recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Alex Thomas

**Alex Thomas** is a game developer, writer and the principle creative designer at Stoic, which he co-founded along with Arnie Jorgensen and John Watson.

## Biography

As a child, Thomas was fond of strategic and tactic role-playing games, as well as classic animated movies drawn using traditional animation techniques. He enrolled into college to learn 2D animation but dropped out at the age of 19 after realizing that a significant market for it didn't exist any longer. He went on to join Wolfpack Studios in 2001, where he worked on *Shadowbane* and the cancelled *Marvel Online Super Heroes*.

He transferred to KingsIsle Entertainment, which consisted of former Wolfpack developers, in 2005, and worked on a social MMO and some minigames. In 2007, he left KingsIsle and joined BioWare Austin, while also working as a freelance writer and artist, pitching screenplays to Cartoon Network and DreamWorks, providing art for the *Call of Cthulu* role-playing game's sourcebook *Miskatonic University* and the choose-your-adventure book *Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure*, as well as working as an artist on a GameStop advert.

At BioWare, Thomas worked on *Star Wars: The Old Republic* for about five years and met the future Stoic co-founders John Watson and Arnie Jorgensen there. He also created an iOS game called *Dino Boy* there with Jorgensen, after getting permission from BioWare. In June 2011, Thomas and Watson started working together on their own game and were joined by Jorgensen by 2012.

After the release of *Star Wars: The Old Republic*, they left BioWare in January and founded their own studio called "Stoic", working on the game which became *The Banner Saga*. Thomas worked as the lead writer, designer and animator. He was the sole animator on the game before they could outsource the work to Powerhouse Animation Studios with the help of the Kickstarter funds.

After *The Banner Saga'*s release in 2014, Thomas greatly decreased his work at Stoic and founded an independent one-man company called "Candle and Key", creating the game called *Killers and Thieves*, which was made with the help of outscourced programmers and published by Stoic. He worked as a vonsultant on *The Banner Saga 2* and as the lead writer on *The Banner Saga 3*, returning to work full-time at Stoic in 2020 as its principal creative designer.

## Games

### BioWare Austin

* *Star Wars: The Old Republic* (2011) - Senior environment artist, planet designer

### Candle and Key

* *Killers and Thieves* (2017) - Designer, artist, writer, animator

### Stoic

* *The Banner Saga: Factions* (2013) - Lead designer, writer and animator
* *The Banner Saga* (2014) - Lead designer, writer and animator
* *The Banner Saga 2* (2016) - Consultant
* *The Banner Saga 3* (2018) - Lead writer

### Wolfpack Studios

* *Shadowbane* (2003) - Additional designer, world builder
* *Shadowbane: The Rise of Chaos* (2003) - Lead artist
* *Shadowbane: Throne of Oblivion* (2004) - Lead artist
Derdriu

**Derdriu** is a Cantref Hero character encountered in the second part of *The Banner Saga*.

## Background

Derdriu is more cautious and ready to attack than most, usually concerned with betrayal from anyone but her mate, Ro'Ech. Her family was ambushed and murdered by a previously friendly tribe, leaving her with lifelong mistrust.

## Active Ability: Poison Tipped

The Horseborn Cantref uses a javelin tipped with a deadly poison to make sure her enemy doesn't forget her after the initial sting of her attack passes. The ill target becomes unable to secure their own ground and units can move through him/her.

Poisons like this are often used against high Strength enemies to wear them down over time or on a large unit that is blocking paths to other areas of the board.

The doses do not stack together, but a second dose will serve to refresh the damage over time and keep the target afflicted.

**Rank 1:** 1 Strength damage per Round, for 3 Rounds

**Rank 2:** 2 Strength damage per Round, for 3 Rounds

**Rank 3:** 3 Strength damage per Round, for 3 Rounds

## Active Ability: Pin

* When promoted to Rank 6, Derdriu gains the primary active ability of Canary, Pin.

The Horseborn Cantref spears her target and pins him to the ground, dealing regular Strength damage and inhibiting Movement.

**Rank 1:** Reduces movement by 2 tiles

**Rank 2:** Reduces movement by 3 tiles

**Rank 3:** Reduces movement by 4 tiles

## Passive Ability: Free Roam

While moving, each Willpower the Horseborn Cantref spends allows her to travel 2 tiles instead of 1.

## Joining the Party

Derdriu joins the Skogr caravan in Chapter 10, when the Horseborn are first met near Lundar.

## Possible Death or Departure

* Failure to stop the conflict between Derdriu and Canary in the second visit to Aberrang in Chapter 21 will result in Derdriu's death

## Playstyle

* As ability description mentions, Poison Tipped is especially lethal against high-Armor cumbersome enemy units, e.g. Dredge Stoneguards or Shieldbangers.

## Trivia

As with Scathach, Derdriu is named after an irish mythological figure.
Characters

*This **disambiguation** page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link referred you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.*

For the first part of *The Banner Saga*, proceed to:

* Saga 1 Heroes
* Saga 1 NPC

For the second part of *The Banner Saga*, proceed to:

* Saga 2 Heroes
* Saga 2 NPC
Web API - Manufacturing Preview

Usage
clientapi\_host.."/api/v3/characters/"..id.."/manufacturing/preview"

Examples

Input

```
{
	"inputs" : [
		{
			"sdb_id" : 10,
			"quantity" : 200
		},
		{
			"item_id" : 0,
			"quantity" : 1,
			"sdb_id" : 0
		},
		{
			"item_id" : 0,
			"quantity" : 1,
			"sdb_id" : 0
		},
		{
			"item_id" : "13065487284533770749",
			"quantity" : 1,
			"sdb_id" : 81688
		},
		{
			"item_id" : "2040687009852430077",
			"quantity" : 1,
			"sdb_id" : 81684
		}
	],
	"repetitions" : 1,
	"blueprint_id" : 81072
}

