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The chaos creates a dangerous world, with opportunities to capitalise on the uncertainty of the future. The empire of Calradia is plagued by inner conflict, tearing the structure of the old order as new lines are drawn on the map. Other options for decent throwing troops include Sturgian Heavy Axeman, Battanian Wildling, and Aserai Mameluke Palace Guard. The Line Breaker has more to offer in terms of two-handed weapon skills, with a stat of 150, while the Bandit Boss has more throwing ability at 150, compared with 130 for the Line Breaker. If you’re looking for troops who are reasonably competent in melee combat but also able to inflict significant damage with their throwing weapons, the Sturgian Line Breaker and Mountain Bandit Boss are two of the best. If you’re looking for slightly easier options to obtain but with lower stats, you might consider the Mercenary Crossbowman, Vlandian Hardened Crossbowman, Boar Champion, or Imperial Crossbowman. Both have similar one-handed weapon and athletics stats which are comprarable with the Hired Crossbow, with 130 in each stat. Outisde of the mercenary troop tree, the Vlandian Sharpshooter and Imperial Sergeant Crossbow come next in terms of crossbow proficiency.
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You’ll then be able to recruit them into your party a few days later. Alternatively, you can defeat a mercenary force and take one as your prsioner. As a mercenary unit, you’ll be able to find and recruit them primarily from taverns in major settlements.
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They are also quite proficient with one-handed weapons, and reasonably athletic with a 120 athletics stat. The best crossbow troop is the Hired Crossbow, with a crossbow stat of 140. There are feweer options and fewer differences between crossbow troops compared with bow troops. You’ll then need to level the troop by winning battles to obtain experience and progress through the Battanian Special Troops tree. Their troop tree begins with Battanian Highborn Youth, which you can find and recruit from villages in Battania, but they are much rarer than regular troops. One of the only downsides to the Battanian Fian Champion is that they can be more difficult to find and recruit. This makes the troop incredibly versatile in both ranged and melee combat, and there are no other primary archer units which come close to its stat levels. In terms of special troops outside the main faction troop trees, the Battanian Fian Champion is by far the best archer, with 260 in the Bow stat, 220 Two-Handed weapon stat, and 170 Athletics stat.
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