Age of Wonders 4has a big focus on choice. From faction creation to character customization, and even decisions to make your hero cater to your tastes, the power of choice is there above all. The game goes an extra mile especially when it comes to heroes.
RELATED:Age Of Wonders 4: Complete Guide To Combat
Once every five levels, your hero will unlock one out of four Signature Skill slots. Depending on whichaffinity tree you invest your points into, you can pick the Signature Skill to fill it. Even though there are 18 Signature Skills to go through, there is no need to get overwhelmed. Here’s an essential ranking of the best Signature Skills in Age of Wonders 4.
10Demon Step – Chaos Affinity
There aren’t many great teleportation skills in Age of Wonders 4, but the Demon Step skill from theChaos Affinityis the best one to have. This teleport skill can be used to cover distances between your units and your targets within an instant.
However, aside from just teleporting you, it can also damage the units that are next to your now-teleported unit.
It all depends on the target’s hex and their positioning, but if they’re vulnerable to an attack when you use Demon Step, they will feel the pain. This skill is very useful as it has a brief cooldown of only two turns, so you can use it as many times as you want.
9Virulent Outbreak – Nature Affinity
The Nature Affinity is home to some of the most ‘war-crime’ tactics, and the Virulent Outbreak skill is a part of that focus. This amazing debuff skill is used to release a deadly poison gas that surrounds your enemies in a two-hex radius.
This skill is used to slow down the enemy units from attacking, but it also raises the chances of your enemy becoming poisoned and diseased up to 90 percent. It’s not the most honorable skill to have, but one that has an effect unlike any other.
8Reckless Rage – Chaos Affinity
This skill from the Chaos Affinity can only be used once per battle, but it does enough damage that you won’t need to use it in the same battle again anyways. It gives your units a +30 percent bonus on all melee damage for three turns.
It also makes the target vulnerable to damage and resistance by two. If you use it carefully and tactically, this signature skill can help youwin the battlewithin a mere instant.
Yep, the Reckless Rage is that powerful.
7Mass Rejuvenation – Nature Affinity
Support skills are massively underrated in Age of Wonders 4, and Mass Rejuvenation shows just how powerful they can be. Hailing from the Nature Affinity, this skill is used to support friendly units by providing them a temporary hit point boost.
RELATED:Age of Wonders 4: All Empire Affinities, Ranked
Moreover, it also provides bonus health regeneration, which can be a great crutch in tricky situations. It cannot be used when within an enemy Zone of Control, which is a problem, but it has a tiny cooldown of only three turns, so definitely add it to the list.
6Dark Ritual – Shadow Affinity
The Dark Ritual skill was created for one purpose, area damage. This is a specific area damage skill, which you can use to damage enemies in a one-hex radius.
This turns all of the dead units within that one hex radius into zombie units that are on your side.
This skill is best used whenyour herois either surrounded by enemies or surrounded by dead units and you just want extra firepower. It will be there to get you out of tricky situations.
Not to mention, it’s an incredibly easy skill to use, with only a two-turn cool down.
5Restoration – Order Affinity
When diplomacy doesn’t work, and neither does combat, you are going to fall to support skills. Restoration is by far the highest tier among them all, and this skill’s main purpose is to heal a friendly unit and restore 40 hit points temporarily.
Moreover, it can dispel and clear up your units of any negative status effects, which is always a bonus when battling literally anything in Age of Wonders 4. However, the most powerful thing about it is that it can revive a dead-friendly unit with 60 percent of its total hit points.
It’s simply overpowered.
4Assassinate – Chaos Affinity
Assassinate is a damage skill from the Chaos Affinity, and it is by far one of the deadliest skills in the whole game. This skill provides a slight chance of instantly killing an injured target unit.
It depends a lot on the overall hit points of the target, but if they’re low enough, and if you’re pairing this skill with Reckless Rage, it’s an instant kill.
RELATED:Age of Wonders 4: Best Units In The Game
The best thing about this skill is that it has a cooldown of only two turns. The skill can be used to finish off those wounded units that you don’t want to spend any more resources on, and it’s a viable skill in almost every battle due to this.
3Draining Blade – Shadow Affinity
The Draining Blade skill if you’re using a high-damage hero who specializes in melee attacks. It deals a ton of damage to the enemy and heals you the exact amount of the damage you’re dealing, making it an especially potentskill for beginners.
This can work wonders in a few specific scenarios, but it’s a solid skill to have in general. Vampirism in a game like Age of Wonders 4 can be a powerful aid.
However, if your hero is in low health, you can use this skill to take away their health and add it to yours. There’s also only a three-turn cooldown, so it’s always viable.
2Frostfire Detonation – Materium Affinity
Frostfire Detonation is an area of effect damage skill, and it’s one of the most potent AoE attacks skills in the whole game. Not only does it deal damage to a specific target unit, but it also transfers 30 percent of that damage to all the units in a two-hex radius of that target.
You’ll need quite a lot ofinvestment into the Materium Affinityto get this, but it’s well worth it.
A great way to use it is to soften up those enemy units with it, before going in with your hero and destroying them to bits. The best thing about a skill as powerful as Frostfire Detonation is that it only has a four-turn cooldown.
There’s only one caveat, just like Mass Rejuvenation, it cannot be used in an enemy Zone of Control.
Summon Undead is the best summoning skill in Age of Wonders 4 by a long margin. Hailing from the Shadow Affinity, if you’re into battles, this one is going to be a great skill to have in your pocket.
This skill summons three random Tier One UndeadUnits that are actually great.
This skill can be very useful in the heat of battle, those 3 undead units might just be enough to make a difference if you’re stuck in a sour situation. This skill can only be used once per battle, and it cannot be used when within an enemy Zone of Control.
