| Morgana The Witch | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Type | Non-Champion | |||
| Hiring Cost |
 200 | |||
| Upkeep Cost |
4 | |||
| Prereq. |
 10 | |||
| Moves |
 2 | |||
| Melee Attack |
 1 | |||
| Ranged Attack |
 8 | |||
| Defense |
 5 | |||
| Resistance |
 6 * | |||
| Hit Points |
 5 | |||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
|
 Missile Immunity | ||||
| Random Abilities | 2 (Mage) | |||
| ||||
| Please read Known Bugs, below. | ||||
|
Buggy Feature |
| As of Master of Magic v1.31, Morgana the Witch is known to be malfunctioning in at least one way. Please read the Known Bugs section below. |
Morgana the Witch is one of the 35 Hero units featured in Master of Magic.
Morgana is a non-Champion Hero. She may randomly appear for hire if a wizard has at least 10 Fame points, in which case her Hiring Cost is 200 by default. Alternatively, Morgana 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.
Morgana has a very powerful Magical Ranged Attack, even with no 
Experience points under her belt. She has plenty of 
Mana to use for this attack as well. Morgana also has the innate ability of Missile Immunity, which protects her from several types of Ranged Attacks. Furthermore, Morgana is always granted 2 extra Random Abilities picked from the "Mage" category, which can significantly boost her performance.
While Morgana has virtually no Melee Attack capabilities nor a strong Defense, she will rarely if ever be called upon to use them anyway. Furthermore, thanks to being Charmed by default, Morgana will never fail any Resistance roll made during combat (though she may fail such a roll if targeted by an overland spell).
Morgana also has the ability to cast spells, for which she will pay from her own Mana pool. In addition to any spell known to her employer, Morgana may also cast the Darkness, Possession, Black Prayer and Mana Leak spells - assuming she has sufficient Mana to do so.
Morgana may be equipped with the mage set of Magical Items, contributing primarily to the strength of her Ranged Attack and spell-casting abilities. 
Spell Save bonuses from items can make her Possession spell incredibly difficult to resist! The lack of armor, however, makes her more vulnerable to enemy attacks.
Morgana's Upkeep Cost is 4 per turn, unless she has randomly acquired the Noble trait.
General Description[]
Morgana the Witch is a disciple of the black arts - witchcraft and 
Death Magic are her specialties. She is an accomplished mage, and can cast some of the more powerful combat spells from this realm. Her powers are derived from mystical chants and concoctions which she performs under the light of the full moon - and are greatly feared by her enemies.
Morgana is a fair-skinned blonde woman, and her beauty may surprise those who believe that all witches are wrinkled old crones with warts growing out of every pore. It is rumored that her visage is in fact the result of a spell that has made her appear younger than she really is. Morgana wears large silver hoops earrings, and rides a jet-black steed.
Initial Properties[]
Note: All data below assumes Morgana is at her 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[]
Morgana the Witch's primary mode of attack is a Magical Ranged Attack, and is quite powerful even at her starting level. Morgana also possesses an extremely weak Melee Attack, though this can eventually become useful after many Experience Levels have been acquired.
Morgana's Ranged Attack has a default strength of 8. Given a basic To Hit chance of 
30%, she can be expected to deliver about 
2.4 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 Morgana's Magical Ranged Attack uses Mana from her own personal pool as ammunition. Each attack reduces her remaining Mana by -3. When she has only 2 or fewer left, she may not use her Ranged Attack anymore for the rest of the battle. Since this is the same Mana that Morgana uses to cast spells during combat, she 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.
Morgana'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, Morgana the Witch has a rather-average Defense score of 5. This enables her to block, on average, about 1.5 points of Damage from any damage source. This can protect Morgana adequately from most low-tier Normal Units, but expect her to take damage often when fighting anything stronger, at least until she can gain plenty of Experience and/or acquire strong armor.
This vulnerability does not apply to enemy 
Ranged Missile Attacks, thanks to Morgana's innate Missile Immunity ability. Whenever such an attack strikes her, her Defense rating is temporarily boosted to 50, essentially making her 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.
