| B'Shan The Dervish | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Type | Non-Champion | |||
| Hiring Cost |
 100 | |||
| Upkeep Cost |
0 * | |||
| Prereq. | None | |||
| Moves |
 2 | |||
| Melee Attack |
 4 | |||
| Ranged Attack |
 4 | |||
| Defense |
 4 | |||
| Resistance |
 6 | |||
| Hit Points |
 6 | |||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
 Noble | ||||
| Random Abilities | None | |||
B'Shan the Dervish is one of the 35 Hero units featured in Master of Magic.
B'Shan is a non-Champion Hero. He may randomly appear for hire, in which case his Hiring Cost is 100 by default. Alternatively, B'Shan can be summoned using the Summon Hero spell (or through partial failure of the Summon Champion spell), and can occasionally be found as a Prisoner reward after a successful Encounter.
B'Shan is an unimpressive fighter, though he can alternate between equally-powerful Ranged Missile Attacks and Melee Attacks. He has no special abilities to augment either attack. Furthermore, none of B'Shans defensive attributes are impressive either, with a low Defense score and only mediocre Resistance and Hit Point scores.
B'Shan may be equipped with the basic fare of Magical Items, and can additionally be equipped with a Bow instead of a melee weapon, to increase the power of his Ranged Attack. He will not be able to cast spells, and thus can focus on gaining bonuses to his attack strength or defensive properties. Anything, really, would be helpful.
B'Shan's only real redeeming trait is his Noble ability. This means that he has no Upkeep Costs, and instead contributes 10 to your treasury at the start of each turn. This makes B'Shan a good pick for the early game, where he can make you some great money - just don't expect him to survive if you actually send him out to fight enemies!
General Description[]
B'Shan the Dervish is a member of an eastern religious order, which advocates a simple, ascetic lifestyle. Though he is essentially a mercenary, offering his services to any cause, he will accept no payment - and instead donate his earnings to his current master. This helps him maintain a life of poverty as his religious beliefs dictate. Nonetheless, B'Shan will not shy away from combat, as he sees his adversaries as a threat to the rule of the rightful gods.
B'Shan's appearance is almost stereotypical for his supposed origins: He has a thin, curled mustache, a small pointy beard, and thin black eyes peering intently from underneath the brim of his hat. The hat itself is quite special - a combination between a helmet and a turban, wrapped in purple and grey veils. For a monk, he wears an uncharacteristically-impressive blue robe, with a large golden brooch clasped to the front of his neck. B'Shan rides a light-brown horse.
Initial Properties[]
Note: All data below assumes B'Shan is at his lowest Experience Level, and without any Magical Items or Random Abilities - After all, any Hero can become devastatingly powerful after gaining several levels and powerful items. Please refer to the tables and chapters below for more information.
Attack Properties[]
B'Shan the Dervish can make both Melee Attacks and Ranged Missile Attacks. Sadly, both attacks are rather weak, at least while B'Shan's Experience Level is low.
B'Shan's Melee Attack has a default strength of 4. With no 
To Hit bonuses, he can be expected to deliver about 
1.2 points of Damage on average. This is a rather poor damage output, and is unlikely to hurt anything except lightly-armored units, such as low-tier Normal Units. Since it delivers so little damage, B'Shan may need to repeatedly strike his foe, putting himself at risk in the process.
Up to 8 times per battle, B'Shan may instead use a Ranged Missile Attack, which also has a strength of 4. It will deliver an average damage output of 1.2, but only when the target is very close. If the distance is at least 3 tiles, To Hit penalties apply, reducing this damage output considerably. Thus, a low-level B'Shan may struggle to inflict damage on any target that's more than 2 tiles away. Still, it does mean that he can safely attack his enemy without fear of retaliation.
Defensive Properties[]
By default, B'Shan the Dervish has a relatively-low Defense score compared to other Melee-oriented Heroes, at only 4. This enables him to block, on average, about 1.2 points of Damage from any damage source. Expect B'Shan to take damage often, at least until he can gain plenty of 
Experience and/or acquire strong armor.
B'Shan possesses 6 Hit Points by default. This is a respectable amount for a low-level Hero, and should allow him to survive a few hits from low-tier Normal Units. He is not nearly healthy enough to take on any serious opposition though. This further serves to discourage taking B'Shan into Melee combat, as he is unlikely to survive the enemy's Counter Attacks before being killed off.
As with most Heroes, B'Shan possesses a default Resistance score of 6. This makes him somewhat vulnerable to Curses and other combat maledictions. It will take at least 
4 Experience Levels before he can become immune to some of these effects, assuming no Magical Items or Random Abilities augment it.