```

Outputs

```
{
	"repetitions" : 1,
	"build_time_secs" : 1240,
	"success" : true,
	"output" : [
		{
			"quantity" : 1,
			"attribute_modifiers" : {
				"954" : 47,
				"958" : 3.914958,
				"952" : -39.548499
			},
			"quality" : 489,
			"creator_guid" : "9206795298285970430",
			"item_sdb_id" : 78493
		}
	]
}

```
Dredge Spark Slinger

## General

Dredge Spark Slingers are an improved version of their weaker Slag Slinger 'cousins'. They don't have higher stats but they possess a crippling active ability, Sunstrike (see below).

They come in three ranks: regular, Blind and Sun. The higher ranks, distinguished by different colors, are encountered later in the game or in the Hard difficulty setting.

## Passive Ability: Back Off

When a Dredge with the Back Off passive receives either Strength or Armor damage, it will move 3 tiles randomly, in a general direction away from the attacker.

**Notes**:

* The random nature of Back Off makes Slingers hard to get, especially when you want to Break them and follow-up with a Strength attack.
* Always be cautious when attacking a Slinger. Back Off movement can expose your allies to attacks from back-line Dredge that were blocked by that Slinger!
* The exact conditions under which the Back Off passive triggers are not entirely clear; for example, Splinter damage does not trigger it.

## Active Ability: Sunstrike

The Spark Slinger hits its projectile on the ground, spins it with blinding speed and fires it at an enemy target within its normal attack range. This special attack deals regular Strength damage, with 100% chance to hit (i.e. minimum 1 damage). Moreover, the force of the blow staggers and blinds the target unit, zeroing its Exertion for its following turn. A red 'debuff' icon appears on the portrait of the struck unit, in the turn-queue.
Chieftain of Skogr

This unnamed character is the chieftain (Jarl) of Skogr. His wife is Oddleif.

## Background

At a young age he was considered lucky to woo a beauty like Oddleif, nowadays he is considered lucky to have married a woman who knows how to run a town. Apart from his wife, he also relies on the master huntsman, Rook, and the taciturn Varl, Iver, to manage the affairs of his small woodland village.

## Recent Events

During the events of the first part of *The Banner Saga*, Skogr is overrun by a sudden Dredge invasion. The population forms a caravan to abandon the village in an organized manner, fleeing towards Frostvellr, the nearest fortified city. Depending on the player choices, the chieftain is either killed or seriously wounded during this escape. Following her husband's downfall and having no children, Oddleif passes the Skogr Banner on to Rook, deeming that he is more suitable to carry the heirloom. This authorizes him to lead the caravan and its people's fates.

Regardless of whether or not the chieftain survives the invasion, late-game dialogue states that Oddleif was widowed, suggesting that he succumbed to his wounds at some point off-screen. If the caravan is ambushed by Onef's men, Oddleif will later inform Rook that he died at Einartoft.
Dredge Direguard

Attack
 Passive

## General

A Dredge **Direguard** is first encountered as a mini-boss in Chapter 8 and later in the game, in larger numbers, mostly accompanying Stonesingers. Direguards are an 'augmented' variety of Stoneguards, bearing a shield and an axe-like weapon.

* See also: Dredge Gloomwarden

## Passive Ability: Splinter

When a Dredge with the Splinter passive receives an Armor-break attack equal to or larger than 3, then all adjacent Dredge (of whichever class) suffer 1 Armor damage. This Armor damage is transferred in a domino-like effect along a 'chain' of adjacent Dredge.

## Passive Ability: Sentinel

Whenever a Stonesinger is attacked, taking Strength or Armor damage, all Dredge Direguards & Gloomwardens focus their attack on the offender for one round. If the offender cannot be reached, they skip their turn, often without even moving.

## Active Ability: Drumfire

The Direguard smashes his shield in the ground (similarly to the Stoneguard's Kindle), blasting a Shockwave in a 2x5-tile region in front of him. The Shockwave does 1 Break damage to all enemies, Mends Dredge by +1 Armor and leaves hot ash covering the region for one round. Afterwards, each hot ash tile does 1 Strength damage to non-Dredge and +1 Armor to Dredge, when walked over. The hot ash dissolves in the beginning of the Direguard's next turn, but stays if he is killed.

**Notes:**

* Drumfire can be troublesome in tightly confined boards, because of the large area it covers.
* As Direguards rarely use Drumfire twice, it is advisable not to kill them during the round they cast it, so that the harmful hot ash may disappear from the board at their next turn.
Aleo

**Aleo** is a Hero character encountered in the second part of *The Banner Saga*.

## Background

As fearless as he is flamboyant, Aleo embodies the boldness of the heroes in the sagas he knows by heart. Though a skald by profession, his devotion to protecting his wife and children fuels this poet's sword arm.

## Active Ability: Tale Worth Telling

The Skald exults his target to feats of strength and heroism. His words buff an ally for 1 round, adding 1 Strength damage for every 2 Strength the enemy is above the target ally (rounded down). The boasts have no effect if the buffed ally attacks an enemy of equal or lower strength, so picking the right target is important.

**Rank 1:** Buff an ally within 2 tiles

**Rank 2:** Buff an ally within 4 tiles

**Rank 3:** Buff an ally within 6 tiles

Tale Worth Telling also adds a 'never-miss' (100% to-hit chance) buff to the Skald's ally, for his next attack.

