Agility is one of the 14 Hero Abilities available in Master of Magic.
Agility has two levels: "Basic" and "Super". A Hero possessing Basic Agility receives +1 Defense with each Experience Level he/she has, including the first level. A Hero possessing Super Agility gains +1.5 per level instead, rounded down.
Only 2 Heroes (both of which non-Champions) possess Agility by default. One has "Basic" Agility, while the other has "Super" Agility.
17 other Heroes may select Agility or even Super Agility as one of their Random Abilities.
Description[]
A beginner to the game may consider a Hero's attack strength as his/her most important property, but during gameplay this can prove very false. Heroes that are incapable of surviving battle against powerful enemies may be useless regardless of how hard they hit. Having skill with defensive maneuvers is often much more important: a Hero who can survive heavy combat can land many blows, no matter how weak, upon the enemy.
Therefore, Agility is considered one of the best possible abilities that a Hero can have. Reduction of incoming damage thanks to added Defense is invaluable, and extremely high bonuses from Agility can render a Hero almost impervious to direct damage. This reduces reliance on high Health and on post-battle healing as well.
Effect[]
The purpose of Agility is to increase the Defense score of a Hero by a certain amount. The bonuses applied by Agility depend on the Hero's level, as well as on which version of this ability the Hero possesses. "Super" Agility provides a 50% greater benefit than the "Basic" version.
Basic Agility[]
A Hero with "Basic" Agility receives exactly +1 Defense for each Experience Level he or she has. This includes the first Experience level, so the Hero will always have at least +1 by default.
By the time the Hero reaches Experience Level 9 ("Demi-God"), he/she receives a total of +9 from this ability.
Super Agility[]
A Hero with "Super" Agility receives +1.5 Defense for each Experience Level he or she has. This includes the first Experience level, so the Hero will always have at least +1.5 by default.
Note that after calculating the total bonus, any remaining 0.5 fraction is rounded down and ignored.
By the time the Hero reaches Experience Level 9 ("Demi-God"), he/she receives a total of +13.5 from this ability, which is rounded down to +13.
Improvement Table[]
The table below shows exactly how much benefit the Agility ability gives at each Experience Level. Note that bonuses from Super Agility have been rounded down as they would be in-game:
Level Icon | Level name | EP | Basic | Super |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hero | 0 - 19 | +1 | +1 | |
Myrmidon | 20 - 59 | +2 | +3 | |
Captain | 60 - 119 | +3 | +4 | |
Commander | 120 - 199 | +4 | +6 | |
Champion | 200 - 299 | +5 | +7 | |
Lord | 300 - 449 | +6 | +9 | |
Grand Lord | 450 - 599 | +7 | +10 | |
Super Hero | 600 - 999 | +8 | +12 | |
Demi-God | 1,000 | +9 | +13 |
Heroes with Default Agility[]
There are exactly 2 Heroes in the game that possess Agility in each and every game you play. They are:
Taki the War Monk
Theria the Thief
Both are non-Champions. Taki has the advantage here, as he possesses Super Agility by default. Theria only has "Basic" Agility, and cannot upgrade it.
Agility as a Random Ability[]
Some Heroes may occasionally acquire Agility as one of their Random Abilities. Some, including those who possess Agility by default, may even acquire Super Agility this way.
The Agility ability belongs to both the "Any" and "Fighter" categories. Any Hero with at least one pick from either category may occasionally choose Agility. There are 17 Heroes in the game with access to these categories, and can gain either Agility or Super Agility as a result:
Remember that Random Abilities are determined at the start of the campaign, and will not change during the game. However, a Hero may select different Random Abilities for the next campaign.
For a Hero to gain Super Agility, he/she must spend 2 picks if he/she does not already possess Agility by default, but only 1 pick if he/she does already possess the "Basic" ability by default. That is why some Heroes do not have access to the "Super" version - they only get 1 pick!