All generals will be having 1 active skill and 1-4 passive ones. Some skills are better than others and I will be rating them. This is not the only factor that decides how good a general is, other stuff like capabilities, hiring rank with max rank, hiring title with max title and how cool they look is what gives the final rating of a general.
I will group the skills so that they're easy to search and compare with similar skills. Some skills show up in green, even though they don't change their value no matter which level is the skill, which makes me think there will be some readjustment with these skills later on, that they're still testing stuff. Currently, the max level of skills is 4, even having the skill at 3 and having two items that raise this skill, it will still have level 4. I think level 5 will be happening in within the next two patches.
Skills will be divided into 4; best, solid, average and weak. I do also explain those skills that I think can lead to confusion or misunderstanding, plus often some comment on the skill.
I will rate skills on level 1 and 4, as some skills may not improve while others become really strong as they are leveled up. In skill descriptions the 4 values given are the values per level. If they are not shown green ingame (means they'll remain fixed) I just put a single number. Many skills have cooldown in green even though currently you cannot change it.
I will be updating this list along new skills, skill levels (hopefully lvl 5) and skill tweaks (hopefully the commander ones). I'm missing a few values, so I did guess those for now, warning about the guess each time (if someone can provide these either commenting or through PM I'll be thankful)
ACTIVE SKILLS
These are the ones that take up the first spot. Every hero has one. They do have a cooldown that currently doesn't exceed 5. Reminder color ratings are compared to only other active skills, not with passive skills.
Archery
Master of Archery 1 - Master of Archery 4 - Ranged damage increased by 10/15/20/25%, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown. Skill is good, but having only damage increase on range damage is bad, and cooldown remains very high.
Archer Commander 1 - Archer Commander 4 - attacks the target and 1/2/3/4 random units around it, dealing reduced damage to them, damaged based on ranged capability of user general and opponent's general (if any), the bigger difference, the more damage, 2/2/2/2 rounds cooldown (not sure about the values of this, as only 1 hero has it and cannot raise this skill)
Offensive
Outburst 1 - Outburst 4 - charge (damage will also be done to back enemies) will be always triggered, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown. Charge is always great if it happens, but shines more with more attack, meaning charge cavalry are best for charges, followed by melee cavalry. For mercenaries, only some melee infantry, and all melee and charging cavalry have some base chance to charge, as a base chance is needed to charge to be triggered.
Headhunting 1 - Headhunting 4 - maximum damage guaranteed, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown. Damage in ET is never fixed, it has a maximum and a minimum value after calculations. After calculations are done, a value from within this range is chosen as the final damage value. This guarantees its the maximum, but not a big change.
Rage 1 - Rage 4 - damage increased by 15/18/21/24% but damage received increased by 10/15/20/25%, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown - this one is weird, it seems best at lower levels? Either typo or just a mess up by ET.
Master Arsonist 1 - Master Arsonist 4 - lower durability of both troops and rampant by 10/15/20/25% and cause fire on it, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown. Fire deals 5% of hp per turn on troops standing over it, but doesn't damage durability, and last 3 turns
Ride and archery 1 - Ride and archery 4 - attacks the target and 1/2/3/4 random units around it, dealing reduced damage to them, damaged based on ranged and cavalry capability of user general and opponent's general (if any), the bigger difference, the more damage, 2/2/2/2 rounds cooldown (not sure about the values of this, as only 1 hero has it and cannot raise this skill).
Surrender 1 - Surrender 4 - the frontline troop of the target will change side and join your squad, can only be used if you have less than 3 troops in your squad, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown (I think, cant check what changes with level). Its really solid as you can always disband the most damaged troop in your squad and grab a fresh one from some foe.
Insight 1 - Insight 4 - target will have 50/60/70/80% extra chance to trigger both charge and detour, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown, (I don't know how it goes with levels for this one, maybe it remains 50% and then its cooldown what decreases). Solid specially against archers, as it detour will avoid you receiving damage. Charge is always great if it happens, but shines more with more attack, meaning charge cavalry are best for charges, followed by melee cavalry. For mercenaries, only some melee infantry, and all melee and charging cavalry have some base chance to charge, as it is needed to charge to be triggered.
Fatal Blow 1 - Fatal Blow 4 - only when attacking, damage increased by 15/20/25/30%, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown.
Armor Piercing 1 - Armor Piercing 4 - target enemy unit damage taken increased by 10/15/20/25%, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown, quite strong against enemy generals.
Poisoning 1 - Poisoning 4 - poison target, lasts 3/3/3/3 rounds, each dealing 5% of HP, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown. Good thing about poison is that it sticks to whoever is poisoned.
Formation 1 - Formation 4 - target counter attack damage increased by 10/15/20/25%, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown.
Detain 1 - Detain 4 - decrease target's current HP by 20/20/20/20% and heal 5/10/15/20% yourself, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown, shame CD and % damage done remain fixed, so its a worse version of Surrender imo.
