Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read through the guide below. SOVL is a fantastic game, brimming with potential and imagination.

This guide is based on the rogue-like elements of the game vs the AI. Guides specific to multiplayer may be forthcoming shortly. This guide is for the .77 patch of SOVL.
I created a video to accompany this guide, which can be found below.

For those just looking to see the teir list please see the image below.

Ranged Infantry units are usually used as chip damage and snipers to remove high-to-mid-tier threats from your opponent's army. The number of entities within the unit, the unit's skill stat, and the unit's speed are significant to ranged units.

This guide considers how well a unit operates within its faction, raw unit stats, Special rules, the number of entities within the unit, replenishment rate, starting equipment, and what upgrades can be purchased through the shop in-game. Several hybrid units are also included in the guide.

S-tier: Units that either outperform for their relative cost or fill in a key component of a faction's central strategy.

A-tier: Units that often punch above their weight, have unique campaign effects, or are reliable within their roles.

B-tier: Units that perform slightly above average can operate well within an army with some care-taking.

C-tier: Units that perform as well as they should. Very unlikely to become a central part of the army or unable to progress as far as other units.

D-tier- These units may not fit into the usual archetype of the army. They may perform poorly on average or suffer from unique circumstances.

With this framework in mind, the following tier list and video were developed. I've included for you a link to the video below and a detailed examination of each unit.

(link to follow)

The imperial forces use combined arms to dominate the battlefield. They do not hold the line well and lack the discipline/defense to combat most cavalry and monsters. Stand-out special rules include the ability to re-roll all attacks each turn and increase combat score by one. Ranged units are a handy way to soften up or eliminate high-priority enemies.

Imperial Handguns: Black powder infantry weapons tend to have a shorter range than other ranged options but have a slightly higher power stat at 4. This makes the Imperial handguns more reliable monster/cavalry hunters. The lack of skill for human units (usually starting at 3) means they are not very likely to be impactful until there is enough weight of fire to drag down enemies under a hail of bullets. It's a decent unit with OK special rules. B tier

Imperial Crossbows: An odd unit in the imperial rooster right between the standard bow and handgun unit. It does not have any different rules than the other three units besides its weapon and does its job just as well as an archer unit with the standard bow. I would like to see the crossbow tweaked to have more flavor, perhaps an upgrade that allows for more power at the cost of range. B tier

Imperial Archers: Same stats across the board, but the longbow as a weapon chosen is very powerful. Imperial ranged infantry have access to a special rule that increases their ranged attack area; this means you can park large blocks of archers and handguns in the back and take out entire enemy units before they make contact with your line. They still lack the skill and defense to push them up a rank on the tier list, but they are very close. B tier

Imperial Light Calvary: Honorable mention. These guys are great; grab a few at the start of the campaign if you feel like having an easy campaign. A / S tier.

This faction sports many excellent melee opinions in infantry, cavalry, and monsters. Calvary and quick monsters are crucial to the army to distract and eliminate enemy ranged and high-priority threats. They have some ranged capabilities in the Dragon Kin and Northmen Cav Honorable mentions.

Northmen Cav: Honorable mention. Great fodder to be shot, not very long-range quick, c tier. Decent in melee because of 2 attacks
B Tier

Dragon Kin: Grab flamers as quickly as you can and watch the rat-men cry as your flamer units burn down entire swaths of the enemy than crash through their monsters. S-Tier

Relying heavily on heavy cavalry, skirmishers, and monsters. The mediocre melee infantry units of the dead nations are often left behind to mop up routing units or used as sponges to absorb ranged attacks. There is a wide variety of cavalry and cavalry-like options for the dead nations, lending for a good choice of cavalry for almost any situation and severely lacking in ranged capabilities.

Skeleton Bowmen: I Love skeletons, but these guys are quite bad. They have very low defense and skill, meaning they will not trade against other ranged units well. Your best bet is to mass at least 20 or more into a unit and try to target down enemies by sheer weight of fire. Longbows and quick replenishment save this unit from the dumpster.
C tier

This faction lacks defense but makes up for this lowered stat by being faster on average and having high skill. Fast attack cavalry with ranged options allows it to play to the faction's strengths and be positioned to maximize its charge. Ranged infantry units are very powerful due to the elf extra range and minus one to saves special rules.

Deepwood Archers: A potent unit because of its size, skill, and longbows. Elves all have the special rule of swift (1 plus movement point), but this unit also has a scout, allowing it to position in cover at the start of a match and snipe a high-priority target. This is a versatile unit that acts as the backbone for ranged play within the faction.
A tier

Deepwod Rangers: This is a very strange unit; on paper it seems like it should perform very well, and in a multiple versus scenario, perhaps it does. The very small unit size and slow scaling mean that this unit struggles to stay relevant in the later stages of the campaign. Not the best option.
D tier

Your typical heavily armored slow fantasy trope. The dwarf army relies heavily on their ranged units and war machines. The deployment phase of the battle is more crucial to the dwarfs. A dwarf gunline can be one of the most fun ways to play.