Morgana possesses a below-average 5 Hit Points by default. This means that it doesn't take a lot of damage to kill Morgana, and puts her in danger whenever she is sent into battle.
Morgana's nominal Resistance score is 6, which is average for most Heroes. However, this score applies only when a magical effect strikes her on the overland map (for example, Stasis). During combat, Morgana's Charmed ability is applied, and makes her completely immune to any type of Curse, and to many varieties of Special Attacks and combat spells. In game terms, the Charmed ability raises her Resistance score by +30, giving her a score so high that no known game effect can get through it!
Other Properties[]
Morgana the Witch has a basic Hero's Movement Allowance of 2. This is good for speeding up her movement on the overland map, through plain land tiles like Grassland and Deserts. During battle, Morgana may need to use her speed to avoid her enemies.
Spellcasting[]
Morgana the Witch possesses the Caster ability by default, and initially has 10 Mana to spare. This Mana pool increases with Experience.
Morgana may cast any combat spell known to her employer. In addition, regardless of whether they are available to the employer, Morgana also has access to Darkness, Possession, Black Prayer and Mana Leak (though a known bug may prevent this). Some spells, including these four, may be unavailable for casting until Morgana can gain some Experience and increase her available Mana.
Note also that Magical Ranged Attacks will draw 3 Mana from Morgana'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 Morgana during combat, you must select Morgana, press the "Spell" button, and then select "Witch" from the pop-up list. If Morgana is out of Mana, out of Movement Points, has been killed or is otherwise incapacitated, her name will not appear on this list.
Note that using Morgana to cast spells does not reduce your own available Spell Skill or Mana - she is completely independent and uses up her own skill and Mana.
Finally, the Caster ability also allows Morgana to augment your wizard's own Spell Skill. To perform this, place Morgana in the same tile as your Fortress town. While she is inside this town, your Spell Skill is increased by half the value of Morgana's Caster skill, rounded down.
Experience[]
The following table illustrates how Morgana's various skills and attributes increase as she gains Experience. Attributes not appearing on this list do not improve with Experience. Also note that Morgana always receives 2 extra Random Abilities 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
|
8
|
30%
|
5
|
6
|
5
|
10
|
|
Myrmidon | 20 - 59
|
2
|
9
|
30%
|
6
|
7
|
6
|
20
|
|
Captain | 60 - 119
|
3
|
10
|
40%
|
6
|
8
|
7
|
30
|
|
Commander | 120 - 199
|
4
|
11
|
40%
|
7
|
9
|
8
|
40
|
|
Champion | 200 - 299
|
5
|
12
|
40%
|
7
|
10
|
9
|
50
|
|
Lord | 300 - 449
|
6
|
13
|
50%
|
8
|
11
|
10
|
60
|
|
Grand Lord | 450 - 599
|
7
|
14
|
50%
|
8
|
12
|
11
|
70
|
|
Super Hero | 600 - 999
|
8
|
15
|
50%
|
9
|
13
|
12
|
80
|
|
Demi-God | 1,000
|
9
|
16
|
60%
|
9
|
14
|
13
|
90
|
Average Damage Output[]
The following table shows Morgana's average Damage output with each of her attacks, based on her current Experience Level. Note that this table completely ignores bonuses from Magical Items, if any. You can use the checkboxes to see the effect of some of the Random Abilities that Morgana 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, Morgana can eventually become very powerful as she gains Experience. She's not too shabby at low Experience Levels either, but is nonetheless fragile like most mage-type Heroes.
With additional levels, Morgana's Caster ability will allow her to cast more spells or to perform several more Magical Ranged Attacks in each battle. This can turn her into a powerful ranged attacker.
Since Morgana can gain up to 2 additional Random Abilities, either or both of these abilities may grow with Experience as well. In particular, acquiring the Arcane Power ability will rapidly boost Morgana's Magical Ranged Attack strength with each level. Augmentations of the Caster ability will allow her even more spellcasting in each battle than she can normally accomplish - to the point where she might be able to cast spells and/or make Ranged Attacks throughout an entire battle.
Ability Overview[]
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.
Charmed[]
- During combat, this Hero gains an extra +30 Resistance - meaning that he/she will never fail a Resistance roll.
