Fasolt

Fasolt is a recurring Varl Hero character encountered in the The Banner Saga series.

Saga 1
Fasolt has spent a lot of time with warriors under his command. Known for being something of a vicious commander who may have at one point been a brigand with a grudge against mankind, he's also one of the most respected for reliably getting the job done. Most recently he's been posted in Schlid, holding off the Dredge. If Fasolt is anything, he's a varl loyalist.

Saga 2
As a varl loyalist and something of a vicious commander who may have at one point been a brigand with a grudge against mankind, Fasolt is no one humans want to meet. Most recently, he was believed to have died at the Battle of Einartoft following King Jorundr's commands. He looks like he barely lived through the worst of it.

Active Ability: Malice
The Provoker curses and spits at his enemy, forcing that character to move to attack him and perform a normal strength attack on his or her next turn. With his high armor, the Provoker often takes little or no damage from the assault.

While Malice can be a difficult ability to learn, it's devastating in the right circumstances. Negate a strong enemy for a turn, pull an enemy forward on the board or lock a character in place to set them up for future damage.

Rank 1: target at a range of 1 (adjacent enemies)

Rank 2: target at a range of 2 (one tile away, or diagonally adjacent)

Rank 3: target at a range of 3 (two tiles away)

Note: The effect of Malice clears on the affected unit's turn, not the Provoker's, potentially allowing multiple instances of the effect at the same time. Malice clears if the Provoker is knocked out.

Active Ability: Bring the Pain
The Shieldmaster strikes an adjacent enemy for Armor damage with his mace before hunkering down and boosting his passive ability, Return the Favor, to return even more armor damage for one round.
 * In the second part of The Banner Saga, when Fasolt reaches Rank 6, he acquires the active ability of Mogr, Bring the Pain, as his second active.

By using Bring the Pain, the Shieldmaster can create a forward charge that punishes enemies for ganging up against him.

Rank 1: Normal Break attack and +1 to Return the Favor

Rank 2: +1 to Break attack and +2 to Return the Favor

Rank 3: +2 to Break attack and +3 to Return the Favor

Passive Ability: Return the Favor
A character who attacks a Shieldbanger loses 1 point of armor for each strike he makes.

Return the Favor triggers every time the Shieldbanger takes strength or armor damage from an adjacent enemy, which can make it devastating to hit him with attacks that strike multiple times. Ranged attacks do not Return the Favor.

Joining the Party

 * Saga 1:  Fasolt joins Hakon's caravan midway into Chapter 3. He then meets Rook's caravan shortly after Wyrmtoe in Chapter 4 and accompanies them to Einartoft.
 * Saga 2:  He is met by the Ravens caravan near the end of Chapter 13, revealing he survived Einartoft but not unscathed...
 * Saga 3: In Chapter 16, Fasolt will join Rook/Alette's caravan in Arberrang

Possible Death or Departure

 * Saga 1:  In Chapter 5, Fasolt leads the defense of the great bridge of Einartoft against the Dredge siege after Bellower's departure. If you choose to destroy the bridge without Jorundr's consent, Fasolt will oppose you with a group of Varl. In any case, Fasolt stays in the besieged city after Rook's caravan leaves. For that matter, he is presumed dead as the city is eventually overrun by the Dredge. Whilst it may appear he is dead, he will rejoin in Banner Saga 2 no matter what choices are made, revealing to have survived albeit heavily injured.
 * Saga 2:  There's no event leading to his death or departure.
 * Saga 3: In Chapter 18, Oddleif will be discussing a plan to defeat Ruin with Fasolt and Hakon. If you do not share half of your supplies with the varl, Fasolt will not return with the rest of the varl.

Playstyle

 * Fasolt has the highest maximum Armor of all the game's characters. It is advised to increase it as much as possible, along with his Break.
 * Even though slow and cumbersome, he can take large amounts of damage until he is overwhelmed. Don't be afraid to deploy him in your front lines.
 * His active ability can be used to keep specific targets occupied while the rest of your team deal with them. Optimal targets for his Malice are Breakers (like Stoneguard) or even high Strength units (like Scourge) if his Armor is still sufficiently high.
 * Higher ranks (2 or 3) of his active ability can be used for interesting combos in combination with Rain of Arrows, Slag and Burn or Impale.

Trivia

 * In the first part of The Banner Saga, Fasolt is the only playable character that can also appear as an enemy.
 * As a recurring joke, Fasolt is always met and rescued by a mixed (Human+Varl) caravan. This happens three times in the first two games of the series.
 * The name Fasolt is a reference to the German play Das Rheingold, featuring a giant by the same name.