Age of Wonders 3 conjures up a Sorcerer class leader

Adorable pets like this one can be yours, if you enlist as a sorcerer.

I’ve (sadly) not played the previous Age of Wonders titles, but “RPG-style class-based character building” is apparently something the third one will be introducing to the venerable strategy series. To that end, players will choose a ‘leader’ character to personify their play style, whose RPG skills will extend to bonuses and effects for the whole empire.

The leaders will range from Warlords to Rogues to Princesses. Or, indeed, to Sorcerers, as developer Triumph Studios has detailed today. Sorcerer players get an ‘apprentice’ support unit and rely on magic to summon the rest of their troops. Various Eldritch horrors and Phantasms will be yours to command, if you have the mana for it.

Creatures won’t be your only spell choices, though. Sorcerers will also be able to open Chaos Rifts, drop down protection glyphs on their realms and generally use magic to keep their own lands safe while messing up those of their foes.

Age of Wonders 3 is due in early 2014 for the PC.