Bad North: All Items Guide

Bombs have saved my bacon quite a few times when I didn’t have any archer units available! I like to give this item to my pikemen because it somewhat makes up for their lack of mobility, in my opinion. I like to use the bomb when I have multiple boats landing next to each other, or when I have a group of enemies attacking one of my houses and I’m caught out of position.

The bomb takes a second to throw, but can be thrown 1 to 2 fields. On diagonals I’ve had some trouble if there’s a wall or house in the way, so keep an eye out for that.

At level 1, you can throw one bomb per island. For 8 gold, you can unlock level 2 and get a second charge per island. Level three (14 gold) does not unlock a third charge, but does increase the AOE and knockback of the bombs.

Mind the friendly-fire—bombs do damage to your units!

Unlike all the other items in the game, this item can only be used after one of your units has died. It can only be used once, so choose wisely!

Also, if you abandon an island and lose a unit in the process of fleeing, you cannot revive that unit.
F

Jabena is used to give your unit an extra attack per turn. I personally equip this to an archer, because the archer fairly versatile and critical to success.

Be careful, though! You give up a lot of utility by equipping this item, as you lose AOE and crowd-control potential by choosing this item.

My favorite item! Mines are a great crowd-control item, and I’ve had the most success when placing mines along one-field paths enemies must take to reach your houses. Be careful, though, because the action of a boat landing can set off the mine without damaging the enemy units.

Mines can be placed within 1 or 2 fields of your unit. If you equip mines on archers, you can either place your mines early and pray they are activated, or you have to be careful when placing them mid-round so you don’t get your archers in a pickle. Like bombs, mines can damage your units!

Also like bombs, mines can be upgraded. At level 1, you can set down one mine per island. For 8 gold you can unlock level 2 and gain an additional mine to place. For 14 gold you unlock level 3, which gives you a third mine and a larger AOE, with higher damage.

This item is a must-have when you start a new campaign! The Philosopher’s Stone gives you one extra gold per island at level 1. For five gold you can level it up, which gives you two gold per island. At level 3, which costs 9 gold, the Philosopher’s stone gives you three extra gold per island.

You have to deploy the unit that has the Philosopher’s Stone to get the extra gold. That said, if your unit dies on the island, you won’t gain any extra gold.

Like the Jabena, you lose potential for utility if you equip this item, so keep that in mind for late-game. The Philosopher’s Stone & Collector trait or Philosopher’s Stone & Skillful trait combos are killer early-game, though!

The Ring of command is very straight-forward: it makes your unit size larger. At level 1, it increases your unit from nine soldiers to twelve soldiers. You can upgrade it to level 2 for sixteen gold, which will raise your unit to sixteen soldiers. This can be a blessing or a curse, as it takes longer for the unit to move and you can kind of get squished if you’re not careful.

I never use this for my pikemen. The RIng of Command is fine on swordsmen. I prefer to equip the Ring of Command on my archers, because going from nine arrows per shot to sixteen is delicious.

Equipping the Ring of Command increases the amount of time it takes to replenish your unit! Also, again, you do lose the utility other items may offer, but I consider the extra arrows a fair trade for the lack of utility.

Goes boom!

Equip this and your unit will jump forward and cause AOE damage and knockback. Absolutely delightful when used on a boat-load of baddies right as they’re getting off their boat. If you time it right, you should be able to knock most of them (if not all of them) into the water! Unlike Mines or Bombs, the Warhammer has a cooldown and can be used every 40 seconds instead of having a hard limit per island.

I like to equip this item on swordsmen, as it gives them an edge against Brutes. The Warhammer can only be used on level-ground, though, so don’t expect to do a super-hero landing from an elevated position. This item won’t let you jump walls, either, so it’s not much of a mobility boost.

You can buy level 2 for eight gold and level 3 for 14 gold. The upgrade does not shorten the cooldown, but it does increase damage done and knockback.

Warhammer can damage your units, so be careful when using it in a crowd!

One more item to go!

The War Horn is the “oh ♥♥♥♥” button. At level 1, you can use the War Horn to instantly call three soldiers to replenish the unit that has the War Horn equipped. At level 1, this ability can be used once per island and cannot be used to boost your unit size above nine soldiers. So if you have a full unit, don’t use it!

Level 2 can be bought for eight gold and increases the number of soldiers called in from three to five. At level 3 (14 gold) you’re able to use the War Horn twice per island, although there is a cooldown.

I only use this item for swordsmen. The lack of mobility pikes have and the squishiness of archers mean both will likely still die out quickly if you’re in a pinch. Swordsmen are slightly better, however, as far as movement and durability goes.