Editing Swordsman and Crusader

{{Castle creatures}}{{Creature
 | AI_Value  = 445
 | Name      = Swordsman
 | Attack    = 10
 | Defense   = 12
 | Speed     = 5
 | Growth    = 4
 | Damage    = 6–9
 | Health    = 35
 | Cost      = 300
 | U_AI_Value= 588
 | U_name    = Crusader
 | U_attack  = '''12'''
 | U_speed   = '''6'''
 | U_damage  = '''7–10''' '''(x2)'''
 | U_cost    = 400
 | U_special = • [[Double attack]]
 | No_shots  = 
 | No_ushots = 
 | No_spec   = 
}}

{{Cram|Barracks|Swordsman|Crusader|no_dwelling=|pad=5px 10px 3px 0px}}
'''Swordsmen''' and '''Crusaders''' are level 4 creatures of [[Castle]]. They can be recruited from [[Castle creature dwellings|Barracks]].

''"Well armed and armored, swordsmen and crusaders are better all-around foot soldiers than their pikemen companions. Crusaders deliver two blows per attack."{{-}}<sup>[[Restoration of Erathia Manual Page 86|RoE manual]]''</sup>

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== Heroes with a specialty ==
*{{H|Catherine|Knight}} and
*{{H|Sorsha|Knight}} have swordsmen as a [[Specialty#Creature_specialties|specialty]], which increases the attack and defense skills of any swordsmen or crusaders for each level attained after 4th level and gives them a [[speed]] bonus of 1.
*{{H|Roland|Knight}}'s specialty is bugged so it affects crusaders only. ''(Fixed in {{hota}})''{{-wh}}

== Tactics and info ==
{{Fanopinion}}

It's vital to promote Swordsmen to Crusaders as soon as possible, so beware of having enough [[crystal]]s to build the upgraded building. Both are relatively slow troops, but especially Crusaders with their double strike have high capability of doing damage, being able to compete with level 5 and even level 6 units in terms of raw damage per unit. It's recommended to use Crusaders to cripple lower tier enemy units, being sure to kill a good part of the stack, or take advantage of certain situation to kill some of the enemy's essential troops.

10-12 [[Attack]] and [[Defense]] is high for a level 4 creature. 35 [[Health]] is about average. Swordsmen' [[Damage]] of 6-9 is average, but Crusaders' 7-10 x2 is the highest of all level 4 troops. [[Speed]] of 5-6 is their relatively weak point, as most of level 4 units have either Speed of 7 or better.

At 300-400 [[gold]], they are very cost-effective troops, provided you can use them in melee. While their dwelling both normal and upgraded costs just 5 {{ore}} and 2000 {{g}}, upgraded Barracks also require 5 {{crystal}}.

Effectiveness of [[Bless]] and [[Curse]] depends greatly on whether the target stack is upgraded or not. Swordsmen' average damage of 7,5 is reduced to 6 (or 5 with Advanced [[Fire Magic]]) or increased to 9 (10 with Advanced [[Water Magic]]). Both spells have tremendous effect on Crusaders' damage output, because of their double strike special: 2x 8,5 becomes 2x 6/7 or 2x 10/11.

[[Haste]] and [[Slow]] are possibly the most important spells concerning this unit, because their great melee power is useless if they cannot reach the enemy. Haste ensures they can do so, often before the enemy can even move, and Slow makes them perfect targets for ranged troops.

Because of their low Speed, [[Prayer]] is also decent buff, also improving their formidable Attack and Defense.

If they will be unable to reach enemy ranged troops, [[Air Shield]] offers some protection from ranged fire.

As they are not the toughest troops around, [[Stone Skin]] and [[Shield]] are useful on them, as they are going to be in melee often if they are not wiped out from distance.

[[Bloodlust]] and [[Weakness]] affect their attack power. [[Slayer]] might be useful, if you can exploit Crusaders' double attack and somehow not get them wiped out by opposing level 7 troop, as they only have 35 health. [[Frenzy]] leads to incredibly high damage output, but also makes the troops very vulnerable due to 0 Defense, and thus not recommended if an attacked stack has an opportunity to retaliate.

Because their attack usually comes in two parts, [[luck]] is even more random, as Crusaders can benefit from double damage on each attack, both, or none. [[Morale]] works better, as more actions means more double attacks.

Like any strong melee unit, [[Counterstrike]] is decent buff for them, even if their retaliations don't benefit from double attack special ability.

Because of their relative fragility and high damage output, [[Clone]] might be useful to cast on Crusaders, as the clone isn't going to exist for long, and cloned Crusaders will certainly do heavy damage to any opposing stack.

As they have only 35 Health, no immunities and high melee damage, they are an obvious target for [[direct damage spells]] or [[mind spell]]s. If Crusaders are your best troop, consider casting Protection from X on them or [[Anti-magic]] when fighting spellcasting creatures or enemy [[Hero]]. Waiting to cast [[Dispel]] or [[Cure]] might also be wise, as both spells remove negative effects and Cure also restores some health while leaving any beneficial effects untouched.

Their special ability means that in practice Crusaders deal about double damage when they attack (but not when they retaliate). Because the sequence is: Crusaders attack > target retaliates if possible > Crusaders attack again, it is very beneficial for them to attack after retaliation has been used up in the current battle turn. In [[Castle]] army [[Halberdier]]s seem obvious unit to use in this way, as they have similar speed and are quite strong and durable troops for their level. Wiping the enemy out after [[Angel and Archangel|Angels, Archangels]], [[Cavalier and Champion|Cavaliers or Champions]] softened them up and took the retaliation is another possibility, but Crusaders might need some speed bonus to keep up with these fast troops. Moreover, against someone really strong it's not recommended since a loss of even one Archangel or Champion is a very bad thing, as they're exceptionally strong and expensive.

When fighting Crusaders, exploit the facts that they are quite slow, have low health, and only shine when attacking. Their retaliation is a normal, single attack, even if quite damaging. Their speed is the weak point, so use ranged troops, magic, or both against them. They also cannot endure prolonged melee combat against tougher melee troops that also deal high damage, like [[Minotaur King]]s.

In Castle army they are the mid level hard hitters, as their special ability ensures that everything coming under their attack will take heavy casualties. They cannot take damage as well as they dish it out, though, due to 35 Health. Thus it is best to send them against stacks softened up by ranged troops, those that cannot retaliate, or targets you are sure to wipe out.

The most beneficial [[secondary skill]]s for Swordsmen and Crusaders are obviously [[Offense]] and [[Armorer]]. [[Tactics]] is useful because their own speed is lacking. [[Leadership]], while possibly redundant and unreliable, is still better than [[Luck]], because Crusaders already deal high damage with their double attack.

Might-oriented heroes are natural choice to use with Crusaders, as they usually start having one or more of these skills. Magic heroes can still be useful if they have spells increasing their speed. [[Sorsha]] and [[Loynis]] are decent starting choices, but any hero starting with [[Haste]] or [[Prayer]] or specializing in these spells will do well.

{{creature 'see also'}}

[[Category: Creatures]]
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