Damage Points represent the injuries sustained by a unit or figure at any given time. Damage Points are, essentially, lost Hit Points. They are represented in several different ways in the game, most prominently by the
Darkened Heart icons that replace the
Bright Hearts in the unit statistics window. This icon also signifies both
Damage Points, and
damage in general throughout the wiki.
Units can suffer Damage Points in a multitude of ways, collectively termed "attacks". Should their amount equal or exceed the unit's Hit Points, that unit is completely destroyed. Thus, the primary way to kill a unit is to inflict a sufficient number of Damage Points on that unit.
Multi-Figure units further consist of multiple individual
figures. At regular intervals of
damage taken, they will lose one of these
figures, weakening their offensive combat capabilities.
Damage can be healed in several ways, particularly by a process known as "natural healing", whereby the Damage Points sustained by the unit are reduced by a certain amount at the beginning of each overland turn. Units can also be healed artificially with magic, or thanks to the powerful
Regeneration ability.
Concept
Edit
Damage is the loss of structural integrity. As such, it is often not measured itself beyond the amounts that directly result from attacks. Instead, most games choose to measure the integrity itself. On one end of the scale, in role-playing games there is the physiological-, or bodily integrity of creatures or characters. This is sometimes called simply "health" or "life" but, more often, the term used is Hit Points, or "HP". This originates from the fact that this attribute determines how many "hits" the character or creature can take before being incapacitated or slain. Which means it really measures the ability to take Damage in the first place.
On the other end of the scale are strategy games. After a certain point, the differences between the sturdiness of individual creatures or soldiers become just too insignificant when considering the power of hundreds or thousands of these entities. Sure, it may still be a listed attribute, but what really matters is the amount of troops that are still battle-ready. Here, Damage is typically a measure of the soldiers lost from a unit.
Whatever the scale though, most games place a higher emphasis on the remaining health or troop count, and this is what is stored or written down. Master of Magic does the exact opposite: it only actually records damage taken. In other words, Damage Points. Remaining Hit Points, as well as
figure counts and "top figure damage", are always a function of this information, combined with the unit's base statistics and any applicable special effects.
Effect
Edit
Units in Master of Magic consist of individual entities called figures. Some, most notably Heroes, ships, war machines, and powerful summoned creatures, contain only a
Single Figure. Others, like early Normal Units, and the more common Fantastic ones, have somewhere between 2 and 8. The 9 heads of the mighty
Hydra are also considered to be
figures for all intents and purposes. The maximum amount of
figures in a unit is one of its base attributes. This will also be their initial count whenever the unit is recruited or summoned.
Each unit also has a separate statistic called Hit Points or, more accurately,
Hits per
figure. The total (starting) "health" of an entire unit is thus its
Hits times its
figure count. Naturally, for
Single Figure units, such as Heroes, the
figure health translates directly into unit health. In either case though, this value represents the amount of Damage Points it takes to slay or destroy the entire unit. Other than increasing risk though, Damage Points have no individual effect until certain thresholds are reached, at which points
figure loss and, ultimately, the destruction of the unit will occur.
Top Figure Damage
Edit
By design, each unit in Master of Magic is limited to a single injured figure. All others are considered to be at full
Hit Points at all times.
Damage inflicted on this "top"
figure is thus often called the "top figure damage". This is the
damage visible in the Unit Statistics Window as a number in combat, and is what is indicated by the amount of
Darkened Heart icons replacing the bright
Hits icons, whenever the unit is inspected. This number allows the player to determine how much Damage Points the unit has suffered, or approximate how long it would take for it to recover naturally.

In combat, the unit statistics window also displays "top figure damage" as a numerical value, labeled simply "Damage".
On the overland map, the game calculates the "top figure damage" in a very straightforward manner. It is the remainder of the recorded Damage Points, divided by the Hits per
figure statistic of the unit. However, in combat, it has its own variable, and is actually tracked separately from
damage taken.
Figure Loss
Edit
Whether overland or in combat though, if the "top figure damage" reaches a unit's Hits per
figure value, a
figure in the unit will fall. For
Single Figure units, this naturally means the destruction of the unit itself.
Multi-Figure units, on the other hand, will survive, unless it was the last
figure. However, as their offensive power comes directly from their numbers, the more
figures a unit loses, the less capable it becomes at inflicting Damage Points on the enemy. Granted, having a large amount of initial
figures can greatly reduce the impact of losing a single one.

The figure count of the
Hydra is indicated by the amount of Heads it has, rather than by its graphics, like for other units. This is shown in the unit statistics window.
The amount of figures that are still standing in a unit is only indicated visually in the game. The only exception is the afore mentioned
Hydra, whose graphics remain the same until the end, and its "head count" is shown as a number instead. For all other units, the
figures need to be counted while looking at them in combat, or by checking their image in the unit statistics window. While selecting units overland, their unit cards also display an overall health gauge, but this is often not enough to get an accurate
figure count.
Example #1
Edit
- A
Stone Giant is a
Single Figure unit. It has
20 Hit Points per
figure, so the unit as a whole also has
20 Hit Points. This means it can take up to
19 Damage Points before dying. However, none of that
damage is going to hinder its combat performance in any way, although the risk of the giant falling to the next attack does keep steadily increasing as it is taking more and more
damage. Once it suffers the
20th point though, the
figure, and along with it, the entire unit, is destroyed.
Example #2
Edit
- A fresh
Recruit High Men Cavalry unit contains
4 figures, and has a
Hits per
figure statistic of
3. The overall "health" of this unit is thus
3 ×
4 =
12. Its base Attack Strength is
4, which means that at full strength, it can execute 4 attacks at strength
4 each. Taking
1 or
2 Damage Points will not change this situation, although the unit statistics window would reflect this both in its row of
Hit Point icons, and separately as a "Damage" number in combat.
