We all have our favourite heroes in Majesty. Most of us base our favourites on the clever/cool things they can do, whether they are spewing fireballs, charming vampires into the fold, or simply cleaving a man in twain. To keep these heroes around for long enough to become attached to them, or in Wizards’ cases long enough to become powerful, can be difficult. This can be remedied through babysitting. By babysitting, we mean a couple of things. First, looking after a few heroes, or a class of heroes, keeping them strong through use of Sovereign Spells, or Guild abilities. Second, once the heroes have been looked after, they’re ready to progress to levels high enough to make them formidable opponents, and potential game winning units.

Probably the most powerful tool in the babysitter’s arsenal is the hot key. To assign a hero to a hot key, click on him/her, then hold control and press a function key, F2-F12. The next time you press that function key alone, that hero appears in the hero window. From there his position can be called into either of the larger gaming maps. Whilst tracking more than a few heroes through this can be taxing on the human memory, using hot keys to quickly look in on a few especially important heroes is worth the time to learn. It’s far quicker and cheaper than hearing a hero’s signature death-call, clicking his guild, clicking heroes and double clicking the one that’s described as dead.

Next on the list would be the Heal spell. For non-Krolm players, the Heal spell is most important early in the game, when heroes are more susceptible to a quick death, and late, when battling swarms of enemy heroes. There are two ways to use it. To ensure the health of your characters you can heal them as soon as they’ve taken a blow or two. This does guard against a sudden cascade of damage when encountering multiple foes. My preference is to wait until a hero is below half damage before spending the money, making the most of the huge health gain. And remember, there’s always an easy way to do things. Don’t click the Heal spell and then try healing directly on the large player map. I’ve often seen a foe heal my own characters when trying this. Click the hero first, to get him into the hero window. Then, activate the heal spell from the tool bar and click it directly onto the needy hero’s face. Similarly, check the manual for spell keyboard commands.

Once you have a Wizards’ Guild, then Invisibility becomes available to you. This is a crucial spell for the babysitting of the Wizards themselves. Providing that low level Wizards can muster the courage to engage a foe, they usually become that foe’s next target. Invisibility allows them to continue to fire away, while the enemy wanders off, seemingly oblivious to the spells raining down on him. Heal is rarely a spell you’ll use on a Wizard. They’re well-equipped with potions to take care of healing themselves, though most damaging blows simply kill the Wizards. And, don’t forget, when Vampires threaten, Wizards are often their own worst enemies. Try a 2nd level Wizards’ Guild spell, “Anti-magic shield” on the Wizards you control when Vampires are in town. That should save them from their own idiocy. At least for a ‘spell’.

Obviously you can’t go around with an endless supply of gold, continuously casting Sovereign spells on every hero you have. So, whom do you prioritise? Wizards, Paladins and Priestesses are my recommendations, and, with the following details specific to the latter two. Wizards will require their own article.

Paladins require a frustrating amount of supervision. Early on, their high cost justifies keeping half an eye on them. Blessing is a nice help to the early Paladin, until she reaches 4th level and can cast Shield of Light on herself. While from a purely economic standpoint, Healing and Blessing/Vigilance-ing a Paladin soon outspends a Resurrection, you’re also likely to be damaging the enemy and gaining experience while you spend that money. Beyond 6th or 7th level, their own durability gets them into trouble. Paladins from 6th level on up can withstand quite a beating, and are often caught on a chevauchée into the enemy’s base. There they can become surrounded, and eventually cut down, after their durability has earned them a few more levels. So, always remember this tool for rescuing Paladins (or Warriors or Warriors of Discord [WoDs…]): the ‘Call to Arms’, which can be used from the Warriors’ Guild. It’s not just to bring your fighters back to town for defense. It can also save them from a tricky situation, and is only marginally more expensive than the Evil Heal (for Warriors and WoDs.) Another reminder: you can hotkey a building. If your fighters are always getting into trouble, hotkey their guild for quick access to ‘Call to Arms’.

Paladins are the easiest units to babysit, with the possible exception of a regular Warrior being followed and supported by a Healer. Once they reach 4th level they can become self-sufficient. And, the probabilities in their decision trees usually cause groups of Paladins to take the same actions, thereby covering one another.

Priestesses can be formidable opponents and great allies. If you’re playing on a map rich in undead, then the Krypta/Fervus combination should get a good dose of consideration. Parlaying the Priestess-Cultist spells into powerful heroes is rather straightforward. There are some good options, but some easy choices. Priestesses are good candidates for healing. They do add to their own strength when successful in combat, as well as to their own skeletal/undead henchmen. But their low hit points do make them vulnerable. If they come near opponents with high magic resistance, have Heal ready. Don’t be tempted to cast Illusionary Hero on a priestess. Of far more use is Animate Dead. It generates a second target, as does Illusionary Hero, but this skeletal target can generate experience for the Mistress. It costs 300 gold more, but is the better choice.

Priestesses should be left alone until they reach about 4th level. From that point on they should have spells and undead followers enough to invest Sovereign Spell help. The goal is to coax them to level 7, whence they can charm Vampires. At that point, simply resort to reanimating when needed.

So, what is the object of all this trouble? The main purpose of babysitting is to generate heroes who can win you the game. The majority of heroes, like Rogues, Rangers, Elves and Gnomes, have specific abilities, but little power to turn the tide of a long-term game. Cultists and Healers allow one to Heal, and recruiting them adds to your strength, but they are strictly support units. The cultists animal forces distract opponents, but the Cultists’ weak attack isn’t threatening to anyone. Rogues and Rangers perform nice functions, be it extortion or early exploration, but by midgame their powers are vastly outclassed in combat.

Paladins and Priestesses can turn a game through their ability to kill opposing heroes. Paladins can do it through force, and Priestesses through guile, spell-draining a hero distracted by her minions. And far more powerful than Cultists, the Vampires they charm can cause a lot of damage themselves, especially to enemy spellcasters. Along with Wizards, these two are the most worthy of your time and money. And in my experience, spending all this effort to generate 4 10th level heroes (rather than 10 4th-6th level heroes) is worth it. The higher level heroes simply outmatch the more numerous weaker enemy. Bring them up the level ladder and you’ll have ‘a fighting force of extraordinary magnitude.’