Greetings! Before I start, I will like to inform you that this is the first time I ever attempt to write a guide. I hope all of you may find the format acceptable, and its information useful.

I find myself addicted to Banner Saga immediately after my first battle. However, soon after I have accumulated enough renowns, I find myself confused over which classes to promote my units to. Unfortunately, at this stage of the game, there is not a place, where we can test out our builds and our units. As a result, I decided to to create this guide in hope to address some common questions regarding the abilities. If everything works out as expected, I hope I may save everyone some valuable time in headach.

As of April 29th, 2013. I have done my very best to ensure the accuracy of the information. In many situations, I have sacrificed my own ranking to test things out in the arena. If mistakes do occur, please send me a message. I promise that I will correct the content as soon as possible :-)

There are a few things you need to know about abilities:

- All abilities are ACTIVE abilities. That said, you will have to click it to active, and your turn will come to an end thereafter.
- All Rank 1 abilities cost 1 willpower with no exceptions. Rank 2 abilities will cost 2 willpowers.
- You may not use your willpower to increase the effectiveness of your abilities.
- This guide is aimed to answer concerns regarding the mechanics of the abilities. The description refers to rank1, but information regarding higher ranks are also included!

Archer
Currently there are three classes for the archer: Bowmaster, Siege Archer, and Skystriker.

Bowmaster (Bird of Prey):
Bird of Prey it is an easy ability to understand. It adds 2 additional tiles to the range of a regular archer. That means, instead of the regular range of 5 tiles, she can now hit a target that's 7 tiles away.
Note: this ability is used in combination with the archer's passive skill

Rank1: extends the range to 7 tiles
Rank2: extends the range to 8 tiles
Rank3: extends the range to 9 tiles

Siege Archer (Slag and Burn):
As of April 15th, 2013. Siege Archer deals a fixed amount of damage with its abilities. Let's name the square where the ability is used as "target tile" and the four tiles touching it as the "adjacent tiles". When you fire, the following scenariowill take place:

A: hit an occupied tile
- the target you hit, if occupied, will take 1 armor damage + 1 strength damage.
- units (both friend or foe) on the four adjacent tiles will each take 1 strength damage regardless of their armor.
Note: if a Varl occupies more than one of the adjacent tiles, he still takes only 1 strength damage instead of multiple.
- fire will start in up to 2 randon adjacent tiles!
- the slag disappears after one round

B: hit an unoccupied tile
- units (both friend or foe) that occupy one of adjacent tiles will each take 1 strength damage regardless of their armor
- the target tile + one adjacent tile (a total of two) will be burning
- the slag disappears after one round

Rank1: 1/1 damage
Rank2: 2/1 damage
Rank3: 3/1 damage

Skystriker (Rain of Arrows):
Rain of Arrows allows the Skystriker to secretly set up a trap that's invisible to your opponent. The trap will disappear after one round. After you fire, the following sencario will take place:

A: an opponent passes through or lands on the trap
- the enemy takes a regular strength damage.
- the enemy ends his turn immediately

B: a friendly unit passes through the trap, but doesn't occupy the trap by the end of the turn
- nothing happens to the unit
- the trap remains there

C: a friendly unit lands on the trap
- nothing happens at the end of his turn
- on the beginning of the Skystriker's turm, the friendly unit takes strength damage

Note: if the Skystriker did not move when setting up the trap, she will add her passive ability (puncture) to the attack. This can be absolutely devastating on Rank2 and Rank3.

Rank1: target takes regular damage = (a minimium of 1)
Rank2: target takes (regular damage)+(regular damage+1) = (a minimium of 3)
Rank3: target takes (regular damage)+(regular damage+1)+(regular damage+2) = (a minimium of 6) That's 6 strength damage to someone with full armor! The number obviously goes up if the Skystriker's strength is higher than the opponent's armor.

Raider
Currently, there are three classes for the raider: Backbiter, Raidmaster, and Thrasher.

