- This article is about the hero ability called "Arcane Power". For the magical realm of a similar name, see Arcane.
Arcane Power is one of the 14 Hero Abilities available in Master of Magic.
The Arcane Power ability has two levels: "Basic" and "Super". A Hero possessing Basic Arcane Power receives +1 Magical Ranged Attack strength with each Experience Level he/she has, including the first level. A Hero possessing Super Arcane Power gains +1.5 per level instead, rounded down.
This bonus applies only to the Hero's Magical Ranged Attack. A few Heroes who can acquire Arcane Power have no such attack available, in which case this ability is useless for them.
4 Heroes (of which 3 are Champions) possess Arcane Power by default. These Heroes all possess Basic Arcane Power, but 3 of them may occasionally upgrade it to Super Arcane Power thanks to Random Abilities.
10 other Heroes may select Arcane Power or even Super Arcane Power as one of their Random Abilities. However again, some of these Heroes have no use for the Arcane Power ability at all.
Description[]
Many units in the game have the ability to channel magical energy directly into a simple, destructive force. They unleash this force as a projectile, in what is referred to as a Magical Ranged Attack. Several Heroes in the game have learned to hone this skill, and are thus capable of channeling much more energy than others - resulting in extremely deadly projectiles. This skill improves with the Hero's Experience, becoming more and more dangerous over time. By the end of a Hero's development, he/she might be able to devastate entire enemy units from a safe distance.
Effect[]
The purpose of the Arcane Power ability is to increase the Magical Ranged Attack strength of a Hero by a certain amount. The bonuses applied by Arcane Power depend on the Hero's level, as well as on which version of this ability the Hero possesses. "Super" Arcane Power provides a 50% greater benefit than the "Basic" version.
The bonus applies only to Magical Ranged Attacks. As a result, a Hero possessing such an attack will become much stronger thanks to Arcane Power, especially as more and more Experience is accumulated.
Basic Arcane Power[]
A Hero with "Basic" Arcane Power receives exactly +1 Magical Ranged Attack strength 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 Arcane Power[]
A Hero with "Super" Arcane Power receives +1.5 Magical Ranged Attack strength 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 fracture 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 Arcane Power ability gives at each Experience Level. Note that bonuses from Super Arcane Power 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 Arcane Power[]
There are exactly 4 Heroes in the game that possess Arcane Power in each and every game you play. They are:
Elana the Priestess
Malleus the Magician
Ravashack the Necromancer
Warrax the Chaos Warrior
Of these, Malleus is the only non-Champion.
Note that all 4 Heroes above possess a Magical Ranged Attack by default, which means that Arcane Power is useful for all of them.
Arcane Power as a Random Ability[]
Some Heroes may occasionally acquire Arcane Power as one of their Random Abilities. Some, including those who possess Arcane Power by default, may even acquire Super Arcane Power this way.
The Arcane Power ability belongs to both the "Any" and "Mage" categories. Any Hero with at least one pick from either category may occasionally choose Arcane Power. There are 13 Heroes in the game with access to these categories, and can gain either Arcane Power or Super Arcane Power 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 Arcane Power, he/she must spend 2 picks if he/she does not already possess Arcane Power by default, but only 1 pick if he/she does already possess the "Basic" ability by default.
Useless Arcane Power[]
Both Alorra the Elven Archer and Torin the Chosen may select Arcane Power (or even Super Arcane Power) as one of their Random Abilities. However, both Heroes have absolutely no use for this ability, and do not benefit from it in any way.
This is because neither Hero possesses a Magical Ranged Attack. Arcane Power only improves that attack, and only when the Hero has such an attack by default. Torin has no Ranged Attack or any kind, while Alorra has a Ranged Missile Attack.
If these Heroes end up with Arcane Power, that is simply a misfortune, as it means they did not pick another ability which would've been more helpful. It doesn't occur often for either, but is still a shame when it does. Note of course that both of these are still Champions, and still very dangerous even without a good ability pick - but their potential is much higher if they do pick better Random Abilities.