.
* DoNotRunWithAGun: Most Magelock weapons except for the Dragoon and hero pistols are full-action with longer range than the average physical ranged attack, but unlike the Snipers in ''Planetfall'', lack a single action "snap shot" version, meaning that their users have to absolutely choose between moving or shooting.
* EvilColonialist: Their conquistador aesthetic, alongside starting with a point in Chaos affinity (which has empire development skills that encourage a razing/pillaging-heavy warmonger playstyle) as well as their mechanics (Spoils of War unique resource, the ability to ignore Imperium penalties from waging unjust wars, and starting with 0 Whispering Stones by default) make them lean heavily towards this, but as with good Dark and evil High, it is possible that they can be played against type.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Their fashion, tech level and description are heavily based on 16th century western Europe, particularly the Spanish Empire during their conquest of the Americas. Promotional artwork for ''Empires & Ashes'' even depicts reaver troops marching through a tropical jungle.
* FantasyGunControl: Alongside the accompanying ''Tome of the Dreadnought'' in ''Empires & Ashes'', they are the force that finally allows ''4'' to avert this trope as the previous games have.
* InescapableNet: Their T1 Skirmisher, the Harrier, uses one to immobilize in a manner similar to the River Troll, and can also apply Marked to enemies with it.
* InjuredVulnerability: Reavers deal extra damage to Marked enemies (in addition to being able to more accurately hit Marked targets as per its standard effects) thanks to their "Focused Aggression" cultural combat trait. They have a plethora of ways of applying Marked, consisting of a hero skill, a spell exclusive to their culture, the secondary ability of the Harrier and regular Magelock unit, and the primary ability of the Overseer and Observer.
* {{Magitek}}: They are described as "binding magic to technology" and resemble elaborately designed high-fantasy Spanish conquistadors, with "Magelock" black-powder firearms visibly enhanced by magic and forming magic circles right before they fire.
* OneHitPolykill: The Magelock Cannon, much like its predecessor in ''3'', is capable of damaging multiple units and walls in a straight line.
* {{Pirate}}: In addition to the conquistador vibe, the fact that their gun use is paired with Chaos affinity also makes them somewhat pirate-themed, and the fact that their rulers and heroes can be customized with a tricorne hat and eyepatch option also helps in this regard.
* {{Plunder}}: Reaver empires gain a special resource named "war spoils" whenever they kill units belonging to free cities and other empires. War spoils can be spent to conscript captured units as SlaveMooks or conduct diplomacy through an AppealToForce.
* SlaveMooks: All empires can pay gold and/or mana to press-gang units captured through mind-control or other methods, but Reaver-led empires can use war spoils for the purpose instead, allowing them to bolster their military more easily.
* SpikesOfVillainy: They mix the Conquistador and 3's Dreadnought aesthetic with these.
* SurveillanceDrone: The Observer, a retread of the Spy Drone from ''Age of Wonders 3''. Its the only unit in the entire game that is entirely incapable of attacking, being little more than a weather balloon. In combat, however, it can [[TargetSpotter apply 'Marked' to targets]] so that friendly Reaver units can benefit from their Focused Aggression passive. Due to their completely unarmed nature, if Observers are the only units left standing in a battle, the fight is automatically forfeit for their owner's side.
* SwordAndGun: Their cavalry unit, the Dragoon, is armed with these, and their Champions and Heroes can also be equipped in a similar fashion.

[[folder:Primal]]
->''A people who worship powerful animal spirits and channel their fury during battle. They recieve blessings by altering their environment.''

-->'''Units:''' ''Spirit Tracker, Protector, Primal Darter, Animist, Primal Charger, Ancestral Warden.''

