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Armor is a key component to combat inAge Of Darkness: Final Stand. While not every unit has armor, and even some Heroes go without it, it makes an enormous difference when it’s in play. Having armored units on your side goes a long way toward stemming the tide of the Nightmare Swarm, and dealing with armored foes effectively is critical if you want to have any hope of survival.
Here, we’ll detail what armor does and doesn’t do, as well as how the Armor Shred stat should be used to impact your strategy.
How Does Armor Work In Age Of Darkness: Final Stand?
Some units and buildings have anArmor statthat protects them from damage. You can easily tell if a unit is armored by thegray shield icon next to its health bar.Lightly-armored units typically have around 10-20 Armor, while more elite units can have around 50. True heavyweights like the Sentinel or the Nightmare Crusher have Armor ratings in the hundreds.
The most important thing to know about armor is thatit doesn’t matter how high the number is; as long as it’s above zero, the unit gets the full effect of its protection.
A unit with any amount of armor at alltakes 70 percent less damage from all sources.That’s a huge reduction, so unless you’re able to remove an enemy’s armor quickly and efficiently, taking them down will be much more difficult. In fact, when multiple armored enemies are grouped together during a Death Night or at a Point Of Interest, lacking any Armor Shred likely means you’re doomed to failure.
What Is Armor Shred?
Dealing with armor requires units with theArmor Shredstat, indicated by ashield with a slash through itin their attributes. Whenever a unit attacks an armored enemy, the target’s Armor isreduced by an amount equal to the attacker’s Shred.As stated above, you need toreduce the target’s Armor to zeroin order to have any tangible effect.
Shred doesn’t impact damage done to HP, nor does an attack’s base damage affect Armor. The two are completely separate.
You can see the exact status of a friendly or enemy’s armor bychecking their portrait when they’re highlighted;their remaining Armor Points are listed right above their HP. At a glance, you can tell the remaining Armor of any units onscreen bylooking at the grey shield next to their health bar; if it’s cracked, their armor is half gone, and if it’s blacked out, then their armor is completely destroyed.
How To Recover Lost Armor
Unlike HP,Armor doesn’t regenerate outside of combat.If your armored units have their protection broken (which is likely since most non-Crawler Nightmares have at least a little bit of Shred),move them within the radius of one of the following buildingsto have it repaired:
Since these structures are expensive to build and maintain, it’s a good idea to build them near natural choke points; that way, they canrepair your units' armor during siegesand extend your overall survivability without having to fall back to the Keep.
Tips For Dealing With Armored Enemies
The best units for dealing with armored foes areArbalests, Impalers, and Hunters. They have a high Shred and can attack from range, offering them relative safety behind the front lines. Tryassigning your elite ranged units to their own hotkeyso that you may command them tofocus fire on Crushers and Spitterswhen they appear. Once their armor is removed, move the rest of the army in to finish them off.
Towersboost the Armor Shred of ranged units garrisoned within them. Ballista Towers are better overall in the late game, but this bonus is helpful for clearing the Axemen and Spearmen that usually lead Crawler patrols between the first few Death Nights.
