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Unit Statistics Window

The unit statistics window displays all of a unit's attributes, and allows enchantments or the entire unit to be dismissed out of combat.

Defense, or Icon Defense Armor, is a unit property indicated by a row of Icon Defense Shield icons in the unit statistics window. It signifies the unit's ability to block or reduce incoming Conventional Damage, such as caused by most Icon Melee Normal Melee Attacks, Ranged Attacks, and a variety of offensive spells. Each point of Icon Defense Defense has a base chance of Icon ToBlock 30% to block a point of the incoming raw Icon Damage damage, although a few effects may increase or reduce this chance.

Concept[]

A unit's Icon Defense Defense score indicates its ability to block, dodge or otherwise avert incoming damage. Both armor and agility are factored into this score, so both nimble and well-armored targets may have a high Icon Defense Defense score. Naturally, in a world filled with magic, enchantments and Magical Items can also further enhance one's ability to defend themselves.

Conventional Damage[]

Main article: Conventional Damage

Conventional Damage is the most common Damage Type in the game, and is dealt by Melee Attacks, Ranged Attacks, and Icon Ranged Magic direct damage spells like Icon NatureIce Bolt or Icon ChaosFire Bolt. Other sources include Icon Thrown Thrown Attacks, Icon Breath Breath Attacks, and occasionally a few others.

Conventional Damage is distinguishable from other types of damage because it forces the attacker to make an Attack Roll in order to determine the accuracy of the attack. This is done using a number of 10-sided dice equal to the Attack Strength. Each successful roll registers one "hit" on the target, and will potentially cause Icon Damage 1 point of Icon Damage damage if it goes unblocked.

Fortunately, Conventional Damage also allows the defender to make a Defense Roll, in an attempt to block, dodge or otherwise avert any successful hits from the attacker. This is also done using 10-sided dice, this time equal to the Icon Defense Defense score. However, each successful roll made by the defender will avert only Icon Damage 1 point of Icon Damage damage, so a unit requires a high Defense score to completely block any powerful or particularly-successful attack.

Defense Rolls[]

Main article: Defense Roll

As noted above, each Icon Defense Shield allows the target unit to make a single roll which - if successful - will avert Icon Damage 1 point of Icon Damage damage to the unit. Therefore, a unit with Icon Defense 10 may use 10 separate dice - potentially averting up to Icon Damage 10. However, due to the random nature of these rolls, it is more likely that the unit will block somewhere between Icon Damage 0 and Icon Damage 10.

A unit's chance of success with each die is called the chance Icon ToBlock "To Block". By default, it is exactly Icon ToBlock 30%, and only a scant few effects can alter it. For each die, the program randomizes a number between 1 and 10. If it comes up equal to or higher than 8, the roll is considered "successful" and will block Icon Damage 1. If the roll comes up lower than 8, that particular roll is failed and will not block Icon Damage damage.

Example[]

During a Physical Damage attack, the attacker registers 10 successful hits, or "raw" Icon Damage damage on some target. If no Defense Roll was allowed, that target would suffer exactly Icon Damage 10. Assuming that no special conditions apply however, the normal rules of Conventional Damage allow the target unit to make a Defense Roll. This particular target possesses a Defense score of Icon Defense 10, and has no modifiers to its Icon ToBlock Block chance.
The target therefore rolls 10 random numbers, each between 1 and 10. Any roll that comes up 8 or higher will negate exactly one hit. If, for example, three rolls are successful, then the number of incoming hits is reduced by 3. Therefore, the target will only suffer 10 - 3 = Icon Damage 7 points of Icon Damage damage.
If all 10 rolls are successful, the target unit suffers no damage - having averted all hits! Conversely, if all 10 rolls fail, the target will suffer all 10 hits, translated into Icon Damage 10 points of Icon Damage damage, the exact same result as if the Defense Roll was not made at all.

Multi-Figure Unit Defense[]

A Icon MultiFigureUnit Multi-Figure unit may be able to make more Defense Rolls against a single attack. This occurs only when one of the Icon Figure figures in the unit is killed off during an attack - allowing the next Icon Figure figure to step up and make a whole new series of rolls.

The process goes as follows:

  1. The attacker makes the Attack Roll to determine its accuracy, resulting in a number of hits registered against the target unit, also called "raw", or unmitigated Icon Damage damage.
  2. The first Icon Figure figure in the target unit makes a Defense Roll using an amount of dice equal to the number of Icon Defense Shields possessed by the unit.
  3. Any Icon Damage damage that has not been averted will hurt this specific Icon Figure figure.
  4. If sufficient Icon Damage damage has been caused to this Icon Figure figure, it will die. The next Icon Figure figure then becomes the first one, and can try to avert the remainder of the Icon Damage damage.
  5. This new first Icon Figure figure now makes a new Defense Roll, again using an amount of dice equal to the number of Icon Defense Shields possessed by the unit.
  6. Any Icon Damage damage that has not been averted will now hurt this specific Icon Figure figure.
  7. And so on and so on, until all remaining Icon Damage damage has either been applied or averted.

In short: with each Icon Figure figure it loses, the unit can make more and more Icon ToBlock Defense Rolls, repeatedly reducing the incoming Icon Damage damage.

The common result of this process is that Icon MultiFigureUnit Multi-Figure units are significantly more durable than their Icon Defense Defense score might indicate. They can be quite hard to kill using a single, powerful attack - often requiring several attacks to destroy the entire unit. This gives them great survivability comparable to heavily-armored Icon SingleFigureUnit Single-Figure units. Of course, the caveat is that with each Icon Figure figure the unit loses, it also becomes much weaker offensively. This means that while the unit is more survivable, just a few lost Icon Figure figures can make it ineffective. It might survive overall, but will no longer contribute as much to the battle.

Confusingly, the game uses two different mechanics to determine when the first Icon Figure figure has taken "enough damage" to be slain for the purpose of proceeding with the next Defense Roll. Unit attacks, such as Melee- or Ranged Attacks, are always considered to be directed at a healthy Icon Figure figure, meaning that the second Icon Figure figure's roll can commence only after a Icon Figure figure's full Icon Hits Hit Points' worth of Icon Damage damage has been recorded by the unit. This is true even if the unit no longer has such a Icon Figure figure.