- Should the cavalrymen take a third point of
damage, they will lose a
figure. At this point, the image displayed when opening the unit statistics window will now only show 3 cavalrymen. At the same time, a full
3 icons return, indicating that the "lead"-, or "top"
figure, has all of its
Hit Points fully intact. However, should the unit engage in battle now, it can only make 3 attacks instead of 4, although its Attack Strength is still
4. That is, it has lost 25% of its offensive capability.
- The next two Damage Points repeat the first procedure, and no
figures are lost. The only impact is the
damage visible in the unit statistics window. Then, at
6, another
figure dies, reducing the unit's effectiveness to a mere 50% of its original. This cycle then keeps repeating until finally, at
12, the last
figure perishes, and the unit is destroyed.
Sources of Damage
Edit
Damage can be caused in a myriad of ways, collectively called attacks. These generally use one of two common mechanics, that differ both in the way they are resolved, and the defensive attribute that might be used mitigate their
damage.
Conventional Damage
Edit
- Main article: Conventional Damage
Conventional attacks are by far the most common sources of Damage Points. Melee Attacks, Ranged Attacks, Thrown Attacks,
Breath Attacks, and even
direct damage spells all use the same generic procedure to determine their
damage. They start with an Attack Strength, that sets out their damage potential. An amount of 10-sided dice equal to this value are then used to find out how much of this potential is realized with that specific attack. This is called an Attack Roll, and it introduces the concept of "raw", or "unmitigated"
damage, sometimes also called "successful hits". This is
damage that is not yet fully processed, and as such is typically not ready to be applied directly as Damage Points.
The reason for this is that in most cases, Conventional Damage can be reduced, or possibly avoided entirely, using the Defense attribute. This allows a defending unit to use their own set of 10-sided dice, equal in number to this statistic, to also perform a Defense Roll. Every die that is deemed "successful" here (the base chance of success is 30% per die in both sets of rolls) will reduce the incoming "raw damage" by
1 point. If the remainder is more than the unit's
Hit Points per
figure value, then that much is slated to be delivered, and a new Defense Roll can commence to further reduce whatever is left over. This can repeat as many times as necessary, until all the
damage is accounted for. Only then is it final, and ready to be applied as actual Damage Points. However, as noted below, the process is still not entirely complete.
Confusingly enough, Conventional Damage resolution can either ignore, or fully consider "top figure damage". That is, the second Defense Roll will take place either after a full figure's
Hits worth of
damage has been dealt - or after only as much as the "top figure" had remaining. Which of these will occur depends on whether the attack was made by a unit or a spell. Melee- and Ranged Attacks are always directed at a
figure with maximum
Hit Points, even if the unit does not have such a
figure any more. They have to record at least that much in
damage before they will allow another Defense Roll. In contrast, spells always target the actual "top figure" - the unit will get to defend again as soon as it takes enough
damage to destroy this
figure.
Special Damage
Edit
- Main article: Special Damage
The other major group of damage sources are Special Attacks and
Resistable spells. These are far less common than "Physical Damage" attacks. They are typically defended against with the
Resistance statistic, although in a completely different manner. While this mechanic also uses 10-sided dice, in this case, the target number is actually the unit's attribute score. If the roll is equal to or lower than this, then it was successful. If it is above the score however, the check was a failure. This means that the higher the score, the better the chance that the unit "resists" these sources of
damage. Many effects therefore apply a temporary
Resistance modifier, to make the checks either easier or more difficult to pass. However, with a modified score of
10 or higher, the unit will always succeed with no random chance involved.
Most Special Damage attacks deal figure-based
damage. That is, on a failed
Resistance roll, the target unit suffers as many Damage Points as its
Hits per
figure value, effectively slaying one
figure. How many
Resistance checks are required depends on the attack. Touch Attacks, for instance, activate once for each
figure delivering one. Gaze Attacks and spells, on the other hand, call for one roll for each standing
figure in the target unit.
There are also a few Special Damage attacks that affect units as a whole. Poison Damage forces the target to make one Resistance roll for every point of its strength, and inflicts
1 on the unit for each failed one. Life Stealing Damage causes as many Damage Points as the target fails a single
Resistance check by. Finally,
Disintegrate and
Cracks Call do not even allow for a roll. The former will automatically work so long as a unit can fail its check against it, while the latter has a flat 25% chance to succeed unless the target is
Flying or
Non-Corporeal. Both of these inflict a fatal
200 Damage Points, more than enough to destroy even the most powerful units in the game.
Applying Damage
Edit
There are a few more quirks that may be worth remembering about Damage Points. First and foremost is that during battles, the game tracks three different types of Damage Points, not just one. When exactly are the points applied, and how much damage can be dealt to a single unit, are also not trivial questions to answer.
Types of Damage Points
Edit
On the overland map, the game only tracks Damage Points in general. However, in combat, there are also two more types that can be applied by certain spells and abilities. "Regular", or "normal" damage is the generic kind. This is the type dealt by the majority of attacks, and is the one tracked overland. Whenever a battle ends, the other two types are automatically converted into regular
damage. This means that any effect that they may have will not be carried with the unit from battle to battle, and is only considered during the one fight that they are applied in.
However, if either of their main effects do trigger, those are entirely permanent. This is because they only activate if the unit is destroyed during the battle. Essentially, these two types of Damage Points control whether the unit can be brought back from the dead, and if so, how.
Create Undead Damage Points
Edit
- Injuries caused by Life Stealing Damage, and the
Melee- and
Poison Touch attack of
Ghouls, has the power to bring slain units back as
Undead under the control of their attacker. This mechanic is implemented by using special Damage Points that are only applicable during combat. Should a unit be destroyed in a way that is considered to be primarily "Create Undead Damage", the effect activates, and has the following consequences:
- Even if the unit has the
Regeneration ability, it will no longer return to life if its side wins the battle.
- If the unit's original owner loses the battle, it will rise as an
Undead unit, under the control of the victorious player. It should be noted though, that this specific effect does not work on Heroes and
Death units (including those that are already
Undead).
