Lords of Magic: Special Edition (LOM:SE) Guide Version: 0.5 Written By: MangoMan (Dave Cousineau) Email: sahuagin@shaw.ca ICQ: 1378431 Please feel free to send me any questions you may have that were not answered here. ---------------------- General Game Concepts: ---------------------- LOM:SE is a hybrid RPG/Strategy game. There are eight Faiths(factions/races), which are Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Order, Chaos, Life, and Death. Your goal as one of these faiths is to build up a strong military force, and ultimately eliminate the Death faith. (If you ARE Death, your goal is to eliminate ALL of the other Faiths) Armies consist of Champions, and Units(Military and Magical). An army consists of three groups, each group having at most one Champion, and at most three Units. All Champions and Units have Statistics, including Attack, Defense, Hit Points, Mana, Movement Points, Ranged Attack and Strength, Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom. There are also many other statistics that you cannot see(such as Luck, Rate of Fire, Missle Speed, Sight Range, etc...) This is important because many items will increase these, even though you cant see them. Many Units will actually contain three individuals, but they will respawn as long as one individual remains. ----------- Statistics: ----------- Level: All Units, including Champions, Military Units, and Magical Creatures, have an Experience Level. Only Magical Creatures are unable to increase their Experience Level(exception: the Lich, and Sir Lancelot). As Units win battles, they gain Experience. Once they have accumulated enough Experience, they gain a level. The tougher the encounter, the more experience your army will receive. NOTE: Experience is divided between ALL Units in your army, regardless of whether the unit actually uses any of it! If your army contains 12 units, but only one of them can gain Experience, (ie: the other Units are either Creatures, or Units that have maxed out their levels) he will receive only 1/12th of the Experience, and the other 11/12ths will be wasted. If in the same example, he was the only surviving unit, then he would receive 100% of the Experience. Maximum Experience Levels are Level 5 for Military Units (except Knights which can gain level 6), level 10 for Champions, and level 12 for Lords. Magical Creatures can range anywhere from Level 1 to Level 15. (except for the Lich and Sir Lancelot which max out at Level 10, i think) When a unit gains a level, any of its other stats may increase in various amounts. NOTE: A Unit's level will make a large difference, regardless of any other stats. ie: a level 8 Unit will be stronger than a level 5 Unit, even if their other stats are identical. Attack and Defense: Attack determines how much melee damage the unit does. Without enough Attack, you may not even be able to damage an opponent. Defense is the counterpart to Attack. When two or more Units engage in melee combat, their Attack and Defense values determine which Units are able to damage other units. If a target has more Defense than the attacking Unit, the attacker will have a hard time causing any damage, and may even be unable to damage it at all. For example, a Unit with 30 Defense being attacked simultaneously by 10 units that each have only 8 Attack will most likely be unharmed, even after fighting for a long time. Hit Points: The more HP a unit has, the more successful hits it will take to kill the unit. Once HP reaches zero or less, the unit dies. Mana: Only Mages will have Mana. Mana is used to cast spells. Each spell has a Mana Point cost, and when cast, the cost is subtracted from the remaining Mana. You may not cast a spell if you do not have enough mana. Mana regenerates completely every turn. So the more mana you have the more spells you can cast per turn. You can also purchase Mana Potions that will replenish your Mana by up to 12pts. Movement: This value is only used on the World Map. Depending on your Faith, and the terrain that you're traveling over, each point will let you move a certain distance. An army is limited by the unit with the least amount of movement points. Armies that only consist of Units, and no Champions, will receive a severe movement penalty. Ranged Attack and Strength: The top number is the Attack value of the Unit's Ranged Attack. This is identical to the Attack stat. The second number is the range of the Attack. Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom: No one knows exactly what these stats do. After tinkering around with stats for a few hours in the custom editor, I have come to the following conclusions: Strength: Seems to relate to the Attack stat most, but in no consistent manner. Usually 1pt STR = 1pt Attack, but this is not always the case, and other stats seem to be affected too. Rest assured more Strength is good, and it's (probably) most important for Warriors/Melee Units. Dexterity: Seems to relate mostly to Defense (I would also guess ranged attacks). Like Strength it behaves in no consistent manner, but is close to 1pt DEX = 1pt Defense, though other stats also seem to be affected.May play a part in to-hit chances. Like Strength, more Dexterity is better, and it's (probably) most important for Thieves/Ranged Units. Wisdom: The only consistency I have observed with any of these three stats is Wisdom. While I still can't be 100% sure, it seems that (for Mages only) 1pt Wisdom always = 1pt Mana. (NOTE that there is a base amount of mana, so they are not usually the same number) Obviously Wisdom is (probably) most important to Mages. There are three types of Champions, and three types of Units: --------------- Military Units: --------------- --------------------- Cavalry and Infantry: --------------------- These are standard melee fighting units. Cavalry tends to be stronger than Infantry, but more costly. Specifically, Cavalry tend to have higher Attack and Defense values, as well as more Movement points, while Infantry tend to have slightly more hit points. (not sure why though). Every Faith has one Infantry Unit, and one Cavalry Unit. Abilities: (these all apply to Warriors as well) Berserk: When fighting, melee units have the option to Berserk. When Berserking, your Defense stat becomes 0(zero), and half of your original Defense is put towards Attack. The reason you would want to do this is when the enemy is stronger than you are. If you fight a strong enough opponent, you may be unable to damage him. In this case, use Berserk and you will have a much better chance. BE CAREFUL though because your Defense will be zero, so you will take extreme damage from any incoming attacks. Most useful to take out one or two very strong opponents quickly. Sometimes Berserk is the difference between winning and losing. (NOTE that units with very low Defense stats (Fire and Chaos) will not see a large difference when Berserking, while units with very high Defense stats (Earth) are the best Berserkers.) Defend: Choosing Defend and selecting another unit or a location will cause the unit to move to that unit/location and defend it by waiting and attacking any enemy that draws near. The unit will not chase down an enemy, but will remain at the location specified. Parry: The opposite of Berserk. To Parry, choose Defend, but select yourself. Parrying does the same thing as Berserk, but in reverse. Your Attack becomes zero (you wont be able to attack anyway) and half of your original Attack value is added to your Defense. In effect, the unit is concentrating all of it's weapon skills in order to deflect incoming attacks. Logically, a unit that is very skilled with a weapon would be better at this. Units with very high Attack stats (Fire and Chaos) would be able to Parry very well, but units with very low Attack stats (Life, Air) would not. (NOTE: In order to use Parry with Units that contain three individuals, you must first deselect any Units you have selected by right-clicking on open terrain, then ctrl-clicking on the desired individual to select only that one. Then select Defend and left-click on him.) ------------- Ranged Units: ------------- Every race has one Ranged Unit. Obviously their usefulness lies in the ability to attack from afar without actually enaging the enemy. They can also fight hand-to-hand, but it is never a good idea unless there is no alternative. Abilites: Defend/Parry: (Thieves do not have defend/parry) Same as above. (Ranged Units will not tend to see a large effect from Parrying) Aimed Missle: (Thieves do have this) Aimed Missle works very similar to Berserk, but not exactly. You receive 50% more Ranged Attack, at the cost of most of your attack speed. The reason is the same as Berserk, if you are unable to damage your enemy properly, then use Aimed Missle and you will start to do much more damage. ------------------ Magical Creatures: ------------------ Every Faith has four Magical Creatures. These vary widely, and follow no set pattern. Some come with cool abilities, some are nigh invulnerable, some are actually Champion Units, and others are the equivalent of an entire army in one unit. Usually a Faith has a standard Creature, a strong Creature, a very strong Creature, and an incredibly strong Creature. The latter one is known as a Legendary Creature, and each one may only be summoned once per game. (except for Water's Giant Spiders; you can have as many as you want, and they come in groups of two) ------------ Other Units: ------------ Each Faith also has one scout unit, and one ship unit. Scouts are for scouting, Ships are used to transport Units over water. (or to scout over water if you have no air units.) ---------- Champions: ---------- Warriors: Warriors are always melee fighting units and have no ranged attack. Their main purpose is to be an exceptionally strong melee unit. They tend to have the highest Attack and Defense statistics. Rally: