Template:Infobox unitThe Mind Bender is a unit that is unlocked with the Philosophy tech.
The Mind Bender allows you to heal troops and convert enemy troops to your side.
It converts enemy units by attacking them, and has "Heal Others" as an action along with healing itself, which restores 4 health to all your units in a 3x3 radius except for the Mind Bender itself.
They can't invade enemy cities, even when it's empty and they stand next to it.
Stats
- Attack: 0
- Defence: 1
- Movement: 1
- Health: 10
- Range: 1
- Cost: 5 stars
- Skills: Heal, Convert
Strengths and Weaknesses
Mind Benders are good for:
- Back-end healing. Their 3x3 Heal Others radius is very useful for frontier defence, when you cannot afford to stop attacking. The Mind Benders can heal large portions of damage very quickly.
- Bait. One Mind Bender poses an immediate threat to any enemies who obviously don't want to lose their adjacent units. However, if a melee unit were to destroy it, a Mind Bender behind the first one could convert the offender, resulting in a lost unit for them anyway.
- City defence. A Mind Bender stationed behind a city can heal the defending unit in the city, but it can also convert enemies that try to capture the city.
Mind Benders aren't good for:
- Advancing lines. If the front lines of warfare are quickly advancing, the Mind Bender with its slow movement will have difficulty catching up to support the mobile army. This would either weaken the army to heavy hits while the Mind Benders are catching up or allow the enemy to recover if the army is moving slowly with the Mind Benders.
Tips/Strategies
Strategies for Mind Benders:
- Never spawn just one Mind Bender. If you do, the more powerful units such as Swordsmen or, even worse, Knights will quickly kill it. Like a good pawn defence driving away the queen, doubling up allows for the instant threat of conversion, so if anything kills one Mind Bender, it will get converted by the other standing behind it. This also allows for mass healing.
- Ironically, you should protect your Mind Benders with weak units, so that they can easily be killed by strong units from ambitious AI or eager players. Then, your Mind Bender can safely convert it.
- The extremely Powerful Hijacking Virus Mind Bender Strategy: Park your Mind Bender next to an enemy city, and defend it from any other units with ranged units like Catapults. When they spawn units to defend, convert it. Instant units, completely free and doesn't take up population.
- Converting Nature Bunnies does NOT WORK!
Strategies against Mind Benders:
- You can pinpoint the locations of enemy Mind Benders hidden in the fog. They have a very distinct sound when healing others or converting. Also, you will be able to immediately see the health increase in healed units, so you can tell where the Mind Bender is, based on which units get healed.
- Ranged Units. Snipe the Mind Benders safely out of range of their convert ability and you will not lose a unit. In large army fights where both sides are being healed by Mind Benders, take out the Mind Benders with ranged first in order to cripple their healing capabilities.
Gallery
Trivia
- Mind Benders of a non-Aquarion tribe can convert Amphibians and Tridentions without them becoming riders or knights.
- A Rider converted to the Aquarion looks identical to the Amphibian, the only difference being that the Rider sprite is slightly larger.
- Mind Benders were originally known as Priests.
- Mind Benders are the only unit with a “hand”.
- If you convert a Mind Bender in a city, the next turn, the converted Mind Bender will be able to capture the city.
- Mind Benders can convert a Dragon Egg and a Baby Dragon but they will not grow.