Master of Magic Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Colossus
Summon Colossus
Realm Icon NatureNature
Spell Properties
Spell Rarity Very Rare
Casting Cost Icon Mana 800
Upkeep Cost Icon Mana 17 per turn
Research Cost Icon Research 3,500
Unit Properties
# of Figures Icon SingleFigureUnit 1
Moves Icon Movement Ground2
Melee Attack per figure Icon Melee Normal 20
Ranged Attack per figure Icon Ranged Boulder 20
Defense per figure Icon Defense 10
Resistance Icon Resist 15
Hit Points per figure Icon Hits 30
Unit Abilities

Ability Quiver Ranged Attack x2

Ability ToHit +30% To Hit

Ability WallCrusher Wall Crusher

Ability PoisonImmunity Poison Immunity

Ability StoningImmunity Stoning Immunity

Ability FirstStrike First Strike
Tactical Colossus

The Colossus is a type of Fantastic Unit featured in Master of Magic. It is summoned using the Icon NatureNature Summoning Spell of the same name. Packing a powerful punch in both Icon Melee Normal Melee Attacks and Icon Ranged Boulder Ranged Attacks, the Colossus can trample over large armies with ease. It possesses a wide range of combat abilities, including primarily Ability FirstStrike First Strike and a Icon ToHit +30% To Hit bonus, the combination of which enable it to take out the enemy's most powerful units in one-on-one combat.

The Fantastic Unit[]

Physical Description[]

A Colossus is a gigantic humanoid, many times larger than an adult human. Its true nature is hard to discern, as it is clad from head to toe in shining golden armor, capped with a large and imposing helmet.

The Colossus is a Icon SingleFigureUnit Single-Figure Unit.

Attack Properties[]

The Colossus is an extremely potent warrior. It possesses both a Melee Attack and a Ranged Attack, and both are powerful enough to wipe the floor with its enemies. The Colossus's Melee Attack has a strength of Icon Melee Normal 20. The amazing Icon ToHit +30% To Hit bonus allows it to deliver around Icon Damage 12 points of Icon Damage damage with each attack, on average. This is then coupled with a Ability FirstStrike First Strike ability, allowing the Colossus to destroy its enemies before they can fight back.

Even before it reaches its target, the Colossus can lob massive boulders at its enemies, a Ranged Boulder Attack with a power of Icon Ranged Boulder 20. Like the Melee Attack described above, this enjoys a Icon ToHit +30% bonus, which means the Colossus is extremely dangerous even at a distance. It can launch up to two boulders in each battle this way.

Both attacks enjoy the benefits of the Ability WallCrusher Wall Crusher ability. The Colossus can target individual City Wall sections, and has a 25% chance of destroying them with its Ranged Attacks, or 50% with the Melee ones. In either case, if an enemy unit is standing adjacent to and inside the targeted wall section, the attack will target both the wall and the enemy unit. Any wall section destroyed by this attack will remain in ruins for the rest of the battle – but will be fully repaired when the next siege begins.

Defensive Properties[]

Thanks to its thick armor, the Colossus has one of the highest natural Defense ratings of any unit, at Icon Defense 10. This allows it to block around Icon Damage 3 points of Conventional Damage each time it is attacked, which should be enough to prevent practically all damage from enemy low-tier or even mid-tier units. However, by the time a Colossus enters play, the enemy will usually also be able to field its own high-tier units that will have little trouble dishing Icon Damage damage even through this much armor. So while a Colossus can survive protracted battles against weaker units and remain mostly unharmed, it is still in danger when fighting units of its own tier.

Fortunately, the Colossus has a large pool of Hit Points, at Icon Hits 30, which will help it last longer in combat against strong opponents. Again, the Ability FirstStrike First Strike ability can be used to destroy the enemy before it even has a chance to retaliate, thus protecting the Colossus from harm.

Finally, the Colossus is almost entirely immune to Unit Curses and other ill effects, thanks to its exceptionally-high Resistance rating of Icon Resist 15. This includes virtually all Special Attacks. None but the most powerful maledictions stand any chance of affecting the Colossus, so spells against it should be limited to direct-damage, or ones that simply cannot be resisted at all.

The Colossus also possesses both Ability PoisonImmunity Poison Immunity and Ability StoningImmunity Stoning Immunity, rendering it completely impervious to Poison Damage and Stoning Damage, respectively. Of course, due to its incredibly-high Icon Resist Resistance score, these immunities are mostly redundant – but may come in handy if the Colossus' Resistance score is ever reduced somehow by the enemy.

Other Properties[]

Thanks to its great stride-length, the Colossus can move at a rate of Icon Movement Ground2 both in and out of combat. This allows it to rapidly cover the distance towards its enemy, rendering it less vulnerable to Ranged Attacks.

Basic Tactics[]

Tactically speaking, there is little that can stop a Colossus when it's rampaging across the battlefield. In fact, even its initial Ranged Attacks can easily cripple or destroy most low- or mid-tier units. It usually starts combat by using these Ranged Attacks against the most dangerous target on the battlefield, to weaken it before closing in for the kill. If the enemy is using its own Ranged Attackers, the Colossus may spend its ammo destroying at least one of them as soon as possible.

