***************************************************************************** Warlords Battlecry III - Strategy Faq By Ivan 'Fish of Muu' Sutalo Copyright 2004 Version 0.1.2 ***************************************************************************** Contents: 1.0 - Hero Creation 1.1 - Hero Stats 1.2 - Hero Race 1.3 - Hero Class 1.4 - Synery Bonus 1.5 - Class Guide 1.5.1 - Alchemist Guide 1.5.2 - Archmage Guide 1.5.3 - Assassin Guide 1.5.4 - Bard Guide 1.5.5 - Chieftain Guide 1.5.6 - Daemonslayer Guide 1.5.7 - Deathknight Guide 1.5.8 - Defiler Guide 1.5.9 - Dragonslayer Guide 1.5.10 - Druid Guide 1.5.11 - Elementalist Guide 1.5.12 - Healer Guide 1.5.13 - Ice Mage Guide 1.5.14 - Illusionist Guide 1.5.15 - Lichelord Guide 1.5.16 - Merchant Guide 1.5.17 - Necromancer Guide 1.5.18 - Paladin Guide 1.5.19 - Priest Guide 1.5.20 - Pyromancer Guide 1.5.21 - Ranger Guide 1.5.22 - Runemaster Guide 1.5.23 - Sage Guide 1.5.24 - Shaman Guide 1.5.25 - Summoner Guide 1.5.26 - Thief Guide 1.5.27 - Tinker Guide 1.5.28 - Warrior Guide 2.0 - Strategy 2.1 - General Strategy 2.2 - Barbarian Strategy 2.3 - Daemon Strategy 2.4 - Dark Dwarf Strategy 2.5 - Dark Elf Strategy 2.6 - Dwarf Strategy 2.7 - Empire Strategy 2.8 - Fey Strategy 2.9 - High Elf Strategy 2.10 - Knight Strategy 2.11 - Minotaur Strategy 2.12 - Orc Strategy 2.13 - PlagueLord Strategy 2.14 - Ssrathi Strategy 2.15 - Swarm Strategy 2.16 - Undead Strategy 2.17 - Wood Elf Strategy 3.0 - Misc 3.1 - Spell Lists 3.1.1 - Alchemy Spell List 3.1.2 - Arcane Spell List 3.1.3 - Chaos Spell list 3.1.4 - Divination Spell List 3.1.5 - Healing Spell List 3.1.6 - Ice Spell List 3.1.7 - Illusion Spell List 3.1.8 - Nature Spell List 3.1.9 - Necromancy Spell List 3.1.10 - Poison Spell List 3.1.11 - Pyromancy Spell List 3.1.12 - Rune Spell List 3.1.13 - Summon Spell List 3.2 - Skill Descriptions 3.2.1 - Magic Skills 3.2.2 - Lord Skills 3.2.3 - Resource Skills 3.2.4 - XP Skills 3.2.5 - Resistance Skills 3.2.6 - Damage Skills 3.2.7 - Rune Skills 3.2.8 - Misc Skills 3.3 - Legal 3.4 - Contact ***************************************************************************** NOTE: This was originaly done with tabs then I had to convert it, so some things may look somewhat odd and I may fix it later. 0.1.1 - Haha! So I had 'probobly' written like 50 times in here. I fixed all of those typos. Thanks to arvid82 for pointing that out along with the fact that titans and dragons can NOT be brought with you to the next battle except for a few quest related instances (the ice dragon level in the campaign for example). Thanks to f_ranz123 for pointing out how a few of the necromantic spells work. Thanks to Black Spider for talking about druid spells. Thanks to Abyss for talking about chaos spells. - Forgot to point out that I added a guide for assasins. 0.1.2 - Added a guide for theives. Added a note to the assasins. Thanks to Somphalen for giving me information on a few spell spheres. Thanks to Charles for information on morale and cauterise. ***************************************************************************** ************************* 1.0 - Hero Creation ************************* ************************* 1.1 - Hero Stats ************************* Stats are the basics of character creation. Every Time you level up you get 1 stat point to put into strength, dexterity, intellegence, or charisma. All stats start at 5, and your race and class choice will move them up or down. Strenght: +1 Combat per 2 points of Strength (Every odd level) +1 Damage per point of Strength +3 Hit Points per point of Strength +1 Life Regen (per 20 sec) for every 3 points of Strength (1,4,7,etc) Dexterity: +1 Movement Speed per 2 points of Dexterity (Every odd level) +1 Resistance per 2 points of Dexterity (Every even level) +1 Armor per 4 points of Dexterity -1 Second to Conversion Time per point of Dexterity (min 10 sec’s) Intellegence: +3 Mana Points per point of Intelligence +1 Mana Regeneration (per 20 sec) for every 10 points of Intelligence +1 Initial Troop XP per 2 points of Intelligence (Every even level) +3% Spellcasting Chance per point of Intelligence Charisma: +1 Command Radius per 4 points of Charisma +1 Morale per 2 points of Charisma (at 2,4,6,etc…) +1% Discount per point of Charisma over 5 +1 Retinue Slot for every 4 Points of Charisma Combat - Very useful for ANY hero unless you are specificaly trying to keep them out of battle. Combat (for any unit) not only lets you hit more often,but it also makes you harder to hit. A high combat score will ensure that you hit your target, and will prevent you from taking hits. Damage - Quite obvious. You get your strenght score added to your attack so 10 strength is damage+10. Damage is good if you are creating a direct combat hero. You may not want to use items with high damage+ if you are using a mage or assasin cahracter. Hit Points - Also very useful for any hero. High hit points will let you take a bigger beating before getting squished. Life Regeneration - This is a MUST. Look out for items like 'Troll Ring' or 'Ring of the Liche' that give regenx2 or x3. Movement Speed - This is handy, but not THAT needed. If you are moving your hero in a group, then your high movement speed is wasted, and if you are having units guard your hero (instead of moving as a group) then you will tend to leave your own units behind (especialy the dwarves). Now I'm not ENTIRELY sure (someone email me on this), but I think that this will give you an increase on 'Speed' instead of 'Movement Speed' and it's just badly written in the manual. Speed is excellent for any hero (or any unit for that matter) that attacks directly. Higher speed means more attacks, so look out for items with high attack speed. Resistance - I never really found this skill to be THAT useful, but whatever. This will subtract damage from element attacks (Fire, ice lightning, etc.). I tend to ignore resistance on items and go for other things, mostly because I tend to make my heroes more offense based than defense. Armor - Good for physical attacks, useless (I think) against element attacks. Early games tend to focus around physical attacks, and late games focus more arround magical attacks (when people upgrade enough to get their sorc units). I'd say that if you are going defensive to find a good balance between armor and resistance instead of getting skills for one thing. Conversion Time - Very good to have a low conversion time especialy if your hero attacks bases. Low conversion will give you a good boost of resources because you don't have to wait so long inbetween each resource you find. Conversion is also very good in battle. If you are in the middle of an enemy base, and they have very few units left, you can convert all the buildings in the area while the rest of your units guard you. Fast conversion is much more effective than attacking a building. Mana Points - Obviously only good if you are using a spell caster. If you don't plan on using spells don't plan on getting any mana points. If you DO use spells however, this isn't AS useful as you might think. You start out a battle with very few mana points and you have to wait a while before your mana points ever reach max, and you SHOULD be using your mana before it reaches max. I'd say that you should only use items with mana+ if you are using a hero with nothing but offensive spells because support and summoning spells tend to get used a lot in AND out of combat. Mana Regeneration - Mana regen is great for spell users, obviously. I don't think there is much else to say about it. Initial Troop XP - Don't underestimate the power of this skill. If all your units come out level 2 then your army has a clear advantage over an army of level 1 units. Most items will only give xp to a certain unit (slimes, griffons, etc.) which is very good if you like to use that type of unit. If a majority of your army is griffons and all your griffons come out at level 3, you have some serious extra whompage. Spellcasting Chance - Obviously something you'd want if you are a spellcaster. Failing spells wastes time and mana, both of which are very precious in the middle of battle. Command Radius - Extremely good. Look out for items that give you a high command radius+. A high command radius is equaly good for all types of heroes. If you lead your troops into battle, you troops will continue to get bonuses to their skills even if they spread out too far. If you are locking yourself in a tower your command radius is STILL in effect (same as building a building), so cowardly characters benefit from high command radius in combat too. Plus if you have a very high command radius you can convert many more buildings in an area (very good for assaulting bases and resource collecting). Morale - Your morale bonus increases your army limit by 1. Morale also increases your army's attack speed by -.01 seconds to a minimum of .4 seconds (60 morale). Thanks to Charles for this information. Discount %- This is a discount to EVERYthing you buy or build. All of your units and buildings will be effected so if you like to swarm your enemy with massive ammounts of units then you should probably think about increasing your discount%. Retinue Slots - I don't find these all that great. For the most part, you