Other Properties[]
B'Shan the Dervish has a basic Hero's Movement Allowance of 2. This is good for speeding up his movement on the overland map, through plain land tiles like Grassland and Deserts. It is also useful during combat, to close with the enemy rapidly and escape quickly if the need arises. Alternatively, B'Shan may use his increased speed to avoid enemies while making Ranged Attacks against them.
Experience[]
The following table illustrates how B'Shan's various skills and attributes increase as he gains Experience. Since B'Shan never receives any extra Random Abilities, the following values are correct for every game you play.
| Level Icon | Level Name | EP | Melee | Ranged | To Hit | Defense | Resist | Hits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Hero | 0 - 19
|
4
|
4
|
30%
|
4
|
6
|
6
|
|
Myrmidon | 20 - 59
|
5
|
5
|
30%
|
5
|
7
|
7
|
|
Captain | 60 - 119
|
6
|
6
|
40%
|
5
|
8
|
8
|
|
Commander | 120 - 199
|
7
|
7
|
40%
|
6
|
9
|
9
|
|
Champion | 200 - 299
|
8
|
8
|
40%
|
6
|
10
|
10
|
|
Lord | 300 - 449
|
9
|
9
|
50%
|
7
|
11
|
11
|
|
Grand Lord | 450 - 599
|
10
|
10
|
50%
|
7
|
12
|
12
|
|
Super Hero | 600 - 999
|
11
|
11
|
50%
|
8
|
13
|
13
|
|
Demi-God | 1,000
|
12
|
12
|
60%
|
8
|
14
|
14
|
Average Damage Output[]
The following table shows B'Shan's average Damage output with each of his attacks, based on his current Experience Level. Note that this table completely ignores bonuses from Magical Items, if any.
|
* This column assumes a Ranged Attack at a distance of 1-2 tiles from the target. Beyond this distance, To Hit penalties apply that can severely reduce Damage output.
Improvement Overview[]
As with any other Hero, B'Shan can eventually become very powerful as he gains Experience. Nonetheless, he is quite weak at the lower levels.
Both of B'Shan's attacks will improve with Experience. However, they start so weak that his actual usefulness may take a while to come into effect. He will not be as devastatingly powerful as other Heroes even when he reaches Demi-God level - especially due to the lack of any abilities that improve per level.
Nonetheless, with extra attack strength and a growing To Hit bonus, B'Shan's Ranged Attack may gradually become more useful. He still can't compete with the damage output of powerful Ranged Attack Normal Units, but will be slightly more survivable.
Of course, the common strategy for B'Shan's employment does not actually involve him going to battle at all. He's usually recruited as a simple Gold Income boost, and is released from service once the economy is strong and the need for powerful combat Heroes outweighs the benefits.
Ability Overview[]
Ranged Attack x8[]
- This unit may use a Ranged Missile Attack instead of a Melee Attack up to 8 times in each battle. Once the unit's ammo is expended, it must resort to Melee Attacks.
Noble[]
- This unit has no Upkeep Costs to be paid each turn. Instead, it will add 10 Gold to your treasury each turn.
- This Hero ability does not improve with the Hero's Experience Level.
Random Abilities[]
B'Shan the Dervish has no Random Abilities. Therefore, his various attributes will be exactly the same each time you play the game. This makes B'Shan more predictable. He will never be any less or more useful than this article describes.
Equipment[]
B'Shan the Dervish has the following item slots:
| Icon | Name | Items that fit here |
|---|---|---|
|
Bow Slot | Bow, Sword, Mace or Axe |
|
Shield Slot | Shield, Chainmail or Platemail |
|
Jewelry Slot | Any Jewelry |
This set-up contributes to either Melee combat or Ranged combat. B'Shan can pick either role, but is often more suited for Ranged combat due to his fragility.
Recommended Items[]
B'Shan is not an impressive combat unit, and therefore requires powerful items if he is to go into any serious battle. Of course it is often better to give such items to other, powerful Heroes in order to make them truly devastating, but if you lack such Heroes there may be little choice.
In any case, the decision of whether to use B'Shan as a Melee unit or Ranged Attack unit is very important. B'Shan can be sent into hand-to-hand combat, but will perform poorly. Though his Ranged Attack is weak, it is often better to focus on this role simply to keep B'Shan alive!
Weapon[]
- B'Shan's weapon slot can take a Bow or any of the Melee weapons (Sword, Mace, Axe), and will thus determine how he is used in combat. Since B'Shan is fairly easy to kill in hand-to-hand combat, it is often better to just stick with a Bow. Any bonuses except Mana ("Spell Skill") will be useful, but if you want to protect B'Shan from enemy Ranged Attackers, it is often best to go for Defense bonuses.
Armor[]
- If you go down the recommended path and use B'Shan as a Ranged Attacker, try to equip him with a Shield. This will at least improve his Defense against incoming Ranged Attacks. Any bonus on the Shield (or any other piece of armor) is welcome. Movement bonuses may help keep B'Shan alive by avoiding fast-moving enemies.
