Hero Abilities

Above some minimum level of experience, heroes unlock their abilities. When the hero increases in level, the unlocked ability also becomes more powerful. Most heroes have two abilities, one unlocking in the level 8-10 range, and one unlocking in the level 13-17 range. The abilities are briefly described in the encyclopedia. Below you find an annotated list. Most Hero abilities can be turned off in the audience link from the main menu page of the game.

note: 'When in the list below an ability is denoted as (Does Something/LVL), it does NOT mean the hero level, but the level of the ability!.

The easy way to derive the skill level is to take the level of the hero then subtract the level that you get the skill, then add one.

example: A level 10 Alchemist has 2 LVL in his Alchemy ability. Alchemy is unlocked at level (9). A level 10 Alchemist thus has 10 - (9) + 1 = LVL = 2 Alchemy.

Two types of hero abilities exist: battle and non-battle.

All non-battle heroes have non-battle abilities only.
All battle heroes have at least one battle ability.
- Some battle heroes have a non-battle ability in addition.

Annotated Overview

in alphabetic order, split by Non-Battle and Battle abilities

Non Battle

Alchemy (Alchemist [Human] 9):

Increases geld income by 6% + 3%/lvl.
Reduces MP income by 1%/lvl.

Brewing (Witch [Elf] 20):

Generates items based on the number of guild. (Anyone know how it works?)

Building (Engineer [Human] 9):

Increases building rate by 6% + 3%/lvl.

Channeling (Shaman [Treefolk] 16, Crypt Keeper [Undead] 18):

Increases MP income by 2% + 1%/lvl.

Charisma (Bard [Sprite] 14, Warlord [Human] 16):

Increases recruit rate by 2% + 1%/lvl.

Contract (Devil Prince [Demon] -):

Takes all the booties of pillages including Battle Chant-booties.

Honor (White Knight [Human] 16):

Gives (lvl - 1) + a random extra (1-9) Knights/turn.

E.g. 1-9 Knight/turn for a hero of level 16 ; 10-18 knight/turn for a hero of level 17

Necromancy (Necromancer [Undead] 14, Crypt Keeper [Undead] 16):

Reduces upkeep of your undead units by 2% + 1%/lvl.

Peace With Nature (Shepherdess [Human] 16):

Increases Food Production per Farm by 20 + 10/lvl

Researching (Sage [Human] 9):

Reduces research cost of each spell by 6% + 3%/lvl.

Shepherding (Shepherdess [Human] 9):

Summons sheep into your army by 30-60/lvl per turn. On average 45/lvl.
- Seems not to be influenced by Summon skills/modifiers.

Spell Lore (Sage [Human] 16):

Reduces casting cost of each spell by 2% + 1%/lvl.

Summoning (Summoner [Elemental] 14):

Increases amount of units summoned by 3% + 3%/lvl.

Trading (Merchant [Human] 9):

Increase Geld Income by 20k + 20k/lvl.

Battle

Animal Taming (Amazon [Animal] 12):

Reduces Primary and Counter AP of all enemy Animal units by 5%/lvl.

Animate Dead (Crypt Keeper [Undead] 9, Necromancer [Undead] 16):

Resurrects 3% + 1%/lvl of your slain undead units at the end of each battle.

Arcfire (Fire Elementalist [Elemental] 9):

Deals 80k/lvl FIRE damage to one random enemy stack.
Is an Eradication spell thus can be resisted.

Beast Master (Amazon [Animal] 14):

Increases Primary and Counter AP of all your Animal units by 5%/lvl.

Berserk (Berserker [Dwarf] 14):

Increases Primary and Counter AP of all your units by 10% + 5%/lvl.
Decreases HP of all your units by 3% + 3%/lvl.

Chill Touch (Soul Reaper [Demon] 9, Necromancer [Undead] 9):

Deals 4k + 2k/lvl COLD damage to one random enemy stack.
Reduces Primary and Counter AP of the damaged stack by 2% + 1%/lvl.
This is a Nether spell and thus can be resisted.

Cursing (Witch [Elf] 9):

Reduces Accuracy of one random enemy stack by 2% + 1%/lv.