- This protects the Hero from all Curses, and from many varieties of combat spells and Special Attacks.
- The Resistance boost does not apply on the overland map, and thus does not protect the Hero from overland spells or effects.
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 2 additional abilities for Morgana. These are called Random Abilities. The selection is done completely at random (while observing a limit on the strength of certain abilities) from the list below:
 Arcane Power
|
 Caster
|
 Lucky
|
 Noble
|
 Prayermaster
|
 Sage
|
Whichever Random Abilities were picked, they are permanent. Morgana will never re-randomize her abilities during the course of a single game. She may, however, pick different abilities in the next game.
Note that the Charmed ability does not appear on this list. Morgana already has this ability by default, and it cannot upgraded.
The Lucky and Noble abilities may only be picked once each, since they have no "Super" version. All other abilities may be picked either once or twice. If this occurs, Morgana receives the "Super" version of that ability, which is 50% stronger than the standard version.
The Caster ability may be picked once or twice, despite the fact that Morgana already has this ability by default. If picked once, it will increase Morgana's available Mana for spellcasting by 2.5 per Experience Level (including the first level) to a total of 12.5 per level. If Caster is picked twice, the bonus is 5 per Experience Level, to a total of 15 per level.
Most of the abilities in the list above are very useful for Morgana, augmenting her capabilities significantly. Additional levels of Caster are very welcome, as they allow Morgana to cast more of her spells each battle. The Arcane Power ability (especially if combined with the Lucky ability) can easily turn her into a powerful Ranged Attacker.
Equipment[]
Morgana the Witch 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 Morgana'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 Morgana's magical prowess. However there are several possible outcomes from mixing and matching various bonuses.
Weapon[]
- With a Staff Slot, Morgana 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.
- Spell Save penalties are probably the most useful bonus of all - simply because they increase the potential of Morgana's Possession spell. The stronger these penalties, the harder it is for enemies to resist the spell and fall under Morgana's control. If additional Spell Save penalties are given to Morgana's Jewelry (see below), it may be impossible for almost any unit to resist the spell at all! Note that many other Curses may be similarly effective or even more effective, if Possession is not the most useful one in your repertoire.
- Capitalizing on the above, consider adding Mana ("Spell Skill") bonuses, which allow Morgana to cast more spells in each battle, or use her Magical Ranged Attack more times per battle if the situation calls for it. Note however that Morgana may already have a very large Mana pool, especially if she has picked the Caster ability as one (or both) of her Random Abilities. In such a case, look for other bonuses.
- Attack strength bonuses or To Hit bonuses are obviously the most straight-forward, and will make Morgana's Magical Ranged Attack more useful. This may be good if she picks Arcane Power as one (or both) of her Random Abilities. Note again that Mana ("Spell Skill") bonuses may be helpful to ensure that she can use this attack more than a few times in each battle. Also remember that neither weapon will improve Morgana's Melee Attack. All attack bonuses apply only to her Ranged Attack.
- Note that a Staff may give Defense bonuses, and might even be recommended if it does - protecting Morgana from enemy spells and Magical Ranged Attacks. Remember of course that Morgana has innate protection from Ranged Missile Attacks, so the usefulness of this is somewhat lower.
- Resistance bonuses can largely be ignored, unless you fear enemy wizards using Stasis or other overland Curses frequently. Morgana will never require any Resistance bonuses during combat, thanks to her innate Charmed ability.
Jewelry[]
- Morgana 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.
- Once again, Spell Save penalties on either or both Jewelry pieces will help Morgana affect her targets with the various Curses available to you (or her own Possession spell). With the highest possibly penalties from both Jewelry pieces ( -8 Spell Save) and Staff ( -4 Spell Save), even a Great Drake could be subdued by such spells on a regular basis. Remember of course that some enemies possess even higher Resistance scores (especially enemy high-level Heroes), and that some units possess Magic Immunity which outweighs any Resistance penalties.
- Movement Allowance bonuses of +1 or +2 at most may be beneficial, as they help Morgana avoid enemy Melee units trying to chase her down. Don't exaggerate, she doesn't need to be very fast-moving.
