The purpose of this thread is to let players suggest spells they would like us to use.
The Rules
A given spell must be something that the computer AI can reasonably be expected to use as well.
Definition of a Spell:
A spell needs the following items:
Example:
Depending on how fast my AI coding skills are, I can add a lot of spells in before release.
Please also be aware that none of you in the beta will actually ever play Elemental 1.0. You will be playing Elemental 1.01. 1.0 is what we have to ship on DVD and will only be played by people who can’t or won’t update their game.
Also any one can use these portals... Would caravan's be able to use them to decrease travel times? Don't know if that would be to hard to do..
I think it would be cool if the spellcaster could choose the amount of turns he/she wants to use to cast a spell. (up to 5 turns.)The longer it takes to cast the spell, the longer the duration, effectiveness, size and damage of the spell... (E.G. Chain lightning could hit up to 7 units and not just three if it took him 2 turns to focus.)
The schools should have some basic characteristics how they perform in tactical combat.
AIR
FIRE
EARTH
ICE
DEATH
LIFE
ARCANE (should be added as a generic school instead of using Life and Death for these)
Nice!!!!
This would Make a Really nice END game twist LOL
I wonder what will happen if this would be use in an end game multiplayer game. Everyone will probably band together to make a last stand, It will be Epic lol
I would really like to try this in the game if it's possible FrogBoy
1. Create Path
2. Strategic
3. Arcane Knowledge: 20
4. 10
5. Requires Earth or Air (maybe both?)
6. Creates a magical path over/through any terrain. Movement costs halved.
7. Mastery
8. This would be an endgame spell for when mountains/seas are being raised frequently. This spell assumes that teleportation is not a strategic option and terrain obstacles are easily made. This spell takes up an enchantment slot. Can be used multiple times.
1. Illusion (or something more lore-friendly)
3. 20
4. 20
5. Air shard(s) req.
6. Target city is invisible. Alternatively, creates an illusion of impassable terrain which allied units may see through (assumes chokepoints are common).
7. Air
8. Takes an enchantment slot, can only have one per caster. Enemy units walking into/through the illusion would discover it. Would require some way of detection (possibly a magic detecting spell or piece of equipment, where all enemy spells and enchantments create notifications or appear on map). In the case of terrain altering illusions, the game would have to flag it somehow so pathfinding doesn't go through it.
School of Mysticism: Everything from fortune telling, to talking with spirits, to summoning elder gods
Strategic:
School of Mysticism: Everything from fortune telling, to talking with spirits, to summoning elder gods [Continued]
Tactical:
I'm not certain "how rare" to suggest the School of Mysticism to be. Perhaps you could aquire it some how ... like through a quest. Or perhaps you "can" research it near or after the school of Mastery (researching school of mastery could unlock it) if certain requirements are met.
Some of the spells are kind of meant to be things to play with if the Magical Victory is disabled for some reason, or for some other reason the School of Mastery is harder to get to than the School of Mysticism + end game magical levels (special case scenario of a person extremely high level, has school of mysticism (questing??) and whose empire was destroyed (mostly) before he was able to tech School of Mastery).
Anyways, end game fun aside (Dark Side of the Moon, Apocalypse Now, Holy Grace, God Slayer) ... 90% of the inspiration for this spellbook was psychic powers ... like Mind Read, Third Eye, Fortune Telling, etc. Basically instead of actually telling the player or AI what is actually going to happen in the future ... they get bonuses for "knowing what is going to happen."
Or in the case of Nirvana and Enlightenment ... your increased Spiritual awareness gives you Supernatural powers. And it is through this vein of thought that accessing the power of Deities becomes an idea.
Think of the basics of the spellbook being psychics, mediums, and mystics ... while the later parts of the spellbook is ripped from the Digital Devil series which includes the Persona games (Armageddon, Gods, etc)
I haven't been part of the beta due to lack of time, but I've been following along with the journals. This call for spells finally got me to register - I couldn't resist. Since I don't have any experience with the game, I'm not sure if I got the costs/books close to right and they aren't as specific as they could be. However, if you implement a version of any of them in the game I promise to buy it! (OK, I'll buy in anyway...).
