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Artilleryman

The artilleryman is a Rank D, or beginner level, ranged fighter that can damage several enemies in one attack with his hand held cannon. The artilleryman's starting magic, Deep Insight, reveals the remaining health of enemies in battle, allowing players to develop better strategies.

Official Description
Filling the air with gunpowder, the artilleryman can hit any target, along with those enemies unfortunate enough to be standing adjacent to the artilleryman's quarry.

Their cannon has high accuracy but low attack power. Although they're long range mercenaries, they have high HP.

Attack Type
The artilleryman can hit as many as four targets in a T formation.  That is, his cannon blasts hit the target, the enemy behind the target, and one enemy on each side of the target. The ability to damage multiple enemies at once makes up for the low attack power of the artilleryman's cannons.

Deep Insight is a magic spell that deals a normal attack and reveals the HP of the targets of the blast. This skill is useful for determining which unit should attack which target next and prevents wasting the attack of a unit that is stronger than needed. Deep Insight lasts for two turns and requires two turns of cool down.

Attributes and Upgrades
The artilleryman starts with the highest strength (STR), vitality (VIT), defense (DEF), and magic defense (MAG DEF) of all Rank D ranged fighters. Players can upgrade him at level 20, 50, 80, and 100 with Ashen Jewels. As he progresses, the artilleryman will continue to have the highest STR among his rank D ranged peers, but his weapons will do less damage than those of an archer.

The high VIT and MAG DEF of the artilleryman are important because his average DEX means he cannot dodge many attacks. Additionally, the growth curve for the artilleryman's DEF is slow, meaning the Hero Napolean unit has the lowest DEF of any Rank D unit--even the magical units.

Strategy
Unless players choose an artilleryman as their main character, they won't be able to get them very early. Before level 20, players should be able to place artillerymen in the second row and even leave them exposed without much concern. After level 20 upgrades, the monsters the player faces and the other units available make the artilleryman a defensive liability. At that point, he must be behind at least one other unit if not on the back row for his safety.

Though their attacks are weaker than other ranged units on individual targets, the artilleryman's ability to damage a whole row in one attack should not be dismissed. Players can open with the artilleryman's attack and then finish with melee characters, If the artilleryman falls behind in XP, players can just proceed in the reverse order, letting the artilleryman get several kills (and higher XP) in one shot.

Having an entire row of artillerymen is not a horrible idea when fighting multiple enemies at once. However, an archer is a better choice of ranged fighters for single tough targets, such as bosses.

As Rank C units become available, the player gains access to cannoneers. In the end, cannoneers are slightly better than artillerymen and can stun enemies, but players may find that an upgraded artilleryman still has use and that the Deep Insight skill has value in some fights.