This blog post compares the Conqueror’s Blade units Ironcap Arquebusiers with its higher tier counterparts: Imperial Arquebusiers and Kriegsrat Fusiliers and shows why and when it is best to use Ironcap Arquebusiers for maximum rewards for the player.
Below I will be comparing stats of Ironcap Arquebusiers with the average of the 2 higher tier units; if you have not already seen the higher tier comparison you can check it here: Imperial Arquebusiers vs Kriegsrat Fusiliers.
Basic Attributes 1
You get 24 soldiers for half the leadership and significantly cheaper re-supply which results in much larger rewards after every battle. Level is naturally lower, at level 15, but that is not a major issue.
From here on Average of Kriegsrat Fusiliers and Imperial Arquebusiers I will mark as AVG. IMP/KRIEG.
| Basic Attributes | AVG. IMP/KRIEG | Ironcap Arquebusiers |
| Stars / Tier | 4.25 stars | 2.5 stars |
| Strength | 21 | 24 |
| Max level | 18.5 | 15 |
| Leadership | 267.5 | 145 |
Basic Attributes 2
Their health is lower indeed by about 35%, but it is still not as low as various archers, so if you do your best to take care of them (good placement) this will be less of an issue. Ammo I found is not an issue at all unless you get lucky with a team which protects them and allows them to constantly shoot the enemy without getting disturbed.
| Basic Attributes | AVG. IMP/KRIEG | Ironcap Arquebusiers |
| Health | 3241 | 2099 |
| Speed | 5 | 5 |
| Range | 60 | 60 |
| Ammo | 625 | 600 |
| Labour | 2.94 | 3.36 |
Attack Attributes
Ironcap Arquebusiers have nearly as much attack as the higher tiers, so this is really fantastic for the much lower cost. However, please note that they do miss more often, i.e. they are less accurate (part of that you can fix via Veteran skills by giving them a lot more accuracy).
| Attack Attributes | AVG. IMP/KRIEG | Ironcap Arquebusiers |
| Piercing Armour Penetration | 2645.5 | 2397 |
| Slashing Armour Penetration | 0 | 0 |
| Blunt Armour Penetration | 0 | 0 |
| Piercing Damage | 2674.5 | 2231 |
| Slashing Damage | 0 | 0 |
| Blunt Damage | 0 | 0 |
Defense Attributes
In terms of defense Ironcap Arquebusiers don’t fall too far behind. The Piercing defense is actually somewhat similar so they are nearly as good in taking less damage from archers. In melee they are indeed useless so if you do not manage well their placement on the battlefield and allow melee units to get to them then they will die pretty fast.
| Defense Attributes | AVG. IMP/KRIEG | Ironcap Arquebusiers |
| Piercing Defense | 371 | 311 |
| Slashing Defense | 401 | 247 |
| Blunt Defense | 276 | 179 |
Special Attributes
Here is where the most important differences are. The Ironcap Arquebusiers, at least when you start playing with them, will shoot slower and miss a lot. This may disappoint at first, but you can actually address this in a great amount by improving their accuracy and rate of fire via Veteran skills.
| AVG. IMP/KRIEG | Ironcap Arquebusiers |
| Krieg: Melee Fighters | Poor shots: low accuracy |
| Imperials: Volley | Slow shot: low rate of fire |
Veteran Skills (a.k.a. Veterancy)
As mentioned above, this is what “fixes” the Ironcap Arquebusiers by significantly increasing accuracy and rate of fire making them a very viable and effective unit to use. The higher tier counterparts get even stronger with their Veteran skills, but that is expected.
| AVG. IMP/KRIEG | Ironcap Arquebusiers |
| Aiming speed increased | Increasing damage |
| Increasing damage | Increasing rate of fire |
| Increasing rate of fire | Increasing accuracy |
| Increasing accuracy |
Analysis / Calculations
Here is what I think everything is results in:
- Full Unit Health = the number of soldiers x Health. This shows us that Ironcap Arquebusiers have 24% less Health in total which is actually not too bad given the 2.5 star vs 4+ star difference.
- Average Defense is 30% less making it important to place them strategically on the battlefield.
- Survivability Score is something I created to compare units. This score shows, connected to the above defense issue, that Ironcap Arquebusiers are a lot more squishier.
- Damage Output = Soldiers x Damage. This shows that on the most basic comparison Ironcap Arquebusiers have similar damage “on paper” has the higher tier units!
- Full Unit Potential Damage = adjusting the Damage output with several factors. This then reduces the “high-on-paper” damage value of Ironcap Arquebusiers to a more realistic 41% less level when talking about a longer term average or multiple games, which is mostly due to their low survivability.
| Elements | AVG. IMP/KRIEG | Ironcap Arquebusiers |
| Full Unit Health | 65,859 | 50,376 |
| Average Defense | 349 | 246 |
| Survivability Score | 774 | 456 |
| Damage Output | 56,277 | 53,544 |
| Full Unit Potential Damage | 40,746 | 24,176 |
Conclusion
Here is what this analysis tells the player:
- The Ironcap Arquebusiers are significantly cheaper and use less leadership than their higher tier counterparts. This means more rewards from battles for the player and ability to bring more units to the battlefield.
- Their damage output is great as long as the player is able to position them properly and protect them from melee attacks by either moving them away or by jumping forward to take the damage with the hero or getting help from allies.
- Yes, they have less defense / survivability than Imperials or especially Kriegs and they will do less damage if we take a 100 battles and compare them, but they still do have massive damage for the cost that the player would pay for them compared to the very expensive 4+ star/tier units. So used well they have definitely help win the battle as well as control the costs resulting in higher income for the player.
My recommendation for the majority of players is to choose Ironcap Arquebusiers in their daily regular battles where using higher tier units is not effective in terms of cost versus income point of view.
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