Animate Dead

School of Earth Magic

Level 1

Magic Arrow *

Shield

Slow

Stone Skin

View Earth

Level 2

Death Ripple

Quicksand

Visions *

Level 3

Animate Dead

Anti-Magic

Earthquake

Force Field

Protection from Earth

Level 4

Meteor Shower

Resurrection

Sorrow

Town Portal

Level 5

Implosion

Summon Earth Elemental

School of Air Magic

School of Fire Magic

School of Water Magic

Animate Dead
	School:	Earth Magic
	Level:	3rd
	Cost:	15/12
	Duration:	permanent
Basic effect
Reanimates (30 + (power × 50)) health points worth of killed undead creatures in target, allied troop.
Advanced effect
Reanimates (60 + (power × 50)) health points worth of killed undead creatures in target, allied troop.
Expert effect
Reanimates (160 + (power × 50)) health points worth of killed undead creatures in target, allied troop.
Probability of occurrence (%):
Castle   0 Rampart   0 Tower   0 (0*) Inferno   0 Necropolis   44 Dungeon   0 Stronghold   0 Fortress   0 Conflux   0 Cove    0 Factory     * Without Library

Animate Dead is a 3rd level spell in the School of Earth Magic. It permanently reanimates killed undead, allied units similar to Resurrection spell. However, unlike Resurrection, the effect is always permanent regardless of whether the hero has Earth Magic or on what level it is.

Thant the Necromancer starts with and specializes in the Animate Dead spell.

Tactics and Info

The number of HP restored by Animate Dead and Resurrection is almost equal. Both give 50 times spell power at all levels. The flat bonus for Basic/Advanced/Expert level is 30/60/160 for Animate Dead and 40/80/160 for Resurrection, giving Resurrection a slight edge before Expert level. Note that Resurrection costs more spell points to cast and its effect is only permanent with at least Advanced Earth Magic.

Animate dead has a 44% probability to show up in Necropolis' Mage Guild which is a lot higher than the chance for Resurrection (Stronghold and Fortress have 0% chance, Cove and Conflux 10% and all others 20%; Tower with a Library has 29%). Additionally, Animate Dead is level 3 while Resurrection is level 4. Thus, in the early game Necropolis has a much higher chance to be able to revive its creatures. With multiple cities, the chance to obtain the spell increases (assuming an average of 20% probability for Resurrection per town and only Necropolis cities for Animate Dead):

Number of cities	Probability for Animate Dead	Probability for Resurrection
Base %	44%	20%
2	69%	36%
3	82%	49%
4	90%	59%
5	94%	67%
6	97%	74%
7	98%	79%
8	99%	83%

As can be seen, one would need about 3/5/8 cities to have the same chance to learn Resurrection as with 1/2/3 Necropolis cities to learn Animate Dead. Note that it is less likely for Necropolis to capture another Necropolis city than for another faction to capture any other city. Thus, in the mid- and late-game, obtaining Resurrection will be likely for any player.