This is the final version of the generals guide. Other ones won't be updated.
Today I want to introduce you to compiled guides for infantry, cavalry, artillery and (yes!) navy.
Firstly, I'm gonna introduce the skills to you, so you can have a better insight in the generals shown here.
Let's make a scale for skills:
-Must-have - Skills crucial for a good general. Without it, he's missing a lot! There will be only a few of these.
-Very good - Skills which are useful in almost any situation, but not defining alone, whether the general is/can be good or not.
-Good - Skills useful and welcome, making general slightly better.
-Below average - Skills with minor effects or which aren't often useful. Some situational skills are there as well.
-Bad - Skill almost without any use, however might be helpful in some particular situations.
-Worst - Useless skills. There will be only a few of these.
Please note that skills used in different classes of generals (e. g. alert, terrain bonus) are judged separately for each of these classes, because one ability might have different use depending on beforementioned class
Infantry:
-Infantry Commander* - Gives every infantry unit in radius percentage buff to their damage. Infantry is in great numbers in campaigns, so it's always useful. Awesome! (*note that this bonus doesn't stack anymore, so you should have it on only one general).
-Assault - Additional damage in every condition. Who wouldn't want it?
-Intercept - Another flat damage bonus, this time when fighting against cavalry. Slightly worse, but you counter cavalry with infantry most of the time, so that's still good.
-Plain Fighting - Plains are the most abudant terrain, so 5%-25% more damage in there is great.
-Jungle Fighting - Less common terrain, but you're fighting there pretty often.
-Revenge - 10%-20% chance of counterattacking the enemy twice. Great! Combine it with any powerful general and... Oh sorry, only Bojovic has got this perk. Such a shame! Could be a must-have for infantry if it were more abudant.
-Defense Formation - Time to get meat wall more tanky!
-Alert - It lowers the damage received when attacked by navy or artillery. Very useful talent to have.
-Tactic Master - Honestly, I love this skill, but it's luck based and that's why it's only good on infantry.
-Inspiration - Same story as Tactic Master. Not really that useful on infantry.
-Formation Master - Better critical strike rates. Can be useful, sure.
-Street Fighting - Infantry is often used as meat wall... Eh I mean city guards. I find it fairly good skill for that reason.
-Counterattack - Some may find it very good, but I don't like the idea "get hit, so you can counterattack better" as you can fall below 50% hp and deal half of your damage. Worst flat damage booster, but still good.
-Ambush - I didn't know whether to place it in good skills, or "below average" ones. It's very random, but I wrote it here, because it's better than cover.
-Cover - As mentioned, with about same probability as Ambush, it protects from only 1/2 the damage.
-Revenge - Great critical strike rate and damage booster, but only when below 50% health. Useful, but not great.
-Desert Fighting - Sometimes useful, but you're rarely fighting in the desert.
-Tunnel - Infantry sucks at siege, so does this perk. Useful only when combined with grenadiers.
-Mountain Fighting - You don't want to travel in mountains, but if you find yourself there by an accident, you'll hit harder.
-Sailor - Hardly ever used, but gives you enormous bonus on sea. But infantry isn't used for sea battles.
-Battle Array - Why would you even want to have it? Trenches are pretty rare and AI doesn't mind standing beside them.
Cavalry:
-Precision Strike - Not having additional flat damage on Cavalry is very hard to justify (however Stonewall with his price manages to do it 
).
-Plain Fighting - More damage! Also, you're keeping your cavalry on plains most of the time anyway.
-Edge - EVEN MORE DAMAGE!!! This time against infantry, very useful to kill spam.
-Surprise Attack - YET MORE DAMAGE!!! The further you move, the heavier you hit. Have I mentioned, that cavalry is the most mobile class?
-Tactic Master - Attacking twice with a high-damage offensive unit is amazing.
-Inspiration - Getting high morale - and of course - more damage by attacking multiple times with a high-damage offensive unit is even better.
