| Malleus The Magician | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Type | Non-Champion | |||
| Hiring Cost |
 150 | |||
| Upkeep Cost |
3 | |||
| Prereq. |
 5 | |||
| Moves |
 2 | |||
| Melee Attack |
 1 | |||
| Ranged Attack |
 8 * | |||
| Defense |
 5 | |||
| Resistance |
 10 | |||
| Hit Points |
 5 | |||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
|
 Missile Immunity | ||||
| Random Abilities | 1 (Mage) | |||
| ||||
Malleus the Magician is one of the 35 Hero units featured in Master of Magic.
Malleus is a non-Champion Hero. He may randomly appear for hire if a wizard has at least 5 Fame points, in which case his Hiring Cost is 150 by default. Alternatively, Malleus can be summoned using the Summon Hero spell (or through partial failure of the Summon Champion spell), and can occasionally be found as a Prisoner reward after a successful Encounter.
Malleus has a very powerful Magical Ranged Attack, even with no 
Experience points under his belt. His attack strength grows rapidly with Experience thanks to the Arcane Power ability, and he has plenty of 
Mana to use for this attack as well. Malleus also has the innate ability of Missile Immunity, which protects him from several types of Ranged Attacks. Furthermore, Malleus is always granted an extra Random Ability picked from the "Mage" category.
While Malleus has virtually no Melee Attack capabilities nor a strong Defense, he will rarely if ever be called upon to use them anyway. As a Dwarf, Malleus is also surprisingly Resistant to enemy spells!
Malleus also has the ability to cast spells, for which he will pay from his own Mana pool. In addition to any spell known to his employer, Malleus may also cast the Fire Bolt, Fireball, Flame Strike and Fire Elemental spells - assuming he has sufficient Mana to do so.
Malleus may be equipped with the mage set of Magical Items, contributing primarily to the strength of his Ranged Attack and spell-casting abilities. The lack of armor, however, makes him more vulnerable to enemy attacks.
Malleus's Upkeep Cost is 3 per turn, unless he has randomly acquired the Noble trait.
General Description
Malleus the Magician is a very accomplished spellcaster, specializing in brutal, destructive magics. Speculated to be either a wayward mage of the High Men, or a Dwarf who has strayed from that race's traditional aversion to the magical arts, Malleus may be willing to lend his talents to a Wizard of repute.
The copious amounts of 
Chaos energy channeled by Malleus have clearly altered his appearance. He has crimson-red hair and beard, his skin is raw, and his eyes glow red with magic. Malleus's horse has also been similarly affected, giving it an unnatural reddish-brown color. A purple cape is held around Malleus's neck with golden clasps, and he is seen wearing a red robe underneath.
Initial Properties
Note: All data below assumes Malleus is at his lowest 
Experience Level, and without any Magical Items or Random Abilities - After all, any Hero can become devastatingly powerful after gaining several levels and powerful items. Please refer to the tables and chapters below for more information.
Attack Properties
Malleus the Magician's primary mode of attack is a Magical Ranged Attack, and is quite powerful even at his starting level. Malleus also possesses an extremely weak Melee Attack, though this can eventually become useful after many Experience Levels have been acquired.
Malleus's Ranged Attack has a default strength of 8. His innate Arcane Power ability increases this immediately to 9, even before any Experience is acquired. Given a basic To Hit chance of 
30%, he can be expected to deliver about 
2.7 points of Damage with this attack, on average. This is quite powerful for a low-level mage, and will have no trouble getting through armor.
This Ranged Attack delivers Magical Damage. As a result, it does not suffer To Hit penalties when used at a distance. On the other hand, targets possessing Magic Immunity will almost invariably shrug off all damage from this attack. Furthermore, the attack is associated with the Chaos Realm, and thus may be blocked partially or completely by spells like Resist Elements.
Note that Malleus's Magical Ranged Attack uses Mana from his own personal pool as ammunition. Each attack reduces his remaining Mana by -3. When he has only 2 or fewer left, he may not use his Ranged Attack anymore for the rest of the battle. Since this is the same Mana that Malleus uses to cast spells during combat, he must decide whether to use Ranged Attacks or cast spells depending on the situation on the battlefield. Mana is restored to full capacity at the end of each battle.
Malleus's Melee Attack has an initial strength of only 1, a token attack that is highly unlikely to cause any damage. Given a basic 30% To Hit chance, it can be expected to deliver no more than 0.3 points of Damage on average, and thus will almost always be completely blocked by any kind of armor. Nonetheless, with sufficient Experience, it can actually become useful against soft targets.
Defensive Properties
By default, Malleus the Magician has a rather-average Defense score of 5. This enables him to block, on average, about 1.5 points of Damage from any damage source. This can protect Malleus adequately from most low-tier Normal Units, but expect him to take damage often when fighting anything stronger, at least until he can gain plenty of Experience and/or acquire strong armor.
