Unit

A **Unit** is a formation of soldiers or creatures that the player can recruit to engage enemy armies and conquer settlements. Units are a primary aspect of the game, and are constructed at military buildings. Every unit is led by an officer, whose death will cause the unit to take a drop to morale. Units are generally more effective when led by a general, and if one is not present, the most experienced unit's officer will be temporarily be promoted to a captain for the battle.

## Types

Units in *Hyrule: Total War* are divided into six primary categories: infantry, missile, mages, cavalry, support and siege. Note that it is sometimes possible for these categories to overlap. Beyond the primary categories, units are further subdivided into one of two roles and possibly one or more secondary roles depending on whether they are melee or ranged. Lastly, certain units in the game possess the "camouflaged" or "stealth" modifiers, making them adept at springing ambushes on unsuspecting foes.

* **Infantry**: Infantry represent melee-focused foot soldiers and generally form the rank and file of most armies. With some exceptions, all Infantry must move into a melee position to attack enemy units.
* **Missile**: Missile units are soldiers armed with mechanical ranged weaponry. This typically comes in the form of bows and arrows; however, there are a large variety of ranged weapons a missile unit can use, some thrown (such as the javelin) and some ejected naturally (such as Deku nuts). With a few exceptions, missile units are extremely vulnerable in melee.
* **Mages**: Mages are ranged units that unleash powerful magic attacks against enemies. They are capable of instantly killing one or more enemies with a successful hit from their attacks, making them extremely powerful. However, mages tend to be much slower than other units and are extremely vulnerable to all forms of attack.
* **Cavalry**: A unit capable of moving rapidly across the battlefield, whether due to being mounted upon any variety of creature or perhaps because it is comprised of creatures with natural speed. Cavalry's primary advantage in battle is its mobility, allowing to rapidly flank enemy infantry formations with little chance for them to respond. However, they can become vulnerable in protracted melee combat and are particularly susceptible to being felled by spear-wielding units. For these reasons, they are generally best used in "hit-and-run" attacks or, if heavily armored, to break through enemy lines.
* **Support**: Support units are soldiers that help improve the performance of other unit types either by buffing your own units or by debuffing enemy units. Examples of this include chanting songs to improve morale, healing injured soldiers, unleashing horrifying cries to scare enemies; etc. Support units are generally terrible in actual combat, with a few exceptions.
* **Siege**: Siege engines are designed for one purpose: to take out enemy gates, towers and buildings. They can attack all other units, but tend to be rather inaccurate and can even potentially harm your own forces if not managed carefully.

## Roles

* **Light**: These units can perform their designated roll in battle for a time, but will not last long if directly engaged due to their light armor and weaponry.
* **Heavy**: Heavy units can sustain themselves in battle for a long period of time due to heavier armor (natural or manufactured), making them well-suited to holding a battle line.

## Secondary Roles

### Melee

* **Assault**: Assault units are exceptional at charging headlong into enemy formations and wreaking havoc. These units are best used aggressively and offensively.
* **Defense**: These units excel at standing their ground and holding position, but often deal negligible damage. They are often extremely resistant to ranged attacks, wear heavy armor or both. These units should be used to defend key locations on the battlefield rather than charge headlong into enemies.
* **Spear Wielders:** Spear wielding units consist of soldiers armed with spears, pikes or other polearms with a very long reach. Even if their respective factions did not intend so, units with such weapons are excellent against cavalry, both in resisting their initial charge and in dealing damage to them. However, spear wielders are generally struggle against enemy units armed with more agile weapons such as swords and axes, especially if said foes are able to reach a vulnerable flank.

### Ranged

* **Suppressive Fire**: These ranged units don't necessarily deal a lot of damage or kill enemies quickly, but their method of attack either slows enemies down or otherwise damages morale.
* **Harassment**: Harassment units are a sub-type of ranged unit that do not necessarily deal much damage on their own; however, their speed and mobility allow them to skirmish with enemies from afar while avoiding direct combat, thus steadily wearing them down. They are essentially built for kiting.

## Ambush Units

* **Camouflage**: Camouflage units are adapt at hiding within trees and shrubbery.
* **Stealth**: These units are masters of terrain, capable of springing ambushes from anywhere on the battlefield.

## Experience

Units gain increased attributes and combat skills as they survive, and more importantly win, more battles. This is noted by bronze, silver, or gold chevrons on their unit card.