Demon Hunter (Vampire Hunter [Astral] 18):

Increases damage dealt by your units to enemy Demon units by 10% + 5%/lvl.

Dragon Rider (Dragon Knight [Dragon] 16):

Increases Primary and Counter AP of all your Dragon units by 5%/lvl.

Dragonslayer (White Knight [Human] 20):

Increases damage dealt by your units to enemy Dragon units by 10% + 5%/lvl.

Enchant Item (Enchantress [Elf] 18):

Generates lesser items. The generation rate is independent of the number of Guilds.
Items are generated once every 20-40 turns at lvl 1.

Enchant Weapon (Enchantress [Elf] 14):

Increases Accuracy, Primary and Counter AP of one of your stacks by +5% + 1%/lvl.

Firestorm (Fire Elementalist [Elemental] 16):

Deals 40k/lvl FIRE damage to each enemy stack.
Is an Eradication spell thus can be resisted.

Healing (Priestess [Angel] 9, Shieldmaiden [Human] 14):

It ressurrects 2% + 1%/lvl of the slain units in the stack that it lead, rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Because of the rounding down, it is not often seen to resurrect ultimate units. E.g.: at lvl 1 (3%) of Healing, you need to lose 34 of a unit to gain one back.

Ice Shield (Valkyrie [Elemental] 16):

Increases all your units' FIRE resistance by 5% + 1%/lvl.

Icicle (Valkyrie [Elemental] 14):

Deals 10k + 5k/lvl COLD damage to one random enemy stack. (can anyone confirm?)
This is a Phantasm spell and thus can be resisted.

Illusion (Illusionist [Mindripper] 18):

Creates a stack of illusionary units worth 200k NP/lvl.
- The illusion stack contains the same type of units as one of your real stacks chosen at random, and can be affected by spells, items, and abilities in the same manner as real stacks.
- The illusion stack is never commanded by a hero, and does not count towards total army power or total power loss.

Leadership (Veteran [Human] 14):

Increases Primary and Counter AP of all your Mercenary units by 5%/lvl.

Mind Blast (Illusionist [Mindripper] 9):

Deals 20k/lvl PSYCHIC damage to one random enemy stack.
Is a Phantasm spell thus can be resisted.

Mind Shield (Illusionist [Mindripper] 14):

Increases all your units' PSYCHIC resistance by 5% + 1%/lvl.

Plant Control (Shaman [Treefolk] 14):

Increases Primary and Counter AP of all your Treefolk Units by 5%/lvl.
- This bonus adds to the effects of Plant Growth.

Polymorph (Witch [Elf] 16):

Turns (lvl-1) * 1000 + a random 1-1000 units enemy recruited units into frogs.
- typically 2000 for level 16-17 Witch, up to 5000 for level 20 Witch.
- The created frogs temporarily join your army as an additional stack for the duration of the battle, not lead by a hero.
- Polymorphed units are considered killed in battle and cannot be resurrected.
Polymorph is a Phantasm spell and can be resisted.

see this UBB topic from 3 years ago

Rally (Shieldmaiden [Human] 9):

Increases HP of all your units by 3% + 1%/lvl.

Selfressurection (Priestess [Angel] 17):

If the priestess is killed in battle, she loses 1 level and resurrects
- The Priestess will return after about 48 hours.
- If the priestess leaves your country because of mana problem (mana crash), the hero won't come back.

Song (Bard [Sprite] 9):

Increases Primary and Counter AP of all your units by 2% + 1%/lvl.
Reduces Primary and Counter AP of all enemy units by 2% + 1%/lvl.

Soul Devour (Soul Reaper [Demon] 14):

Reduces HP, Primary and Counter AP of all enemy units by 2% + 1%/lvl.
Increases HP, Primary and Counter AP of all your Demon units by 2% + 1%/lvl.

Squirrel Dance (Summoner [Elemental] 9):

Summons a stack of 20k + 10k/lvl Squirrels, that will last for the duration of the battle only.
- The squirrel stack can be affected by spells, items, and abilities in the same manner as real stacks.
- The squirrel stack is never commanded by a hero, and does not count towards total army power or total power loss.

Tactics (Warlord [Human] 14):