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Arleon is Songs Of Conquest's knightly faction, sending feudal levies into battle bolstered by the rousing songs of troubadours. They are also able to call upon ancient pacts with the Faey, providing much-needed melee power that peasants just can't provide. If you prefer a hammer-and-anvil strategy in combat, Arleon might be the faction for you.

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Arleon Wielders are often somewhat limited in their choice of spells, but the ones they can cast reliably are perfectly suited to the faction's play style. Whether you're pelting the enemy with an endless hail of arrows or rampaging through their lines with the Horned Ones, playing as Arleon ensures that Stoutheart will stand.

Songs Of Conquest is currently in early access, so the contents of this guide are subject to change as the game is developed.

Arleon Units

songs of conquest knight horned one militia minstrel footmen

Arleon's units are mostly Human, but three of their troop types are Faey. Unless you start with a Wielder who specializes in one or the other (Lady Hammond for Humans and Gnaw for Faey), you can safely mix and match them until the late game. At that point, you'll probably want to pick one and research as many upgrades as possible for your chosen specialization.

Except for Minstrels and their upgraded version, Troubadours, Human troops provide Order Essence in combat. Faey, on the other hand, provide Chaos Essence. This means that Human armies will generally have ready access to defensive buffs, while Faey armies will have more mobility and damage potential. In either case, it's usually worth bringing Minstrels and Troubadours along for their songs, which provide army-wide defense bonuses, and for the Creation Essence that they offer.

Human Troops

Unit

Recruited From

Upgrades To

Upgrade Ability

Essence

Notes

Militia

Peasant Hut

Sappers

  • Deploy stakes, creating an obstacle on the battlefield
  • 1x Order
  • Weak, but a high unit size limit allows strength in numbers.
  • Cannot attack the turn after firing their crossbow, but can still move.

Footmen

Barracks

Shield Of Order

  • Grant adjacent friendly units +25 Defense
  • 2x Order
  • Defense-oriented frontline troop.
  • Much more durable than most other Arleon units.

Rangers

Barracks

Archers

  • Can set overwatch, attacking the first enemy to enter Deadly Range.
  • 1x Order
  • Long-range damage dealer.

Minstrels

Tavern

Troubadours

  • Doubles the benefit of songs.
  • 1x Chaos
  • 1x Creation
  • Decent light melee unit.
  • Can sing instead of attacking by clicking the note under the unit.
    • Songs increase your entire army's Defense.

Knights

Castle

Fists Of Order

  • Grant all adjacent units a bonus to Offense and Damage.
  • 1x Order
  • 1x Chaos
  • Elite mobile damage dealer.
  • Gets a +10 Melee Offense bonus for every tile they move before attacking.
  • Fits well in both Human and Faey armies.

Faey Troops

Unit

Recruited From

Upgrades To

Upgrade Ability

Essence

Notes

Faey Spirits

Faey Grove

Faey Ragers

  • Attack twice per turn.
  • Can delay their turn until later in the round.
  • 2x Chaos
  • Fragile, but fast and hard-hitting.

Horned Ones

Faey Grove

Queen's Guards

  • Enter a defensive stance for +30 Defense.
  • 1x Chaos
  • Slow but powerful.
  • Gets increased Movement and Damage when hit, but loses a large amount of Defense.

Faey Nobles

Faey Court

Faey Queens

  • Attack multiple enemies at random.
  • Produce an additional Creation Essence
  • 1x Chaos
  • 1x Creation
  • Durable ranged unit.
  • Buffs Offense and Initiative of adjacent allies, making them useful as the center of a bow-line.

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Arleon Strategy

songs of conquest creation tier 2

Without plenty of buffs from Order spells or a defensively-oriented Wielder, Arleon's troops tend to be fragile. The exception are their Footmen, who are able to resist ranged attacks and have a higher overall Defense than their companions. For this reason, most Arleon wielders will want at least one unit of Footmen or Shields Of Order in their army to hold the line and protect their ranged units. In the late game, Wielders with additional unit slots might consider a second unit to contend with larger enemy forces.

Minstrels may not be the best in combat, but their real strength lies in the support they bring to the field. Not only can they further enhance Footmen with their songs of valor, but they also provide Creation Essence. Unless you're using a Wielder who specializes in Creation spells, such as Peradine, you'll want to use this extra Essence to cast Earth Block, creating choke points to protect your flanks. Clouded Vision is another useful spell for Arleon, as it partially neutralizes enemy ranged units and allows your Rangers to dominate the battlefield.

