| Heavenly Light | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Realm |
 Life | |
| Spell Rarity | Uncommon | |
| Spell Type | Town Enchantment | |
| Casting Cost |
 150 | |
| Upkeep Cost |
2 | |
| Research Cost |
 740 | |
| ||
| Every battle taking place at the target town will be under an effect similar to a True Light spell. | ||
Heavenly Light is an Uncommon Town Enchantment belonging to the Life Magic realm. It may only be cast on the overland map. For the base Casting Cost of 150, the spell showers the target town with divine energy. Any battle taking place at this town while Heavenly Light is still affecting it will have a special set of combat effects applied, identical to the True Light spell. This makes all Fantastic Creatures from the Life realm stronger, while making creatures from the 
Death realm (including the Undead) weaker.
The effect lasts as long as you keep paying its Upkeep Cost of 2 per turn, or as long as it is not dispelled or canceled manually.
Effects[]
Heavenly Light basks the targeted Town with divine energy, giving combat bonuses to Fantastic Creatures from the Life realm fighting to defend it, and penalties to creatures from the Death realm (including the Undead). These bonuses and penalties apply in each and every battle taking place at this town, and cannot be dispelled during a battle.
True Light[]
- Main article: True Light
While Heavenly Light is affecting a town, each and every battle taking place in the town's tile is considered as being under the effect of the True Light spell.
True Light gives the following bonuses to each and every Fantastic Unit belonging to the Life Realm:
+1 bonus to Melee Attack strength (if the unit possesses a Melee Attack at all).- +1 (or +1 or +1 as appropriate) bonus to Ranged Attack strength (if the unit possesses a Ranged Attack at all).
- +1 bonus to any damage-dealing Special Attacks the unit possesses (including Fire Breath, Thrown Attack, et cetera).
- +1 bonus to the unit's Defense score.
- +1 bonus to the unit's Resistance score.
Simultaneously, True Light also gives the following penalties to each and every Fantastic Unit belonging to the Death Realm (including the Undead):
- -1 penalty to Melee Attack strength (if the unit possesses a Melee Attack at all).
- -1 (or -1 or -1 as appropriate) penalty to Ranged Attack strength (if the unit possesses a Ranged Attack at all).
- -1 penalty to any damage-dealing Special Attacks the unit possesses (including Fire Breath, Thrown Attack, et cetera).
- -1 penalty to the unit's Defense score.
- -1 penalty to the unit's Resistance score.
For more information about the significance of these bonuses, read the article on True Light.
Automatic Area Effect[]
Heavenly Light does not actually cast True Light each time the battle begins. Instead, it has an area effect that does not require any casting (nor any expenditure of Mana), and cannot be dispelled during the battle.
Subsequently, the True Light effect will not appear in the Combat Enchantments window on the battle screen, but instead will appear in the "Info" display (where it is labeled "Holy Light").
Note that it is nonetheless impossible to cast True Light during such a battle to gain cumulative bonuses. The game will object to this, claiming that True Light is already in effect.
Usage[]
Heavenly Light may only be cast on the overland map, for a basic Casting Cost of 150. It may be targeted at any friendly Town which does not already have a Heavenly Light spell effecting it.
When the spell is cast, the game automatically opens a town-information window showing the contents of the target town. A few moments later, the sky above the town will shine down with bright beams of light, indicating it is under the influence of this spell. The beams will remain in the town's information screen as long as the spell remains in effect.
At the start of each turn, the casting wizard must pay an Upkeep Cost of 2 to keep Heavenly Light active. Failure to pay this cost due to lack of available Mana will cause the spell to dissipate immediately.
If you've placed Heavenly Light on a town, you may remove it by examining the town's details and clicking the text reading "Heavenly Light" in the town's Enchantments list. The primary reason to do this would be in order to remove the spell's Upkeep Cost, thus conserving Mana for other spells.
Acquisition[]
As an Uncommon Life spell, Heavenly Light may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least one Life Spellbook. However, its availability during the game is almost never guaranteed.
Customized Wizards possessing 11 Spellbooks at creation time may choose this spell as one of their default spells before starting the game, in which case the spell will already be researched and available for casting immediately on the first turn.
Wizards who possess at least 8 Spellbooks, or Wizards with 11 Spellbooks who did not select Heavenly Light as a guaranteed spell, will be able to Research this spell at some point during their campaign. Wizards with fewer than 8 Spellbooks have a random chance of being able to Research it. The chance for this spell to appear increases with the number of Life Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay.
Heavenly Light has a base Research Cost of 740.
With at least 1 Spellbook, the Heavenly Light spell may be acquired as a reward for winning encounters in creature Lairs, Towers, et cetera, or when conquering the Fortress of a rival wizard who has already researched this spell.
Strategy[]
Heavenly Light is a good spell to cast in lieu of re-casting True Light repeatedly. Its only other benefit is that it cannot be dispelled during combat, so the main reason to cast the spell is to have True Light constantly in effect.
This comes in handy when a Town is coming under attack repeatedly, for instance a town right on the borders of a hostile enemy empire. Naturally, you'll want to defend the town with Life creatures to benefit from the spell.
Heavenly Light works even better if the enemy attacking the town often consists of Death creatures or the Undead. In this case you gain both benefits from the spell: bonuses to Life creatures and penalties to Death creatures.
Remember that as with True Light, the spell benefits all Life creatures on the battlefield. Therefore, do not cast this spell when the town is expecting to see combat with enemy Life creatures - you'll end up giving them bonuses as well!