Source note: This is Part 1 of a three-part franchise-wide factionfaction. An in-game group or nation players can align with or fight against, with its own goals and reputation system. & build reference for Age of Wonders. Every race, class, and mechanic below is grounded in the Triumph Studios/Paradox wikis and encyclopedic sources listed at the bottom. Where a community guide adds playstyle color, it’s cited. Part 2 covers the sci-fi spinoff Age of Wonders: Planetfall. Part 3 covers the current game Age of Wonders 4 and a cross-franchise “How to Choose.”
The Age of Wonders series is Triumph Studios’ long-running turn-based strategy franchise — fantasy 4X4X. eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate — a grand-strategy subgenre about building a civilization over a long arc. with detailed hex tactical combat, hero progression, and race-driven rosters. Across more than two decades it has evolved from a fixed 12-race fantasy battleground (1999) into a fully modular faction builder (2023).
What it covers: AoW1’s 12 races, Shadow Magic’s 15, and AoW3’s 9 races × 7 classes. Why it matters: Race choice sets alignment, roster, and diplomacy in the classics; AoW3 splits race from playstyle. Who should pick this: Players choosing between classic AoW entries or planning an AoW3 race × class combo.
This three-part reference treats each entry as its own game with its own roster, because the way you “pick a faction” changes radically between them.
This part covers the classic fantasy era: the original Age of Wonders (1999), its standalone expansion Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic (2003, the definitive version of the AoW2 lineage), and Age of Wonders III (2014, the class-based revival).
Era overview at a glance
| Game | Year | Roster model | Races | “Build” axis | Signature system |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age of Wonders | 1999 | Fixed race + alignment | 12 | Race + magic sphere | Race relations matrix; 8 magic spheres |
| Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic | 2003 | Fixed race + alignment (+ Shadow World) | 15 | Race + magic sphere | 5 alignment tiers; Shadow World layer; movable Nomad cities |
| Age of Wonders III | 2014 | Race × class grid | 9 races, 7 classes | Race + class + specialization | Class units modified by race; alignment by action |
The big shift: AoW1 and Shadow Magic give you a fixed race with fixed alignment and a magic sphere. AoW3 decouples race from playstyle by introducing classes — any race can pair with any class, and the combination changes your class units’ abilities.
Age of Wonders (1999) — the 12 races
The original game is a hex-based fantasy 4X co-developed by Triumph Studios and Epic MegaGames. Each player leads one of 12 races, and race choice is the single biggest decision: it sets your alignment, your unit roster, your terrain preferences, and your starting diplomatic relationships with every other race on the map.
Races (and unaligned creatures like dragons and giants) have an alignment — good, neutral, or evil. Alignment and race relations determine whether independent cities surrender or fight, whether conquered cities revolt, and whether mixed-race armies suffer morale penalties and desertion. Relations can be improved by upgrading/migrating cities toward a race, or harmed by razing, looting, and migrating away.
AoW1 Race Master Table
| Race | Alignment | Terrain flavor | Signature vibe | Notable units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humans | Neutral | Plains | Versatile expansionists | Knight, Cavalry, Priest |
| Elves | Good | Forest | Agile forest archers; forestry | Swordsman, Archer, Druid (Entangle) |
| Dwarves | Good | Mountains/underground | Tough, slow, poison-resistant | Axeman, Crossbowman, Berserker, Steam Tank |
| Halflings | Good | Plains | Frail but sneaky; slingers | Slinger, Swordsman, Leprechaun |
| High Men (Highmen) | Good | Plains | Holy crusaders; anti-undead | Paladin, Titan, Chariot |
| Azracs | Neutral | Desert | Desert dwellers (later become Nomads) | Horse Archer, War Elephant |
| Frostlings | Neutral | Snow | Cold attackers; frail, fire-weak | Frost Witch, Mammoth Rider, Yeti |
| Lizardmen | Neutral | Wetlands | Amphibious | Swimmer units, water mobility |
| Draconians | Neutral | Barrens/lava | Dragon-kin; fire-themed | Flamer, Flyer, Red Dragon |
| Orcs | Evil | Barrens | Brutal melee; weak archers/resistance | Warlord, Heavy Cavalry, Glutton |
| Goblins | Evil | Caves/wetlands | Cheap, sneaky, blight-themed | Impaler, Big Beetle, Wyvern Rider, Shaman |
| Dark Elves | Evil | Underground | Stealth, guile, low HP | Executioner, Spider Queen, Succubus, Incarnate |
| Undead | Pure Evil | Any (wasteland) | Holy-weak; immunities; death magic | Zombie, Death Knight, Bone Horror, Dread Reaper |
Note on the 12: Wikipedia and the Fandom race-relations matrix list exactly these twelve. The Fandom cross-game “Races” page also tracks which races appear in later entries (Lizardmen and Azracs drop out after AoW1; Azracs become Nomads in Shadow Magic).
