Dominions 5 – Units
Dominions 5 is all about units. These range from weak, lightly armed militia to giant monsters of unspeakable horror and magnitude. In between, there are bards, mages, bandits, dragons, and many others. Some units become available as the results of summoning spells, while others are recruitable through the basic provincial population. Each province has its own recruitable units. Some units may require a structure such as a temple or laboratory before they can be recruited. Some can only be recruited in a province with a particular magic site.
Each nation has a unique set of units that can only be accessed in provinces with a friendly fort. At the start of the game, this will be the starting fort in a nation’s home province. Later, as you build new fortresses, you’ll be able to recruit those units in those provinces, too, although some units are recruitable only in your capital, from a magic site located there.
There is a basic distinction between units and commanders: units are the troops that make up your squads, while commanders are the individuals who either lead these squads or perform other tasks like research or item crafting. Some attributes are exclusive to commanders, like leadership and the ability to change equipment inventory or carry gems. The list below summarizes all of these attributes.
You can get further information about an ability simply by clicking on it. This will bring up a window that shows how this value has been modified. For example, a unit may have a base morale value of 12, but due to experience (+1) and friendly dominion (+1) the modified value is 14. Clicking on the attribute will show its modifications.
Some attributes show further attributes.
Basic Attributes
Hit Points: Everyone knows what this is.
Size: Size determines how many units can be in a single square on the battlefield (a maximum of 6 points). It also determines how many supplies a unit needs each turn (Size minus 1).
Strength: This determines how much damage a unit does when it successfully strikes a target.
Attack: This determines the unit’s chances of successfully striking a target with melee weapons.
Defense: This determines the unit’s chances of avoiding a strike by melee weapons.
Protection: This is the unit’s armor rating. It can be different on different parts of the body, depending on the equipment worn or simply the nature of the creature’s hide. These separate values will be shown when you click on Protection.
Morale: This measures a unit’s likelihood of running from battle.
Magic Resistance: Think of this as Protection, only against magic. Not all spells have to penetrate Magic Resistance, though.
Precision: This is how accurate a unit is, either with missiles or with magic.
Encumbrance: A unit will incur Fatigue equal to its Encumbrance on each turn it attacks. Moving —by itself—does not incur this.
Map Move: This determines how far a unit can move on the world map.
Combat Speed: This determines how far the unit can move in combat. Each point of combat speed corresponds to roughly one square on the combat map.
Fatigue: A unit’s Fatigue causes it to be more susceptible to critical strikes. Once a unit reaches 100 fatigue, it becomes unconscious and is unable to attack or defend. A unit at 200 fatigue starts taking regular hit point damage instead of fatigue damage from additional fatigue.
Age: The first number is the unit’s age in years. The number in parentheses is the age at which the unit will start suffering penalties and become susceptible to afflictions due to old age. This attribute is displayed when you click on Fatigue. The age when you start suffering penalties is referred to as max-age. It is modified by the following (in order of priority):
● undead creatures have their max-age increased by 50% per point of Death magic
● inanimate creatures have their max-age increased by 50% per point of Earth magic
● demons have their max-age increased by 50% per point of Blood magic
● everyone has his or her max-age increased by 50% per point of Nature magic
● creatures whose max-age is modified by Nature have it reduced 5% per point of Fire magic (burn bright, burn fast)
There are three kinds of Leadership, and apply to Commanders only.
Leadership: This is the number of units a commander can lead.
Undead Leadership: Like leadership, but for undead beings. A commander can lead 30 undead beings per level of Death magic skill and 5 per level of Blood magic skill he or she has.
Magical leadership: As above, but for magical beings. This is determined by indirect magic bonuses (see Indirect Magic chart – not all paths confer the same benefits). Units also may have special abilities. Some of these are summarized below.
Special Abilities
Units in Dominions 5 can have a wide variety of special abilities. In fact, there are over 350 such abilities in the game. Each modifies the unit’s attributes or capabilities in some way. A mouse-over or right-click on the ability in the stats screen will give an explanation of what it does. Some of these attributes bear further explanation, which appears below.
Ambidextrous – There is no icon for this ability, but you will find it if you click on Attack. It reduces the penalty for wielding two weapons by an amount equal to the Ambidextrous level.
Berserker – A unit with this ability goes berserk when wounded if it passes a morale check vs. 12. Berserk units fight until dead – they do not rout. A unit with +Berserk ability gets that number as a bonus to its berserk attributes.
Ethereal – Very difficult to hit with non-magical weapons. 75% of such strikes will miss.
Glamour – These units gain Mirror Image in combat, and are undetectable in friendly provinces.
Recuperation – This unit can heal its battle afflictions over time, unless it has the Old Age icon.
Sailing – Can cross (but not remain in) water provinces when moving.
