Kris Swordsman (Civ5)

Kris Swordsman
Melee unit of the Classical Era
Introduced in Brave New World
Unique to
Civilization	Indonesian
Civilization	Indonesian
Replaces	Swordsman
Replaces	Swordsman
Cost
Production	75
Production	75
Stats
Combat strength	14
Combat strength	14
Moves	2
Moves	2
Required
Technology	Iron working
Resource	Iron
Upgrades to
Longswordsman
Longswordsman
Notes
Mystic Blade (Gains a random promotion after first battle)

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Kris Swordsman in game

Game Info

Unique unit of the Indonesian civilization. Replaces the Swordsman. Requires Iron Iron.

• Special abilities:
  • Mystic Blade: Free special promotion after the first battle, chosen at random from the list below
    • Invulnerability: +30% Combat Bonus when defending. +20 HP when healing
    • Sneak Attack: Flank attack bonus increased by 50%
    • Heroism: Unit awards combat bonus to nearby units as if it is a Great General
    • Ambition: +50% Combat Bonus when attacking. -20% penalty when defending
    • Restlessness: May attack twice, 1 extra movement
    • Recruitment: Heals all damage if the unit kills a non-Barbarian unit (only 50 HP)
    • Enemy Blade: Takes 20 damage if the unit ends its turn in enemy territory
    • Evil Spirits: -10% penalty when attacking. -30% penalty when defending

Strategy

The Kris Swordsman is unique in its special abilities - it receives a promotion which is randomly chosen from a whole range of possibilities, some of which can even turn out to be detrimental! When you build the unit, or upgrade it from a Warrior, the Mystic Blade promotion appears on the unit as a question mark. Then, immediately after the Kris Swordsman's first combat engagement, a bonus or penalty is chosen randomly from the list above. This means that you never know how each of those warriors will turn out at the end, which makes for quite a bit of excitement. Still, most of the possible promotions are quite powerful, offsetting the cost of one or two units turning out badly. Note that the promotion enters into effect immediately, so in the case of Restlessness, you immediately gain an extra attack and movement, which you may use in this very turn!

In multiplayer, if you offer a Kris Swordsman with a unique promotion to another player, he will keep his promotion AND will get the Mystic Blade again, allowing his new owner to get a second unique promotion after a fight. The process is repeatable, so technically you can get all 8 promotions on one Kris Swordsman.

The Mystic Blade promotion is carried over on upgrade, allowing the unit to benefit from its special abilities until the end of the game, so guard it well and use it wisely!

Civilopedia entry

The kris is a long-bladed, asymmetrical dagger or sword with a distinctive wavy blade common to Indonesia and Malaya. Both weapon and mystical object, kris were believed by the Indonesian tribes to have an essence imbued with magical power, with some blades bringing good luck and others bad. So prized was the kris in Indonesia that heirloom blades were handed down through successive generations. In battle, a kris swordsman might carry as many as three: his own, one from his father-in-law, and one family heirloom. The forging of kris blades was restricted to a select few, and these skilled metalworkers made the blades in layers of different iron ores and meteorite nickel folded many times, a process that could take years to complete.