If facing highly-armored Ranged Attackers, the Colossus may need to close the distance before launching its Ranged Attacks. This minimizes the Icon ToHit To Hit range penalties, ensuring that the Colossus has the best chance of damaging such units before engaging in Melee.

Generally, the Colossus is best used for destroying high-level enemy targets, especially if it gets to use its Ability FirstStrike First Strike ability to take them out before they can retaliate. It is not uncommon to see a Colossus rushing into and killing a Champion outright.

Enemy Colossi[]

Colossi are only rarely encountered as neutral monsters, and will often appear in only one or two locations across the entire overland map, if at all. They may be accompanied by all sorts of smaller Icon NatureNature creatures when they do appear.

The best way to dispatch a Colossus is to attack it with powerful Ranged Attacks and direct-damage spells. Even then however, an army may need several Ranged Attackers concentrating their fire on the Colossus to bring it down quickly enough – before it can close the distance and annihilate those units in hand-to-hand combat. For the first two rounds of combat, the creature will likely also be returning fire, and may easily kill the least-defended units. The only practical way to avoid this is through the use of Ability Invisibility Invisibility, whether natural or enchanted.

Barring access to strong Ranged Attackers, a powerful (and very-well Icon Defense Armored) Melee Attacker (and preferably several) could be used instead, since the Colossus will deal heavy damage in retaliation. Maneuvering in a way that prevents the creature from utilizing its Ability FirstStrike First Strike can be very important here; otherwise, it may end up destroying the attackers before they can do any damage to it. Special Attacks are often entirely useless against Colossi – although those that deal Conventional Damage may still be able to chip away at its health. Ability ArmorPiercing Armor Piercing attacks and Illusion Damage are especially potent against this creature.

Weaker units may find that they cannot hurt a Colossus at all. Ganging up on even a single one with masses of low- or mid-tier units is often entirely futile.

Ability Overview[]

Ability Quiver Ranged Attack x2[]

  • This unit may use a Icon Ranged Boulder Ranged Attack instead of a Melee Attack twice in each battle. Once the unit's ammo is expended, it must resort to Melee Attacks.

Ability ToHit +30% To Hit[]

  • This unit has an extra Icon ToHit 30% chance to hit its target with every die of its Attack Rolls. This improves its statistical chance to inflict more Icon Damage Damage with each attack it makes.

Ability WallCrusher Wall Crusher[]

  • When besieging a Town, this unit can target map tiles with intact City Wall segments as if there were enemy units on those tiles.
  • Any attack made by this unit against a tile – or an enemy on a tile – with an intact wall segment has a chance of destroying the wall segment on that tile for the remainder of combat. This chance is 50% if the unit is adjacent to the tile, or 25% otherwise and, if an enemy is also hit, is rolled after resolving the attack against that enemy.

Ability PoisonImmunity Poison Immunity[]

  • This unit cannot be hurt by Poison Damage. It will automatically pass any Icon Resist Resistance roll to avert such damage.

Ability StoningImmunity Stoning Immunity[]

  • This unit cannot be petrified by Stoning Damage. It will automatically pass any Icon Resist Resistance roll to avert such damage.

Ability FirstStrike First Strike[]

The Summoning Spell[]

Usage[]

Colossus may only be cast overland, for the base Casting Cost of Icon Mana 800. Upon successfully casting the spell, the new Colossus unit will appear in the Town currently containing the Wizard's Summoning Circle, with full Movement Allowance, and may move and/or attack immediately as necessary.

To keep the Colossus in play, its controller is required to pay an Upkeep Cost of Icon Mana 17 per turn. This is drawn automatically from the caster's Icon Mana Mana pool at the beginning of each turn while the unit exists. Failure to pay this Upkeep due to lack of Icon Mana Mana will lead to the Colossus immediately disappearing, along with any Unit Enchantments currently affecting it. However, this upkeep is for the unit, not for the spell: Summoning Spells can not be dispelled by the enemy once cast.

Naturally though, if the unit is destroyed, then it is gone from the world entirely, and there is no further need to pay its Upkeep Cost. Units summoned on the overland map may also be dismissed manually from their unit statistics window the same way as any other overland unit (during their controller's turn, while not in combat).

Acquisition[]

As a Very Rare Spell of the Icon NatureNature Realm, Colossus may become available to any Wizard who acquires at least Icon Nature3 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 Colossus to be researchable (at some point) in the campaign is roughly 10% (with Icon Nature3 books), which gradually increases with the amount of Icon NatureNature Spellbooks possessed or found during gameplay. With Icon Nature10 or more, the spell is certain to show up sooner or later, unless acquired from another source. It has a Research Cost of Icon Research 3,500, although its research is quicker for Wizards possessing the Sage Master, Conjurer, and/or Nature Mastery Retorts; or a bookshelf containing Icon Nature8 or more.

Colossus may not be acquired at the start of the game, regardless of the amount of Icon NatureNature 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 Colossus to be researched with only Icon Nature2 books despite its Rarity. This can happen if, and only if, the second Icon NatureNature 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.

Advertisement