Example: If the buffed ally is at 2STR and attacks a 15STR/9ARM enemy, the damage done will be 7 with 100% chance, instead of 1 with 30%, plus any Willpower added. In this example, the +6 bonus is calculated as [(15-2)/2]↓.

## Active Ability: Insult

* Aleo gains Sparr's active ability, Insult, as his second when promoted to Rank 6.

The Skald delivers an insult so cutting and personal that the target is literally stunned for a moment and has to pause to collect himself. Insulted enemies move to the last place of the enemy initiative queue. Take care in picking the right target to delay from acting - keep in mind that any persistent effects started by the target will remain until the target's next turn - and even the most powerful enemy will become as harmless as a mouse.

**Rank 1:** Insult an enemy within 2 tiles

**Rank 2:** Insult an enemy within 5 tiles

**Rank 3:** Insult an enemy within 8 tiles

## Passive Ability: Skald's Song

The Skald adds +1 Willpower to all allies if standing within two tiles of an ally who delivers a killing blow. Effective use of this ability will keep your Heroes from tiring in combat, so keeping the Skald in range of other fighters so he can move to them quickly is key.

## Joining the Party

Aleo is the first new character encountered in the second part of *The Banner Saga*, in a small village outside Boersgard attacked by the Dredge. He always joins the caravan in the beginning of Chapter 8.

## Possible Death or Departure

* Aleo follows the Skogr caravan, led by Rook or Alette, after the split in Ormsdalr.
* There is no event leading to Aleo's death or departure.

## Playstyle

* Always keep the Skald close to the fray, so that he can sing about your Heroes' feats and buff your Party.
* Tale Worth Telling is best used on an ally that has been maimed. When it causes Critical hits (e.g. with Artery Strike Talent) boosted by high Willpower, it can do huge amounts damage; for instance, if a 2STR ally (near-death) is buffed and attacks a 15STR/9ARM enemy adding +3WIL to the attack, the damage caused will be 10 (or 20, if the hit is Critical!).

## Trivia

* Aleo will often provide lore description when the caravan meets godstones and give advice in times of need.
Dagr

**Dagr** is Rugga's not-so-secret weapon of a warrior, encountered in the *The Banner Saga 2*.

## Background

Not much is known about Governor Rugga’s bodyguard, including whether the man can even speak. He’s deadly with a blade and does what he’s told which is exactly what keeps him employed.

## Active Ability: Run Through

The Backbiter selects a target and then runs through multiple spaces to reach them, causing 2 Armor damage to each character he runs through.
He then stops behind his target and stabs them for normal Strength damage.
**Rank 1:** Run through 2 tiles
**Rank 2:** Run through 3 tiles
**Rank 3:** Run through 4 tiles
This allows the Backbiter to move through both friend and foe, giving him extremely high mobility on the board.
The Backbiter is the most useful when hunting down ranged or weakened enemies hiding in the back rows.

## Passive Ability: Shield Wall

By standing next to an ally, the raider creates a Shield Wall, raising the armor of both himself and his ally by 1.
This bonus remains until the Raider is no longer adjacent to the ally.
When multiple Raiders stand next to each other this effect is magnified as they grant each other their own bonus.
Four Raiders standing in a square formation will each gain an additional 4 armor.
## Caravan Presence & Story Effects

Dagr never actively joins the caravan Roster during the second part of *The Banner Saga*. However, depending on your choices, he might fight with your Party in one battle: At the ending of Chapter 10 the Skogr caravan arrives at Lundar finding it under assault by both Dredge and Horseborn; Rugga proposes to send Dagr together with Ludin (or Aleo, if Ludin is dead) in an attack behind the lines of the Dredge, so as to catch them between hammer and anvil.

## Trivia

* If you fail to live up to Rugga's 'expectations', he will betray you in the beginning of Chapter 14. In the ensuing battle, Rugga will manage to escape but Dagr will be captured and your people will demand his execution. Either you or Hakon can execute the traitor, or show him mercy. Showing him mercy and keeping him alive after Rugga's betrayal causes him to kill some of your fighters and flee once you reach Arberrang, at the end of Chapter 14. If you decide to keep him alive, he will support you in the final battle for Arberrang's gates without beeing enlisted in your combat group, but only if you chose Rugga's side.
Geirraðr

This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it!
*This article is a stub. You can help Banner Saga Wiki by expanding it.*

**Geirraðr** – Geirraðr is the god of wise counsel and direction who is accredited with all manner of discoveries and good decisions. Upon his godstone is inscribed one such tale of direction, "A young man came here eight times in eight days seeking counsel on the matter of a young woman who had pricked his heart. On the eighth of these days, when the young man's voice had become hard with the weight of his unanswered prayers," Geirradr cried aloud, saying to him, "She is not at my stone, fool boy. She lives where you live, sleeps where you sleep. She cannot love a man who is not there."

His godstone is located deep within the center of the Old Wood far from the Eastway Road, thus minimizing visitors, and is encased in thick ivies and lichens.
Einartoft

*The home of the first varl king, Einar, who carved his empire into the crook of the Brattabreck and Wyrmscale Mountains. The varl fortress, hewn into the rock itself, eclipses all but the greater accomplishments in the north.*

Einartoft is a varl fortress, notable for the massive stone bridge that spans the chasm it is built over. Humans have never set foot in Einartoft before the events of The Banner Saga.

## The Banner Saga

Einartoft becomes the final remaining varl city in The Banner Saga, after the destruction of Grofheim by the dredge invaders. King Jorundr is determined to make a final stand at Einartoft with the few thousand surviving varl left under his command.

