Like other games in the fantasy 4X genre,Age of Wonders 4features heroes. Heroes are individuals who are often more powerful than whole units, and as they gain experience and items they can start to take on entire armies by themselves.
Unfortunately, theAge of Wonders 4interface buries the “recruit a new hero” option a few menus deep, and so some players may struggle to bring these powerful units onto the field. Players must also worry about the hero cap, because going above it can be an expensive prospect. This guide will explain both how to recruit new heroes and when to do so.
RELATED:Age of Wonders 4 Arrives After 9 Year Hiatus
The Hero Hiring Process
The button for the hero overview menu is in the top-left of the interface. It has a winged helmet for its icon. From this menu, players can check their current heroes and find them on the map,inspect any heroes captured from enemiesor killed in battle, and either resurrect a dead hero or recruit a new one. Keep in mind that recruiting a new hero is always an option, even if players have reached their hero cap.
The number and races of the heroes availabledepend on the state of the player’s faction. Heroes of the same race as the faction are always options, but players can also get heroes from vassals, incorporated cities, and conquered cities. Each hero has their own starting level, and the cost of hiring a hero is 50 gold per level.
Players can also see which special abilities each hero starts with and what affinities they have. These affinities don’t have an impact on empire development, but they do give the city they govern a few extra points of food, production, draft, and so on.
The Hero Cap
Players can only have as many heroes in their faction as they have cities under their direct control. Conquered and incorporated cities count, but outposts and vassals don’t. Because of this, the hero cap is closely connected to the city cap. That means the best way to raise the hero cap past 3 is toraise the city cap using the Expanded Governance ritein the empire development tree, a rite that every faction gets access to. However, players will also need to get a new city to raise the hero cap.
It’s possible to hire a hero without raising the hero cap, but doing so costs an extra 200 gold up front and 30 gold in maintenance per turn. For reference, every hero below the hero cap has zero maintenance costs. Players also can’t dismiss heroes the way they can dismiss regular units, and so the only way to get rid of them is to send them into a suicidal battle and sell off their remains (aside from the faction’s ruler, who will always respawn).
One other way to get a hero is to integrate a vassal free city. That city’s ruler will become a faction hero for free, and they usually come with a lot of very nice equipment. However, this also means players don’t get to choose what kind of hero they are.
Age of Wonders 4is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
