Troop Types Explained — Infantry, Cavalry, Archers, Mages, and Angels
War and Order fields five distinct troop types, and understanding what each one does — where it goes in a formation, what it is strong against, and when to train it — is foundational to building an effective army.
This is not a guide about optimization. It is about understanding the basics well enough that you can make good decisions when building your army. Use the Troops Formation Builder alongside this guide to see how your compositions look in practice.
How Formations Work
Before explaining individual troop types, it helps to understand formation logic. In War and Order, battles are not just a numbers game — your troops fight in a physical formation that has a frontline, a midline (for angels), and a backline.
- Frontline: Infantry and cavalry. These troops absorb incoming damage from the enemy before it reaches your backline.
- Midline: Angels. They occupy a specific middle position in the formation.
- Backline: Archers and mages. These troops deal ranged damage but are vulnerable if your frontline collapses.
A well-balanced formation gives your backline attackers enough frontline protection to fire freely. A lopsided formation — too many backline troops with no frontline — will take heavy casualties quickly.
The Troops Formation Builder shows you exactly where each unit type sits in your formation based on the troop counts you enter.
Infantry
Infantry are the cornerstone of your frontline. They are generally higher in defense than cavalry, making them excellent at absorbing hits and keeping your backline safe. For defensive builds and formations that need to hold the line, infantry is often the priority frontline investment.
Infantry trains from barracks and is available in both even and odd tiers. The difference matters for formation purposes: even-tier and odd-tier troops of the same type can be combined in a single formation to fill multiple formation slots.
{{VERIFY: Confirm whether infantry has higher base defense stats than cavalry or if the distinction is more nuanced (e.g., cavalry has higher speed/attack while infantry has higher HP/defense).}}
When to prioritize infantry:
- Defensive marches and castle defense
- Formations where survivability matters more than raw attack speed
- When you need reliable frontline presence without complex tier management
Cavalry
Cavalry fills the other frontline slot alongside infantry. Where infantry tends toward durability, cavalry often brings more offensive pressure to the frontline — they can clear enemy frontline units faster, which in turn exposes the enemy's backline sooner.
For players who favor aggressive attack builds, cavalry-heavy frontlines can be effective. For a balanced formation with both frontline types, you get the durability of infantry plus the offensive pressure of cavalry.
{{VERIFY: Confirm cavalry vs. infantry stat comparison for combat effectiveness in attack vs. defense scenarios.}}
When to prioritize cavalry:
- Aggressive attack builds
- Monster hunting formations where kill speed matters
- Formations where you have strong cavalry-boosting hero skills
Archers
Archers are the most commonly used backline unit and often the first backline investment for new players. They deal consistent ranged damage throughout the battle and are relatively straightforward to use effectively.
A formation with strong frontline coverage and archers in the backline is reliable across most scenarios — monster hunting, PvP defense, and general combat. For new players still learning the game, archer-heavy armies are a safe default while you develop your understanding of more complex formations.
When to prioritize archers:
- General-purpose formations
- Your main combat army when you are still learning troop synergies
- Formations that benefit from consistent ranged DPS without high complexity
Mages
Mages are the other backline option, and they tend to have higher damage potential than archers at the cost of lower quantity efficiency or higher resource cost.
{{VERIFY: Whether mages have higher single-target damage or area-effect-style damage compared to archers, and what trade-off (resources, training time, or stats) distinguishes them from archers.}}
Mages become more significant in the mid and late game when you have the resources to train larger numbers and the hero skills to boost them. Early game, archers are typically the more accessible backline choice.
When to prioritize mages:
- Formations focused on burst damage
- PvP scenarios where one-hit kills matter
- Late-game optimized builds with mage-boosting heroes and research
Angels
Angels are a unique unit type that occupies the midline position — a special slot that no other troop type fills. They provide a combat presence that neither frontline nor backline, functioning as a mid-battle force that can affect the flow of combat in ways the other unit types cannot.
{{VERIFY: Confirm the specific combat role of angels (e.g., whether they attack frontline or backline targets, whether they have unique abilities, and at what castle level they become available).}}
Angels are available in higher tiers and are unlocked later in the game than the four basic troop types. Investing in angels becomes relevant as you push into higher-level content where the midline presence starts to make a meaningful difference.
Even Tiers vs. Odd Tiers
This is one of the most confusing aspects of the troop system for new players: each troop type comes in both even tiers (II, IV, VI, VIII, X, XII, XIV) and odd tiers (I, III, V, VII, IX, XI, XIII).
In the formation system, even-tier and odd-tier units of the same troop type fill different formation slots. This means you can include both even-tier cavalry and odd-tier cavalry in the same march, and they will appear in separate positions in your formation.
Practically, this means managing two parallel progression paths for each troop type you invest in. Many players focus on one parity first (usually even tiers, since tier II is available earliest) and then fill in odd tiers as they unlock higher castle levels.
Use the Troops Formation Builder to see exactly which formation slots your current troop breakdown fills.
Quick Reference
| Troop Type | Formation Position | Primary Role | |---|---|---| | Infantry | Frontline | Durability, absorbing damage | | Cavalry | Frontline | Offensive pressure | | Archers | Backline | Consistent ranged damage | | Mages | Backline | High-damage ranged attacks | | Angels | Midline | Unique mid-battle role |
Understanding these roles is the foundation for everything else in War and Order's combat system — hero skill builds, research priorities, formation strategies, and event preparation all layer on top of this basic framework.