Strategy Guides/Monthly Special Generals Analysis

Favor Points or FP is a valuable commodity in the game. Players can use FP in the Oracle page to purchase perks like refills, name change, generals, items etc. Most people look to get new generals that can help them in their play. Treasure chests contain some of the best generals available but they are a gamble. One can spend a lot of FP in there and not get a single general, let alone the one they want.

Castle Age offers an alternative options to non-gamblers in the form of the "Monthly" Specials. Unlike the chest, you can pick who or what you want to get. The generals offered are mostly weaker than the ones found in the chest. An acceptable trade-off to get a guarantee. These generals set are released every two weeks and as such there are already a lot of them available. A lot of people ask for advise on who to get so they could get the best general that would help them the most in their gameplay.

This page will analyze these monthlies: what they do, how they are used and other factors that can affect purchase. It aims to help guide players to make the best choice for their FP investment. More data about these generals are available here as well as their own pages.

Please note that Memnon is not included since he has no buy number and the developers made it clear in their twitter account that they have no plans to make him available again.

Item Bonuses to Consider
Item Bonuses are generally not worth purchase. Most of them give small boosts to the general's stats which while nice for war (if item bonuses are confirmed to work) offers very little in other aspects of the game. Some have effect bonuses to other stats like adds to max stamina, energy, critical rate and damage reduction. These items may or may not be worth the 25 FP they cost but they will be featured and perused to see which ones can be considerable purchases. Items selected supports what the general does. Items that boost your stats are not worth buying regardless of how high the amount of skill points are because 2 10 favor point refills will net you permanent skill points / level ups rather than temporary ones.

Top Prospects
These generals have very good abilities that you should consider buying them first before the others. Keep in mind though that their utilization depends on your play style. So even though they are worth 30 FP, it may not be your 30 FP.

Zin
Stats: 20/20

Ability: Recharge 15 Stamina upto your max when you attack in battles or monsters once per 23 hours.

Notes: Does not work in Raids

Analysis: Zin's ability is remarkable. She adds 15 more stamina to the amount you regen per day. You can have as much as 303 stamina regeneratd per 24 hours. That effectively means reducing your stamina timer by 15-16 seconds. You have to activate her ability manually by hitting other players or monsters to get it. Be sure that your current stamina count has room to recharge 15 more before using her ability.

The main argument against Zin is that 30 FP is also equivalent to 3 refills. Depending on your max stamina or energy count, it could take Zin a very long time to match the amount of stamina or energy that the refills recharged. This is true and you should consider this if you are buying refills.

Barbarus
Stats: 21/18

Ability: Increase Cost and Damage of Stamina and Energy Attacks vs Monster by 3x.

Analysis: The main use of Barbarus is against 2-bar monsters, particularly the next generation monsters (monsters that uses the Monster Class system). You can hit for 3x damage but receive only 1x retalition to the second bar per click. Thus requiring less energy to maintain that bar. Barbarus also saves you clicks if you are in a hurry. And during near level ups, if you have only a few exp needed to the next level and you have quite a lot of energy or stamina available, he can help you use them up so they aren't "wasted" in a sense and also give you some exp boost towards the next level.

A neutral stance on Barbarus' use is getting crits and exp gains. You can get big crits and exp bonuses with Barbarus if you get lucky. Seeing those are awesome. You have less chances to get them as Barbarus triples consumption so in the long run, it evens out.

Item to Consider



Type: Helmet

Stats: 12/8

Bonus: +1% Critical when Barbarus is equipped

Analysis: This item is certainly worth considering. When you hit a crit with Barbarus, that would be like hiting a crit 3-30 times in a row depending on the button/link you used. This item improves that chance albeit only slightly. Most people would take that chance.

Kaiser
Stats: 20/19

Ability: Increase critical hit rate by 3%.

Analysis: Critical hits are always good. They give you 2-3x damage against monsters, giving you a good damage-per-stamina ratio. Kaiser improves you chances to hitting criticals by 3%. He is the second best critical general in the game and is a guaranteed investment of FP.

Crits all depend on your luck with the RNG. You may not notice a difference with the 3% addition and you maybe better off using Barbarus or other attack boosting generals. Consider this is if you are not the crit-savvy player.

Item to Consider



Type: Magic

Stats: 12/7

Bonus: +1% Critical when Kaiser is equipped

Analysis: With Backdraft, Kaiser's ability becomes identical to Lotus, an Epic general from the Vanguard chest. This will cost an additional 25 FP but is guaranteed. Lotus is no guarantee so people hoping to land her will be advise to buy the Kaiser+Backdraft combo instead.