Jewelry[]
- Any of the non-spellcasting bonuses will be helpful for B'Shan, so most Jewelry pieces are useful for him. Note that any attack or To Hit bonuses on such items will apply to both his Melee Attack and Ranged Attack. Again, since B'Shan is not much of an attacker, a good set of Defense, Movement or Resistance bonuses may be better than the offensive ones, but that is up to personal taste.
Acquisition[]
B'Shan the Dervish can be acquired in one of four different methods:
- By hiring him as he comes to visit your Fortress town,
- By casting the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells,
- By rescuing him from an Encounter zone,
- By Resurrecting him after he has been killed in battle.
Hiring B'Shan[]
Every once in a while, a Hero will arrive at your Fortress town to ask for employment. The frequency of this event depends on your current 
Fame score, the number of Heroes already under your employ, and whether or not you have particular Retorts that affect this chance.
In order for B'Shan to appear for hire in this way, you must meet several requirements:
- You must have sufficient Gold in your treasury to hire B'Shan (more on this below).
- B'Shan must not have already been killed in battle.
Note that B'Shan does not care about your wizard's Fame score - he is not picky about whom he serves.
Since the game randomly chooses which Hero appears during this event, there's no guarantee that B'Shan will ever appear. The chance, however, increases if the number of other valid Heroes dwindles (such as when most other Heroes have died in battle).
The default Hiring Cost for B'Shan is 100. This is reduced to 50 if your wizard has the Charismatic Retort. If you do not have this much Gold at the start of a turn (after paying all Upkeep Costs), B'Shan will not appear for hire. In fact, if he is picked as the Hero who approaches you, and you lack the money to hire him, you are effectively forfeiting your chance to hire any Hero this turn.
After agreeing to hire B'Shan (you can always refuse), you may give him any name you choose - he will be known as "<name> the Dervish". His overland unit will appear at your Fortress town or, if that town's garrison is full, next to your Fortress town.
Summoning B'Shan[]
As a non-Champion hero, B'Shan the Dervish can be summoned using either the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells. However, Summon Champion only has a chance to bring B'Shan to you if all Champions are unavailable at the time.
Once the spell is completed, the game chooses a random Hero to bring to your Fortress from a list of all available and valid Heroes. Therefore, there is no guarantee that B'Shan will appear when these spells are cast, unless all other Heroes are unavailable.
Again, you get a chance to agree or refuse to hire B'Shan. If you agree, he will appear in your Fortress town and/or next to it.
If B'Shan is hired through the use of Summon Hero or Summon Champion, there is no need to pay any Hiring Cost. However, you may still need to pay an Upkeep Cost (see below).
Rescuing B'Shan[]
On defeating an Encounter of at least moderate difficulty, there is a small chance that your reward will include a Prisoner previously held captive in this Encounter zone.
The game can randomly pick any non-Champion Hero to be rescued in this way - except Heroes that have already died while in your service. Your Fame and Gold are disregarded, and there is no need to pay any Hiring Costs.
Note that if the army that beats that particular Encounter already contains 9 units, you will never be rewarded with a Prisoner.
Resurrecting B'Shan[]
For most wizards, losing B'Shan in battle removes him from the game permanently. He will never appear again.
For 
Life-wielding wizards, however, who have access to the Resurrection spell, it is possible to bring B'Shan back to life after he has died. In this case, B'Shan returns to your Fortress town, with no Magical Items, but keeping all Experience he had prior to his death.
You may repeatedly resurrect B'Shan each time he dies.
Upkeep Costs[]
Thanks to his default Noble ability, B'Shan will never demand any Upkeep Costs. You would still need to pay 
Mana for any Unit Enchantments placed on him, but no Gold whatsoever.
Instead, B'Shan will actually give you an amount of 10 Gold at the start of each turn!
This is one good reason to hire B'Shan very early in the game, if he shows up at all. +10 Gold per turn is no small amount of money for a budding empire, and can help kick-start your economy or help you raise a small army early on. If hired for money, he'll basically pay for his own Hiring Cost within 10 turns.
Of course, since B'Shan has little strategic or tactical value, he is often kept far from combat, or sent to assist large armies where he won't be in too much danger. Once your empire grows so large that 10 is no longer that much of a profit, you may wish to release B'Shan from your service and instead acquire some other, more valuable Hero.
Alternate Names[]
Other wizards can also have a Dervish, but they are different characters (what happens to one has no effect on the others), and go by different names, as follows:
Dervish |
Player | Alternate Name |
|---|---|---|
| Human (0) | B'Shan | |
| Wizard 1 | Abdul | |
| Wizard 2 | Shaza | |
| Wizard 3 | Fazeel | |
| Wizard 4 | Wizier |