War and Order: Infantry vs. Cavalry Frontline Stats

Use Infantry as your primary frontline tank in War and Order. When comparing raw baseline unit statistics without Mystic College bonuses, Infantry carries significantly higher base Health (HP) and Defense, making them the most durable ground troops to absorb incoming damage. Cavalry units possess higher base Attack and faster march speeds, but their reduced defensive stats make frontline Cavalry vulnerable to rapid collapse under focused fire.

Base Stat Comparison

Before technology trees, equipment, or building boosts apply, Infantry and Cavalry fill fundamentally different tactical profiles. Combat mechanics resolve incoming attacks from front to back, so frontline survival determines how long your damage dealers stay active.

Stat Metric	Infantry Profile	Cavalry Profile	Combat Impact
Base Health (HP)	High	Moderate	Dictates total damage taken before a unit is eliminated.
Base Defense	Very High	Moderate to Low	Mitigates incoming strike values before deductions hit HP.
Base Attack	Low	High	Determines physical damage dealt to enemy frontline units.
March Speed	Slow	Fast	Governs travel time to targets, rallies, and resource tiles.
Core Role	Primary Damage Sponge	Secondary Striker / Flanker	Dictates position in the march hierarchy and casualty order.

Why Infantry Outlasts Cavalry

Infantry relies on a dual-layered defensive profile. Because combat calculations check incoming damage against a unit's Defense stat before deducting from raw HP, Infantry's high defense reduces strike severity, allowing its larger HP pool to survive across extended combat rounds. With each tier unlock, Infantry gains substantial scaling multipliers to both Defense and HP.

Cavalry tier upgrades focus primarily on Attack scaling rather than defensive resilience. While higher-tier Cavalry does receive modest HP and Defense increases, these do not keep pace with the damage output of enemy backline Archers and Mages. If Cavalry replaces Infantry on the frontline, lower defense leads to higher casualties per combat turn. Once the frontline thins out, excess damage spills into fragile rear units, such as Mages, Archers, and Angels.

Offensive and Speed Trade-Offs

Cavalry holds clear advantages in raw damage output and operational mobility:

Damage output: Cavalry easily out-damages Infantry in head-to-head frontline clashes, making them useful for contributing auxiliary damage rather than absorbing incoming volleys.
Map mobility: Infantry marches move at the slowest pace in the game. Cavalry offers rapid travel for tile interceptions, quick reinforcements, and timed rally maneuvers.

Using Cavalry speed to replace Infantry in heavy combat, however, creates major defensive vulnerabilities that speed alone cannot offset.

Recommended Frontline Setup

To maintain a durable formation, structure your march based on these baseline statistical roles:

Dedicate the majority of frontline capacity to Infantry. Use your highest available tier of Infantry as the primary shield to absorb initial volleys and preserve backline damage dealers.
Layer Infantry tiers. Mixing odd and even tiers of Infantry creates distinct defensive lines, preventing hostile damage stacks from wiping your tank line in a single combat calculation.
Use Cavalry as auxiliary support. Add a secondary contingent of Cavalry to bolster march attack output, but do not rely on them to soak primary damage.
Prioritize survivability over march speed. Never strip Infantry from a contested combat march simply to reduce travel time, as early frontline failure risks severe hospital overflows.