How race choice plays in AoW1
- Good races (Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, High Men) tend to cooperate, share better relations, and field durable/holy units. They struggle to hold evil cities without garrisons.
- Evil races (Orcs, Goblins, Dark Elves, Undead) are aggressive and cheap-to-recruit but suffer holy weaknesses and poor cross-alignment morale.
- Neutral races (Humans, Azracs, Frostlings, Lizardmen, Draconians) are the flexible middle — they can recruit from and hold both good and evil cities more easily.
Your leader/wizard also picks magic spheres from eight options:
- Life
- Death
- Air
- Earth
- Fire
- Water
- Cosmos
- Secret/Chaos
Spheres gate your spell research; elemental nodes only feed casters of the matching sphere. The interplay — e.g., a Death-sphere Undead wizard vs. a Life-sphere High Men crusader — is the core build tension.
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic (2003) — 15 races across five alignments
Shadow Magic is a stand-alone expansion to Age of Wonders II: The Wizard’s Throne (2002) and is the definitive “classic” AoW experience — it adds a random map generator, an improved editor, and three new races. It remains the version most fans of the pre-2014 era play.
The roster expands to 15 races organized into five alignment tiers: Pure Good, Good, Neutral, Evil, and Pure Evil. Each race has a four-tier unit tree (Basic → Mystic/Cavalry/Specialist → Unique units → Ultimate) plus an “Expansion Unique.”
Shadow Magic Race Master Table
| Race | Alignment | Signature mechanic / vibe | Ultimate unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archons | Pure Good | Holy strike; anti-undead; charioteers | Titan |
| Elves | Good | Forestry; archers; Druid (Entangle) | Fairy Dragon |
| Dwarves | Good | Tough/slow; poison-resistant; Steam Tank | Steam Tank |
| Halflings | Good | Concealment; slingers; frail but sneaky | Leprechaun |
| Syrons (new) | Good | Shadow-realm natives; lightning attacks; anti–Shadow Demon | Forceship |
| Draconians | Neutral | Fire-themed; fly; shadow-walk | Red Dragon |
| Frostlings | Neutral | Cold attacks; frail; fire-weak | Doom Wolf |
| Humans | Neutral | Versatile; Air Galley mobility; Buccaneers | Airship |
| Nomads (new) | Neutral | Movable cities; fast cavalry; Horse Archer | Roc |
| Tigrans | Neutral | Sphinx (Dominate); cat-themed | Sphinx |
| Dark Elves | Evil | Stealth; web/entangle; low HP | Incarnate |
| Goblins | Evil | Cheap; night vision; cave crawling | Karagh |
| Orcs | Evil | Brutal melee; slow; limited flying/ranged | Warlord (Glutton) |
| Shadow Demons (new) | Evil | Shadow-realm hive; magic strike; holy/lightning-weak | Shadow Lord |
| Undead | Pure Evil | Holy-weak; death immunities; raise dead | Dread Reaper |
The three new races
- Nomads — desert cavalry faction whose signature trick is movable cities: pack a city into a caravancaravan. A player-driven trade convoy that moves goods between settlements — valuable, and vulnerable to attack., relocate it (e.g., toward the front line or away from danger), and rebuild it with population and buildings intact. Slave Pits halve rush-production costs. Fast, mobile, and offensively strong.