Backbiter (Run Through):
Run Through is a little bit tricky. After the unit moves, you may select a target that is either 1or 2 tiles away (that means you have a total of 8 tiles to choose from). He will run through those tiles and land on the one behind, while dealing damages to the unit(s).

Movement:
The Backbiter can move up to 3 tiles away. That means you may run through a maximum of two regular units or one Varl, and then land on the third square. It is important to note that the tile immediate behind your target has to be unoccupied to use the ability.

Damage:
The Backbiter would do 2 armor damage to the unit(s) he runs through, and then perform a regular strength attack on the last unit which he passes through. This implies that even when used on only 1 enemy unit, Run Through will always be more effective than a regular strength attack, since Run Through does 2 armor damage before the regular strength attack take place. (Obviously, the analogy will not apply to any unit with no armor)
Note: The 2 armor damage is a fixed number, which is not affected by the Backbiter's stats.

Running through friendly units:
You may run through a friendly unit to attack an enemy unit that's 2 tiles away. However, you will deal 2 armor damage to the friendly unit in the proccess.
Meanwhile, you may NOT run through a friendly unit(s) when there is no enemy units around. In other words, Run Through is a special attack that can only be performed on enemy units. You may sacrifice the armor of your own unit to perform the attack, but you can't use Run Through as a way to bypass your own units.

Note: using Run Through on the Shieldbanger can receive retaliation twice: the first time during run through, and the second time during attack (if it takes place).

Rank1: run through 2 tiles
Rank2: run through 3 tiles
Rank3: run through 4 tiles

Raidmaster (Stone Wall):
Stone Wall is an easy ability. You active Stone Wall before the end of your turn. Afterwards, for an entire round (before it is once again your Raidmaster's turn), you may prevent 3 damages (armor, strength, or combined) by hit. Please note that the prevention is per hit. This means, if you got hit four times during the round in the following manner: 3 armor, 2 armor, 1 strength, and 4 armor, you will only take 1 armor damage from the last hit, and everything else will be prevented!

Rank1: prevents 3 damage
Rank2: prevents 5 damage
Rank3: prevents 7 damage

Thrasher (Bloody Flail):
Bloody Flail allows your Thrasher to perform four strikes. The first three strikes will each deal 1 damage to armor or strength (assigned randomly by computer) regardless of both parties' amor and strength. The last strike of the four is a bit more tricky. It does 1+X damage, where X equals to the amount of friendly units standing adjacent to him. The last hit is also assigned randomly by computer; However, instead of counted towards armor or strength, it has the chance to miss completely.
Note: when your Thrasher still has armor, it is a very bad idea to use Floody Flail on the Shieldbanger, since your Thrasher will face retaliation for each hit that he lands! This means he can lose up to 4 armors from a regular Shieldbanger!

Rank1: 4 strikes
Rank2: 5 strikes
Rank3: 6 strikes

Shieldbanger
Currently, there are three classes for the Shieldbanger: Provoker, Shieldmaster, and Strongarm.

Provoker (Malice):
Usually straight and simple, Malice forces a target enemy to attack the provoke, during the target's next turn. At Rank 1, the target enemy must occupy one of the eight tiles adjacent to the Provoker. Please note that the provoker will force the opponent to move!

There are a few tricky situations, described as follow:
A. What if a Provoker use Malice on an opponent archer? The archer will in fact automatically move back a tile and then attack.
B. If you have a rank2 Provoker, who can provoke a unit 2 tiles away, can you get a unit to move to an adjacent tile and then attack you? Yes! This is super useful if you can find a way to pull someone to the fire!!
C. What will happen if the Provoker or his target was pushed by a Strongarm? The target will move to attack the Provoker using the shortest route cacluated by the computer. Even when the Provoker is completely out of range, the target will still try to get to the provoker using the shortest route.

Rank 1: target adjacent enemies
Rank 2: target at a range of 2
Rank 3: target at a range of 3

Shieldmaster (Bring the Pain):
Bring the Pain functions as a regular armor attack with an additional benefit. If Bring the Pain is activated, the Shieldmaster will gain +1 for his "Return the Favor" passive ability for a entire round. To be more precise, if one chooses to use Bring the Pain instead of dealing regular armor damage, for an entire round (before it is once again Shieldmaster's turn), any enemy who attacks the Shieldmaster will lose 2 armors.