On the other hand, Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage allows for a second Defense Roll as soon as the unit has taken enough Icon Damage damage to destroy the actual "top figure", whose current Icon Hits Hit Points and Icon Damage damage are visible in the unit statistics window. This makes direct damage spells somewhat less effective against Icon MultiFigureUnit Multi-Figure Units with an injured "top figure", especially if the target unit has a high Icon Defense Defense score.

In any case though, the rules converge after the second roll, so a third or any subsequent Defense Rolls will always happen after recording an amount of Icon Damage damage equal to the defending unit's Icon Hits Hits per Icon Figure figure value - the maximum Icon Hits Hit Points of a single Icon Figure figure. It's worth noting though, that these mechanics remain in place even if a unit gets destroyed in the process. In fact, they even extend to Icon SingleFigureUnit Single-Figure Units. They also get to make further Defense Rolls against excessive amounts of Icon Damage damage the exact same way, even if they are technically already slain by that point. However, this fact can only ever become relevant for units that have recorded Irreversible- or "Create Undead" Damage Points, as it may alter the resolution of their effects. In all other scenarios, "overkill" Icon Damage damage will have no practical effect.

Example[]

A High Men Cavalry unit is being attacked. Lets assume that this unit is undamaged, meaning that it still has all Icon MultiFigureUnit 4 figures present. Each Icon Figure figure in this unit has Icon Hits 3 Hit Points. The unit's Defense score is Icon Defense 2.
The attacker gets 7 successes on the Attack Roll, scoring a total of 7 hits. Potentially, this should cause Icon Damage 7 to the High Men Cavalry, killing two of the Cavalrymen and slightly injuring another one.
The "lead" Icon Figure figure in the High Men Cavalry unit makes its Icon ToBlock Defense Roll. Since the unit has a Defense score of Icon Defense 2, this cavalryman may roll 2 separate dice. Each roll has a Icon ToBlock 30% chance to avert one hit.
The cavalryman rolls two numbers: 9 and 2. Only one of these rolls is higher than or equal to 8, so we can say that the cavalryman achieved one success on its Defense Roll. This means that the number of inflicted hits is reduced to 7 - 1 = 6.
Since the poor cavalryman only has Icon Hits 3, Icon Damage 3 Damage points are inflicted on him, killing him on the spot. The next cavalryman then steps up, ready to absorb the remaining Icon Damage 3.
This next cavalryman then gets to roll 2 Defense dice of his own! He rolls better than the previous man: 8 and 10. Both of these rolls are equal to or higher than 8, so he can be said to have made two successes on his Defense Roll, blocking exactly Icon Damage 2 of the remaining Damage Points. This leaves Icon Damage 1 Damage unblocked, which is now inflicted on this cavalryman.
Therefore, despite having a Defense score of only Icon Defense 2, the unit has rolled a total of 4 Defense dice. 2 were used by the first cavalryman, who failed to protect himself and died valiantly. The second cavalryman then got a fresh chance, using an additional 2 Defense dice and saving himself. Had this cavalryman also been killed, the next one would also have been able to use 2 Defense dice.
As a result of this mechanism, Icon MultiFigureUnit Multi-Figure units are often considered to be significantly more resilient than Icon SingleFigureUnit Single-Figure units. The more Icon Figure figures are present, the more Icon Damage damage can potentially be blocked from any attack, thus increasing the number of attacks required to destroy the whole unit.
On the other hand, each Cavalryman the unit loses will reduce its offensive strength by 25%. Therefore, although the High Men Cavalry unit survived this powerful attack relatively intact, it did lose Icon Figure 1 figure and with it a significant chunk of the unit's combat effectiveness.

Block Chance Modifiers[]

As noted previously, there are only a few effects in the game that can alter a unit's chance Icon ToBlock To Block. The first one of these is the Ability Lucky Lucky ability. This is one of the racial traits of Halfling units, and is also a Random Ability for Heroes. It improves all rolls of a unit by +1, or +10%, with the exception of Attack Rolls made for Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage. That is, it grants Icon ToHit +1 To Hit, Icon Resist +1 Resistance, and Icon ToBlock +1 To Block.

A similar effect is available in combat through the Icon LifePrayer spell, that also improves all rolls by +1. This Combat Enchantment affects all friendly units. It also has a more powerful version called Icon LifeHigh Prayer. However, while this latter spell also gives other benefits, the roll improvements from the two are not cumulative. On the other hand, they do stack with Ability Lucky Lucky, which results in the highest possible block chance per die in the game: Icon ToBlock 50%.

There is also one way to reduce the chance Icon ToBlock To Block. This is only a conditional modifier however, and applies only during the resolution of certain attacks. Its source is the Icon ChaosEldritch Weapon Unit Enchantment, which can only be cast on Normal Units and Heroes. Whenever the enchanted unit makes an attack that the game considers to be a "weapon attack", the effect is triggered, and the target temporarily loses Icon ToBlock 10%, cumulative with any other modifiers. The only Attack Types this works with are Icon Melee Normal Melee- and Counter Attacks, Icon Thrown Thrown Attacks, and Icon Ranged Bow Ranged Missile Attacks. Nothing else will activate the effect, and the penalty is strictly only present while resolving the attack that triggered it.

Invulnerability[]

Icon LifeInvulnerability, and its Item Power version provide an effect that, while does not increase Defense directly, provides analogous Icon Damage damage reduction nonetheless. This effect is triggered every time the unit is allowed to make a Defense Roll. Regardless of the outcome of the roll, the enchantment reduces the incoming Icon Damage damage by an additional Icon Damage 2. Although it doesn't work against Doom Damage since no Defense Roll is possible there, the effect does trigger if the unit's Defense is otherwise reduced to Icon Defense 0. During Icon MultiFigureUnit Multi-Figure Defense, it also activates with every Defense Roll, not just the first one, making it one of the most potent defensive enchantments in the game.