won't have enough army points to buy every unit in your retinue. It's always good to have some generals handy in your retinue. UPDATE: I have confirmed that neither dragons or titans can be carried to the next battle (except for certain things like the ice dragon level in the campaign). Titants can't even gain levels. ************************* 1.2 - Hero Race ************************* Picking a hero race is sometimes odd, but I think you should pick a race with the army you like best and then base your class off of that choice. If you lead your own race into combat then you get a morale boost, and boosts of anything is always better than no boost. Any level 1 skills will start at level 1 instead of the normal 0 for later skills. Aslo remember that if you pick a race with the same skill as whatever class you chose, then you get a 'Synergy Bonus' which makes the skill available at level 1 and also gives you a bonus to the skill. See the section '1.4 - Synergy Bonus' for more information. Race Stat Changes: Race STR DEX INT CHA Barbarian +1 +1 -1 -1 Daemon +2 -1 -- -1 Dark Dwarf +1 -- -- -1 Dark Elf -1 -- +1 -- Dwarf +2 -2 -- -- Empire -- -- -- -- Fey -3 +1 +1 +1 High Elf -2 -- +1 +1 Knight -- -1 -- +1 Minotaur +3 -1 -1 -1 Orc +1 -- -1 -- Plaguelord -1 -- +3 -2 Ssrathi -- +1 -- -1 Swarm -- +2 -1 -1 Undead -- -- +2 -2 Wood Elf -1 +1 -- -- Race Skills: Race Level 1 Level 10 Level 20 Level 30 Barbarian Reave Running Ice Magic Quarrying Horse Lord Daemon Daemon Lord Regeneration Pyromancy Invulnerability Ferocity Dark Dwarf Siege Lord Engineer Chaos Magic Golem Master Constitution Dark Elf Dark Lord Death Rune Summoning Assassin Lore Dwarf Dwarf Lord Armorer Rune Magic Brewmaster Constitution Empire Imperial Lord Trade Alchemy Wealth Serpantslayer Fey Dream Lord Illusion Magic Energy Magic Resistance Warding High Elf High Lord Life Rune Healing Energy Lore Knight Knight Lord Weaponmaster Divination Armorer Leadership Minotaur Horned Lord Thick Hide Mighty Blow Pyromancy Ferocity Orc Elf Slayer Ferocity Chaos Magic Demolition Orc Lord Plaguelord Plague Lord Contamination Summoning Leech Warding Ssrathi Serpant Lord Scales Poison Magic Dragonmaster Running Swarm Scorpion Lord Manslayer Necromancy Ignore Armor Constitution Undead Skull Lord Necromancy Memories Vampirism Warding Wood Elf Forest Lord Forest Rune Nature Magic Sky Rune ************************* 1.3 - Hero Class ************************* Pick a class based on how you play (or wish to play) and with skills that compliment your race. You most likely don't want to make a fey warrior for example, or you may not want to pick a class that has an increase to a resource your race doesn't use much of. (Sorry about the clutter) Aslo remember that if you pick a class with the same skill as whatever race you chose, then you get a 'Synergy Bonus' which makes the skill available at level 1 and also gives you a bonus to the skill. See the section '1.4 - Synergy Bonus' for more information. Class Stat Changes: Class STR DEX INT CHA Alchemist -- -1 +2 -1 Archmage -2 -- +2 -- Assassin +1 +2 -- -3 Bard -2 +2 -1 +1 Chieftain +2 +1 -3 -- Daemonslayer +2 -2 +1 -1 Deathknight +2 -1 +1 -2 Defiler -1 +1 +2 -2 Dragonslayer +2 -2 -- -- Druid -2 +1 -1 +2 Elementalist -2 -- +2 -- Healer -2 -1 +1 +2 Ice Mage -1 -1 +2 -- Illusionist -2 +1 +2 -1 Lichelord +1 -- +2 -3 Merchant -2 +2 -- -- Necromancer -- -- +2 -2 Paladin +1 -2 -1 +2 Priest -1 -1 +1 +1 Pyromancer +1 -2 +2 -1 Ranger +2 +1 -1 -2 Runemaster +1 -3 -- +2 Sage -2 -1 +2 +1 Shaman -1 -1 -- +2 Summoner -1 -- +2 -1 Thief -1 +2 -- -1 Tinker -- -- -- -- Warrior +2 -- -2 -- Class Skills: CLASS Level 1 Level 5 Level 15 Level 25 Alchemist Alchemy (+3) Energy Potionmaster Arcane Magic Ritual Archmage Summoning (+1) Divination Illusion Magic Resistance Alchemy (+1) Assassin Assassin (+3) Shadow Strength Wealth Ignore Armor Bard Leadership (+3) Wealth Divination Elem. Res. Chieftain Ferocity (+1) Leadership Beastslayer Mighty Blow Barbarian. King (+1) Daemonslayer Ferocity (+1) Warding Smelting Summoning Daemonslayer (+1) Deathknight Fercoity (+1) Chaos Magic Necromancy Smite Good Manslayer (+1) Defiler Ritual Slimemaster All-Seeing Eye Arcane Magic Poison Magic (+3) Dragonslayer Ferocity (+1) Fire Resistance Armorer Wealth Dragonslayer (+1) Druid Ritual Guardian Oak Elemental Lore Arcane Magic Nature Magic (+3) Elementalist Pyromancy (+1) Rune Magic Lore Elem. Res. Ice Magic (+1) Healer Healing (+3) Elcor’s Aura Warding Arcane Magic Ritual Ice Mage Ice Magic (+3) Cold Resistance Gemcutting Arcane Magic Ritual Illusionist Ritual Leadership Magic Res. Arcane Magic Illusion Magic (+3) Lichelord Necromancy (+1) Manslayer Shadow Strength Elfslayer Poison Magic (+1) Merchant Merchant (+3) Wealth Trade Gemcutting Necromancer Necromancy (+3) Memories Undead Legion Arcane Magic Ritual Paladin Ferocity (+1) Healing Knight Prot. Smite Evil Deathslayer (+1) Priest Healing (+1) Divination Lore Arcane Magic Ritual (+1) Pyromancer Pyromancy (+3) Fire Resistance Demolition Arcane Magic Ritual Ranger Orcslayer (+1) Nature Magic Griffonmaster Taming Running (+1) Runemaster Rune Magic (+3) Runic Lore Quarrying Arcane Magic Ritual Sage Divination (+3) Mage King Energy Arcane Magic Ritual Shaman Ritual Warding Magic Res. Arcane Magic Chaos Magic (+3) Summoner Summoning (+3) Elfslayer Gate Arcane Magic Ritual Thief Running (+3) Warding Magic Res. Illusion Tinker Engineer (+3) Alchemy Smelting Quarrying Warrior Ferocity (+3) Constitution Regeneration Weaponmaster Ignore Armor ************************* 1.4 - Synergy Bonus ************************* If you pick a race with the same skill as whatever class you chose, then you get a 'Synergy Bonus' which makes the skill available at level 1 and also gives you a bonus to the skill. The manual says you get a +1 to the skill, but it doesn't seem to be correct. The formula I've found seems to be: Race initial + Class initial + 2 (All initial race skills are +1) An example would be a daemon warrior. They start with a ferocity of 6 because daemons have it initialy (+1), warriors have it initialy (+3), and the normal +2 (1+3+2=6), while regeneration isn't initial for either (+0,+0) so they just get 2 for regeneration (0+0+2=2). Occasionaly a class skill is inital but has no initial value (like ritual for a lot of the classes). If anyone finds this formula to be wrong, please email me with corrections. (Sorry about any clutter again) Synergy bonuses from initial race/class skills are noted with an asterisk (*). Any skill not marked with an asterisk will be granted to you at level 1 when it normaly wouldn't be accesable until later levels. Any skill marked with # notes that it is a double initial skill (initial for both race/class). Race Class Synergy 1 Synergy 2 Synergy 3 Barbarian Elementalist *Ice magic (+3) Ice Mage *Ice magic (+5) Ranger *Running (+3) Runemaster Quarrying (+2) Thief *Running (+5) Tinker Quarrying (+2) Daemon Chieftain #Ferocity (+4) Daemonslayer #Ferocity (+4) Dragonslayer #Ferocity (+4) Elementalist *Pyromancy (+3) Paladin #Ferocity (+4) Pyromancer *Pyromancy (+5) Warrior #Ferocity (+6) Regeneration (+2) Dark Dwarf Deathknight Chaos Magic (+2) Shaman *Chaos Magic (+5) Tinker *Engineer (+5) Warrior *Constitution (+3) Dark Elf Archmage *Summoning (+3) Assasin *Assassin (+5) Daemonslayer Summoning (+2) Elementalist *Lore (+3) Priest *Lore (+3) Summoner *Summoning (+5) Dwarf Dragonslayer Armorer (+2) Elementalist Rune Magic (+2) Runemaster *Rune Magic (+5) Warrior *Constitution (+3) Empire Alchemist *Alchemy (+5) Archmage *Alchemy (+3) Assasin Wealth (+2) Bard Wealth (+2) Dragonslayer Wealth (+2) Merchant Trade (+2) Wealth (+2) Tinker Alchemy (+2) Fey Alchemist Energy (+2) Archmage Illusion Magic (+2) Deamonslayer *Warding (+3) Healer *Warding (+3) Illusionist *Illusion (+5) Magic Resistance (+2) Sage Energy (+2) Shaman *Warding (+3) Magic Resistance (+2) Thief *Warding (+3) Illusion (+2) Mag. Res. (+2) High Elf Alchemist Energy (+2) Healer *Healing (+5) Elementalist *Lore (+3) Paladin Healing (+2) Priest *Lore (+3) *Healing (+3) Sage Energy (+2) Knight Archmage Divination (+2) Bard #Leadership (+6) Divination (+2) Chieftain *Leadership (+3) Dragonslayer Armorer (+2) Illusionist *Leadership (+3) Priest Divination (+2) Sage *Divination (+5) Warrior Weaponmaster (+2) Minotaur Chieftain #Ferocity (+4) Mighty Blow (+2) Daemonslayer #Ferocity (+4) Dragonslayer #Ferocity (+4) Elementalist Pyromancy (+3) Paladin #Ferocity (+4) Pyromancer *Pyromancy (+5) Warrior #Ferocity (+6) Orc Chieftain *Ferocity (+3) Daemonslayer *Ferocity (+3) Deathknight Chaos Magic (+2) Dragonslayer *Ferocity (+3) Paladin *Ferocity (+3) Pyromancer Demolition (+2) Shaman *Chaos Magic (+5) Warrior *Ferocity (+5) Plaguelord Archmage *Summoning (+3) Deamonslayer *Warding (+3) Summoning (+2) Healer *Warding (+3) Shaman *Warding (+3) Summoner *Summoning (+5) Thief *Warding (+3) Ssrathi Defiler *Poison Magic (+5) Lichelord *Poison Magic (+3) Ranger #Running (+4) Thief #Running (+6) Swarm Assasin Ignore Armor (+2) Deathknight *Manslayer (+3) Necromancy (+2) Lichelord Manslayer (+2) *Necromancy (+3) Necromancer *Necromancy (+5) Warrior *Constitution (+3) *Ignore Armor (+2) Undead Deamonslayer *Warding (+3) Deathknight Necromancy (+2) Healer *Warding (+3) Lichelord *Necromancy (+3) Necromancer *Necro. (+5) Memories (+2) Shaman *Warding (+3) Thief *Warding (+3) Wood Elf Druid *Nature Magic (+5) Elementalist *Lore (+3) Priest *Lore (+3) Ranger Nature Magic (+2) ************************* 1.5 - Class Guide ************************* Okay, a lot of the classes are going to be missing for a while. If you want to write a guide or want to add something to an existing guide, please contact me. ************************* 1.5.1 - Alchemist Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.2 - Archmage Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.3 - Assassin Guide ************************* +1 +2 -- -3 Assasins are good for one skill; the ability to kill anything and everything with 1 hit. Assasins aren't all that great at low levels because every point in assasin only brings it up by 1%, meaning you have to end up with 96 points put into assasin to get it to 100% (formula is skill + 4). Low level assasins are STILL rather good, because the ability to kill everything you attack at 25%/33%/50% is still rather good. Play VERY offensively. Stat Progression: You are going to want dexterity mostly with a little bit of strenght. Assasins are mostly solo fighters so you won't need much charisma, and you probobly won't be using any spells so you won't need any intellegence. Because your assasinate skill works on every attack, you are going to want to have the fastest attack speed you can find, and it's 100% kill so don't worry about damage. You are also going to want to have a good movement speed so you can get in and out as quickly as possible. A good running assasin can get up to an enemy hero and kill it quickly, and also can get away after the job is done. Skill Progression: Assasinate! Put all your points into assasinate! Why else would you want an assasin? Don't put any points into any skills that give you +% to damage or anything because assasinate kills no matter what. You may want to put a few points into a spell group if you want a specific spell for some reason (invisibility for example). Shadow strenght gives you a combat bonus at night but unless you have some way to make it night constantly it's kinda bad. Plus you don't need combat that much because you will be dealing less blows than most combat heroes because your enemies die very fast. Ignore armor is USELESS. why would you need to ignore the enemy's armor when you just kill them instantly? Update: Good spells would also be any spells like freeze, entangle, or psycic blast so you can slow down your enemies enough to catch up to them, or even run away. Item Lookout: Try to get items that increase your attack speed and don't worry about damage. Your hero is out to kill units and not buildings so leave the buildings and damage dealingness to the rest of your troops. Also look out for any speed increase items so you can catch up to enemy heroes to kill. Also look out for illusion+ items because if you can get the illusion sphere to 7+ you can cast invisibility. An invisible assasin can run into the enemy base and kill the hero. Also look out for summoning+ items because at 7+ you can cast home portal to get the heck out of a place after you just pwn3d a guy. Fighting Vs. Assasins: If you are going up against an assasin, run. If you are trying to kill an assasin try swarming it with millions of tiny monsters instead of a few big monsters because assasins will likely kill a few big guys faster. Make sure your towers can reach every inch of your base so an assasin doesn't follow you home and kill your entire big guy stock. Keep your speed up and travel in large groups to distract the assasin. NEVER fight an assasin with your own hero because you most likely will NOT win. Also try to keep any dragons or titans very very far away from an assasin. Races: The race of the assasin mostly doesn't matter because you just put all your points into assasinate, although you may want a race for their high dex/str. If you plan on getting your hero to levels 100+ then you may want to consider which race has skills you want after you max assasinate. Barbarian (7 8 4 1): The only race with bonuses to both strenght and dexterity, so a barbarian assasin is an okay choice. The initial skill of reave will help you out at lower levels against large monsters but concentrate your points on assasinate (like always). Running (levels 10+) is a decent skill for an assasin and is one of the only skills I might consider putting points into. Ice magic (20+) is pretty much useless you really want to slow down people following you (freeze). Summary: STR/DEX innate, possible running Daemon (8 6 5 1): Daemons have a smaller starting dex, but it's not too poor. Innate ferocity gives you a +3 combat boost to start out with. Regeneration (10+) is a good skill and you may want to put a few points into it, but I would still rather put the points into assasinate (I'd just put like 1 point per 10 levels maybe). Pyromancy (20+) has nothing special to offer assasins so I'd forget about putting any points into it. Invulnerability (30+) isn't something I'd put points into either just because, like always, you want assasinate maxed. Summary: Low DEX innate, possible regeneration Dark Dwarf (7 7 5 1): Innate constitution will give you a nice 10 hp boost to begin with, but I wouldn't put any points into it. Engineer (10+) is a decent skill for ANY class but I still say put the points into assasinate. Chaos magic (20+) sucks all around and provides nothing special for assasins. Summary: Nothing Dark Elf (5 7 6 2): Dark elves get a synergy bonus to assasinate so they start at 5 (9%) instead of the normal 3 (7%). If you REALLY want a 2% boost then dark elves are a good choice, especialy because you don't need to worry about other skills. Dark elves get an innate lore which is useless unless you REALLY want to use summoning spells. Death rune (10+) is good if you like to use assasin units too because they get a health bonus and you get cheaper runes to get assasins. Summoning (20+) is poo unless you can get it to level 7 for home portal, although you MAY want 1 point to summon some builders. Summary: Assasin synergy, possible home portal Dwarf (8 5 5 2): Dwarfs start with -2 dex which counteracts the dex bonus of the assasin. The innate constitution is good because you are going to be in the front lines a lot and will probobly be thankful for the extra hp. Armorer (10+) is a stupid skill for ANY class so don't waste any points on it ever. Rune magic (20+) isn't anything special for an assasin except for level 8 which makes you immune to all missle attacks (good for running around towers). Summary: Very low DEX innate, possible resist missle Empire (6 7 5 2): Whoopdy doo 2% per skill on trade (10+). Don't waste your points. Alchemy (20+) doesn't provide anything special to assasins. Summary: Nothing Fey (3 8 6 3): Feys start with a VERY low strength which may make proboblems at first, but they do start with +1 dex. Innate warding is somewhat decent, but I wouldn't put any points into it personaly. Illusion magic (10+) comes somewhat early, and if you can get it to 7+ then you can cast invisibility so you can sneak past everyone and slay a hero before he knows you are around! Energy (20+) isn't that great because you probobly won't be casting any spell besides invisibility, and I wouldn't put any points in magic resistance (30+) either. Summary: Very low STR innate, high DEX innate, possible invisibility High Elf (4 7 6 2): The low strength is a bit annoying because assasins are fighters. Innate lore isn't useful because you probobly won't be casting many spells. You may want a point in life rune (10+) if you love your unicorns (and cheap runes). DEFINITELY put 2 points into healing magic (20+) so you can heal and cure yourself. You may want a point or two in energy (30+) so you can heal up faster. Summary: Low STR innate, healing magic Knight (6 6 5 3): Low DEX innate isn't good for assasins. Don't worry about weaponmaster (10+) because you will kill things in 1 hit. Divination (20+) doesn't provide anything useful for assasins. Summary: Low DEX innate Minotaur (9 6 4 1): High STR innate is very useful early on, although assasins mainly work on DEX which minotaurs have low. Innate ferocity will give an early +3 combat bonus which will also be good for low levels. Just jam all your points into assasinate like usual. Summary: Very high STR innate, low DEX innate Orc (7 7 4 2): Normally for orcs I'd say go for demolition (30+), but assasins are unit/hero killers and not building killers. Summary: Nothing Plaguelord (5 7 8 0): Like usual, all points go into assasin except for maybe summoning (20+) because at 7+ you can cast home portal. Summary: Possible home portal Ssrathi (6 8 5 1): High DEX innate is yummy. Ssrathi get running innate, although a measly +1 isn't something to really brag about. You may want to put a few points into this. Poison magic (20+) has nothing special. Summary: High DEX innate, possible running Swarm (6 9 4 1): Swarm start with a very high dex bonus which is always a very good thing for assasins. Plus they start out with constitution innate for an early bonus of hp, and a synergy bonus to ignore armor which gives them a good early start of -6 