-Cavalry Commander - You're not using as many cavalry units as infantry, but one general with this skill is a must.
-Alert - This skill on cavalry is very good, as it's the main force attacking the enemy..
-Cavalry Expert - The skill is very good, as it's percentage boost to damage, affecting other boosts as well. But the only general with this skill is terrible (and the multiplier itself is low)
-Jungle Fighting - Less useful than on Infantry, but still damage buff.
-Riding Master - Having better critical strike rates is good. Just good.
-Defense Formation - Still useful. But you need just 1 general with this ability, maybe 2.
-Station - Very situational and cavalry rarely fights there. But damage is damage.
-Street Fighting - Look above.
-Pierce - The only general with it is pretty weak. The skill itself is awesome. If you could easily change your skills, it'd be way higher.
-Counterattack - Same reason as for infantry, but cavalry is offensive unit with less defending purpose.
-Cover - Some things just don't change. Cover is still pretty much the same. Low chance to avoid 1/2 damage
-Desert Fighting - Useful in Ottoman Empire and west America. Nowhere else.
-Mountain Fighting - Not very useful, but may give you some damage from time to time
-Manuever - As bad as Battle Array, but cavalry is more offensive unit. So...
-Dogfight - It's immobilization, not stun. Such a shame.
-Sailor - As for Infantry.
Artillery:
-Storm Fortifications - 99% players use artillery to destroy enemy's cities. This skill is almost a must for good arty general.
-Salvo - Flat damage is always good.
-Artillery Expert - Percentage damage bonus affecting all other damage buffs. You don't have to be genius to understand this can easily go out of hand with +35 or even +40 damage*. However when your morale is low, or you're under 50% hp it gets smaller. (*the biggest possible buff obtained from this skill is ~40,75 dmg, with all other buffs, not counting storm fortifications. These are very specific conditions, on a daily basis it should be between +20 and +30).
-Plain Fighting - Up to 25% damage more on plains. Self-explainatory.
-Tactic Master - Attack the city twice and take 200 hp instead of 100. Convenient.
-Artillery Commander - Overally great, but only two generals have got this skill.
-Alert - Artillery is always fighting from a distance, so this skill is not as useful here. Still worth getting though.
-Inspiration - Additional morale for hitting the cities. Useful as well.
-Defense Formation - Artillery fight from a distance, so defense isn't that crucial.
-Artillery Master - Critical strikes are occuring more often. Not the best skill, yet of some use.
-Jungle Fighting - A bit worse than plain fighting, but still good terrain bonus.
-Suppress - A random chance of lowering enemy's defence by some % for some turn. Good. It is such a shame the only general with this skill can't reach Prince.
-Cover - As usual. This skill isn't getting any better.
-Desert Fighting - Sometimes may be useful.
-Land Fort - Most of the time you're fighting oustide the city facilities. It gives you some damage when you fight in one of these
-Mountain Fighting - This time it's just Below Average. Why? Because artillery has got longer range and can hit more enemies from a mountain
-Counterattack - Almost every better artillery has got minimal range of two. This skill has never been this bad.
-Sailor - Some thing just don't change.
-Explosives - I can't find this skill any useful. It just takes a slot.
Navy:
-Line of Battle - Damage bonus is crucial for ships.
-Alert - Getting lower damage from artillery and navy makes fighting insanely better.
-Navy Commander - Mass damage bonus is crucial for at least 1 general.
-Tactic Master - Hitting twice with a battleship hurts enemy twice as much.
-Escort - Makes your fleet live longer. Particularly useful for the 2nd campaing.
-Inspiration - More morale, useful like everywhere else.
-Gunsight Master - Smaller bonus than Artillery Expert, but damage is damage.
-Counterattack - Ships have got loads of hp, thereafter counterattack is useful.
-Position - Better critical strike chance is good.
-Pierce - Avoiding enemy's defence is a great skill to have.
