Spell: Soul Vortex

[DonCorazon]

Does soul vortex drain life from undead? Will it drain life from nearby friendlies?

Thanks.

[K]

No, if they are Lifeless. Yes.

[MaxWilson]

Note: if you want to spam spells without a Communion, Soul Vortex is sometimes a good bet. Just surround your mage with a bunch of cheap militia or something and let him suck the life out of them with Soul Vortex.

-Max

[DonCorazon]

To clarify K's response, some undead have the "Lifeless" tag. I just noticed it while looking at the Bog Mummy pretender. I guess there are both Lifeless undead and "non-Lifeless" - and the Lifeless tag specifically states it grants immunity to spells like Drain life, Sleep, and Polymorph.

[Xietor]

I also think soul vortex, unlike drain life, can be resisted.
At least I have witnessed many times when my wraith lord did not get a boost from it though next to units that had life.

[MaxWilson]

Note that Lifeless doesn't prevent you from taking damage from Drain Life/Soul Vortex/etc., it just means the enemy caster doesn't get back HP/FP from draining you.

-Max

[Tyrant]

X is right that it does not seem to work 100%, but i'm not sure if it's a MR save or a weird variation in the area of effect, it sometimes appears that it does not hit all the adjacent squares.

[suresir]

It has a MR save, which means a lot of units will escape. If it hits, it still does only 1 armor negating damage. That gives you a 1 + 2d6 damage roll versus a 0 + 2d6 protection roll. So you'll need a good damage roll to seriously hurt the enemy. Once you're surrounded by enemy troops, some are bound to get hit every turn, and soul vortex really shines there.

[Xietor]

Actually Max, lifeless units cannot be damaged by drain life or soul vortex. There is no life to drain. They are also immune to life for a life blood magic spell.

[MaxWilson]

Xietor,

You're right. Has it always been this way, or is this new in a patch? I remember it working differently but maybe my memory is just flaky.

-Max

[Xietor]

Max,

There have been many changes since Dom II, but I cannot recall whether this was one of them.

[Ewierl]

At least since the beginning of Dom3:

Lifeless creatures are unhurt by drain life/soul vortex.

Non-lifeless undead are hurt by DL/SV, but the attacker doesn't absorb any tasty energy.