armor. Necromancy (20+), like most other spheres, is bad for assasins as almost all of their abilities are wasted because assasins kill everything with 1 hit. You MAY want to get this to level 2 to summon some builders. Summary: Very high DEX innate Undead (6 7 7 0): Innate warding is kinda nice, but don't put any points into it. Maybe put 2 points into necromancy (10+) to summon zombies. Summary: Nothing Wood Elf (5 8 5 2): If you like treants, put a point or two into forest rune (10+). If you like flyers, put a point or two into sky rune (30+). Normally I'd try to say 'Get nature magic (20+) to 5 for unicorns'... but you are an assasin. Entangle (level 3) may be a decent spell if you are really annoyed at enemy heroes running away all the time. Summary: High DEX innate ************************* 1.5.4 - Bard Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.5 - Chieftain Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.6 - Daemonslayer Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.7 - Deathknight Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.8 - Defiler Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.9 - Dragonslayer Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.10 - Druid Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.11 - Elementalist Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.12 - Healer Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.13 - Ice Mage Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.14 - Illusionist Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.15 - Lichelord Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.16 - Merchant Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.17 - Necromancer Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.18 - Paladin Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.19 - Priest Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.20 - Pyromancer Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.21 - Ranger Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.22 - Runemaster Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.23 - Sage Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.24 - Shaman Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.25 - Summoner Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.26 - Thief ************************* -1 +2 -- -1 Thiefs are great because of their immense speed. They start out with +3 speed, and with the synergy bonus from ssrathi you can even start out with a good +6. At later levels, you can travel across the map hunting for resources and get there in no time at all. A big problem with theives is that their huge speed makes them hard to keep up with if you are trying to guard them, and moving them in a group wastes the theif's speed. Thieves get illusionary magic later on which is great for scaring monsters away, or turning invisible. Thieves aren't very strong but their ability to run away is uncomparable. Play cowardly. Stat progression: You are going to want to concentrate heavily on dexterity for even MORE speed, and for the armor/resistance bonuses (so you don't die from enemy fire while fleeing). You may want to also focus on charisma for a large command radius (complimenting your very fast resource collecting). I'd try to get strength at 9+ early on for the hp regen, and try to keep it at a decent value so you don't die patheticly. Overall, the stats are lenient but the main thing about thieves is their speed so dexterity focus comes naturaly. Skill progression: You are going to want to try to focus on running (which is the main reason for picking a thief), but don't neglect your other skills. You may want to put a somewhat decent ammount of points into warding and magic resistance depending on how you like to play. Once you get to illusionary magic, I'd totally spring for 7+ to get invisibility or maybe even 9+ to turn all your enemies into camels! At the very least, you should put 2 points into illusion to get scare (for getting rid of anyone trying to tail you). Item lookout: You may want to look for a crown that gives you +command radius for resource collecting, but that's pretty much true of any hero. Because you are a runner, you may want to concentrate on speed and defense. Fighting vs. Thieves: Thieves can get really annoying because of their speed. Thieves run away before you can catch them, and they steal all of your resources because of their high dexterity. You may want to consider (more than usual) about putting towers near resources to slow down the theif's efforts. If you manage to get close to a theif then bash on your attack spell macros to kill him off before he can run away (instead of saving your mana for something). Theives are escape artists, especialy if they have invisibility, so try to box them in and close off any place they can escape from. Races: Remember that you will be running a lot and stealing resources, so don't pick a big combat oriented race unless you want to make a figher/thief. Barbarian (5 8 4 3): Barbarians will start you out with a synergy bonus to running, giving you a total of 5 to start out with. Ice magic (20+) doesn't have anything that special for a thief, except for maybe freeze at levels 6+ to slow down any persuers even more. Avoid putting points into qaurrying because as a thief you will be stealing most of the resources on the map. Summary: High dex innate, running synergy Daemon (6 6 5 3): Nothing too special about daemons. You will probobly want a few points in regeneration (10+) because even though you run, you'll still be hit quite a few times. Nothing great for theives in pyromancy (20+), although you may find it fun to run up to a group of units or buildings and cast armageddon then flee. Summary: Low dex innate Dark Dwarf (5 7 5 3): Nothing too special about dark dwarves and theives. Nothing great for thieves in chaos magic, although you may like to run up to a group and cast chaos plague on them, or possibly try your luck to decrease enemy units or towers. Summary: Nothing Dark Elf (3 7 6 4): There are pretty much only two things to consider about the dark elves: Summoning (20+), and assasin (30+). Summoning at 7+ gives you home portal which is a FANTASTIC spell for running away. When you get to 30+ I'd VERY much start putting points into assasin. At level 30 you should be quite fast, so running up to the enemy hero and backstabbing them seems like a good strategy. Summary: Possible home portal, possible assasin Dwarf (6 5 5 4): Dwarfs start with low DEX which you may not like. Nothing special in rune magic except for maybe resist missles so you can run circles around enemy towers. Summary: Very low dex, possible resist missle Empire (4 7 5 4): Not much to say about them except that you are probobly going to love the acquire spell so you can run like a madman up to some resources and then steal them instantly. Summary: Possible acquire Fey (1 8 6 5): A fey thief is the ONLY combo that gives 3 synergies; warding, illusion magic, and magic resistance. This makes ALL the theif skills available at level 1, and only leaves the fey skill of energy (20+) for later levels. You already start out with illusionary magic at level 2 for scare, and you can spring for invisibility very early in your hero's life. Summary: VERY low STR innate, high DEX innate, tripple synergy High Elf (2 7 6 5): Nothing special about high elves for thieves, especialy because thieves are solo artists and therefore healing magic (20+) isn't as useful as it normaly would be. Definitely put a point into it for self healing though. Summary: Nothing Knight (4 6 5 5): Nothing to special about the knight for thieves. Divination magic (20+) has a couple of semi useful spells for thieves. Comprehension (6+) will make skills 50% cheaper, which will let you save your massive ammounts of resources you've taken. Psycic blast (10+) will stun enemies which is good for running away. Summary: Low DEX innate Minotaur (7 5 4 3): Nothing great for theives in pyromancy (30+), although you may find it fun to run up to a group of units or buildings and cast armageddon then flee. Summary: Low DEX innate Orc (5 7 4 4): Nothing great for thieves in chaos magic (20+), although you may like to run up to a group and cast chaos plague on them, or possibly try your luck to decrease enemy units or towers. You may find demolition somewhat useful for taking down any pesky towers in your hunt for wealth. Summary: Nothing Plaguelord (3 7 8 2): Plaguelords start out with a synergy to warding. Summoning magic (20+) has home portal which is really good for running away even faster. Summary: Warding synergy, possible home portal Ssrathi (4 8 5 3): Ssrathi have running innate which gives a synergy total of 6. Poison magic (20+) doesn't have anything especialy useful to a theif, although you may find it hilarious to run into a group of enemies to poison them and run away before they can catch up. Summary: High DEX innate, running synergy Swarm (4 9 4 3): High DEX innate is always useful for a thief. Necromancy doesn't have any thief specific spells, although you may like to run up to an enemy group and turn them all into skellies then run away. Summary: very high DEX innnate Undead (4 7 7 2): Undead have a warding synergy, and necromancy (10+) has nothing great for thieves (although if you are playing an undead army it is always good). Summary: Warding synergy Wood Elf (3 8 5 4): Wood elfs really have nothing special for thieves, except maybe the entangle spell and the +1 innitial DEX. Summary: High DEX innate ************************* 1.5.27 - Tinker Guide ************************* ************************* 1.5.28 - Warrior Guide ************************* ************************* 3.1 - Spell List ************************* I'm hazy on most of the spells because I haven't played around with them very much at all. If you have anything to add about any of these spells, especialy any formulas, please email me. Each spell level over level 1 is -50% to cast, so 125% would be 75% for level 2, and 25% for level 3. ************************* 3.1.1 - Alchemy Spell List ************************* Alchemy spells are used to create items and potions (not mana), get or trade resources, create towers (no garrison), and summon golems. Races: Empire Classes: Alchemist, Archmage, Tinker Create Item (12) - This creates a random item from the game. This skill is somewhat useful for new characters, but unless you feel like putting a LOT of points into alchemy, I'd rather not cast the spell. Higher spell level makes better items. Transmute (15) - This spell works just like the trade feature at the market, except it costs mana. Useful if you really need a certain resource quickly, especialy if you have way too much of another. Higher spell level increases output by 10%. Charm (6) - This spell works just like the merchant skill, excpet it costs mana and is temporary. Very useful for when you are building, upgrading or producing units (I THINK the merchant skill works on that too, but I'm not sure so email me) so it would be perfect for titans or dragons. Higher spell level (I'm guessing) gives you a higher discount. I'm not sure about th %s so someone email me about that. Stone Golem (14) - Summons a stone golem. I don't find these guys to be all that useful but if you really need a summoned creature then here you go. Higher spell level gives changes unknown to me (most likely stat or xp changes. Someone email me). Brew Potion (24) - Creates more health potions. GREAT spell. You can never have too many health potions. Higher spell level creates more potions (1 per level). Acquire (22) - This spell instantly converts resource buildings in the area. GREAT spell for obvious reasons. Higher spell level has effects unknown to me (possibly a higher radius of conversion). Summon Guardian (24) - Creates a tower that you can't garison units in. These gaurdians are fairly useful because you can stick them anywhere and you can even repair them using resources. UPDATE: Okay so these guardians are only temporary and will dissapear after a while. CHEAT/BUG: Every time you try to cast this spell you are given a template to place the guardian, and you can cancel the spell at this time without wasting mana. The cheat is that the template shows what level spell the guardian is going to be before it's cast! Higher level spells create higher leveld guardians. Clay Guardian (Level 1): Combat: 10 Health: 150 Speed: 2 Damage: 20 (lightning) Range: 8 Stone Guardian (Level 2): Combat: 10 Health: 200 Speed: 3 Damage: 25 (lightning) Range: 8 Iron Guardian (Levels 3+): Combat: 10 Health: 300 Speed: 4 Damage: 30 (lightning) Range: 8 Disjunction (40) - This spell makes any bonus any hero gets from their items null, thus making their items temporarily useless (this also works if the hero switches items too). This is a good spell to use if you are about to fight an enemy hero. Thanks to Somphalen for this information. Bronze golem (36) - MUCH better than the stone golem. The bronze golem can take quite a punch. Higher spell levels are unknown to me but probably have the same effects as higher level stone golems which are also unkown to me. Email me. Spellforge (70) - 'Doubles the power of the caster's items' the details of this spell are entirely unknown to me, but if you really want to make some items you should cast this spell first unless you don't feel like using the mana for it. Your choice. ************************* 3.1.2 - Arcane Spell List ************************* Arcane spells are about improving other spells by making them cost less, last longer, easier to cast, have double reach, and even increase their power. You can also dispel enemy spells (it also dispels any of your own), gain mana at every kill, increase mana regeneration, or even unleash a very powerful attack on the area. As most of these spells seem to have static values, I have no idea what higher levels do. Races: None (no synergy) Classes: Alchemist, Defiler, Druid, Healer, Ice Mage, Illusionist, Necromancer, Priest, Pyromancer, Runemaster, Sage, Shaman, Summoner Concentration (8) - Increases your spell chances by 20%. Useful. Command (12) - Makes your spells have a 25% larger range. VERY good for spells that attack a large area. Enervate (20) - Increases mana regeneration. Useful. Extend (22) - Makes spells last twice as long. Useful. Mana Flow (24) - Reduces mana costs by 25%. Useful. Corruption (28) - Creatures summoned by other players may join YOU instead. Only really useful if you know someone is going to summon something, otherwise it's a waste of mana. Dispel (32) - Removes all spells in the area INCLUDING your own. I doubt this works on lasting spell effects like a poison spell. I also doubt this works on spells currently being cast (so you probably won't be able to stop an attack spell from being cast). Not sure so email me. Mana Leech (40) - Gives you 6 mana after each kill. I believe this only counts for creatures your hero personaly kills. Empower (60) - Spells are 50% more powerful while this spell lasts. Useful. Destruction (100) - MASSIVE whompage. This spell deals damage to ALL buildings and units in the area INCLUDING your own and the caster. This deals damage equal to the caster's health-1. I think (I HOPE) this would be your hero's current health and not max health. Obviously don't cast this spell if your hero is in a position to be attacked after everyone around dies (like there are units about to attack but not in the immediate area). ************************* 3.1.3 - Chaos Spell List ************************* Okay, all I can say is that chaos SUCKS. Almost all of the spells randomly increase/decrease the stats of nearby units, but you never know in which direction. I haven't really monkeyed with the spells so I don't know what any effects high levels have. Spells here don't effect your hero but I'm pretty sure (I have no interest to check this, email me) that they effect all units good or bad, but the spells MIGHT choose a unit in the area and only effect units of that alliance but I'm not sure and I doubt it anyway. Only two useful spells are wildfire and chaos plague but I seriosly wouldn't advise ever putting 9 or 10 points into chaos to actualy get these spells. I think the morph spells are permanant but, again, I don't have enough interest to actualy check this. UPDATE: Okay, some people have whined about me giving these spells a bad rap. These spell CAN be useful. If you get a bad effect, you can just cast them again (the spells are fairly cheap). Abyss also adds that a sure fire way is to use these spells on units that have a poor stat, like casting speed morph on hidiously slow units because you can't get much slower already. These spells can very much be very VERY good if you are lucky, but personaly I don't like to take the gamble (I don't even like heavy spell casters in the first place). Races: Dark Dwarf, Orc Classes: Deathknight, Shaman Morph Combat (6) - Changes combat values of nearby units. Morph Speed (8) - Changes speed values of nearby units. Morph Health (5) - Changes max health values of nearby units. Morph Damage (7) - Changes damage values of nearby units. Morph Tower (12) - Changes values of nearby towers. Drain Mana (24) - Drains mana from a random unit in the area. Morph Resources (30) - Exchange resources (possibly a random exchange %) Increase Casting (55) - Increases spell% for a random spell sphere. Wildfire (32) - Attacks enemies in the area. Seems fairly weak. Chaos Plague (70) - Nearby enemy units have reduced hp and are diseased. ************************* 3.1.4 - Divination Spell List ************************* Divination spells are pretty handy sometimes, but they are all support spells basicly. You can increase defense or resistance, and do a bunch of other random crap that you should just be reading the spell descriptions for, although I should mention the comprehention skill which reduces cost for research by 50%! I honestly have no idea what most of the higher level spells will do so email me what you know. Races: Knight Classes: Alchemist, Bard, Priest, Sage Elemental Lore (6) - Increases elemental resistance by 10 for 1 minute. Defense Lore (6) - Increases armor by 10 for 1 minute. See Invisible (5) - Can see all invisible units for 4 minutes. Not that useful as not many units can go invisible, but at a mere cost of 5 mana you can see any pesky chamelions running around for 4 whole minutes. Telepathy (10) - Units produced gain +10 xp for the next 2 minutes. Banish (30) - Will