I Need a Hero

by Merepatra
images courtesy of Norahs2000

Pecunia has provided detailed information at the bottom on how Homages to heroes work.

Click on the Hero name below to go to a page with more specific details of that Hero, the effects of their blessings and other benefits.

Heroes in Emperor
Hero Religion Blesses Walker 1/2 cost of Capture Animals Fights Other Benefits Associated Monuments

Nu Wa
Creator Goddess
Ancestor Clay Pit

Fishing Quay

Hunter’s Tent

Inspector’s Tower

Inspector

Musician

Diviner

Clay Pit

Fishing Quay

Hunter’s Tent

Music School

Inspector’s Tower

Irrigation

Yes No Makes it more difficult for enemies to burn buildings Great Temple

Temple Complex

Tumulus


Shen Nong
Divine Farmer
Ancestor Farmhouse

Hemp Farm

Herbalist

Diviner

Crops

Farm

Herbalist

Market Square

Food Shop

Mill

No No Satisfies Non-Player City requests for food Splendid Temple

Grand Temple Complex

Grand Tumulus

Clock Tower


Huang Di
Yellow Emperor
Ancestor Kiln

Silkworm shed

Acupuncturist

Diviner

Adds 1 ceramics to each house

Kiln

Silkworm Shed

Mulberry Trees

Weaver

Acupuncturist

Chariot Fort

No Yes Helps Chariot Morale

Satisfies Non-Player City requests for ceramics

Earthen Great Wall

Stone Great Wall

Large Palace

Underground Vault


Xi Wang Mu
Queen Mother
of the West
Daoist Jade Carver Dao Priest Guilds
Jade Carver
Sculptures
Yes No Speeds up Monument Construction Grand Temple Complex

Underground Vault


Zao Jun
Kitchen God
Daoist Food Shop Dao Priest

Adds 1 unit of delicious food to each house

Houses

Food shop

No No Free New Year Festival Large Palace

Clocktower


Guan Di
God of War
Daoist Mill

Warehouse

Confucian Academy

Fort

Guard

Confucian Scholar

Daoist Priest

Forts

Weaponsmiths

Watchtowers

No Yes Helps Cavalry Morale

No Muggers, Thieves or Bandits can appear in the city

Temple Complex

Stone Great Wall


Guan Yin
Goddess of Mercy
Buddhist Well Watchtower Guard

Water carrier

Buddhist Monk

Well

Garden

Flowering tree

Wayside pavilion

Pond

Tai Chi park

Private garden

No No Halves cost of bribes

City Health bonus

Grand Canal

Grand Pagoda


Bodhidharma
Kung Fu Monk
Buddhist Tea curing shed

Watchtower

Watchtower Guard

Buddhist Monk

Tea curing shed

Tea bushes

Tea shop

Watchtowers

No Yes (in own city only) Satisfies Non-Player City requests for tea Temple Complex

Grand Pagoda


Sun Wu Kong
Monkey King
Buddhist Weaponsmith

Stoneworks

Acrobat

Actor

Daoist Priest

Buddhist Monk

Stoneworks

Weaponsmith

Acrobat School

Drama School

Theatre Pavilion

Daoist Shrines

Yes Yes Emissaries to other cities cost nothing and travel faster Large Palace

Grand Pagoda


Confucius
Sage of all Time
Confucian Tax Office Confucian Scholar

Diviner

Tax official

Musician

Tax Office

Ancestral Shrine

Music School

Grand and Imperial Ways

No No Tax revenues are increased

Satisfies one burial good provision for Tumulus or Grand Tumulus

Great Temple

Grand Tumulus


Sun Tzu
Master Sun
Confucian Forts Confucian Scholar Fort

Fortifications

Yes Yes 1/2 cost to train spies

Reverses spies

Reduces travel time of your army

Helps infantry morale

Earthen Great Wall

Underground Vault


Mencius
Second Sage
Confucian Trading Stations / Quays Confucian Scholar Warehouse

Trading Stations/Quays

Market Squares

No No Traders arrive more frequently Grand Temple Complex

Grand Canal

Notes

All Heroes increase your popularity when they are in the city.