Anti-Armor Damage Types[]

Some attacks have an easier time getting through a target's Defense. That is, they possess a Damage Type, or modifier, that changes the resolution of Defense. There are three such Damage Types in the game, although one of these (Doom Damage) also alters the "Attack" stage of Conventional Damage mechanics, and is significantly different than the other two. Illusion Damage and Armor Piercing Damage simply reduce or eliminate the target's Icon Defense Defense score temporarily, just long enough for the attack to get through and severely hurt the target.

Illusion Damage[]

Main article: Illusion Damage

Illusion Damage can be added to a Conventional Damage attack in one of two ways: Either the attacker has to possess the Ability Illusion Illusion ability, or it must be a Hero holding a Magical Weapon imbued with the Icon SorceryPhantasmal Item Power. The result is the same in both cases. In addition, the Icon SorceryPsionic Blast spell deals this type of Icon Damage damage by default.

Illusion: Icon Defense Lost 0
Sources: Ability Illusion Illusion ability: Unit Icon PhantomWarriors TransparentUnit Icon PhantomBeast TransparentHero Aerie
Phantasmal Item Power (Icon Sorcery6 - Icon Mana 1,500 - Axe, Mace, Sword, Bow, Staff, Wand)
Icon SorceryPsionic Blast

When an attack delivers Illusion Damage, it reduces the target's Defense to Icon Defense 0. As a result, even the most heavily-armored targets (i.e. targets with very high Icon Defense Defense) are helpless against this kind of attack, and will suffer as much Icon Damage damage as the attack manages to deliver successfully (based on the Attack Roll made by the attacker).

This effect can only be averted if the target possesses Ability IllusionsImmunity Illusions Immunity. This ability negates the effect of the Illusion Damage Type, meaning that the target is allowed to use its normal Icon Defense Defense score to avert the incoming Icon Damage damage.

Illusions Immunity: Icon Defense normal
Sources: Ability IllusionsImmunity Illusions Immunity ability: Unit Icon Angel TransparentUnit Icon Archangel TransparentUnit Icon SkyDrake TransparentUnit Icon Skeletons TransparentUnit Icon Zombies TransparentUnit Icon Ghouls TransparentUnit Icon Demon TransparentUnit Icon NightStalker TransparentUnit Icon Werewolves TransparentUnit Icon ShadowDemons TransparentUnit Icon Wraiths TransparentUnit Icon DeathKnights TransparentUnit Icon DemonLord Transparent
UnitEnchantment Undead Undead units (from the Unofficial Patch 1.50 onwards)
UnitEnchantment BlackChannels Black Channels (Unommon Icon DeathDeath Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 500 - C Icon Mana 100 - U Icon Mana 1)
UnitEnchantment TrueSight True Sight (Uncommon Icon LifeLife Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 300 - C Icon Mana 100 (20) - U Icon Mana 2)
ItemPower TrueSight True Sight Item Power (Icon Life6 - Icon Mana 500 - Jewelry only)
Works against: Illusion Damage attacks (all)

Armor Piercing Damage[]

Main article: Armor Piercing Damage

Armor Piercing Damage is sometimes also called "Lightning Damage", because most lightning-based effects deliver it (particularly the Icon ChaosLightning Bolt spell), but many units also possess the Ability ArmorPiercing Armor Piercing ability which does the same thing. That is, it temporarily halves the target's Icon Defense Defense, allowing the Icon Damage damage to get through more easily. In other words, the target may only use half as many dice for its Defense Roll as it normally would.

Armor Piercing: Icon Defense Lost halved
Sources: Ability ArmorPiercing Armor Piercing ability: Unit Icon ElvenLords TransparentUnit Icon HighMenPikemen TransparentUnit Icon Paladins TransparentUnit Icon NomadPikemen TransparentUnit Icon Griffins TransparentUnit Icon DeathKnights TransparentUnit Icon StormGiant TransparentHero MortuHero RolandHero Warrax
Ability LightningBreath Lightning Breath ability: Unit Icon SkyDrake Transparent
Lightning Item Power (Icon Chaos5 - Icon Mana 800 - Axe, Mace, Sword, Bow, Staff, Wand)
Icon ChaosLightning Bolt, Icon ChaosWarp Lightning, Icon ChaosMagic Vortex (adjacent unit Icon Damage Damage)
Icon ChaosChaos Rift, Icon NatureCall Lightning

There is no unit ability, save for an immunity to another type of the Icon Damage damage being dealt, that will negate the effect of Armor Piercing Damage. Given that it cuts the target's Icon Defense Defense by exactly 50% (rounded down), it can be seen as more effective against heavily-armored targets than it is against lightly-armored units.

Doom Damage[]

Main article: Doom Damage

Doom Damage alters the resolution of Conventional Damage to a greater extent than most other Damage Types. It completely removes the Attack- and Defense Rolls from the process. Instead, Attack Strength is translated directly into raw Icon Damage damage (all dice succeed automatically), and no reduction is possible. However, "nullifying immunities" still work, meaning that if the attack deals Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage, it is still blocked entirely by Ability MagicImmunity Magic Immunity and Icon LifeRighteousness. Other than this however, nothing else can avert this Icon Damage damage.

Doom: Icon ToHit Automatic / Icon ToBlock None
Sources: Ability DoomGaze Doom Gaze ability: Unit Icon ChaosSpawn Transparent
Chaos Item Power (Icon Chaos6 - Icon Mana 2,000 - Axe, Mace, Sword, Bow, Staff)
(Attack Strength is halved)
Icon ChaosDoom Bolt, Icon ChaosMagic Vortex (same tile Icon Damage Damage), Icon ChaosCall the Void
Ability DoomBoltSpell Doom Bolt Spell ability: Unit Icon Warlocks Transparent
UnitEnchantment BlackSleep Black Sleep (Common Icon DeathDeath Unit Curse - R Icon Research 100 - C Icon Mana 15)
(modifies all Conventional Damage attacks made against the affected unit)

Area Damage[]

Main article: Area Damage

Area Damage is another Conventional Damage type that significantly modifies the resolution mechanics. It is delivered by a variety of spells and effects, most of which are available only to Icon ChaosChaos Wizards. Its name stems from the fact that instead of executing a single attack against a target unit, it performs as many as there are Icon Figure figures in that unit. Each one gets its own Attack Roll, and must be defended against separately, with each Icon Figure figure making its own Defense Roll, using as many dice as the unit's Icon Defense Defense.

