Comparison of Armorer, Offense and Archery

Facts (valid for Horn of the Abyss)

• At Basic, Advanced or Expert Level, Armorer reduces all damage inflicted by 5%, 10% or 15%.
• At Basic, Advanced or Expert Level, Offense increases hand-to-hand damage by 10%, 20% or 30%.
• At Basic, Advanced or Expert Level, Archery increases ranged damage by 10%, 25% or 50%.
• 9 heroes (+ 1 campaign hero Roland) start with Armorer as a secondary skill and 3 specialize in it Mephala, Neela and Tazar.
• 23 heroes (+ 4 campaign heroes Kilgor, Catherine, Bidley and Tark) start with Offense as a secondary skill and 3 specialize in it Crag Hack, Gundula and Corkes.
• 9 heroes (+ 1 campaign hero Gelu) start with Archery as a secondary skill and 1 specialize in it Orrin.

Notes

• Armorer will benefit all your troops while Offense will benefit shooters less (only when they attack in melee).
• Archery has the biggest bonus, but only works for shooters.
• Inferno, Necropolis and Fortress have 1 shooter, Tower has 3 and all other towns have 2 shooters. Probably, because Archery applies to fewer stacks in your army, the bonus is bigger to balance the skill.
• Beastmasters from Fortress are most likely to learn Armorer (10% chance), followed by Alchemists from Tower (8% chance).
• Barbarians from Stronghold are most likely to learn Offense (10% chance), followed by Captains from Cove (9% chance).
• Captains from Cove are most likely to learn Archery (9% chance), followed by Rangers from Rampart and Planeswalkers from Conflux (8% chance each).

Table of specialties percentages

Assuming Expert Level in the secondary skill, the bonus will increase to the following values at certain levels: (Level 74 is the maximal level in Horn of the Abyss).

Bonus Percentages from Specialty
	Armorer	Offense	Archery
Base %	15%	30%	50%
Level
0	15%	30%	50%
1	16%	32%	53%
2	17%	33%	55%
3	17%	35%	58%
4	18%	36%	60%
5	19%	38%	63%
10	23%	45%	75%
15	26%	53%	88%
20	30%	60%	100%
25	34%	68%	113%
30	38%	75%	125%
40	45%	90%	150%
46	50%	99%	165%
47	50%	101%	168%
50	53%	105%	175%
60	60%	120%	200%
70	68%	135%	225%
73	70%	140%	233%
74	71%	141%	235%

Discussion

Note that all three skills' percentages increase linearly when their respective specialty heroes reach higher levels.

Now, for Offense and Archery the resulting advantage also increases linearly: Offense specialty adds a 100% (linear) bonus every 66 2/3 levels after level 46 2/3. Archery specialty adds a 100% (linear) bonus every 40 levels after level 20.

Armorer behaves non-linear. This is because the change from 15% reduced damage to 20% reduced damage is less of a difference than 90% reduced damage to 95% reduced damage. From 15% to 20% the change is only a 5.9% improvement, but 90% to 95% halves the damage taken!

Tabular Overview #1

Here a tabular overview of what levels would be needed to double/triple/... the damage or to receive only half/one third/... of the damage:

	Armorer			Offense			Archery
Base %	15			30			50
	Level	Total %	Effective Reduction Factor	Level	Total %	Effective Increase Factor	Level	Total %	Effective Increase Factor
Two times / One half of damage	46.67	50%	2	46.67	100%	2	20	100%	2
Three times / One third of damage	68.89	67%	3	113.33	200%	3	60	200%	3
Four times / One fourth of damage	80	75%	4	180	300%	4	100	300%	4
Five times / one fifth of damage	86.67	80%	5	246.67	400%	5	140	400%	5
Ten times / one tenth of damage	100	90%	10	580	900%	10	340	900%	10
At max level	74	71%	3.39	74	141%	2.41	74	235%	3.35

Tabular Overview #2

Here the table for achievable levels:

Effective Increase / Reduction Factor
	Armorer	Offense	Archery
Base %	15%	30%	50%
Level
0	1.18	1.30	1.50
1	1.19	1.32	1.53
2	1.20	1.33	1.55
3	1.21	1.35	1.58
4	1.22	1.36	1.60
5	1.23	1.38	1.63
10	1.29	1.45	1.75
15	1.36	1.53	1.88
20	1.43	1.60	2
25	1.51	1.68	2.13
30	1.60	1.75	2.25
40	1.82	1.90	2.50
46	1.98	1.99	2.65
47	2.01	2.01	2.68
50	2.11	2.05	2.75
60	2.50	2.20	3
70	3.08	2.35	3.25
73	3.31	2.40	3.33
74	3.39	2.41	3.35