Associated Monuments – When a Monument is completed in your city then any hero associated with that Monument has their homage level increased to Exalted. The homage level of Ancestral Heroes will never fall below contented once their associated monument is completed.

Walker type – This means that when the hero passes houses (or other buildings in the case of inspectors) the house receives coverage as if that type of walker had passed. While this can be very useful, heroes tend to vary their walking route often and are usually not reliable as a sole means of receiving coverage unless you are prepared to continually monitor them and move their flag to ensure they go where you need them to.

Fighter – For more details of the strengths/weaknesses of each Hero as a fighter see the Hero Hit points table

Hero Moods – There are eight happiness levels: angry, unhappy, neglected, contented, pleased, happy, joyful, and exalted. Only Ancestral heroes ever become neglected, unhappy or angry, the rest will never go below contented. Once a Hero reaches happy there is a chance they will appear in your city, though it is more likely to happen at joyful and almost certain at exalted.

Homages – Before a hero will honour your city with a visit, you have to pay homage to them. In addition to that.. the Ancestral heroes want to have homages every once in a while. If you neglect your Ancestors, they may conjure up a drought, an earthquake, or a flood.

To pay homage to a hero, click on the Religion tab and click on the word ‘Religion’ at the top to open the Religion full report. You’ll see the portraits of available heroes there with their level of contentment below their portrait. Click on a portrait, at the bottom now appears a box with available goods for offering in your city. Click one of the goods, select how many of that good you want to give (small, medium or large) and click on ‘Make offering’.

To be able to pay homage to a hero of a certain ‘religion’, you need to have the proper buildings in your city:

Religion Building needed
Ancestor Ancestral Shrine
Confucianism Confucian Academy
Daoism Daoist Temple
Buddhism Buddhist Pagoda

How happy will a hero be with your offering?

This depends on 4 factors:

  • the size of the offering (small=1, medium=2, large=4)
  • the cost of the goods offered: a hero will be happier with silk than with rice, just because silk is more expensive.
  • how many people in your city have access to buildings of that religion
  • the feng-shui rating of your city: the more harmonious your city, the more effective your offering is

If you give a medium offering of silk or lacquerware, your homage level with that hero can be increased from ‘contented’ to ‘exalted’ at once.

Keep in mind that you can only pay homage to any hero once a month, and also mind the goods you give: if you give too many your city may run out of a particular good, causing your housing to devolve.

How many goods do I need for an offering?

This depends on city size, the bigger your city is, the larger offerings the heroes expect.

Table for the amount of goods needed for one offering for populations up to 9200:

City size
(population)
Small
offering
Medium
offering
Large
offering
0-99
100-256 1 2 4
257-1024 2 4 8
1025-2304 3 6 12
2305-4096 4 8 16
4097-6400 5 10 20
6401-9216 6 12 24

Further thresholds can be found using the following formula:

population threshold = 256 * [small homage]^2

Example: you built a city of (say) 25,000 citizens. How much goods is a small homage?
Calculate back using the formula:
25,000 = 256 * [small homage]^2
97.66 = [small homage]^2
sqrt(97.66) = small homage = 9.88, round this UP to 10 and that is what you pay for a small homage.
A medium homage is then 10*2 = 20 loads, and large is 10*4 = 40 loads.

A big thanks to Frog gazing at Moon from BreakAway for the thresholds and for verifying the formula I found 🙂

How happy can a hero be?

There are 8 happiness levels: angry, unhappy, neglected, contented, pleased, happy, joyful and exalted. Only Ancestor heroes can become neglected, unhappy and angry, the others are always ‘contented’ (or happier) even if you don’t give them a single thing.

A hero will appear in your city if his happiness level is ‘joyful’ or ‘exalted’ (although he/she may also appear when he/she is happy)