While reading the Dev Blog (beta 3 looks great), I came across some statements about 3 different hero types with differing stats and powers. I wanted to chime in a word of caution about balance, specifically about balancing hero speed.
The early game will likely see each faction's hero racing to plunder as many ruins as they can. A hero type that begins with higher speed may be the only hero worth having. Higher personal strength is not on par with higher speed. I'm not saying that a higher speed hero is a bad idea, just that (in order to be viable options) the other hero types would need significant advantages of thier own.