The Impaler

The Impaler is another oddly intelligent orc that you encounter, but unlike Orcent, he is ruthless, amoral and nihilistic. The only rule he seems to acknowledge is being forced by someone stronger than him.

He is one of the optional orc allies that you can gather, though the word "ally" may not be the right one for him.

Story
You will face the Impaler when you re-visit Feroholm during chapter 2. He has raided the region for some time, but this raid will be his last. After defeating him in combat, you are given the choice to kill him or spare him. The consequences of your choice are analyzed below.

If you choose to spare him, Simon's power intimidates him into compliance and he shows up together with his orcs to fight the Horde in mid-chapter 2. After the battle, in Orcent's words, the Impaler more or less drops off the face of the earth for a while.

He and his forces reappear just as abruptly during the Battle of Yhilin, unexpectedly attacking in the middle of the battle. This time he sticks around after the victory and as of early chapter 3, he can be found in the orc quarters under the Palace.

In the second half of chapter 3, he adds army-wide stats to your orcs, significantly improving outcomes in the later war segments and consequently indirectly reducing investment costs and giving extra RP that would otherwise come with tradeoffs.

Character
The Impaler is a walking example of the fact that high intelligence does not necessarily produce high morals - despite being unusually rational for an orc, he lacks an ethical system and seems to be interested only in violence. Even though he has submitted to Simon, he still disagrees with his philosophy of life, and while he has helped Simon twice so far, it remains to be seen if he can be trusted.

Oddly, the Impaler is one of the few orcs to display no interest in raping anyone or even sex in general. He is first seen threatening to murder a girl, not to rape her, and he doesn't participate in the celebratory orgy after the battle against the Horde. He also does not appear to be interested in the Breeding Room when it's built later.

He seems to hate (or fear) the orc breeding specialist Balia, perhaps because she sees him as nothing more that raw material for her research.

Skills
He needs no points of any kind for his special skills, so there is no reason to use the Attack command at all. His starting skills are his only ones.

Starting equipment
Weapon: Brutal Orc Spear.
 * Orc weapons

Off-hand: Orc Shield.
 * Orc shields

Headgear: None.
 * Orc headgear

Bodygear: Orc Armor.
 * Orc armor

Accessory: None.
 * Orc accessories

Tactics
High attack and HP, shares the Aggressive Attack and Piercing Attack skills with Orcent. He also comes with his own skills. Magic Smasher is a low-damage attack that reduces enemy agility and magic attack, making it the anti-mage version of Defensive Attack. Cull the Weak does high damage against enemies with low physical and magical defenses, making it something best used against select enemies such as the Ragged Berserkers (it also works against the Rabble, but so do basic attacks). The Impaler comes with his own Brutal Orc Spear, the highest-attack weapon available to the orc party at this point.

Kill him or spare him?
In addition to affection changes (Aka, Hilstara, Qum, Trin and Yarra), deciding the fate of the Impaler has the following consequences:
 * Kill: massive experience bonus (4000 EXP). You get a better off-hand equipment item from the Corrupt Bat miniquest.
 * Spare: less experience bonus (2000 EXP), submits to Simon, brings his orcs to fight during the battle in chapter 2 and later to the Battle of Yhilin in chapter 3. He fights alongside Orcent and Grubbak at the Bloody Spire. Increase orc stats. Worse item in the mentioned miniquest (chapter 4).