Hakon's party travels to Einartoft after discovering the ruins of Grofheim, but is later sent away to Arberrang. Rook's caravan is later allowed temporary shelter in Einartoft after some convincing from Iver, making them the first humans to step foot in the fortress.

Soon after Rook's arrival, dredge armies will swarm over Einartoft's stone bridge in an attempt to destroy the city. Though Eyvind asks the bridge be destroyed to halt the dredge's advance, Jorundr refuses, wishing the bridge be left as a monument to the varl's existence even after their extinction. The dredge are led by the immortal Bellower, whom Iver will attempt to face down one-on-one, leading to the loss of his arm.

The player is given three options during Rook's stay in Einartoft: fight on the bridge to slow the dredge's advance, attempt to destroy the bridge against Jorundr's wishes, or flee and abandon Einartoft.

* Should the player survive three days of fighting dredge on the bridge, Iver will force the king to allow the bridge's destruction, causing Krumr and several dozen varl to join the caravan as they leave the fortress.
* Should the player attempt to destroy the bridge without Jorundr's permission, they will be forced to defend Eyvind against a wave of varl attackers. Should the player survive this difficult fight, the bridge will be destroyed, and the party will be exiled from Einartoft. Krumr will join the party, but the additional varl will not.
* Should the player fail to destroy the bridge, or abandon the city without attempting to do so, Krumr and the other varl will die defending the city.

Regardless of whether the bridge is destroyed, Einartoft will ultimately be overtaken by the dredge forces, killing Jorundr and causing Hakon to be named king of the remaining varl.

## Quotes

*"We approach a city that only varl have seen and cross a bridge that only varl could build. Let us hope that we are the only unwelcome visitors to pass."* — Rook, *The Banner Saga*, Part One, Chapter 4.
Eagle Eye

**Eagle Eye** is a promoted class stemming from the Archer base-class, introduced in the first part of *The Banner Saga*.

* The main active ability of the Eagle Eye is called **Thread the Needle**.
* Her second active ability is Overwatch.
* One playable hero belongs to this promoted class, Alette, one of game's lead characters.
* Units of this class have **not** (yet) been introduced in Factions.

## Active Ability: Thread the Needle

By selecting an enemy in a straight line up to 5 spaces, the Eagle Eye shoots through every character in the way, doing normal Strength damage to each, in addition to bonus Armor and Puncture damage.

Thread the Needle is one of few abilities that can damage multiple enemies in a single shot, making it extremely powerful in the right hands. Even though it also hits allies, using Thread the Needle in tandem with some abilities, like the Raidmaster's Stone Wall, can be a good combination.

**Rank 1:** Regular Strength damage +1 Break damage to all units

**Rank 2:** Regular Strength damage +2 Break damage to all units

**Rank 3:** Regular Strength damage +3 Break damage to all units

## Playstyle

**Thread the Needle** in combination with Puncture can cause tremendous amounts of damage. However, correctly positioning the Eagle Eye as well as arranging for enemies to 'fall in line' for her to pierce them, is no easy task. Moreover, killing multiple weakened enemies might not always be desirable. Turn Advantage is the culprit here; refer to the Tactical Strategy guide for more insight.
Bindal

Once named Blindradalr, this mining city is tucked into a valley at the foot of the Wyrmscale Mountains. Much like the rock here, the name seems to have eroded into something smoother. It serves as an important pass between the human cities of the east and west, when it isn't shut down by blinding snowstorms.
Gem of Vez'nan

The defiled tear of a god which corrupts the heart of the bearer.

## Stats

* Rank: 8
* Price: -
* Effects: +3 Strength Talent Ranks; +20% chance of Critical damage; +2 Strength; -4 Willpower

## How to get it

In Chapter 11, during the passage through the mines, you will encounter the Vez'nan godstone. If you say nothing and watch the miners picking at the gemstones, they will bring you the Gem of Vez'nan.

## Trivia

* This item and the corresponding godstone of Vez'nan is a reference to the final boss in the main campaign of the game Kingdom Rush.
Factions Units

Units in Factions are comprised of many diverse classes based
on a handful of reference types with potent passive abilities. To learn what these stats mean, click here to flip through the basics of combat.

These base units, also referred to as **Rank-0** units, cannot be
 named or re-statted and only have a passive ability.

Unranked units are recruited at the Mead House.

## Units and Promotion

When you first arrive in Strand, you start off with five units:

one Raider, two Archers, one Shieldbanger, one Warrior

and one promoted unit, a Thrasher. As you fight you earn Renown,

which can be used to upgrade heroes and recruit more of them.

Units you recruit cost Renown to upgrade. When you upgrade any unit for its first time, you choose a subclass for them that grants a special ability.

 Leveling up also allows you to re-assign stat points. Details for that aren't here at the moment, but suffice it to say re-statting adds uniqueness to units.

### Varl Fighters

.

**[COMPARISON TABLE]**

This is a sortable-table where you can compare the stats of the currently available promoted-class units.

* Hit-Points is the sum of the Strength and Armor of a unit.
* Total = Strength + Armor + Willpower + Exertion + Break
* The max value for 'Total' corresponds to points available in a Rank-3 promotion.
Dredge Fire Slinger

## General

Dredge Fire Slingers are an improved version of their weaker Slag Slinger 'cousins'. They don't have higher stats but they possess a powerful active ability, Shatterstone (see below), that is similar to Slag and Burn in some accounts.

They come in three ranks: regular, Flame and Inferno. The higher ranks, distinguished by different colors, are encountered later in the game or in the Hard difficulty setting.

