My rankings of the Parada units!

I am keeping the tier series rolling and today it’s Parada’s turn. Parada is a faction that has a pair of clear strengths, ranged attacks and a variety of high-powered melee units each with different strengths. Parada is a relatively terrain-tile dependent faction, meaning that where you place your tiles can make or break the battle!

Here are my tiers for Parada! (Tiermaker link)

• Superb Tier: Centaur Skirmisher, Elf Sharpshooter, Elf Bladelord
• A Tier: Yumboe Battlemage, Elf Archer, Eloko Marshall, Centaur Stampeders
• B Tier: Minotaur Chieftain, Eloko Grand Umlingo, Monstrous Umuthi
• C Tier: Centaur Scout, Sentry Jitu
• D Tier: Eloko Recruit, Grove Umuthi, Parada Militia

D TIER: Eloko Recruit, Grove Umuthi, Parada Militia

Two of these units, Eloko Recruit and Grove Umuthi, are a lot more firmly in D Tier than Parada Militia. Eloko Recruit and Grove Umuthi both bring an element of toughness but are nothing special. Grove Umuthi’s low movement and mana generation hurt it as well. Parada Militia is a solid support melee unit as Skirmish can provide some deterrence but is vulnerable to non-melee units and is average at best as an attacker.

C TIER: Centaur Scout, Sentry Jitu

Centaur Scout is a great resource center grabber- units with 3 movement and 3 rank are always useful, especially when they are as cheap as the scout. However, 1 health makes it an easy 3 pointer for your enemy. Another one of Parada’s signature high-health, tough units is Sentry Jitu, a great attack absorber with Natural Toughness. The Jitu is limited as an attacker, but the solid defense helps.

B TIER: Minotaur Chieftain, Eloko Grand Umlingo, Monstrous Umuthi

Parada’s units are straightforward and to the point. Their role within combat is pretty clear- as there are obvious attack units and defense units. The remaining units have relatively obvious specialties as well- there is a clear-cut spellcaster, a clear-cut scout, and so on. Eloko Grand Umlingo is the aforementioned spellcaster. Parada is bereft of Aerial units, so the Tornado spell is extremely necessary. Fortunately for Parada, it can also be devastating. Eloko Grand Umlingo also has Jolt, but if there are not any enemy units that are in Aerial mode the Eloko Grand Druid is very overcosted and not exactly a force to be reckoned with. Monstrous Umuthi is another unit with a very clear-cut role- lumber into the thick of the battle and eat up attacks. Monstrous Umuthi’s enormous defense skill is really useful, but the problem is getting it into an effective position on the battleground. It’s 1 movement can really slow down the tempo, and the rest of Parada’s units utilize speed and range, making the Umuthi a challenging fit. I almost put Minotaur Chieftain in the A tier- it’s an excellent Captain with 4 rank and can more than hold it’s own as a melee fighter. At 6 gold, it’s a great value and more often than not enters the fray as Parada’s lead captain. The Minotaur Chieftain is a pure melee unit with no other abilities, which puts a ceiling on how high I can rank it.

A TIER: Yumboe Battlemage, Elf Archer, Eloko Marshall, Centaur Stampeders

Parada’s lone flying unit is the extraordinarily versatile Yumboe Battlemage. It’s a Captain, can cast Jolt, and has great movement and rank. It has Agility and it’s almost always futile to try to hit it with a spell or ranged attack thanks to Evade 5. Yumboe Battlemage has so many uses at a low gold cost of 4 which makes it probably Parada’s most important playable unit. Parada’s lack of Aerial support hurts it a bit though- every other faction has multiple Aerial units that can eliminate the YBM with a simple melee attack. Elf Archer is cheap and has 3 Range, making it a really effective and cheap offensive unit. Eloko Marshall is another great Captain and gets the slight nod over Minotaur Chieftain for me because of its ranged attack. Parry 2 can make enemies think twice about making a melee attack. Parada’s unit with the most raw power unit is Centaur Stampeders. They can get to where they need to go with great movement and Bullrush. This enables the Centaur Stampeders to unleash big melee damage in a battle more often than not. Centaur Stampeders has great core stats- but comes with a high price tag.

S TIER: Centaur Skirmisher, Elf Sharpshooter, Elf Bladelord

Parada has a trio of elite point-scorers. Centaur Skirmisher can shed a lot of blood for 5 gold. The 2 range paired with 3 movement (and 3 rank) shrinks the board. Skirmish gives the Centaur Skirmisher an extra way to deal damage and deter enemies. The real weapon however is Versatile. Range and 3 movement is great on it’s own, but Versatile really maximizes those traits when there are multiple enemies on the board. Elf Sharpshooter is generally considered to be the best ranged unit in the game (although a case can be made for Elite Ambushmaster in Vitawaasi) 3 damage at 3 range is massive. Elf Sharpshooter’s Precision is also the half of Parada’s defense against Aerial units (with the Tornado spell being the other). While Tornado has greater potential, the Elf Sharpshooter is more consistent. I generally don’t put Ground melee only units (non Captain/non Aerial) in S or even A Tier, but Elf Bladelord (now with 4 attack!) is an exception… that’s because they can shred enemies with Agility and 4 attack. That low health is very deceiving, Evade 4 will enable the Elf Bladelord to dodge most spells and range. Skirmish is extremely powerful with the Elf Bladelord– not a lot of players want to take an extra 4 damage- but to eliminate the Elf Bladelord they have to.

You can rank Factions units on Tiermaker and we can compare/contrast! We are halfway through the Tier series (5 factions down and 5 more to go). It will continue with Moonshadow up next!