History VideoGame / UnicornOverlord

''Unicorn Overlord'' is a HighFantasy [[RealTimeStrategy Real-Time]] StrategyRPG developed by Creator/{{Vanillaware}} and published by Creator/{{Atlus}}.

* AreaOfEffect: A number of Valor Skills, usable outside of battle by spending valor points earned via defeating enemies and capturing outposts, affect an area either damaging/debuffing enemies or healing/buffing allies within. ''Arrow Rain'', ''Hastened Call'', ''Merciful Rain'', etc. are all examples. Some classes, such as the Rogue, gain an [=AoE=] ability upon promoting. (The Thief's single-target ''Plunder'' becoming the [=AoE=] ''Plunder II'' at the same valor cost).

** Out of battle, some Valor Skills deal damage to units in their AreaOfEffect over time. The Wizard's "Blaze" skill is one such example.

* TheMinionMaster: Sellswords and their promoted class, Landsknecht, have "Summon Warriors" and "Summon Archers" as Valor skills, respectively. For just one Valor point, they can summon a squad of [[LevelScaling Level-Scaled]] units to take some of the fighting and soften up enemy units.

** The Thief class possesses the Valor Skill ''Plunder'', which allows them to steal money from enemy units outside of battle.

* StationaryEnemy: Enemy units stationed at watchtowers, war machines, and outposts will not move from their designated spots to try stopping your advance. The player can, however, lure them out either with the Fighter/Vanguard Valor Skill ''Provoke'' or by using certain items, though that will not work on enemies that are garrisoned at towns, forts and so forth.

* VideoGameStealing: In battle, Thieves and Rogues have abilities which can steal AP and PP from units they hit. They also have access to the Valor skill ''Plunder'', allowing them to steal gold from a target on the map. Enemy Thieves and Rogues can use this on ''your units'' and will [[BanditMook attempt to book it with their ill-gotten gains the moment they do]], meaning you need to either kill them quickly or use a Fighter's ''[[PracticalTaunt Provoke]]'' Valor skill to make them stay around long enough to kill and get the gold back.

* OneStatToRuleThemAll: Though certain classes benefit more from pumping up specific stats than others (ex. HP for Werebears to boost their Lifeblow damage, Evasion for Thieves/Rogues so they can dodge attacks without triggering their Evade passive, etc.), manipulating Initiative is not only important to determine which group can act first but which member in those groups can act first. Gilbert's incredible row buffs are useless if he's too slow to apply them before his teammates attack, a Hoplite/Legionnaire might not survive to increase its defenses with his active skills if the opposition overruns him, a Dark/Doom Knight can attack before it loses any health, and so on. Getting your stratagems to trigger first and optimally due to higher Initiative can help a player avoid costly battles of attrition thanks to wiping out or simply neutralizing the opposing party. Concentrating on Initiative management is made even easier by how certain passive skills provided by various classes and equitable items can preclude the need to invest in other stats. A Witch/Sorceress can make any attack a Truestrike, even for a character who has criminally low accuracy, and Sylphic Barrier can protect flying units from a single physickal ranged attack so they don't have to invest in boosting their defense against those much.

* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: The Sigil Trials are auxillery battles that can essentially be repeated as many times as you like. In addition to any experience gained during the trial itself, they reward [[RareCandy Military Treatises]], which grant further experience, and can be used to rapidly grind Honors (used to promote units to advanced classes and increase unit size) and collect resources (needed for rebuilding towns) from stationed guards. Beginner 1, which can be found in Corina, is particularly easy to beat given its low-level requirements and can be accomplished in a matter of seconds if you have cavalry since your starting position isn't far away from the boss.