This vulnerability does not apply to enemy 
Ranged Missile Attacks, thanks to Malleus's innate Missile Immunity ability. Whenever such an attack strikes him, his Defense rating is temporarily boosted to 50, essentially making him totally immune! Very few units (mostly high-Experience and very-well-equipped enemy Heroes) would have anywhere near the amount of Ranged Attack Strength to penetrate this much armor. Note that a Slingers unit's attack, though marked by 
Boulders, is considered a Ranged Missile Attack.
Malleus possesses a below-average 5 Hit Points by default. This means that it doesn't take a lot of damage to kill Malleus, and puts him at danger whenever he is sent into battle.
On the other hand, like other Dwarves, Malleus has a mysterious innate ability to ward off evil magic. His default Resistance score is 10, one of the highest of any Hero. This alone makes Malleus immune to a variety of Curses, Special Attacks and some other spells. With each additional Experience Level he gains, Malleus will become immune to a wider and wider variety - until he can become immune to virtually all such ill effects!
Other Properties
Malleus the Magician has a basic Hero's Movement Allowance of 2. This is good for speeding up his movement on the overland map, through plain land tiles like Grassland and Deserts. During battle, Malleus may need to use his speed to avoid his enemies.
Spellcasting
Malleus the Magician possesses the Caster ability by default, and initially has 10 Mana to spare. This Mana pool increases with Experience.
Malleus may cast any combat spell known to his employer. In addition, regardless of whether they are available to the employer, Malleus also has access to Fire Bolt, Fireball, Flame Strike and Fire Elemental - all very powerful spells! Some spells, including these four, may be unavailable for casting until Malleus can gain some Experience and increase his available Mana.
Note also that Magical Ranged Attacks will draw 3 Mana from Malleus's pool each time they are used. This will reduce the remaining Mana for spellcasting. Fortunately, Mana is completely replenished at the end of each and every battle.
To cast a spell with Malleus during combat, you must select Malleus, press the "Spell" button, and then select "Magician" from the pop-up list. If Malleus is out of Mana, out of Movement Points, has been killed or is otherwise incapacitated, his name will not appear on this list.
Note that using Malleus to cast spells does not reduce your own available Spell Skill or Mana - he is completely independent and uses up his own skill and Mana.
Finally, the Caster ability also allows Malleus to augment your wizard's own Spell Skill. To perform this, place Malleus in the same tile as your Fortress town. While he is inside this town, your Spell Skill is increased by half the value of Malleus's Caster skill, rounded down.
Experience
The following table illustrates how Malleus's various skills and attributes increase as he gains Experience. Attributes not appearing on this list do not improve with Experience. The effects of the Arcane Power ability have already been taken into account when calculating these values. Also note that Malleus always receives an extra Random Ability which may also increase with Experience, and may adjust any of the attributes listed below!
| Icon | Level Name | EP | Melee | Ranged | To Hit | Defense | Resist | Hits | Mana |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Hero | 0 - 19
|
1
|
9
|
30%
|
5
|
10
|
5
|
10
|
|
Myrmidon | 20 - 59
|
2
|
11
|
30%
|
6
|
11
|
6
|
20
|
|
Captain | 60 - 119
|
3
|
13
|
40%
|
6
|
12
|
7
|
30
|
|
Commander | 120 - 199
|
4
|
15
|
40%
|
7
|
13
|
8
|
40
|
|
Champion | 200 - 299
|
5
|
17
|
40%
|
7
|
14
|
9
|
50
|
|
Lord | 300 - 449
|
6
|
19
|
50%
|
8
|
15
|
10
|
60
|
|
Grand Lord | 450 - 599
|
7
|
21
|
50%
|
8
|
16
|
11
|
70
|
|
Super Hero | 600 - 999
|
8
|
23
|
50%
|
9
|
17
|
12
|
80
|
|
Demi-God | 1,000
|
9
|
25
|
60%
|
9
|
18
|
13
|
90
|
Average Damage Output
The following table shows Malleus's average Damage output with each of his attacks, based on his current Experience Level. Note that this table completely ignores bonuses from Magical Items, if any. It does, however, already include bonuses from the Arcane Power ability which Malleus gets by default. You can use the checkboxes to see the effect of some of the Random Abilities that Malleus may pick at the start of each game.
|
* Magical Ranged Attacks do not suffer To Hit penalties for distance. Therefore, the values in this column apply at any distance.
Improvement Overview
As with any other Hero, Malleus can eventually become very powerful as he gains Experience. He's not too shabby at low Experience Levels either, but is nonetheless fragile like most mage-type Heroes.
Malleus's Arcane Power ability boosts his Magical Ranged Attack strength each level - on top of the bonuses from Experience. As a result, his Ranged Attack strength will skyrocket very quickly.