Godric
Stats: 20/20

Ability: Increase Max Energy by 20

Analysis: Godric's use is mainly for level-ups. +20 to your Max Energy without penalty to anywhere else is great even for high energy builds. That's equivalent to 1 hour and 40 minutes of wait time. Just remember to equip him when you are about to level.

The downside of Godric is he is mostly limited to level-ups. Barbarus can take his place as your level up general if you end up having a lot of energy or stamina on stock. Godric can also be used for refills but there already is a better general for that. But if you don't have her, Godric is the next best thing.

Solara
Stats: 20/22

Ability: Transfer 20% Max Energy to Max Stamina

Analysis: First of all, Solara's ability is an equivalent Skill Point transfer. Stamina costs 2 SP to improve compared to 1 SP of Energy. This means that 20% of your Max Energy will be halved and then added to your Max Stamina. Solara offers flexibility. Being able to transfer max energy to max stamina may come in useful depending on your play circumstances (refills, already done all quests).

Her main use is for stamina refills. She can also be your level up general, if you don't mind taking a hit in your energy. Remember that her effect is percentage based that relies on a player's energy stat. Those with lower energy counts will get less from refills than those with higher ones.

Adriana
Stats: 19/21

Ability: -3 Defense to Opposing War Council

Analysis: Adriana's is a great general for War. She was almost a must-have during Arena S2 when it used the War format. She can turn the tide of the match-up in your favor, provided you and your opponent's score are close. If you are looking for ranking up in War, Adriana is your girl. You can also use her in War of the Red Plains and Lion's Rebellion to give you a boost in Tactics if you are having trouble there.

Her downside is her limited use. You may or may not need Adriana depending on your council set-up. If you couldn't care less in War, you will not see much use for her.

Item to Consider



Type: Amulet

Stats: 10/11

Bonus: +2% Critical when Adriana is equipped

Analysis: +2% is indeed impressive for an equipment as that is equal to 2 generals' ability (Vorenus and Lothar the Ranger. However, criticals are disabled in War so you can only use this in monster fights. Given Adriana's ability, her use is limited down to Tactics which is only available in 2 monsters: War of the Red Plains and Lion's Rebellion. If you have no problem sweeping the council opposition here, you may be better off using other generals like Lotus, Kaiser or Slayer.

Scarlett
Stats: 20/20

Ability: Increase income by 6% per hour

Analysis: Gold, gold, gold! That's what Scarlett is about. With the introduction of Obsidian equipment, Seraphim Angels and Platinum Knights and them being a requirement for later quests, gold is not quite useless as it was before. She can also help bringing the cash in for maxing invasion items or some general ability requirements like Azriel's or *gulp* Delfina Cloudslayer.

Scarlett only offers 1% more income than her free alternative, Mercedes. It is quite a sum at the higher levels (+72M per day @ 300M income) but whether you want this or not depends on you.

Items to Consider

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Type: Weapon, Armor

Stats: 14/14, 11/14

Bonus: +2 Defense to Scarlett, +2 Defense to Scarlett

Analysis: Since Scarlett is an afk (aka away from keep) general, she'll be defending your keep against challengers. General stats are an afterthought in PvP but maybe that +4 defense would help...maybe not. Upto you but they are inline with what Scarlett is designed to be used for.

Second Rounders
These generals' abilities are not as good as the top prospects. But they deserve a look or two for those who are not chest gamblers.

Kataan
Stats: 22/22

Ability: Kataan gains +2 to Attack and Defense when he levels up

Analysis:Kataan has one use and one use alone: a War Council member. His stats at level 4 rival rare and even some epic chest generals making him a strong candidate for War.

If you don't War, you don't need Kataan. You maybe useful for Tactics in War of the Red Plains and Lion's Rebellion but even generals with lower stats than him can sweep the opposition if you have good stats and equipment.

Items to Consider

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Type: Weapon, Armor

Stats: 17/12, 14/11

Bonus: +2 Attack to Kataan, +2 Defense to Kataan

Analysis: Taking to account Kataan's use, boosting his own stats makes sense granted they count towards the war council calculation based on what the devs said. Anyways, these items boost Kataan to 24/24 at level 4 making him equivalent of an epic general in terms of stats. Whether you think this is worth 50 additional FP is your call.

Elora
Stats: 21/20

Ability: Increase Player Attack by 15 and Decrease Max Energy by 15

Analysis: Elora is the FP version of Serene. Slightly better attack and decreases Max Energy instead of Health. She is also the only guaranteed general that improves attack/defense at the cost of energy/stamina. Good for PvP if you don't have anyone better.

