You can acquire historical figures and use them as commanders in Rise of Kingdoms; one of these is Aethelflaed – a legendary commander who focuses on debuffing enemies.
Overview
Rise of Kingdoms (RoK): Lost Crusade invites players to build and customise their own kingdoms from the ground up. Players will have to come up with strategic plans to conquer the world, and to become the author of your kingdom’s history. Luckily, you can call on a variety of historical figures to help you in your quest.
You will have the opportunity to choose a civilization when you start playing the game. Every civilization consists of unique commanders, advantages, special troops, and disadvantages. It is advised that you choose your civilization based on your experience in the game. This is because some civilizations are best for new players, while others are intended for more experienced, veteran players.
What are commanders?
Many think that commanders are a simple feature, however, they can be described as the backbone of the game. It is their responsibility to lead your troops in battle. You need your commanders every bit as much as they need you.
Players will not be able to participate in any of the gaming modes and battles if they do not have an allocated commander. As you advance in the game, you will notice that the commanders are divided into different categories. You can thus have legendary, epic, elite and advanced commanders in your civilization.
Rise of Kingdoms: Aethelflaed
One of the commanders you can get in the game is Aethelflaed, who ruled Mercia in the English Midlands from 911 until her death. She is a powerful legendary barbarian hunter with amazing skills and powers.
Aethelflaed’s Skills
The following table indicates a list of Aethelflaed’s skills and a description of each:
| Skill | Description |
Active skill: Arrow if Iron |
It deals damage to a single target while reducing its attack, defence, and health for 5 seconds. It also deals damage in a front-facing cone to up to 5 enemies. |
Passive skill: Thunderous Force |
The counterattack to your troops is reduced. You have a 10 percent chance to reduce the movement speed of enemy cavalry. |
Passive skill: Synergy |
All troops under her command gain attacks against Barbarians and other neutral units. Commanders obtain an experience bonus. |
Passive skill: Fortress of Mercia |
When she leads a rally attack, all armies joining the rally will have a higher troop limit. |
Expertise: Warrior Queen |
It deals an additional 20 percent damage to enemies who have been slowed. |
How to acquire Aethelflaed
To get Aethelflaed, you have to progress in the Expedition and defeat several campaigns. You will receive Expedition medals as a reward, which you can use to purchase her sculptures from the Expedition.
It is advised that you start saving to purchase Aethelflaed as soon as you start playing Rise of Kingdoms, because she will help you a lot in endgame content.
How does the Expedition work?
You can start the Expedition mode by going to the campaign before selecting the Expedition tab. On the map, you will see various stages, which you have to complete to move on to the next stage. You will receive rewards for every stage you complete.
Every stage will give you a performance rating based on the requirements. The more stars you gain, the more rewards you will receive. Keep in mind that you can send multiple dispatches depending on the mission you are doing.
That being said, you can only send 1 to 2 dispatches at the beginning of the game. Luckily, it increases after you have completed a few stages.
Aethelflaed’s disadvantages
It is said that you will have a difficult time levelling her up once you have obtained her, especially if you are a free-to-play player. Getting her to level 60 is not very important, unless you are planning to use her as the primary commander on the open field.
It is advised that you, rather, use her as a secondary commander, as she has buffing advantages. The main reason players should not use her as a primary commander is that she is not a tank character. Instead, she focuses on debuffing and slowing enemies.
Final thoughts
Rise of Kingdoms (RoK): Lost Crusade allows players to customise and build their kingdoms from the ground up. Moreover, you will have to strategize and plan in order to conquer the world, and to become the author of your kingdom’s history. Luckily, you can make use of historical figures to help you progress in your quest.
One of the commanders that you can get in the game is Aethelflaed, a legendary barbarian hunter with profound skills and talents. You can acquire her at no cost by participating in the Expedition gaming mode.
