| Doom Bolt | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Realm |
 Chaos | |
| Spell Rarity | Rare | |
| Spell Type | Combat Instant | |
| Casting Cost |
 40 | |
| Research Cost |
 1,120 | |
| ||
Target unit receives exactly  10 points of damage regardless of its defensive properties. Only Righteousness and Magic Immunity protects from this spell. | ||
Doom Bolt is a Rare Combat Instant belonging to the Chaos Magic realm. It may only be cast during combat, and must be targeted at an enemy unit. For 40 the spell will deliver 10 points of Doom Damage at the target - normally causing it exactly 10 points of Damage. No 
To Hit rolls are made, and the target may not make any 
Defense or 
Resistance rolls to block this damage. The only way to avoid damage from Doom Bolt is through the Righteousness spell and the Magic Immunity ability.
Effects[]
Doom Bolt strikes the target with a destructive magical bolt that will bypass any defense and deliver a specific amount of damage.
The Bolt[]
When Doom Bolt is cast at an enemy unit during combat, an arrow-shaped blast of Chaos energy will shoot down from the sky and strike that unit.
The bolt delivers 10 points of Doom Damage at the target. This causes the target exactly 10 points of Damage - completely unaffected by the caster's To Hit score, nor by the target's Defense and Resistance scores.
Only units with Righteousness or the Magic Immunity ability (or protected by the spell of the same name) are able to avoid this damage. They can still be targeted by the spell, but would take no damage at all, thus wasting the spell's Casting Cost. In all other cases the Doom Bolt spell is one of the most reliable ways to do damage to a any target.
Usage[]
Doom Bolt may only be cast during combat, for a basic Casting Cost of 40. It must be targeted at an enemy unit.
Doom Bolt is shown on screen as a red V-shaped bolt of energy, flying straight down from the sky and striking the target unit. Damage is dealt immediately on impact.
Note that although units with Righteousness or Magic Immunity will shrug off its effect, they may still be targeted by the Doom Bolt spell. This leads to a waste of Mana, so make sure to check your targets before casting.
Acquisition[]
As a Rare Chaos spell, Doom Bolt may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least 2 Spellbooks. However, its availability during the game is not guaranteed unless the Wizard acquires at least 10 Spellbooks.
Customized Wizards possessing 11 Spellbooks at creation time may choose this spell as one of their default spells before starting the game, in which case the spell will already be researched and available for casting immediately on the first turn.
Wizards with 2 to 9 Spellbooks have a random chance of being able to Research Doom Bolt during the game. The chance for this spell to appear for research increases with the number of Chaos Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay. With 10 or 11 Spellbooks, the spell is guaranteed to appear for Research at some point, if it is not already available for casting.
Doom Bolt has a base Research Cost of 1,120.
With at least 2 Spellbooks, the Doom Bolt spell may be acquired as a reward for winning encounters in creature Lairs, Towers, et cetera, or when conquering the Fortress of a rival wizard who has already researched this spell.
Warlocks, a unit unique to the Dark Elf race, possess the Doom Bolt spell by default. Each unit may use the spell at zero cost once per battle.
Strategy[]
Doom Bolt is by far the most reliable way to inflict damage upon any unit in the game. It doesn't care about the target's Defense score, it doesn't care about the target's Resistance score, and it does not roll to see how much damage is inflicted at all. It will always cause exactly 10 points of Damage.
Therefore, this should be your choice of direct-damage spell when the target is likely to suffer little or no damage from the other Chaos direct-damage spells like Fireball or Lightning Bolt.
Remember of course that targets possessing Magic Immunity are immune to Doom Bolt. Thankfully there are very few such units in the game at all (only Sky Drakes and Paladins have this ability by default, others may only receive it from the Magic Immunity spell).