Kardwill: Personally, I'm more into the scout/commander and mage/commander multiclasses. The commander is a little bland, but combining his army with some back row heavy hiting power for troops support is quite sweet. Bonus is that since the commander has rarely really good equipment (good banners are uncommon) and all his powers are passive, you don't put yourself in a situation where you have to choose between casting a spell/using a bow/making a melee attack, that renders the other multiclasses unattractive to me.

- Tactician / strategist has some really nice perks : Very mobile (combining the scout's and the commander's mobility powers, he can get pretty much anywhere through any terrain in a few turns), nice bonii to his long range troops that also applies to himself, and the use of bows makes him an efficient killer against heavier enemies (awesome bows seem real common in my games).
- But the com/mag and mag/com classes are a new favorite of mine : many troops with an heavy buff/"landscaping" support mage makes a very efficient and resilient army.

I don't like the com/warrior multiclass, though : My warriors have a really hard time keeping their men alive, so the 2 classes don't blend together so well.

gscotti: It's probably a playing style thing, but I find both the commander, as well as all the multiclasses with commander almost totally useless. But I guess I should study the scout/commander a bit and see how it works. The main reason I avoid pure commander is, as you mentioned, a lack of good banners. I would go as far as to say that no banner is really worth holding instead of a good melee weapon.

I'll look a bit more into scout/commander.

GOGwiiisfun: Well, the commander's main strength is the amount of units it can host, so you really have to rely on your units which makes his playstyle rather different to the other classes (Also leveling up and giving metals to your units really helps). The commander himself cannot really do much, but that is where the multiclasses come in. A Commander/Scout use a bow or crossbow, and a Commander/ Mage can use more and stronger spells. Banners are really more of a bonus, not really necessary for having a good commander, but if you really want one they seem to be fairly common in Dragon's Lairs (Dragon's Lairs are fairly common in hilly provinces).

gscotti: My heroes (except mages) often end up having the ability to host 4th level creatures, even without the commander class, so I somehow tend to disregard that aspect a bit.

ussnorway: There is a hidden cost to having that bow;

General (pure commander): has two nights in his army which kill two things every turn… on average.
Priest (commander | mage): has one night in her army & spells which she uses to kill two things every turn… on average.
Tactician (commander | ranger): has one night in her army & her bow which she uses to kill two things every turn… on average.
At the end of the battle the General only needs replace any dead troopers (which should be avoided) or he can move on to the next battle… any armour damage his troops take is replaced automatically.

The Priest, like wise only needs replace any dead troopers (assuming she don't change spell selection after every battle) at the end of the battle or she can move on to the next battle… any armour damage her troops take or spells used is replaced automatically.

However the Tactician must always keep one eye on her gear and is uniquely blessed with repair bills… even in a battle where the enemy never touched her because just using a bow damages it!

This constant need for repairs makes the Tactician slower on the map overall than the other two. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't take the bow if you want… only the general continues troop progression but having a bow or spells may make certain tactics easier so that becomes a play-style choice.

To be clear, the monetary cost is irrelevant… the General (without logistics) has to pay extra army upkeep for his bigger {and sturdier} army and the Priest pays for her spells with gems but they both only need to stop for extra troops.

gscotti: Before I answer something meaningful (or at least make an attempt to), could you tell me what is "a night in the army"?

EvilLoynis: I think he means "Knights", and he is trying to refer to 2 Tier 4 guys like Paladins, War Elephants, Dragons etc...

However I think he may be under a mistaken assumption.

ANY class that STARTS as a Commander will always be able to get Command rating of 10 which allows 2 Tier 4 units. NO OTHER class can get higher than Command 8 though which allows only 6 T1, 4 T2, 2 T3 and 1 T4.

Command level 9 Gives and extra T3 slot for a total of 3 and 10 gives that extra T4 slot.

ussnorway: There is a hidden cost to having that bow;

General (pure commander): has two nights in his army which kill two things every turn… on average.
Priest (commander | mage): has one night in her army & spells which she uses to kill two things every turn… on average.
Tactician (commander | ranger): has one night in her army & her bow which she uses to kill two things every turn… on average.
At the end of the battle the General only needs replace any dead troopers (which should be avoided) or he can move on to the next battle… any armour damage his troops take is replaced automatically.

The Priest, like wise only needs replace any dead troopers (assuming she don't change spell selection after every battle) at the end of the battle or she can move on to the next battle… any armour damage her troops take or spells used is replaced automatically.

However the Tactician must always keep one eye on her gear and is uniquely blessed with repair bills… even in a battle where the enemy never touched her because just using a bow damages it!

This constant need for repairs makes the Tactician slower on the map overall than the other two. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't take the bow if you want… only the general continues troop progression but having a bow or spells may make certain tactics easier so that becomes a play-style choice.

To be clear, the monetary cost is irrelevant… the General (without logistics) has to pay extra army upkeep for his bigger {and sturdier} army and the Priest pays for her spells with gems but they both only need to stop for extra troops.

jamotide: But Scout->Commander sucks, don't mix them up.