Eridan

Eridan the Ranger is a hero in Kingdom Rush: Origins. Eridan was the first hero to be revealed in a short pre-release trailer. As the first hero, he starts at level 1.
==Description==
Eridan comes from a long lineage of magic wielders. He was outcasted by his eldest brother Arivan, for embracing the hard life of a ranger. Despite that, he became a legend for his outstanding archery and fencing skills. His Twin Blades ended many enemy incursions and numerous hordes of ravaging monsters have fell to his Rain of Arrows. Some whisper that his gallardy has impressed a brave elven princess.
Eridan is the first free hero available to players. He starts out at Level 1, and is unlocked on the fourth wave of Gray Ravens. He has a fast rate of fire and deals decent melee damage. Eridan is a good hero choice, because not only does he deal huge amounts of damage with his bow, but his melee damage, fully upgraded, can destroy most enemies in a matter of seconds. Not only that, but his Nimble Fencer upgrade can make him very difficult to kill, along with Medium armor.
==Lore==
Much was said in the past about Eridan and Alleria. Some said they were siblings, others, they were lovers. The truth is, that this is a story about secrets and missed opportunities. 
Eridan and Alleria did not grow up together; she was a princess, daughter of the mighty Elven king, while he was destined to be a magic wielder, like his parents and brother before him.
He visited the Elven castle often, as he was the apprentice of one of the court's wizards, and it was during one of the practices when he first saw the young princess Alleria and hopelessly fell in love with her.
He thought that a princess would never look twice at an apprentice, so he kept his feelings for himself and decided to become a hero to win her affection, so he abandoned magic and embraced the hard life of a ranger. 
He soon became a legend for his outstanding archery and fencing skills. His Twin Blades ended many enemy incursions and numerous hordes of ravaging monsters felled to his Rain of Arrows.
When the Twilight elves attacked the elven kingdom, he fought his way to Alleria's side, not only because he had vouched to protect the royal family but because his heart longed to see her. Even knowing she had to travel far away for her safety, he fulfilled his duties without hesitation and watched her disappear in the horizon, not knowing if and when she was going to be able to return.
Alleria remained as the ambassador for the Elves in the foreign lands of Linirea (it's rumored that she fell in love with a human who was later killed on the battlefield) and Eridan as the protector of the elven realm. Truth be told, he always wondered what could have happened if he had mustered the courage to open his heart to her.
==Skills==
 ARROW VOLLEY (active, 10 seconds) (2/2/2 hero points):
: Shoots a 3/6/9 arrow volley in quick succession, targeting enemies in range.
 PORCUPINE (passive) (1/1/1 hero points):
: Deals 1/2/3 bonus damage up to a maximum of 3/6/9 for each consecutive arrow on the same target.
 NIMBLE FENCER (passive) (1/2/3 hero points):
: Gives Eridan a 10%/30%/60% chance of dodging and countering melee attacks for 20-40 damage.
: (It is bugged on iOS in that it gives him only 10%/20%/30% chance.)
 DOUBLE STRIKE (active, 12 seconds) (2/2/2 hero points):
: Executes a twin-bladed special attack, dealing 40-80 / 70-140 / 100-200 damage.
===Hero Spell===
 ARROW STORM (active, 40 seconds) (4/5/6 hero points):
: Blankets a wide area with a volley of 14/17/21/25* arrows, each dealing 24/31/42/60* True Damage.
: (*: The description on iOS is incorrect at level 3. The actual damage and the number of arrows are listed above.)
==Stats==
Level	HP 	Heal Rate	Melee & Ranged Damage (1.0s)	Armor 	Respawn
1 	220	20 	8-12 	Low (10%) 	15s
2 	240	25 	9-13 	Low (15%) 	15s
3 	260	30 	10-16 	Low (20%) 	15s
4 	280	35 	10-16 	Low (25%) 	15s
5 	300	40 	11-17 	Low (30%) 	15s
6 	320	45 	12-18 	Medium (35%)	15s
7 	340	50 	13-19 	Medium (40%)	15s
8 	360	55 	14-20 	Medium (45%)	15s
9 	380	60 	14-22 	Medium (50%)	15s
10 	400	65 	15-23 	Medium (55%)	15s
==Tips and Tricks==
Eridan is a physical hero which excels at both melee and ranged combat, and works best on an isolated target. His main focus is crowd control, taking down large groups of low-health minions. His quick basic attacks are good for taking down groups of weaker, unarmored enemies, such as gnolls, very efficiently, making him a great hero in most situations. Where Eridan really shines are his diverse skills, which can help him excel at both melee and ranged combat. A player with proper micromanagement and tracking their cooldowns can alternate between ranged and melee combats allows him to utilize both Arrow Volley and Double Strike, to great effect.
