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The Shaman is a unit exclusive to the Cymanti tribe that can convert enemy units or boost friendly units. The Shaman is unlocked by the Philosophy technology and replaces the Mind Bender.

Upon converting enemy units, it deals damage to them. This is intentional.

Boost

The boost icon

Boosted units get +0.5 attack and +1 movement. This effect lasts until the boosted unit attacks another unit or captures a village.

Strengths and Weaknesses[]

Strengths:

  • Early-game exploration. Shamans allow early-game Cymanti units like Warriors and Hexapods to move greater amounts of tiles, exploring more in the process.
  • Using enemies to make armies. In the early game, you can use the Shaman to convert enemy units and make a larger army. They also counter giants well by attempting to convert using more than one shaman.
  • (Indirectly) Sieging cities. Shamans can be used to convert units standing in cities, letting you capture a city.
  • Boosting. Shamans can be the backbone of an aggressive Cymanti strategy. Boosted units can take down much larger more expensive units than they would normally be able. A boosted Hexapod kills a Warrior in one hit. Combine that with a Phychi to poison and they can take a warrior even if in a city. Even a Defender in a city will fall after only a couple hits of boosted Hexapods after poisoning because poisoning cuts the defence of a unit and denies them defensive bonuses. This is a huge advantage at the beginning and scales up well to later ages. The Cymanti are an especially aggressive tribe with their unique units all having relatively low defence and this compliments that well by giving them even more power.
  • Speed. This is both a strength and weakness. Shamans only have one movement and the Cymanti don’t have roads. However, combined with another Shaman they can boost each other and move at a decent clip across the map.
  • Threat range (indirect). Later in the game being able to boost a units speed especially a fast unit like the Raychi or Doomux can really help maintain momentum against an opponent and ensure catapults aren’t as big a threat.

Weaknesses:

  • The first Shaman is gold that is easily lost. This is the first time you are given a starting unit you can’t replace with the starting technology. Your early game can really suffer if he gets killed too soon.
  • Like the Mind Bender, the Shaman is especially vulnerable to Knights.
  • Damaged goods. When converting a unit is always damaged at least a little. A small price to pay but it can mean units that are close to dying can’t be converted
  • Doesn’t heal. When compared to the Mind Bender, not being able to heal nearby units can slow down a damaged land army considerably. To counter this, place Mycelium strategically close to the front with a Shaman sitting on them. This way, units can come back, get boosted, and then re-enter combat.
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