Age of Wonders 4 is a 4X strategy filled with fantasy and adventure, challenging players to lead their custom Faction from humble beginnings to world domination. In lieu of a traditional 4X technology tree, Age of Wonders 4 instead features the Tomes of Magic, books of spells, units, and structures for players to unlock.
The Tomes of Magic are divided into the game's 6 Affinities, and the Order Affinity Tomes are all about healing magic for the faithful and the wrath of heaven for the heretic. Several of the Order tomes work together by imposing and punishing the Condemned status effect or by making more of the player's units Faithful or Zealous.
Tier 1 Order Tomes
Tome of Faith
The Tome of Faith focuses on healing and support and immediately unlocks the Knowledge-producing Abbey and the Mending Touch Hero Skill.
The Staves of Mending unit enchantment spell grants an upkeep reduction and healing ability to all of the player's Support units, no matter their origin. This includes the Chaplain unit unlock, which also has its own heal and support abilities, allowing players to keep their units alive while Wrath of the Faithful destroys their enemies.
On the world map, Army Heal is a rare out-of-combat healing spell, and the Convent Structure grants a huge amount of Knowledge and Mana if the player manages to keep their city stable. Finally, Faithful Whispers can be a massive buff in the early game, allowing Tome of Faith players to beat other Factions in the race to earn the loyalty of a Free City.
Tome of Zeal
The Tome of Zeal is the first of a pair of Tomes that focus on Zealous units and Condemned enemies and immediately unlocks the Draft-producing Circle of Zealotry and the Condemn Hero Skill.
On the battlefield, the Tome of Zeal is all about the Condemned status effect, which lowers Status Resistance and increases damage from Zealous units. Condemnation can be used to apply Condemned, which units like the Zealot and any that have been enchanted with Legion of Zeal can then take advantage of. This combo can be further enhanced with Inspiring Chant, boosting the damage of all Zealous units.
Finally, players can use Fanatical Workforce to massively increase the Production in a City at the cost of Food for 3 turns. This can be very useful for rushing out an important or defensive structure or getting down a Special Province Improvement early to take full advantage of its benefits.
Tier 2 Order Tomes
Tome of the Beacon
The Tome of the Beacon focuses on Faithful units and Free City diplomacy and immediately unlocks the Champion of the Faithful Hero Skill.
Mighty Meek grants the Faithful trait to all Tier 1 units, as well as scaling damage against high Tier enemies. This can strengthen the player's frontline while they focus on ranged units like the Lightbringer, which has an ability that can convert enemy units for a short time. In addition, the Divine Beacon works very well with this kind of defensive army composition, providing a constant heal and Morale buff within a 2-hex radius.
On the world map, players can use Covenant of the Faith to double-down on a Vassalized Free City, granting extra Imperium and adding Faithful to all that City's units recruited through Rally of the Lieges. If the player's Vassal comes under attack, they can cast Blessed Reinforcements to add a pair of tough Blessed Souls units to their ally's army.
Tome of the Inquisition
The Tome of the Inquisition builds on the Tome of Zeal with a focus on Condemned and Zealous units. It also immediately unlocks the Gold-producing Tithe Collector and Zeal Hero Skill.
Inquisitor's Zeal is the Legion of Zeal spell but for ranged Units, granting increased damage against Condemned targets and bonus accuracy. The Tome of Inquisition also features 2 new ways to inflict Condemned, using the Mass Condemnation spell or the abilities of the Inquisitor Skirmisher unit.
On the world map, the Tribunal Structure can keep a City's Stability high to maximize productivity while also granting +1 Knowledge per Population. Finally, the Burden of Guilt can be used to damage and slow enemy armies, either giving a friendly City time to prepare or stopping a fleeing enemy from escaping.
Tier 3 Order Tomes
Each of the Tier 3 Order Affinity Tomes also unlocks the Seed of Order Special Province Improvement, the first step for Age of Wonders 4's Magic Victory.
Tome of Sanctuary
The Tome of Sanctuary focuses on healing and defensive magic and immediately unlocks the Mana-producing Sanctuary and the Sanctify Hero Skill.
