Armor teams

Armor absorbs a whole hit, however big that hit is. This makes a small, steady supply of armor very strong, particularly against enemies who hit hard but not often.

The pieces

• Crusader turns armor into damage. Shield Bash deals power plus current armor, and Fortify keeps raising the cap at level 3.
• Squire gives armor equal to its power to the friend directly in front, every round, at level 3. There is no upper limit.
• Shieldbearer starts with the most armor and punishes melee attackers with Riposte.
• Thornweaver also uses Riposte, and starts armored.
• Grove Warden gives 1 armor each round to every friend with none at level 3.
• Necromancer gives 2 armor to your weakest friend each time an enemy dies at level 3.

Best champion

Ilse is the natural fit. Every ally starts each fight with armor, and Altar armor blessings are twice as strong. That means Riposte and Shield Bash work from the first round.

How to use it

Put a Squire directly behind the hero you want to protect. Standing behind a Crusader, Armorer feeds both its defense and its damage.

Watch out for the following:

• Pierce and status damage skip armor. Hexes, poison and burn go straight to health, so keep some healing or Purify in mind.
• Bloodlust heroes dislike armor. Hits stopped by armor don’t trigger Bloodlust, so it can work against Berserker and similar heroes.
• Many small hits strip armor fast. Against Thunderclap teams, armor falls quickly across your lineup, and a steady supply of armor matters more than a large one-off amount.