Fire Shield

School of Fire Magic
Level 1
Bloodlust
Curse
Magic Arrow *
Protection from Fire
Level 2
Blind
Fire Wall
Visions *
Level 3
Fireball
Land Mine
Misfortune
Level 4
Armageddon
Berserk
Fire Shield
Frenzy
Inferno
Slayer
Level 5
Sacrifice
Summon Fire Elemental
School of Air Magic
School of Earth Magic
School of Water Magic

Fire Shield
	School:	Fire Magic
	Level:	4
	Cost:	16/12
	Duration:	1 rnd/sp
Basic effect
20% of hand-to-hand damage inflicted on target, allied troop is counter-inflicted on attackers of the troop.
Advanced effect
25% of hand-to-hand damage inflicted on target, allied troop is counter-inflicted on attackers of the troop.
Expert effect
30% of hand-to-hand damage inflicted on target, allied troop is counter-inflicted on attackers of the troop.
Probability of occurrence (%):
Castle		10
Rampart		10
Tower		16 (10*)
Inferno		10
Necropolis		10
Dungeon		10
Stronghold		0
Fortress		0
Conflux		10
Cove		10
Factory		10
* Without Library

Target allied stack gains a shield of fire, that damages all units trying to attack it in melee. Damage is based on damage done to enchanted unit, considering all attack bonuses of the attacker but not considering all defensive bonuses (Armorer, Attack-Defense difference(negative number), Shield etc) of the enchanted unit, as well as Bad Luck. If the enchanted unit is totally destroyed, only the damage needed to kill it is used as a base for calculations.

Fire Shield damage is considered spell like, as such, it is not affected by Luck or other attack modifiers. However, it is reduced by Golem magical damage resistance. Damage taken by the enchanted unit must be greater than 4 or the fire shield will have no effect.

It should be noted, that even creatures that are normally immune to (fire) magic, for example black dragons, gold dragons or magic elementals, can take damage from this spell.

All friendly unit fire shields (from hero magic, from Ironfist of the Ogre  and Efreet Sultan) can be strengthened via Orb of Tempestuous Fire and Sorcery, but weakened by Protection from Fire spell. As of HoTA 1.7.1, the boost to Efreet Sultan's Fire Shield ability due to hero abilities such as hero magic and orbs has been removed.

Efreet Sultans have an innate fire shield equivalent to the basic fire shield. When affected by a Fire Shield spell, only the stronger Fire Shield takes effect.

Creatures immune to the damage from Fire Shield:

•   Efreet and Efreet Sultans

•   Fire and Energy Elementals
•  Firebirds ^{*(not in Horn of the Abyss)}  and  Phoenixes

Creatures capable of casting Fire Shield:

•  Master Genies (Advanced level)

Creatures with natural Fire Shield:

•  Efreet Sultans (Basic level)

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Tactics

Fire Shield has good synergy with defensive spells like Shield or Stone Skin, since damage returned is based on damage dealt to shielded target pre mitigation. Spells like Cure, Animate Dead, or Resurrection will help to keep shielded troop alive for longer. Vampire Lords in particular might be better served with Counterstrike, as Fire Shield damage does not heal/resurrect their casualties and lowers their potential healing.

Because its damage is pretty much unavoidable, Fire Shield can be used as psychological warfare tool to present unwinnable situation to opponent - either ignore the shielded troop and possibly let it run wild, or take almost guaranteed heavy losses trying to kill it in melee if they cannot remove the Fire Shield or deal with the shielded stack in non-melee way.

Countering Fire Shield generally means either Dispelling it, ignoring the Fire Shielded stack by either spells like Blind, Slow or just hoping it will not deal too much damage if left unchecked, or circumventing its mechanic by using ranged attacks and damage spells instead of melee. Otherwise prepare to take at least some losses, unless attacking with high health troops that might not be killed by Fire Shield damage. Protection from Fire greatly decreases power of Fire Shield. Iron Golems' magic resistance is at highly effective against Fire Shield - Fire Shield is considered as magical damage, so their damage reduction passive ability will sharply cut it down. Also, sending a Serpent Fly or Dragon Fly to attack a unit with Fire Shield will result in it getting dispelled.