Before I get to my ideas, I wanted to give another compliment to lwarmonger's The dead rise. Love that idea. I think the notion of enchantments that trigger on things that happen in the game world has potential. I added a couple that do this in other ways.
Spell Name: Adaptive Shield
Is it Strategic or Tactical? Strategic
Arcane Knowledge required to acquire: 10
Mana required to cast: 10
Does it require any shards to be controlled? No
Spell Effect: Each time the protected creature is attacked during a combat, it gains some resistance to the form of attack used for the duration of the combat. It resets to doing nothing at the beginning of each combat.
What Spell Book would it be part of? Life
Notes : I have no idea how much resistance should be gained for this to be effective, and if physical attacks should be treated differently than magic attacks in terms of how much resistance is gained. Instead, or in addition, there could be a Mass Adaptive Shield Tactical spell that worked on all friendly units for one combat.
Spell Name: Sigil of Martyrdom
Is it Strategic or Tactical? either or both
Mana required to cast: 5
Spell Effect: Any enemy spells which would target a single target or square targets the creature with the Sigil instead.
Notes :
Spell Name: Living Missile
Is it Strategic or Tactical? Tactical
Mana required to cast: 4
Spell Effect: Target friendly creature next to the caster is hurled across the battlefield, potentially damaging an enemy creature. The creature ends up in the square next to the targeted enemy creature or at the maximum range of the spell if it didn't hit anything.
What Spell Book would it be part of? Combat?
Notes : the damage dealt could potentially be affected by the size and/or defense of the creature. The target friendly creature might take some part of the damage too.
Spell Name: Burrow
Arcane Knowledge required to acquire: 13
Does it require any shards to be controlled? Earth
Spell Effect: Target creature burrows into the earth. While burrowed they cannot be seen or targeted, however, they can move around the battlefield. At any point, they may end the spell and unburrow.
What Spell Book would it be part of? Earth
Spell Name: Teleport Building
Arcane Knowledge required to acquire: 11
Spell Effect: Teleport a building the caster is on to any empty tile in one of your cities.
What Spell Book would it be part of? Not sure, none of the ones in Spellbook 1.0 seem to work
Notes : I'm not sure how this would work with regard to teleporting enemy buildings. It might not be possible it might have to cost more to be balanced, or it might be a different spell. But it would be cool to steal an opponent's building.
Spell Name: Siphon Mana
Arcane Knowledge required to acquire: 20
Mana required to cast: 20
Spell Effect: All opponent's spells cost 10% more to cast. The caster gains that mana.
What Spell Book would it be part of? Enchantments?
Notes : Not sure if 10% is enough. It would definitely have to round .5 up..
Spell Name: Gaea's Revenge
Is it Strategic or Tactical? Gaea's Revenge
Arcane Knowledge required to acquire: 18
Mana required to cast: 15
Does it require any shards to be controlled? no
Spell Effect: Whenever a player casts a spell that changes something about the landscape (like raise land or volcano), a powerful nature spirit is summoned and attacks them.
What Spell Book would it be part of? Restoration?
Notes : another take on having something trigger on some other game action.
Spell Name: Increase Randomness
Arcane Knowledge required to acquire: ?
Mana required to cast: ?
Spell Effect: For the duration of combat, any time a percentage chance is calculated, is averaged with 50%.
Notes : I have no idea how powerful this would end up being so I can't even attempt to cost it.
is it possible we could implement swords/items that will unlock spells or other abilities in-combat that can be passed from person to person?
-
BOOM! -.-
I think those items are called relics
Everybody,
Please read Kryst's suggestion above. We really need to have very distinct spell books to make the various realms matter. Brad, please consider that.
Combat
I like combat spells that add tactical options and more indepth gameplay so that's what I'll be suggesting.
Some of this is copied from another of my posts... Some of it is original.
Walking Bomb- Create a humanoid of pure flame that can be moved and blows up when destroyed or at the casters will.