Morale
Euphoria 1 - Euphoria 4 - raises target morale by 25/30/35/40, 3/3/3/3 rounds cooldown.
Disturbance 1 - Disturbance 4 - level enemy target morale by 10/15/20/25, 3/3/3/3 rounds cooldown.
City targeted
Engineering 1 - Engineering 4 - replenish rampant of allied or neutral castle or city by 10/20/30/40%, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown.
Tunnelling 1 - Tunneling 4 - rampant durability decreased by 20/25/30/35%, 5 rounds cooldown.
Espionage 1 - Espionage 4 - disable fortifications bonus on target city, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown.
Utility
Desperate Wager 1 -
Desperate Wager 4 - Target's unit attacks cost -1/-1/-1/-1 mobility points, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown, few scenarios which you can use it to attack twice because of it.
Calmness 1 - Calmness 4 - refreshes allied target's skill cooldown, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown, depends a lot on who is to be used on, and if his skill is about to come up or he is not in range, this skill should be held unused.
Equipment Destruction 1 -
Equipment Destruction 4 - lower target's mobility by 1/2/3/4 points, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown, at lower levels useless, at higher ones, you may avoid the enemy attacking twice or moving and attacking.
Shackle 1 - Shackle 4 - target's attacks cost 1/1/1/1 more mobility points, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown.
Support 1 - Support 4 - send one of your troop to the target's ally squad that has 1 or 2 troops, only can be used if you have at least 2 troops, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown.
Garrison Swap 1 - Garrison Swap 4 - change position with target troop, costs 5/4/3/2 mobility points, quite useful when well used, attack with front line troop, then change it for this one, and attack again. Very useful it costing just 2 as many troops have mobility 9, thus allowing you to change and attack twice. Useless when alone.
Mobility
Interception 1 - Interception 4 - target's mobility set to 0, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown, at high levels its absurd, you can be nullifying a troop every two turns.
Pathfinder 1 - Pathfinder 4 - increases allied land target mobility by 2/2/2/2, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown - can be used to attack an extra time if you use it after mobility of a troop is expired.
Helmsman 1 - Helmsman 4 - target allied ship unit mobility increased by 2/2/2/2, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown.
Forced March 1 - Forced March 4 - movement mobility cost reduced by 1/1/1/1, lasts 1/2/3/4 rounds, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown, cannot be targeted though.
Guide 1 - Guide 4 - target mobility will be unaffected by terrain (meaning every movement costs just 3), last for 1/2/3/4 rounds, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown.
Economy
Plunder 1 - Plunder 4 - rob (although it doesn't steal it) 30/40/50/60 silver coins, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown, useful early on, but later falls off hard, and shame it doesn't really steal resources.
Loot 1 - Loot 4 - rob (although it doesn't steal it) 10/15/20/25 iron, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown, useful early on, but later falls off hard, and shame it doesn't really steal resources.
Defensive
Composture 1 -
Composture 4 - lower target's damage by 30/40/50/55%, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown - I dont know why the last level just gives 5%. Shame cooldown stays at 5 at all levels even though its green.
Call for Reinforcements 1 - Call for Reinforcements 4 - heals your squad by 10/15/20/25%, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown.
Medical Mastery 1 - Medical Mastery 4 - small heal on unit and removes poison, 5/4/3/2 rounds cooldown.
Concentrated Defense 1 - Concentrated Defense 4 - reduces damage by 20/15/10/5 but also reduces damage taken by 15/18/21/24, 5/5/5/5 rounds cooldown, quite solid if you know you're gonna be focused. Use after attacking.
PASSIVE SKILLS
Reminder color ratings are compared to only other passive skills, not with active skills.
Infantry Combat
Infantry Tactician 1 - Infantry Tactician 4 - infantry damage output increased by 5/8/10/15%, better value than specific expert skills and works for both types, big plus on infantry gens.
Defense Infantry Expert 1 - Defense Infantry Expert 4 - defense infantry damage received reduced by 4/6/8/10%.
Melee Infantry Expert 1 -
Melee Infantry Expert 4 - melee infantry damage increased by 4/6/8/10%.
Cavalry Combat
Cavalry Tactician 1 - Cavalry Tactician 4 - cavalry damage output increased by 8/10/12/15%, better value and works for both cavalry types, big plus on cavalry gens.
Charging Cavalry Expert 1 - Charging Cavalry Expert 4 - charge chance increased by 5/7/10/15% when leading charging cavalry.
Melee Cavalry Expert 1 - Melee Cavalry Expert 4 - melee cavalry damage increased by 4/6/8/10%.
Archery Combat
Ranged Tactician 1 - Ranged Tactician 4 - ranged damage output increased by 5/10/15/20%, big value and its used for both mounted and foot archers, must have on archer gens.
