Age Of Wonders 4 has an extensive roster of units available for you to recruit, and the sheer volume of enchantments in the game give players almost limitless options. With the right strategy, you can bring out the full potential of any unit. Like with all games, though, there are several troops that stand well above the rest.

We've picked out the top units from across all the power tiers; with these magical soldiers in your army, you'll be able to handle almost any threat. Just remember, your opponents will have access to some of these units as well!

Updated on April 1, 2024: Age Of Wonders 4 has been out for almost a year now, along with some excellent DLC. We've added units from the expansions to this list, providing an even more in-depth look at the best troops for your Godir armies.

12 Skeleton

The humble Skeleton has the same stats as any other tier-one Polearm unit, but gets a twenty-five percent discount on upkeep. Not only that, but Skeletons cost Souls rather than Gold to recruit, letting you save your cash for other things! Enchant them with your Culture trait, like Stand Together or Bolstering, and they're the perfect expendable front-line fodder. A Ruler dabbling in both Chaos and Shadow can reduce their upkeep even further, overwhelming their enemies with a swarm of bones!

If you need a little more hitting power in the early-to-mid game, you can always merge two Skeletons into a Bone Golem using a spell; you'll even get one of the Skeletons back if the Bone Golem dies!

11 Stormbringer

On the face of it, the Stormbringer just seems like a pretty good Tier-4 Skirmisher. However, her combo potential makes her a versatile addition to the Primal Culture's arsenal. Since she deals both Lightning and Physical damage equally, and has both melee and ranged attacks, you can easily modify Stormbringer units via enchantments.

Stormbringers are available in the Primal Fury DLC.

If you're looking for an especially strong build, take the Tome Of Evocation early on. Spells like Lightning Focus and Lightning Torrent make the Stormbringer a true terror, especially when she's supported by Evokers. Speaking of which...

10 Evoker

The Astral-attuned Evoker is the gold standard for Battle Mages, dealing solid damage with precise bolts of lightning. They'll be your primary ranged attackers throughout an Astral run, especially when they're empowered by Star Blades and other Attunement abilities. They can use a little help against physical attacks, but their respectable Resistance for their tier should keep them safe from other Battle Mages.

Most Battle Mages have a good secondary attack, and the Evokers are no exception. Their Electrifying Arc is a miniature Chain Lightning spell, zapping up to three enemies in a single shot. It also inflicts Electrifying, dealing extra damage each turn!

9 Ram Warship

Once you unlock the ability to embark, units fight on the sea just like they would on land. However, naval units like the Ram Warship ensure that you'll be in command of the waves. Most sea battles have very little in the way of obstacles or terrain, giving your Ram Warships the freedom to charge the enemy and sink their ships. The ships also have a reduced maintenance cost, so you don't need to break the bank in order to protect your coastlines.

A fleet of four Ram Warships can handle most dangers of the high seas, and are very effective at pillaging enemy Fisheries and Harbors. That's a great way to get extra money while at war, and prevent your opponents from building ships of their own to counter.

8 Glade Runner

The Tome Of Glades has a lot to offer, particularly this exceptional Ranged unit. While their base stats are as standard as it gets for tier three, the Glade Runner's abilities are top-notch. Truesight ensures that nothing can sneak by them with camouflage or invisibility, and they can prime their targets with Tracker's Mark at no cost in action points to debuff their defense!

By the time you're training these elite archers, you'll probably have plenty of enchantments ready to make them even better. Poison Arrows and Projectiles of Decay are both great choices, but the other Affinities have fantastic buffs as well.

7 Anvil Guard

The Anvil Guard are everything you could want in a tier-one unit. These basic, bread-and-butter Shield units are the best way to form an impenetrable front line in the early game, and an Industrial empire can make use of them throughout the whole campaign. With an astonishing five Defense before buffs, two retaliation attacks, and the benefit of Bolstering, the Anvil Guard is quite possibly the best tier-one unit in the game.

The Anvil Guard's Taunt ability makes them amazing tanks, offering further protection to the units under their Shield Wall. If your species has further defensive bonuses on top of all that, your opponent may as well be attacking a mountain.

6 Knight

Feudal empires are exceptionally powerful thanks to their Food bonuses and unique lordly titles for Heroes, but they're also sporting some serious power thanks to their Knights. As a Shock unit, their job is to ride ahead and break through defensive lines, and they do their job well.

The Knights' Heavy Charge Strike lets them overcome charge resistance, and if you set up your charge correctly they can get a twenty-percent damage bonus from Stand Together. Best of all, when a Knight kills an enemy unit, the Morale bonus for nearby allies is doubled - all the more reason to keep your Feudal levies grouped together.

5 Eagle Rider

It's rare to find a unit that does it all, but the Eagle Rider is just such a soldier. As a Shield unit, they'll form the linchpin of your line in the late game when you play an Order empire. Their impressive Defense and Health, coupled with the usual Shield benefits, make them great in the role, and they let nearby units recover Morale twenty-five percent faster to boot!

The Eagle Rider can buff nearby allies' Morale with kills, just like the Knight, but if there's nothing to fight they can use Embolden Allies to prepare for the next enemy wave. The fact that they can fly is actually the least impressive thing about them, and that's saying something!

4 Ironclad

You've heard of bringing a gun to a knife fight, but how about bringing a tank to a swordfight? Lost technology from the Commonwealth becomes available if you unlock the Tome of the Dreadnought in the Empire & Ashes DLC. This metallic behemoth offers several firing modes and impressive defenses that your opponents will be hard-pressed to handle.

It's worth having some Support units like Overseers on-hand, and you'll want to keep tabs on your opponent's buffs to make sure they can't dismantle your (expensive) pride and joy.

3 Druid Of The Cycle

These creepy plant-wizards are the best Support unit in the game, sporting an enormous healing ability that can even resurrect the dead. Druids Of The Cycle can also one-shot enemies at low health with Cycle's End, though their powerful Poison Blast attack is also perfectly capable of doing the trick.

Druids reset their cooldowns whenever they kill an enemy unit, so they'll usually cycle (get it?) between attacking and healing. Make them a priority target if your opponent has them in your army, or it's going to be a long battle.

2 Reaper

If you're playing a Shadow empire with a Necromancy focus, your ultimate goal will be the summoning of the Reapers. These embodiments of death itself grant all undead units in the same army extra damage and Resistance; considering that you've probably cast the Wightborn transformation by the time they arrive, that bonus should extend to every unit you have!

Reapers are extremely hard to kill, thanks to their great defensive stats and large amounts of health. They can also consume corpses to get a large heal mid-fight. Best of all, they can use Finger of Death to instantly kill enemy units, raising them as Zombies under your control. Your opponents should definitely fear the Reaper.

1 Balor

If you need raw, unshackled power, the ultimate Chaos unit has what you need. Balors are the game's most powerful demons, dealing enormous amounts of melee damage or blasting through groups with Sunder The Earth. They also have Frenzy, giving them a damage buff every time they hit something!

If you've got the mana to spend, you can amass a frightful number of Balors by sacrificing population in your cities; just one of these fiendish foes is a terror on the battlefield, but two or three is a force of nature. Even if your opponents manage to kill one, its Death Explosion will let it get one last shot in before it's banished. Keep them buffed with Skalds or other Support units, and you'll have an unstoppable, fiery force!