Terrain

Terrain typically refers to one of the eight basic land types, which are grass, dirt, lava, subterranean, rough, sand, snow or swamp. Water and rock may also be considered as one of the basic terrains, although they cannot be traveled on by ordinary means. Traveling on water requires a boat, while rock is impassable. Horn of the Abyss  added two additional types of terrain: highlands and wasteland.

Basic terrains

*NOTE: Movement Cost is compared to grass.

Basic Terrains
Terrain	Image	Native Terrain	Movement Cost*	Description
Grass		Castle Rampart Conflux	100%
Highlands		Conflux	100%
Dirt		Necropolis	100%
Lava		Inferno	100%
Subterranean		Dungeon	100%	Typically found on the underground layer. It is the only combat terrain for the underground layer (fixed in Horn of the Abyss ). Also it is a combat terrain for gold mines, crystal caverns and abandoned mines.
Rock		n/a	n/a	Impassable even with flying, but can be passed over with Dimension Door. Typically found in underground areas.
Rough		Stronghold	125%
Wasteland		Factory	125%
Sand		(none)	150%	Sand is a combat terrain for all tiles next to water.
Snow		Tower	150%
Swamp		Fortress Cove	175%
Water		(none)	n/a	Can only be traveled on with a boat or airship . Can be traveled over with Water Walk and Fly spells, or by wearing Boots of Levitation or Angel Wings – hero's movement must end on dry land. It should be noted that shroud on the water between two squares of dry land does not prevent hero from walking or flying across it and mapping the shrouded area. However, the hero must be able to see both land squares before starting the trip. Almost all adventure map objects that are normally placed on dry land can be also be placed on water square and still function normally. The exceptions are Towns, Subterranean Gates and Monoliths, which can not function if visited with a boat. The speed of the creatures in the hero's army does not affect movement in a boat.

Magical terrains

In addition to basic terrain types, there are several types of magical terrains, which cover basic terrains providing additional features (i.e. there is always a basic terrain, which can be covered by a magical one). Magical terrains typically affect combat or spellcasting, with the exception of favorable winds, which increases movement over water. Only two magical terrains (Cursed Ground and Magic Plains) were in the original Restoration of Erathia, the rest being introduced in Shadow of Death expansion (and three more were added in Horn of the Abyss ).

Only one magical terrain effect can apply at the same time; if magical terrains are stacked on top of one another in the map editor, the topmost terrain effect applies and appears as a battlefield.

Magical Terrains
Terrain	Image	Description
Magic Plains		Cause all spells to be cast at expert level, regardless of the heroes' skills. This includes both adventure spells and combat spells as well as spells cast by creatures and some of magic creature abilities.
Cursed Ground		Prevents hero or creatures from casting of spells above level 1, includes both adventure and combat spells. Disables all native terrain bonuses. Negates all positive morale effects. Negates all positive luck effects. In Restoration of Erathia, level 1 spells were banned on Cursed Ground as well.  In Horn of the Abyss, where negative luck was implemented, it also negates all negative luck effects.
Rockland		Causes all Earth Magic spells to be cast at expert level, regardless of the heroes' skills. This includes both adventure spells and combat spells, as well as but does not affect  spells cast by creatures.
Fiery Fields		Cause all Fire Magic spells to be cast at expert level, regardless of the heroes' skills. This includes both adventure spells and combat spells, as well as but does not affect  spells cast by creatures.
Lucid Pools		Cause all Water Magic spells to be cast at expert level, regardless of the heroes' skills. This includes both adventure spells and combat spells, as well as but does not affect  spells cast by creatures.
Magic Clouds		Cause all Air Magic spells to be cast at expert level, regardless of the heroes' skills. This includes both adventure spells and combat spells, as well as but does not affect  spells cast by creatures.   Sandworms and Olgoi-Khorkhois walk instead of Burrowing on Magic Clouds.
Holy Ground		Gives all good-aligned creatures +1 Morale, and all Evil-aligned creatures -1 Morale.
Evil Fog		Gives all evil-aligned creatures +1 Morale, and all Good-aligned creatures -1 Morale.
Clover Field		Gives all neutrally aligned creatures +2 Luck. Neutral creatures are not affected.
Favorable Winds		Reducing amount of consumed movement points by 1/3 (rounded up) for boats. Unlike other magical terrains, Favorable Winds do not affect combat in any way. In Horn of the Abyss, Favorable Winds cannot be placed under another magical terrain, so they cancel effect of any magical terrain at the same tile.
Cracked Ice		Reduces the Defense of all troops by 5.
Dunes		15 to 20 invisible quicksand spots are present on the battlefield. They cannot be removed by mass Dispel and are not visible for creatures of any native terrain. After entering a hex with a quicksand spot, unit stops and the spot becomes visible to both players.
Fields of Glory		Gives all troops -2 Luck.

Related Articles

• Movement
• Native Terrain
• Layer
• Pathfinding
• River