Backbiter
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en ]


Daring back-line raiders, backbiters tend to prefer the high-risk high-reward thrill of taking out valuable targets over the boring trudge of the shield-wall. They don't have the highest of lifespans, but many archer-and even many mighty varl-have learned the hard way the price of ignoring a backbiter: armor in tatters and a bleeding gut-wound.

Abilities

  • Shield Wall (passive) (edit): When a Raider is adjacent to one or more allies, he both gives and receives a +1 Armor bonus. This bonus increases with each adjacent unit, and can be received from other Raiders at the same time.

    Whenever Shield Wall protects a unit, the damage number on Armor is colored in red to warn attackers. Similarly, the Strength damage number will be red when the potential damage is reduced by Shield Wall (but not when the probability of doing 1 damage is reduced). A unit's Armor cannot be reduced below the total Shield Wall bonus.

Example 1. With three Raiders in a straight line, the central one gets +4 Armor (from two adjacencies) and the others each get +2.
Example 2. A unit with its Armor reduced to zero enters a Shield Wall between two ally raiders, thus receiving a +2 Armor bonus (or +4 if its a Raider). All further Armor-Break attacks on this unit are meaningless yielding zero Armor damage.

  • Run Through (edit): The Backbiter targets a unit (ally or enemy) along a straight line from where he's standing, provided that the tile just beyond it is unoccupied. He firstly Runs Through that unit and any other in the path (ally or enemy), dealing 2 Armor damage to each. Then, upon landing in the tile beyond the target, the Backbiter makes a standard Strength attack against the target.

    The Run Through is especially useful for slicing through compact enemy lines and/or getting to protected units (typically archers). A Skystriker's Rain of Arrows interrupts the Run Through, at any of the tiles involved (either along the path or at the landing one). Obstacles and hazards, e.g. the posts on the Beach or the burning coals on the Great-Hall, can be along the path.

    At Rank-{1,2,3}, the range — from Backbiter to target — is {2,3,4} tiles, respectively.

Example. A Siege Archer (at 7-Strength and 7-Armor) is delivering deadly blows lurking behind a Shieldbanger. A Rank-2 Backbiter (at 9-Strength) runs up against the Shieldbanger, at a three-tile distance in a straight line from the Siege Archer. His Rank-2 Run Through targeting the archer (there's nobody behind her) will deliver 2 Armor damage to the Shieldbanger and then another 2 to the Siege Archer. Upon landing behind her, he'll deal her another 4 Strength Damage (=9-[7-2]). The Backbiter will, of course, receive 1 Armor damage due to the Shieldbanger's Return the Favor passive.

Backbiter_RunThrough_Rank1.png
A Backbiter preparing for a Rank-1 Run Through.

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