## Passive Ability: Back Off

When a Dredge with the Back Off passive receives either Strength or Armor damage, it will move 3 tiles randomly, in a general direction away from the attacker.

**Notes**:

* The random nature of Back Off makes Slingers hard to get, especially when you want to Break them and follow-up with a Strength attack.
* Always be cautious when attacking a Slinger. Back Off movement can expose your allies to attacks from back-line Dredge that were blocked by that Slinger!
* The exact conditions under which the Back Off passive triggers are not entirely clear; for example, Splinter damage does not trigger it, whereas Heavy Impact does.
* It seems that Back Off is triggered only once between two turns of a Slinger unit; hence, if a Slinger has already Backed Off, using e.g. a Spearman's Impale on it won't cause extra walking damage.

## Active Ability: Shatterstone

The Fire Slinger reaches into its pouch and produces two blue-glowing rocks. It crushes them together and throws them at two tiles, occupied or not, in its normal attack-range. On the start of its next turn, both rocks explode dealing 2 Strength and 2 Armor damage to any unit (ally and enemy alike) standing in the 5-tile area defined by the tile the rock landed on and its four adjacent ones.

**Notes**:

* Killing the Fire Slinger neutralizes its two 'bombs'.
* In case a unit is found in the 5-tile areas of both Shatterstones, it will take double damage. Sometimes both Shatterstones are thrown on the same tile; that would make the tile glow brighter.
* Large (2x2) units will only take up to 2 Strength & 2 Armor damage from a single Shatterstone.
* Shatterstone increases the effective range of Fire Slingers to 6 tiles.
Concept Art

This article contains concept art gathered during the game's development. Most of the images are high-resolution, so be sure to click on the gallery icons for the full-sizes versions.

## Main Character Sketches

* Rook
* Iver
* Juno
* Bolverk
* Canary

## Cut Characters

These are characters who were cut from the game during development.

* Unnamed varl Warrior

## Units

* Warrior class unit-portraits: Warmaster, Warleader, Wardog, Warhawk
* Shieldbanger
* Archer
* Archer
* Backbiter
* Raider

## Steam Cards

* Archer
* Dredge (Stoneguard)
* Slinger (Dredge Fire Slinger)
* Iver
* Juno
* Raider (Backbiter)
* Rook
* Varl (Berserker)

## Other

* Early group concept art: Rook, Juno, Bolverk, Canary, Dredge Stoneguard, Raider, Dredge Fire Slinger, Iver, Warrior, Archer.
* Denglr, Hridvaldyr, Radormyr and Bjorulf godstone designs.
* Early, unused Dredge concept.
Expert Mode

**Expert Mode** is an option for Quick and Ranked matches available in the Great Hall. In Expert Mode, the turn-timer is set to 30 seconds, rather than the 45 seconds of the default timer. Activating Expert Mode gives you a +2 Renown bonus per match, win or lose. Players who choose Expert Mode can still be matched against other players who are using the default timer mode. The Expert Mode is activated by default for Tournament matches.
Axe Thrower

This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it!
*This article is a stub. You can help Banner Saga Wiki by expanding it.*
**Axe Thrower** is a promoted class stemming from the Raider base-class, introduced in the second part of *The Banner Saga*.

* The active ability of Axe Thrower is called **Axe Storm**.
* One Hero belongs to this promoted class, Oli, while other Raider Heroes (e.g. Egil, Ekkill, Gudmundr, Hogun/Mogun) can choose the ability of this class at Rank 6.
* Enemy units, e.g. the Kragsman Savage, also have this active ability.
* Units of this class have **not** (yet) been introduced in Factions.

## Active Ability: Axe Storm

The Axe Thrower lobs an axe at a target up to 4 tiles away, dealing normal Strength damage if the hit is successful. The Axe Thrower continues to throw until an axe is deflected or the target is dead.

The first throw has a base chance to-hit, **independent** of the target's Armor, and each successive throw to-hit chance is reduced by 10%, but will never go below 20%. Take heed, Axe Storm's to-hit chance cannot be modified by any Item or Talent.

**Rank 1:** Base to-hit chance is 70%

**Rank 2:** Base to-hit chance is 80%

**Rank 3:** Base to-hit chance is 90%

Notes:

* The *average* damage done by Axe Storm, assuming that DMG is the base damage, can be calculated as:
	+ **Rank 1:** DMG\*( 0.7 + 0.7\*0.6 + 0.7\*0.6\*0.5 + 0.7\*0.6\*0.5\*0.4 + ... ) ~ DMG \* 1.4
	+ **Rank 2:** DMG\*( 0.8 + 0.8\*0.7 + 0.8\*0.7\*0.8 + 0.8\*0.7\*0.6\*0.5 + ... ) ~ DMG \* 2.0
	+ **Rank 3:** DMG\*( 0.9 + 0.9\*0.8 + 0.9\*0.8\*0.7 + 0.9\*0.8\*0.7\*0.6 + ... ) ~ DMG \* 2.5
* Employ Axe Storm with caution: Having that first throw Deflect at 10% after spending 3WIL happens more often than you care to remember! When the Armor of the target is low, consider going for a regular WIL-loaded attack that will maim the enemy, instead of going for a kill hoping that 2 or 3 consecutive hits land. From the previous analysis, it can be inferred that if regular damage is 2 or 1 (with 100% to-hit), you are *on average* better off spending your WIL on an Exerted attack rather than on Axe Storm.
Berserker

The **Berserker** is a class revealed in the second part of *The Banner Saga*. It is not clear if Berserker is a promoted or a base class, as only one hero character (unit) belongs to it: Bolverk.