Elora is quite limited to PvP. Her attack bonus are not enough to trump the bonus of free generals Vanquish and to some extent, Zarevok or Elin. She may do better than them against Lotus Ravenmoore, Mephistopheles and Sylvanas, the Sorceress Queen, monsters who take defense into account with her superior general stats but it's easy to overlook as they are weak monsters.

Item to Consider



Type: Glove

Stats: 7/9

Bonus: +1% Critical when Elora is equipped

Analysis: You can utilize this glove against monsters, giving Elora some support to the area she is lacking. But crits are love it or hate it among players and with only a 1% add-on, it's either you do or you don't.

Suri
Stats: 21/19

Ability: Increase Player Defense by 0.2 per Hero Owned

Analysis: Mini-Ambrosia. Currently, we have 108 generals. Her potential increases as long as there are generals to collect. She will not trump Ambrosia though but assuming you can not or will not get Ambrosia or other better defenders (like Halcyon), Suri may become powerful to some players in the future. She is a very long term investment though.

Celesta is still your best PvP duel defender. Suri will not best Dante in fortification until there are 1 more general available (total of 109). Of course, minus Ambrosia, Halcyon, Corvintheus, Serra Silverlight who are better defenders. Assuming you have that much generals...

Item to Consider



Type: Helmet

Stats: 10/10

Bonus: +2 Defense to Suri

Analysis: Since Suri is defense-based, her item spotlight should be inline with what she does: defending. Gilded Tiara boost Suri's defense by 2. As mentioned though, general stats are an afterthought and it'll be a long time before Suri takes over in (wo)manning the keep and fortifications (assuming you still don't get better defenders). Buy only if you like to throw FP away...

Kaylen
Stats: 19/21

Ability: Increase Player Attack by 0.15 per Hero Owned

Analysis: Mini-Malekus. Currently, we have 108 generals. Her potential increases as long as there are generals to collect. She will not trump Malekus though but assuming you can not or will not get Malekus or other better attackers (like Xira), Kaylen may become powerful to some players in the future. She is also a very long term investment.

She will not best Vanquish in monster-hunting until there are 38 more generals available (total of 146). Of course minus Malekus, Xira, Aurora, Scourge, Ophelia who are better attackers. Assuming you have that much generals...

Item to Consider



Type: Helmet

Stats: 8/12

Bonus: +1% Critical whe Kaylen is equipped

Analysis: Although the opposite of Suri, Kaylen has the added advantage of being able to use her ability against more monsters. Adding a crit boosting item will help her in this department. But it will be a long time before Kaylen will become your primary monster hunter assuming you are not a fan of the Barbarus or Kaiser types.

Sanna
Stats: 20/21

Ability: Heal +4 additional health when you win as a Cleric in Guild Battles

Analysis: Sanna's ability sounds good at first as she boosts the Cleric Class healing. However, Deianira is still the best guild battle (and monster) general as her ability is multiplied by 10 along with everyone's health in the recent update. Sanna gives you +14 health while Deianira throws in +20 damage to go with the normal +10 healing.

The reason she is not in the dumpsters below is that you may still have some use for her if you are in a situation wherein you need to heal up fast and/or a lot while the remaining enemies still have lots of health (or at least, you won't do enough to bring down the enemy's health and affect their score) and there's only a few minutes, seconds to spare in your fight. Or if you team is extremely tough that you hardly lose but still have to deal with enemy numbers and health. Review your style and think about purchasing. Of course if you don't Guild Battle, you don't need her. Guild Monsters doesn't need her either.

Outdated
These generals have useful abilities but are rendered obsolete with the release of some generals in the top prospects batch who do and offer more.

Aria
Stats: 16/19

Ability: Increase Max Energy by 10

Analysis: Aria was a queen of leveling before Godric came out.

Minerva
Stats: 20/18

Ability: Increase Max Stamina by 6

Analysis: Another queen of leveling. Though not as outdated as Aria but still looks pretty weak nowadays. If you prefer stamina over energy, Minerva gives +6 without any penalties. If you have no problems with an energy "penalty", she is dwarfed by Solara.

Item to Consider



Type: Shield

Stats: 10/12

Bonus: +2 Max Stamina when Minerva is equipped

Analysis: With this shield, Minerva will give +8 stamina per level up. Still nice if you prefer stamina per level without penalty but again, dwarfed in comparison...

Slayer
Stats: 19/18

Ability: Increase critical hit rate by 3%

Analysis: Equivalent to Kaiser in terms of ability. But inferior everywhere else.

