atk def vs leadership

[nakago]

how would you trade off, which is more important.

i can calculate dmg, but atk and def, is a little fuzzy to me.

let say i have an artifact that gives +4 defense, and -1 atk.
and i can trade it with an artifact that give 500 leadership.

at level 22 mage which one to choose?

[Zhuangzi]

It does depend how low your defense value is currently. Say it's very low, like 6, then I would take the artifact. It is it 10 or more, then I would take the leadership. In general I think leadership rules in this game, but then I am thinking in terms of no-losses, which requires lots of Paladins and to a lesser extent Inquisitors. The other thing is that the Mage has low leadership in general, so you need to do everything you can to increase it.

[Zechnophobe]

Defense is a little hard to compare, and leadership is predicated on how much you already have. Giving 20k leadership of sprites 4 more attack, instead of 500 more leadership, is definitely better, but 300 leadership of bowmen +4 attack, or 500 leadership is an obvious distinction.

I've posted this before, but so what, here is information on incoming damage:

If DEF is greater than ATK by:

15, you take two thirds of full damage
30, you take half of full damage
45, you take 40% of full damage
60, you take a third of full damage

If ATK is greater than DEF by:

15, you take 50% more damage
30, you take 100% more damage
45, you take 150% more damage
60, you take 200% more damage

So if you are comparing 4 defense to 500 leadership, consider the numbers above.

Attack vs damage is a lot easier to figure, if all you care about is stack damage (Not special abilities like resurrect). 15 attack increases your damage by 50% of your base damage. So 5 attack increases it by 17% of the base.

Even still though, since your total damage and base damage become further and further apart as your attack increases, the 5 points of attack is much more valuable the lower the attack of the units in your army to begin with.

Sigh, I know, it is a lot of numbers to try to think about, to bottom line it:

Leadership is always really good, but consider how much you are getting, compared to how much you have. 500 leadership when you have 10k isn't worth jack diddly.

Attack and Defense bonuses are better for low level units, where as high level units like crit% and resistances.

[TemjinGold]

Well said! And that's why I never give the Blood of the Goddess to Jimmy Kraud (prefer to drink it myself) as 700 leadership is nothing past a certain point.