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. HotA added two additional types of terrain: highlands and wasteland.

Basic terrains

Basic Terrains
Terrain	Image	Description	Movement cost (comparing to grass)
Grass		Grass is the native terrain for Castle, Rampart, and Conflux .	100%
Highlands		Highlands is the native terrain for Conflux, replacing grass.	100%
Dirt		Dirt is the native terrain for Necropolis.	100%
Lava		Lava is the native terrain for Inferno.	100%
Subterranean		Subterranean is the native terrain for Dungeon. It is usually 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, crystal and abandoned mines.	100%
Rock		Impassable even with flying - can be travelled through with Dimension Door. Typically found in underground areas.
Rough		Rough is the native terrain for Stronghold.	125%
Wasteland		Wasteland is the native terrain for Factory.	125%
Sand		Sand is not a native terrain for any faction. Armies with at least one nomad ignore the terrain penalty. Sand is a combat terrain for all tiles next to water.	150%
Snow		Snow is the native terrain for Tower.	150%
Swamp		Swamp is the native terrain for Fortress and Cove .	175%
Water		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 HotA ).

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 the original Restoration of Erathia version of the game, level 1 spells were banned on Cursed Ground as well.  In the Horn of the Abyss expansion 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, but does not /does  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, but does not /does  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, but does not /does  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, but does not /does  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.

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