Rank 1: enemy melee attacker(s) loses 2 armor
Rank 2: enemy melee attacker(s) loses 3 armor
Rank 3: enemy melee attacker(s) loses 4 armor

Strongarm (Battering Ram):
When the Battering Ram used on an enemy unit, the following events take place:
- the enemy unit takes 1-5 immediate armor damage
- the enemy unit is pushed back for 3 tiles (land on the 4th tile)
- as of 1.6.29 the enemy is pushed back up to 4 tiles, instead of exactly 4 tiles
- the enemy unit loses 1 armor for each unit (both friendly or hostile units) he or she passes through
Note: the units which the enemy passes will NOT lose armor or be pushed out of their tile.

Note: to use the battering ram on a regular unit, one must make sure the 4th tile behind the enemy is unoccupied, or else one may not use the ability. Likewise, to use the battering ram on a Varl, one must make sure the 4th and 5th tiles behind the enemy is unoccupied. [/i]

Rank 1: 1 immediate armor damage + 1 damage for each unit passes through
Rank 2: 3 immediate armor damage + 1 damage for each unit passes through
Rank 3: 5 immediate armor damage + 1 damage for each unit passes through

Warrior
Currently there are three classes for the Warrior: Warhawk, Warleader, and Warmaster.

Warhawk (Tempest):
Tempest allows the Warhawk to simultaneously hit multiple enemies (at Rank1, two enemies) that occupy the eight tiles adjacent to him. However, the selection of attack targets deserves special attention since Tempest is capable of hitting friendly units as well!

When activating Tempest, the computer will ask you to select a single target. Afterward, strength damage will be dealt to the target, and the next unit (both friendly or hostile) from the target in a clockwise order. With that said, the Warhawk will have no trouble hitting any two units of your choice, when he is surrounded by only three people. However, it can be said that the Warhawk will not be able to hit the two enemy units when he is surrounded in the following order (friendly-hostile-friendly-hostile); no matter what he chooses, he will deal collateral damage to one friendly unit.

Note: the Warhawk cannot miss with Tempest! It's always 100% hit

Rank1: hits up to 2 units (friend or foe)
Rank2: hits up to 3 units (friend or foe)
Rank3: hits up to 4 units (friend or foe)

Warleader (Forge Ahead):
When activating Forge Ahead, one may target a friendly unit adjacent to the Warleader to move up in initiation. The following sequence will take place:

- The Warleader selects a target adjacent to him (in this case, let's call him Target A). The Warleader's turn ends thereafter.
- The enemy takes his or her turn.
- Target A begins his or her turn.

Note: Forge Ahead only allows your target unit (Target A) to move up in initiative, which allows the Target A to be the first to move after your opponent's turn. This does not mean that you may move Target A right after the Warleader's turn (unless it's during the pillage mode).

Rank 1: command adjacent allies
Rank 2: command allies within 4 spaces
Rank 3: command allies at any range!! Be very careful!! If your opponent has a Warleader, the first thing you do in game is to check if it's a Rank3 Warleader. Move a warrior twice in three moves can absolutely change the game!!!

Warmaster (Sundering Impact):
Sundering Impact can be viewed as a regular strength attack with added bonus. First, it may bring additional +1/+1 value to the attacked target. Second, as a part of his passive ability, a warrior can cause 1 strength damage to each unit adjacent to the target, during a regular attack. Howoever, when Sundering Impact is used, the damage to the enemy units adjacent to the target will become receive +1 armor damage (bringing the collateral damage to 1/1)

Rank1: regular attack receive +1/+1, Heavy impact receive +1/0 (1/1 total)
Rank2: regular attack receive +1/+1, Heavy impact receive +1/1 (1/2 total)
Rank3: regular attack receive +1/+1, Heavy impact receive +2/1 (2/2 total)

Version: 1.7.49
Last update: May 13th, 2013