Some buffs are better than others--clearly--but the most important thing is knowing that the buff functions with your units! If you know what kind of army you want at end-game, this list will help you look for the best characters to aid your army via their Command Skill. For example, if you are trying to build a Thur Warmonger army, then you are looking for Melee and Heavy Armor buffs. Dhib Swordsmen: Light Armor, Slashing, Melee. Et cetera. Once you know who you want, you can hit "i" (Intelligence) then click on the character to see where they are in the world. If you don't have this unlocked, open the Map ("M") then hit "World Map" then you can hover over every town looking for the NPC's that work for you. Disclaimer: This list is not exhaustive, unfortunately. Please feel free to add additions and corrections in the comments. [Also I see they've changed some of the skills in an unannounced update somewhere, but the general idea remains the same for each Hero.] Disclaimer 2: This list is about delineating the Unit CATEGORIES, not providing a detailed list of Unit buffs. Disclaimer 3: You will NOT be able to recruit all of these characters. They will join other factions and make it very difficult for you. 1) There is a mod in the workshop which lets you recruit faction leaders 2) There is a talent "Political Animal" that allows you to recruit hostiles P.S. Command Skills don't apply to Heroes, only the Squads. Command Skills by Unit Type ALL ALLIES Husnu - HP Zafeera - Low HP = Damage Tiqin - Poison Resist ARCANA Miaya - Magic Attack Najima - Magic Attack Threnody - Freeze Wakata - HP regen BEAST Lone Eagle - Physical Attack Sur - Damage Reduction Tasha - Reflect Damage Ursula - HP & Damage FORTIFIED ARMOR Galo Zahra - Knockdown = boost Ruha (I think)* - Damage vs Light and Medium HEAVY ARMOR Alaf Jahim - Damage reduction Galo Zahra - Knockdown = boost Makan - HP Regen Shirim - Magic Defense Fayiz - Damage reduction Mousa - Crit Mhan Hassan - Damage v Akhal Jibril - Stun HEAVY WEAPON Zina - Crit IMPALE WEAPON Zerur - Crit KNIGHT ARMOR Alaf Jahim - Damage reduction Galo Zahra - Knockdown = boost Ruha (I think)* - Damage vs Light and Medium LIGHT ARMOR Batu - HP Khaza - Bleed Kanaya - Evade = damage Mileena - Damage vs Heavy Nabiha - Damage to burned Nura - Knockdown = damage Raheel - Decrease Bleed Rebiyah - Light Armor LIGHT ARMOR MELEE Mucadin - Physical Attack Ruha - Damage vs Light and Medium Saqie - Chance to ambush LIGHT ARMOR RANGED Umara - Shield Zelisa - Evade Sharida - Knockdown = summon MACHINA Isa - Damage Reflection Makan - HP Regen Infan - Movement Speed MEDIUM ARMOR Behrouz - Defense Fayiz - Damage reduction Batu - HP Kanaya - Evade = damage Ruha - Damage vs Light and Medium Mhan Hassan - Damage v Akhal Raheel - Decrease Bleed MEDIUM ARMOR RANGED Dhaji - Confuse MELEE Amira Zahra - Magic defense Astrid - HP and Damage Reduction Bataru - Leech Emin - Chance to summon Bahar Goldie Kabir - Confusion Lut Jahim - Damage to stunned Omar - Increase damage when status effect Rabih Lukman - Magic Attack Talat Hassan - Ironstone Tua - Damage Yusuf - Cooldowns Janub - Damage vs Cavalry Esfir - Knockdown = Utar MONSTER Basit - Damage vs Light Sanjay - Leech Yaya - Damage reduction MOUNTED Bahat - Physical Damage Blackmane - Movement Speed Rabia - Physical Damage Vicuna - HP Amira Zahra - Magic defense Goldie Kabir - Confusion Rabih Lukman - Magic Attack PIERCE Toya - Damage vs Bleed RANGED Hartum - Mana Regen Ishtar - Magic Defense Mumtali Giddah - Slow Petra - Crit Yasmin Giddah - Damage vs Light & Cavalry Amira Zahra - Magic defense Goldie Kabir - Confusion Rabih Lukman - Magic Attack Fire Eye - Burn SLASH Princess Bellen - Attack Speed Rwal - Bewitch Toya - Damage vs Bleed Yousef - HP and Mana Regen SPECIAL Gizeh - Damage reduction Misod - Increase disables Riq - Mana Shoaib Hassan - HP Yousef - HP and Mana Regen SUMMON Aganazzar - Chance to debuff Hu'ud - Cooldown Takiya - Knockdown = boost Najima - Magic Attack WIZARD Assel - Crit Hina - Freeze Kunju - HP Lotus Kabir - Magic defense Muta'aliq - Max Health Hartum - Mana Regen Mumtali Giddah - Slow Yasmin Giddah - Damage vs Light & Cavalry * Ruha’s Command skill applies to “non-Heavy Armor” and I don’t know if Knight and Fortified are separate and distinct from “Heavy” or not. Even if I thought I knew, of course I have no idea whether it’s coded the way they wrote it. I WOULD LOVE HELP UPDATING THIS LIST here are some of the missing Heroes: ALI BANTU- UNKNOWN AMZAFA - UNKNOWN BADIS - UNKNOWN FADIA- UNKNOWN LAIK - UNKNOWN LATIF- UNKNOWN SHAHID- UNKNOWN SUMAYAH- UNKNOWN TAHARJ- UNKNOWN YAKUB- UNKNOWN General advice To recruit an NPC you need a relationship status of [20] Friendly, or better. --This gives you Command Skill Level 1. --[50] Dutiful gives you Command 2. --[100] Reverent gives Command 3. Start your game by adding the most convenient NPCs to your party, without respect to their abilities or Command buffs. --When you enter a town, ask "What can I do for you" of the NPC's in the Tavern. --You can save before doing so and reload until you get a quest you like. ("Save scumming.") --The quest may be enough to make them friendly; if not, give a Gift. --Recruit them once they are Friendly. --Tell them to leave when you find someone better [This doesn't make them angry.] --Take their equipment before expelling them! (Unless you are leading a faction and they are one of your leaders.) Then, play the game as normal using your random NPC's --Accumulate Gifts in your inventory --You can occasionally buy Gifts (Fleur sells them) --Take Charisma talents Of course you should upgrade your NPCs for ones with better abilities/utility whenever possible, but with respect to the NPCs with Command Skills: When you see one of the NPC's you really want (an end-game Character) in a Tavern, give them a Gift and ask if they have a quest for you. --This allows you to increase their friendliness rating as high as possible before recruiting them. --It can be harder/slower to increase Favor once the Hero is in your party. Once you have the NPC you want at [50] (or higher) (or 46 or 48), Recruit them. --Immediately go into their dialogue menu and choose "Command Skill", they will raise it to 2 for you. NOTES Once you have the Command Skill at 2 [50] or 3 [100] it will not be lost if the relationship status falls. If you have NPC's that you are recruiting because of their Skill Trees (rather than their Command), hire them as soon as possible! You want full control over their Skill Points and skill trees. (Or else you will be wishing for more Wisdom crystals, which you get by going to the two Libraries in Zagros once a month.) ALWAYS SAVE before opening a Party event! This gives you the option to save scum to achieve the best results. --If all results are bad, you can reload, then hit X to close/skip the event, it will go away with no effect. --Always abuse the Characters whose Command skills are not applicable to your units and protect the Favor of the important ones. (Unless their Command Skill is already at 3, in which case abuse them, too!) If you REALLY want to cheat during a Party Event, you can go to a town, save carefully, view the results, reload the save, then kick out everyone in the party who has a negative response. After resolving the event, go to the Tavern and Recruit them again! Additional advice Random Tips and Things I Wish I Knew From the Start This guide has a useful section: Not Everyone is Created Equally The list is very incomplete*, but it should give you an idea about what you are looking for in a good Character with respect to their Skill Trees (as opposed to Command). * And is very wrong that Threnody doesn't have enough active abilities! I might also mention that "Heal an ally" is mostly useless (regardless of whether they earned a (*) rating or not) -- don't bother with Healing unless it's AoE. Most heals and self-heals are inconsequential, a few hundred HP at the expensive of mana or using a damage skill. Better to let a Character die and revive while spamming attacks than waste time healing 5% of their HP. In general, avoid minor or modest Skill Tree buffs and heals that are not passive and waste time (and Mana!) in battle. In general. The one situation in which you benefit from targeted healing is if your Squad is composed of armies with small units, such as Rams and Ballistas and Special creatures.