14 DAY TRIAL // One of the resources that I came upon early in Warlock – Master of the Arcane, before I knew exactly what the game was about, were the donkeys.
I took one look at the resource and wondered what kind of bonus they might add, maybe something linked to trade or to worker efficiency, only to discover that they were actually used to create a Knightly Order that actually rode the small, stubborn creatures into battle on the side of the humans.
The big unit characteristic for the Order of Stubborn Knights cavalry is that they never retreat, even in the face of overwhelming odds, which makes them perfect for sitting in the front of my precious archers and mages when big, powerful and supernatural creatures are ready to attack.
These are not the toughest units in the game, but their sizable hitpoints, mixed with their speed and their good attack, make them invaluable against enemies ranging from skeletons to the dreaded Fire elementals, with only flying units making me call up archers and mages in desperation.
The simple fact that the unit character mixes so well with the name is a sign of how closely the creators of Warlock are to the Ardania game world and the various tweaks it makes to the normal fantasy tropes.
As my game progresses, I discover there are specific settlements that allow for fantastic creatures, ranging from werevolves to minotaurs, to be recruited into human armies, and there are links to other buildings that allow for more elite units to be added as the game progresses and the enemies became tougher.
Resources are not just used to develop buildings for new units or to boost resource productions, they also allow for specialized buildings that offer incremental unit upgrades.
After creating the various laboratories and smithies, players need to check each individual unit and then apply the upgrades players see as best suited for each of them.