Keeper's Mark adds the Faithful Trait to almost all melee unit types, as well as a special buff that makes them immune to damage for 1 turn the first time they would have been reduced to 0 HP in a battle. This, combined with Salvation and Healing Spires, makes the player's armies incredibly durable.
The Anointed People minor race transformation spell only increases the toughness of the player's units, granting the entire race extra Status and Spirit Resistance. Finally, Consecrated Domain makes sure that the player's units are also safe from Morale and magical damage, provided they're fighting in the Domain of the target City.
Tome of Subjugation
Taking inspiration from the Chaos Tomes of Magic, the Tome of Subjugation is all about conquest and intimidation and immediately unlocks the Terrifying Aura Hero Skill.
The Tyrant Knight is one of the strongest Shock units in Age of Wonders 4 and can inflict both HP and Morale damage with its devastating charge. This is particularly effective when all Shock units are being buffed with the Intimidation Aura, which doubles down on Morale damage. When the weight of this Morale damage becomes too much, players can target routing enemy units with Final Ultimatum, forcing them to either switch sides or die.
The Tome of Subjugation is great for conquering enemy Cities, with the Subjugating Raid Siege Project able to steal away Population whether the final assault is a success or a failure. Once an enemy City has been conquered, the Baron's Palace will keep Stability high and also generate a huge amount of Gold.
Tier 4 Order Tomes
Each of the Tier 4 Order Affinity Tomes also unlocks the Root of Order Special Province Improvement, the second step in Age of Wonders 4's Magic Victory.
Tome of Exaltation
The Tome of Exaltation is the final part of the Faithful build, enhancing Faithful units with a range of powerful spells. It immediately unlocks the Imperium-producing Ruler's Statue and the Exalted Brilliance Hero Skill.
The Angelize major race transformation may be expensive, but it comes with some of the best buffs in Age of Wonders 4, granting Flying movement and the Celestial and Faithful traits to all members of the race. Alongside Ascended Warriors, this can allow an Order player to quickly build up their elite angelic armies.
Taking advantage of all of this faith is the Shrine of Smiting, which gets a bonus to its primary attack based on the number of Faithful units in the army. Although the Shrine will weaken as Faithful units die, players can simply revive them using Resurrect Unit. Finally, the Temple of the Exalted is a useful City Structure that boosts Mana, Stability and doubles all Governor income bonuses.
Tome of Supremacy
The Tome of Supremacy is an all-rounder Tome with a slight focus on Condemned enemies and immediately unlocks the Supreme Magic Hero Skill.
Granting the same effect as the Hero Skill of the same name, the Supreme Magic unit enchantment spell adds Zeal to all Support and Battle Mage units and makes their attacks explode enemy units whenever they get a kill. This damage can be further boosted by using Condemn Army, the final and most powerful Condemn-based spell, which comes with 20 Spirit Damage and stays with the target army for 3 turns.
Alongside these abilities, the Tome of Supremacy also contains the powerful Eagle Rider Shield unit and the Anthem of Victory buff spell to further enhance its strength. Finally, Monument of Supremacy can be used to massively boost Draft income and City Stability.
Tier 5 Order Tome
Tome of the God Emperor
The final Order Affinity Tome is all about powerful support spells and immediately unlocks the Heart of Order Special Province Improvement, the final stage in Age of Wonders 4's Magic Victory, as well as the Conjure Dome of Protection Hero Skill.
The Divine Protection and Mass Revive spells combine to make it incredibly difficult for the player to lose units, with the former restoring all killed units after a victorious battle and the latter resurrecting all dead units that have Faithful or Zeal.
On the offensive side, Exalted Champion is one of the strongest buff spells in Age of Wonders 4, and can turn a single unit into an unstoppable killing machine for 3 turns. Finally, Wrath of the Emperor can deal massive damage to enemy armies on the Realm map, as well as Demoralizing and Condemning them.
Age Of Wonders 4 is available now on PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows.