Onmioji - blender's cycle render isn't really appropriate for this kind of work. It's not a realtime shader, but (I think) a GPU-based raytracer. We're nowhere near using raytracing inside games yet, and by the time we will we won't be using ~1500 triangle characters anymore. You're better off making lowpoly renders simply…
First off, why did you render this with non-uniform lighting? Or light it at all. In most low poly based games, there are no lights and all light info is painted into the texture (see "Dota 2 Art Guide"). For presentation make the material self illuminate to simulate in-game lighting. Also, I'd probably re-work my UVs if I…
JadeEyePanda - Sorry it took a while, I had to do some personal things first, but here's how I'd handle your concept (plus *.max file with 10 progress steps): At almost 1250 triangles it's a bit higher poly than I'd set out for, but still a fair reduction. Here's the main differences: -focus more on global shapes and…