Bloody adept

Bloody adepts use occult forces to produce a special attack -- a red pentagram will appear on the ground and damage all enemy forces within the area over time. This attack can very rapidly kill entire squads if they're not moving; even heroes won't last long if they're continuously exposed to this attack. As a result, bloody adepts are extremely dangerous foes, especially when you're just starting out. You can try to use a landing to quickly get some units close, but ultimately the best way to defeat them is to get your own units powerful enough that they can quickly defeat the bloody adept's supporting units before they take too much damage.