| Fire Elemental | ||
|---|---|---|
| Realm |
 Chaos | |
| ||
| Spell Rarity | Common | |
| Casting Cost |
 20 | |
| Research Cost |
 250 | |
| ||
| # of Figures |
 1 | |
| Moves |
 1 | |
| Melee Attack per figure |
 12 | |
| Defense per figure |
 4 | |
| Resistance |
 6 | |
| Hit Points per figure |
 10 | |
| ||
 Stoning Immunity | ||
The Fire Elemental is a type of Fantastic Unit featured in Master of Magic. Fire Elementals belong to the Chaos Realm, and may be summoned using a Summoning Spell of the same name. They may only be summoned during battles, and disappear immediately afterwards.
The Fire Elemental is the cheapest, but also the weakest of all elementals. It has no special attack properties, and is mainly a low/mid-tier Melee Attack unit. Nonetheless, it has some useful immunities, and its low cost often allows conjuring several such creatures when required.
The Fantastic Unit[]
Physical Description[]
The Fire Elemental is a essentially a large, hovering ball of flame which can be ordered around the battlefield. It is comprised entirely of fire and held together by magic.
The Fire Elemental is a Single-Figure Unit.
Attack Properties[]
The Fire Elemental possesses only a Melee Attack, with the low-mid-range rating of 12. It has no additional inherent attack bonuses and thus delivers 
3.6 points of damage on average with each attack it makes. This is somewhat dangerous to low-level Normal Units, but does not pose too much of a threat for experienced or well-armored opponents. Although the Fire Elemental is implied to be made entirely of fire, its Melee Attack delivers regular Melee Damage – not Fire Damage.
Defensive Properties[]
The Fire Elemental has a rather low Defense score of 4. It will thus block about 1.2 points of Conventional Damage from enemy attacks, on average. The unit's Resistance also leaves something to be desired, at 6. While more resistant to spells than some Normal Units, the Fire Elemental is not among the most resistant creatures. It does have 10 Hit Points though, which is a fair amount considering its low Casting Cost.
Fire Elementals also possess three different immunities that may prove useful: 
Stoning Immunity renders them invulnerable to all forms of petrification, while 
Poison Immunity means they can not be hurt by 
Poison Touch attacks. Finally, Fire Elementals are naturally 
Immune to Fire, which allows them to ignore virtually any Fire Damage dealt to them in combat or via spells.
Other Properties[]
Fire Elementals are quite slow, moving at only 1.
Basic Tactics[]
The Fire Elemental is a suicide unit. It is brought into combat to bolster one's forces, take and deal damage, and give its life to weaken the enemy, or protect other friendly troops. It will always be destroyed at the end of the battle anyway, so there is rarely any reason to worry about the Fire Elemental's well-being during combat. With enough Mana, multiple of these creatures may be summoned to keep the enemy busy while other units maneuver on the battlefield. Alternatively, Fire Elementals can also be placed as a physical barrier in front of the enemy.
Summoning plenty of Fire Elementals can turn the balance of forces on its head, making a hopeless battle winnable or an evenly-matched battle easily won. Naturally this is assuming that the opponent does not possess any high-level units which can crush Fire Elementals easily.
Enemy Fire Elementals[]
Although Wizards may only use Fire Elementals for the duration of single battles, as Fantastic Units they are sometimes featured as permanent guardians in Chaos Nodes and other Encounter Zones. Furthermore, they may be part of Rampaging Monster groups targeting player-owned cities. Fire Elementals are often found either alone or in large groups, and are rarely accompanied by other Chaos creatures.
Fire Elementals are usually easy to dispatch, unless trying to rely heavily on units using Fire Damage, Stoning Damage or Poison Damage – which the Fire Elemental will simply shrug off. Often enough a few Normal Units can engage and destroy a Fire Elemental rather easily. Since it does not actually deal Fire Damage, bringing troops with Fire Immunity provides no benefit against a Fire Elemental.
Ability Overview[]
Poison Immunity[]
- This unit cannot be hurt by Poison Damage. It will automatically pass any Resistance roll to avert such damage.
Fire Immunity[]
- This unit is considered to have a Defense score of 50 against any attack that delivers Fire Damage, including Fire Breath attacks.
Stoning Immunity[]
- This unit cannot be petrified by Stoning Damage. It will automatically pass any Resistance roll to avert such damage.
The Summoning Spell[]
Usage[]
Fire Elemental may only be cast in combat, for the base Casting Cost of 20. Upon successfully casting the spell, the game will prompt for an unoccupied tile to be selected on the combat map, where the Fire Elemental unit will then appear, with full Movement Allowance, and may move and/or attack immediately as necessary.
Since it does not carry over to the overland map, there is no Upkeep Cost associated with either the spell or the unit itself, which will automatically disappear at the end of the battle – along with any Unit Enchantments that may have been cast on it. It is not possible to manually dismiss the Fire Elemental unit during combat, nor is it possible to use dispel type spells to remove it from play – the Summoning Spell itself dissipates immediately after casting.
Acquisition[]
As a Common Spell of the Chaos Realm, Fire Elemental may become available to any Wizard who acquires at least 1 Spellbook. With none, the spell can naturally 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 Fire Elemental to be researchable (at some point) in the campaign is roughly 30% (with 1 book), which gradually increases with the amount of Chaos Spellbooks possessed or found during gameplay. With 7 or more, the spell is certain to show up sooner or later, unless acquired from another source. It has a Research Cost of 250, although its research is quicker for Wizards possessing the Sage Master, Conjurer, and/or Chaos Mastery Retorts; or a bookshelf containing 8 or more.
Fire Elemental may also be selected as a starting spell by any Wizard with at least 2 books. In this case, it will be available for casting as soon as the game begins.
In addition, Fire Elemental is available as a Hero spell. It is known by Malleus the Magician, although it's worth noting that he can't actually cast it at his initial Experience Level. He either needs to advance to 
Myrmidon (level 2), or otherwise equip Magical Items to have enough Mana to use his Fire Elemental spell.
Permanent Summoning Trick[]
Disclaimer: This trick appears to violate the game designers' intent, and it cannot be guaranteed that its use won't destabilize the game.
A Fire Elemental summoned to your Summoning Circle using the 
Word of Recall spell.
If you MUST have an Fire Elemental for your army garrisoned in one of your Towns, you can enter a battle with the intention of losing (not winning). You will need to know the Word of Recall and the Fire Elemental spells. Enter a battle and summon the Fire Elemental(s) that you want for your army. Use Word of Recall on the Elementals. You can continue the battle to the maximum number of turns, flee the battle (with the risk of losing any units that you have in the battle), or recall any remaining units as well. This brings your units back to the Summoning Circle and you now have one or more Fire Elementals that require a 4 per turn Upkeep Cost. This does not work if you win the battle.