Night Runner

*"you know, once this whole mountain thing is over with, i think i'm gonna open a beauty salon."*

## Night Runner

a night runner trying out ice skating for the first time. it wants your feedback.

## Stats

### Strength

90

**Night Runners** are a unit in the **Death** faction.

## Overview

A bony visage which moves too fast to be seen, with claws sharp as knives that rip and tear and kill with ease, the Night Runner is a deadly foe to behold. Equipped with devastating melee capabilities and the speed to close the distance on enemies, this creature of darkness can easily single out and decimate vulnerable opponents in an instant. And those who survive, the Blast spell vaporizes. Be careful not to throw them into large groups of enemies, however, as they fall quicker than their Vampire counterparts in prolonged combat.

## Abilities

### Undead

The first time this unit is reduced to zero HP it is instead brought up to half HP. True damage negates this ability.

## Magic

Blast

Deals true damage to a single enemy.

Temeport

Choose a spot in range and in view of the caster. The caster is immediately teleported to the closest valid square to the spot.

## Strategy

With Night Runners, it's often best to play them in the same way that you'd play a Formid Warrior Drone; take advantage of your extremely high movement and set yourself up in positions where you can close in on enemies with one action and attack with the next. Use cover to your advantage here and stay out of the line of sight of ranged enemies, as most melee units won't have the speed to actually run in and be a threat. With Night Runners, YOU should be the one engaging, so move them to positions that can facilitate this.

When it comes to things to look out for, the Night Runner has a few weaknesses. The first, and main one, is that it only has two actions. This may sound a bit silly, as most units in the game have two actions to work with, but it can genuinely be an issue when going up against enemies with even higher movement speeds like Weavers and the aforementioned Warrior Drones who can stay out of attack range while still being a threat. The best way to deal with this is to, in a sense, create your own cover; using fodder units like Zombies or Skeletons, you can block the path of high speed units to more safely close the distance. Then, on your turn, you can move these units aside for free and rush in for major damage with the Night Runner.

The last things to mention about this unit are its magic and who it should target. In all honesty, the fact that a unit like this has spells in the first place is genuinely kind of baffling. When it comes to Blast, you can't really use it in tandem with the Night Runner's speed because it takes a full turn to use. It's only really useful as a last resort; if you manage to survive a turn while in melee range, the guaranteed true damage can make it more consistent than the default claws and can make it more effective against undead foes. Teleport is kind of in a similar situation here; it's not a great engagement tool because it takes a full turn to use and won't let you attack afterwards. It's really only useful as a cheaper repositioning tool; if you need to move 9 spaces, Teleport will do it with less energy than actual movement. The other thing that it can be useful for is as a replacement for retreat, as it won't activate the Lizimorr Code of Chivalry ability. Other than these situations, use the Night Runner's normal movement. As for targeting, try to focus on killing vulnerable units that are left on their own. The Undead ability means that the Night Runner can sometimes survive a melee attack, but it's often not enough to survive two, meaning that ending your turn next to a melee enemy can often mean death. Otherwise, focus on attacking key units like the opponent's leader, as the Night Runner can sometimes kill in a single attack. That damage doesn't kid around.

The final thing to note when using a Night Runner is their synergy with the Death faction’s various leaders. Alongside a Lich, use the Lich’s Magic Barrier spell to keep the Night Runner protected while they run in for the kill. The halved damage is not only generally effective, but it’s also especially useful against the Blast spell, which would otherwise instantly destroy the Night Runner. On the other hand, if you’re pairing this unit with a Night Mother, try to take advantage of the Night Mother’s free spells as much as possible, specifically with the use of Blast; save up your energy before moving your Night Mother and Night Runners into position in order to deal massive damage with a bunch of Blasts in a single turn. The guaranteed burst damage can be extremely powerful. Finally, if you’ve decided to use a Night Runner with a Vampire Lord, there aren’t really very many strong synergies between the two units. It’s not that they take away from each other, or that it’s not worth using a Night Runner with a Vampire Lord at all, but just that the Lord doesn’t provide the same sort of supportive utility that the other two leaders do.

## Lore

We ain't got much, but here it is:

*"Night runners, servants of the outer darkness, are powerful monsters of the undead legions. Their immense speed and physical strength are rivaled by their surprising intelligence, sometimes making them rare mercenary choices for non-undead forces."*

Possibility for a Night Runner legend???