Hmm I'm not impressed with Warriors. You can't lead big armies, and it wasn't until level 13 that i got my first Level 2 spell slot.
So they seem very item dependent. Maybe I was just unlucky that i only found standard gear.
I realize in retrospect that "lol just pick a solo warrior" was misleadingly simple advice. Here's a mini-guide for the base game + overlord difficulty:
Concept:
Since the damage output of a single character is never going to competitive with an army's, the solo warrior's main strength is going to be his ability to mitigate incoming damage. You can reach the point where T1 and T2 units can't hurt you, and T3+ units can't hurt you
enough.
For class, berserker is going to be the optimal choice 100% of the time. There are a few reasons for this: first, your skills are stats and continuously get better, and two extra ranks really let you play your hero concept to the fullest. Second, the vampirism+round attack combo is better than anything hybrid classes can give you.
For skill build, it's obviously going to vary every game, but you will usually to prioritize getting to athletics 2 for the recuperation bonus, followed by armor, parry/precise strike, attack boosts, and willpower/constitution. Regeneration from high-level constitution is theoretically good, but 3 points in any of the above skills will make you strong against T1/T2 units, and fights against T3 units usually don't last long enough for it to be very relevant. You don't want to put any points in blacksmithing, if you can avoid it.
Gearing a warrior properly is going to be as expensive as maintaining an army, at least through the midgame. You have a few priorities that remain constant throughout most maps:
TIER 1:
Goal: Get the initial +4/4 plate armor from the Tier 1 armor shop. Aiming straight for this is only going to be a good idea if you get lucky events or placement early, so pick what you need from the below:
Tier 1 life magic: the cure wounds spell is nice, and casting it at the end of fights lets you move onto the next battle with less delay.
Crystal: Quests speed up your early game development. You mostly want this for the XP, but the gold's good, too.
Chain mail: Get it if you're struggling to get the plate armor; otherwise, skip.
General plan: buy as many barbarians as you can, take the fights you can win, try to last hit enemies with your warrior to get more XP, try to tank with disposable barbarians.
TIER 2:
Goal: Get strong enough to start cracking second ring provinces. When this will happen varies; usually, it's at a high single digit XP level.
Level up your weapons and armor shops; ideally, you'll want mithril plate and the knight's armor set, but you definitely don't need all of that to hit the second ring.
Get the astral energy spell for magic using enemies, ghouls, and general stamina regen.
TIER 3:
Goal: Conquer as much as you can.
Being able to cast vampirism is a large power spike. You can start fighting small numbers of scary T3 units (ogres, maybe trolls) when you do. (You will already have been able to fight executioners and knights by this point.)
We maxed out the reliably accessible armor and weapons, so be on the lookout for map-specific upgrades. Shops are great for this; labyrinths also work, if they're on your map. Once you hit level 20+, you can potentially beat solo dragons, if you bring lots of chaff to absorb their hits.
Special note: poison spam ruins warriors. When you get the phoenix event, you
need to make a cloak out of its feathers. When you start to get in the turn neighborhood, make sure you've got the requisite 500 gold and space in your treasury at all times.
GOD TIER:
There isn't a real strategic reason to reach this power level because you should be able to win long before you get to this point, but if you really want to start cracking multidragon lairs:
Farm the Hammer of the Creator and 1-2 vampire rings. They're legendary items, so you need to hit cults or (smaller) T4 lairs to have a chance of getting them.
Edit: Fighting
Against masses of primarily melee enemies, it's usually best to wait in the upper left corner, where they can only attack you two at a time. Don't do this if the enemy has heavy ranged support. Berserker can help you fight at sub-50% HP, but try to keep your stamina above 5. Big, slow enemies can be tired out by running around the map, if they're the only ones left.