Tactical Spell
Knowledge = 15
Mana = 4
No Shard Requirement
Creates a temporary unit on the field that can be controlled and moved by the player. It doesn't attack but explodes dealing damage to all surrounding tiles. If it's destroyed before it reaches the enemy it will erupt possibly damaging allies.
Fire Spellbook
Note = Deals good damage for an AOE but can be dangerous if used unwisely due to an enemy having a chance to pop it before intended possibly causing unintended damage to allies.
Blazing Dash- Caster dashes forward in a straight line, dealing fire damage to any unit he passes. (Caster is capable of running through stacks with this spell, can be used to penetrate defensive lines)
Knowledge = 12
Mana = 3
A combination movement and attack spell that deals fire damage to any enemy unit you pass when using it... Deals minor damage but can be used to penetrate enemy line or flee when surrounded.
Note = Low damage for an attack spell, but when used intelligently can allow subsequent damage and outmaneuvering of an enemy.
Phoenix Flash - Casts only on self. When struck with a blow that would kill you, the caster is instead reduced to 1 HP and the attacker suffers massive damage possibly killing it outright.
Knowledge = 17
Mana = 8
Requires Fire Shard
A powerful offensive/defensive combo spell that allows the caster to escape death once while delivering retribution against the attacker with massive damage.
Note = A powerful spell, but with a subsequently high mana cost.
Sweltering Spellward - Cast upon enemy mage. From now on when casting spells he/she suffers a small amount of fire damage.
Knowledge = 16
Mana = 5
A useful spell for attempting to discourage enemy spellcasting. This spell deals fire damage on any enemy spellcaster it is placed upon. The damage dealt increases with each subsequent spell cast by the target. It can be dispelled but at a penalty.
Note = If the enemy is protected by Reflective spell shield when this is cast upon them the magic is rebounded and placed upon the caster instead.
Battle Ignition - All allied soldiers detonate upon death, harming all nearby allies or enemies.
Knowledge = 18
Mana = 7
A kamikaze type spell allowing the caster to transform all of his soldiers into potential explosives!
Note = Probably an Empire only spell? Deadly if used against a superior force with cheap expendable soldiers.
The Burning Dead - All corpses on the field ignite violently, causing fire damage to anything nearby.
Knowledge = 11
An attack spell that grows more powerful as more deaths accrue in battle, save it for the final attack!
Note = A useful spell for making the enemy pay for your losses... And theirs!
Heat Flash Nightmare - Cast on battlefield. Each turn all units on the field except the caster suffer from fire damage and have a chance to ignite, suffering further fire damage. If a unit dies from this they explode causing massive fire and crushing damage to those nearby.
Knowledge = 20
Mana = 15
A brutal spell causing the entire battlefield to boil with superheated energy, nothing will survive!
Note = A brutal spell, dispel it quickly or watch death feast.
Water Clones - Create 3 Water Clones of the caster, clones can move and attack but deal very little (1) damage if attacked the clones are destroyed and the attacker is poisoned.
Knowledge = 10
No Shard Required
A useful spell to summon weak water clones. They have poor defense and attack but poison anyone that destroys them.
Water Spellbook
Note = Can only have one Water clone spell active at a time.
Reflective Illusion - Casted upon a unit, when the unit is attacked the attack is negated and the attacker suffers half the attack damage and is poisoned (Only functions once per cast)
A defensive spell that rebukes attackers, only functions once per cast though.
Note = Cannot be dispelled, the Spell is used up even from weak attacks and deals no retributive damage when suffering 1 point of damage.
Iced Earth- Sprinkles (randomly) Ice patches on the Field. when moving if a unit touches or lands on an ice patch is moves in one random direction and stops losing all other action points for that turn.
Knowledge = 14
A field effect spell that plays havoc with enemy movement... Allowing for smaller more maneuverable forces to triumph over larger superior attackers.
Note = Cannot be dispelled, Fire attacks will negate the ice patches.
Body of Water - Converts the caster to a water form gaining complete immunity to fire and substantial defense to physical attacks. Electricity however causes massive damage. In this form physical attacks by the caster are weakened.
