What's the best way to get heroes leveled up?



Combat xp is fairly above-the-board and self-explanatory: you get xp for every unit you kill, divided by the # of your forces that participated. So in theory you could maximize combat xp by not using reinforcements even when available and only using an army of 4 units. (In practice I generally go with "The more, the merrier") Combat heros also get 4 xp/turn when involved in a siege, and I believe they get a couple xp for exploring ruins/temples. Oh... and I think they get extra xp if they're part of an army that completes a quest.



But governor heroes aren't clear at all. Why do some of them languish at level 2, while others skyrocket? I would think that each building they build gives them xp, but I've often had them level in the middle of big construction projects, so something else must be giving them xp. Population gained, maybe? And do they gain more xp for constructing a whole bunch of small buildings in a new town or for overseeing a large construction project that takes longer? And what about heroes that specialize in +dust or +influence? How are you supposed to level them if constructing buildings & growing population are the main ways to get xp?

Heroes get xp over time while assigned (as do regular units), as well as xp for each completed project in the city. The more expensive the project the more xp, as far as I know. Buying out works just as fine as regular production.

Hmm... so a good way to powerlevel a governor hero would be to assign him to an undeveloped city and then just buy everything? (Assuming you have the cash, of course.)



If true, that seems too easy to exploit. By about era 3.5, I'm usually able to jumpstart one city from scratch every 20 turns or so. That's a whole lotta hero leveling.

Plumfairy wrote:
What's the best way to get heroes leveled up?

For quickly leveling up a hero in the mid and end-game, activate Redsang, assign the hero to an important city (or a newly conquered one where you need to built a lot), and build or buyout a lot of things.



Governors get XP both for finishing production (xp gain based on the industry cost of the item, this gets massive for the big ticket items) and for overseeing the day to day FIDSI production - the higher the FIDSI production of the city, the higher the base xp/turn.



As an example, a large Cultist city in the endgame with Redsang activated will easily provide 20-30 XP per turn, or more, even on the turns when it doesn't finish any construction, and once you start adding hundreds of XP for each building and unit in the mid-endgame, it really adds up. There's a reason that the Cultist hero that is assigned to govern the Cultist's city easily ends up at a level greater than 20 before victory is achieved.



The same goes for non-Cultist games. If you spread out production and build everything slowly in cities that aren't individually impressive, you'll end up with a bunch of unimpressive governors that every now and then produce a big ticket item. You'll see them level at roughly the same rate, with those whose cities produce most FIDSI leveling slightly faster. If you want any of your governors to be stars, do what you can to prioritize those cities - make them grow bigger, make them the places you build your troops, heck, you could even use stockpiles. And make sure to get your hands on Redsang if possible.

Plumfairy wrote:
Hmm... so a good way to powerlevel a governor hero would be to assign him to an undeveloped city and then just buy everything? (Assuming you have the cash, of course.)



If true, that seems too easy to exploit. By about era 3.5, I'm usually able to jumpstart one city from scratch every 20 turns or so. That's a whole lotta hero leveling.

It is true-- but, again, the xp value seems proportional to the cost. Buying geomic labs nets very little xp. Buying a 10,000 cost burrough can net multiple levels in one turn.

Heroes leading an army gain 2 xp per turn, +1 xp per turn for every unit in the army (so the army-size-increasing techs will help level your generals faster). They gain additional xp per turn while performing a siege, 10 xp for each ruins they search (searches to complete a quest don't appear to count, only regular searching), and gain xp from combat using the same rules as regular units.



Heroes governing a city gain a minimum of 2 xp per turn, and often gain more per turn, but I'm not sure exactly what the rules govern that. They also gain xp for every completed construction in the city, gaining more xp for more expensive items (I don't know whether it's proportional, and I don't know how building cost reduction interacts with it).



The hero skill in the common (center) tree that gives "+1 xp per turn on units" also seems to give the hero itself +1 xp per turn (though that's not likely to pay for the skill point you invested in it before the game ends, since each hero level requires more xp than the last). Based on that precedent, you might reasonably expect the quicksilver luxury booster (+100% xp on units) to affect heroes, but it does not. The redsang luxury booster affects heroes, of course.

Follow with your low level hero's army your high level hero's army. When combatting, attack with your high level hero's army and support with your low level hero's army.



Your low level hero will gain the same amount of xp, even if the battle ends before he enters the battlefield.

Antistone wrote:
Heroes leading an army gain 2 xp per turn, +1 xp per turn for every unit in the army (so the army-size-increasing techs will help level your generals faster). They gain additional xp per turn while performing a siege, 10 xp for each ruins they search (searches to complete a quest don't appear to count, only regular searching), and gain xp from combat using the same rules as regular units.



Heroes governing a city gain a minimum of 2 xp per turn, and often gain more per turn, but I'm not sure exactly what the rules govern that. They also gain xp for every completed construction in the city, gaining more xp for more expensive items (I don't know whether it's proportional, and I don't know how building cost reduction interacts with it).

Heroes governing a city also gain 1 xp per unit garrisoned in the city.



I haven't noticed a difference in xp per turn based on FIDSI production. It could be that in big cities it's not high FIDSI production giving the extra xp, but the number of units garrisoned.

Sorry for necroing this, but I think its better than making a new thread for the same topic.



Does +XP for Garrison buildings also affect city heroes?

Excellent question. I don't know.



You should test it : before/after. ^^

I´m pretty sure it has to specify that the xp is meant for the hero. There´s a national wonder, redsang. The ones that say on the units is for units only - which includes militia.

Jojo_Fr wrote:
Excellent question. I don't know.



You should test it : before/after. ^^

I made a few tests and it looks like it works.