Sky Rider
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| Unit Type | |
 Air-to-air unit. Critical hit when target is not adjacent to its own allied sky rider. Hex deals 10% damage to all unit types. | |
| Information | |
| Recruited at Tower | |
| Cost: |  800
|
| Movement: | 7 
|
| Range: | 1 |
| Sight: | 4 |
| Effective: |  |
| Vulnerable: |    |
| Capture: | No |
Sky Riders are an anti-air air unit type. They're available to recruit from a Tower for 800 gold.
They cannot capture structures but are extremely effective against all other air unit types.
Sky Rider Units[edit]
| Unit Name | Faction | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Witch | Cherrystone Kingdom | Both male and female Witches are trained deep within the Sage Woods. There, they learn to commune with the spirits of the wood, friendly and sleepy little creatures connected to the power of the land. It is through their interactions with these creatures that Witches learn to harness some of that power. Each Witch takes a tiny spirit, invisible to the untrained eye, as their companion, often storing it in a warm pocket amongst their robes. Witches fight to protect their people and the land they hold dear, and only use martial spells in times of war.[1] |
 |
Wraith | Felheim Legion | It is born of the undead remnants of a necromancer. Though the Wraith can no longer control its necrotic powers, its bones burn with the grim magic it absorbed in life. In battle, the Wraith reaches out with all its malice and willpower, and sends stored magic soaring in a rushing bolt to strike its foes. Less forceful though perhaps more insidious, are its Hexes. These miasmic spells are given substance by the Wraith's deep-seated spite.[1] |
 |
Stormowl | Heavensong Empire | Though they wield smaller and less powerful lightning rods than their Thunderbear counterparts, their training is similar and just as rigorous. The Stormowls are a new addition to Heavensong's forces, with flying staves of Prince Koji's own design, first built just two short years ago. When in flight, they are able to harness the natural atmospheric electricity that surrounds us to force a low-level negative charge through the air. This 'Hex' is nebulous, and disperses over a wide area. The Stormowl wears the mask of its avian namesake as a mark of its balance in all things.[1] |
 |
Swooper | Floran Tribes | Floran Swoopers are students of the Shaman, and ingest the enchanted red flowers the Shaman grow in order to gain their aerial abilities. Swoopers are capable of both flight and lightning sorcerer, a combination of skills that allows them to dominate the air. Each Swooper carries a pouch of the Shamanic red flowers' powdered roots, which they can disperse over surrounding enemies to cause them minor harm — the Floran version of a 'Hex.' Swoopers are strangely serene in comparison to other Floran, perhaps as a side effect of consuming these flowers.[1] |
Critical Hit[edit]
A Sky Rider scores a critical hit whenever it attacks another unit that is not adjacent to its own, allied Sky Rider.
This critical hit has a damage modifier of ×2, which is higher than the standard ×1.5. Consequently having your own Sky Riders escort your other air units can make a huge difference in their survivability.
Hex[edit]
The Sky Rider can perform a special action called a Hex. A Hex does 10% damage to all enemy units within a 4-tile radius of the Sky Rider. Using this action costs 300 gold.
Although this single action is more expensive than several units, it can be a powerful tool. Outside of some Commander grooves, this is the only means a single unit can damage several enemy units at once. Hex can also do considerable damage to units which are otherwise difficult to safely and effectively attack, such as Commanders and Giants, and the Witch's own health doesn't mitigate the damage dealt.
Hex is particularly useful on the Sky Rider as opposed to other units, as it can otherwise not damage land or water units. In turn, these units often cannot retaliate because the Sky Rider is an air unit, making it untouchable by most land and water units even after flying deep for a wide-sweeping Hex that weakens a huge mob of enemy forces.
Strategy[edit]
| “ | “The Sky Rider excels at traveling great distances, but is only able to attack other flying units. The presence of an allied Sky Rider can also be used to lower the damage of enemy Sky Riders.” |
| — Codex |
As an air unit which can only attack other air units, the Sky Rider serves a very specific role. Its high mobility and unusual critical make it a very strong counterplay to all other air units, as it not only deals immense damage to them but can also help reduce the damage taken from enemy Sky Riders.
Most notably, a Sky Rider can be the single greatest counter to any Dragon, which is the most expensive and often considered[citation needed] most powerful unit in the game. Of the few units which can even attack a Dragon at all, the Sky Rider is one of only two which cannot be attacked or counterattacked by a Dragon itself. Furthermore, a Sky Rider can deal devastating damage thanks to its critical hit. If the Dragon is not escorted by its own Sky Rider, it will take as much as 80% damage from one attack.
Like any air unit, the Sky Rider cannot be attacked by most other units. Thus even when there are no other air units to attack, it can be useful by blocking the movement of land units like Giants or Knights. It can even damage such units indirectly using its Hex. Of the few units which can attack a Sky Rider, however, most will heavily damage this unit with a single hit. When counterattacking, this unit only comes out favorably against the Aeronaut—or, potentially another Sky Rider if this unit is in a defensive formation and the attacking Sky Rider is not.
Damage Matrix[edit]
- See also: Damage Matrix
| Villager | Soldier | Spearman | Dog | Mage | Archer | Giant | Cavalry | Wagon | Ballista | Trebuchet | Balloon | Aeronaut | Sky Rider | Dragon | Barge | Turtle | Harpoon | Warship | Amphibian | Commander | Building | Stronghold | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attacks | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 55 110 |
65 130 |
40 80 |
40 80 |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Defends | -- | -- | -- | -- | 135 202 |
25 34 |
-- | -- | -- | 100 150 |
-- | -- | 35 44 |
40 80 |
-- | -- | -- | 85 128 |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Trivia[edit]
- Unlike most other units, a Sky Rider is likely to score a critical hit much more often than not.
- During Wargroove's development, this unit had a different means of getting a critical hit. It would instead score a crit if there were three or more allied Sky Riders on the map, seemingly as a reference to a witch's coven. Some of the thought behind this idea has been preserved, as the current effect still favors having more allied Sky Riders in play.