Requires Water Shard
A defensive spell that reduces all physical damage suffered by the caster by 75% after defense is calculated. While in this state fire has no effect and the casters physical attack is halved. However, lightning and electrical spells deal 3x normal damage. Possibly killing the caster outright.
Note = Electrical attacks = Death in this state, very useful against pyromancers however.
Reflective Spell Shield - Cast on a unit, any offensive spell cast upon that unit will cause a slightly less powerful water attack spell to attack the offender.
No shard requirement
A defensive/offensive spell that automatically retaliates against enemy spellcasting at no extra cost, making the subject of this spell an undesirable target for enemy spellcasters.
Note = Can be dispelled but when dispelled the dispeller suffers moderate cold damage.
Perfect Reflection - Creates a perfect duplicate of the caster that can cast spells/attack etc. The maximum mana is split between the two. If the original is killed the reflection becomes the original, if the reflection is killed the killer is poisoned. (This is a high level spell obviously requiring several ice/water shards)
Knowledge = 22
Mana = 10
Requires 2 Water Shards
An incredibly powerful spell that essentially doubles the caster.
Note = Double your pleasure, Double your fun
Lighting Movement - Caster gains lightning movement, can move instantly to any square for 2-3 turns, anyone near a square he portals to suffers lightning damage.
Tactical
Mana = 6
An offensive/movement spell that allows the caster to teleport to any point on the battlefield dealing very minor electrical damage to all surrounding enemies.
Air Spellbook
Note = Can be dangerous if used irresponsibly (Don't jump into the middle of that horde of ogres... It's just not good for your health.)
Storm Front - Caster creates a thunder cloud over the battlefield that for X turns randomly applies one of 3 effects to an enemy.
1- Lightning strike, unit takes moderate lightning damage.
2- Tearing Wind, unit loses all movement for one turn and suffers very light slashing damage.
3- Hail, unit suffers light crushing damage and a slight reduction to Atk
(Again a pretty high level spell)
Knowledge = 19
Mana = 9
Requires Air Shard
A field spell that plays havoc with the enemy reducing their fighting capabilities in a variety of ways or just killing them outright.
Note = Powerful spell, deadly if not dispelled.
Wind Blast - Caster fire a blast of wind, has two functions depending on whether the target is an enemy or ally. For enemies is knocks them back and they suffer moderate crushing damage, for allies it gives them a one time boost to movement and attack speed.
No shard Requirement
An Offensive/Support spell that can be used on enemies to knock them back or on allies to boost their speed for a turn.
Note = Useful for attack or for allied support!
Shocking Retribution - Cast on the field, whenever a unit dies his killer suffers double the damage of the fatal blow in electricity damage.
An offensive field spell that effects ally and enemy alike, if used intelligently it could turn the tide of a close battle.
Note = Use intelligently.
Gale Buffer - Creates a realm of hyper condensed wind on each square around the caster, while active (2 turns) anyone who enters is knocked back and suffers light crushing damage and all projectiles are deflected. Projectile spells are reflected, direct effect spells can break through however.
A very powerful defensive spell rendering most attacks completely useless and violently repelling would-be melee attackers. Great for setting up a strong position.
Note = Think of some spell Combos!
The Blessed Wind - Causes all units to regenerate health and increases their defense for 3 turns.
Knowledge = 24
Mana = 11
Requires 2 Air Shards
A deadly potent defensive field spell. Increases defense of all units while simultaneously restoring lost health.
Immortal Stone - Makes the caster impervious to all attacks physical or elemental for 3 turns, however he cannot move and suffers a speed penalty after the spell wears off.
A defensive spell that grants invulnerability for a time. Useful for squishy mages when the enemy gets uncomfortably close.
Earth Spellbook
Note = Absolute Defense!
Clay Spears - Caster can hide 4 clay spears as traps on the field, when units walk over the trapped locations the spears jab upwards doing high piercing damage.
A trap spell that sets 4 trapped squares on the field, when walked upon by the enemy they are impaled by clay spears, dealing good piercing damage and losing one turn.
Note = Traps Heheheh.