Fire Shield is best used on stacks that are going to be attacked often in melee, like Griffins or Vampire Lords. It only works in melee, so it is of limited use against ranged troops. This spell works very well with Counterstrike, adding extra damage that ignores most damage reductions to retaliation and doesn't count against limit of counterattacks per turn, and ensuring the attacker will take at least some damage even if they destroy your stack completely. This also means Fire Shield is great against high level melee troops (as shown in Examples section), as it makes "clean" sweeping enemy stacks up impossible by reflecting part of their usually high damage back to them, and ignoring their high defense.

Examples

• 100 Archangels attack 1 Imp with expert Fire Shield. 11750 damage is done by the Archangels. 4 health multiplied by 30% equals 1.2 health. The Fire Shield will do 1 damage to the Archangels.
• 100 Archangels attack 100 Imps with expert Fire Shield. 11750 damage is done by the Archangels. 400 health multiplied by 30% equals 120 health. The Fire Shield will do 120 damage to the Archangels.
• 10 Archangels attack 1 Efreet Sultan. 900 damage is done by the Archangels. 90 health multiplied by 20% equals 18 health. The Fire Shield will do 18 damage to the Archangels.
• 10 Archangels attack 10 Efreet Sultans. 900 damage is done by the Archangels. All Efreet Sultans die. 900 health multiplied by 20% equals 180 health. The Fire Shield will do 180 damage to the Archangels. No Archangels die.
• 14 Archangels attack 14 Efreet Sultans. 1260 damage is done by the Archangels. All Efreet Sultans die. 1260 health multiplied by 20% equals 252 health. The Fire Shield will do 252 damage to the Archangels. One Archangel dies.
• 14 Archangels attack 14 Efreet Sultans with 12 bonus Defense. 840 damage is done by the Archangels. 9 Efreet Sultans die, 5 survive. 840 health multiplied by 20% equals 168 health. The Fire Shield will do 168 damage to the Archangels. No Archangels die.
• 14 Archangels attack 14 Efreet Sultans with 16 bonus Defense. 700 damage is done by the Archangels. 7 Efreet Sultans die, 7 survive. 700 health multiplied by 20% equals 140 health. The Fire Shield will do 140 damage to the Archangels. No Archangels die.
• 14 Archangels attack 14 Efreet Sultans with 20 bonus Defense. 630 damage is done by the Archangels. 7 Efreet Sultans die, 7 survive. Since the defensive bonus from Defense is not considered, 700 health, which could be done without defensive bonuses, multiplied by 20% equals 140 health. The Fire Shield will do 140 damage to the Archangels. No Archangels die.
• 14 Archangels attack 14 Efreet Sultans with Expert Armorer. 1070 damage is done by the Archangels. 11 Efreet Sultans die, 3 survive. Since the defensive bonus from Armorer is not considered, 1260 health, which could be done without defensive bonuses, multiplied by 20% equals 252 health. The Fire Shield will do 252 damage to the Archangels. One Archangel dies.
• 1000 Archangels attack 1000 Efreet Sultans. 90000 damage is done by the Archangels. All Efreet Sultans die. 90000 health multiplied by 20% equals 18000 health. The Fire Shield will do 18000 damage to the Archangels. 72 Archangels die.
• 1000 Archangels attack 1000 Efreet Sultans with 20 bonus Defense and Expert Armorer. 38249 damage is done by the Archangels. 424 Efreet Sultans die, 576 survive. Since the defensive bonuses from bonus Defense and Armorer are not considered, 50000 damage, which could be done without defensive bonuses, multiplied by 20% equals 10000 health. The Fire Shield will do 10000 damage to the Archangels. 40 Archangels die.

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See also:

• List of spells
• Things affecting most/all spell casting