However, Area Damage has one serious limitation. It can ultimately only deal as much Icon Damage damage to each Icon Figure figure as they have actual Icon Hits Hit Points. That is, each "sub-attack" is targeted at a specific Icon Figure figure, and any Icon Damage damage above their current Icon Hits Hit Points is discarded instead of carrying on to hurt other Icon Figure figures. This means that in the outline above, the process always ends step #4, recording only the Icon Damage damage done up to that point. Naturally then, the worst case scenario is the Icon Figure figure dying, which yields Icon Damage damage equal to its Icon Hits Hit Points. If the unit already has a damaged Icon Figure figure, its current Icon Hits Hit Point total will be used, not the maximum.

Once each separate attack is evaluated, the game tallies up all of the unblocked hits to all Icon Figure figures in the unit, translates these hits into Icon Damage damage, and applies the Icon Damage damage to the unit as a whole - killing Icon Figure figures one by one in order. Because of this, the same amount of final Icon Damage damage will always have the same result, regardless of how the points were originally distributed among the Icon Figure figures.

Area: Icon ToHit & Icon ToBlock separate for each Icon Figure figure
Sources: Ability Immolation Immolation ability: Unit Icon DoomBat Transparent
UnitEnchantment Immolation Immolation (Uncommon Icon ChaosChaos Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 740 - C Icon Mana 150 (30) - U Icon Mana 2)
Icon NatureIce Storm, Icon ChaosFireball, Icon ChaosFire Storm, Icon ChaosFlame Strike, Icon ChaosMeteor Storm, Icon ChaosWall of Fire
Ability FireballSpell Fireball Spell ability: Unit Icon HighElfMagicians TransparentUnit Icon HighMenMagicians TransparentUnit Icon OrcMagicians TransparentUnit Icon BeastmenMagicians TransparentUnit Icon DraconianMagicians Transparent

Immunities[]

Many units in the game possess abilities known as "Immunities", that are meant to make the unit possessing it much more resilient (or completely invulnerable) to one or more Damage Types or spells. When it comes to Conventional Damage, immunities have two different methods of action: they either negate the Icon Damage damage entirely ("nullifying" immunity), or simply raise the unit's Icon Defense Defense statistic by a large margin ("reductive" immunity). The former group contains only two effects (Ability MagicImmunity Magic Immunity and Icon LifeRighteousness), although both of them are actually also part of the latter group. That is, they nullify the Icon Damage damage if, and only if, it is Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage. For Icon LifeRighteousness, it also has to come from the Icon ChaosChaos or Icon DeathDeath Realms.

Reductive immunities instead raise the unit's Defense to Icon Defense 50 when they are triggered. This provides a rather high average Icon Damage damage reduction of 15, assuming there are no modifiers Icon ToBlock To Block in play. The only exception is Ability WeaponImmunity Weapon Immunity, which only raises Defense to Icon Defense 10. In either case though, nothing happens if the unit's Defense is already higher than what the immunity could provide; although this is nigh-impossible for the Icon Defense 50 ones.

Immunities also don't stack if more than one would apply. In this case Defense will normally be set to Icon Defense 50. However, the original game contains an unfortunate bug that is expressed in exactly this scenario. If an attack would trigger both Ability WeaponImmunity Weapon- and Ability MissileImmunity Missile Immunity, the weaker effect overrides the other, and the unit will only either get Icon Defense 10, or no increase if it has that much already. Insecticide fixes this problem, but introduces a new one instead, as Ability WeaponImmunity Weapon Immunity will now grant Icon Defense 50 against any non-Icon Melee Normal Melee attacks that trigger it. This bug is ultimately corrected in v1.51.

The following tables summarize each Icon Defense Defense-based immunity, including the Icon Defense Defense they give a unit when triggered, and the attacks that they work against.

