[MaxWilson]

Good points. A couple of notes:

"berserk +3 adds +3 to str, attack skill and protection". And to encumbrance, and it subtracts 3 from defense (doesn't matter to Abysia). Note that the +3 to Protection is to base Protection, which combines with armor according to the formula overall Prot = BaseProt + ArmorProt * (1 - BaseProt/40).

Salamanders have AoE 1 which means they work well against high-Def units like Vans (they don't have to roll to hit). I haven't played much with Abysia but when you say Salamanders are fragile, are you using them alone or mixing in a handful with your heavy inf? They ought to be mixed.

Beast trainer's animal awe may be helpful against elephant rushes.

-Max