- Even if the unit has the
- To trigger any of the above, the amount of "Create Undead" Damage Points must at least equal the regular
damage suffered by the unit, and must be at least one point higher than any Irreversible Damage Points. To assist with this though, if a unit has both "Create Undead" and regular Damage Points inflicted on it, then all combat healing effects are set to remove the regular
damage first. However, that does not mean that "Create Undead Damage" can not be healed. For example, if a unit has suffered
3 "Create Undead" Damage Points and
2 points of regular
damage, a
Healing spell cast on it will still remove all
5.
- "Create Undead Damage" also does not work against units that possess
Magic Immunity. That is, all such Damage Points are automatically converted to regular
damage before being applied. The Unofficial Patch 1.50 also extends this mechanic to units with
Death Immunity.
Sources of "Create Undead Damage" Effect Type Availability Life Steal Unit Ability
(Touch Attack)Wraiths (
-3 modifier)
Death Knights (
-4 modifier)
Demon Lord (
-5 modifier)
Ravashack the Necromancer (no modifier)
Create Undead Unit Ability Ghouls only, converts Conventional- and Poison Damage
(but notSpell Damage, ie.
Immolation)
Vampiric
Item Power
(Touch Attack)9 premade items, or Create Artifact:
5;
800; Axe / Mace / Sword
(noResistance modifier in either case)
Life Drain
Combat Instant
(Common)RC: 160; CC:
10 -
50; targets 1 unit
no base modifier, but-1 for every extra
5 (up to
-8)
can affect units withDeath Immunity in v1.31 (but not later)
affected by- Spell Save items from Insecticide onwards
Irreversible Damage Points
Edit
- Some attacks cause injuries so severe that they can not be recovered from while in combat. No healing spells or effects, not even the
Regeneration ability can remove these "Irreversible" Damage Points during the battle. Should the unit survive though, they can be healed normally afterwards, as they are converted to regular
damage. On the other hand, units that are destroyed primarily by
damage like this are lost forever. This effect triggers if the amount of Irreversible Damage Points dealt to the unit are at least as much as both the regular and any "Create Undead Damage". That is, if it is the highest (or equal) out of the three types.
- Units destroyed this way are no longer valid targets for either
Raise Dead or
Animate Dead.
Regeneration will also not bring them back, even if their side wins the battle. Naturally, since the requirements conflict with those of "Create Undead Damage", that may not take effect either, and neither can the unit be affected by
Zombie Mastery. If a Hero is slain this way, not only do they become unavailable for
Resurrection, but any Magical Items they carry are also destroyed along with them, and can not be recovered after the battle. However, it still remains possible to summon Torin the Chosen again using the
Incarnation spell, and he does get to keep his level and abilities.
- Irreversible
damage is only available from Special Damage sources, nearly all of which are
figure-based. That is, they inflict
damage equal to the unit's
Hits per
figure value for every failed
Resistance check. The only two effects that don't conform to this are those of the
Disintegrate and
Cracks Call spells, both of which destroy their target by dealing
200 Irreversible Damage Points.
Sources of Irreversible Damage Effect Type Save Availability Stoning Gaze Unit Ability
(Gaze Attack)-1
-2
-4
Basilisk
Gorgons
Chaos Spawn
Stoning Touch Unit Ability
(Touch Attack)-3
Cockatrices
Stoning
Item Power
(Touch Attack)-1
10 premade items Enchant Item /
Create Artifact:
2;
150; any weapon
Petrify
Combat Instant
(Rare)0
RC: 960; CC:
35; targets 1 unit
affected by- Spell Save items
Destruction Item Power
(Touch Attack)0
14 premade items, or Create Artifact:
5;
1,000; any weapon
Dispel Evil Unit Ability
(Touch Attack)-4
Angel
affects onlyDeath and
Chaos units
applies an additional-5 against
Undead (total
-9)
Holy Avenger Item Power
(Touch Attack)-4
10 premade items, or Create Artifact:
3;
500; Axe / Mace / Sword
affects onlyDeath and
Chaos units
applies an additional-5 against
Undead (total
-9)
Dispel Evil
Combat Instant
(Uncommon)-4
RC: 450; CC:
25; targets 1 unit
affects onlyDeath and
Chaos units
applies an additional-5 against
Undead (total
-9)
affected by- Spell Save items
Holy Word
Combat Instant
(Rare)-2
RC: 1,700; CC:
60; targets all opposing Fantastic Units
applies an additional-5 against
Undead (total
-7)
affected by- Spell Save items from Insecticide onwards
Banish
Combat Instant
(Rare)-3
RC: 1,120; CC:
20; targets 1 Fantastic Unit
-1 for every extra
15 spent (up to a
-8 total)
affected by- Spell Save items
Word of Death
Combat Instant
(Very Rare)-5
RC: 2,000; CC:
40; targets 1 unit
can affect units withDeath Immunity
affected by- Spell Save items from Insecticide onwards
Disintegrate
Combat Instant
(Very Rare)0
RC: 2,000; CC:
50; targets 1 unit
automatic if the target can fail itsResistance check
affected by- Spell Save items
Cracks Call
Combat Instant
(Uncommon)- RC: 300; CC:
20; targets 1 unit
25% success chance
can't targetFlying and
Non-Corporeal units
Simultaneous Damage
Edit
Damage Points are often not applied immediately after resolving an attack. Or, to be more precise, it is actually not all that common for an individual attack to to be performed by itself. This practically only happens when single target Conventional Damage-, or unit-based Special Damage spells are cast; or when Single Figure units perform Ranged Attacks with no "added effects".
In all other scenarios, the target unit will be hit by multiple attacks at the same time. As a general rule of thumb, the game will always resolve all of these attacks before applying any of their damage. For example, when executing conventional attacks, all eligible
figures in a
Multi-Figure unit will perform that attack. However, no Damage Points are registered to the defender until all of these are resolved. The same is true for Special Attacks that are delivered as "added effects". The Special Damage is also evaluated before the Conventional is dealt.