Weapon Immunity: Icon Defense 10
Sources: Ability WeaponImmunity Weapon Immunity ability: Unit Icon AirElemental TransparentUnit Icon Demon TransparentUnit Icon Werewolves TransparentUnit Icon ShadowDemons TransparentUnit Icon Wraiths TransparentUnit Icon DeathKnights TransparentUnit Icon DemonLord Transparent
UnitEnchantment Invulnerability Invulnerability (Rare Icon LifeLife Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 1,040 - C Icon Mana 200 (40) - U Icon Mana 5)
ItemPower Invulnerability Invulnerability Item Power (Icon Life5 - Icon Mana 1,200 - Chainmail, Platemail, Shield, Jewelry)
UnitEnchantment WraithForm Wraith Form (Rare Icon DeathDeath Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 880 - C Icon Mana 150 (30) - U Icon Mana 3)
Wraithform Item Power (Icon Death4 - Icon Mana 1,200 - Chainmail, Platemail, Shield, Jewelry)
Works against: Icon Melee Normal Melee-, Icon Ranged Bow Ranged Missile-, Icon Ranged Boulder Ranged Boulder- and, from v1.40 onwards,
Icon Thrown Thrown Attacks made by Normal Units with Normal Weapons
Missile Immunity: Icon Defense 50
Sources: Ability MissileImmunity Missile Immunity ability: Unit Icon HighElfMagicians TransparentUnit Icon HighMenMagicians TransparentUnit Icon OrcMagicians TransparentUnit Icon BeastmenMagicians TransparentUnit Icon DraconianMagicians TransparentUnit Icon Warlocks TransparentUnit Icon Skeletons TransparentUnit Icon Demon Transparent
Hero AerieHero JaerHero MalleusHero MorganaHero RavashackHero TorinHero Yramrag
UnitEnchantment GuardianWind Guardian Wind (Common Icon SorcerySorcery Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 80 - C Icon Mana 50 (10) - U Icon Mana 2)
ItemPower GuardianWind Guardian Wind Item Power (Icon Sorcery3 - Icon Mana 400 -
Staff, Wand, Chainmail, Platemail, Shield, Jewelry)
Works against: Icon Ranged Bow Ranged Missile Attacks (all)
Cold Immunity: Icon Defense 50
Sources: Ability ColdImmunity Cold Immunity ability: Unit Icon Skeletons TransparentUnit Icon Zombies TransparentUnit Icon Ghouls TransparentUnit Icon Demon TransparentUnit Icon NightStalker TransparentUnit Icon Werewolves TransparentUnit Icon ShadowDemons TransparentUnit Icon Wraiths TransparentUnit Icon DeathKnights TransparentUnit Icon DemonLord Transparent
UnitEnchantment Undead Undead units (from the Unofficial Patch 1.50 onwards)
UnitEnchantment BlackChannels Black Channels (Uncommon Icon DeathDeath Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 500 - C Icon Mana 100 - U Icon Mana 1)
Works against: Icon NatureIce Bolt, Icon NatureIce Storm
Fire Immunity: Icon Defense 50
Sources: Ability FireImmunity Fire Immunity ability: Unit Icon FireElemental TransparentUnit Icon FireGiant TransparentUnit Icon Efreet Transparent
Works against: Ability FireBreath Fire Breath, Ability Immolation Immolation
Icon ChaosFire Bolt, Icon ChaosFireball, Icon ChaosFlame Strike, Icon ChaosWall of Fire, Icon ChaosFire Storm, Icon ChaosMeteor Storm
Magic Immunity: Icon Defense 50
Sources: Ability MagicImmunity Magic Immunity ability: Unit Icon Paladins TransparentUnit Icon SkyDrake TransparentHero MortuHero RolandHero Torin
UnitEnchantment MagicImmunity Magic Immunity (Rare Icon SorcerySorcery Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 1,600 - C Icon Mana 250 (50) - U Icon Mana 5)
ItemPower MagicImmunity Magic Immunity Item Power (Icon Sorcery5 - Icon Mana 700 - any Magical Item)
Works against: Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Magical Attacks (all)
Ability FireBreath Fire Breath, Ability LightningBreath Lightning Breath, Conventional component of Gaze Attacks : Unit Icon Basilisk TransparentUnit Icon Gorgons TransparentUnit Icon NightStalker Transparent
Righteousness: Icon Defense 50
Sources: UnitEnchantment Righteousness Righteousness (Rare Icon LifeLife Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 1,120 - C Icon Mana 200 (40) - U Icon Mana 2)
Works against: Icon Chaos / Icon Death Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Magical Attacks: Unit Icon HighElfMagicians TransparentUnit Icon HighMenMagicians TransparentUnit Icon OrcMagicians TransparentUnit Icon BeastmenMagicians TransparentUnit Icon DraconianMagicians TransparentUnit Icon DarkElfSpearmen TransparentUnit Icon DarkElfSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon DarkElfHalberdiers TransparentUnit Icon DarkElfCavalry TransparentUnit Icon Warlocks TransparentUnit Icon Nightmares Transparent
Unit Icon StormGiant TransparentUnit Icon Efreet TransparentUnit Icon ShadowDemons TransparentUnit Icon DemonLord TransparentHero AureusHero MalleusHero MorganaHero ReywindHero YramragHero MysticXHero RavashackHero Warrax
Ability FireBreath Fire Breath, Ability LightningBreath Lightning Breath, Conventional component of Ability DeathGaze Death Gaze :Unit Icon NightStalker Transparent

Conditional Defense[]

Damage Types and immunities are not the only mechanics that can alter a unit's Icon Defense Defense in a way that does not work all the time. There are a three more spells and a Unit Ability that exert a similar effect, and are only triggered against certain kinds of attacks.

Large Shields[]

Main article: Large Shield

The Ability LargeShield Large Shield ability gives a unit a bonus of Icon Defense +2 Defense when struck by Conventional Damage, but only if that damage is not delivered by a Icon Melee Normal Melee Attack. This gives the unit holding the Large Shield better survivability against such attacks, so long as they deliver Physical Damage. Many Heroes can also get this ability, simply by equipping a Shield of any kind.

Large Shield: Icon Defense +2
Sources: Ability LargeShield Large Shield ability : Unit Icon BarbarianSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon GnollSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon HalflingSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon HighElfSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon HighMenSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon KlackonSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon LizardmenSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon NomadSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon OrcSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon BeastmenSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon DarkElfSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon DraconianSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon DwarfSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon TrollSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon Minotaurs Transparent
ItemSlot Shield Shield type Magical Item (any)
Works against: Icon Ranged Bow Ranged Missile-, Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Magical-, and Icon Ranged Boulder Ranged Boulder Attacks (all)
Ability Thrown Thrown, Ability FireBreath Fire Breath, Ability LightningBreath Lightning Breath,
Conventional component of Gaze Attacks : Unit Icon Basilisk TransparentUnit Icon Gorgons TransparentUnit Icon NightStalker Transparent
Conventional Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage (all, including Ability Immolation Immolation)

Bless[]

The Icon LifeBless enchantment protects its target against Conventional Damage associated with the Icon ChaosChaos and Icon DeathDeath Realms. This is fairly straightforward for spells and Icon Melee Normal Melee Attacks, as their color is defined by the Realm of the spell or creature making the attack. For other Attack Types however, which Realm they belong to is preset, and does not depend on the attacking unit.

Although Icon LifeBless would technically work against Conventional Damage delivered by Icon DeathDeath spells, this omitted from the table below because there are simply no Icon DeathDeath spells in the official game that deal this type of Icon Damage Damage. They all deliver Special Damage, against which Icon LifeBless grants a Icon Resist Resistance bonus instead.

In addition to the spell and Item Power of the same name, Icon LifeBless is also available to Heroes that can equip Icon Melee Normal Melee weapons with the Icon LifeHoly Avenger Item Power, which also contains this effect.

