Introducing the War Scholar, Doctrines and Signacula

New to Conqueror’s Blade is the War Scholar, a veritable Indiana Jones of the medieval age. For the right price (in the form of Treatises and Battle Relics), he will run off to excavate ancient barrows and battlefields, bringing you back Signacula and Doctrines; items which give unit XP, Honour discounts and powerful unit attribute boosts.    

You can earn Treatises and Battle Relics as story and side mission rewards, as well as from Secret Vaults. In addition, the Archeologists Pack from the in-game Store (press C) contains five Battle Relics.

War Scholar screen

Securing the excavation services of a War Scholar is very simple. As a level 12 (or above) character, you simply press X to bring up the War Scholar screen. Then, after considering what can be found at each location, you simply press the Excavate Site button. If it’s a Doctrine you’re after (to augment unit attributes), a Treatise will be taken from your inventory. If it’s a Signaculum you need, it will cost you a Battle Relic. Doctrines and Signacula, once acquired, are deposited in your character inventory.

Doctrines

Doctrines come in various hues (grey - common, green - uncommon, blue - rare, purple - epic, orange - legendary) and each one acts to improve a unit’s attributes, such as to increase to its Health, or a bonus to a particular type of defence (piercing, slashing, blunt). You can issue up to five Doctrines per unit; one each at unit level 1, 3, 5 7 and 10.

To issue a Doctrine to one of your units, simply bring up the Unit screen (U), select a unit from your Barracks and click one of the boxes on the right of the Unit Details screen to select a Doctrine. Note: it is possible to replace one Doctrine for another, but the first will be lost. In other words, once it is applied to one unit, Doctrines cannot later be applied to another. 

Signacula

Like Doctrines, Signacula are ranked by quality (common, uncommon, etc), but are specific to particular units. A Signaculum can be used straight from the inventory screen by right-clicking on it. If you have the unit already unlocked, you will be taken to the Unit Detail Screen, where you can apply an XP bonus. If the unit has yet to be unlocked, you will be taken to the Unit Unlock page and be given a 5% reduction to the Honour cost of unlocking that unit. Once used, the Signaculum will disappear.

Principles and Blanks 

As well as scouring ancient battlefields for Doctrines and Signacula, the War Scholar provides two other services, which have to be performed by visiting him in the city. The first, Salvaging, is the process of breaking down any Doctrines and Signacula that you don’t want. Salvaged Doctrines will issue you Principles, while salvaged unit-specific Signacula become Blank Signacula.

Once you have enough Principles, you can exchange them for a Treatise (to hopefully receive a Doctrine you do want). You can also exchange blank Signacula for a Signaculum that’s specific to a unit you want.

When it comes to salvaging and exchanging items the War Scholar drives a hard bargain, but if you want to boost your units to the max, his services are essential.