Editing Mage and Arch Mage (section)

== Appearance ==
Some Stone Golems and Mages appears at the beginning of the [[Neutral Affairs]] scenario from the [[Liberation]] campaign in {{roe}}.

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{{user commentary|
Magi and Arch Magi are the second shooter of the [[Tower]] faction, replacing [[Gremlin and Master Gremlin|gremlins]] when they become available. It is not essential to upgrade magi early in the game. However, the upgraded Mage Tower only cost 5 {{W}} and 2000 {{G}}. Considering that it gives five more hit points, speed seven, it is quite affordable. The main downsides of the magi are that the original [[Mage Tower]] has a very steep cost, together with their low health and high cost for [[Library]], which is a requirement for the upgraded dwelling.
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11/12 [[Attack]] is very high for level 4 [[creature]], second only to [[Ogre]]s. 8/9 [[Defense]] however is low, only [[Ogre]]s and [[Fire Elemental and Energy Elemental|Fire and Energy Elementals]] have lower Defense. Coupled with low 25/30 [[Health]] and good 7-9 [[damage]] Magi and Archmagi are "glass cannon" ranged unit: they are great in offense, but they are relatively fragile and despite no melee penalty should be kept away from melee combat. Their average [[Speed]] of 7 allows them to act before some lower level creatures, but most of their own level 4 troops have either equal speed or higher.
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[[Bless]] and [[Curse]] have limited effect on them without Advanced [[Water Magic]] or [[Fire Magic]] skills, as their damage spread is minimal compared to average damage - min 7, average 8, max 9. Advanced Bless gives them 25% average damage bonus. Advanced Curse gives -25% penalty.
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Depending on situation [[Prayer]] can be very strong spell to cast on Magi, as it patches up their weaknesses - low Defense and Speed while also increasing their Attack, all by 2-4 points.
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[[Precision]] is usually better as it gives 3-6 Attack instead of 2-4, but only works in ranged combat and does not improve anything else.
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[[Frenzy]] is great if they cannot be reached by melee enemies or shot at by ranged stacks, giving at least 8/9 Attack bonus, equal or better than [[Slayer]] against its specific targets. Otherwise it might be better to use another spell, one that does not make already fragile stack even more vulnerable.
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While [[Slayer]] might be tempting to use against level 7 creatures, remember that Magi have only 25/30 health per troop, and being slow ranged unit they usually are just 1 [[dragon]] [[breath attack|breath]] away from being wiped out, together with whatever was shielding them. Thus it might be better to cast Slayer on a stack that can survive longer than 1 turn when fighting appropriate targets.
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As usual [[morale]] and [[luck]] are hit-or-miss, especially on low health, high kill/disable priority troop like Magi, so don't prioritize [[Mirth]] and [[Fortune]] over more reliable effects, but if your Magi get one of these spells from [[Master Genie]]s, it's good too.
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Obviously [[Stone Skin]], [[Shield]] and [[Air Shield]] should be used to protect the fragile Magi from taking physical damage.
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When facing spellcasting enemy consider Protection from X spells or [[Anti-magic]], as low 25/30 health coupled with very high ranged damage means they are big [[direct damage spell]] magnets.
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If they will not be reached and overwhelmed by melee troops in turn 1, [[Slow]] is perhaps the best spell to use when having Magi in your army. They don't really need any magical support apart from more ranged hits when melee enemies are slowed to crawl under fire, suffering more casualties each turn before they even reach Magi.
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As they deal high damage but are fragile, they should be shielded from melee by tough melee troops like [[Golem]]s and [[Naga]]s. Be careful when facing [[dragon]]s or creatures with AoE attack like [[Magog]]s and [[Lich]]es.
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In [[Tower]] army they can benefit from [[Master Genie]]s' random spellcasting. Magi should be lower priority targets than [[Naga]]s and [[Titan]]s, as Magi simply lack their raw strength.
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If your Magi are forced into melee, exploit the fact they reliably deal high damage but are vulnerable - use other stacks, preferably tough melee unit like [[Iron Golem]]s to soak up counterattack and then hit the enemy hard free of retaliation.
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No obstacle penalty means they are great siege troops both in defense and attack, enjoying their ranged superiority while opposing ranged stacks are saddled with 50% damage reduction due to [[wall]]s.
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The mana cost reduction ability does not depend on number stacks in army or number of troops in stack. Even if all Magi and Archmagi under [[hero]]'s control have died during battle, [[spell]] costs of all hero's combat spells remains reduced by 2 [[spell point]]s until the end of the battle. Because the cost reduction is flat -2, the spells that benefit from it most are those with the lowest base cost. This ability is cumulative with other cost reductions, like from Basic X Magic [[secondary skill]]s. It also basically negates [[Pegasus and Silver Pegasus]]'s [[Magic damper]] ability, as -2 and +2 adjustments equal 0 net spell cost change.
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Because Magi are ranged troops who cannot survive long in melee, the best [[secondary skill]]s for them are obviously [[Archery]] (and [[Orrin]] in particular), [[Tactics]] and [[Armorer]]. Magic skills in general synergize very well with Magi, as the cost reduction is cumulative.
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Magi's attacks visually look like bolts of energy, while Arch Magi's attacks are concentrated beams. They both use their staff to strike enemies in [[melee]] combat.
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The cutscene of duel between Archmage and [[Medusa Queen]] in {{roe}} intro is somewhat close to realistic outcome - Medusas are no match for Magi in ranged combat, but in melee their petrify special ability can even the odds, disabling the opponent and allowing to set up overwhelming attack.
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{{creature 'see also'}}
* [[Comparison of Level 4 Creatures]]
* [[Comparison of Ranged Creatures]]

[[Category: Creatures]]
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