Trembling Earth - Causes the battlefield to shake violently, all ground units are incapable of movement for the duration.
Mana = 3 per turn
Requires Earth Shard
A spell that stunts enemy and ally movement, attacks are still possible however.
Note = Tremor.
Rebirth of Gaea - The caster shields himself with impervious stone, making him immune to all damage. While this spell lasts he cannot move, attack, nor cast spells, but he regenerates life.
A defense/healing spell that allows the caster to restore himself for continued confrontation right in the heat of battle!
Note = We all need a break sometimes.
(High level defensive spell. High mana costs.)
The Spurned Earth - High level earth spell, causes multiple effects.
1 - The Earth trembles reducing movement to zero
2 - Spikes penetrate the ground impaling enemies for high piercing damage.
3 - Pits open consuming entire units... Enemy or Ally.
Requires 2 Earth Shards
A field spell that destroys unmercifully... The very earth becomes your weapon.
Note = Dispel or die.
The Eye of Voshrynn - A spell used to see that which cannot normally be seen.
Tactical or Strategic
Allows the player to see traps or invisible/stealthed units.
Enchantment Spellbook
Note = Necessary for those sneaky players.
Hidden Hand - A spell that allows the caster to cloak himself temporarily.
Player cloaks his Sovereign and ONLY his Sovereign from view by natural sources for 3 turns. This spell is broken if the Sovereign casts or attacks.
Note = Stealth Op.
Summon Arc Razor - Caster summons a reasonably strong magic sword that he/she may wield for a short time.
Knowledge = 13
Sword is summoned for 3 strategic turns or 1 tactical battle whichever comes first. Sword has an attack of 5 a + 1 to Speed and has a chance to lower an enemies Defense on a successful hit.
Summoning Spellbook
Note = The business end of a nice blade.
Invigoration - Caster can invigorate one chosen target continually feeding the target magical energy in return for heightened attack, speed and regeneration.
Mana = 2 per turn
Target regenerates 1 HP each turn and gains +3 base atk and + 1 Spd bonus while the spell is maintained.
Restoration Spellbook
Note = Give'em a pat on the back.
Hazardous Severing - Caster rends an enchantment violently, sending a shockwave of magic back to the caster of the enchantment.
Tactical or Strategic.
Destroy the enchantment and harm the caster... Two birds, one stone.
Ruin Spellbook
Note = The spell can resist being severed. The difficulty is a conflict between the magic power of the enchantments caster and the caster of this spell.
Heightened Reflexes - Caster uses magic to supernaturally enhance his motor-skills.
Grants a + 2 Base bonus to Atk and Def Also adds 1 to spd.
Combat Spellbook
Note = Uses and Enchantment Slot
Dire Command - Caster utters a foul command that forces the target to obey.
Chance of taking control of enemy unit in battle. Chance = Intx4 - Units individual battle rating. Minimum of 10% chance.
Death Spellbook
Awakening - Caster taps into the full potential of his being.
Strategic
Knowledge = 25
Mana = 20
Requires Fire, Ice, Earth and Air shard
Increases all Caster Statistics by 10 permanently also increases speed and movement by 1 permanently.
Mastery Spellbook
Note: Can only be cast once.
I'm sure I could think of more but I'd be doing a disservice to others if I made this list any longer.
To expand on this, we could have four horsemen NPC's come out. They are hostile to everyone, and just create havoc (destroying improvements, razing cities, attacking everything in their path). Good idea though.
I'm terrible at balancing, so these requirements are probably ridiculous.
Book of Ice:
1.Wrath of Heaven
2.Stratergic
3.Arcane Knowledge : 200~300
4.Mana Required to Cast : All for Huge Map, 90% for Large.....etc
5.Life,Earth,Water
6.All sovereigns have 40 turns to build an Ark...and store up to 20 units in it(No limit to population). (Flying units are exempt) And then the world is flooded, the sovereigns then have to wait for 10 turns until they can begin creating land again.
7.Spell Book Mastery
8.All units that weren't on the ark are considered dead except for flying/amphibious units. Then the world begins anew.