* AnimalMotifs: The Primal culture's central gimmick is the selection of an animal totem for their people to worship, which provides a slew of thematic benefits; including their second affinity point, an ethereal animal summon, a designated favorable terrain with added resource bonuses, and variants on the "Rising Fury" mechanic of Primal units. The appearance and secondary damage type of some Primal culture units will change slightly depending on the faction's chosen patron, including support staves carved in the animal's likeness, and shields padded in the hide of the animal. The available spirit animals are the Mire Crocodile (swamp), Storm Crow (grassland), Glacial Mammoth (snow), Ash Sabertooth (ashlands), Dune Serpent (sand), Tunneling Spider (mushroom forest), and Sylvian Wolf (forest).
* BlowGun: Wielded by the tier 1 Darter archer, and available as starting equipment for Primal Champion rulers. They have lower range than other physical ranged units, but ignore the Obscured penalty, and the Darter unit itself has a secondary attack that lets them shoot a point blank shot and disengage from nearby enemy melee units simultaneously.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Primal Protectors, Chargers and heroes armed with the melee starting kits all wield axes, much like their [[BarbarianTribe Barbarian]] equivalents do. However, the Primal axes [[InHarmonyWithNature are noticably hewn entirely from raw wood branches, with even the blades made of sharpened wood]].
* ChainLightning: The Storm Crow's LimitBreak gives units extra shock damage for their attacks, and inflicts some additional shock damage to any enemy units adjacent to their target.
* DecadeDissonance: The Primal culture on its own is relatively low tech even compared to the Barbarians, with none of their cultural units using any apparent metal in their gear. However, this doesn't preclude them from taking tomes that concern technological advancements, so a late game Primal faction may well choose to field Ironclad landships and robotic golems.
* GeoEffects: Each spirit animal gives the Primal culture a favored terrain type, providing a variety of bonuses for city provinces and units standing in them. Constructing a spirit temple (after acquiring a spirit node) allows a chosen city to spread the favored terrain to all regions near its borders.
* AHandfulForAnEye: The Dune Serpent's LimitBreak causes all units to inflict the "blind" debuff when attacking.
* InHarmonyWithNature: The Primal culture's whole premise, being a tribal society that worships animal spirits, with hardly any metalworking or heavy industry to be seen without interference from tomes. Even their axe-wielding shock unit wields a battleaxe hewn entirely from a slab of oak, with a sharpened wooden blade.
* LimitBreak: All Primal units (and other units, with the culture's unique enchantment) pick up stacks of "rising fury" whenever they perform an attack. When rising fury reaches five stacks, they convert into five stacks of "fury of the (spirit animal)", which gives them extra elemental damage and a bonus attack effect for a few turns. The damage channel and effect in question depend on the faction's chosen animal totem -- Fury of the Storm Crow, for instance, provides some shock damage and a weak ChainLightning effect to all attacks.
* MirrorCharacter: To the base game's Barbarian culture. Both are primitive tribal societies with an affinity for nature. However, the Barbarian culture emphasizes speed, aggression and rapid expansion on the world map. Primal, by contrast, centers most of its economic and combat bonuses on the exploitation of favored terrain, encouraging the player to fight defensively and expand selectively.
* PoisonedWeapons: The Mire Crocodile and Tunneling Spider spirits both provide extra blight damage to units with their LimitBreak, and the Mire Crocodile also throws in the "[[{{Plaguemaster}} diseased]]" debuff for good measure.
* SummonMagic: Animists and heroes with the Primal support staff weapon can expend their LimitBreak to summon their faction's spirit animal to the battlefield.

* FierySalamander: Salamanders are an offshoot of the lizardmen, being more associated with fire than water. [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer They are shunned by the lizardfolks]], because of it.

* MakingASplash: The Lizardmen are associated with the waters, due to living in [[BubblegloopSwamp swamps]] and their ability to swim. Which makes it ironic that they were destroyed by Nimue, the wizard of the water sphere.

* SturdyAndSteadyTurtles: The Lizardmen employ war turtles as their siege engines. While they are slow, like other siege units, their ability to swim gives them an edge in moving through the sea.

* HorseOfADifferentColor: [[BearsAreBadNews Polar bears]] are Frostling heroes' default mount and the animals pulling the Ice Queen's chariot. Meanwhile, there is the [[WarElephants Mammoth Rider]], which can deal massive damage with their Devastating Charge.

* WarElephants: Frostlings get [[http://aow2.heavengames.com/gameinfo/units/frostlings.shtml#mammoth_rider Mammoth Riders]] in ''Age of Wonders II'' onwards.