Here we go again, it’s like they learnt nothing from the weapon upgrade feedback. I’ll start the list off with:
Firebomb - upgrade gives armor and life 
There are many others, feel free to post the ones you find.
They put far too little thought or time into it, it was just some mass assignment in some excel sheet.
I think this list might have been started when the troop assignments first became a thing (did @Shimrra compile one? I could have sworn someone did I’m going to do some sleuthing if/when I find time), but then again, maybe not, because, until now, the assignments were largely ignored by any serious player, I think.
Because, until now, troop role was just an annoyance—an extra bit of clutter in the sort tool to get in the way of things—but, now, these roles have actual affects on gameplay.
So now the roles that make no sense are much more of a problem.
EDIT: the links I could find are below—
1 Like
I think the problem is not just how troop role has been assigned. Different troop’s spell works differently. Troop like Tesla, magic adds nothing to his damage, Zuul is in the same case.
Is it possible player get the options to pick which upgrade package we would like to use?
I just want all my troops to be immune to all status affects. Oh wait, I already have that. 
1 Like
I did make a more extensive list, but you can’t find it because its buried somewhat in the beta files that most of us can’t access.
I would have to revise it considerably because I didn’t know the roles would be linked to this when I made it originally. As to why some things are so seemingly awry… Firebomb, for example, got the stats it does because it is labeled as a generic “generator”, meaning that dealing damage isn’t the important goal and therefore it can get defensive stats like any other generator. A lot of these cases are simply because the devs have painted with very broad strokes when giving out these roles.
4 Likes
It wouldn’t take much effort for one of the Devs to go through and change the roles on the troops where the “upgrades” make no sense.
1 Like
There’s just no winning with some of them though. Yao for instance is a “Warrior” which makes only a little sense, but the stat line is actually moderately useful for him because the health contributes directly to his damage. Armor and life not so much. However, making him an “assassin” gives a bunch of attack that he doesn’t take advantage of, and making him a “mage” doesn’t thematically fit.
This looks like a good spot to discuss Elite Levels…
Based on the drop rates of the higher-rarity tokens, I feel safe to mostly skip this entire subsystem (much like pets and higher-level delves), as I try to value my time as being more valuable than a minuscule percentage of improving my existing options.
That being said, Elite Levels together with the troops roles is effectively a mild rebalancing of the entire cast in the endgame. For Mythics, being a “mage” is effectively a buff, while being a lower-level magic role like “warlock” or “warrior” is a nerf (boy was Arachnaean Weaver going down before the Cedric medal nerf).
For Legendaries, the mage role was far more consistently asisgned than for the Mythics, making non-mage assignments all the more painful. For both groups, being labeled a “defender,” “warmaster,” or “generator” is a severe nerf for certain troops (the overall effects on Gobtruffle, burned by being a generator, but benefiting hugely from the pre-nerf Cedric medal , would’ve been interesting; guess we’ll never know).
Anyway, here’s a list of some troops whose role assignments I found particularly bad:
Champion of Anu (Defender)
Hyndla Frostcrown (Warmaster)
All Imps except Spring and Winter (Warlock)
Queen of Sin (Warmaster)
Undine (Warmaster)
Vash’Dagon (Warmaster)
Viper (Warlock)
PS: Yao can use the life from the warrior role boosts, but striker or warlock (where most magic-stealers landed) would’ve fit, and would’ve helped more. Being a warrior is a bit of a nerf for him.