- Shadow Demons — a hive-mind invader from the Shadow World. Tough, magic-striking melee monsters (the Lord is one of the strongest units in the game) with weaknesses to lightning and holy. Most units have Shadow Walker / Cave Crawling, making them lethal underground and in the Shadow Realm.
- Syrons — the original inhabitants of the Shadow World, now freed. Geared as the anti–Shadow Demon race: lots of lightning attacks (which Shadow Demons are weak to) and Shadow Walker immunity. Several units start weak but gain powerful abilities at medal ranks.
The Shadow World layer
Shadow Magic adds a third map layer — the Shadow World — accessible via shadow gates. Shadow Demons and Syrons can farm crops and gain terrain bonuses on Shadow Land and fight without Shadow Sickness (which halves the stats of normal units there). This makes the Shadow World a strategic flank: a Shadow Demon or Syron player can stage invasions from a dimension other races can barely survive in.
Magic spheres in Shadow Magic
Seven spheres:
- Life
- Earth
- Air
- Fire
- Water
- Death
- Cosmos
(Cosmos was reined in from AoW2 — a Cosmos wizard now picks spheres from the other six domains rather than researching everything.) Each sphere has a research budget that scales with how many spheres of it you hold, so specialization beats breadth.
Age of Wonders III (2014) — the race × class grid
AoW3 is the revival that changed everything: instead of a fixed race determining your playstyle, you pick a race and a class, and the combination defines your army. Race sets your starting city, terrain preferences, and racial unit roster; class sets your class units, spells, and playstyle. Crucially, class units are modified by your race — a Draconian Apprentice gets Fire Bolts and a Fire Bomb, while a Human Apprentice gets Fairy Fire. This race×class grid is the heart of AoW3’s build depth.
AoW3 Races (9 total)
Six races ship with the base game; three more arrive via DLC.
| Race | DLC | Terrain likes | Racial signature | Racial units (sample) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humans | Base | Fertile Plains | Balanced; Mariner (naval); +5 city production | Civic Guard, Knight, Cavalry, Priest |
| High Elves | Base | Dense Vegetation | Best archers; +1 ranged damage; blight-weak | Longbowman, Storm Sister, Gryphon Rider |
| Dwarves | Base | Mountains | Tough (+1 armor/resistance); blight-protected; +10% cost | Axeman, Forge Priest, Boar Rider, Firstborn |
| Orcs | Base | Barrens | +5 HP, +1 melee, −1 ranged/resistance; night vision | Spearman, Black Knight, Shock Trooper |
| Goblins | Base | Wetlands | −5 HP but −10% cost, +10% growth; blight-themed; cave crawling | Swarm Darter, Warg Rider, Big Beetle |
| Draconians | Base | Barrens/Lava | Fire-protected, frost-weak; +3 city mana; fast healing | Flamer, Raptor, Flyer, Elder |
| Halflings | Golden Realms (2014) | — | Luck mechanic (avoid damage at high morale); physical-weak | Slinger, Party Robot, Farmer |
| Frostlings | Eternal Lords (2015) | Snow | Cold attackers; frost-themed | Frostling units, ice magic synergy |
| Tigrans | Eternal Lords (2015) | Desert | Feline; Coup de Grace, Pounce, bloodthirsty | Cat-themed units, Were Bear Shaman |
Unlike AoW1/Shadow Magic, race in AoW3 does not affect diplomacy or relations — it only sets your starting city, terrain prefs, and racial unit roster, and tweaks your leader’s stats. Alignment is now driven by your actions (razing, migrating, absorbing good/evil cultures), not your race.