-Helmsman - The only skill for navy, which I find below average.Some chance of lowering damage isn't bad, yet worse than the other perks..
Alright, so when skills are nicely talked, we can begin with the generals!
Infantry Generals:
•The best ones:
1. Douglas Haig - He's got Ambush, which is welcome, assault which is almost a must I think. He can raise his morale when attacking and that's great. Moreover, he's got bonuses in plains and urban areas, which makes him useful pretty much everywhere. He's rather agressive kind of infantry, one to kill enemies and hold the city after it's been destroyed by artillery. However he lacks tactic master and interception. He wins for me over Robert Lee, who has interception, but also has got tunnel and array, which are way worse than terrain buffs and higher morale gain. Beside that, his stats are great.
2.
Douglas MacArthur - Good offensive general. He has got plain bonus, assault and aura, which is amazing. But that's not it. He has got tactic master! It allows him to make two moves a turn often and that is awesome. You may ask, what are his bad sides? Firstly, he cannot level-up higher than Duke. Secondly, he hasn't got inspiration, which makes amazing combo with tactic master. And his stats aren't crazy as well. Good early game, but you'll want to change him later.
3.Robert E. Lee - He has got very high primary stats and reaches emperor. His skills are worth changing. Great end-game infantry general
•Honorable mentions:
-Bismarck - I've got no, but one problem with this guy- his skills are mixed between offensive and defensive, which makes him exceed in neither of these. I'd get Zhekov over him, but tactic master is always good to have. He can appeal to some players definitely.
-Bojovic - he's not a regular infantry general. He's got a combo of skills which allows him to maintain higher morale, deal more damage in urban areas and to the cavalry. He can also counterattack twice. That makes him great at defending cities. The problem is- the Easytech games are primarily about attacking, not defending. He can, however, do just fine at the regular front, and because of that (and prince's title), he's here.
-Macmahon - He's really bismarck 2.0 in case of skills, but exchanged tactic master for jungle buff. I'd put him in the exact same place as Bismarck- he will certainly appeal to someone, but I think there are better choices (unless you're going for infantry team- then get him!)
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John J. Pershing - Pretty good general overally with some decent skills. Might be worth getting instead of Zhekov if you wish to wait till the 3rd campaign.
-Boyadzhiev - He is aura like MacArthur. In the glorius days of Ew6:1806 when auras stacked, he'd find his place alongside the best 3. Now however, you only need one aura per class (maybe(!) two, if this is your main class) and MacArthur is a better option. He gets better terrain bonus than Boyadzhiev and tactic master instead of intercept, which I find more useful. I had a hard time deciding between these two (because you need just one of them) so if you've got Boyadzhiev instead of MacArthur, it's okay as well. They are pretty evenly matched.
Cavalry Generals:
•The best ones:
1.
George McClellan - Outstanding cavalry general. Decent abilities, reaches Emperor and has got the greatests skills-Edge, Plain Fighting and Precision strike. He's our aura boy in this list.
2.
Sidney Johnston - Edge, Precision Strike, better critical rates, tactic master and counterattack. He also reaches king and has a bit higher abilities than McClellan. What's not to like here?
3.
Stonewall Jackson - Pretty early available general. Four of his skills- Jungle Fighting, Edge, Riding and tactic master are good. The last one- bonus damage at facilities- very situational. But hey, he's at m general and reaches emperor title. His stats are also great. Oh, and I almost forgot. He's FREE!
•Honorable mentions:
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Moltke the Younger - I had a very hard time deciding between him and Stonewall Jackson. He's got better terrain boost, counterattack which is worse than tactic master, alert and surprise attack. I find these skill equal or even a bit better than Stonewalls (although alert on cavalry is less useful than on infantry), but I decided to go with Stonewall for some reasons: He's got better abilities, reaches Emperor and you get him for free. Yet I think if you're planning to get 4 cav generals, he's definitely your choice.