With additional levels, Malleus's Caster ability will allow him to perform several more Ranged Attacks in each battle (or cast more spells). This can turn him into a powerful ranged attacker or support hero.
If Malleus gains an extra level of either Caster or Arcane Power as one of his Random Abilities, you can be sure that he will become a very powerful mage as early as levels 4 or 5.
Ability Overview
Arcane Power
- This Hero receives +1 Magical Ranged Attack strength per each Experience Level, including the first level.
Caster ( 10)
- This Hero may cast spells during combat, withdrawing Mana from his/her own personal Mana Pool to do so.
- The Hero may spend only 10 per battle. This Mana Pool is reset at the end of each battle - assuming the Hero survives at all.
- With each Experience Level gained, this Hero receives a permanent bonus of +10.
- Spellcasting takes up all of the Hero's remaining Movement Points for the turn.
- While this Hero is inside his/her employer's Fortress town, the owner's Spell Skill is increased by half the value of the Hero's Caster ability.
Missile Immunity
- Any Missile Attack performed against this unit will temporarily raise the unit's Defense score to 50 - allowing it to block virtually any incoming damage.
- Magical or Boulder attacks do not trigger this effect, and will damage the unit as normal.
Random Abilities
When a new game is started, the program randomly chooses 1 additional ability for Malleus. This is called a Random Ability. The selection is done completely at random (while observing a limit on the strength of certain abilities) from the list below:
 Arcane Power
|
 Caster
|
 Charmed
|
 Lucky
|
 Noble
|
 Prayermaster
|
 Sage
|
Whichever Random Ability is picked, it is permanent. Malleus will never re-randomize his ability during the course of a single game. He may, however, pick a different ability in the next game.
If Malleus picks the Arcane Power ability, it will upgrade his default Arcane Power to "Super Arcane Power". As a result, he will gain +1.5 to his Ranged Attack strength with each Experience Level, instead of the normal +1. This is an absolutely massive bonus, and turns Malleus decidedly into a Ranged Attacker rather than a support spell-caster.
The Lucky ability will actually contribute more to Malleus's damage output than Super Arcane Power. Furthermore, Lucky increases both Resistance and 
To Block by +1 each, so it is overall more desirable.
If the Caster ability is picked, it will increase Malleus's available Mana for spellcasting by 2.5 (to a total of 12.5) per every Experience Level - including the first level.
Other Random Abilities are less desirable for this Hero.
Equipment
Malleus the Magician has the following item slots:
| Icon | Name | Items that fit here |
|---|---|---|
|
Staff Slot | Staff or Wand |
|
Jewelry Slot #1 | Any Jewelry |
|
|
Jewelry Slot #2 | Any Jewelry |
This set-up is unique to mage-type Heroes, and allows them to significantly boost their magical abilities. The Jewelry pieces can be used to augment defensive properties instead (in order to increase Malleus's survivability), but might also combine offensive and defensive capabilities to make a well-rounded Hero.
Recommended Items
The mage set-up doesn't leave much choice in terms of items, as it will strictly increase Malleus's magical prowess. However there are several possible outcomes from mixing and matching various bonuses.
Weapon
- With a Staff Slot, Malleus is limited to using either a Staff or a Wand (with Staves often being stronger). In both cases, only some of the bonuses would be truly useful for this Hero.
- Attack strength bonuses or To Hit bonuses are obviously the most straight-forward, if not the most desirable. Malleus can be pretty terrifying with his Magical Ranged Attack as a result. However, a Mana ("Spell Skill") bonus would be necessary to increase the number of Ranged Attacks he can perform each battle, otherwise the attack bonuses won't be that useful.
- Mana bonuses may also increase the number of spells that Malleus can cast, and with permanent access to 4 different and very useful Chaos spells, this can occasionally be a better investment of Mana than using it up for Ranged Attacks. Summoning plenty of Fire Elementals may also allow Malleus to go around fighting his own battles with little or no need for escorts.
- Note that a Staff may give Defense bonuses, and might even be recommended if it does - protecting Malleus from enemy spells and Magical Ranged Attacks. Remember of course that Malleus has innate protection from Ranged Missile Attacks, so the usefulness of this is somewhat lower. Resistance bonuses may actually be preferable - protecting him from Curses and other spells.
- Resistance bonuses can largely be ignored. Malleus has enough Resistance by default, and will gain more and more of it with each Experience Level anyway. Spell Save bonuses are also largely useless, unless you have access to plenty of Curses and wish Malleus to use them constantly.
- Finally, note that neither weapon will improve Malleus's Melee Attack. All bonuses apply only to his Ranged Attack.
Jewelry
- Malleus can wear up to two pieces of Jewelry, and thus can mix-and-match bonuses from these items to get both a good magical prowess increase and some good defensive properties. Going for only one or the other may prove useless - try to get some of both.