The situation is slightly different when two units engage in Melee. This is a multi-stage process by itself, and
damage does get applied at the end of each of its phases. However, units are not destroyed here regardless of the amount Damage Points they took. The entire sequence is always played out as if both units were still present. Since slain
figures can't perform any attacks, this does not matter in terms of
damage caused to the surviving side, but it can make all the difference when considering the types and amounts of Damage Points done to the destroyed unit, as illustrated in the examples below.
The Melee Sequence is also typically finished with a mutual attack phase, where both combatants strike at each other simultaneously. In this stage, all damage from both sides, whether Conventional or Special, is delayed until every standing
figure of each unit has concluded all of their available attacks. For example, two unhurt units of Nightblades fighting each other would make 12 individual
Melee attacks and another 12 Poison Damage attacks before either of them suffers any
damage from the other.
Overkill Damage
Edit
Damage Points are by no means limited to the total health of a unit. The game does not stop tracking or applying them just because there's already enough inflicted on a unit to destroy it. This is most prominent during Melee combat, where a unit that perishes to short-range attacks (
Thrown,
Breath, or Gaze) will still be dealt
Melee Damage. However, it also happens almost every other time a unit is destroyed, and can be very important to consider when trying to create
Undead units through Life Stealing Damage. The only exception is Area Damage, which is incapable of inflicting more
damage on a unit than it has remaining
Hit Points.
In any case though, Damage Points do have a hardcoded limit of 200 each, to prevent excessive amounts from wrapping around and actually reducing the
damage inflicted. This is more than the double of the total
Hit Points of a
Hydra, the unit that has by far the most
Hit Points in the game (twice as much as any other contender).
Examples
Edit
The following examples should help understand most of the quirks of applying Damage Points. For the sake of simplicity, Conventional- and Special Damage attacks are grouped together throughout them. In reality though, the resolution order is "added effects" followed by the conventional attack for the first figure, then the same order for the next
figure, and so on, until every attack has been concluded. Because of the simultaneous application of the
damage however, the actual order of execution has absolutely no practical relevance, as the outcomes are always exactly the same as in the illustrations below.
Stoning Touch vs Gaze
Edit
- A unit of
Cockatrices is facing off a
Basilisk in a
Nature Node (+2 to all stats for both units). Since neither has a Ranged Attack, they have to duke it out in
Melee combat. Both can attack the other, and who initiates the engagement has no impact on the outcome. The
Basilisk's
Stoning Gaze goes first, as it always happens before mutual
Melee in the sequence.
- This is an ordinary Gaze Attack, which means it is performed as an "added effect" to an otherwise hidden short-range attack that matches the Realm of the Special Attack itself. Because it is enhanced by the
Nature Node, it has an Attack Strength of
3. The
Basilisk rolls 3, 4, and 9 which, counting in its universal
+1 To Hit, means it registers 2 "raw" points of
damage.
Cockatrices have a natural
Defense score of
3, which is also boosted to
5 because of the Node. They make their Defense Roll, and get 2, 5, 6, 6, and 9. There are no modifiers
To Block in play, so only one of these rolls is "successful", blocking
1, and leaving the other
1 slated to be delivered.
- Before that however, the Gaze effect takes place. It has an innate modifier of
-1, but again the Node Aura grants
+2, bringing the
Cockatrices' score to a total of
8 against the attack. Since Gaze Attacks require as many
Resistance checks as the target unit has
figures remaining, the
Cockatrices have to make 4. The dice come up as 2, 3, 6, and 9. That's three successes and one failure, meaning that the attack will deal one
figure's worth of
Hit Points in
damage. In this case, this is
3, as this attribute is not enhanced by the Node.
- This concludes the Gaze Attack, and the short-range attack phase also ends with it. The
Cockatrices take a total of
1 +
3 =
4, which is now applied. They lose one
figure, leaving them with
3 for the rest of the sequence. The extra
1 "top figure damage" does not have any effect on their performance.
- Continuing to the actual
Melee phase, the
Basilisk has a modified Attack Strength of
17. Rolling a fairly average series, it scores 7 "successful hits". The
Cockatrices roll better than last time though, and with their 1, 3, 3, 6, and 10, manage to block
3. However, the remaining
4 is still above their
Hits per
figure value, so the computer records
3 for delivery, and makes another Defense Roll against the remaining
1. This time, the beasts roll 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8. Although this is enough to block
2, it unfortunately can not affect
damage already slated for delivery. That is, it blocks only the remaining
1, with one success becoming effectively wasted. Thus, the total
damage that the
Cockatrices will take is
3.
- Before that can happen though, they also get to strike this time. With their remaining
3, they perform 3 attacks at an enhanced
6 each, against the
Basilisk's also boosted
6. Unlucky for them, even with their
+1, only one of them manages to get through, with
2 left after the
Basilisk's Defense Roll. Despite this however, all three of them also get to execute their
Stoning Touch. It is not required for their conventional attack to do
damage for this to happen, it simply has to be capable of doing so (i.e. must have an Attack Strength of at least 1).
- The
Basilisk has a natural
7, enhanced to
9 by the Node. However, the
Cockatrices impose a penalty of
-3 on their Touch Attack, bringing this down to
6. The
Basilisk has to make 3 saves, one against each attacking
figure's Stoning Touch. It rolls a rather unlucky 6, 8, and 9, meaning it fails two out of the three rolls. Since it has
30 per
figure, this means it will suffer a whopping
60.
- As all attacks are now resolved,
damage can be applied to both units. The
Cockatrices suffer
3, and lose one more
figure. They emerge from the battle with a total of
7 Damage Points, out of which the unit statistics window will show 1. The
Basilisk, on the other hand, is completely annihilated, as it takes a total of
62 versus its
Hit Points of
30.
- It may also be worth noting that a simple
Resist Elements spell could have helped the
Cockatrices avoid more than half of the
damage they took. It would have made them immune to the Gaze effect entirely by raising their
Resistance to
11, while also providing an extra
+3 against the hidden Conventional Damage component.The same spell cast on the
Basilisk would still only have resulted in
9, meaning that over the course of multiple engagements with multiple enemy
figures, it would still have had a fair chance of being slain.