instantly destroy any daemons, archons, or elements near you but higher level enemies may be able to resist it. I have no idea if this works on your own units. This spell is useful if you are near a bunch of demons or elementals (obviously). My guess is that higher levels of this spell will banish higher level enemies. Comprehension (35) - Skill increases bought at buildings are reduced by 50% for 2 minutes. Useful. Call Sage (60) - Will call a red/black/white mage. My guess is that higher levels of this spell will summon mages with higher xp. Mind Leech (50) - Nearby friends will steal xp from enemies. True Sight (60) - Increases sight range for all of your units for the rest of the match! Useful. Psychic Blast (70) - Stun nearby enemies. ************************* 3.1.5 - Healing Spell List ************************* HEALING IS GOOD! Keep your hero from dying, keep your generals from dying, ressurect dead people, and even getting rid of pesky poison and disease. Races: High Elf Classes: Healers, Priests, Paladins Heal Self (8) - Heals the hero. Useful. Higher levels probably heals more. Cure (8) - Gets rid of disease and poison from yourself and nearby units. Useful. No idea what higher level does. Blessing (8) - Increases morale. Higher levels probably increases morale by more. White Ward (6) - Protects nearby units from psyc effects. Useful against dragons and the like. No idea what higher level does. Heal Group (15) - It heals the group! Higher levels probably heals more. Invigorate (16) - Increases the speed of SOME nearby units. Dunno which units don't benefit. Higher levels probably gives higher speed increase. Purify (20) - Deals damage to evil creatures. Dunno if it works on non evil. Higher levels probably does more damage. Major Healing (20) - Heals the group even more! Higher levels probably heals even MORE. Life Ward (40) - When you die, you just pop back up again good as new! I think you come back with only 1 mana though (so you don't abuse it). You DO come back with full health though which is always a good thing. Higher levels maybe make the spell last longer. Resurrection (60) - Resurrects a unit. No idea what high level does. ************************* 3.1.6 - Ice Spells list ************************* I don't like ice spells that much because there's not much to them. I say that most of the spells in this game were made just to fill out 10 spaces. I don't know what higher levels do for any of these, mostly because I didn't put the effort to check them. Races: Barbarian Classes: Elementalist, Ice Mage Hands of Ice (10) - Ice damamge to enemies in the command radius. Storm (8) - Makes it rain (this isn't ICE magic). Ice Armor (14) - Gives you an armor bonus but no resist ice. It's a small armor bonus too. Calm (10) - Removes magic and psych effects on units near the hero. Useful if you are fighting a bunch of scary things. Ring of Ice (30) - Shoots a ring of ice that spreads from the hero. I think casting hands of ice 3 times is a better idea actualy. Freeze (25) - Slows enemies. Great for running away. Wall of Ice (8) - Pretty much useless because to create an actual WALL you have to cast this way too many times. The ice wall seems to be stronger than the other walls though for some reason. -shrug- Ice Floe (30) - You gain a ranged ice attack. I honeslty never got this spell to work. Freeze Magic (40) - Stops mana regeneration but makes ice spells easier to cast. Now I say this spell is REALLY not worth it to waste 40 mana. Whatever you are trying to cast I'm SURE the 40 mana would be better spent on the spell itself (and that way you can still regen too). Ice Storm (65) - Rains ice down on the enemies. Okay not REALLY, it just says it does. In actuality it just makes little blue magic puffs pop out from nearby enemies to show they've been hit by something. Doesn't seem all that powerful either. ************************* 3.1.7 - Illusion Spell List ************************* Meh. I don't like illusion spells. I'd rather kill my enemies than make them awe struck. No idea what high levels do to any of these spells. Races: Fey Classes: Archmage, Illusionist, Thief Shadowform (8) - Gives you +1 speed +5 armor (may increase with spell level) Thanks to Somphalen for this information. Scare (6) - Makes the hero scare units. Light/Darkness (5) - Turns day into night and night into day. Good for gaining the day/night bonus for your race. Awe (8) - The hero causes awe. Spectral Horde (14) - Creates a spectral bunch of the basic unit of your current army. Thanks to Somphalen for this information. Dragonfear (20) - Creates a wimpy dragon that causes fear and reduces armor. Invisibility (30) - Makes the caster invisible until you attack. Think 'Fey assasin'. Call Shadow (30) - Summons a shadow Mutate (50) - Turns enemies into wimpy things, possibly a penguin. High level enemies can resist this. Transform (70) - Changes a unit into something stronger. I never got this to work. ************************* 3.1.8 - Nature Spell List ************************* I realy don't like nature spells except for summon unicorn, and that's just because they heal and cure. Races: Wood Elf Classes: Druid, Ranger Summmon Sprite (10) - This is an okay spell just because sprites fly and can attack ground units. Good when you are fighting units that can't hurt flyers. Dunno what high levels do. Gemberry (12) - Heals the caster and possibly some nearby units. I don't know what else to say about it. My guess is that higher levels heal more and have a higher chance to heal nearby units. Entangle (8) - Slows down units near the hero. This spell doesn't even seem to work on some enemies so I gave up testing it. Someone email me. UPDATE: Oh yeah, a good tactic is to use this on heroes so they can't escape. Shillelagh (8) - It SAYS it summons a magical club to increase your combat score, but all the thing does is float above your head. A very pathetic looking skill in my opinion, but increased combat is always a good thing. Don't know what higher levels do Summon Unicorn (20) - Unicorns are great things to have around. They can heal you AND cure you of any disease. If I were to ever make a druid hero, I'd have an entire army of unicorns (not REALLY... but they ARE great) Dunno what higher levels do Wall of Thorns (8) - Makes a little shrub. Whoop de doo. The thing has 400 hp (or maybe it was 300... can't remember) and just sits there. Leveling it up doesn't give it any more hp either. To build an actual wall you have to cast it many times wasting quite a bit of mana. Useless in my opinion I have NO idea what leveling this spell does Call Lightning (35) - Zaps nearby enemies. Don't know what else to say about it. Leveling this spell probably does more damage Summon Treant (40) - Does exactly what you think. I personaly would rather have 2 unicorns but whatever. Dunno what leveling up does. Change Weather (25) - You choose if you want day/night and sunny/rainy. Good for giving your army the correct day/night bonus. No clue what leveling this spell does Elementalism (50) - You create an elemental of your choice. I'd still rather just summon some unicorns. Don't know what leveling this spell does ************************* 3.1.9 - Necromancy Spell List ************************* I like necromancy mostly because of strip flesh. I mean, turning all your enemies into pidly little skellies is quite good. Mow 'em down! I don't know what higher levels do on any of these. UPDATE: Thanks to f_ranz123 for his email riminding me that raise skeleton will replenish your ranks if you are leading the undead army. Summoned skeletons (and wights too) can be upgraded just as if you made them normaly. Plus he also informed me that raise skeleton and raise zombie both make multiple at higher levels so I went in and made some formulas. Races: Undead, Swarm Classes: Lichelord, Necromancer, Deathknight Raise Skeleton (8) - USELESS! You REALLY want to waste 8 mana on a skelly? UPDATE: Okay, this gives you 2 skellies and then 1 more for each level so it's not AS bad but it's still bad UNLESS you are leading the undead. undead characters may appreciate being able to increase their ranks anywhere the hero is at the time. Skill + 1 = Summoned skeletons Raise Zombie (8) - Now THIS is useful. Need a builder? Voila. Skill = Summoned zombies Black Portal (8) - Create a little dohickey that increases xp of any necromantic summons you create near it. Update: The black portal also seems to increase the level of any necromantic spell cast near it. Thanks to Somphalen for this information. Raise Wight (15) - I don't find this to be worth the mana really. UPDATE: After I tested f_ranz123's stuff, I wanted to see if this makes more wights too. It doesn't. Leveling up this spell just gives the wight more xp. Vampirism (30) - Nearby units drain health. Good when you have some bigger units that you want to keep alive. This isn't good on small units because they'd die before they'd really get the good effect of it. Darkstorm (16) - Only good if you know your race benefits from dark/rain. Strip Flesh (35) - Turns nearby enemies into skeletons but higher leveled monsters can resist this. Just run to the enemy's base and turn all their medium and low leveled units into wimpy skeletons and