| Holy Armor | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Realm |
 Life | |
| Spell Rarity | Common | |
| Spell Type | Unit Enchantment | |
| Casting Cost |
 90 | |
| Combat Cost |
18 | |
| Upkeep Cost |
2 | |
| Research Cost |
 130 | |
| ||
|
Target receives exactly | ||
|
Description Problem |
| This part of the game is working correctly, but has an incorrect or incomplete buff description for at least one game version. Please read the Effects section below for details. |
Holy Armor is a Common Unit Enchantment belonging to the Life Magic realm. For 90 it may be cast on a friendly Normal Unit or Hero on the overland map to empower its armor with divine energy. As a result, the armor becomes much harder, bestowing a Defense bonus of 
+2 on the unit. This allows the unit to block a little more incoming damage from any attack.
Alternatively, a cheaper version of the same spell may be cast for 18 during combat, in which case it will temporarily bestow the same bonus on a unit for the duration of the battle (with no permanent effects or upkeep costs).
Effects[]
Holy Armor imbues the armor of a Normal Unit or Hero with divine energy. This allows the unit to block more damage from incoming attacks, making it more resilient in combat.
- Note: Once a unit is enchanted with
Holy Armor, the description of the enchantment in the unit statistics window incorrectly states the amount of the bonus as +3. It is in fact +2, as the original spell description says.
Defense Bonus[]
Holy Armor's only bonus is a simple +2 bonus to the unit's Defense score. Though seemingly small, this bonus is cheap to maintain, and can significantly improve the unit's survivability during combat.
Whenever an attack registers hits against the enchanted unit, it may make 2 extra Defense rolls to see if it has blocked any extra damage. Each roll has a default chance of 30% to block 
1 Point of Damage. Therefore, the unit can block up to 2 extra damage from an attack - and will statistically block about 0.6 on average.
This may not seem like much, and often isn't when the attacker is a single, powerful unit or spell. However, weaker attacks, such as attacks from enemy 
Multi-Figure units, will have a significantly harder time causing damage to the enchanted unit.
Note that if the enchanted unit is itself a Multi-Figure unit, the bonus is applied to the Defense of each 
figure. As per the normal combat rules, when one figure dies, the next figure gets to make another set of Defense rolls - so a +2 bonus will be a slightly more significant benefit to such units.
Usage[]
Holy Armor may be cast during combat for the basic Casting Cost of 18. In this case, the spell will only affect the targeted unit until the end of the battle - at which point it will dissipate.
Alternatively, Holy Armor may be cast on the overland map for a lasting effect. In this case it has a base Casting Cost of 90, and requires an Upkeep Cost of 1 per turn to maintain. Failure to pay this Upkeep Cost due to lack of Mana will cause the spell to dissipate. However, as long as the spell is paid for (and not dispelled by any rival Wizard), the unit continues to enjoy its bonus.
Holy Armor may only be cast on friendly Normal Units and Heroes. It may not be targeted at Fantastic Creatures. If the desired target is in an overland army stack, click on that stack to get a list of units inside it, and then select your desired unit.
Note that during battle, Holy Armor may not be cast on any units mutated by the Chaos Channels spell. Nonetheless you may target these units freely on the overland map, and the effects will carry into combat. The Undead are not valid targets in either case.
Once the spell is in effect, the unit will glow with a white aura, unless there is a more powerful spell also affecting it.
If you've placed Holy Armor on a unit, you may remove it by examining the unit's details and clicking the Enchantment's icon. 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 a Common Life spell, Holy Armor may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least one Life Spellbook. However, its availability during the game is not guaranteed unless the Wizard acquires at least 7 Spellbooks.
Customized Wizards possessing up to 10 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 with 11 Spellbooks are guaranteed to have this spell available for casting as soon as the game begins.
Wizards with 6 or fewer Spellbooks who have not chosen Holy Armor as a guaranteed spell 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. With −3 Spellbooks, the spell is guaranteed to appear for Research if it is not already available for casting.
Holy Armor has a base Research Cost of 130.
With at least 1 Spellbook, the Holy Armor 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[]
The Defense bonus bestowed by Holy Armor may seem low, but it is actually quite potent. In particular, it will defend the unit well against other Normal Units - especially against Multi-Figure units with relatively low individual attack strength per figure.
This is a good way to protect your own Normal Units, allowing them to survive for longer during battles.
Although it can save the life of a low-tier unit, Holy Armor should probably be cast on your stronger Normal Units, as this can make them quite tough - and capable of surviving many battles (thus winning plenty of experience). Of course, as explained above, the protection from Holy Armor is somewhat less useful if the unit is being attacked by a single powerful creature or spell - in which case a Defense bonus of +2 may not be good enough on its own.