Multi-Gaze
Edit
- Tauron is trying to crack open a Tower of Wizardry with his
Chaos Spawn, so he can get some Settlers over to the
Power-rich Myrror. His scouts report a
Hydra inside. Unfortunately, when he enters the battle, he is greeted by an additional 8
Fire Elementals supporting the beast. This instantly foils his grand plan of
Fireballing it into oblivion, as he will need to save his Spell Casting Skill to deal with the elementals.
- Confident in the spawn though, he sends it forward, stopping just so that it can get the jump on the advancing
Hydra. The elementals can't attack the
Flying spawn, so there's no need to worry about them for the time being. Sure enough, the 9-headed monstrosity steps right up to the
Chaos Spawn, and in so doing exhausts its Movement Allowance. Thus, the spawn can attack first without having to worry about any incoming
Fire Breath.
- Unlike the single Gaze Attacks of other creatures, the
Chaos Spawn's "Multi-Gaze" does not require a hidden conventional attack to attach the gaze effect to. This is because the
Doom Gaze already delivers Conventional Damage, which Special Damage attacks can be added to. So much so, that even the creature's
Poison Touch is triggered from it. That will not be considered in this example though, as it has no effect on any of the enemies here.
- As the spawn is attacking, the Melee Sequence starts with its Gaze Attacks. The Doom Gaze is easy to resolve, as it deals Doom Damage, which requires neither Attack-, nor Defense Rolls, and does a fixed amount of
4 Damage Points to the
Hydra. These can not be applied yet though, as along with this attack come two more gaze effects (and a Poison Damage attack that fails to do any
damage because of the opponent's high
Resistance).
- First is the
Death Gaze. While the
Hydra has a rather high
11, the spawn also applies a penalty of
-4 to this attack, bringing that down to only
7. Having
9 figures (each head counts as one), the
Hydra is in big trouble, and has to make 9 individual
Resistance checks. It rolls fairly well: 1, 1, 3, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, and 10. Only the last two of these are failures, meaning it will suffer two
figure's worth of
Hit Points in
damage. Since each of its heads has
10, this is a total of
20 Damage Points.
- Before that can be finalized though, the
Chaos Spawn has yet another Gaze Attack: a
Stoning Gaze. This also entails a penalty of
-4, so the
Hydra has the same
7 against it. However, because none of the above
damage could be applied just yet, it is still considered to have all of its heads, or
figures. Thus, it now has to make another 9
Resistance checks. It rolls much worse this time: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, and 10. That's a total of 3 failures, translating into a full
30 Damage Points.
- With the Multi-Gaze resolved, the short-range attack phase ends, and the
Hydra is dealt the entire
4 +
20 +
30 =
54 Damage Points. It loses 5 out of its 9 heads, with one more slightly damaged, but mutual
Melee can now commence. Although the
Chaos Spawn also has the
Cause Fear ability, it has no
Resistance modifier, and so the
Hydra shrugs it off just like the poison. The same thing happens with the spawn's actual
Melee attack. It has an Attack Strength of only
1, with no
To Hit modifiers, and fails to score a hit entirely with a single roll of 9.
- It is now the
Hydra's turn to strike back. It has
4 figures remaining, so it can attack 4 times with a strength of
6. It also has
+1 To Hit, making it slightly more likely to do some
damage against the spawn's
6. It gets 2, 3, 2, and 4 successes on the Attack Rolls, while the
Chaos Spawn manages 3, 1, 2, and 1 on its Defense ones. The first head thus deals no
damage, the second
2, the third again none, while the last one does
3, for a total of
5. Since there are no more attacks, these
5 Damage Points are applied to the spawn, while the
Hydra does not get hurt this time.
- Tauron, trusting the monster's lack of intelligence, decides to use the remaining
0.5 of the
Chaos Spawn to withdraw instead of commencing with another attack, and the combat turn ends. The
Hydra, unfazed by its injuries, follows the retreating enemy, again sacrificing the advantage of its
Breath Attack. It does regenerate
1 point since not all of the
damage done to it was Irreversible. This reduces its total recorded
damage to
53, but does not allow for any of its heads to regrow.
- It is again the spawn's turn, and it moves in to attempt a finishing blow. Its Doom Gaze deals the same
4 unblockable Damage Points. However, this time, the
Hydra only has
4 figures left for the other two Gaze Attacks. Unfortunately for the beast though, that's still two times four
Resistance checks, as any
damage done by one gaze will not be applied until both are resolved. It rolls 4, 6, 8, and 9 for the Death Gaze; and 2, 2, 4, and 8 for the Stoning Gaze. Alas, that's two failures on the first set, and one on the second, resulting in a total of
4 +
20 +
10 =
34 Damage Points dealt to it at the end of the short-range attack phase.
- Things look grim for the
Hydra. It has now suffered a total of
87 Damage Points, and has only a single head remaining. Although it does avoid the spawn's
Melee attack entirely again, it also fails to inflict any
damage on it. Its single successful die gets blocked by the spawn's own one, ending this
Melee round.
- Realizing that the
Hydra can no longer survive even just the Doom Gaze, Tauron orders the
Chaos Spawn to attack again this time, obliterating the monster. Even though it manages to
Resist both of the other gazes, the total
damage done to it is now
91, and its last head falls at the end of the short-range attack phase. As it has no more
figures left, it can inflict no
Melee Damage to the spawn, who survives the "duel" with
10 Hit Points remaining. Aided by Tauron's entire Casting Skill, the elementals are now no match for it despite their numbers and immunities, leading to the swift capture of the Tower for the
Chaos Wizard.
Undead Through Life Stealing
Edit
- Rjak has just arrived on Myrror, conquering a Tower of Wizardry with his
Wraiths. Two turns later, while scouting the vicinity, he spots a small Dwarven Town nearby. Although his
Wraiths have sustained some
damage in the previous fight, and are logging
4 Damage Points, they are very strong against Normal Units, so he decides to attack the hamlet anyway. It is defended by 5 units of Halberdiers: two
Veterans, two
Regulars, and a single
Recruit.
- Since the Dwarves don't have any Ranged- or short-range attacks, the
Wraiths are free to pick and choose their targets. To maximize the chances of gaining an
Undead garrison, Rjak starts the battle with
Black Prayer, inflicting penalties of
-1,
-1, and
-2 on all of the Halberdiers. Since most of his other spells would only hinder his goal in this scenario, he dumps the rest of his Spell Casting Skill into a
Life Drain instead. It's just enough to fully empower the spell. He targets one of the
Veteran Dwarves, the same one he intends to attack first with the
Wraiths.
- Dwarf Halberdiers have a base
Resistance score of
8, the highest of any Race.
Veterans also receive
+2 on top of this. However,
Black Prayer effectively cancels this out with its
-2 penalty, and a fully powered
Life Drain carries a further
-8. This brings the Dwarves' overall
Resistance against this attack down to
0, meaning that they will take
damage regardless of what they roll: they can not possibly succeed the check. Fortune does not favor them either, as the die comes up as a 7, and they take 7 -
0 =
7 points of "Create Undead Damage". As they have
3 Hit Points per
figure, they lose two of them to the spell.
- Now the
Wraiths attack them too. This is a
Melee only fight, and the ghastly creatures attack 4 times with
7 strength and
+2 To Hit. Their Attack Rolls yield 2, 4, 3, and 4 raw
damage. The Dwarves have a base
Defense score of
3, increased by
+1 from
Experience, but also reduced by
-1 from
Black Prayer. Their first Defense Roll is 3 failures, and they take
2 points of regular
damage. The second series does get a success, so they take
3 this time. The third set is even better and gets 2, reducing the
damage to a single point. However, the last roll is all failures again. Because they only have
3 per
figure though, they can roll again after the first
3 of the original
4 have beed recorded for delivery. This time, they do get a success, blocking the remaining
1.
- The total regular
damage thus comes to
2 +
3 +
1 +
3 =
9. Before it is applied though, there is still the matter of the
Wraiths'
Life Steal. This is a unit-based Special Damage Touch Attack that causes Life Stealing Damage, similar to the above
Life Drain spell. However, these creatures' ability carries a fixed penatly of
-3, rather than an adjustable one. In addition however, they will be healed by the
damage they inflict with it. The spell can also grant Casting Skill points to Wizards, but that was ignored above, as it would not take effect during the battle anyway. If cast by Heroes though,
Life Drain does also heal them much the same way as the ability would.
- The Halberdiers have a final score of
8 +
2 -
2 -
3 =
5 against this Life Stealing attack, which is executed once for each attacking
figure. In this case, that is
4, so the Dwarves have to make 4
Resistance checks. They get fairly lucky with a 2, 4, 5, and 7. Three of these are successes, avoiding the
damage entirely. The last one does inflict 7 -
5 =
2 though, removing
2 Damage Points from the
Wraiths in the process. With the previous
Life Drain, this brings the "Create Undead Damage" done to these Halberdiers up to
9, and the total up to
18. This is exactly as much as the total
Hit Points of the unit, which means that they will be destroyed after their Counter Attack.
- Dwarf Halberdiers start off with a
Melee strength of
4. This is improved by
+1 for
Veterans, but they also get a
-1 from
Black Prayer. Since two of their
figures were lost to the
Life Drain spell beforehand, only
4 can actually attack. Their Attack Rolls are average, and generate 1, 1, 2, and 1 "raw"
damage. Unfortunately for them though, these Dwarves only wield normal weapons. This causes the
Wraiths'
Weapon Immunity to trigger, and the creatures'
Defense is raised to
10 from its original
6. They easily avoid all of the hits with success counts of 2, 3, 4, and 2 on their Defense Rolls.
- The first Halberdiers units is now destroyed. They took a total of
9 of both regular- and "Create Undead Damage", thanks to the
Life Drain. Because an equal amount of Damage Points does count for creating
Undead, these Dwarves will rise again to serve Rjak, provided he wins the battle. However, the numbers demonstrate fairly well that without the spell, the
Wraiths would not have accomplished the task on their own. Although they are in no real danger while fighting these Normal Units, the Dwarves high
Resistance means they take much less Special- than Conventional Damage.
- The other
Veteran unit proves this point quite aptly. In their first attack, the
Wraiths inflict
9 points of regular
damage, and only
6 "Create Undead Damage". The Dwarves survive this attack, forcing the
Wraiths to attack again in order to eliminate them. However, this only increases the difference between the two types of Damage Points. This time,
10 points of regular
damage are dealt, but only
5 "Create Undead Damage". This yields totals of
19 versus
11, which is not even close to creating
Undead. On the other hand, the
Wraiths at least manage to get rid of all of their own Damage Points, as the Dwarves offer little in the way of doing
damage against them, more or less as expected.
- The chances of raising
Undead improve slightly against the
Regular Halberdiers, but still not quite enough. These units have both
Defense and
Resistance one point lower than
Veterans, but the latter is still too high in comparison. The first one takes
11 regular- and
9 "Create Undead Damage"; while the second, again requiring two attacks to take out, receives
22 and
16, still in favor of the regular
damage.
- Finally, with the
Recruits, the chances start to at least even out. They have yet again one point less
Resistance which, with the penalties from
Black Prayer and the
Wraiths' ability yields a final score of only
3. This results in an expected average Life Stealing Damage of
2.8, although the variance here is still quite high. With 4 attacks however, and the expected Physical Damage also being only an average
2.9 per
Wraith, the chances of whether the unit will turn or not are fairly close to equal, since the regular
damage has to be higher for the unit to not turn.
- Rjak and the
Wraiths get lucky this time. With a single attack, the
Wraiths deliver
11 points of regular
damage, but also
12 "Create Undead Damage" to the last Dwarf Halberdiers unit. Since this unit will also turn, Rjak gets a total of 2
Undead units for his garrison, just enough to reduce Unrest by 1 without having to produce any living units. The
Wraiths also emerge from the fight fully healed, as the
Recruit Halberdiers ultimately fail to inflict any
damage on them. Even though they make 6 attacks, their Attack Strength of
3 proves to be no match for the
10 granted by
Weapon Immunity. Should they have landed a point of
damage though, the
Wraiths would have retained it in the end.