- Defense bonuses from Jewelry are important in order to protect Morgana from enemy Magical Ranged Attacks and direct-damage spells. Remember that Morgana's Missile Immunity will protect her from Ranged Missile Attacks, but not from magical or boulder attacks.
- You can probably ignore Mana bonuses, as Morgana will likely have plenty of Mana after gaining just a couple of Experience Levels (especially if she gets an upgraded Caster ability). Similarly, you can completely ignore Resistance bonuses - unless you fear Morgana being frequently affected by enemy overland spells - normally a rare occurrence.
- Finally, note that attack Strength and To Hit bonuses on Jewelry will apply to both of Morgana's attacks, but don't expect them to actually make her Melee Attack useful against any but the weakest enemies. Also, without significant Mana bonuses she may not be able to use her Magical Ranged Attack often enough to make the most of such bonuses. If possible, try increasing Mana by at least a little bit.
Acquisition[]
Morgana the Witch can be acquired in one of four different methods:
- By hiring her as she comes to visit your Fortress town,
- By casting the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells,
- By rescuing her from an Encounter zone,
- By Resurrecting her after she has been killed in battle.
Hiring Morgana[]
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 Morgana to appear for hire in this way, you must meet several requirements:
- You must have at least 10 Fame points.
- You must have sufficient Gold in your treasury to hire Morgana (more on this below).
- Morgana must not have already been killed in battle.
Since the game randomly chooses which Hero appears during this event, there's no guarantee that Morgana 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 Morgana is 200. This is reduced to 100 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), Morgana will not appear for hire. In fact, if she is picked as the Hero who approaches you, and you lack the money to hire her, you are effectively forfeiting your chance to hire any Hero this turn.
After agreeing to hire Morgana (you can always refuse), you may give her any name you choose - she will be known as "<name> the Witch". Her overland unit will appear at your Fortress town or, if that town's garrison is full, next to your Fortress town.
Summoning Morgana[]
As a non-Champion hero, Morgana the Witch can be summoned using either the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells. However, Summon Champion only has a chance to bring Morgana 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 Morgana will appear when these spells are cast, unless all other Heroes are unavailable.
Again, you get a chance to agree or refuse to hire Morgana. If you agree, she will appear in your Fortress town and/or next to it.
If Morgana 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 Morgana[]
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 Morgana[]
For most wizards, losing Morgana in battle removes her from the game permanently. She will never appear again.
For 
Life-wielding wizards, however, who have access to the Resurrection spell, it is possible to bring Morgana back to life after she has died. In this case, Morgana returns to your Fortress town, with no Magical Items, but keeping all Experience she had prior to her death.
You may repeatedly resurrect Morgana each time she dies.
Upkeep Costs[]
Once Morgana is in your employ, you must pay her an Upkeep Cost of 4 at the start of each and every turn. Failure to pay this price due to lack of Gold results in Morgana leaving your employ. This is not permanent however: Morgana may still be acquired in any of the above methods with no penalty.
Note that if Morgana picks the Noble Random Ability, she will demand no Upkeep Costs - and instead contribute 10 to your treasury every turn!
Alternate Names[]
Other wizards can also have a Witch, but they are different characters (what happens to one has no effect on the others), and go by different names, as follows:
Witch |
Player | Alternate Name |
|---|---|---|
| Human (0) | Morgana | |
| Wizard 1 | Tabatha | |
| Wizard 2 | Karlota | |
| Wizard 3 | Elicia | |
| Wizard 4 | Cassandra |
Known Bugs[]
It has been reported that Morgana the Witch (among a few other heroes) sometimes (or always?) does not receive the extra spells that she should have available.
There is a bug in the game code that prevents certain extra spells from being added to Heroes' repertoire, as the list above indicates they should.
As a result, all extra spells that have internal number bigger than 127, are dysfunctional. This concerns all Death and Life realm spells, apart from these life spells (Bless, Star Fires, Holy Weapon, Healing, Holy Armor). All other spells are fully functional.
If this bug occurs, Morgana will only be able to cast spells that are already known and available to her employer. This reduces her effectiveness to some degree.