- Movement Allowance bonuses of +1 or +2 at most may be beneficial, as they help Malleus avoid enemy Melee units trying to chase him down. Don't exaggerate, he doesn't need to be very fast-moving.
- Defense bonuses from Jewelry are important in order to protect Malleus from enemy Magical Ranged Attacks and direct-damage spells. Remember that Malleus's Missile Immunity will protect him from Ranged Missile Attacks, but not from magical or boulder attacks.
- Mana bonuses will also be helpful, as they will either increase his ability to cast spells, or increase the number of Magical Ranged Attacks that Malleus can perform. The need for these bonuses will diminish as Malleus gains extra Mana through his own Experience.
- Again, Spell Save and Resistance bonuses are probably the least interesting for this Hero.
- Attack Strength and To Hit bonuses on Jewelry will apply to both of Malleus's attacks, but don't expect them to actually make his Melee Attack useful against any but the weakest enemies. Also, without significant Mana bonuses he may not be able to use his Magical Ranged Attack often enough to make the most of such bonuses. If possible, try increasing Mana by at least a little bit.
Acquisition
Malleus the Magician can be acquired in one of four different methods:
- By hiring him as he comes to visit your Fortress town,
- By casting the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells,
- By rescuing him from an Encounter zone,
- By Resurrecting him after he has been killed in battle.
Hiring Malleus
Every once in a while, a Hero will arrive at your Fortress town to ask for employment. The frequency of this event depends on your current Fame score, the number of Heroes already under your employ, and whether or not you have particular Retorts that affect this chance.
In order for Malleus to appear for hire in this way, you must meet several requirements:
- You must have at least 5 Fame points.
- You must have sufficient Gold in your treasury to hire Malleus (more on this below).
- Malleus must not have already been killed in battle.
Since the game randomly chooses which Hero appears during this event, there's no guarantee that Malleus will ever appear. The chance, however, increases if the number of other valid Heroes dwindles (such as when most other Heroes have died in battle).
The default Hiring Cost for Malleus is 150. This is reduced to 75 if your wizard has the Charismatic Retort. If you do not have this much Gold at the start of a turn (after paying all Upkeep Costs), Malleus will not appear for hire. In fact, if he is picked as the Hero who approaches you, and you lack the money to hire him, you are effectively forfeiting your chance to hire any Hero this turn.
After agreeing to hire Malleus (you can always refuse), you may give him any name you choose - he will be known as "<name> the Magician". His overland unit will appear at your Fortress town or, if that town's garrison is full, next to your Fortress town.
Summoning Malleus
As a non-Champion hero, Malleus the Magician can be summoned using either the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells. However, Summon Champion only has a chance to bring Malleus to you if all Champions are unavailable at the time.
Once the spell is completed, the game chooses a random Hero to bring to your Fortress from a list of all available and valid Heroes. Therefore, there is no guarantee that Malleus will appear when these spells are cast, unless all other Heroes are unavailable.
Again, you get a chance to agree or refuse to hire Malleus. If you agree, he will appear in your Fortress town and/or next to it.
If Malleus is hired through the use of Summon Hero or Summon Champion, there is no need to pay any Hiring Cost. However, you may still need to pay an Upkeep Cost (see below).
Rescuing Malleus
On defeating an Encounter of at least moderate difficulty, there is a small chance that your reward will include a Prisoner previously held captive in this Encounter zone.
The game can randomly pick any non-Champion Hero to be rescued in this way - except Heroes that have already died while in your service. Your Fame and Gold are disregarded, and there is no need to pay any Hiring Costs.
Note that if the army that beats that particular Encounter already contains 9 units, you will never be rewarded with a Prisoner.
Resurrecting Malleus
For most wizards, losing Malleus in battle removes him from the game permanently. He will never appear again.
For 
Life-wielding wizards, however, who have access to the Resurrection spell, it is possible to bring Malleus back to life after he has died. In this case, Malleus returns to your Fortress town, with no Magical Items, but keeping all Experience he had prior to his death.
You may repeatedly resurrect Malleus each time he dies.
Upkeep Costs
Once Malleus is in your employ, you must pay him an Upkeep Cost of 3 at the start of each and every turn. Failure to pay this price due to lack of Gold results in Malleus leaving your employ. This is not permanent however: Malleus may still be acquired in any of the above methods with no penalty.
Note that if Malleus picks the Noble Random Ability, he will demand no Upkeep Costs - and instead contribute 10 to your treasury every turn!
Alternate Names
Other wizards can also have a Magician, but they are different characters (what happens to one has no effect on the others), and go by different names, as follows:
Magician |
Player | Alternate Name |
|---|---|---|
| Human (0) | Malleus | |
| Wizard 1 | Delian | |
| Wizard 2 | Furius | |
| Wizard 3 | Karnak | |
| Wizard 4 | Landreux |