Abilities associated with the Berserker class include:

* Frenzy (passive) — Double attack.
* Cull The Weak (active) — Gains an extra Turn if enemy unit is killed.
* Bear Rage (active) — Enables counter-attacking; Reduces adjacent enemy unit Armor and displaces them.
Dredge Stoneguard

## General

Stoneguard are arguably the most powerful Dredge units. They sport huge shields, heavy maces, long movement range and a powerful Armor-damaging active ability. Stoneguard have high Armor and Break making them the Dredge alter-ego to Varl Shieldbangers. They are very hard to take down due to their exceedingly high hit-points and are usually dealt with using Armor-bypass damage abilities like Bloody Flail, Slag and Burn, Impale or Sundering Impact.

They come in three ranks: regular, Defender and Colossus. The higher ranks distinguished by different colors are encountered later in the game or in the Hard difficulty setting. Watch out for that purple-colored giant!

## Passive Ability: Splinter

When a Dredge with the Splinter passive receives an Armor-break attack equal to or larger than 3, then all adjacent Dredge (of whichever class) suffer 1 Armor damage. This Armor damage is transferred in a domino-like effect along a 'chain' of adjacent Dredge.

## Active Ability: Kindle

The Stoneguard kneels and smashes its shield on the ground creating an out-stretching shock-wave. All adjacent units, allies or enemies, receive 1 Armor damage and are knocked back up to three tiles, receiving an additional 1 Armor damage for each tile they are knocked back. This ability can cause up to 4 Armor damage to a unit and affects up to eight units leading to a tremendous damage output!

**Notes**:

* Unlike the Battering Ram ability, Kindle cannot push units *through* other ones. So, blocked units received less damage.
* Stoneguard AI (version 2.1.65) use of Kindle is many times questionable, often leading to more Armor damage to its allies rather than its enemies!
Eyeless Rift

The simple black sash said to be wrapped around the eyes of a blind archer who never missed a shot.

## Stats

* Rank: 4
* Price: 20 Renown
* Effects: Attacks never Miss (100% to-hit chance); +10% chance to do Critical (double) Strength damage
* Item ID: *itm\_never\_miss*

## Trivia

Description of the Eyeless Rift suggests that the previous owner of the item was Xachariah, from the classic RPG *Planescape: Torment*.
Gardstad

Though **Gardstad** has been around for many generations, not many people know it exists, largely because the families live a modest life of seclusion. Fittingly, the residents of Gardstad are barely aware of the outside world, most of whom will never see a varl or a mender in their lifetime.

### Trivia

Gardstad originates from a fan story which Stoic eventually decided to include in their Map Lore.

* 'The Girl and the Water' fan story, as posted in the Stoic forums.
* Related post from the author's blog.
Fallow's Rebirth

The small skull of a kragsman infant tied with a golden ribbon supposedly wards away death.

## Stats

* Rank: 7
* Price: -
* Effects: Protected from Death unless Strength is 1; -3 Armor; 35% Dodge Strength attacks

## How to get it

In Chapter 10, lingering near Baldringr's godstone will lead to a fight against Kragsmen. If you win that battle you will find this item in the mud.
Blotsbalkr

Throstr, fourth king of the varl, built Blotsbalkr as a new seat of power during his reign, to much protest from the established clans of Grofheim. Throstr's mysterious death soon thereafter left in its wake many unanswered questions, as well as a sprawling stone fortress full of despondent varl. Only the most iron-fisted and stubborn remain.
Aselei

**Aselei** godstone resides on a small island on the Ormsa River and is visited by the Skogr caravan during the events of second part of *The Banner Saga*, Chapter 8.

## Description

This is a brief description of the godstone, based on Aleo's narration: *"She is the curves of every river, a guide for those of us traveling unfamiliar lands." The skald runs a finger over small etchings in the stone. "Inscriptions from all those who were lost, but found a way back home with her help. Some say her stone shows the struggle of leaving the familiar to see what's over the next hill." Aleo looks at the ropes tied around parts of her and smiles. "Before the gods died, her stone supposedly stood tall and moved a few steps each year, so people are always trying to make sure she stays put. Have you the strength to hold her or a gift with which to entice her?"*

## Item

Aselei's Trail will be 'delivered' by an unknown woman in torn robes to your tent, a short while after you leave the godstone, if pay your respects to the goddess or play along Aleo's little game.

## Trivia

* This was one of the four godstones (**Aselei**, Irynx, Baldringr, Bygglaerer) whose designs were based on a community contest.
Getting Started

**The Banner Saga: Factions** is the free/online/multiplayer standalone video game set in the world of *The Banner Saga*.

*Factions* is a turn-based combat game, in which players alternate turns after moving a Unit, similar to a board game such as chess. Among other differences from classic board games, units in Factions move in an alternating order, called Initiative order (or simply *Turn Queue*), set by the players before a match is played. The Initiative order can be changed by killing enemy units, using special abilities (such as Forge Ahead), or by reaching Pillage (a player has only 1 unit remaining, while the other player has at least 2 or more units remaining).

Before combat, a player chooses 6 units and their order for his/her team. All units have a limit, by class, per team. For example, a player can have no more than 3 Raiders at a time, on their team. This limit would include 3 of any combination of Raider(s), Backbiter(s), Raidmaster(s), and/or Thrasher(s). The large Varl units have a slightly different rule, as a player can have only a maximum of 2 Varls on their team at a single time. This Varl limit includes all of the Varl classes, from Shieldbangers and Warriors, to their promoted classes, such as Provokers and Warhawks.