* His ranged skills, Arrow Volley and Porcupine, are best suited for when he is sniping at enemies from behind a line of barracks, allowing him to hold a choke point well. Arrow Volley has a very quick cooldown and can deal superb damage to a strong foe, or many weaker ones. Porcupine helps him take down stronger enemies even faster by serving as a nice damage amplification on the target.
* Eridan's melee skills, on the other hand, allow him to hold his own against powerful foes that lack an area attack, such as the Ettin. Nimble Fencer should be upgraded fully as soon as possible, since a 60% chance of dodging and countering attacks is useful against all types of foes. Double Strike should be upgraded if you plan to have Eridan face high-HP foes such as the Ettin.
** Eridan should not be sent against an enemy with area damage, such as a Twilight Golem or a Bandersnatch, as his Nimble Fencer upgrade is useless against area attacks.
Regardless of whether the player prioritizes Eridan's melee or ranged skills, his Hero Spell, Arrow Storm, should be upgraded quickly because it is truly an amazing hero spell to have: on earlier levels in which hordes of weak enemies are often present, a fully upgraded Arrow Storm is almost like having a second Thunderbolt. Its wide AOE and short cooldown make it a very versatile skill.
=== Strengths ===
* Eridan is excellent at both melee and ranged combat, and is one of the few heroes that can do both equally well (provided of course, that all skills are fully upgraded). This means that he doesn't need a whole lot of micromanagement - he can simply be set up behind some barracks, but should be kept close enough that he can enter melee combat once in a while.
** If the player can afford to move him around a little, then he should be sent aggressively against the most powerful foes without an area attack, such that he can hold and damage them.
* His heal rate is amazing, meaning that he can be retreated and put back in as necessary. He also has a quick respawn, which is nice if he does happen to die.
=== Weaknesses ===
# Armored Enemies: Well-armored enemies, such as Twilight Avengers, can easily wade past him without taking much damage. He can still hold them with Nimble Fencer, but fails to deal much damage, since even his deadly Double Strike only deals physical damage.
#* Support from advanced Mages and Forest Keepers' Ancient Oak Spears can make up for this weakness.
#* Use of Thunderbolt when too many armored enemies are present to avoid them running over Eridan is also advised.
# Too many enemies: Eridan deals fairly little damage with his basic melee attacks, so he is prone to being overrun by hordes that force him into melee, disabling his ranged advantage.
#* He should be supported with soldiers so that enemies cannot run over him so easily, Forest Keepers' Eerie Gardener and Bladesingers' Blade Dance can both prevent enemies from overwhelming Eridan while support from Druids and other crowd control oriented towers, such as Wild Magus and Arcane Archers, can help thin out the enemy hordes.
==Range==
File:Eridan range.png|Eridan's range
* Scope: 430 in ranged, 135 in melee
==Quotes==
* "You have my bow."
* "We must move on."
* "For Aredhel!"
* "Selur Edihnori."
* (Death) "Keelah!"
==Trivia==
*"Selur Edihnori."
** "Ironhide Rules" in reverse. It is similar to the phrase Edih Nori spoken by Sha'tra.
* "You have my bow."
** A quote from the epic fantasy trilogy of the Rings. Spoken by the elf Legolas, who appears to be the inspiration for Eridan.
*"Keelah!"
** A common Quarian phrase, from the video game trilogy Mass Effect, meaning "By the home world." They wander the galaxy after being forced into exile by their own creations.
* Eridan's appearance suggest he was based on Legolas from The Lord of the Rings, or Eredan, a character in the video game The Lord of the Rings: War in the North.
* According to the developers, Eridan and Arivan are brothers, and sons of a sorceress and a druid. Arivan followed the family tradition of being a wizard, but Eridan became a ranger, becoming a bit of a black sheep in the process. As a result, the brothers do not get along well.
==Gallery==
Eridan Action1.PNG|Ready to fight
Eridan Action2.PNG|Arrows away
Eridan Action3.PNG|Swords come out to play
Eridan Action4.PNG|Ninja-like reflexes
Eridan Action5.PNG|SOK!
Eridan Action6.PNG|Blot out the sun!
Eridan in melee.gif|Eridan in melee
Eridan1.jpg|Eridan in the Origins intro
Category:Kingdom Rush: Origins
Category:Heroes
Category:Ranged Heroes
Category:Melee Heroes