Conqueror’s Blade Best Starter Units 2020

Conqueror’s Blade has a unique unit unlocking system that utilizes a currency called “Honour”. Beyond the green and blue units, it can take quite a bit of time for the casual player to unlock the next set of troops. Unfortunately, many new players end up wasting a ton of time unlocking units that are not very useful. This guide will go over the best units that a beginner player should dedicate time to unlocking.

Read our review here for more information on Conqueror’s Blade.

Skip down to the last section of the guide for the best path to unlocking these beginner units.

1. Pike Militia (Honour)

Pike militia should be the first unit you spend Honour to unlock. This unit earns its place as one of the best starters by being one of the most useful units at every stage of the game. When you are just starting out, it provides good damage against soft targets and is a deadly combo when braced behind a shieldwall. Later on, once you have maxed it down the middle veterancy line, it is able to stun and has high enough armour penetration to kill mid-late game units. Pike militia are also a very cost-effective unit that many players end up using to fill their warband whenever they have some extra space.

Pike Militia Veterancy: The veterancy for this unit should be the middle line without question. It provides increased damage/penetration, block formation for certain situations, stun when braced, and the final perk that enables hitting 1 additional unit per attack.

The downside to Pike Militia is that it is very vulnerable to archers and other ranged units. Always stack it right behind a shieldwall so that the wall protects the unit. Also keep in mind that it is still a green unit and will not have nearly the same amount of health/armour as the late game pike units.

2. Spear Sergeant (Honour)

Spear Sergeant is the purple shield unit in the Chivalry tree. It is one of the easiest purple units to obtain and has an amazing mix of damage and tankiness. A beginner player should unlock this unit early on because it enables you to complete any PvE activity in the game. Expedition 3 is easily completed using the Spear Sergeant and even Hard Rebel Camps can be done using only this unit. In PvP it is also a respectable unit that will stay relevant in the late game.

Spear Sergeant Veterancy: The most common Spear Sergeant veterancy line is bottom until you get the stun on brace and then putting the remaining points into the top line. The reason behind this is that the Spear Sergeant still crumbles against late game cavalry charges, and the damage reduction/increased damage is not as beneficial since they will die very quickly anyways.

There really is no downside to the Spear Sergeant. The only thing to keep in mind is that later on it will not be as tanky as the Imperial Shield Guard and so some players end up using that unit instead for tanking purposes. However, it has great mobility and damage especially when used in “Cover Commander” formation and can be used to quickly rotate to different locations. It ends up becoming a matter of preference for each individual’s playstyle.

3. Namkhan Archers (Season 2)

Namkhan Archers are the Season 2 archer unit. To unlock them, you will have to hit F5, go to Unit Challenges, and switch to Season 2. There is a bit of a grind since you will have to complete every challenge, but this unit is definitely worth it. They have good damage and a bleed that builds up considerably when stacked. In Conqueror’s Blade, a bleed effect will stop the hero from manually healing, which means that once you get enough stacks on a hero or unit they are effectively dead. This is one of the best starter units that racks up kills and makes grinding for experience much easier. The damage from the arrows is good enough to kill light-medium armour units, and the bleed allows it to take out the higher armour units.

Namkhan Archers Veterancy: The veterancy line for this unit is the top line all the way until the end. This picks up all of the relevant perks that increase bleed stacks and total bleed damage. The end result is a unit that is able to take out high value targets and force heroes to back out before accumulating too many bleed stacks.

Namkhan archers are also slightly squishy and have shorter range compared to other end game archers. 1-2 volleys from prefecture archers and the unit can effectively be wiped out. Get into a good habit of moving these units around and ensuring that other archers do not have a clear line of sight towards them. Also keep in mind that you can position this unit further back behind a house and manually select an are for them to fire at. Unfortunately, sometimes the arrows end up all hitting the house, but with practice you will learn the proper angles.

4. Condotierri Guards (Season 3)

Condo guards are a Season 3 sword unit that has excellent charge damage, ability to knock back units, and decent tankiness. Like with Namkhan Archers, you will have to switch to Season 3 to unlock this unit. This is the best sword and shield unit that a beginner player should unlock. It has many uses such as flanking enemy shield walls or directly pushing the site. The Shock Attack ability gives Condo an additional shield bash-like attack that does a small knockback on the opponent which allows it to further damage enemy units.

