Description
The Illusionist is a master of tricks and traps. It is capable of faking attacks, defenses and even dragons (which causes Terror). Not only this, but it also has the ability to spread psychological status afflictions such as Fear and Awe too. Lastly, the Illusionist can also turn enemies into harmless critters.
Stats and Skills
The attribute changes you get by choosing this class:
| Class | Strength | Dexterity | Intelligence | Charisma |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illusionist | -2 | +1 | +2 | -1 |
The abilities you get by choosing this class:
| Level 1 (Initial Skills) | Level 5 | Level 15 | Level 25 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Illusion (+3) Ritual |
Leadership | Magic Resistance | Arcane Magic |
Strategy
Overall
On paper, the Illusionist should be a very potent choice, capable of countering the meta game and playing lethal tricks and transmutations. Unfortunately, this isn't really the case as the Illusionist really struggles to pull its weight against multiple opponents and players as well as its difficulty in finding a good race partner. Despite these issues, the Illusionist is brimming with potential, particularly in player vs player situations.
Races
The Illusionist doesn't really have much combo potential with any race in the game except the Fey and Minotaurs. The former race has far better options in Merchant style classes, so this leaves the Minotaurs. Many of the support spells can be useful for a hero which likes venturing out onto the battlefield or has a high Charisma stat. Awe is probably the most anti-metagame spell available in the game, and can make any Illusionist choice favorable by itself should the hero have a large enough command radius (otherwise the hero could be pelted by the missile attacks and risks dying).
The Minotaur combo however, is all about its love of the Mutate spell. This combo is particularly powerful as it turns most of the enemy's units into critters, which the Minotaurs can then eat to regain HP and cure themselves of status afflictions. However, it must be noted that the Mutate spell can't be used very frequently due to its 50 mana cost (at least until mana acceleration research has been completed). Some effectiveness can be gained with the Dark Dwarves and Undead, though whether the Illusion Magic spells are enough to go on is debatable. The summoned Shadows and Transformed units can be effected by various researches from either race. It is important to note however, that is is likely the hero will require a large Command Radius to use many of the debuff spells otherwise the Illusionist is putting itself at great danger (partiularly from missile units).
Counters
- Illusionists can be defeated almost single-handedly by any Mechanical or even Undead units. Any unit with a high resistance can also attack the Illusionist unhindered.
- The Illusionist depends upon pulling its weight with its tricks and affliction spells. Whilst very effective against certin tactics such as missle unit spam, it can also be very ineffective against certain units and/or races such as the Dark Dwarves. If the Illusionist can't pull its weight with its tricks and traps alone by comparison to the enemy hero's skills, they will eventually be defeated.