Heroes

Heroes are a special type of unit in Iron Rage. They are not used up in combat, and do not have to be specifically deployed; rather, they appear on the battlefield at the beginning of combat and will automatically move towards the enemy spawn circle. For every enemy a hero kills, they gain an experience point, which allows them to level up and gain additional skill points.

In storyline missions, it is mandatory to include a hero in your lineup, and if the hero dies, then the battle is immediately lost. Other types of missions behave differently: in some missions (such as sector battles), bringing a hero is optional (although there's really no reason not to), and in some missions (such as expeditions), you can't bring a hero at all. In some types of missions (PvP and convoys), losing your hero does not mean that you immediately lose the battle.

Finally, normally, hero units will move automatically. However, in PvP and superiority battles, you can move the hero yourself -- just click on the hero and then the desired target.

Heroes can be trained at the Hall of Heroes to increase their abilities, using the skill points they gained from leveling up. At the Hall, you can also purchase skins and equipment. (Unlike regular equipment, hero equipment is a permanent upgrade, but can only be bought with gold.) For details on the specific skin and equipment upgrades, see the individual hero pages. Heroes can also gain experience through training at the training grounds. Unlike normal units, heroes have both an evasion ability and armor, so they have five categories to be trained in.

At the beginning of the game, you start with Captain Walker as your only hero unit. Other heroes can be obtained as rewards from campaigns or in special events, purchased from special offers, or as rewards from PvP. Some heroes can also be obtained by accumulating 75 of their tokens, which can be found in legendary chests or (much more reliably) obtained by trading in convoy tokens at the quartermaster.

The official Iron Rage Facebook group has a post with hero information, including the stats of heroes at maximum level and some more details about their skills.

Check the Hero summary for a comparison of heroes at their maximum stats.

The list of heroes is as follows (in the order they appear in the Hall):

* Captain Walker
* Marshal Kragg
* Commander Grant
* Phantom Ranger
* Major Brick
* Grand Master
* Sledge
* Special Agent Rosenstein
* Flame
* Crimson Count
* Purifier
* Mortis Thorn
* Master Rinzler
* Karl Gustav
* Missalea Fiery
* Sergeant Kurt Hagen
* Possessed Grant
* Tarrus Valentine
* Disowned one
* Klausbot
* Constable Preston
* Witold Hofmann
* The First One
* Colonel Elsa Lightsteel
* Faceless
* John Fox
* Mergen Dordge
* Chancellor Doomerville
* Blitz the "Dust Rat"
* Dr. Cypher Krastinov
* Mona Rice
* Master Grave
* Hammerer Magnus
* Keeper
* Toradin Icegripper
* Lord Captain Castor
* Anna-Maria
* Conor
* Raymond Tully
* Typhus Ridley
* Jordan Hilen
* Trax "Crimson blade"
* Lord Vaylus
* Hermit Savage
* Thomas Forshtain
* Wolf Becker
* Esben Defender
* Lycassa
* Meyer Drossel
* Devulon
* Rhino Varentas
* Lang Warsard
* Sergeant Vogel
* Captain Stayer
* Call Sign "Spirit"
* Dave "Disaster" Stelinski
* Voiceless
* Apoc
* King Morgus
* Agent "Smoke"
* Tormentor
* Walker's walking machine
* Supreme Hierarch

Your journal has this to say about heroes:
*Some people consider heroes as role models that you want to follow even to the ends of the world. Commander Grant had organized an uprising and led people against the Crimson Dominion. Captain Walker had saved the lives of his brothers in arms and earned their loyalty and respect. Marshal Kragg who won hundreds of brilliant victories, adored by the entire officer corps. Others think that heroes are those people whose names are used to scare children. Brutal sadist and sociopath, national hero and favorite of the Supreme Chancellor - Crimson Dominion residents were scared to death by Purifier. Sledge who had organized a gang and robbed the Ardheim factory, has seized control of the Marauder wasteland and founded the Triad. Gangs were so scared of their ruthless leader that they had to fight together against imperial troops during the "Expulsion" operation.*

*They had to work hard to became heroes. Karl Gustav created the Resistance artillery from scratch. He doesn't use leadership qualities, pretentious speeches or management tools. This is a person who has created a name for himself which is will be forever included in textbooks, alongside with Master Rinzler, Mortis Thorn or Constable Preston.*

*Heroes create history. Some use actions and others use blood.*