plow them down. Fun fun. Call the Dead (30) - Nearby piles of bones turn into skeletons. I never actualy got around to testing this out much so someone email me. Ring of Ice (35) - This is necromancy? Oh well. Creates a ring of ice that does a decent damage. Raise Champion (50) - Pick out one of 4 high level undead monsters to summon. I haven't really gotten around to testing this out much so email me. ************************* 3.1.10 - Poison Spell List ************************* Poison spells are pretty much all about poisoning, and removing poison and disease. Personaly I'd rather just kill my enemies instead of maming them, but you may find poisoning all the enemies in your command radius in the middle of a huge battle. I DO find it great that most of the spells work for the entire command radius, so you may want to consider making your defiler have massive amounts of charisma. Races: Ssrathi Classes: Defiler, Lichelord Immunity (6) - Your hero becomes immune to poison for 2 minutes. Very useful if you know you are about to go to battle with a bunch of poisoners, but I'd usualy rather just cure the poison for all my troops instead of just making myself immune. Your call really. Dunno what high level does because 'immune' and '2 minutes' are both obviously static variables. Poison Cloud (6) - Poisons all enemies in the command radius. VERY good for high charisma characters. Run into the enemy base and just poison the entire camp. I don't think this does direct damage though. Dunno what higher level does. Summon Wasp (5) - Worthless spell because wasps are useless. Waste of 5 mana. UPDATE - Okay so higher levels of this spell casts more wasps, so this spell isn't so bad if you can get it to like level 3 or something, but it's still only useful if you are attacking a swarm of flyers. Spell level = Amount of wasps summoned Antidote (10) - Removes poison and disease for all your buddies in your command radius. Very very good if you're fighting, or have just finished fighting, a bunch of orcs or poisoners. Dunno what higher levels do. Venom Touch (15) - Troops in your command radius now have a poison attack. Useful if you are assaulting a base with a lot of troops and you really love your poison. Dunno what higher levels do. Poison Gate (24) - Poisons newly summoned enemies. USELESS. What a waste of 24 mana. No idea what higher levels do. Spray Poison (30) - Shoots arrows at all enemies in the command radius. This does poison AND direct damage to all enemies around you, but I don't think the 30 mana is near worth it because you can just poison them for a mere 6. Higher levels probably does more direct damage. Guardian Naga (45) - Summons a naga. It can convert things. I don't find it too great. Higher levels might make better nagas. Rot (45) - Enemies in the command radius suffer full penalties from poison/disease. No idea what this means exactly but higher leveled enemies may resist it. Email me. Higher levels probably increases the chance to effect higher leveled enemies. Call of Kargoth (50) - Summons 8 spider queens and 8 spiders. I like the idea of summoning 16 things at once, 8 of which die and create even MORE things. This can be useful if you really need to create a huge swarm (like if you need to run away). Higher levels possibly make better spiders and spider queens. ************************* 3.1.11 - Pyromancy Spell List ************************* Pyromancy has a few handy spells. Let's just hope your enemy doesn't have high fire resistance. Races: Daemon, Minotaur Classes: Elementalist, Pyromancer) Hand of Flame (10) - Hits enemies in the area with fireballs. Higher levels probably does more damamge. Soul Flame (6) - Increases the xp of nearby units. Okay this is an AWESOME spell. At level 1 it makes all of your nearby troops level 3. At higher levels you can make all your units high enough to take with you to the next battle. Think dragons, or even titans for just a measly 6 mana! This doesn't ADD xp it just raises xp to a cartain point, so no making level 50+ titans. UPDATE: I have confirmed that neither dragons or titans can be carried to the next battle (except for certain things like the ice dragon level in the campaign). Titants can't even gain levels. Spell level x 10 = XP Cauterize (8) - Heals you and your units in your command radius. Healing spells are always very very good, although this doesn't heal all that much. Spell level x 25 = Heal (thanks Charles) Resist Fire (7) - You and your troops get fire resistance. Good if you are going to be fighting the swarm or something (fire beetles) Spell level x25 = Fire resistance bonus Ring of Fire (30) - Creates a ring of fire ala Johnny Cash. Dunno what higher levels do Fire Breath (30) - Gives nearby units (but not you) ranged fire attacks. To be honest, I haven't actualy used this spell but it sounds nice. Berserker (15) - Sets your own units on fire. Makes them run around like crazy. I'm not joking. I don't know what higher levels do because my units die before I can cast it again. Pillar of fire (40) - Attacks a single unit. I haven't actualy used it, but for 40 mana it better have some whompage to it. Fire Elemental (40) - Creates a fire elemental. The name fooled you didn't it? Armageddon (75) - Does damage to units and building in the area. Luckily it doesn't hurt your own. ************************* 3.1.12 - Rune Spell List ************************* I like rune magic because you can increase your armor, quickly build things, repair buildings, and even make yourself immune to ALL missle attacks. Races: Dwarf Classes: Elementalist, Runemaster Stoneskin (12) - Increases your hero's armor rating against ALL attacks. Very useful. Higher levels DOESN'T give you a higher armor bonus it seems, so my guess is that it just makes the spell last longer. Gem of Wisdom (4) - Increases the casting% of your next spell. Pretty cheap and useful if you really need that high level spell. Higher levels probably gives you a higher bonus. Dig (8) - Decreases the building time for all structures. How great is this? Produce those towers or mortars much faster to hold up your defense, or even produce your first buildings quickly too. Higher levels likely increases the time decrease and duration. Earthpower (12) - Repairs buildings in the command radius. Good for when your bases are being attacked. High levels probably repairs more damage. Resist Magic (25) - Gives you a higher defense vs. magical attacks. Level x 25 = Magic Defense Doomstones (16) - Hits nearby enemies with stones. No spell delay or animation, just pow.... enemies get hit. Not that much damage it seems. Higher levels probably does more damage Summon Guardian (24) - Creates a tower that you can't garison units in. These gaurdians are fairly useful because you can stick them anywhere and you can even repair them using resources. UPDATE: Okay so these guardians are only temporary and will dissapear after a while. CHEAT/BUG: Every time you try to cast this spell you are given a template to place the guardian, and you can cancel the spell at this time without wasting mana. The cheat is that the template shows what level spell the guardian is going to be before it's cast! Higher level spells create higher leveld guardians. Clay Guardian (Level 1): Combat: 10 Health: 150 Speed: 2 Damage: 20 (lightning) Range: 8 Stone Guardian (Level 2): Combat: 10 Health: 200 Speed: 3 Damage: 25 (lightning) Range: 8 Iron Guardian (Levels 3+): Combat: 10 Health: 300 Speed: 4 Damage: 30 (lightning) Range: 8 Resist Missle (35) - Makes the hero IMMUNE to ALL missle attacks. GREAT for assaulting a base so you don't have to worry about those annoying towers. My guess is that higher levels have a longer duration. Rune Item (40) - Creates rune items for your hero. CHEAT/BUG: When you cast this spell you get to choose which item you want to create and you can cancel at this time without using mana. The cheat is that you can see what level item is going to be cast before you actualy do! Higher spell levels create better items. The Naming system is: Level 1: Lesser (Item) Level 2: (Item) Level 3: Greater (Item) Level 4: Master (Item) Level 5: Royal (Item) Runesword: Level x 5 = Combat Level x 5 = Damage (Slashing) Runeshield: Level x 5 = Resistance Level 4 = 5% Magic Resistance Level 5 = 10% Magic Resistance Runehelm: Level x 2 = Morale Runemail: Level x 5 = Armo Level 4 = +40 Health Level 5 = +80 Health Stonecall (50) - Creates an earth elemental. Higher levels possibly make better elementals. ************************* 3.1.13 - Summon Spell List ************************* Meh. Summoning skills aren't that great in my opinion. Just like most. Races: Dark Elf, Plaguelord Classes: Archmage, Summoner, Daemonslayer Summon Quasit (10) - This spell is only good because quasits can build, but necromancy gets zombies for only 8 mana. Circle of Power (4) - This spells makes a little thingamabob that sits there and increases the xp of any summoned creatures you make near it. Phantom Steed (5) - Turns cavalry units into phantoms. I never had any cavalry units around to test this with, so shoot me. Blink (3) - Makes you teleport to a random place nearby. I honestly can't think of any sort of strategy to this spell except for getting out of being