Melee Overkill
Edit
- Merlin has been eyeing a nearby
Sorcery Node for some time now. It is guarded by a
Sky Drake, one of the most powerful creatures in the game. After a few dozen turns of preparation, he finally feels ready to take it on. He has one unit of
Ultra-Elite Berserkers (thanks to
Heroism and his ongoing
Crusade spell) wielding
Mithril weaponry, and boasting all of the Unit Enchantments he could muster. These are:
Giant Strength,
Holy Weapon,
Stone Skin,
Holy Armor,
Bless,
Resist Elements, and
True Sight; in addition to the already mentioned
Heroism. He also takes along one unit of fresh Barbarian Spearmen from a nearby Town, who only benefit from the
Crusade (and are thus
Regulars), but should be of strategic importance.
- The dragon is surrounded by a host of
Phantom Warriors, but Merlin knows they will be of little significance if he manages to slay mighty beast. Paying no mind to its "followers", the
Sky Drake quickly closes the distance between the two armies to only a single tile. Merlin prepares his tactical play, and moves his Spearmen right in front of it, while retreating a square with the Berserkers. This is so that even if the dragon decides to go after the stronger unit, it would only be able to attack it once at most, before exhausting its Movement Allowance. But fortune smiles on Merlin this day, as the
Sky Drake takes the "bait", and swoops right down on the brave, but suicidal Spearmen. Because it is initiating the Melee Attack, the defenders won't be able to use their
Thrown Attacks.
- The dragon, on the other hand, opens the engagement with its
Lightning Breath. The strength of this attack is normally
20, but it is increased to
22 due to the strong presence of the
Sorcery Node. It also fully benefits from the
Sky Drake's
+3 To Hit. The Attack Roll yields an overwhelming 16 successes. In addition, this ability also deals Armor Piercing Damage! The poor Spearmen's
Defense is cut in half while resolving it. Not that they had much to begin with though, their original
2 simply becomes
1 now.
- The first Defense Roll is a failure, which is more or less expected, since it only uses a single die with the base
30% success chance. This means all
16 "raw" Damage Points are still intact. However, the unit only has
1 Hit per
figure, and thus can only record this much
damage before a new Defense Roll must be made. As a result, another roll now follows against
15, while
1 is logged for delivery. This roll is also too high to succeed, allowing the attack to record another
1.
- The third roll succeeds however, reducing the remaining
14 to
13, before adding
1 to the
damage waiting to be delivered. The next five Defense Rolls after this are again failures. By this point, the total
damage recorded for delivery is
8, while one point was blocked, and
7 are still waiting to be processed. Technically, all of the Spearmen should now be dead. Despite this though,
damage resolution continues just like before, as if nothing happened. The same would also be true if those
16 points of "raw"
damage originated from 2, 4, or 8 individual, separate attacks, such as two units of Spearmen fighting each other. The next Defense Roll succeeds, and so does one more down the line. Thus, overall,
3 points get blocked, while
13 are ultimately delivered.
- At the end of the short-range attack phase, this
damage is dealt, and the Spearmen are slain, with no
figures left standing. However, the unit is not removed from the field just yet. This is because units can not be truly destroyed during a Melee Sequence, only at the very end of it. True, they can no longer fight back, but they can, and do, still take
damage. In this case, from the
Sky Drake's somewhat less powerful
Melee Attack.
- While the strength of this attack is the same (
22 with
+3), it is not Armor Piercing. That is, the Spearmen can use their full
2 against it, ignoring for a moment that they are all slain already. The dragon also gets only 11 successes this time. Just like before though, for every
1 recorded, a new Defense Roll can take place. The first one is a complete failure (
1 dealt,
10 remains), while the next two score a single success each (
3 dealt,
6 remains). Then comes another failure (
4 dealt,
5 remains), with the next roll blocking both points that it can (
5 dealt,
2 remains). Even though this is followed by another two sets with zero successes (
7 dealt,
0 remains); if this was the only attack, the unit would actually have survived despite their very low
Defense. Granted, their single remaining
figure would not have been very useful on the battlefield, but the unit may have lived to tell the tale, and gain some
Experience.
- That's not what happened though, as the total
20 Damage Points ultimately delivered does destroy the Spearmen at the end of the Melee Sequence. Having electrocuted the first opponent, the
Sky Drake then closes in on the Berserkers, just as Merlin had hoped. It is now within
Melee range, with no moves left for an attack. This gives the Berserkers a significant advantage, since they can initiate the combat themselves, enabling them to use their
Thrown ability, while avoiding the dragon's
Lightning Breath. To help them further, Merlin attempts to cast a
Prayer spell, but unfortunately it is countered by the Node's Dispelling Aura, and fizzles (it had a 100% ×
30 / (
50 +
30) = 37.5% chance of getting through).
- Berserkers have
6 figures, and a base
Thrown Attack Strength of
3. However, these particular ones benefit from
Experience (
+2),
Mithril equipment (
+1), and
Giant Strength (
+1), so their total is actually
7. The universal
+2 To Hit they gain from being
Ultra-Elite also applies, but as this example is based on the official 1.31 game version, the other
+2 that they should get (from
Mithril- and
Holy Weapons), do not. With 6 Attack Rolls though, they still manage 5, 3, 5, 1, 6, and 3 successes. The
Sky Drake defends against these individually, with a score of
10 +
2 =
12, thanks to the power of the
Sorcery Node. It gets 3, 4, 4, 2, 6, and 3 successes, negating four of the attacks entirely, but taking
2 +
1 =
3 Damage Points nonetheless.
- Mutual
Melee can now commence, and the Barbarians continue with another 6 Attack Rolls. Their
Melee Strength is 4 points higher than their
Thrown (base
7 with the same enhancements, for an
11 total), and this time, every bonus they have
To Hit also applies, which brings them to a success chance of
70% per die. With this, they get 8, 7, 7, 4, 10, and 9 hits. The dragon's
Defense is the same, and its Defense Rolls generate 4, 3, 4, 2, 7, and 2 successes. None of the attacks are blocked completely, and the
damage sums up to
4 +
4 +
3 +
2 +
3 +
7 =
23, slightly more than what was needed to bring the creature down (it has
25 Hit Points, but it also took
3 from the
Thrown Attacks).