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Arleon Wielders

cutscene cecilia stoutheart vilja of thornecliffe

Matching Wielders with skills and units that complement their natural abilities is a key component of any strategy. This is especially true for Arleon players, who typically need to choose between Human and Faey troops.

Wielder

Starting Stats

Starting Troops

Starting Skill

Specialization

Recommended Units

Cecilia Stoutheart

  • Offense 5
  • Defense 10
  • Movement 12
  • Vision 7
  • Command 3
  • 5x Footmen
  • 5x Rangers
  • Guard
  • Gain one additional Order Essence each combat round.
  • All Human Troops

Ethylle-Ernaline

  • Offense 10
  • Defense 5
  • Movement 12
  • Vision 7
  • Command 3
  • 4x Faey Spirits
  • 4x Faey Spirits
  • Channeling
  • Spells deal forty percent more damage.
  • All Faey Troops
  • Minstrels

Giandra Stormspire

  • Offense 10
  • Defense 5
  • Movement 12
  • Vision 7
  • Command 3
  • 3x Faey Spirits
  • 3x Faey Spirits
  • 1x Horned Ones
  • Chaos
  • Gain one additional Chaos Essence each combat round.
  • All Faey Troops
  • Militia

Gnaw, Highchief of Faey

  • Offense 15
  • Defense 5
  • Movement 12
  • Vision 7
  • Command 3
  • 3x Horned Ones
  • Melee
  • All Faey troops under Gnaw's command gain +20 Melee and Ranged Offense.
  • All Faey Troops
  • Militia
  • Minstrels

Lady Elisa Hammond

  • Offense 5
  • Defense 10
  • Movement 12
  • Vision 7
  • Command 3
  • 10x Militia
  • 10x Militia
  • Cunning
  • All Human troops under Hammond's command gain +20 Defense.
  • All Human Troops

Peradine

  • Offense 5
  • Defense 5
  • Movement 13
  • Vision 8
  • Command 3
  • 10x Rangers
  • March
  • Gain one additional Creation Essence at the start of each combat round.
  • Minstrels
  • Footmen
  • Rangers
  • Faey Nobles

Ravenfayre

  • Offense 10
  • Defense 0
  • Movement 13
  • Vision 8
  • Command 3
  • 7x Minstrels
  • 5x Rangers
  • Archery
  • All units under Ravenfayre's command gain +15 Ranged Offense.
  • Militia
  • Rangers
  • Footmen
  • Faey Nobles

Baron Silverlink

  • Offense 5
  • Defense 10
  • Movement 12
  • Vision 7
  • Command 3
  • 2x Militia
  • 3x Rangers
  • 9x Minstrels
  • Taxes
  • All units under Silverlink's command can move one additional space per turn.
  • Militia
  • Knights
  • Faey Spirits

Vilja Of Thornecliffe

  • Offense 5
  • Defense 5
  • Movement 13
  • Vision 8
  • Command 3
  • 10x Militia
  • 5x Rangers
  • Prepared
  • All units under Vilja's command take forty percent less damage from spells.
  • Militia
  • Knights
  • Footmen
songs of conquest large settlement with barracks

When you start a new game as Arleon, in most cases you'll want to get a Barracks up and running as soon as possible. This allows you to recruit all-important Footmen. Start by constructing a Lumber Mill in a small building site on the first turn - this is a requirement for the Barracks. If there isn't sufficient Stone in your starting area, you can use the second slot for a Quarry, but a Tavern or Peasant Hunt would be a better use of the land.

Once your Barracks is ready, build toward the units that best serve your starting Wielder. If you're playing a Faey-focused Wielder like Gnaw or Ethylle, resist the temptation to skip the Barracks in favor of a Faey Grove, even if you have the necessary Glimmerweave to do it. Faey Spirits are too fragile and Horned ones too slow to recruit for them to form the cornerstone of your army at this stage of the game.

Once you've unlocked a large building site, your choice for construction there will be based on your overall strategy. If you're focused of Faey units or a ranged-heavy approach, build the Faey Court; Faey Nobles will bolster either of these army types, and you can also research upgrades for your Faey units from here. If you're using a more traditional Footmen-based army, construct the Grand Armory instead to enhance your human soldiers.

Next: Songs Of Conquest: How Does Magic Work?