No, really. And I don't mean just to build stuff. Let's begin with the Human race, since it's always at the top. All builders are either melee or can't attack, so I'll not put their attack range there.
PeasantHP: 220 (0.25 regen/s)Attack: 5-6 (
Normal) damage (2.00 second cooldown)
Armor: 0 (
Medium)
Cost: 75 Gold (1 Food)
Movement Speed: 190
Peasants are cheap and useful. They actually don't do all that much on their own, but if you activate Call to Arms, they get converted into Militia!
MilitiaHP: 220 (0.25 regen/s)Attack: 12-13 (
Normal) damage (1.20 second cooldown) {upgrades to 16-18 max}
Armor: 4 (
Large) {can upgrade to 10, max}
Cost: still the same
Movement Speed: 270
Upgrades: - Forged Swords, - Plating
Militia are as cheap as Peasants, but they have a 45 second duration! So you have to use them quickly. They move faster, do significantly more damage over time (something around 1.6* or so), and can take much more of a beating than peasants. They're very useful when you need to defend your town, and also can be useful in helping to delay your opponent's units on their way to you.
You could technically militia rush, but remember that Call to Arms only lasts 45 seconds, so act fast!
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Next we have orcs' builders: Peons!
PeonHP: 250 (0.25 regen/s)Attack: 7-8 (
Normal)damage (3 second cooldown)
Armor: 0 (
Medium)
Cost: 75 gold (1 food)
Movement Speed: 190
Can learn: Pillage (gains gold and wood on attacking buildings)
Peons are actually pretty useless as defenders. They do pretty decent damage, but they have a long cooldown. You can use them to attack a single time, then drop them into Burrows, because they're just that much more useful that way.
BurrowHP: 600 (Does not regenerate)
Attack: 23-27 (
Piercing) damage (2, 1.6, 1.2, 0.8 second cooldown; dependant on how many peons there are inside it)
Armor: 5 (
Heavy) {can be converted to Fortified with "Reinforced Defenses" upgrade}
Cost: 160 gold, 40 wood
As you can see, the more peons you pump into a burrow, the faster it attacks. Generally, if you have a lot of burrows spread out within a small area, I'd rather you put one into each than for you to put a lot into one. They can do some nifty damage when you need to defend your base. Since Burrows give you food, you generally will always have them. Try to spread them around the corners of your base.
You can actually Burrow rush, but I don't quite recommend it. Building rushes are generally too risky on skilled opponents.
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Next we have the Acolytes, who are nearly useless in combat... OR ARE THEY?!?
AcolytesHP: 220 (2 regen/s on Blight)Attack: 9-10 (
Normal) damage (2.5 second cooldown)
Armor: 0 (
Medium)
Cost: 75 gold (1 food)
Movement Speed: 220
Acolytes! They're the ones with absolutely no special ability in any form of combat at all! Does that make them useless in combat?
...Not really, actually! First thing first. Acolytes have a 2 second regeneration on Blight (which is where you usually want to battle, as Undead), which makes them ideal for popping into combat, especially defensively. They can regenerate a good deal of the damage that basic units can deal to them, which is always good! They also have the highest base damage of the peasants (if you do not count militia). More importantly, they also have the highest movement speed of the builders. This, coupled with their regen, means that you can pop them into combat and send them scooting away when their HP is low.
That makes them the strongest builders in combat (unaided). =) You can use them to block your opponent's units from running away (always helpful if you have a couple of builders close-by), and deal some minor damage while you're at it.
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Lastly, we have the Wisps. Who are probably useless in combat. But they have their own use!
WispHP: 120 (0.5 regen/s, Night only)Attack: Wisps do not attack.
Armor: 0 (
Medium)
Cost: 60 gold (1 food)
Movement Speed: 270
Can use:
- Detonate - Destroys the Wisp, dispelling all magical buffs and draining 50 mana from each unit in an area around the Wisp. Deals 225 damage to summoned units.
Wisps have the lowest HP of all the builders. This makes them reaaally weak in battle. They get a decent regeneration at night, but it is too situational, and they are too fragile, for that to be practical. However, they do have the highest movement speed. In normal combat, they are useless.
However, if you're up against summons on a massive scale (necromancers, rod of necromancy, mass Feral Spirits {omgwtf}, etc), you can easily find a use for these guys. They cost 1/5 less than other builders, and they can use Detonate, which does massive damage against summons, and also drains mana from any hero/unit in the area. Very helpful if you're being skeleton rushed, in particular.
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That's all I have to say on builders. Got anything more to contribute? Haha. >_>
Home 
. (And you can use em on Summoned units like what you said.)
Uhm.... 
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