Dwarf Crossbows: The lack of initial skill is more than made up for by the very high innate defense and defensive upgrades that can be found in the shop. The Dwarf special runes rules also allow their ranged units to hammer down on specific targets by re-rolling all attacks, not just ones. It is a great unit when used in conjunction with others, but it does not stand out on its own.
B tier

Dwarf Rangers: Almost everything the crossbow unit above does, rangers do better. They trade one defense for an extra skill and power, a great trade in my book as the rest of the army already has high defensive capabilities. Use these guys as the tactical commandos they are, and they will outperform most ranged units in the game.
A Tier

Dwarf Handguns: Like other black powder weapons, this unit trades range for power, however, in the slow-moving dwarf army, this works extremely well. These guys are meant to delete fast cav and war hounds as they approach your line on turn one, then shift to heavier, more dangerous targets in the subsequent turns. I may be a little biased as I love the animation and sound effects of the guns roaring, but I am placing this unit solidly in,
A tier

Like the Greenskins and Imperials, the elf conclaves rely on combined arms to operate efficiently. Units in this army have above-average skills and tend to have higher discipline. Melee infantry are versatile and dependable. Calvary is fast and packs a punch. Ranged infantry have access to devastating special rules and range.

Elf Archers: This is an extremely good unit because they are fast, have high skill, and have access to a special rule that makes their attacks wound more often (enemies have minus one to save). This means in the later stages of the campaign, you effectively have access to a hyper-long-ranged handgun unit!
A-Tier

Elf City Guard: This is the best or second-best melee (hybrid) infantry unit in the roguelike setting of the game. Being able to deal damage in melee and reduce or remove threats from the board before they make contact due to ranged attacks set this unit apart. They have access to the same range of skills as the elves above, meaning they are just an upgrade in almost every way. Take as many of these units as you can. i
S-tier

Elf Watchers:[/b] Suffering from the same problem as the other elf scout-like units, this unit struggles heavily to pull its weight when the enemy starts to outnumber you heavily in the later stages of the campaign. They are quite bad at ranged duels as well do to the low model count.
D tier

This is a heavily melee-focused faction emphasizing moving up the board and flanking enemy units. The faction also has access to decent cavalry and excellent monsters (minotaurs). Melee units within the army must keep up with the rest of these great units. Abyssal legions random +1 to stat special rules apply to the whole army.

Mongrel Skirmishers: This is another weird unit where, on paper, they are quite decent. They have a decent number of special rules but the army that they are in does not support a ranged play style.
C Tier

An extremely versatile faction with a focus on melee infantry, the Greenskins have a good mixture of units with above-average power and defense but lack skill and discipline. The special rules for green skins allow them to be very aggressive and suffer losses that heal more quickly.

Goblin archers: I wish I could put this unit in S tier, but the short bows and lack of skill hamstring this unit. Goblins are incredibly efficient gold-farming units, and the two melee variants can better utilize their other special rules. This is a very good campaign unit and a decent battler that can thin enemy numbers if you have a large mob of them.
A tier

A faction that relies heavily on its ranged units and decent monsters, melee infantry tends to be used to hold the line. Interestingly, the faction lacks true artillery pieces, relying on mobile units and overwhelming numbers to outmaneuver and overrun the enemy force. All melee units contain the keyword swift (+1 movement) and have access to random mutations.

Ratkin Slingers: The baseline ranged unit for the faction, this unit fits in very well with the main archetype of the army. They lack punch but make up for it in numbers and replenishment rates. They are able to drag down elite units and monsters through the sheer weight of attacks. The early-game combo with the hex of ruin provided by the wizard hero is particularly entertaining.
B-tier

Ratkin Flamer: An excellent mobile artillery piece that should be used to clear out enemy elite infantry. This unit benefits heavily from the wings mutation as it has a very limited range. The lack of defense means you must screen it from enemy counterfire.
A tier


Ratkin Longrifle: This is the best (and only really) anti-monster and heavy cavalry weapon that the Rat kin have. Try to increase the number of models in the unit and purchase the volatile mix upgrade in the shop as soon as possible. Being able to reposition and deal with multiple wounds per shot with extreme range is fantastic!
S tier

Dinosaurs Riding Dinosaurs! This faction lacks ranged and artillery units but makes up for it in having high power stats and powerful monsters. The current aspect of the Salamander offering regeneration to monsters is particularly powerful. With this in mind, melee units are often used in the early game to set up a strong cavalry and monster-focused late game.

Newt Shortbows: This is the definition of a sleeper unit. The aspect of the raptor (wounds deal two damage) special rule applies to ranged attacks! These little newts are some of the best monster hunters in the game. Grab a large brick of them and watch them melt elite calvary and monsters. They are also extremely good at clearing away fast attack units like war hounds and harpies because they come in such large numbers. They can do a surprisingly great job protecting your flanks with the scout special rule.
S-Tier

Perhaps the wealthiest faction in the game due to a particularly spicy special rule. These elves are slightly more melee and monster-focused than the other two elf factions. They have a diverse and well-rounded rooster that can be built however you like. They can have a surprisingly large horde of elite elf units by the end of the campaign and, for that reason, might be one of the strongest if not the strongest, factions in the game.

Darkborn Crossbows: A decent elven archer unit like the others we have seen on the list. They have access to the same rules as the other elves and their faction's specific rules. Use them wherever you need them, and they will perform very well.
A-Tier

Darkborn Shadows: At least they look cool. This unit is the same as the other elf scout-type units. They can flank pretty well but are not worth picking up against the AI.
D-Tier

Sorry about the formatting on this one. I fiddled with it for quite a while.

Thanks again to everyone who has read the guide or viewed the video. Check out other videos below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_DwEmN0OOc

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