Spell

Spell is a term for the form of forces of magic, that heroes use to aid their journey. Typically heroes use spells to aid their travels, reveal hidden knowledge about their surroundings, or in combat to help their troops or bring harm to their adversaries. Before heroes can cast spells, they must possess a spell book. The spell book is where the hero records the learned spells. Spell books can be bought from Mage Guilds for 500 . They cannot be traded between heroes, but the Scholar skill allows heroes to teach each other spells.

Each spell has a level which represents how difficult it is to cast. Higher level spells are usually only obtainable by heroes with higher Wisdom secondary skill. Heroes without Wisdom can only learn 1st and 2nd level spells, while Wisdom enables them to learn 3rd, 4th and 5th level spells depending on the level of the skill. When heroes visit a town with a Mage Guild, they automatically learn any unknown spells to them the guild has to offer and their wisdom rating allows them to cast. Heroes may also learn spells as they explore map locations (e.g. Shrine of Magic Incantation). Each spell belongs to one of the four schools of magic: Air, Earth, Fire, or Water, or all of them.

Heroes may learn the Air Magic, Earth Magic, Fire Magic and Water Magic secondary skills to increase the effectiveness at which they cast the spells of each school. Heroes without such expertise may cast a school's spells at a basic level (resulting in the same effect as the basic level spell). Additionally, holding an expertise in a school enables hero to cast spells at the reduced cost. The reduction depends on spell level, as can be seen from the table on the right. This cost reduction is the same regardless of whether a hero holds the skill at basic, advanced, or expert level.

Cost reduction
Lvl 1	Lvl 2	Lvl 3	Lvl 4	Lvl 5
-1	-2	-3	-4	-5

Spells cost spell points to cast. A hero's maximum spell points are equal to 10 times their Knowledge skill. As a hero casts spells, their spell points are diminished. A hero cannot cast a spell costing more spell points than he or she has available. Each hero regains one spell point per day, or can be completely replenished when he or she starts a new day in a town with a mage guild or visits a magic well on the Adventure Map. Heroes with the Mysticism skill regain spell points more rapidly, heroes with the Intelligence skill get a bonus to their maximum spell points.

In the hero's spell book, spells are listed by the school and divided into combat spells and adventure spells. Combat spells can only be cast during combat while adventure spells can only be cast while wandering on the Adventure Map.

Hero casting animations												Hero casting animations
Male Knight	Female Knight	Male Cleric	Female Cleric	Male Ranger	Female Ranger	Male Druid	Female Druid	Male Alchemist	Female Alchemist	Male Wizard	Female Wizard
Knight and Cleric		Ranger and Druid		Alchemist and Wizard
Male Demoniac	Female Demoniac	Male Heretic	Female Heretic	Male Death Knight	Female Death Knight	Male Necromancer	Female Necromancer	Male Overlord	Female Overlord	Male Warlock	Female Warlock
Demoniac and Heretic		Death Knight and Necromancer		Overlord and Warlock
Male Barbarian	Female Barbarian	Male Battle Mage	Female Battle Mage	Beastmaster		Witch		Male Planeswalker	Female Planeswalker	Male Elementalist	Female Elementalist
Barbarian and Battle Mage		Beastmaster and Witch		Planeswalker and Elementalist
Male Captain	Female Captain	Male Navigator	Female Navigator	Male Mercenary	Female Mercenary	Male Artificer	Female Artificer

Things affecting most/all spell casting

These things apply to most/all spells that are cast during combat. Items listed on the individual spell pages only apply to a small number of spells.

• Magic Resistance
•  Magic Mirror
• Orb of Vulnerability
• Spell immunity
  • Cape of Silence  (Spells level 1-2)
  • Recanter's Cloak (Spells level 3-5)
  • Power of the Dragon Father (Spells level 1-4)
  • Cursed Ground (Spells level 2-5)
  • Orb of Inhibition (Spells level 1-5)

Spells unaffected by Spell Power

School	Combat				Adventure Map
	Damage	Buff	Debuff	Utility
	Titan's Lightning Bolt		Disrupting Ray		View Air  Disguise  Dimension Door  Fly
				Quicksand  Earthquake  Force Field	View Earth  Town Portal
		Frenzy	Berserk
				Dispel  Remove Obstacle  Teleport	Summon Boat  Scuttle Boat  Water Walk

User Commentary

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Very subjectively, levels of spells can be described as following:

• Level 1 - essential. Basic and essential spells like Slow, Haste, Bless, Curse etc. which work effectively all the way during the whole gameplay regardless of the map size. If the scenario can be completed in 1-2 weeks, there is a few possibility to learn high level spells as even 2nd level Mage Guild costs a big amount of resources, while the debut may depend large on the spells you got on the 1st level of Mage Guild.
• Level 2 - supportive. Blind is essential as you may resurrect your whole army using it, and there are also Precision or Weakness which work pretty decent, good damage spells which are useful in the mid-game, as well as Scuttle Boat which may sometimes be a big tactical move (sinking your own boats as well as enemy ones). In Necropolis, Death Ripple is useful in early game, especially against wandering monsters. However, besides Blind, nothing of this is imbalance, and some Level 2 spells (Fortune, Quick Sand, Remove Obstacle) are useless in most situations.
• Level 3 - niche. There are no 3rd level spells which make a big effect on the game, with the exception of Animate Dead in Necropolis. Many of them (Destroy Undead, Force Field, Hypnotize, Anti-Magic, Teleport, Earthquake) work brilliant in specific situations but are expensive and not universal. For example, expert Forgetfulness is very useful against wandering shooters, but won't help against enemy hero army as usually there aren't many ranged stacks. 3rd level damage spells are not the best in the game, and Mirth and Misfortune are completely useless. It means that on small maps, or on maps without any towns besides Stronghold and Fortress, Wisdom isn't always needed, and if you cannot acquire 4-5 level Mage Guild, 3rd level also may be unnecessary.
• Level 4 - decisive. Imbalance spells like Armageddon, Berserk, Resurrection, and Town Portal are here. Moreover 4th level has spells which deal heavy mass damage (Meteor Shower, Inferno, Chain Lightning). There are only two 4th level spells in the Mage Guild (three in Tower with Library), and on large maps, one may get Town Portal and Resurrection, and the other one may get Slayer and Sorrow, which may become crucial for the result of the game.
• Level 5 - some imbalance spells. Fly and Dimension Door are possibly the most mighty spells in the game alongside with Town Portal. Implosion deals enormous damage. However, 5th level Mage Guild is extremely expensive, has only one slot (two in Tower with Library), and not all spells are that useful. Summoning Elementals may work brilliant in good hands, and it deserves its cost and level (otherwise, you could easy learn one of these spells and summon legions of Elementals in every combat), but still it isn't a big breakthrough in most situations.

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Trivia

• According to Greg Fulton in his Behemoth Cave Interview & Fanstratics Newsletter #19, his understanding is that all "magic" in the M&M universe is really just advanced technology.
  • "For example, if a Wizard casts a Fireball spell... what actually happens? In my mind, the Wizard’s mental, verbal, or physical ritual invokes the capabilities of technological machines, deep within a world, causing the machines to create the Fireball and its resulting behavior."

See also

• List of spells