- Before that can happen though, it also gets a chance to strike back at its red-haired assailants. Its mighty attack scores a lucky 16 successes. Berserkers normally have a base
Defense of
3, but again, this unit is Normal only in name. It gets
+2 from
Experience,
+1 from
Mithril armor, and
+3 total from protective enchantments (the conditional ones do not apply). This yields
9 altogether, and they get 3 blocks on the first Defense Roll, bringing the "raw"
damage down to
13. They also have
4 Hits per
figure thanks to their level, which means
4 are now recorded, and a new Defense Roll is made against the remaining
9.
- This time, only 2 dice succeed, so another
4 are logged against the Berserkers, while
3 "raw" hits carry over for a third roll. Now there are again 3 successes however, so those remaining points are avoided entirely. This brings the total
damage to a final value of only
8, exactly half of the original
16. Even though only 2
figures were actually hit, the
damage was reduced by 3 Defense Roll's worth, normalizing the outcome despite the above average Attack Roll (which would have been 13 successes). This demonstrates the tendency for
Multi-Figure
Defense to limit
damage to whole multiples of the target's
Hits per
figure value. The higher the
Defense, the more likely this outcome becomes against attacks with the potency to kill multiple
figures. In fact, out of all possible values between
0 and
22 in this particular example, taking exactly
8 Damage Points was by far the most probable result, with around 40% chance of happening, despite the amount of randomness involved.
- And with this,
Melee is over, the dragon is slain, and the Berserkers still have
4 figures left. Three rounds of stalling later, Merlin manages to successfully cast a
Healing spell, restoring both lost Berserker
figures. The
Phantom Warriors are easily dispatched afterwards. Even though a few of them do not fall to the
Thrown Attacks,
True Sight ensures that the stragglers can't do any serious harm with their
Illusion attacks. They manage to inflict only
3 Damage Points overall, and the Berserkers end the encounter with
6 total, and
5 figures remaining.
- The astute reader will probably notice that two enchantments were precast, but did not come into play. They were used in case Merlin's ruse failed, and the Berserkers were attacked first by the dragon. Although the
Sky Drake is a
Sorcery creature, its
Lightning Breath Attack is actually
Chaos-aligned. This means that the conditional protections offered by both
Bless and
Resist Elements trigger against it. This would have provided an overall
+3 even against this Armor Piercing attack, by using just two Common Spells.
Extra Hits
Edit
- Kali is besieging one of Horus' walled High Men Towns. After a long battle, exhausting both Wizards'
Mana and Spell Casting Skill, four units are left standing on the battlefield. Kali's attacking force is reduced to a single unit of
Death Knights that has suffered
20 points of regular
damage, and thus has only
2 figures left. The defenders are still worse off though, with three units of Priests who have already used up all of their spells. Even though they are
Veterans, carry
Mithril armaments, and one of them is protected by an
Invulnerability enchantment, they have next to no hope of victory. Kali has previously cast both
Black Prayer and
Darkness, although the latter spell was promptly cancelled out by Horus'
True Light, and has no effect as a result.
- The
Death Knights are attacking one of the non-enchanted Priests. They have an Attack Strength of
9 with a bonus of
+3, so each die of their Attack Rolls has a 60% chance of succeeding. With
2 figures they make 2 attacks, and score 4 and 7 hits. The holy men have a base
Defense statistic of
4, improved by
+1 from equipment and
+1 from
Experience, but reduced by
-1 because of
Black Prayer. This static score of
5 is also halved by the knights'
Armor Piercing ability, rounding it down to
2. However, since Kali wants to capture the Town as intact as possible, she has to attack through the City Walls. These can't be pierced, so the Priests' total will be
2 +
3 =
5 instead.
- The first Defense Roll gets two successes, reducing the raw
damage of the first attack to
2. Of this though, only
1 can be dealt directly, as that is the Priests'
Hits per
figure value. Another Defense Roll follows, and blocks the remaining
1 with 2 more successes. As for the second attack, the first Defense Roll is a complete failure, leaving all
7 intact.
1 is thus slated for delivery, and a next roll is made against the remaining
6. This time there are 3 successes, meaning another
1 gets logged, with
2 left pending yet a third Defense Roll. On this however, two of the dice are again low enough to succeed, so both of the hits get blocked. The total Conventional Damage will be
1 from the first attack, and
2 from the second.
Death Knights also have strong
Life Steal, applying a
Resistance penalty of
-4. Since the
Black Prayer (
-2) and
Experience (
+2) effects practically cancel each other out, this brings the Priests'
Resistance down to an overall
3 from their base score of
7. They make two checks as there are two attacking
figures, and get a 2 and an 8. One is a success, but the other fails and results in 8 -
3 =
5 points of Life Stealing Damage. At the same time, the
Death Knights remove
5 of their own Damage Points. Because they possess
First Strike as well, and have inflicted a grand total of
8 during their
Melee phase, the Priests can no longer execute a Counter Attack, as they have no standing
figures left to do so.
- On the other hand, since this example is based on the latest official game version, the above Life Steal triggers what is known as the "combat healing bug", described below. With
20 Damage Points, the
Death Knights have "top figure damage" of
4, the remainder of
20 divided by their
Hits per
figure of
8. Removing
5 from that brings it to a negative value, and since they do have missing
figures, they can now regain one as a result of this healing. Their new "top figure damage" comes to
4 -
5 +
8 =
7, which means they will also gain
7 ÷
4, rounded down to
1 temporary maximum