Good guide to a good hero

You have a hero.. He/She is a midget with skin and bones and you want to buff them up. Easy. Not to mention a properly levelled hero is cheaper and stronger than an epic hero. Too bad they don't get those fancy pictures... do they?

ONE
Take advantage of the free hero upgrades during levels 1, 2 and 3:

The "Panacea" allows your hero to distribute his/her unassigned points. And... That means they get three free assigned points, yay! (Anything after level 3 costs 3 gold or a "Preserving Bolus.")

Furthermore, reassigning points is absolutely free during levels 1, 2 and 3. What does that mean? It means that YOU get to choose where the first three points go... with patience of course. This can patch up any low stats your hero may have (particularly recruited heroes) and balance them.

TWO
Experience is what levels your hero. Your hero will also gain stat bonuses every 2-4 levels. Each hero levels differently. For example, Hero A gains bonuses to all four stats at the same time. Hero B gains two at a time and always a different two each time. Hero A, however, needs to level three or four times to gain bonuses. Hero B only needs to level twice or thrice for their bonus.

You need to understand what activities will bring you experience:
Duelling in Fraction Map - A quick way to gain a small portion of exp relative to your hero level. You will probably need to Duel 10 or 15 times in order to level. The good thing about Duelling is that you may gain useful equipment to bestow upon those ill equipped heroes.

Faction Quests - Fraction Quests that offer experience are usually those which do not require any army but does require your hero to be above a certain level. Like Duelling, these are quick and easy to complete. The experience offered is roughly the same as a Duel but may be more.

Tower of Trials - The best for earning experience. You will ALWAYS earn at least two or three levels worth of experience. The downside is that you can't use your hero for 6 hours straight. Common Misunderstanding: The Tower of Trials is not free as a one-time only feature. It is free ONCE a day, EVERY day. Be sure to utilise it. You may rarely also bring back items of worth (seeing as the only other way of obtaining them is by Gold).

Random Events - Yes, those phoenix/hogs/peasants etcetera endowments (whichever one it was or is) can provide experience. The experiences, however, are almost next to nothing! Not to mention that it is completely, or partially, dictated by chance. It is also granted randomly to any hero residing in the city. So... that hero you were neglecting? Hmm... Just don't count on this. It will not help your hero much.

Scrolls - One off objects that provide various amounts of experience (500, 800, 1000 etc). Great, just like resource packs, awesome. They are obtained from gift packages or coupons or... you paid for them. Sigh... Good things don't come easy do they?

Escort Guardians - Escort Guardians are a hunt (yes, hunt as opposed to hide is more appropriate) and seek feature of the game. The aim is to find them on the Faction map before anyone else and fight them. Fighting them will give quite a large-moderate-ish amount of experience. HOWEVER, they are unlike scrimmages where you will regain any lost troops. Also, one must have quite a large military force to defeat them. The upside is that one can gain valuable items from Escort Guardians. Attack only if you are strong! This includes one heck of an army and a willingness to lose a few troops.


THREE
Items and equipment for your hero = VERY VERY important. Make sure you equip them properly.

Preserving Bolus - Not so much an equip-able but more of a use-able. This can be obtained through the Tower of Trials or... bought. *Sighs again*. The preserving Bolus, when used, randomly assigns one of your unassigned points to a stat. Don't bother keeping this and just use it straight away. You will most likely have a flood of unassigned points lying around.

Equipment bonuses - Give preference for objects that will prevent your hero from getting hurt before anything else if you plan on fighting with him/her. These would include agility, speed and dodge bonuses and armour. Other things that are equally desirable are skills such as counter and regenerate or a weapon/armour that does anything similar. Healing is good but I wouldn't count on it without decent defence. Then you need attack. If your hero is solely going to be an office ornament give him/her books but don't forget to equip that hero with the second best of everything else in-case of an attack.

NOTE:
Heroes die. When they do your efforts will be wasted. Look out.
Mounts will also die. Be sure to win when you enter a battle!


Whew... That was long. Did I forget anything?.