Once a desired team is set in place, players leave the Proving Grounds and go to the Great Hall to be placed in Matches with other players.

## Basics

* Battle - break down of how tactical turn-based combat takes place
* Units - those who do the fighting
* Renown - currency for recruiting & upgrading units
* Strand - the main menu of the game

Mead House - where units are recruited
Proving Grounds - where players arrange their teams and upgrade units
Great Hall - where players go to join a match
* Terminology - various terms (and jargon) related to the game

## Helpful Links

* Play *Factions* on Steam
* Official Stoic Forum
* Official For New Vikings Thread - collection of guides, helpful links, & player streams
* Your Guide to Units
Destructible Blockers

The second part of *The Banner Saga* introduces a new type of board 'entity': **Destructible Blockers**.

For all practical combat-related purposes, these can be considered as immobile 'units' with zero 'Armor' that occupy certain tiles and do not get to act (move, attack, use abilities). Attacking these Blockers until their 'Strength' is reduced to zero, breaks them down, allowing any unit to walk through the tile they occupied.

There are currently several types of such destructible blockers:

* **Barricades**: 1x1 sized, with 8 Strength.
* **Supply Barrels**: 1x1 sized, with 8 Strength.
* **Skulker Eggs**: 1x1 sized, with 8 Strength (produced in pairs by Dredge Barb Hurlers).
* **Trollstones**: 1x1 sized, with 8 Strength (produced by Eyvind's Trollstones active ability).
* **Ice Rocks**: Small (1x1) and Large (2x2 sized), with 8 and 15 Strength, respectively.

## Strategic Uses

Apart from their obvious importance in positioning, e.g. hindering passage especially of bulky 2x2 sized units, these blockers can also be used 'strategically' to:

* Transmit Eyvind's Arc Lightning ability and hit targets diagonally adjacent to the blocker
* Activate Mogr's Bring the Pain ability, by attacking the blocker for Armor Break damage
* In the release version of game, Bolverk's Cull the Weak ability could also be used on destructible blockers; this feature was subsequently removed.
Dredge Scourge

## General

Scourge are the deadliest units of the Dredge army. They have no shields but carry huge weapons like double-axes that they wield single-handedly to deliver devastating crushing attacks. Their very high Strength makes them the Dredge alter-ego to Varl Warriors. Fortunately, their relatively low Armor and short movement range can lead to their early neutralization. However, they remain a threat even maimed due to their ally-summoning ability, Tremble (see below).

They come in three ranks: regular, Warrior and Destroyer. The higher ranks distinguished by different colors are encountered later in the game or in the Hard difficulty setting. Be careful! When at full Strength, that blue-black giant can literally destroy most units in a single stroke.

## Passive Ability: Splinter

When a Dredge with the Splinter passive receives an Armor-break attack equal to or larger than 3, then all adjacent Dredge (of whichever class) suffer 1 Armor damage. This Armor damage is transferred in a domino-like effect along a 'chain' of adjacent Dredge.

## Active Ability: Tremble

When the Scourge is severely hurt and near death, it will retreat to a secure position, grasp its weapon with both hands and start vibrating it like a tuning fork. At the beginning of its next turn a Dredge Grunt will be summoned as reinforcements, spawning in a random border tile of the map and taking turn-initiative after the following enemy unit.

**Notes**:

* In order to summon an ally, the Scourge devotes two of its turns.
* When a Scourge is in the act of summoning while all its allies are knocked out, the battle's turn-queuing will enter Pillage mode with the two Dredge acting in a row, after all enemy units have taken their turns. This is *not* a bug.
* Each Scourge will only use Tremble once, regardless of its remaining Willpower points.
Dredge Slag Slinger

## General

Slag Slingers are the basic ranged unit of the Dredge army. They have slings that they use to fire rock-like projectiles in a range of 2-5 tiles, just like the human Archers. They don't have high stats but their increased range can make them difficult to reach with your melee units, especially when safely behind their bulky allies, Stoneguard or Scourge. Slag slingers have no active ability but their passive, Back Off (see below), makes them hard and unpredictable to handle.

They come in three ranks: regular, Marksman and Veteran. The higher ranks, distinguished by different colors, are encountered later in the game or in the Hard difficulty setting.

## Passive Ability: Back Off

When a Dredge with the Back Off passive receives either Strength or Armor damage, it will move 3 tiles randomly, in a general direction away from the attacker.

**Notes**:

* The random nature of Back Off makes Slingers hard to get, especially when you want to Break them and follow-up with a Strength attack.
* Always be cautious when attacking a Slinger. Back Off movement can expose your allies to attacks from back-line Dredge that were blocked by that Slinger!
* The exact conditions under which the Back Off passive triggers are not entirely clear; for example, Splinter damage does not trigger it. What is certain is that Back Off can only be triggered once between two turns of the Slinger.
Dundr

The godstone of **Dundr** passes around you. In the frozen climates here it looks like the rock has split and is falling apart, held together only by the deep snow. Curiously, when standing between the stones the wind drops off completely, picking up again once you've passed through.

## Lore

Along each strand of Dundr's massive beard is carved a different part of his story, and you turn your head to and fro to read it. While the Loom-mother was the first to create, she soon found a counterpart in Dundr, who embodied her ideals in a masculine form. Dundr took some of her creations and gave them beards and showed them the secrets of smithing, though many remember him just as fondly for teaching them games and songs of mirth.
Bowmaster

The **Bowmaster** is a promotion of the Archer. Like the Archer, her passive ability is Puncture.

## Active Ability: Bird of Prey

The Bowmaster uses her longbow to shoot further than other less experience archers, and she always hits her mark.