AoW3 Classes (7 total)
Six classes ship with the base game; the Necromancer arrives in Eternal Lords.
| Class | DLC | Playstyle | Signature class units | Affinity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warlord | Base | Brute force; buff infantry | Phalanx, Warbreed, Manticore Rider | Non-magic melee |
| Rogue | Base | Stealth, debuffs, dark magic | Scoundrel, Assassin, Bard, Succubus, Shadow Wraith | Subterfuge |
| Theocrat | Base | Divine buffs/converts; holy war | Crusader, Martyr, Evangelist, Exalted, Shrine of Smiting | Religion |
| Sorcerer | Base | Summoning and enchantment | Apprentice, Phantom Warriors, Eldritch Horrors | Arcane |
| Dreadnought | Base | Steampunk industry; gunpowder/machines | Musketeer, Engineer, Juggernaut, Flame Tank, Golem | Technology |
| Archdruid | Base | Nature; summon/enhance beasts | Shaman, Hunter, animals | Nature |
| Necromancer | Eternal Lords (2015) | Raise the dead; ghoul versions of racial units; spread disease | Reanimator, Death Bringer, ghoul units | Death |
Why the race × class grid matters
Because class units inherit racial modifiers, some combinations are dramatically stronger or more synergistic than others. A few documented examples (from the community class/race combination guide):
- Draconian class units frequently gain Fire Bolts / Fire Bomb (Apprentice) or Inflict Immolation (Engineer, Manticore Rider) — Draconian + Sorcerer or + Warlord is a fire-damage powerhouse.
- Goblin units add blight damage and Wetlands/Blight Concealment to many class units (Scoundrel, Shaman, Engineer) — Goblin + Rogue or + Archdruid is a poison-and-stealth build.
- High Elf class units gain Longbows (no range penalty) on Hunters/Bards and Total Awareness on Shamans — High Elf + Archdruid or + Rogue excels at ranged and scouting.
- Frostling class units add Frost Weapons and Arctic Concealment across the board — Frostling + any melee class turns your army into a cold-damage force.
- Tigran class units gain Coup de Grace, Pounce, and Bloodthirsty — Tigran + Warlord or + Rogue is a high-lethality flanker build.
The lesson: in AoW3, “what faction should I pick?” is really “what race × class combo should I pick?” A Human Dreadnought (industrial gunpowder + naval) plays nothing like a Goblin Dreadnought (blight-damage machines) even though they share a class.
AoW3 campaigns and scope
AoW3 ships with two story campaigns — the Commonwealth (Human-centric, technology/industry) and the Elven Court (High Elf-centric, magic/tradition) — each branching toward a neutral “Torchbearers” path that hunts the manipulative Shadowborn. The Golden Realms expansion adds the Halfling campaign; Eternal Lords adds the Frostling Necromancer campaign. The game sold 500,000 copies by March 2016 and is considered the franchise’s commercial revival.
Cross-era race tracker — which races appear where
One of the most useful ways to understand the franchise is to track races across entries. The Fandom cross-game “Races” page documents this directly:
| Race | AoW1 | Shadow Magic | AoW3 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humans | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Ever-present; always the versatile neutral baseline |
| Elves / High Elves | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (High Elves) | Elves split; AoW3 uses “High Elves” |
| Dwarves | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Consistent tough/mountain archetype |
| Halflings | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (DLC) | Added to AoW3 via Golden Realms |
| Frostlings | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (DLC) | Added to AoW3 via Eternal Lords |
| Orcs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Ever-present evil/brutal archetype |
| Goblins | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Ever-present cheap/cave archetype |
| Dark Elves | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | Dropped after Shadow Magic |
| Undead | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ (as race) | Returns as the Necromancer class in AoW3 |
| Draconians | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | Introduced in AoW2, present since |
| Tigrans | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ (DLC) | Feline race; AoW3 via Eternal Lords |
| Lizardmen | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | AoW1 only |
| Azracs / Nomads | ✓ (Azracs) | ✓ (Nomads) | ✗ | Azracs evolve into Nomads in Shadow Magic |
| High Men / Archons | ✓ (Highmen) | ✓ (Archons) | ✗ | Renamed Archons in Shadow Magic; dropped in AoW3 |
| Syrons | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | Shadow Magic only (returns in AoW4 DLC) |
| Shadow Demons | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | Shadow Magic only |
The pattern: the franchise prunes and rebrands its roster each era. AoW1’s Lizardmen, Azracs, and Highmen vanish; Shadow Magic’s Syrons and Shadow Demons vanish from AoW3; the Undead race becomes the Necromancer class. By AoW4 (Part 3), the very concept of a fixed race roster is replaced by a form builder — but the classic archetypes (Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Halflings, Frostlings, Draconians, Tigrans) all survive as selectable forms.