We saw city Enchantment spells in Beta 2B which added a bonus to production or research. AFAIK these have now been toned down and do not stack (presumably, this means only 1 instance of each spell can be applied to each city).
I was captivated by something Brad mentioned in a previous dev journal (circa Beta 2), that magic would allow an alternative path to the traditional harvest/mine/build in every other 4X game. I don't think we truly saw such a complete alternative in beta 2B and things have moved on anyway, I still have that idea in my mind that Magic should be a commodity as much as a weapon. I'm also keen on the idea of magic as an optimising improvement -to complement the more traditional farming, wood cutting etc.
My suggestion is therefore to have 2 extra categories of spells, optimising "enchantements" -such as in Beta2B, and resource extracting/processing building equivalents.
A couple of examples to better illustrate what I mean:
The above could be modified to include all other food production buildings, or customised for each one. Some balance would need to be struck here between the player making decuisions to improve their production and avoiding a descent into micro management. Perhaps a single spell, cast to cover all farms would be better? The mana cost for upkeep could be scallable for the number of farms (and increase as new ones are built)
This spell is effectively an extention of the "create forest" and "fertilise land" spells.
World spells, that cost an upkeep in spell points/turn to be in effect
examples:
Overall improved prestige in cities
Faster production rates in cities
More experience gained after battles
More influence (diplomacy) towards other factions
Overall higher morale for your troops
These spells could also cause bad things for your opponents, and you would have to have the ability to "switch them off" if you so wish.
Stasis
AK req: 12
Mana: 2 + 1 mana per turn effect is maintained
Shards: None
Effect: Target is immobilized and immune to all for duration of spell
Book: Combat
Notes: Target is shifted out of phase with our dimension, rendering it unable to perform any actions, but invulnerable to all. Spell effect lasts until released by caster, caster runs out of magic, or caster dies or leaves battlefield. If target is hostile magic user, spell must pass check for chance of escape using caster versus target intelligence each round; if spell fails check, it is broken, allowing target to escape. Spell cannot target extradimensional or phantasmal beings.
New spellbook proposal: Transformation
Contains spells dealing with the transformation of things from one form to another.
Spell class: Lesser alchemy
AK req: 16
Mana: 1 + 1 per 10 units transmuted
Shards: Yes, varying depending on what you are creating through the transmutation
Effect: Any game resource can be converted to any other game resource currently available to you (so you can't create something you don't have any of already), with a 25% loss (so 10 food would become 7.5 gold, for instance).
Book: Tranformation
Spell class: Greater alchemy
AK req: 18
Mana: 3 + 1 per 20 units transmuted
Effect: Same as Lesser alchemy, but without the 25% wastage.
Book: Transformation
Spell class: Minor transmogrification
AK req: 10
Mana: 2
Shards: No
Effect: Transforms target unit into a random natural creature (so fallen-type creatures are OK, but creatures of pure magic or another dimension are not) for the duration of combat or until dispelled.
Notes: If targets hostile magic user, must pass check for random chance of breaking each round comparing caster and target intelligence. Possible creatures that target may become are based on caster intelligence, with higher level creatures available for more intelligent casters. May not target self.
Spell class: Major transmogrification
AK req: 15
Mana: 15
Shards: Earth
Effect: Permanently transforms friendly target unit into a random natural creature.
Notes: Cannot be dispelled, but may be cast multiple times on same target. Possible pool of creatures that may be created are based on caster intelligence. May not target self.
Spell class: Shapeshifting
Mana: 15, uses enchantment slot
Shards: Earth, Water
Effect: Transforms caster into a natural creature of his or her choice.
Notes: May be dispelled. Caster takes on the attributes of the creature he or she becomes, but loses any bonuses from equipment while shifted. Caster retains magical abilities while shifted.
Agreed x100. But this will almost certainly fall on deaf ears. SD is proud of their AI. One way to help the AI is by making spell books
almost all the same, so it's easier to program the AI. If all spell books have the same mix of spells, once you figure out how to play denetly for one book, the
ai can play the same regardless of book.
I with the general principle that spellbooks should be very different from one another.
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