| Time Stop | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Realm |
 Sorcery | |
| Spell Rarity | Very Rare | |
| Spell Type | Global Enchantment | |
| Casting Cost |
 1,500 | |
| Upkeep Cost |
200* | |
| Research Cost |
 6,000 | |
| ||
|
While Time Stop is in effect, all rival Wizards skip their turns. Time Stop's caster may cast spells and move units as normal each turn. However, Production in Towns, consumption of 200 per turn. | ||
Time Stop is a Very Rare Global Enchantment of the Sorcery Realm - and is widely considered one of the most powerful spells available in the game. For 1,500, Time Stop may be cast on the overland map to prevent all rival Wizards from taking their turns, allowing only Time Stop's caster to move their units or cast overland spells. Furthermore, every turn-based action except unit movement and spellcasting is also halted, including all production in Towns, all Spell Research and Mana generation, etcetera.
Time Stop's caster does not need to pay any Upkeep Costs for any assets while this spell is in effect. Time Stop itself, however, continues to charge its massive Upkeep of 200 per turn. Since Mana generation is completely halted, this means that the casting Wizard will probably run out of it eventually, and has to cancel the Time Stop. There are, however, ways to work around this.
Effects[]
Time Stop radically alters the turn-based system upon which the game works - primarily by preventing all other Wizards from taking their turns. In addition, it halts much of the casting Wizard's own economy. On the other hand, Time Stop's caster only needs to pay the 200 Upkeep Cost required to maintain the spell itself.
Disabling Rival Wizards[]
From the moment Time Stop is cast, until the moment it dissipates, Time Stop will prevent all rival Wizards from taking their turns. In other words, when the turn of Time Stop's caster ends, they immediately get to take another turn, and another, and another - for a potentially limitless number of consecutive turns! No rival Wizard gets to move, or in fact do anything, until Time Stop dissipates. Even enemy units stop healing naturally.
Some Global Enchantments and Town Curses cast by rival Wizards do continue to work however. Many spells that give a continuous effect, such as Unit Enchantments, continue to modify their targets' stats. Other persistent spells, such as 
Armageddon, will not perform their normal "per-turn" actions. The game seems to handle each spell differently in these regards.
Suspended Production[]
Even Time Stop's caster's own turns are not handled normally. Most importantly, all production across the Wizard's empire ceases immediately, and does not continue until Time Stop is removed.
Towns will not generate 
Gold, 
Food, Research Points, 
Power, or indeed any 
Production! This means that they cannot build anything, neither Town Buildings nor Normal Units, while the spell is in effect. In fact, even if the caster spends Gold to purchase a unit or building, it will not be constructed: the production menu shows that the unit/building is going to take 1 turn to complete, but actual completion will happen only once Time Stop is removed.
Power income also completely ceases from all sources, not just Towns. It no longer generates any Mana, Research Points, or Spell Casting Skill increments while Time Stop is active. Consequently, all Spell Research is put on hold.
Suspended Upkeep[]
On the other hand, while Time Stop is in effect, the casting Wizard's assets cease to demand any Upkeep Costs of any kind! This applies to just about everything: Units, Town Buildings and even other persistent spells will pull no resources from the Wizard's reserves each turn. As a result, the caster will earn exactly 0 per turn, make exactly 0 per turn, and generate 0 per turn.
Only one asset still requires Upkeep: the Time Stop spell itself. It will draw 200 from the Wizard's Mana pool every single turn.
So what can be done?[]
While Time Stop is in effect, its caster may freely cast any spells and move any units. This is done in exactly the same way as normal (i.e. the same as when Time Stop is not in effect). Units spend the same amount of Movement Allowance when moving, and have to end their turn when they run out of points. Orders to "Patrol", "Build" and "Meld" may be issued as normal, and will work as normal. The caster's units will also heal at the normal rates each turn, although enemies' units will not.
Spells of any kind may be cast. There is no difference in their Casting Costs, but as mentioned above they will not require any Upkeep Costs. Fantastic Units may be summoned, and ordered around as normal. Most Enchantments will work as normal, though as mentioned above, some Global Enchantments may not function properly until Time Stop dissipates.
Although the other Wizards are "frozen" in time, Diplomacy also works as normal. Additionally, it is still possible to Transmute Gold into Mana.
Combat as Normal[]
While Time Stop prevents other players from acting on the overland map, it does nothing to prevent them from defending themselves with whatever troops they already have at a location. Therefore, if a battle is initiated between the caster's armies and a rival Wizard's stack, their units will fight normally.
The only consequence is that while spells may still be cast by other Wizards during combat, and draw Mana normally from the their pool, there is no Power income replenishing Mana for any player. Therefore, combat spellcasting can rapidly deplete the Mana pool of every Wizard except, unlike Time Stop's caster, the others can't use either Alchemy or the anvil, nor can they gain resources through conquest.
Neutral Monster Creation[]
Another aspect of the game that does not suspend itself during Time Stop is the creation of new Raiders and Rampaging Monsters spewing forth from Neutral Towns and Encounter Zones. Every few turns, there is a random chance for a neutral Town or Encounter Zone to spawn an appropriate stack of units, with orders to advance on one of the nearby Wizard-owned Towns in the world. This is a common occurrence that happens regardless of whether or not Time Stop is in effect.
However, during Time Stop, these neutral army stacks can not actually move. Therefore, they will stay where they were spawned, until Time Stop is removed. Once the spell does dissipate, all of these neutral stacks will start moving towards their designated targets simultaneously. This can be somewhat dangerous - it means that the longer Time Stop had been in effect, the more neutral armies will be charging into the Wizards' empires at the same time. In the turns immediately following the end of the Time Stop, the caster should expect to come under attack by several of these stacks.
