Homer’s Iliad, Odyssey, and Greek Mythology in its entirety are all steeped in tales of legendary creatures. In Total War Saga: Troy, you’ll get to recruit some of these mythological creatures such as cyclopes, minotaurs, sirens, gorgons, and more. Some of them act as battlefield units while others are considered “epic agents.” Here’s our guide to help you out.
Note: For more information, check out our Total War Saga: Troy guides and features hub.
Total War Saga: Troy – Recruiting mythological creatures and agents
Total War Saga: Troy focuses on a “truth behind the myth” approach. As mentioned in our official review, these mythological creatures are just man-sized troops or agents, akin to Bronze Age cosplayers, and they might not please those who are looking for a full-on fantastical depiction.
I digress. The point here is that you can recruit them during your Total War Saga: Troy campaigns, but there are a few requirements:
(1) Some mythological creatures can be recruited from specific settlements (marked with an icon). If you capture that settlement, you’ll see a notification telling you about “exceptional warriors.” In turn, you’ll need to construct a special building (yellow line) that enables the recruitment of these troops, although their numbers are limited. Here are some examples (these are all combat units):
- Giants (all variants)
- Harpies (both variants)
- Centaurs (all variants)
- Sirens
(2) Reaching the maximum cult tier (Worshipped) for a particular god or goddess via the Divine Will mechanic unlocks the recruitment of a specific mythological creature. They can be recruited in any settlement (epic agents) or by any army (combat units). For the latter, the number of recruits is still limited by the settlements you own.
These are the combat units:
- Cyclops – Poseidon; found in Trinacria, Myrina (Lemnos province), and Ialysos (Rhodes province).
- Minotaur – Zeus; found in Knossos (Ida province).
- Corybantes – Hera; found in Kissamos (Madares province) and Saos (Zerynthia Nesoi province).
- Spartoi – Ares; found in Thebes (Boeotia & Graea) and Galepsos (Edonis province)
These are the epic agents (which I’ll also discuss in detail later):
- Gorgon – Athena
- Satyr – Aphrodite
- Seer – Apollo
Note: You can learn more about other unlocks and some tips for your Total War Saga: Troy campaign in our Divine Will/gods and goddesses guide.
(3) Some events or missions will also net you a mythological creature or epic agent that will be available for recruitment. One early mission requires you to reach 250 favor with any deity to get a mythological creature. If you recruit this troop, you’ll get an epic agent too.
Epic agents for Homer’s epic in this Epic Games exclusive
Your generals and the game itself sure love to mention the word “epic” for some reason. I don’t know if this has anything to do with Total War Saga: Troy‘s timed exclusivity.
Anyway, here are additional tidbits that you need to know about the epic agents:
- Epic agents only last for eight turns and they’ll automatically depart after that. They also won’t be able to act during their first turn after recruitment.
- They have multiple available actions (either targeting a settlement or army), as well as a passive action if they’re simply idle in a province. Using their “active” abilities will automatically expend them for good—it’s like using a Great Person in Civilization.
- You can recruit another epic agent of the same type after 10 turns, but this is dependent on when they disappeared/departed. So, if you recruited a gorgon on turn 20 but you didn’t use them until turn 27, then the next time you can recruit another one (if Athena is still “Worshiped”) is on turn 37.
Here are their abilities:
| Epic Agent | God or Goddess | Passive | Active Ability 1 | Active Ability 2 |
| Gorgon | Athena | Orison of Curses: Reduce campaign map movement range of armies in the region. | Frightening Visage (foreign settlement): Damages the garrison severely. | Petrifying Gaze (foreign army): Reduces morale, battle speed, and campaign map movement range. |
| Satyr | Aphrodite | Song of Tranquility: Increases growth and happiness in the local province. | Song of Prosperity (owned settlement): Complete all building constructions in a settlement. | Song of Discord (foreign army): Reduces army morale. |
| Seer | Apollo | Divine Presence: Increases experience each turn for all heroes and agents in the region. | Divine Errand (mini-quest): The seer has a limited number of turns to reach a specific region on the campaign map. Doing so will provide 3,000 XP to your faction leader. | Ritual of the True Sight (owned settlement): Use this on a settlement with a temple and you’ll gain maximum favor/”Worshiped” rank with that deity. |
Epic agents are cheap to recruit (a bit of food and gold), and they also have low food upkeep, so use them to your advantage whenever you can. They’ll definitely help you succeed in Total War Saga: Troy‘s campaigns. Here are some additional tips:
I’m not really too fond of gorgons (really, who is?), but Frightening Visage is useful if you want to wreck a garrison easily. Do remember that the city of Troy can’t be affected by any agent actions (including gorgon abilities).
Satyrs are nice to have one you’ve captured a resource-rich province. Have one boost happiness and growth, then, once you’re constructing buildings that’d take a while, turn your satyr into Civilization’s Great Engineer.
Seers tend to be my favorite. The passive XP gains might not mean much, but Ritual of the True Sight is a godsend (pun intended) when you want to max out a deity’s cult ASAP. Additionally, she gets the Divine Errand mini-quest which provides massive XP boosts. Just be careful because the target region might be too far away if you’re unlucky, and she won’t be able to reach it in time.
Total War Saga: Troy is available via the Epic Games Store. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.
Published: Aug 13, 2020 07:15 am