- This article is about the unit ability called "Immolation". For the Chaos Unit Enchantment of the same name, see Immolation (Spell).
Immolation is one of the many Unit Abilities available in Master of Magic.
When a unit with Immolation performs any type of attack, its normal damage is accompanied by a Touch Attack delivering Immolation Damage. This type of damage is more dangerous the more 
figures there are in the enemy unit.
The strength of the attack performed by the Immolation ability is always 
4. As a result, neither the game nor this wiki bother to mention its strength after the ability's name.
Only a single unit possesses Immolation by default: the 
Doom Bat. However, it is possible to add Immolation to any unit by casting the Immolation Unit Enchantment on it.
Description[]
The Immolation ability is one of the best "active defenses" in the game. A unit possessing Immolation is essentially engulfed in flames: while the fire does not hurt the unit itself, it will hurt anyone trying to engage the unit in close combat. After all, you cannot hurt such a unit with hand-to-hand weapons without making contact with that unit, and thus, with the flames surrounding it.
Effect[]
- See also: Immolation (Touch Attack), Area Damage
Immolation is automatically triggered whenever the unit possessing it makes any type of attack. When this occurs, the Immolation ability unleashes a strength 4 Touch Attack on the target that deals Immolation Damage.
This counts as an Area Damage attack, meaning that it is executed against every figure of the target unit with the same Attack Strength. Similarly, each figure defends against it individually, using the full 
Defense value of its unit. Naturally, this attack becomes more devastating the more figures the enemy unit has.
Immolation can be applied to Melee Attacks, Counter Attacks, Ranged Attacks, and even 
Thrown, 
Breath, and Gaze Attacks. In the last case, it will generally trigger multiple times during a single execution of the melee sequence (i.e. both with the short range attack and the actual melee damage). It can be triggered up to four times during a single sequence under some circumstances.
Immunities[]
Targets possessing 
Magic Immunity or 
Righteousness are completely unaffected by Immolation, and will never suffer any damage from it. Targets with 
Fire Immunity defend against it as if they had 50, and thus will almost certainly not suffer any damage either.
In addition, the conditional Defense bonus granted by Bless, 
Resist Elements, and Elemental Armor; and even the 
Large Shield ability (all of which apply against Immolation), is significant compared to the Attack Strength of the ability, therefore, units with these effects will generally block most of this damage.
Units with Default Immolation[]
There is only one unit in the game that possesses Immolation by default:
As noted above, the strength of this ability is always a constant 4.
Acquiring Immolation[]
It is possible to add Immolation to any unit in the game. This is achieved by casting the Uncommon Unit Enchantment called intuitively Immolation on the unit.
When cast on the overland map, the Immolation spell has a basic Casting Cost of 
150. In this case, the effect lingers, but requires an Upkeep Cost of 2 per turn to maintain. Alternatively, it is possible to cast the spell during combat as an impromptu reaction to an unfolding tactical situation. In this case, it has a reduced basic Casting Cost of 30, but will only last until the end of combat (or until dispelled by the enemy).
In both cases, the Immolation ability granted by the spell has the same strength as the innate ability: 4. It may appear as though the unit gains this ability twice (as there will be two Immolation icons appearing in the unit statistics window), but this is not actually the case, and even if it were, the attack would only be executed once whenever triggered.