Bless: Icon Defense +3
Sources: UnitEnchantment Bless Bless (Common Icon LifeLife Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 20 - C Icon Mana 25 (5) - U Icon Mana 1)
ItemPower Bless Bless Item Power (Icon Life2 - Icon Mana 200 - Chainmail, Platemail, Shield, Jewelry)
Holy Avenger Item Power (Icon Life3 - Icon Mana 500 - Axe, Mace, Sword)
Works against: Icon Chaos / Icon Death Icon Melee Normal Melee Attacks:Unit Icon HellHounds TransparentUnit Icon FireElemental TransparentUnit Icon FireGiant TransparentUnit Icon Gargoyles TransparentUnit Icon DoomBat TransparentUnit Icon Chimeras TransparentUnit Icon ChaosSpawn TransparentUnit Icon Efreet TransparentUnit Icon Hydra TransparentUnit Icon GreatDrake TransparentUnit Icon Skeletons TransparentUnit Icon Zombies TransparentUnit Icon Ghouls TransparentUnit Icon Demon Transparent
Unit Icon NightStalker TransparentUnit Icon Werewolves TransparentUnit Icon ShadowDemons TransparentUnit Icon Wraiths TransparentUnit Icon DeathKnights TransparentUnit Icon DemonLord Transparent
UnitEnchantment Undead Undead and Icon ChaosChaos Channeled units
Icon Chaos / Icon Death Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Magical Attacks: Unit Icon HighElfMagicians TransparentUnit Icon HighMenMagicians TransparentUnit Icon OrcMagicians TransparentUnit Icon BeastmenMagicians TransparentUnit Icon DraconianMagicians TransparentUnit Icon DarkElfSpearmen TransparentUnit Icon DarkElfSwordsmen TransparentUnit Icon DarkElfHalberdiers TransparentUnit Icon DarkElfCavalry TransparentUnit Icon Warlocks TransparentUnit Icon Nightmares Transparent
Unit Icon StormGiant TransparentUnit Icon Efreet TransparentUnit Icon ShadowDemons TransparentUnit Icon DemonLord TransparentHero AureusHero MalleusHero MorganaHero ReywindHero YramragHero MysticXHero RavashackHero Warrax
Ability FireBreath Fire Breath, Ability LightningBreath Lightning Breath, Conventional component of Ability DeathGaze Death Gaze :Unit Icon NightStalker Transparent
Icon ChaosChaos Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage (except Doom Damage)

Elemental Protection[]

The Icon NatureNature Realm has two Unit Enchantments that offer protection from "elemental" attacks. This is defined in the game as non-Icon Melee Normal Melee attacks associated with either Icon ChaosChaos or Icon NatureNature. The two enchantments are not cumulative with each other, and Icon NatureElemental Armor always supercedes Icon NatureResist Elements. Both are also available as Item Powers, and can be imbued onto all types of Magical Items.

Resist Elements: Icon Defense +3 - Elemental Armor: Icon Defense +10
Sources: UnitEnchantment ResistElements Resist Elements (Common Icon NatureNature Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 40 - C Icon Mana 25 (5) - U Icon Mana 1)
ItemPower ResistElements Resist Elements Item Power (Icon Nature2 - Icon Mana 100 - any Magical Item)
UnitEnchantment ElementalArmor Elemental Armor (Rare Icon NatureNature Unit Enchantment - R Icon Research 880 - C Icon Mana 175 (35) - U Icon Mana 5)
ItemPower ElementalArmor Elemental Armor Item Power (Icon Nature4 - Icon Mana 500 - any Magical Item)
Works against: Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Magical Attacks (except those of the Hero Zaldron Sage and the Hero Aerie Illusionist)
Ability FireBreath Fire Breath, Ability LightningBreath Lightning Breath, Conventional component of Ability StoningGaze Stoning Gaze :Unit Icon Basilisk TransparentUnit Icon Gorgons Transparent
Icon ChaosChaos / Icon NatureNature Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage (except Doom Damage and Icon NatureCracks Call)

City Walls[]

TownBuilding CityWalls City Walls are a unique Town Building in that they provide an almost purely combat oriented benefit, rather than an economical one. In addition to significantly changing the tactics likely to be employed by both the attacker and the defender during a Town siege, they also grant very tangible protection to the units inside.

Screenshot CityWalls Schema

This diagram shows the 4x4 Town Proper area and the 12 segments of the City Walls.
W = Wall
T = Tower
G = Gate

The walls surround a 4×4 tile area on the combat map commonly called the "town proper". On each corner is a tower tile that is impassable for units on either side, while a single dedicated section serves as the "gate" that allows walking through. The entire structure is illustrated by the image on the right.

Units standing adjacent to any of the wall or gate sections receive a bonus of Icon Defense +3 against nearly all attacks originating from outside the walled area. The only exception is Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage, which is never affected. However, each section of the City Walls can be individually destroyed by the opponent during the battle. Should this happen, the Defense bonus of that particular section is immediately reduced to only Icon Defense +1. Regardless of its magnitude though, this protection is not exclusive to the defending side. If an attacking unit manages to outmaneuver the defenders and get inside the walls, they will enjoy the same benefit when attacked from the outside. It may also be worth noting that Icon Movement AirFlying and Ability NonCorporeal Non-Corporeal units, while able to bypass the walls themselves during their movement, do not negate any Defense bonus granted to their opponent.

Units stationed in the middle of the Town, that are not adjacent to the walls, also get Icon Defense +1. In this case though, it can only ever apply against Ranged Attacks, since these units are too far away to be engaged in Icon Melee Normal Melee from the outside. However, this bonus is increased to Icon Defense +3 in the unofficial Insecticide patch.

Finally, City Walls are also the source of an obscure bug that requires the Unofficial Patch 1.50 to fix. In nearly every battle that does not take place at a Town, units standing in the 4×4 area where the town proper would be actually gain the benefit of a destroyed City Wall section. This is even more pronounced in Insecticide, as units in the inner 2×2 square gain an overall Icon Defense +3 against all Ranged Attacks from the outside. Essentially, the combat map is treated as if City Walls were present, but all destroyed, except that there are no visuals to indicate this fact.

Unmitigated Changes[]

Combat Unit Display MaxDefense

The combat unit display shows Defense as a numerical value with all unmitigated changes already factored in.