Condotierri Guards Veterancy: Either one of the veterancy lines would be good depending on your personal preference and playstyle. Reducing cooldowns in general will be suitable for whether you like to charge more or brawl more. Also be aware that there may or may not be changes to this unit in the future since they are currently extremely powerful and might end up getting nerfed by the time you read this guide.

The downside to this unit is that it bashes its shield so damn loud that your opponent will hear your sneaky flank a mile away. Jokes aside, there really isn’t much of a downside to this unit. It does exactly what you would want a sword and shield unit to do and the stats are all very good.

5. Imperial Spear Guard (Free Unlock Token)

Once you finish all of the Season 4 “Wages of War” challenges in the top right section, the game will give you an item called “Wealth of Anadolou” that allows you to recruit one of the purple units. I heavily recommend you spending that on unlocking Imperial Spear Guards as a beginner. The reason behind this is that the units leading up to the Imperial Spear Guard are fairly weak and there really is no reason to level those units up. It is also unlikely that a new player will be spending any honour on the extra upgrade nodes and so not unlocking previous units will have no impact.

Imperial Spear Guard Veterancy: The bottome veterancy line is much better than the top line if you use the shield wall (which you should be). On top of increasing damage and increasing defence (final perk increases all defence by 20%), the bottom line also prevents stunning from ordinary attacks, gives the units shield bash (with possible knock down), and a heal. The top line is more geared towards players that like to move with the unit, but you definitely should not be doing that with Imp Spears.

Imperial Spear Guards are one of the most important late game units. They are an extremely tanky shield unit that is very commonly used in Territory Wars and any sort of siege setting. The large shields and thick armour protect it from ranged fire, and the block on the unit can sustain quite a bit of melee damage before breaking. When this unit is used in conjunction with a pike unit, it can very effectively hold down any point.

The downside to this unit is that it is extremely slow moving. Rotating to a different site can take a very long time and they will be vulnerable to enemy ranged or cavalry attack.

6. Imperial Pike Guards (Honour)

Imperial Pike Guards are a heavily armoured pike unit that can deal a lot of damage to any unit (shielded or otherwise). This unit is particularly known for its “Advance” ability where it essentially turns into a walking braced pike unit. It is very effective at eliminating any unit in front of it – including shield walls. It is for this reason that it is also commonly used as a set of pikes behind a shield wall to prevent enemy advance. They are one of the best starter units to aim for because of its usefulness in both Sieges and Territory Wars.

Imperial Pike Guards Veterancy: The veterancy line for this unit should be the the top line so that it cannot be CC’d while advancing and has increased damage reduction/damage while advancing. The goal is to improve this unit’s ability to eliminate any units in its path and prevent it from being interrupted while doing so. It is particularly useful at clearing out enemy units on the point or the entrance (both on offence and defence) since it covers quite a large area.

The downside to this unit is that despite the armour, it is still very vulnerable to attack from the sides or from ranged units. It should always be used alongside ally units, otherwise it will die fairly quickly. Typically you would use the “Advance” ability and then brace once you are right in front of the enemy.

7. Fortebraccio Pikemen (Season 3)

For new players, getting the fort pikes can be a long grind and so definitely feel free to finish up the other units on this list first. But once you do that, I would definitely recommend coming back for these units. Conqueror’s Blade is a team game that requires a mix of units that each fulfill a role in the team. Without a doubt, the Fortebraccio Pikes are the absolute best unit to hold down an entrance. The damage it does is ridiculous and it is capable of deleting enemy heroes if they even move slightly into its way. You would typically place it adjacent to the opening so that only the end of the pikes stick out into the doorway – this prevents ranged units from hitting your units while still preventing easy entry.

Fortebraccio Pikemen Veterancy: Top veterancy line is much better for braced pikes. Other than increased damage/penetration, the most important perk is the final one that increases number of enemies hit with one attack by 1. For a braced unit that is protecting the point or entrance, increasing the number of units it can hit at once will substantially improve how well it can hold the point.