surrounded by enemies. Summon Imp (14) - Imps are halfway decent because they fly and not everything can attack flying units. Plus imps can attack ground units. Imps really aren't that strong though so this is only good if you are up against a bunch of wimpy units that can't reach high enough. Eye of Oros (12) - Creates a flying speed 25 eyeball that can't attack. Good for scouting. Home Portal (20) - Sends the hero back to the place you started on the map, so make sure if you are a summoner to build defenses right where you first arrive. Hotkey this spell for those times when you need to run very far and very fast. Soulharvest (35) - Summons succubi. Banish (30) - Banishes daemons, archons, and elements near you. Somewhat useful especialy if you are fighting a bunch of them at once. Higher leveled enemies may resist this though. Daemongate (55) - Summons a shiney red daemon. ************************* 3.2 - Skill Descriptions ************************* ************************* 3.2.1 - Magic Skills ************************* There are 13 spheres of magic: Alchemy Arcane Chaos Divination Healing Ice Illusion Nature Necromancy Poison Pyromancy Rune Summon Each level in the sphere's skill will let you cast that many of the spells. So only 3 levels in the illusion sphere will only give you the first 3 spells while 10 levels will grant you all 10. If you put more than 10 points into a sphere then it loops around giving each spell a higher level. So if you have 15 points in illusion then you can cast all 10 spells and spells 1-5 have a chance of being cast at level 2. Higher level spells are better than level 1 spells in various ways depending on the specific spell. Higher level spells are also harder to cast. Each spell level over level 1 is -50% to cast, so 125% would be 75% for level 2, and 25% for level 3. Every time you cast a spell it will say what level the spell ended up casting at. All spheres can possibly be accesed at level 1 (depening on your hero) EXCEPT for the arcane sphere which can only be accessed by certain classes at level 25. ************************* 3.2.2 - Lord Skills ************************* Another set of skills are the 'Lord' skills. These are initial skills for each race, each race having their own specific 'Lord' skill. These skills will improve the morale of the type of army your hero is (High elf for high elves, dark dwarves for dark dwarves, etc.). Barbarian = Horse Lord Daemon = Daemon Lord Dark Dwarf = Siege Lord Dark Elf = Dark Lord Dwarf = Dwarf Lord Empire = Imperial Lord Fey = Dream Lord High Elf = High Lord Knight = Knight Lord Minotaur = Horned Lord Orc = Orc Lord Plaguelord = Plague Lord Ssrathi = Serpant Lord Swarm = Scorpion Lord Undead = Skull Lord Wood Elf = Forest Lord The formula for all of the 'Lord' skills are: 'Lord' skillx2 = Morale bonus for army race ************************* 3.2.3 - Resource Skills ************************* Resource skills, such as wealth, are handy if your race uses a lot of this resource, but I still personaly find combat skills more useful. Your choice. Gemcutting = Crystal Smelting = Metal Quarrying = Stone Wealth = Gold The formula for all of the resource skills are: Skill x 15 = Resource produced per minute ************************* 3.2.4 - XP Skills ************************* XP skills give XP to every unit of a specific you produce. I don't know if this gives bonuses to summoned creatures too (because of gate). Useful if you like to make a whole lot of that specific unit. All-Seeing Eye - Floating eyes Barbarian King - Barbarian infantry and cavalry Brewmaster - Dwarves Dragonmaster - Dragons Elemental Lore - Elementals Gate - Summoned creatures Golem Master - Golems Griffonmaster - Griffons Guardian Oak - Treants Protector - Mounted Knights Mage King - Red, white, and black Mages Memories - Skeletons Runic Lore - Runelords Slimemaster - Slimes Taming - Monsters Undead Legion - Skeleton Riders The formula for all the XP skills are: Level x 10 = XP bonus ************************* 3.2.5 - Resistance Skills ************************* Resistance skills seem useless to me. There are many different types of damage out there, and only resisting one of them is a waste of a skill point. Only good resistance skills would be ones that defend against multiple attack types. Armorer - Piercing Cold Resistance - Cold Electricity Resistance - Electricity Fire Resistance - Fire Scales - Slashing Thick Hide - Crushing The formula for these skills are: Skill x5 = Armor/Resistance bonus Magic Resistance - Magic attacks skill x4 = Magic resistance Multiple Resistance skills: Invulnerability - Piercing, Slashing, Crushing Elemental Resistance - Fire, Cold, Electrical Skill x 2 = Armor/Resistance Warding - Resistance for all troops Skill = Resistance bonus ************************* 3.2.6 - Damage Skills ************************* Damage skills do increased amount of damage to a cartain type of enemy. I'd highly advise you to NOT purchase these skills because there are so many types of enemies and you probably aren't going to be fighitng one as a majority unless you are going against a certain player a whole lot. -shrug- Elfslayer may be useful though because it works on all 3 elven races. Reave, trample, and demolition are good skills because EVERY race has big units, small units, and buildings. Beastslayer - Monsters Bullslayer - Minotaurs Daemonslayer - Daemons Deathslayer - Undead Demolition - Buildings Dragonslayer - Dragons Dwarfslayer - Dwarves Elfslayer - Elves Manslayer - Humans Orcslayer - Orcs Reave - Large creatures Serpentslayer - Ssrathi and reptiles Smite Evil - Evil creatures Smite Good - Good creatures Trample - Small creatures The formula for these skills are: Skill x 10 = Damage bonus ************************* 3.2.7 - Rune Skills ************************* The elf races get rune skills that increase the health of a certain type of unit and also make a specific rune cheap. I have NO idea how they actualy effect the runes because I'm too lazy to check. Someone email me. Death Rune - Cheap Mortos Runes and increased life for Assassins Forest Rune - Cheap Arbos Runes and increased life for Treants Life Rune - Cheap Vivos Runes and increased life for Unicorns Sky Rune - Cheap Cielos Runes and increased life for Fliers The formula for these skills are: Skill x 10 = % life bonus for units ************************* 3.2.8 - Misc Skills ************************* Assassin - A chance of instantly killing an enemy including heroes. Skill + 4 = % Constitution - Increase life points. Skill x 10 = Max HP bonus Contamination - Increase the virulence of all disease on the map Skill = + to virulence of disease Elcor's Aura - Increased effect from Healing spells. Skill x 20 = Increased healing Energy - Increase mana regeneration. Skill x 10 = % to mana regen Engineer - Increase hit points of buildings Skill x 20 = HP bonus Ferocity - Imrove your combat score. Skill x 3 = Combat bonus Ignore Armor - Ignore a portion of enemy armor when attacking them. Skill x 3 = Armor ignored while attacking Leadership - Improves morale when leading any side Skill = Morale bonus Leech - Gain mana when an enemy is killed by your hero Skill x 2 = Mana gain Lore - Increase maximum mana. Skill x 10 = Max mana bonus Merchant - Gain a discount on all things bought No idea. Around Skill x 1.3 Mighty Blow - Increase damage Skill x 2 = Damage bonus Potionmaster - Start battles with extra mana potions Skill = Extra potions Regeneration - Increase life point regeneration. Skill x 10 = % to life regen Ritual - Increase spellcasting success chance. Obviously very good for any spellcaster, although you might want to spend your skill points on leveling up your spells instead. Your call. Skill x 5 = % casting bonus Running - Increase movement speed. VERY useful for assasins so they can slay the hero and get the heck away from everything, although you should be spending your points on assasinate if you are an assasin. You may not want to buy this skill if you like to have your units guard your hero (instead of group movement) or if you don't have groups move with the slowest unit because your hero might pass up all of your guards. Skill = Speed bonus Shadow Strength - Improve combat score at night. Skill x 5 = Combat bonus Trade - Improve the rate of trade at markets or the mill Skill x 2 = % bonus to trade Vampirism - Drain life from enemies when you hit them in combat Skill x 1 = Life gained per hit Weaponmaster - Increase the chance of a critical hit ************************* 3.3 - Legal ************************* Okay here is the jist of it. Don't steal my work. Don't post this guide anywhere without my permission. Don't quote my guide unless you give credit to me and my guide. ... and other stuff. ************************* 3.4 - Contact ************************* Okay, so my guide is full of holes. If you can fill that hole please tell me! Aim - Fish of Muu Icq - # MSN - Ivan_sutalo@hotmail.com Y! - Turtle_Stu If you really don't want to use any instant messenger then you can email me but hotmail likes to think things are junk mail so it could take me a long time to find your message. I'd like to add that if you send me an email, also include the name you want me to give credit to. Ivan_sutalo@hotmail.com