Age of Wonders 4: Combat Guide

by Fernando Diaz / Age of Wonders 4, Articles / 02 May 2021

In Age of Wonders 4, each turn grants all units 3 Action Points (AP), which can be used for various actions such as attacking, using abilities, or moving. However, movement is limited to a maximum of 2 Action Points. Mastering AP management is vital for optimizing your units’ performance in battle.

Auto-Combat and AI Control

To speed up the combat process, toggle the swords button in the upper-right corner to activate Auto-Combat. This transfers control of your army to the AI, which makes decisions for you. While this can be helpful in certain situations, the AI may not always make the best choices, so exercise caution.

Unique Battle Effects and Triggers

The location of the battle can cause unique effects to trigger at regular intervals. These effects typically benefit the defender, but occasionally affect both sides. Adapting your strategy to these unique effects can provide a significant advantage during combat.

Naval Battles and Ship Behavior

In naval battles, land units appear as ships but still behave as usual. Learning how to effectively utilize your land units in naval battles is essential for achieving victory at sea.

Morale Levels and Effects

Morale ranges from -60 to 40, with different effects depending on the level:

High Morale (20 to 40): Units with High Morale have a 20% increased chance of landing a Critical Hit. They are in high spirits and confident of victory.

Neutral Morale (-19 to 19): Units with Neutral Morale have no additional effects. They are content and ready for battle.

Low Morale (-39 to -20): Units with Low Morale have a 20% increased chance of Fumbling. They are wavering and doubtful of victory.

Very Low Morale (-59 to -40): Units with Very Low Morale have a 40% increased chance of Fumbling. They are despairing and close to breaking.

Routing (-60): Units with Morale at -60 will Rout, meaning they automatically use Action Points to move to the closest retreat point, ignoring zones of control and attacks of opportunity. They are terrified and fleeing for their lives.

Terrain: Types and Effects

The overall layout of the combat map depends on the province where the battle takes place. Certain hexes on the field of battle may affect units standing on them. For example:

Water costs twice as much to move through and gives units the Wet status, meaning they have +2 Fire Resistance and -4 Frost Resistance and Lightning Resistance.

Low Foliage and High Foliage grant units the Obstructed status, making them 40% harder to hit with ranged attacks.

Lucky Covers and Lucky Sunflowers grant units the Lucky status, increasing their Critical Hit Chance by 10%.

Poisonous Mushrooms poison units for 3 turns.

Rocky hexes are impassable for land units.

Certain hexes block movement but can be targeted and destroyed.

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Fernando Diaz

Fernando is doing what he always did, sharing his honest opinions about games whenever he can. The difference is now he is writing and not talking about it.
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