The downside to this unit is that it is slow moving, is fairly weak when unbraced, and is extremely vulnerable to flanking/ranged. It is important to place it behind a shield wall whenever possible and to avoid placing it in the open where it can easily be flanked. When using them properly, you can hit “X – hold ground” slightly in front of the enemy and brace the unit. This allows the long pikes to hit the enemy and mow their entire unit down. Just be careful regarding your timing so that the enemy units don’t end up already at your pikes.

8. Janissaries (Season 4)

Janissaries have excellent piercing penetration, piercing damage, range, and rate of fire once you level them up. The “Patient Snipers” buff of up to 15% increased damage is also nice. However, there are some strange issues with aiming vertically and so they can really only be used against enemies at the same elevation. The “Slug Shot” is also very useful in stopping charges since every bullet has a chance to be a mini-stun. The fact that it is a Season 4 unit is also great since you can do the “Wages of War” challenges at the same time.

Janissaries Veterancy: It is a bit of a tossup due to the ambiguity of what “Increases chances of inflicting Dazed by 10%” actually means. I personally went top line since every single one of the upgrades would be relevant and I don’t particularly care for 3 points going towards movement speed in the bottom line. Adding 2 additional soldiers to an 18 person unit is also a really nice upgrade as well.

Like mentioned above, the biggest issue with this unit is that it sometimes won’t hit units at other elevations. There is also a matter of efficiency since it takes some time for the unit to set up the stand in order to shoot, and same thing for when it has to pack up and move. This might affect you if you have problems with positioning, but if it is left in place it does some really great damage.

Special Mention: Serfs (5x Level 7 for Gathering)

Serfs are not very useful for anything other than gathering. However, they provide the best gathering ability out of all of the units in the game. Once you have progressed to a point where you would like to gather materials instead of buying off the market, having a full set of Serfs will be very useful. Unfortunately, you can only level them up one at a time in each battle and so it is best to start this process very early on in the game. If you do not care about crafting at all, then feel free to ignore this part of the guide.

Serfs Veterancy: The veterancy for this unit will be the bottom line until you hit the 20% increase in gathering. Once you have that, start leveling up the next Serf. Once you have all 5 Serfs levelled up, your gathering in the open world will be much, much more profitable. Although I tell you to level up 5 Serf units, I would recommend bringing one actual unit to protect your warband.

Season 4 Units Discussion

Although the Azaps sounds really good on paper, in practice it is much harder to use to its full potential. It is currently outclassed by the Condotierri Guards and can maybe go even with them if the abilities are activated appropriately. Once you take into account the fact that Condo Guards are 170 leadership and Azaps are 230, the extra 60 leadership could be much better used elsewhere. It can still be useful at specific parts of the game, but definitely would not recommend a beginner picking these units up until later on.

Silahdars have not yet been released on the NA version of Conqueror’s Blade and so we don’t know how useful they are yet. However, the feedback from the Frontier version of the game seems to suggest that they are in need of a buff. We will have to wait and see where it fits into the game once it comes to our servers.

Path for Unlocking Beginner Units

Start off by unlocking Pike Militia right away and switching to Season 2 so that you are working on the Namkhan Archer Challenges.

Unlock the Spear Sergeants as soon as you have enough Honour to do so.

Once you are done Namkhan Archers, switch to Season 3 and unlock the Condotierri Guards. Move on to Season 4 before unlocking Fortebraccio since it will take quite a bit more time.

Season 4 unit priority will be Janissaries and completing as much of the “Wages of War” challenges as you can. The honour that you have saved up during this time should be spent on working towards Imperial Pike Guards. Keep working at Season 4 units until you fully finish “Wages of War” and use the final token on Imperial Spear Guards.

Finally, move back to Season 3 and unlock Fortebraccio Pikemen.

If you are interested in gathering/crafting later on in the game, start leveling up Serfs right at the very beginning. Even if you don’t end up using them, having them in the warband will still give them some EXP.

Conclusion

Many of the other units can definitely be very useful in the game, but these are the ones that form the current meta. Following this guide will help optimize your path to successfully playing against veterans and avoid wasting honour on useless units.

For more beginner guides, see our list of Conqueror’s Blade Top 12 Beginner Tips.