Spearmaster is a promoted class stemming from the Spearman base-class, introduced in the first part of The Banner Saga.
- The active ability of Spearmaster is called Impale.
- Two playable heroes belong to this promoted class: Ludin and Tryggvi.
- Impale is gained by Bak, the Slaughterer-class unit of the second game, when promoted to Rank 6.
- Units of this class have not (yet) been introduced in Factions.
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Active Ability: Impale
The Spearmaster skewers an adjacent enemy unit doing normal Strength damage (with 100% chance to hit) before knocking it back with a kick to release his spear. Impaled characters will Bleed (debuff) for one round, taking 1 Strength damage for each tile of movement. This can be especially deadly if bleeding characters are moved against their will.
- Rank 1: Bleed and Knock-back 1 tile
- Rank 2: Bleed and Knock-back 2 tiles
- Rank 3: Bleed and Knock-back 3 tiles
Notes:
- Knock-back by Impale will not push the target through other units, unlike Battering Ram or Mule Kick.
- Bleeding damage is not received for the tiles knocked-back by Impale's 'kick'.
- Interestingly, Impale is not a direct extension of the base-class' passive (Embolden, granting Willpower for kills), as is the case with other "master-class" promoted units (e.g. Raidmaster, Bowmaster, Shieldmaster, Warmaster).
Playstyle
- Impale is an Armor-bypass damaging ability that can be used in conjunction with displacement abilities (e.g. Battering Ram, Malice or Mule Kick) to cause significant bleeding damage. This is useful against high Armor enemies like Dredge Stoneguard.
- Impale is extremely efficient against Dredge Slingers owing to their Back Off passive: After any attack they will (randomly) move three tiles away, thus taking 3 bleeding damage!