Affinities (SoW1)

Affinities in Symphony of War have an additional effect on current stats and their development when the unit gains levels. This also depend on the type of unit. Every unit starts with one of the six affinities and this can only be changed by affinity scrolls. The six affinities have different effects on the following stats:

• Maximum health
• Strength
• Magic
• Skill
• Leadership; and
• Loyalty development

They will appear in the game as scrolls which are consumed upon use. They are available inside chests, they are sold at the marketplace, can be gained as loot from the Arena or as drops when an enemy squad is vanquished.

Affinity effects

In the table below, there is a summarisation of all effects an affinity has on the unit.

Affinity	Max HP	Strength	Magic	Skill	Leadership	Loyalty	Notes
Earth							The most common affinity, and the harshest affinity to increase SKL. It's arguably the best affinity for front-line defense units, only faltering here in regards to achieving the 41~47 STR requirement to promote them to tier 3 units.
Water							A good fit for support unit and a good basic affinity for Magicians, given the MAG helps their main objective and the HP helps them stay on the battlefield. It can also be considered for front-line units, who need more magic defence and skill, compared to the earth affinity, at the expense of maximum hp and strength development.
Lightning							Arguably the best affinity for all physical offense units, which are the light infantry, archers and heavy infantry units focused on dealing damage. It can also be considered for Paladins and Valkyries, who needs a bit more magic and strength. Only affinity which increase skill and strength together.
Fire							Quite useful for getting Heavy Infantry and Cavalry to the neccessary STR value to promote, and arguably the best affinity for such units when they bear good offensive capacities, such as the Champion's double-attack of the AoE on Zweihanders, Centurions, or Knights. It's a terrible trait for magic development and thus unsuitable for mages, support units and dragons, who also need magic for their damage output.
Light							The best affinity for a Squad Leader, as the boost to Leadership often means an extra unit, or multiple powerful artifacts. Even if this seriously harms the leaders combat potential (usually it won't), they're basically an extra unit. It can also be considered a stat-neutral affinity, as none of the stats such as hp, str, skill and magic is either penalisied or boosted by the trait, with leadership being the exception.
Dark							The best affinity for high raw damage at the expense of other stats. Arguably the best affinity for any Magician, Dragon and melee fighters. Magicians are often difficult to field in large numbers, so making the handful deal more damage, is generally desirable outcome. Dragons benefit from STR and MAG for their damage output, while also being heavily reliant on STR and MAG to mitigate damage through glancing blows, also get a lot out of this. Melee fighter get the best strenght development, for damage output and physical defence and magic for magic defense, at the expensive of lower max. hp. This affinity is also considered a good choice for Valkyries and Paladins, who rely on strenght and magic for both offensive and also for defense and healing output. The Dark affinity is however, terrible for loyalty and leadership development.

The effects per plus or minus differ per statistic. For most statistics, it's about 10%, while for magic, it's about 20%. For strength and skill, the effect is about 15%.

It's possible that affinity bonuses are applied to a character's raw stats before class stat bonuses and penalties, and tech bonuses and penalties, are applied. In which case 40 MAG * 1.15% = 46, -20 MAG for a physical class = 26 MAG, 20 vs. 26 looks like a 30% increase.

Affinity Scrolls

Affinity Scrolls
IMG	Name	Rarity		Buy	Sell		X		Notes
	Earth Affinity Scroll	Rare		103	51		Earth		Use Up to change target's affinity to Earth. (+HP) (-SKL).
	Water Affinity Scroll	Rare		109	54		Water		Use Up to change target's affinity to Water. (+HP +MAG) (-STR -SKL).
	Fire Affinity Scroll	Rare		242	121		Fire		Use Up to change target's affinity to Fire. (+STR, +Loyalty) (-MAG).
	Lightning Affinity Scroll	Rare		196	98		Lightning		Use Up to change target's affinity to Lightning. (+STR +SKL) (-HP, -Loyalty).
	Light Affinity Scroll	Epic		850	425		Light		Use Up to change target's affinity to Light. (+LDR, +Loyalty).
	Dark Affinity Scroll	Epic		1104	552		Dark		Use Up to change target's affinity to Dark. (+STR +MAG) (-HP -LDR -Loyalty).

Locations

They appear always at the following locations.

Fire

• Chapter 9: Sanctuary, located in a chest at coordinates (10,24).

Water

• Chapter 7: Tidereaver. Located inside a chest.

Affinities and class units

(could be part of a strategy or guide page.)