Everything You Need To Know About The Tech Tree And Builds In Symphony Of War

Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga is a squad-level turn-based strategy game, with a compelling fantasy story that takes you through 30 chapters. As you move through the battles, your units gain experience and advance to new specialist classes. But behind the scenes, they’re also being improved by your technical advances.

Next: Symphony Of War: Character Creation Guide

The Tech Tree has three branches, totalling 50 choices that will improve every aspect of the game. Early advances help introduce new, powerful units to your pool of choices, while others increase your armour or damage output. Whatever your style of play, making the right moves on the Tech Tree is going to be one of the keys to maximising every battle.

Tech Tree Advancing Basics

One of the nice things about the Symphony of War Tech Tree is that you don’t have to agonise too much about making early mistakes. It is common for players to have completed the Tech Tree before Chapter 26 of the 30. But it is very possible to do so as early as Chapter 20 if you concentrate on this as a goal (see below).

There are only 15 Tier I techs, and 15 Tier II techs, which cost you one or two tech points respectively. You need to have unlocked seven – so almost half – Tier I techs before you can unlock your first Tier II tech – and the same goes for the Tier III techs (you need to have opened seven Tier IIs). Then, for Tier IV techs, you’ll need to have opened all the techs in their branch (or branches) to open them. So, you’ll have to go back and fill in the gaps anyway.

This gives you two main options. Either look at the Tier IV techs early and decide to specialise in the branch (or branches) you need to open it up. Or, add what you need as you need it throughout the storyline. Remember, as long as you’ve got a sensible save point, you can go into a battle to see what you may need for it – then reload your save and make your Tech Tree decisions accordingly.

Maximising Tech Tree Advances: Surrender

You’ll get Tech points naturally throughout the game, as you complete Chapters. But to get advances as early as possible, you’ll want enemy units to surrender to you during battles. Each unit that surrenders will give you a bonus Tech point.

As well as the obvious advantage of getting Tech advances more quickly, this has a second benefit. Once you complete the Tech Tree, the game stops rewarding you with Tech points. Instead, you’ll receive items you can use to improve the LDR of your units. Higher leadership means more troops in each squad, which is always a good thing.

Chapter 26: Tech Tomes

If you don’t concentrate on advancing the tech trees, the game itself allows you to fill in the gaps when you get to Chapter 26 via tomes. These allow you to buy tech tree advancements you haven’t managed to get to this point, so is basically a catchup mechanism for players who have gone on a more destructive path rather than forcing opponents to surrender.

Tech Tree Builds: The Three Branches

As mentioned, the only way to get Tier IV techs is to complete either one or two of the three branches. So, if you want those top techs early, you’ll want to focus more of your efforts on those. Note that two of the Tier IV techs need you to have completed two branches:

• Musketeering (Crafts and Technology, plus Tactics and Command): This gives Gunners and Dragoons an extra attack. These units are strong mid-game when you can first get them but start to weaken chapter by chapter. However, once you gain this tech, they get a massive resurgence of power and are useful right up to the endgame.
• Grand Army (Academy of War, plus Tactics and Command): This gives a 10-point Capacity bonus to every squad, which roughly translates to an extra unit each. This is huge, as you’ll be commanding close to 20 squads by the end of the game.

Academy Of War Builds

Tech advances in the Academy of War revolve around dragons, magicians and healers, alongside out-of-battle advantages (town actions, for example). Its exclusive Tier IV tech opens Dragon Rider as a trainable option – one of the most powerful units in the game.

Good early Academy of War Techs:

• Battle Medics: Increases the health of support units (such as healers) by 20 percent. Keeping these units alive is a key to your early successes.
• Merchant Envoys: This puts more mercenary units and items into the Marketplace, giving you more buying options for the rest of the game.
• Mentorship: Gives non-leader units in squads a LDR advance alongside that given to your leaders.

Good specialist choices:

• Apprentice Training (T1): This puts an Apprentice (the lowest level mage) into the Marketplace as standard, alongside the other basic options. If you want mages early, this is the way to go.
• Dragon Trainer (T2): Gives a slightly increased chance to find Dragons as mercenaries in the Marketplace, as well as a rise in Class Mastery XP from combat for dragon units.

Tactics And Command Builds

By concentrating on Tactics and Command you’ll be focusing on your cavalry, infantry and archery units – as well as increasing your in-battle options (such as targeting and other damage strategies). Its Tier IV Tech, Professionalism, gives new recruits a huge pool of starting advantages – including complete loyalty and level boosts. This is seen by many players as the most powerful tech in the game, as long as you get it early enough to really take full advantage of it.

Good early Tactics and Command Techs:

• Standing Army: All new troops you hire start wit an extra level and half of the class mastery XP they need to be advanced to a stronger unit type.

Good specialist choices:

• Psych Warfare (T1) and Identify Command Structure (T1): Between them, these two Techs allow you to target a squad’s leader with your damage – and increase the amount of morale that squad loses when its leader is defeated. This greatly increases the chance that remaining enemy units will surrender, which in turn gives you those bonus Tech points.

Crafts And Technology Builds

When you put points into the Crafts and Technology branch, you’re improving the underlying gear all your units use – raising damage and armour values. Tier VI exclusive tech Industrial Furnace reduces the component cost of any unit that needs Iron or Obsidian by one, allowing you to build more of some of the game’s best troops such as Dragon Riders, Valkyrie and Siege Cannons.

Good early Crafts and Technology Techs:

• Adept Metallurgy and Steel Forging: These two techs give increases to your Heavy Infantry and Heavy Cavalry units (MaxHP and Armour respectively).
• Adept Artificer: As soon as you start to have more artifacts than squads, grab this. It allows each squad to carry a second artifact.

Good specialist choices:

• Gunsmithing (T3): You have to have this skill to unlock the Gunner, Dragoon, and Siege Engine classes. Cannons in particular are very powerful late game units, while Gunners are also very strong mid-game (and later with the Musketeering tech).
• Journeyman and Behemoth Leathercrafter (T1 and T2 respectively): If you’re looking to concentrate on light units that move quickly, use terrain and ambush your opponent, these skills are key. Both add armour to light troops – your definite weak point for this class of troop.

Next: Symphony Of War: Beginner Guide