Non Leader units gain leadership up to 10 less than their leader
Merchant Envoys
Expands available mercenaries and artifacts in the marketplace
Zones of Control
Enemy squads incur movement penalty moving between tiles adjacent to our infantry squads
Battle Medics
All support classes gain 20 max HP
Academy of War Tier 2
Effect
Dragon Trainer
+25% Class XP for dragon units and slightly increased chance to appear as mercenaries
Martial Traditions
+15% Class XP
Warhorse Husbandry
+50 HP for Cavalry
Sisterhood of Justice
Acolytes, paladins, valkyries, exemplar, titan receive additional bonus to magic resistance based on armor
Sisterhood of Mercy
Medic, priestess, templar, hospitaller take 25% less damage with paladin, valkyrie, exemplar or titan in the same squad
Academy of War Tier 3
Effect
Mage Regiments
Mage and Support units are now Normal rather than Slow. Mage attacks decay more slowly when used consecutively.
Magician’s Initiative
Spells that have a charge-up turn can now be cast on the first turn of battle (on offense only).
Hex Mastery
Status effects from mage and dragon attacks have an increased chance to be inflicted
Spirit Piercing
Mage and dragon attacks ignore 25% of resistance
Tactics and Command Tier 1
Effect
Army Stables
Cavalry charge attacks require moving 6 squares instead of 7.
Mixed Unit Tactics
Each unit gains +3 weapon power for each unit type added to the squad beyond the first unit type.
Identify Command Structure
Target Leader attack type added.
Psych Warfare
Defeating the leader causes even more morale damage
Standing Army
All new conscripts gain +1 level and 50% class mastery of starting class
Tactics and Command Tier 2
Effect
Strategic Maneuvers
Cavalry squads deal significant morale damage when performing a charge attack.
Polearm Mastery
Polearm units grant 10% bonus attack and defense versus melee to any adjacent unit
Adaptive Battlefield Command
Aggressive and Cautious attack types added.
Popular Support
Squads gain a morale bonus within 3 squares of allied town, village or base.
Advanced Archery Technique
+1 arrows fired (3 to 4) by archery units at 2 or more range.
Tactics and Command Tier 3
Effect
Advanced Mobile Warfare
Dragoons are now light cavalry movement type.
Advanced Flanking
+15% attack power when engaging in close combat for each allied squad that is adjacent to target enemy squad.
Optimized Tactics
Improves effectiveness of most attack types.
Supply Chain Mastery
Squads gain healing when within 3 squares of allied town, village or base.
Archer General
All archery classes are now of the light unit type, aiding mobility and ambushes.
Crafts and Technology Tier 1
Effect
Adept Artificer
Unlocks second artifact slot
Crossbow Forging
Unlocks crossbow class
Adept Metallurgy
Heavy infantry and heavy cavalry gain 25 max HP
Steel Forging
Heavy infantry and heavy cavalry gain 5 armor
Journeyman Leathercraft
Light infantry, light cavalry, archery, firearms gain 5 armor
Crafts and Technology Tier 2
Effect
Journeyman Artificer
Unlocks third artifact slot
Advanced Crossbows
Crossbow and rangers gain +25 damage vs heavy cavalry and heavy infantry
Advanced Material Science
Heavy Infantry and heavy cavalry gain 25 max HP
Obsidian Forging
Heavy infantry and heavy cavalry gain 5 armor
Behemoth Leather Armor
Light infantry, light cavalry, archery, firearms gain 5 armor
Crafts and Technology Tier 3
Effect
Master Artificer
All artifacts cost 1 less capacity
Grapeshot
Artillery attacks have increased splash radius and damage
Gunsmithing
Unlocks cannon, gunner, dragoon classes
Breech-Loading Gun
Firearms units no longer negatively impacted by weather
Tier 4
Effect
Dragon Bond
Unlocks dragon rider class. Requires all Academy of War techs.
Grand Army
All squads gain +10 capacity. Requires all Academy of War + Tactics and Command techs.
Professionalism
New conscripts start with +3 levels, full loyalty and mastery of all available tier 1 classes. Requires all Tactics and Command techs.
Musketeering
Gunners and Dragons now attack twice. Requires all Tactics and Command + Crafts and Technology techs.
Industrial Furnace
-1 Iron and Obsidian cost for all units. Requires all Crafts and Technology techs.
Rifled Artillery
+1 range to cannons. Requires all Crafts and Technology + Academy of War techs.
Recommended Start
Apprentice Training & Merchant Envoys will add recruitment slots for tier 2+ classes while also giving you more artifact options. If you don’t plan to recruit many/any mages, you could swap Apprentice Training out for Standing Army to give your recruits +1 level and 50% class mastery instead. This will make the first few stages easier (not that they are the hardest) and push your army to tier two classes faster.
Tier 1 Choices
You need to unlock 7 tier 1 technologies to access tier 2, so you should first focus more on what will help your army immediately. Surrender tech is a good choice because it will work with all classes and early boosts to gold & tech points can help you snowball. Specifically Identify Command Structure to allow targeting the enemy leader (their defeat drops morale) and Psych Warfare to further drop morale when the leader is defeated. Battle Medics is quite helpful for keeping healers alive, who in turn keep the rest of your squad alive.
Using lots of heavy classes? Grab Adept Metallurgy and Steel Forging to boost their survival. Light classes? Take Journeyman Leathercraft instead/in addition. Using tons of cavalry? Take Army Stables to let them charge at a shorter distance.
I typically don’t prioritize Adept Artificer for second artifact slot since it takes a bit to get enough artifacts to give squads two, but if you immediately find two artifacts that work well together then it’d make more sense. Mixed Unit Tactics scales with the number of distinct classes in your squads. Since you likely will start with a lot of the same tier 1 classes, it probably isn’t a great first choice. When you promote to tier 2 though, it can be helpful if you make highly diversified squads.
Tier 2 and beyond
At tier 2 and tier 3 each tech becomes more expensive and you’ll want to start thinking about which tree(s) you want to focus on first. I still prioritize some techs over tree completion when they augment my favored units/strategies. You will have to take 7 tier 2 techs to unlock tier 3 anyway, so you can’t really zero in on just one tree. A few favored techs:
Adaptive Battlefield Command for aggressive and cautious attack types
Advanced Material Science, Obsidian Forging and Behemoth Leather Armor are all worth considering based on which types of classes you prefer.
Strategic Maneuvers and Warhorse Husbandry are quite helpful if you use cavalry squads
Beyond the techs you really must have now, it’s time to start thinking about which tech tree you will try to complete first. I think the trees are fairly well balanced overall, so it comes down to which bonuses you want first:
Want early first turn mage attacks and then flying dragons? Focus Academy of War
Want early firearms, cheaper artifacts, cheaper iron/obsidian promotes and then stronger firearms? Focus Crafts and Technology.
Want improved archer & dragoon unit types and bonuses for aggressive/cautious actions and flanking? Focus Tactics and Command
The last few techs require you to complete all of two tech trees, so you are better off focusing on two trees than trying to completely all three equally. If the bonuses seem fairly equal for your army, you can always pick the second tree based on which has more tier 2 and tier 3 techs already unlocked.
Final Thoughts
I’ve played through with a variety of technology focuses & found it worked well in almost all cases. The important thing was choosing technology that matched the characters/tactics I focused on. For example, when I focused Academy of War I made much more extensive use of mages and dragons due to the initiative boost, damage boost, etc. Another run I wanted to rush into sentinels & other iron/obsidian heavy tier 3 promotions, so I focused Crafts and Technology to grab Industrial Furnace.