Ending the Spell[]
Time Stop puts a continuous drain on the caster's Mana pool, and there is no regular income replenishing that Mana. This means that normally, the player has to let go of Time Stop eventually. The spell will end automatically if its caster ever runs out of Mana to pay for its Upkeep Cost. However, it is often wiser to end the spell by canceling it instead, before that happens.
There is no other way for Time Stop to be ended. Since they can't cast overland spells, other Wizards are incapable of removing it. Therefore, it can only be the caster who, deliberately or otherwise, ends the spell.
Usage[]
Time Stop may only be cast on the overland map, for a base Casting Cost of 1,500. After successfully casting it, the spell's name will appear in the Overland Enchantments window of the Magic Screen, printed in the banner-color of the controlling Wizard. It may be manually cancelled from here by left-clicking on its name at any time when this screen is available (i.e. outside of combat, during the player's own turn). Naturally, Time Stop may only be cancelled by the Wizard who currently controls it.
To keep this spell in effect, the controlling Wizard must pay an Upkeep Cost of exactly 200 at the beginning of every turn - regardless of how many targets it is affecting, or what Spellbooks and Retorts are present in the Wizard's profile. Failure to pay this cost due to lack of Mana will cause Time Stop to dissipate, immediately removing all of its benefits.
Acquisition[]
As a Very Rare Spell of the Sorcery Realm, Time Stop may become available to any Wizard who acquires at least 3 Spellbooks. With any less, the spell can normally not be learned during the campaign. This is the minimum requirement for it to be traded for, appear in Treasure, or be found in the spoils of victory when conquering the Fortress of a rival Wizard who already knows it.
The base chance for Time Stop to be researchable (at some point) in the campaign is roughly 10% (with 3 books), which gradually increases with the amount of Sorcery Spellbooks possessed or found during gameplay. With 10 or more, the spell is certain to show up sooner or later, unless acquired from another source. It has a Research Cost of 6,000, although its research is quicker for Wizards possessing the Sage Master, and/or Sorcery Mastery Retorts; or a bookshelf containing 8 or more.
Time Stop may not be acquired at the start of the game, regardless of the amount of Sorcery books selected from the starting picks. It must always be either researched or found. However, a bug exists in the official game, that may occasionally allow Time Stop to be researched with only 2 books despite its Rarity. This can happen if, and only if, the second Sorcery Spellbook comes from Treasure, as it then allows a random Very Rare Spell to be researched, which has a flat 10% chance of being this spell. This oversight is corrected in the Unofficial Patch 1.50.
Strategy[]
Time Stop is exceptionally powerful. While it is in effect, its caster is the only Wizard who is actually doing anything, so they have pretty much free reign in assaulting enemy forces and Towns. The enemy, being barred from taking its turns, may not replenish lost units, cast new overland spells, or found new Settlements. Therefore, the simplest application of Time Stop would be to buy time for a strong stack to make its way straight to the enemy's Fortress capital and take it - without them being able to do anything to stop that army from getting there.
However, it is important to remember that while the spell is active, the caster may not create new Normal Units or improve their Towns either - nor do they gain any Gold or Mana through their ecomony (in fact they lose the latter at a staggering rate each turn). The only practical way to increase the size of their forces is through Summoning Spells.
Oddly, the in-game date advances normally, at one month per turn, under the effects of Time Stop. Technical game turns that elapse while the enchantment is active will affect the player's Score in the end. Since it halts City growth and Spell Research during these turns, Time Stop can't really be used with the intention of boosting score, only for gaining a relative edge over the opponents. Therefore, it is usually better to turn off Time Stop when it is no longer required. The Mana drain is too great to be left unchecked. If the spell has been active for some time, it may also be wise to prepare for an onslaught of neutral armies, as described above.
Making Time Stop Last Longer[]
Time Stop is designed in a way that's supposed to make it the only persistent spell that may not be maintained indefinitely. It takes 200 out of the caster's Mana pool each turn, and disables almost all sources that could replenish it. Over the years, players have come up with various ingenious ways to create Mana to pay for the spell. Any other such strategies are welcome to be added to the list below.
Artificer Runemaster[]
Magical Items may be sacrificed to gain a large sum of Mana. Items can be created using the 
Enchant Item and Create Artifact spells, both of which can be cast during Time Stop as usual. However, the normal ratio is that for every 2 spent on creating an item, only 1 will be obtained when sacrificing that item. Therefore, if an item costs 200 to make, it will only yield 100 when broken down.
On the other hand, the Artificer and Runemaster Retorts both act to decrease the Casting Cost of the Item Crafting spells. Neither of these Retorts change the ratio significantly enough by themselves, but with both Retorts together, the cost to create a new item drops so sharply that the final ratio is reversed: for each 1 paid to create an item, the player will receive 2 when sacrificing it. This means that an item created for 200 can be broken down for 400, covering the cost of both the crafting spell and a turn of Time Stop's Upkeep.
To fully exploit this with Time Stop though, a Wizard also needs to have a Spell Casting Skill of at least 200. Any less, and this trick will only extend the duration to a certain extent, as the entire Upkeep Cost of the enchantment can not fully be regained every turn. At the same time, a higher Skill allows not only to pay for Time Stop indefinitely, but also to use Mana for other purposes, such as Summoning Spells or combat spellcasting.
Razing Conquered Cities[]
The resources gained in warfare may be enough to pay for the maintenance of the Time Stop spell. Conquering Towns yields a part of the enemy's Gold reserves, which can be converted to Mana via Alchemy. Additional Gold can be acquired by razing Towns - they don't have that much value as long Time Stop is in effect. Banishing a Wizard also appropriates half of their Mana reserves for the victorious player.