Nid

**Nid** is a human Hero character appearing in *The Banner Saga* series.

## Background

A mother of three, Nid comes from a life that never had to worry about things like Dredge destroying her home town of Frostvellr, but has adapted better than anyone expected.

## 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

## Second Active Ability: Choice

In the second part of *The Banner Saga*, when Nid reaches Rank 6, she can choose a second active ability between:

* Rain of Arrows (Skystriker), like Oddleif
* Slag and Burn (Siege Archer), like Yrsa

## Passive Ability: Puncture

By standing still, the Archer is able to line up a shot that takes advantage of an enemies missing Armor, doing bonus damage.

For every 2 points of armor her target has lost, the Archer gains 1 additional Strength to her attack, as long as she didn't move beforehand. This makes her especially deadly near the end of a fight, or against tough opponents who have lost a lot of armor.

Example: An Archer with 7STR is facing an enemy of 4ARM who started the fight with 15ARM. If she moves and then attacks, the STR-damage caused will be 3 (=7-4). However, if she attacks without moving, her *effective* STR will be 12 (=7+[11/2]↓), thus causing STR-damage equal to 8 (=12-4).
## Joining the Party

**Saga 1:** Nid joins the caravan in Frostvellr. However, she only joins the Roster (the Heroes of the caravan) after winning a battle at a village near Highpass, during Chapter 6. Moreover, to make that option available, Rook must have allowed Oddleif to train peasant women into archers, in Chapter 4, while in the frozen wastes between Frostvellr and Wyrmtoe.

**Saga 2:** She stays with the Skogr caravan throughout the game.

## Possible Death or Departure

**Saga 1:** Nid can be killed during the battle at the village near Highpass during Chapter 6. This will happen if Rook attempts to save the villagers left behind and fails to defeat the Dredge in the ensuing battle.

**Saga 2:** There is no event leading to her death or departure.

**Saga 3:** Nid will leave in chapter 18 if you do not tell her that the Nid you know is no coward during a conversation.

## Playstyle

* Nid joins quite late in the game, so there is usually little time to promote her.
* Like all archers, she starts with low Stats. Maxing her Break and Strength should be your priorities, while increasing her Exertion is also an option as she starts with high Willpower.
* The extended range of her *Bird of Prey* ability in combination with her passive, *Puncture*, makes her a lethal "sniper" when used after front-line "breaker" allies.
* Furthermore, increasing her Armor is not very important as she can be positioned in the back well protected from melee attack. Be careful of ranged enemies, like enemy Bowmasters or Slingers!

## Trivia

* In the release version of the first game, Nid joined at Rank 5, with 8 "free" points to allocate to her Stats, which could be almost maxed-out right from the start! This issue was corrected with the first patch of the game.
* Her name could be related to "niðr" which translates to "ancestor, kinsman, relative".