Special commanders

The ability to build commanders (and also castellans) by combining equipment pieces you acquire or win in many ways (e.g. attacking "Robber baron castles", participating in events) gives some very useful and interesting options,  and might help you in "regular" gameplay and also during wartime. A Special commander is one that has a specific ability and therefore can be used to achieve this specific task. Some of useful special commanders are: "Looter", "Fire", "Fast support", "Late detect" & "Honor".

Building (combining) special commanders

To build a special commander, you should carefully choose equipment pieces & gems that when combined, will give you the desired effect. The best pieces to use when building a special commander are the legendary (orange) that can be combined (if needed) with 1 or more unique (red) pieces. The main reason for that is that legendary pieces can have the same ability in 2 out of 3 lines (rarely all 3 lines are equal, which is perfect if you need that ability). With this, you may get the desired effect. You will also need some work at "The Technicus" to get those results maxed (!)

The Looter commander

The "Looter commander" has the maximum looting capacity (70%) and can be used to quickly loot a massive amount of resources. You may also combine it to have also a maximum speed (80%) which then is can be used with superfast  "Wolves" (80 travel speed) against empty castles or OPs. The loot capacity + speed can be achieved with combining a "looter" hero (that has "+11,250 army loot capacity when attacking enemy castle loads"), pieces that gives loot + speed and also embedding "Army loot capacity" (blue) gems into all 4 pieces, when those gems are at high level of 9,10 and up, you may easily reach over +50,000 loot capacity.

Here is an example for a looter commander. 3 pieces are embedded with level 11 gem (+12,500 loot capacity) and 1 piece with level 9 gem (+7,500 loot capacity).

Here are the total effects that you can get with those equipment pieces & gems:

The Fire commander

The "Fire commander" has the maximum "Fire damage" ability. It is used, mostly in times of war to burn your opponents. It is also very useful against "Fire castellans" where a "non-fire" commander will not burn them at all (!). To make this commander most efficient, you should combine it with a 90% attack power for either melee or range (you could not have them both at 90% power).

Here is an example for a 90% melee fire commander. This commander has 88% "fire damage" ability that is derived from the maximum possible  (75%) "fire damage" that comes from equipment pieces & "fire damage" (red) gems plus its hero that has "+13% fire damage".This commander had a 90% melee attack power, but you may build a 90% range attack power that has maximum "fire damage" capabilities in the same manner.

Here are the total effects that you can get with those equipment pieces & gems:

The Fast support commander

The "Fast support commander" is meant to send support for other players as quickly as possible. Sometimes (especially in times of war) using this kind of commander can make the difference between your ability to have your support in time (before the attack hits) or not, hence giving the defender the needed advantage to win that attack. The commander has a maximum travel speed (80%) with additional "travel speed when sending support" capabilities. To make if even more efficient, I have embedded some "army return travel speed" (light blue) gems, so it also has a superfast return speed, ready to fulfill its next mission. This commander is also very useful at peace times, when you need to move troops & tools between your main castle and OPs in "the great empire" kingdom.

Here is an example for a "Fast support commander". This commander has a total of 110% travel speed for support : 80% normal travel speed (from equipment pieces) plus an additional 29% "army travel speed when sending  support"  from it's hero. In addition, it has 380% of "army return travel speed" from its blue gems, and also 28% "army return travel speed from NPC targets".

Here are the total effects that you can get with those equipment pieces & gems:

The Late detect commander

The "Late detect commander" is good for "sneak attacks" on your opponents, so when they see the attack, there is a high probability that most of their alliance mates will not have enough time to support them. This gives you a great advantage (in particular during wartimes). To make this commander as efficient as possible, it must have a 90% power in either melee or range (but you can not have both of them) with some "travel speed" bonus (its not easy to get to the maximum of 80%) so the effect of the surprise will be maximized.

Here is an example for a "Late detect commander". This commander has 90% range attack power and 113% "late detect" (90% from equipment pieces + 23% from it's hero). It also has 29% travel speed. It is embedded with pink & light green gems that gives 36% bonus on the courtyard and 26% units on the flanks (the artifact is not embedded with a gem, since it might be replaced in the future with a better one that gives more travel speed).

Here are the total effects that you can get with those equipment pieces & gems:

The Honor commander

The "Honor commander" is meant to maximize the "honor" you win in a battle. Sometimes, when you need to increase your "honor" (from a player that has more than you) and in cases that there is not much defense on the target, you may use such a commander to get more honor. Maximum "honor" can be 150% from equipment pieces and 28% from your hero. Because the rare use of such commander, most of the players does not put efforts in building one.