The only special ability that Warriors get is Rally. Using Rally will increase the Attack and Defense statistics of Units in the same group by 1 point, although only certain units are affected. This means that it is important to choose which units fight along side the Warrior. Mage: Mages are the only units in the game that have spell casting abilities. They have a limited amount of mana points, and a set of Spells that they can cast, each casting using up some amount of mana points. They are incredibly weak melee fighting units, and receive no ranged attack, except for their spells. Other than spells, they receive no special abilities. Thief: Thieves are the only Champion unit that has a ranged attack. They are not very strong melee fighters, but make up for it with their large amount of special abilities: Thief Abilities: Stealth: You can use Stealth both in combat and on the main map. If you successfully sneak, you will be 100% invisible. If you attack you will immediatly become visible again. If you are failing to sneak there will be a red targeting circle drawn over you to show that you've been detected. Moving and getting too close to the enemy will lower your chance of successfully sneaking. You also must be sneaking in order to Spy, or Steal (NOTE: Most of the following abilites will tend to both reduce your fame, and also lower other Faith's opinions of you. The game will let you know of any changes. Also, if you are caught spying or stealing, you may be attacked or even taken prisoner) Spy: While Sneaking, move into an enemy army. (If you seem to simply attack the army, the unit failed) From there choose Spy and if you are successful, you will be able to see detailed information on the army you are spying on, such as Experience levels, artifacts, statistics, and resources. This is useful if you are unsure if you want to attack that particular army. You may also be able to garner information about the Faith as a whole. Steal: If you choose Steal instead of Spy, you can try to steal Resources or Artifacts. In order to know what there is to steal, try Spying first. Subdue: In combat only, you can try to Subdue an enemy Champion. When Subduing you will appear to be melee attacking the enemy. Each time you strike, you have a chance of succeeding. If you are repeatedly unsuccessful you may end up killing your target. Once you have succeeded, and if you also win the battle, the Champion will become your prisoner. (NOTE you cant subdue an enemy Lord, if you do, its the same as if you killed him) Knockout: Each turn, any prisoners you have will get a chance to escape. If you Knockout the prisoner, he will not be able to escape, but you will not be able to use him for anything either. Interogate: The main reason to capture an enemy Champion is to Interogate him. After a successful interogation, there are many things you might learn about their Faith, such as updated map areas, military strengths, artifacts in their possession, spells they have learnt, resource amounts, etc... Torture: Has a better chance of obtaining more information, but the political ramifications are much worse, and you might also kill the prisoner. Execute: The only way to get rid of the prisoner without letting him go. Don't expect other Faiths to like you much if they find out though. Free: The only way to get rid of the prisoner without killing him. There is a chance other Faiths will like you more if you Free a prisoner. ------------------------ Selecting a Leader Type: ------------------------ When starting a new game the first thing you will have to do is choose a leader type. When you play the game, you are a Lord Unit. A Lord is just like any Champion and is either a Warrior, Mage, or Thief. The main difference between Champions and Lords is that Champions can only reach 10th level, whereas Lords can reach 12th level (although it takes a really long time). See the above section about the three different classes to determine which one you want to pick. ------------------ Selecting a Faith: ------------------ Next you must choose one of the eight Faiths (you must beat the game once before you can try Death) ---- Air: ---- Storm Giants and Faeries. Strengths: Very powerful Mages, very strong Magical Creatures, many flying units, very fast Units, best stealth Weaknesses: Weakest Military Units ------ Earth: ------ Dwarves, Hobbits, and Gnomes. Strengths: Strongest Military Units, Very strong Legendary Creature. Weaknesses: Slowest Units. Not very good Mages. No air units. ----- Fire: ----- Fire Giants and Fire Dwarves. Strengths: Highest Attack scores. Extremely good Mages. Very strong Magical Creatures. Weaknesses: Most Units have very low Defense scores, and low Movement points. No air units. ------ Water: ------ Amazons and LizardMen. Strengths: The best Ships, as well as the only two water Units in the game, as well as an amphibious unit. Generally solid troops. They start surrounded