Defense can be both improved and lowered in many ways in the game, although the majority of these effects have limitations on the types of units they can affect. The base score is indicated as a row of bright Icon Defense Shield icons in the unit statistics window, and also includes improvements gained from Icon Experience Experience and Hero Abilities. Any other "universal" bonus that applies across the board will extend the row with golden icons (Icon Defense Gold). Reductions, on the other hand, darken, or grey out, some of these icons instead (Icon Defense Lost, Icon Defense Gold Lost), always starting with any enhancement icons. The sole exception is the effect of the Icon DeathBerserk spell, which removes the entire row of icons rather than darkening them out, effectively hiding the unit's original score.

A full list of the effects that unconditionally modify Defense is compiled in the table below. It is evident from it, that Heroes have the easiest time increasing this attribute, while Fantastic Units are more or less limited to "aura" effects and Icon NatureNature spells. If enabled in the game's Settings, the combat unit display, shown in the upper right corner when mousing over a unit, displays Defense as a single numerical value, with all unconditional modifiers already included.

Effect Modifier Notes
Improvements
Experience 2 Veteran Level Icon Defense +1 Normal Units only, requires Icon Experience 60/20/0* Experience Points
Experience 4 Ultra-Elite Level Icon Defense +1 (total Icon Defense +2) Normal Units only, requires Icon Experience -/120/60* Experience Points
(only available with Warlord or Icon LifeCrusade)
Icon Melee Mithril Mithril Weapons Icon Defense +1 Normal Units only, TownBuilding AlchemistsGuild Alchemists' Guild + TerrainSpecial Mithril Mithril Ore
Icon Melee Adamantium Adamantium Weapons Icon Defense +2 Normal Units only, TownBuilding AlchemistsGuild Alchemists' Guild + TerrainSpecial Adamantium Adamantium Ore
UnitEnchantment StoneSkin Icon NatureStone Skin Icon Defense +1 -
UnitEnchantment IronSkin Icon NatureIron Skin Icon Defense +5 overrides Icon NatureStone Skin
UnitEnchantment HolyArmor Icon LifeHoly Armor Icon Defense +2 Normal Units and Heroes only
UnitEnchantment ChaosChannels Defense Icon ChaosChaos Channels Icon Defense +3 Normal Units and Heroes only, 1/3 chance for this effect
(also bugged and gives double bonus in v1.31)
UnitEnchantment BlackChannels Icon DeathBlack Channels Icon Defense +1 Normal Units, Heroes, and UnitEnchantment Undead Undead units only
(turns Normal Units and Heroes into Undead)
Reductions
CombatEnchantment BlackPrayer Icon DeathBlack Prayer Icon Defense -1 affects all enemy units
CombatEnchantment Darkness Icon DeathDarkness Icon Defense -1 affects all Icon LifeLife units
(Icon DeathCloud of Shadow and Icon DeathEternal Night share the same effect)
CombatEnchantment TrueLight Icon LifeTrue Light Icon Defense -1 affects all Icon DeathDeath units, including the UnitEnchantment Undead Undead
(Icon LifeHeavenly Light shares the same effect)
UnitEnchantment MindStorm Icon SorceryMind Storm Icon Defense -5 single target, not Icon Resist Resistable
(does not work against units with Ability IllusionsImmunity Illusions Immunity)
UnitEnchantment Vertigo Icon SorceryVertigo Icon Defense -1 single target, Icon Resist Resistable (no penalty)
UnitEnchantment WarpCreature Defensive Icon ChaosWarp Creature Icon Defense Halved single target, Icon Resist Resistable (at Icon SpellSave -1), 1/3 chance
UnitEnchantment Berserk Icon DeathBerserk Set to Icon Defense 0 also doubles Icon Melee Normal Melee Strength
Auras
CombatEnchantment ChaosNodeBonusAura Icon ChaosChaos Node Aura Icon Defense +2 affects all Icon ChaosChaos and Icon ChaosChaos Channeled units
CombatEnchantment NatureNodeBonusAura Icon NatureNature Node Aura Icon Defense +2 affects all Icon NatureNature units
CombatEnchantment SorceryNodeBonusAura Icon SorcerySorcery Node Aura Icon Defense +2 affects all Icon SorcerySorcery units
CombatEnchantment HighPrayer Icon LifeHigh Prayer Icon Defense +2 affects all friendly units
Ability HolyBonus Holy Bonus Icon Defense +1 or Icon Defense +2 affects all friendly units
CombatEnchantment Darkness Icon DeathDarkness Icon Defense +1 affects all Icon DeathDeath units, including the UnitEnchantment Undead Undead
(Icon DeathCloud of Shadow and Icon DeathEternal Night share the same effect)
CombatEnchantment TrueLight Icon LifeTrue Light Icon Defense +1 affects all Icon LifeLife units
(Icon LifeHeavenly Light shares the same effect)
Heroes
Experience 1 Myrmidon Level Icon Defense +1 requires Icon Experience 20/0/0* Experience Points
Experience 3 Commander Level Icon Defense +1 (total Icon Defense +2) requires Icon Experience 120/60/20* Experience Points
Experience 5 Lord Level Icon Defense +1 (total Icon Defense +3) requires Icon Experience 300/200/120* Experience Points
Experience 7 Super Hero Level Icon Defense +1 (total Icon Defense +4) requires Icon Experience 600/450/300* Experience Points
Ability Agility Agility Icon Defense +1 / level up to Icon Defense +9
Ability Agility Super Agility Icon Defense +1.5 / level up to Icon Defense +13
Item Mace 1 Mace up to Icon Defense +1 requires ItemSlot Sword, ItemSlot Bow, or ItemSlot SwordStaff equipment slot
Item Sword 1 Sword up to Icon Defense +3 requires ItemSlot Sword, ItemSlot Bow, or ItemSlot SwordStaff equipment slot
Item Bow 1 Bow up to Icon Defense +3 requires ItemSlot Bow equipment slot
Item Staff 1 Staff up to Icon Defense +3 requires ItemSlot Staff or ItemSlot SwordStaff equipment slot
Item Misc 1 Jewelry up to Icon Defense +4 requires ItemSlot Misc equipment slot
Item Shield 1 Shield up to Icon Defense +6 requires ItemSlot Shield equipment slot (also grants Ability LargeShield Large Shield)
Item Chain 1 Chainmail up to Icon Defense +7 requires ItemSlot Shield equipment slot
Item Plate 1 Platemail up to Icon Defense +8 requires ItemSlot Shield equipment slot
* - The Warlord Retort and the Icon LifeCrusade spell reduce Icon Experience XP requirements. The first number is the base value, the second is with either one of these effects, while the last is with both.