How to choose (classic era)
- You want the purest race-driven fantasy 4X: play Age of Wonders (1999) or Shadow Magic (2003). Race choice is your build. Pick Elves/Dwarves for durable good, Orcs/Goblins/Dark Elves for aggressive evil, Humans/Draconians for flexible neutral. Shadow Magic is the more complete experience (random maps, editor, 15 races, Shadow World).
- You want class-based build depth: play Age of Wonders III. Pick a race for flavor/terrain and a class for playstyle. Strong combos: Draconian Sorcerer (fire-summoner), Goblin Rogue (poison-stealth), High Elf Archdruid (ranged beasts), Human Dreadnought (naval gunpowder), Frostling Necromancer (cold undeath).
- You want the most units and tactical variety: Shadow Magic has the largest classic roster (15 races × 4-tier trees) and the Shadow World strategic layer.
What’s next
Part 2 leaves fantasy behind for the sci-fi spinoff Age of Wonders: Planetfall (2019) — eight factions (Amazon, Assembly, Dvar, Kir’Ko, Syndicate, Vanguard + DLC Shakarn and Oathbound), each paired with a secret tech, on a sector-based planetary map with doomsday weapons.
→ Continue to Part 2: Age of Wonders Planetfall — Factions & Secret Techs → Or skip to Part 3: Age of Wonders 4 + How to Choose
SOURCES
- Wikipedia — Age of Wonders (1999): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Wonders — the 12-race roster, alignment system, magic spheres, and gameplay overview.
- Age of Wonders I Wiki — Race relations (Fandom): https://ageofwonders.fandom.com/wiki/Race_relations — the full race-to-race relations matrix and the five relation tiers.
- Liquisearch — Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic races and units: https://www.liquisearch.com/age_of_wonders_-_shadow_magic/races_and_their_units — the 15-race, five-alignment-tier roster with unit tiers and ultimate units.
- Age of Wonders Wiki — Races (Fandom, cross-game): https://age-of-wonders.fandom.com/wiki/Races — the cross-game race appearance tracker used in the table above.
- Wikipedia — Age of Wonders III: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Wonders_III — the race/class system, six base races, expansions (Golden Realms, Eternal Lords), Necromancer class, and sales.
- Age of Wonders 3 Wiki — Races (Fandom): https://aow3.fandom.com/wiki/Races — racial inherent traits and racial unit lists for all nine AoW3 races.
- Gameplay.tips — AoW3 Guide to Class and Race Combinations: https://gameplay.tips/guides/8878-age-of-wonders-iii.html — the documented race×class unit perk differences (e.g., Draconian Apprentice Fire Bomb, Goblin Scoundrel blight damage).
Race and class rosters verified against the Triumph Studios/Paradox wikis and encyclopedic sources. Where playstyle characterizations are added, they are drawn from the cited community guides; mechanics (alignments, unit tiers, racial traits) are drawn from the wikis.
Part 2 moves to the sci-fi era with Planetfall’s eight factions and secret techs, and Part 3 lands on Age of Wonders 4’s form builder with a cross-franchise chooser. Everything in those later entries traces back to the classic archetypes tabled above — Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and the rest all survive as selectable forms.
Next read
- Continue the series with Part 2: Age of Wonders Planetfall — Factions & Secret Techs.
- Or jump to Part 3: Age of Wonders 4 + How to Choose.
- Comparing against the wider genre? See 4X Subgenre Comparison: Civ 7 vs AoW4 vs Endless Legend 2 vs Humankind.