Dynamic Difficulty: In Compute!'s Gazette November 1984 page 54, Jon Freeman states that there was a difficulty factor that is not visible to the user.The Shapeshifter for Dark and the Phoenix for Light could also qualify as their respective side's Dragons, but the Phoenix's lack of attack range and the fact that the Shapeshifter is only ever as strong as its opponent made them just a little too quirky to be real mobile slaughterhouses. The equivalent for the Light forces is the Djinni, which has faster but far less powerful shots.
Chaos's Elementals are harder to use - the Behemoth has a powerful but short-range punch, the Siren has a singing attack that affects the enemy regardless of where it is (but leaves the Siren herself immobile and vulnerable while she's singing), the Firebird is essentially the same as Archon's Phoenix (but can cut its flame animation short), and the Ifrit is the only straightforward piece, a clone of Archon's Genie. Order's Elementals are relatively straightforward - the Giant, the Kraken, the Thunderbird, and the Salamander all just shoot things at their opponent (approximately equal in power and speed to the first game's Golem, Water Elemental, Unicorn, and Basilisk, respectively). Each side has its own selection of Elementals, but the same four Demons. Each side (Order and Chaos) starts with four Adepts each, and all other pieces must be summoned to the board. The sequel, Archon II: Adept, was more complex and focused on the four elements rather than light and dark.