The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly: Spells

[Spacepain]

Well, theres an awful lot of spells availabe.... too many to learn in one go, or two, or three goes even. So, what are the good spells to research and develop for, and the spells to be avioded at all costs.

I've learned very little of spells in the several SP games I've played... little more than hoardes of hell is pretty lame, it takes a LOT of pale riders to do any good, and fire files is the very unpleasant result of neglecting to study evocation.

While I'm sure that preference varies from person to person, and varies a little from nation to nation, there is bound to be some spells that just deserve an award for how useful and great they are.

[Norfleet]

Well, me, I'm a big fan of Wish: It's so awesome, and there's so much stuff you can do with it. I mean, even the name is awesome.

The alteration school contains a number of very nice spells, such as the battle buffs like Mirror Image, Mistform, Body Ethereal, Personal Luck....all of those are Alterations.

Fire flies is indeed the result of neglecting to study evocation. While there's a ton of spells which perform similar tasks and do better in similar roles (Blade Wind, Nether Darts), you certainly get what you pay for with Fire Flies.

Hordes from Hell is not as lame as you make it out to be, though: The cost is relatively modest, and it's a remote-summons. You can cast it at any target province, and the aforementioned hordes from hell will appear. While not powerful, you can shotgun them all over the map and drive your opponent absolutely nuts. It's not something you use against hardened targets, but it's not bad at raiding and generally raising hell.

[Psitticine]

A lot of spells, including Pale Riders, have better effects when cast by more powerful mages. IOW, some spells won't seem as good when used by low or medium powered mages.

[Chazar]

With Caelum, I'm a bit disappointed by mages: they rarely deliver the significant punch that might turn the tide of the battle. I dont know if I ever have seen a single lightning bolt hitting an enemy (seen it hitting my units though, guess I'll have to produce more of these "Eyes of Accuracy". Friendly Fire is so realistic...)

Quickness, Ghost Wolves and Falling Frost are my Favorites so far...

[ March 15, 2004, 08:16: Message edited by: Chazar ]

[CayseP]

A cloud-trapezing Caelum High Seraph with a staff of storm and knowledge of the spell "Wrathful Skies" delivers quite a punch though.

This spell can also be combined with the lightning immune wyverns, which are relatively cheap air summons (only drawback is that they are cold-blooded, but usually I compensate for this by striking deep into enemy territory).

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Chazar:
I dont know if I ever have seen a single lightning bolt hitting an enemy

I'm not sure what game you're playing then. Since lightning bolt is the single most accurate (other than prec 100) spell in the game with a precision of 7. Combine that with the precision of 12 on the high seraph, and the aim spell and it will rarely miss.

[fahdiz]

Originally posted by Spacepain:
While I'm sure that preference varies from person to person, and varies a little from nation to nation, there is bound to be some spells that just deserve an award for how useful and great they are.

Bind Ice Devil.

Bar none, some of the most bang you'll get for your buck (or your blood slaves, rather) - especially if you can outfit them with some nice gear. They are supercombatants to the Nth degree, they can lead large armies (it's nice to summon IDs with Caelum - I have recently started using the Vampire Queen as my regular Caelum pretender for precisely this purpose - as most troops in Caelum have 100% cold resistance and won't be hurt by the constant Chill effect around the IDs, so you can let the IDs jump right into the thick of things).

Yes, I'd say that's one of my favorite spells so far. Also, I'd echo what Norfleet said - Hordes from Hell is not nearly as lame as you'd think, for raiding/harassment purposes. Plus, it gives you a devil commander who you can equip with fun gear, even if you ditch the imps entirely and have him lead something else.

[fahdiz]

Originally posted by Chazar:
With Caelum, I'm a bit disappointed by mages: they rarely deliver the significant punch that might turn the tide of the battle.

Well, they're cheap enough that you can bring them in force...and then voila! There's your punch! You're probably building dozens of them anyway, just for research purposes.

Never underestimate, too, the power of stealthy, flying, level 3 priests to push out your dominion to get everything (especially temp) in your favor prior to the battle. That's one of the huge strengths of Caelum, and it more than makes up for the offensive capabilities of their mages.

[Chazar]

Originally posted by Arn de Gothia:
A cloud-trapezing Caelum High Seraph with a staff of storm and knowledge of the spell "Wrathful Skies" delivers quite a punch though.

No doubt about that! I'm rather referring to lower level spells...

Originally posted by Graeme Dice:
Since lightning bolt is the single most accurate (other than prec 100) spell in the game with a precision of 7. Combine that with the precision of 12 on the high seraph, and the aim spell and it will rarely miss.

Hmm, I should check that aim-spell, good hint, thanks!

I did not want to complain that much, but I just feel that a single high seraph will not deliver as much as I expected (as compared to 17 rear-attacking iceclads which cost the same amount of gold, as I usually do not care about resources but supplies). Maybe my main problem is that I'm lacking the understanding of range:

What does a range of, say, 25+ mean? 25 squares plus one square per extra path/gem? Does the range affect precision? Where do you place your mages then?

I think placing them among archers is a bad idea, as targeting enemy archers is one of my own favourite commands. So I place them a good way behing them. Maybe thats my problem why lightning always strikes invisible foe's...

[ March 15, 2004, 14:52: Message edited by: Chazar ]

[fahdiz]

Originally posted by Chazar:
I think placing them among archers is a bad idea, as targeting enemy archers is one of my own favourite commands. So I place them a good way behing them. Maybe thats my problem why lightning always strikes invisible foe's...

I usually fit them out with Amulets of Missle Protection or some other anti-projectile gear, as you've got easy access to that stuff in abundance with a nation like Caelum - and then I go ahead and stick them right behind my archers, or even in between two squads of archers.