Naval Combat
Navigator 1 - Navigator 4 - warship damage increased by 15/20/25/30%, level 3 and 4 also ignores mobility increase by rocks.
Terrain (none of these have level)
Plains Commander - Plains Commander - in plains (most common, easy to know if it just takes 3 movement to use and allows to move once and attack twice), damage output increased by 5%.
Snow Commander - Snow Commander - in snow (very unlikely), damage output increased by 5%.
Mountain Commander - Mountain Commander - in mountains, damage output increased by 5%.
Desert Commander - Desert Commander - in forests... just kidding, ofc its deserts, it says it on the name, damage increased by 5%.
Forest Commander - Forest Commander - in forests (common), damage output increased by 5%.
Swamp Commander - Swamp Commander - in swamps (very unlikely), damage output increased by 5%, also ignores charge restriction in swamps.
I want to add here that it sucks that they don't scale as they don't have levels, leaving you with a measly 5% damage increase. Hopefully levels get added for these, else they raise these values.
I wish it also added something like "when travelling x, it costs 1 mobility less" for each or smt more special, like we had on a previous ET game.
Weapon type Improvement
Polearm Mastery 1 - Polearm Master 4 - troops using polearms (all charge cavalry and defence infantry, both normal and mercenary) will have their damage output increased by 8/10/12/15%.
Master Swordsman 1 - Master Swordsman 4 - troops with swords (melee cavalry and melee infantry, both normal and mercenary) will have their damage output increased by 5/7/10/15%.
Master of Assault 1 - Master of Assault 4 - troops using axes or dual weapons (only some mercenary melee cavalry and mercenary melee infantry, Frank Axemen is excluded) increase their damage by 5/7/10/15%, its badly rated because only works with some mercenaries (not red because one of those Mercenaries is Varangian, which is best infantry and F2P friendly).
Master Shooter 1 - Master Shooter 4 - units using bows, crossbows or muskets damage increased by 5/7/10/15%.
Master Skirmisher 1 - Master Skirmisher 4 - unit using thrown spears/thrown axes damage increased by 5/7/10/15%.
Utility
Rapid March - Rapid March - the highest mobility unit will be the one determining the squad's mobility, instead of the lowest. Very solid mastery, you should give either most basic rider or most basic melee infantry to gens with this mastery, they'll be flying around.
Master Commander 1 - Master Commander 4 - troop recruitment cost is reduced by 15/20/25/30%.
Master Learner 1 - Master Learner 4 - gear technology cost reduced by 1/2/3/4, useless in hero conquests tho, but quite useful in Campaigns and early on in Conquests, as you can give the top gear without spending your few technology points. Shame no decent gen has this skill.
Defensive Skills
Intelligence Expert - Intelligence Expert - interception skill cannot be used on this squad, useless as very few gens have this skill, and then they will still use it on another troop of yours, and it doesn't scale either.
Discipline - Discipline - blocks Detain (troop HP leech) and Surrender (troop steal) from being triggered on this squad, but like the other defensive one, these are only used by gens and very few, and its even less likely they will attempt to, and still this just means they'll use it on another troop of yours. Very weak.
Utility
Siege Master 1 - Siege Master 4 - Decreases rampant durability by 5/10/15/20% on each attack.
Leadership 1 - Leadership 4 - Morale raises by 1/2/3/4 for himself and allied units 1 tile around it every turn.
Irritability 1 - Irritability 4 - Gain 1/2/3/4 morale each time the troop attacks (and defends).
Fire Fighting Expert - Fire Fighting Expert - squad will not suffer fire damage.
Consul skills
Fortification Expert 1 - Fortification Expert 4 - garrisoned units in your territory gain 5/10/15/20% damage, weak as you'll normally be on the offensive in Conquests.
Negotiation Expert 1 - Negotiation Expert 4 - agreement success rate (chances in agreeing on truce, passage, alliance and join war) increases by 10/20/30/40%.
Lobbyist 1 - Lobbyist 4 - passively increases relations with everyone by 2/5/8/12 each round (the last two values are guessed, they may be 10 and 15 instead), anyway, with having it level 2 is enough to drastically change Conquest's difficulty.
Logistics Expert - Logistics Expert - damaged cities will produce the same amount of resources as if they were undamaged.
Goodwill Ambassador 1 - Goodwill Ambassador 4 - relation gain by gifting increased by 2/5/8/12 (this makes gifting on the cheapest option the best value), (the last two values are guessed, they may be 10 and 15 instead).
Strategist - Strategist - reduces economic aggressiveness by 1 level, meaning that if you are on Defensive or Aggressive, it will count the first as Peaceful and the latter as Defensive, and give you a lesser tax penalty (0 instead of -35 for the first and -35 instead of -70 for the latter example).
Mobilization Expert -
Mobilization Expert - replenishment speed of all units in your territory will be unaffected by damage (units heal faster on more healthy castles/cities, this makes them heal on their best rate).
, so I always have backup data.