Order of Operations for Resolving Defense and Immunities[]

This section covers the step-by-step order in which the game applies modifiers to Icon Defense Defense during a combat action. Details about these factors are explained above in this article, as well as on their own respective pages.

Step Attacker Defender Modifier
1 Base Icon Figure Figure  Icon Defense Defense;
  • Unmitigated changes
    (table above)
­
2 Any Ranged Attack
Any Breath Attack
Any Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage
Add  Icon Defense +2
­
3 Icon DeathIcon Chaos Attack
Icon DeathIcon Chaos Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage
Add  Icon Defense +3
­
4 Icon NatureIcon Chaos Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Magical Attack
Icon NatureIcon Chaos Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage
Add  Icon Defense +10
­
5 Icon NatureIcon Chaos Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Magical Attack
Icon NatureIcon Chaos Icon Ranged Magic Spell Damage
Add  Icon Defense +3
­
6 Armor Piercing Damage Divide  Icon Defense  by 2
(round down)
­
7 Non-magical Icon Melee Normal Melee Attack
Non-magical Icon Ranged Bow Ranged Missile
Raise to  Icon Defense 10
­
8 Icon Ranged Bow Ranged Missile Attack Raise to  Icon Defense 50
­
9 Fire / Cold Damage Raise to  Icon Defense 50
­
10 Any Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Magical Attack
Any Breath Attack
Raise to  Icon Defense 50
­
11 Icon DeathIcon Chaos Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Magical Attack
Icon DeathIcon Chaos Breath Attack
Raise to  Icon Defense 50
­
12 Illusion Damage Lower to  Icon Defense 0
­
13 Add  Icon Defense +3
(Icon Defense +1)
­
14 Icon Defense Defense
ignored
­
15 Doom Damage
Chaos (Item Power)
Icon Defense Defense
ignored

Examples and Quirks[]

Events lower (thus later) in the order of operations will supersede the earlier ones. The procedure usually generates combat results that make perfect sense, but will also also yield some that are unexpected. Ranged attacks and counters, in particular, may be difficult to predict due to color associations. The following examples may help illustrate how these defensive buffs function.

Sprites use a Icon NatureNature aligned ranged attack. Icon NatureElemental Armor will trigger first, adding Icon Defense +10 to the target's score, and prevent Icon NatureResist Elements from taking any effect.
The Swords' Ability LargeShield Large Shield will trigger, adding Icon Defense +2. Since Zaldron uses a Icon SorcerySorcery aligned ranged attack (despite the enchantment on the staff), Icon NatureElemental Armor will fail to help against this color. Subsequently, the staff's Armor Piercing Damage boost is factored in, cutting the Swordsmen's Defense score, Large Shield bonus included, by half, back to Icon Defense 2.
Paladins have Ability MagicImmunity Magic Immunity, raising their Defense against the attack to Icon Defense 50. Subsequently, Aerie's Ability Illusion Illusion attack ability lowers their Defense to Icon Defense 0, since the Paladins are not immune to illusions. They are behind City Walls, though, and these factor in later than Illusion, so the Paladins' final Defense score is Icon Defense 3.
Ability MagicImmunity Magic Immunity applies first, raising the drake's Defense score to Icon Defense 50. It also possesses Ability IllusionsImmunity Illusions Immunity though, so its Defense is not lowered to Icon Defense 0. It remains Icon Defense 50.
Warrax faces a similar problem. First the drake's Defense score is raised by Icon Defense +2 by the power of the Node. His Ability ArmorPiercing Armor Piercing attack halves this (typically from Icon Defense 12 to Icon Defense 6). But this gets overwritten when Ability MagicImmunity Magic Immunity readjusts the drake's Defense to Icon Defense 50.
Reywind is one of the Heroes with a flex weapon slot. Whether this works depends on the type of weapon Reywind has equipped. If he wields a Staff, the enchantment applies to his ranged attack, the drake's Icon Defense 50 against ranged magic (as well as any other factors in play) will be completely ignored, and an exact level of Icon Damage Damage will be guaranteed. If he wields a melee weapon though, he would have to go into melee with the Sky Drake in order for this power to take effect.
Buggy behavior. Ability WeaponImmunity Weapon Immunity raises the Werewolves' Defense score to Icon Defense 10 against the volley. If it triggers, Weapon Immunity prevents the Ability MissileImmunity Missile Immunity granted by Icon SorceryGuardian Wind from taking effect, so Defense remains Icon Defense 10!
This time, Ability WeaponImmunity Weapon Immunity is negated by the magical javelins. Yet Ability MissileImmunity Missile Immunity will therefore apply, and the Werewolves' Defense score is raised to Icon Defense 50, more-or-less as expected.
Icon Melee Normal Melee with Ghouls triggers Icon LifeBless, giving the target Icon Defense +3. That is the extent of the Defense score interactions in this case. Icon LifeRighteousness will be checked down-the-line but will not trigger, since this was a Icon Melee Normal Melee engagement.
Each unit on the map tile will be subjected to a strength Icon Ranged Magic 8 Area Damage attack. This brings about one attack for each Icon Figure figure currently in the unit, and each of these is defended against separately (any Icon ChaosHell Hounds would receive 4 attacks, Icon ChaosFire Giants 1x, Icon ChaosHydras 9x, and so on). Although most of them will use their base Defense scores, if there are any Icon ChaosFire Giants or Icon ChaosEfreeti in the stack, their Ability FireImmunity Fire Immunity will trigger, and these Icon Figure figures will defend against the spell with Icon Defense 50.
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