Shapeshifter legionnaire

Defensive Melee Special

A good specialized defensive unit against melee combat with 150 defense and zero food consumption. It is not a universal unit - the lower defense against ranged units (65) means you need to supplement it with defensive ranged units - but as a melee foundation of a balanced defensive garrison, it does its job. If you play defensively and encounter it in the offer, take it.

14Attack

150Melee defense

65Ranged defense

—Speed

—Food upkeep

The Legionnaire Converter is a purely defensive melee unit, and its main stat is 150 defense against melee combat. This is well above what you get from standard barracks melee defenders (which usually range around 40 to 90, depending on level and type), making it a solid choice as a melee shield for walls. An attack of 14 is useless, and that is intentional - this unit belongs in defense, not in an offensive army. A food consumption of 0 means it costs you nothing in supplies, so you can keep as many as you want regardless of granaries.

How to use it

In practice, you deploy it in the defense of castles or towers against melee attacks. Here it will hold up fully, as an attacker sending swordsmen and infantry against you will encounter 150 defense and won't make much headway. However, keep in mind that the defense against ranged units is only 65 - this is normal for a melee unit, it's not a disaster, it just means that the Converter won't guard against ranged attacks on its own. If the enemy comes at you with archers and crossbowmen, you need to have defensive ranged units in your garrison as well. Thanks to the zero food consumption, you can keep them on standby at all times, the number won't weigh you down.

What to combine it with

The key is to mix Converters with defensive ranged units. It will cover the gap against melee combat, but you need to cover that lower value against ranged units (65) with a unit that has high defense against ranged attacks. A standard defensive garrison looks like this: Converters for melee, along with strong defensive archers on the towers and defensive tools (boiling oil, palisades, traps) that will percentage-wise boost both values. When you set it up this way, the enemy has nowhere to push, whether they send infantry or ranged units.

Weaknesses and what to avoid

Do not send it into attack. In an attack, the unit's attack value is counted, and defense is not taken into account at all, so that 150 defense is useless in an offensive army, and with an attack of 14, the Converter will just die without any benefit. Another thing: do not build a garrison solely of Converters. Without ranged support, you have a weak spot in defense against ranged attacks, which a clever attacker will exploit by sending archers against you.

Related units

Veteran spearmanHalberdierVeteran halberdierSentinel of the KingsguardDragon clawsFlame bearer

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