How to use this creature in practice
Melee core and holding approaches
Thunder Qilin should take reachable melee exchanges or hold an approach to more valuable units. Before advancing, identify its next target and enemies able to attack it afterward.
Watch for: Base stats are not the final exchange result. Account for retaliation, current creature count, target immunity and subsequent action order.
Timing, specific abilities and the follow-up plan
Speed 8 and Initiative 11 govern different parts of the turn. This profile lists ability costs of 3/2 Focus charges; compare them with the shared pool, cooldown and competing activations.
- Awaken: Air II: Once per battle, adds 2 speed, 2 initiative and 20 health per creature. The stack prevents enemy retaliation. These changes last for the battle. Awakening also unlocks this form’s other abilities. Cost: 3 Focus charge(s); cooldown: 1 round(s).
- Ball Lightning: Teleports to a free hex within movement range and deals full basic-attack damage as Magic damage to every adjacent creature. Check allies near the destination too. Cost: 2 Focus charge(s); cooldown: 2 round(s).
- Attack
- 22
- Defense
- 20
- Damage
- 30–36
- Health
- 130
- Speed / reach
- 8
- Initiative
- 11
- Movement type
- Ground
- Retaliations per round
- 1
- Initial morale
- 0
- Initial luck
- 2
- Morale limits
- -3 … 3
- Luck limits
- -3 … 3
- Base weekly growth
- 2
- Creature type
- Embodiment
Cost per creature: 1900 gold
Reference build 25672315, data dated 2026-10-10. Public beta 0.82 values remain separate from this profile.
Abilities and limitations
Awaken: Air II
Once per battle, adds 2 speed, 2 initiative and 20 health per creature. The stack prevents enemy retaliation. These changes last for the battle. Awakening also unlocks this form’s other abilities. Cost: 3 Focus charge(s); cooldown: 1 round(s).
Ball Lightning
Teleports to a free hex within movement range and deals full basic-attack damage as Magic damage to every adjacent creature. Check allies near the destination too. Cost: 2 Focus charge(s); cooldown: 2 round(s).
Thunderstrike
Converts defense into additional attack for the rest of the round. Evaluate the trade alongside the expected enemy response. Cost: 2 Focus charge(s); cooldown: 2 round(s).
Embodiment
Embodiments normally use −3 to +3 limits for both morale and luck. Their fallen creatures are ineligible for post-battle Necromancy.
Melee Attack
Its ordinary attack requires an adjacent enemy and can provoke retaliation. Particular abilities may alter those rules for their own strike.
Embodiment of Air
Leaves no corpse and resists Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning. Other Magic damage sources follow separate rules.
Lightning Fast
Movement-restricting effects cannot affect this creature. Its speed or the selected ability still sets the movement range.
Cloud Nine
Generates two Focus points at each round start after the first. The first round provides no such periodic gain.