Bird of Prey makes it possible for her to strike units before they are able to get in attack range and allows her passive, Puncture, to be used against more enemies who may have been out of range from a normal shot.

**Rank 1:** attack at +2 range, 100% chance to hit

**Rank 2:** attack at +3 range, 100% chance to hit

**Rank 3:** attack at +4 range, 100% chance to hit
Creating the Banner

This event is now over.

Introducing a super contest going on with real life art in conjunction with The Banner Saga. Be one who takes part in creating something unforgettable as the family of community within the game as part of the ultimate Saga.

## A Real Life Community Banner!

**The Banner Saga** has been applauded by reviewers and fans alike for the art style, something that they are incredibly proud of. They've seen such great fan art for the game that it made sense to ask fans to assist in designing a real life banner. Stoic is looking for designs based on the traditional Viking runic art style as seen on the Godstones in the game...

One way of recording history in early Viking times was for each family to contribute (to actually sew) their own ‘saga’ onto their clan’s banner. Similarly, Stoic plans to include some of the best designs submitted in this contest to create a twelve foot banner depicting the fan’s experiences with the game, creating a community ‘saga’.

The **Creating the Banner** contest is now officially open for entrants to submit their original ‘Viking-style’ inspired designs at http://www.creatingthebanner.com . Winners will not only get their design included on the final life-sized banner, but they will also be sent a mini replica of the final banner for display. Full submission guidelines, rules and regulations can be found on the contest website. Submissions must be in by 11:59pm PT on Thursday March 13th, 2014.
Fladdavalor Plains

In the first great war, men and varl clashed most frequently here in the open fields of the Fladdavalor Plains. Some bad blood still exists between the families who have lived several generations in the area. Eventually, the menders and a traitorous varl named Karl pushed the rest of the varl forces back to the Red River, where they remained deadlocked until the war ended.
Crook River

One of the three fingers coming off the Jarlsfjord (along with Midriver and Arber River). So named for the story of the man who sailed four longships down the river, each filled to the brim with valuable metals, weapons and mead from Arberrang. He managed to vanish where the river ends, the longships nowhere to be seen.
Canary

**Canary** is a Hero character encountered in the second part of *The Banner Saga*.

## Background

The largest tribe of Horseborn —the only tribe seen by most humans in this age— is lead by this slender, charismatic warrior. Canary —or Cainánóiridhe to other horseborn— is eager to learn what she can of humans, varl, dredge, and all the ways of the world as it currently stands. Whether she wants to keep it that way is anyone's guess.

## Active Ability: Pin

The Horseborn Cantref spears her target and pins him to the ground, dealing regular Strength damage and inhibiting Movement.

**Rank 1:** Reduces movement by 2 tiles

**Rank 2:** Reduces movement by 3 tiles

**Rank 3:** Reduces movement by 4 tiles

## Active Ability: Poison Tipped

* When Canary joins, she is already at Rank 8, and also has Derdriu's primary active, Poison Tipped.

The Horseborn Cantref uses a javelin tipped with a deadly poison to make sure her enemy doesn't forget her after the initial sting of her attack passes. The ill target becomes unable to secure their own ground and units can move through him/her.

Poisons like this are often used against high Strength enemies to wear them down over time or on a large unit that is blocking paths to other areas of the board.

The doses do not stack together, but a second dose will serve to refresh the damage over time and keep the target afflicted.

**Rank 1:** 1 Strength damage per Round, for 3 Rounds

**Rank 2:** 2 Strength damage per Round, for 3 Rounds

**Rank 3:** 3 Strength damage per Round, for 3 Rounds

## Passive Ability: Free Roam

While moving, each Willpower the Horseborn Cantref spends allows her to travel 2 tiles instead of 1.

## Joining the Party

Canary is encountered by the Skogr caravan in Chapter 14, at Fieldgate. After defeating her herd, she surrenders to you and joins your Roster.

## Possible Death or Departure

* Canary's disposition against the Skogr caravan is left at a cliffhanger at the end of Chapter 14, where it is implied that her herd had massacred the city of Tolir.

## Playstyle

* Pin can penalize high-Armor cumbersome enemy units like Dredge Stoneguards or Shieldbangers, locking them down and exposing them to ranged attacks by ally units, e.g. Archers.
* Canary is the Hero with the highest base (join) Rank in the game, 8, and the only one to come with two active abilities.
* She has the highest Strength cap of all ranged-attack Heroes in the game, 16.
* The high caps of her Stats and her high base Rank limit Canary's access to multiple Talents. For example, she can only reach Rank 1 of Strength or Willpower Talents.

## Trivia

Canary appears in the early Concept Art of the game, which implies that she is a key character in the story.
Barbed Stone

This article is hidden to prevent story spoilers for players looking into Castaway.

The following sections may contain story spoilers.

 *hidden ability*

## Active Ability: Barbed Stones

The character lobs a stone egg onto the field.
A round later, it hatches into a loyal skulker.
**Rank 1**: Spawn an egg on target tile within five spaces. The egg takes a round to hatch and can take 7 damage before being destroyed.
***Skulker stats: 5 ARM, 8 STR, 3 WIL, 2 EXE, 2 BRK, Abilities:* Skulk,  Howl**

Unlike other summoning abilities, Barbed Stones can be cast an infinite number of times.
## How do I get it?

In *The Banner Saga 3*, after recruiting Castaway and traveling for a while, there's an event popup involving "weird eggs"

that mentions your friendly neighborhood Hurler getting all excited about them. Let her collect the eggs, and you've got it!