by water, so they encounter far less of the enemy at their capital. Weaknesses: Weakest Magical Creatures. ------ Order: ------ Humans(Civilized) Strengths: Best Cavalry(Knights). Very Balanced. Weaknesses: No specific weaknesses, except maybe, their lack of strengths. No air units. ------ Chaos: ------ Humans(Barbarians) Strengths: Most Units have extremely high Attack scores. Very powerful Mages. Spells are very Chaotic. Weaknesses: Worst Ranged Units. Units tend to have very low Defense scores. Spells are very Chaotic... ----- Life: ----- Elves Strengths: Very good Mages, the best ranged units, flying Magical Creatures. Weaknesses: Second weakest melee units. ------ Death: ------ Dark Elves Playing as Death is different than the other Faiths. As Death, you are given a lot of freebies, but every single Faith is your enemy and they all start somewhat strong. ------- Spells: ------- Standard Attack Spell: (Combat) Damages one Unit. Effect increases with Level Faith Name Effect Cost ---------------------------------------------------------- Air Lightning 3 + 1/2 Level 2 Life Spirit Arrow 3 + 1/2 Level 2 Order Righteous Bolt 3 + 1/3 Level 2 Water Ice Bolt 3 + 1/3 Level 2 Death Curse 3 + 1/3 Level 2 Fire Flamedart 3 + 1/3 Level 2 Earth Rocksling 3 + 1/4 Level 2 Chaos None n/a Minor Regenative Spell: (Map) When cast on an army, the army heals faster when not traveling. All effects last 3 turns. Faith Name Effect Cost ---------------------------------------------------------- Life Purify Wounds +3hp/turn 2 Water Cleanse Wounds +3hp/turn 2 Order First Aid +2hp/turn 2 Fire Cauterize Wounds +2hp/turn 3 Chaos Tourniquet +2hp/turn 4 Air Ether Gauze +1hp/turn 3 Earth Poultice +1hp/turn 4 Death Purge Wounds +1hp/turn 4 Travel Buff Spell: (Map) Increases an armies movement points by some percentage. Effects last 1 turn Faith Name Effect Cost ---------------------------------------------------------- Earth Trailblaze +33% Movement 2 Fire Wildfire +33% Movement 4 Order Forced March +30% Movement 2 Death Funeral March +30% Movement 2 Water Riptide +25% Movement 2 Life Invigorate +25% Movement 4 Chaos Wanderlust +15-55% Movement 4 Air Windwalk +15% Movement 2 Teleport Artifact: (Map) Teleports All Unequipped items from the caster to the target army. Faith Name Effect Cost ---------------------------------------------------------- Air 3 Chaos 4 Life 5 Water 5 Earth 5 Order 7 Death 7 Fire 7 Terraforming Spell: (Map) Changes the selected terrain into some other terrain type. Faith Name Effect Cost ---------------------------------------------------------- Air Ice Tundra 4 Chaos Wind of Change Random Terrain 4 Fire Lava Flow Lava 6 Life Create Plain Meadow 8 Order Survey Plain 8 Water Make Land Land from Water 8 Earth Clay Earth *Mountain 8 Death Pestilence **Swamp 10 *- Also elevates the land **- Pestilence also targets an army and damages its units 5 + 1/2 Level Detect AntiFaith: (Map) Detects nearby armies on the map within 20 tiles of caster. Faith Name Cost Effect ---------------------------------------------------------- Water Detect Fire 4 Order Detect Chaos 4 Earth Detect Air 4 Death Detect Life 4 Chaos Detect Order 4 Fire Detect Water 4 Air Detect Earth 8 Life Detect Death 8 Seer: (Map) Reveals map where targeted. Also shows evil Faith's armies, but no AntiFaiths Faith Name Cost Effect ---------------------------------------------------------- Water Seer 4 Chaos, Death, Earth Order Seer 4 Death, Fire, Earth Air Seer 4 Chaos, Death, Fire Life None n/a Earth None n/a Death None n/a Chaos None n/a Fire None n/a Dispel Magic: (Map or Combat) Removes effects from target(unit or army) if caster is one level less than original caster, or greater. Faith Name Cost Effect ---------------------------------------------------------- Death Dispel Magic 2 Chaos Dispel Magic 2 Air Dispel Magic 3 Water Dispel Magic 4 Order Dispel Magic 4 Life Dispel Magic 4 Earth Dispel Magic 4 Fire Dispel Magic 4 Capital Spells: (Map) Provides various bonuses when cast on a capital. Effects are permanent, but the same spell wont stack. Faith Name Cost Effect ---------------------------------------------------------- Life Holy Enchantment 2 1 + 1/3 Level Fame/turn Life Sanctuary 4 +1 Sight; works 3x max Order Watch Tower 4 +1 Sight; works 3x max Order Inspire 4 +1 Fame/Gold/Ale/Crystal Chaos Invoke Fate 4 +1 Random Air Windmills 4 +1 Ale Fire Fireworks 4 +1 Fame Earth Gold Rush 4 1 + 1/3 Level Gold/turn Water None n/a Death None n/a Party Spells, Offensive: (Map) Causes some bad effect to each unit of the selected enemy army. Faith Name Cost Effect ---------------------------------------------------------- Death Pestilence 10 5 + 1/2 Level Damage; makes swamp Death Locust 8 4 + 1/5 Level Damage Fire Meteor Shower 10 3 + 1/2 Level Damage Earth Earthquake 8 4 + 1/4 Level Damage Air Sandstorm 4 2 + 1/2 Level Damage; -4Move Pts Water Fog 4 -50% Movement, -2 Sight for 3 Turns Chaos None n/a Order None n/a Life None n/a