Item to Consider



Type: Weapon

Stats: 10/12

Bonus: +1 Attack to Slayer

Analysis:

+1 Attack is puny, more so that it's for the general and not player. Slayer was the first general to have item bonuses so we'll give him a break. Not our 25 FP though...

Collection Purposes
These generals have weak abilities that they are mostly only bought for the sake of buying or collection purposes. Generals with superior abilities are found elsewhere.

Azalia
Stats: 21/19

Ability: +5 Attack to your Mage Tower

Analysis: Boosting only one slot in war is weak when there are generals that boost all seven. Could be useful in Lion's Rebellion since Aurelius (unknown stats, equipped with heavy gear) is seen to be moving to the second war slot if you use Tactics. If you are losing, maybe Azalia is can make a difference. Even then Adriana should be enough to red-cross the rebel.

Item to Consider



Type: Amulet

Stats: 12/10

Bonus: +1% Critical when Azalia is equipped

Analysis: Similar to Adriana's use but weaker all around.

Gawain
Stats: 18/22

Ability: +10 Attack on your next 4 actions per 6 hours

Analysis: Gawain is the "brother of Phaethor". His bonus is weaker but you can do it more times before the cooldown is set. The sad thing is that +10 attack is small and compared to Elora (who is also a monthly general), who gives a better +15 attack and has no cooldown, Gawain is a joke.

Azul
Stats: 20/20

Ability: Increase Player Attack and Player Defense by 5

Analysis: General boosting 2 stats is not good since the stat additions are split and makes the overall effect weak. There are arguments that Azul is for Guild Battles as his boost is half of what the Warrior Class offers. Still the +5 to both stats most of the time will not make any difference at all.

Item to Consider



Type: Glove

Stats: 8/8

Bonus: +1% Critical when Azul is equipped

Analysis:This glove will give Azul a slight boost in monster hunting. You have better options elsewhere though.

Lailah
Stats: 18/20

Ability: Increase Player Defense by 5 and Max Energy by 6

Analysis: Another multi-stat boosting general. Lailah seems to be for fortification as she boosts Defense and Energy. However, the additions are weak that she won't take Dante's spot (at least, if you have no better ones) as your repairman/healer.

Item to Consider



Type: Armor

Stats: 9/11

Bonus: +1 Defense to Lailah

Analysis: Since Lailah is a defensive type, an item to consider is one that helps in that area. This one does although it boosts her defense which is not worth the 25 FP.

Gorlak
Stats: 18/18

Ability: Increase Player Attack and Max Stamina by 2

Analysis: The third multi-stat boosting general, and the worst of the three. As opposed to Lailah, Gorlak is for offense as he boosts Attack and Stamina. The bonus he gives is pathetic.

Crissana
Stats: 22/18

Ability: Increase All Player Stats by 4

Analysis: Well now...this general doesn't boost just 2 stats, she boosts all 5 (Energy, Stamina, Attack, Defense, Health). Sounds impressive but suffers the same fate as the other multi-stat boosting generals. CA's general system just doesn't "need" this type of generals unless the additions are heavy enough to take the role of 5 or even just 3 generals.

Item to Consider



Type: Amulet

Stats: 13/11

Bonus: +4 Max Stamina when Crissana is equipped

Analysis:With this item, Crissana will be an upgraded Minerva+Illvasan Crest. As you know, Minerva is in the outdated list of this article...

Fenris
Stats: 19/19

Ability: Increase Player Attack by 6

Analysis: Fenris boosts player attack. His bonus is equal to that of Nautica, a gold bought general.

Item to Consider



Type: Amulet

Stats: 10/10

Bonus: +2 Player Attack when Fenris is equipped

Analysis: Well this is a unique item bonus. It further augments Fenris ability making it +8 player attack compared to 6. Was nice back then, not anymore nowadays. Elora alone beats them handily.

Lyra
Stats: 22/16

Ability: Increase Player Attack by 6; Lyra gains +2 attack when she levels up

Analysis: Same with Fenris but with a little twist to her own stats. Still no better.

Item to Consider



Type: Weapon

Stats: 10/9

Bonus: +1 Attack to Lyra

Analysis: Since Lyra is for attacking, an attack boosting item fits here. Not worth the purchase.

Dexter
Stats: 16/22

Ability: Increase Player Defense by 6; Dexter gains +2 defense when he levels up

Analysis: Defense version of Lyra.

Item to Consider



Type: Armor

Stats: 8/11

Bonus: +1 Defense to Dexter

Analysis: Since Dexter is for defending, a defense boosting item fits here. Still not worth the purchase.

Final Words
If you would like to offer you insight on these generals and maybe their items, please make you ideas heard (or read) by writing them in the discussion area.