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Age of Darknessis a game that’s all about staving off a seemingly-endless tide of monsters. Battling supernatural creatures can do a number on someone’s mind, and in-game, this is reflected as the Emboldened and Horrified effects.
Much like in otherRTS games with RPG elements, there are a variety of things that can affect units inAge of Darkness,but Emboldened and Horrified are arguably the most important. These are two of the game’s staple mechanics, and players will want to know how they work if they want to push back the darkness.
Emboldened and Horrified Mechanic in Age of Darkness
As your units fight and defeat Nightmares, they’ll eventually start glowing. This means that they areEmboldened.While this effect is active, an Emboldened unit receives bonus health and damage, as well as additionalbuffs based on their faction. The Order’s units receive more health, while the Rebellion’s units receive more damage. Every unit has an Embolden meter right below their health bars — once this is filled, they’ll receive the buff.
Fighting and defeating enemies is the main way to Embolden units. This can be accelerated by some heroes like Edwin, who has an aura that increases Embolden gains by 10%. There’s also a Blessing that makes units gain 25% Boldness Points every day.
Horrified
The Horrified status is the opposite of Emboldened — itreduces the damage, movement speed, and health regeneration speedof affected targets. Units can become Horrified if theytake damage from certain enemy attacks or if they wade through The Veilduring Death Nights. Emboldened units cannot be Horrified.
Normally, players will want to avoid being Horrified at all costs. However, if you’re playing as the Volatists faction, this status effect will actually work to your advantage. Volatist units cannot become Emboldened. Instead, they gain bonus stats when they’re Horrified. This is a key tenet of the faction’s playstyle, and players will want to make use of this unique faction trait whenever they’re playing as the Volatists.
How to Remove Horrified Status
In order to cleanse units of the Horrified effect, place them near a large source of light like a Fire Sconce, Fire Tower, and the Keep. These light sources will also heal any units within their range, provided they aren’t in combat.
Horrified units become far less effective, which is why you should use Fire Sconces and Fire Towers as regular parts of your base defenses. Have at least one of thesenear your gates, and keep them from getting destroyed during a siege.