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Averescu - Precision-Tactic Master-Morale combo. Epic, but has got lower stats and is rather funny destroyer of weaker units than a real Cavalry General.
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Georgi Todorov - Many damage bonuses make a decent general. Still weaker than any of the top 3 and Moltke v.2
Artillery Generals:
•The best ones:
1.
Prince Leopold - Salvo, crits, counterattack, Plain Fighting and Land Fort. Behind Ivanov, but high damage and better crits (changeable) make him actually one of the better artillery generals. Land fort can be changed as well. Great end-game arty.
2.
Hindenburg - He has got Defense Buffs, Alert, Land fort... A defensive artillery general! Weird to think about it, however, he also gets Salvo and Storming fortifications, which makes him good at attacking. His abilities are also very high. Can't reach the dmg levels of Hotzendorf, Ivanov or Prince Leopold without revamping his skills, but mass defence can come in handy anytime.
3.
Ivanov - Salvo, Tactic Master, Inspiration is a good combo itself. But you've got Artillery Expert-awesome damage buff for artillery, as it's 3%-15% damage more before adding other multipliers. So with high morale this bonus can easily exceed Salvo. Using an aura and fighting in the right terrain can make it insane. There is also mountain fighting- situational, but still not bad. He has got high abilities, reaches king title and comes from Russia. Flaws? No storm fortifications, which makes him a bit worse at taking cities than hotzendorf. Artillery Expert compensates that a tad, but I don't think it can get higher effect than storming. Maybe almost equal in some cases.
•Honorable mentions:
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Hotzendorf - Salvo, Storm Fortifications, Plain Fighting and Tactic Master. These are basically top-tier artillery skills. Hotzendorf therefore is by far the best early-game arty general.
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George Milne - Desert Fighting, Sailor and explosives. Sounds terrible, doesn't it? He truly is terrible, but I had to include him because he is the only free general with Artillery Commander, which may make him worth it. But his stats are awful otherwise.
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Vladimir Vazov - Jungle fighting, Salvo, cover and Suppress. The latter is very good on artillery, can lower someone's defense, so your other gens can finish him. Although he's weaker than the top 3, he might still pack a punch.
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Henry Horne - Cover, Salvo, Storm Fortifications and Artillery Master. That's a lot of good skills (for artillery general anyway). He is weaker due to being green and advancing only to Duke, but his skills will appeal to some players for sure.
Navy Generals:
•The best ones:
1.
David Betty - Attack aura, Line of battle, Counterattack, Tactic Master and Alert. In short - perfect navy general.
2.
Duke of Aosta - He has got alert and line of battle so basically nothing is wrong with him. He starts as prince and neds as prince, so no need to level him up. His stats are just fine as well.
3.
Horace Hood - Line of Battle is there, Inspiration is a welcome addition, but most importantly he has got Escort, which is needed for your navy. He lacks alert, but no one is perfect after all (except David Betty
)
•Honorable mentions:
Every navy general is at least decent, so I don't see a reason to make the "honorable mention" for this class.
IAP Generals:
Reinhard Scheer - He is actually weaker than David Betty. Could be replacement to Horace Hood, but honestly - his vip bonus is a better reason to buy him.
Phillippe Petain - Literally perfect infantry general. I'll let myself quote Kevin : "ET must’ve read my mind. After playing this game for a while I found unlike EW6:1806 that infantry is horrible at sieging, and is mostly best used to cripple cavalry and artillery (machine gunners). Guess how Petain is designed?" This pretty much sums this IAP.
Ferdinand Foch - He's Hotzendorf with better stats, counterattack and aura instead of plain fighting. Needless to say - he's even better than Hotzendorf.
Ludendorff - He is a real beast. Awesome stats, awesome skills including: Precision Strike, Surprise Attack, Plain Fighting, Tactic Master and Cavalry Commander. He outclasses every free cavalry general.
With that, our "little" Generals&Skills Guide is done. Please write your opinions as well as suggestions to change something on the list, if you have any.
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