Description | Commander Eador: MotBW Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Commanders are adapted to lead large armies and reinforce their statistics through their own abilities. On their own, they don't pose any threat whatsoever - they can't withstand too many blows and their attacks may at best make the enemy laugh. In time, though, they amass very powerful and very numerous amounts of troops, which become virtually indestructible with properly strong bonuses. The strength of Commanders doesn't come from their own, then, but from the troops they command. It doesn't mean, though, that buying equipment for them is a loss of money - on the contrary, they require many protective artifacts to even survive a battle. Their skills may affect both the army and themselves, but they're often not enough. You should therefore invest in several basic spells that will render the Commander at least somewhat useful on the battlefield. Commanders work best on large and complex maps - on the smaller ones they will be easily slaughtered by hostile Warriors and Scouts. Scouts can use items from groups: Common, Melee Weapon, Banner, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield.

Commander's Level Up Chart

Hero's level	Command	Health	Magic
0	+1	-	-
1	+1	-	-
2	-	+1	-
3	+1	-	-
4	-	+1	-
5	+1	-	-
6	-	-	+1
7	+1	-	-
8	-	+1	-
9	+1	-	-
10	-	-	-
Total:	6	3	1

Obviously enough, Commanders expand mostly Command; Health is a secondary issue, while Magic doesn't interest them practically at all. This should tell in what direction should the whole leveling up go right from the start. The goal is to amass as big an army as possible and then conquer one province after another using it. This process involves a lot of money - you not only have to hire soldiers, but also cover their pays (and replace them with new ones if they fall). This, in turn, requires a well operating economy system that would strike a balance between management and military potential. All this makes the Commander the most expensive of all heroes.

At level 10, the Commander may choose one of four battle specializations which determine their further development. These are: General, Warlord, Tactician, Priest. Below are the details:

Name	Icon	Statistics at Level 20	Available Equipment	Class Bonuses
General		10 Command 6 Health 4 Magic	Common, Melee Weapon, Banner Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield	Increases Attack and Counterattack of all units by 1. Can expand Commander Skills to level 5, the maximum.
Warlord		10 Command 8 Health 2 Magic	Common, Melee Weapon, Banner, Heavy Weapon, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, Shield	Increases Defense of all units by 1. Can expand Warrior and Commander Skills to level 3.
Tactician		10 Command 7 Health 3 Magic	Common, Melee Weapon, Banner, Ranged Weapon, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield	Increases damage dealt by shooting units by 2 (excluding magic missiles), increases Initiative by 1. Can expand Scout and Commander Skills to level 3.
Priest		10 Command 4 Health 6 Magic	Common, Melee Weapon, Banner, Wand, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield	Increases Resistance of all units by 1 and morale by 2. Can expand Commander and Wizard Skills to level 3.

General: enables additional improvements to the hero's army - Commander Skills at level 4 and 5 give very pleasant bonuses, so if you have a large army, it's an extremely beneficial option. The hero will still be no good at practically anything (if not at casting a few spells), but their army should take any threat head on. Additional bonuses to attacking and counterattacking are reasonably noticeable and give some edge on the battlefield.

Warlord: with this specialization you can craft your Commander into a pretty solid battle unit, but it involves losing all high-level Commander Skills altogether. In the long run it doesn't really pay off, because instead of enhancing your army to a major force you get only a slightly better soldier (better, but not great).

Tactician: this specialization will allow your Commander to shoot at enemies and be able to sabotage their supplies (Scouting), but not enhance your army any further way. Bonus to ranged damage units is quite ok, but the units themselves have an unpleasant tendency to die - especially when pitted against a Wizard of a Scout. All in all, the Tactician is a pretty interesting choice, but definitely not the optimal.

Priest: Priests combine the assets of Commanders and Wizards - they can't expand their Commander Skills any further, but to some extent they make up for it with their spells (especially if you specialize in the school of Sacred Magic, which buffs allied units). The limitation to level 6 in magic is a certain drawback - it gives you only a handful of spells, and not too advanced, either. Nevertheless, the Priest is a fairly good choice.

All things considered, the General or the Priest are the optimal choices here. The former significantly reinforces allied units with passive bonuses to all statistics, while the latter is able to cast spells right on the battlefield, which is often the determining factor of winning or losing. The Tactician, as long as they specialize in poisoning the enemy's supplies (though Pathfinding also comes in handy) is useful, at least to some extent, as well. The Warlord, though, with sacrificing the enhancement of the army for their own strength and resistance, is a complete waste of resources.

At level 20, specializations reach their full potential, which involves additional bonuses to already added class bonuses. Unfortunately, it also involves a halt in the hero's stat growth - they remain on the exact same level (choosing a specialization is irrevocable, with especially far-reaching consequences).

Below is the chart of final specializations (they can't be chosen - level up is automatic!):

Name	Icon	Statistics	Available Equipment	Class Bonuses
Marshal		10 Command 6 Health 4 Magic	Common, Melee Weapon, Banner Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield	Increases Attack and Counterattack in all units by 2. Can expand Commander Skills to level 5, the maximum.
Battlemaster		10 Command 8 Health 2 Magic	Common, Melee Weapon, Banner, Heavy Weapon, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, Shield	Increases Defense of all units by 2 and gives them 1 point of regeneration per round. Can expand Warrior and Commander Skills to level 3.
Strategist		10 Command 7 Health 3 Magic	Common, Melee Weapon, Banner, Ranged Weapon, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield	Increases damage dealt by shooting units by 4 (excluding magic missiles), increases Initiative by 2. Can expand Scout and Commander Skills to level 3.
High Priest		10 Command 4 Health 6 Magic	Common, Melee Weapon, Banner, Wand, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shield	Increases Resistance of all units by 2 and morale by 4. Can expand Commander and Wizard Skills to level 3.

Marshal: a simple expansion of the General's class bonuses gives you even further edge in battle. Still a great option.

Battlemaster: the class bonus at level 20 is really tempting, but at this point it will be only marginally noticeable - by then you deal damage by the dozens, so 1 regeneration points per round is not really a benefit at all.

Strategist: a good choice if your army has at least 3 ranged units. Otherwise, you won't practically notice any difference.

High Priest: class bonuses are only barely noticeable and not really useful. In the end, the High Priest steps back before the Marshal.

Above level 20, choosing the General specialization (and later the Marshal's) becomes even more justified. With the optimal division of XP, the General guarantees great bonuses to all units in the army (and to themselves); see the chart below. It's a truly significant advantage. Unfortunately, all abilities and bonuses last only as long as the Commander, so it's of utter importance to protect them in battle (invest in good armor and assign units and spells for protection).

Maximum Bonuses to the Marshal's Troops

Statistics	Bonus
Attack	+5
Counterattack	+5
Defense	+3
Ranged Defense	+3
Health Points	+6
Resistance	+3
Ranged Attack	+2
Ammo	+2
Range	+1
Initiative	+5
Stamina	+7
Mobility	+2
Experience	+25%
Morale	+7