Top 10 Banished Leader Powers Ranked - Halo Wars 2

This is a subjective ranking of the top 10 active leader powers for The Banished in Halo Wars 2. No passive abilities like Combat Repair - only powers you can drop on the battlefield.

#10: Grunt Dome (Yap Yap)

Grunt Dome is an excellent defensive tool that protects your units AND your allies' units:

• Works great for canceling out beams (especially Level 1 beams)
• Defends against turret fire, siege, and other attacks
• Fully upgraded (Level 3): Get two Grunt Domes
• Scarab Combo: Drop first dome, wait for depletion, drop second, then use Scarab's Y ability for effectively three shields
• Lets Scarab last incredibly long under fire

#9: Methane Party (Yap Yap)

Similar to Forge's Scatter Bomb, Methane Party offers versatile utility:

• Impacts both buildings and units
• Applies debuff to enemies
• Buffs Yap Yap's Grunt units
• Effective on buildings AND units (unlike some powers that favor one)

#8: Decimus Hero Drop

The 11 o'clock ability for Decimus brings a powerful hero unit to the battlefield:

• Hero unit is great overall
• Y ability with beams is incredible - like a mini-Eradication
• Works excellently on maps like Sentry for turtling
• Great against bundled units

#7: Atriox's Bulwark / Shipmaster's Extraction (Tie)

Both powers offer invulnerability protection in different ways:

Bulwark (Atriox)

• Great for baiting and canceling enemy leader powers
• Short invincibility window
• Cancel Mac Blasts, Beams, and other quick powers
• Protects bases from Vulture Mega-Barrage
• Forces opponent to wait for cooldowns after you negate their attacks

Extraction (Shipmaster)

• Works defensively or offensively
• Can heal your base

#6: Hunter's Brand (Colony)

Hunter's Brand is a devastating ability when used correctly:

• Deletes armies when fully upgraded
• Works best on units, not buildings
• Excellent against infantry and vehicles
• Bug Warning: If dropped too close to Fog of War and your last unit dies, it cancels and counts as used (wastes resources AND cooldown)

#5: Eradication (Atriox)

One of the most spectacular powers in the game:

• Spectacular to watch destroy units and buildings
• Slow-building power with beams converging to big implosion
• Works great on both units and buildings
• Combo: Pair with Voridus's Maelstrom - opponent's army gets annihilated regardless of what they do
• No real complaints with this power

#4: Lich Vanguard (Pavium)

Often called "the Flying Scarab," Lich Vanguard is an incredibly versatile power:

• Beam sounds and looks very similar to Scarab's main cannon
• Flies around continuously attacking and destroying
• Works great on buildings too
• Creates a unit bubble on the battlefield where you can train units
• Underrated Feature: Train Hunters, Reavers, and other units directly on the field
• One of the longest-lasting leader powers in the game
• If opponent ignores it, it annihilates everything in its path

#3: Devastating Host (Colony)

The best unit drop in the game:

• Drops tons of veteran units with vehicle symbiotes
• Bonus: Can activate symbiotes on existing units you drop it on top of (e.g., your Wraiths get symbiotes too)
• Symbiotes overall are underrated for buffing Colony's vehicles
• Veteran units from this drop are exceptional

#2: Glassing Beam

An iconic and devastating power that strikes fear into opponents:

• Incredible in Halo Wars 2
• Campaign gives you nightmares of beams
• Menace on the battlefield in multiplayer
• Sweet Spot: Beam Level 2 (Beam 3 takes too long to wind up)
• Too many players don't split units when getting beamed - lose entire armies
• Works best on units (okay on buildings)
• Has gotten buffed over time rather than nerfed

#1: Cataclysm (Voridus)

The most powerful Banished leader power, Cataclysm is absolutely devastating:

• Activates all infusion on the battlefield causing it to rupture/explode
• Similar to Kinsano's Inferno but deals much more damage
• Combos with infusion-spreading units: Wraith (with infusion tech), Infused Engineers, Volatile Scarab, infusion leader power
• Stack with Invigorating Frenzy for infusion healing
• Can destroy entire bases
• Works on units too - nothing really stands a chance
• Ultimate Combo: Maelstrom + Cataclysm = absolute devastation

Summary

Here's the complete ranking of the top 10 Banished leader powers:

1. Cataclysm (Voridus) - Infusion explosion devastation
2. Glassing Beam - Iconic and terrifying
3. Devastating Host (Colony) - Best unit drop in the game
4. Lich Vanguard (Pavium) - The Flying Scarab
5. Eradication (Atriox) - Spectacular destruction
6. Hunter's Brand (Colony) - Army deleter
7. Bulwark/Extraction (Atriox/Shipmaster) - Invulnerability protection
8. Decimus Hero Drop - Mini-Eradication hero
9. Methane Party (Yap Yap) - Versatile debuff/buff
10. Grunt Dome (Yap Yap) - Shield protection

Each of these powers can turn the tide of battle when used effectively. Master their timing and combos to dominate your opponents on the battlefield!