Ground Movement is the most restrictive of the three modes by which units move in combat.
- Ground Movement
- Water Movement
- Air Movement
Ground Movement takes effect during battles on land.
Most of the game's units march, ride, or hover at ground level, and are subject to Ground Movement rules by default. They have to overcome less-than-ideal conditions on the world's surface to fulfill their orders. They face correspondingly higher point-costs when entering certain tiles on the battlefield. The other baseline rules are:
- Units with Water Movement have to adopt Ground Movement whenever they enter battle on land.
- Units with Air Movement get to retain it no matter where they fight.
The term "ground movement" applies to land-bound units traveling overland in a general sense. The Boot graphic is useful for displaying these units' base Movement Allowance. It does not, however, call attention to specific Movement Types that might be active on the unit or stack (Mountaineer, Planar Travel, Path Finding, etc.) in their overland journeys.
Combat Terrain[]
The table below shows the combat terrain gradients that units face under the Ground Movement rules.
- Sailing Units Note:
- While Flying and Swimming units may default to Ground Movement, these units cannot. In rare circumstances sailing units may be attacked on land. In the even rarer circumstances that they actually appear in the battle, they cannot cross these tiles, rendering them effectively immobile in land combat. They can still hurl their Rocks and attack adjacent foes. They mobilize if they obtain the ability to Fly.
Effects Overview[]
Unit Abilities and spells concerned with overland travel don't necessarily affect Ground Movement. Raising maneuverability (and snaring enemies) in battle constitutes a somewhat different line of spell research and troop selection. The table in this section lists abilities and spells that act discriminately in some way with Ground Movement.
Unit Abilities | ||
Icon | Ability | Combat Effects |
---|---|---|
Forester | None No combat terrain discounts. | |
Mountaineer | ||
Pathfinding | ||
Fire Breath | Permits a Walker to initiate melee attacks on a Flyer. | |
Lightning Breath | ||
Thrown | ||
Death Gaze | ||
Doom Gaze | ||
Stoning Gaze | ||
Merging | Unit may teleport to almost any tile at a cost of 1. | |
Teleporting | ||
Non-Corporeal | Unit gains immunity to snares and may pass through City Walls. No combat terrain discounts. | |
Plane Shift | None — Sorry, you cannot wink in and out of combat. | |
Web Spell | Traps a target, forces a Flyer into Ground Movement (Combat Instant snare). | |
Wind Walking | None — Note: Does not grant Air Movement in combat, not even to the unit possessing the ability. | |
Spells | ||
Realm | Spell | Combat Effects |
Dispel Magic | May remove relevant movement buffs imparted by spells, but not innate abilities or Item Powers. | |
Disenchant Area | ||
Dispel Magic True | ||
Disenchant True | ||
Call Chaos | Potentially grants Air Movement (~4% per target). | |
Chaos Channels | Potentially grants Air Movement (~33%). | |
Cracks Call | Requires corporeal target in Ground Movement (technically a tile snare). | |
Earth to Mud | Corporeal units (friend or foe) must be in Ground Movement (tile snare). | |
Endurance | +1 | |
Entangle | −1 ... Requires corporeal foes in Ground Movement (Combat Enchantment snare). | |
Flight | Grants Air Movement to the target. | |
Flying Fortress | units cannot enter or leave the Town. | |
Haste | × 2 | |
Wall of Fire | Units (friend or foe) must be in Ground Movement to trigger the effect. | |
Water Walking | None - grants Water Movement to the target, which defaults to Ground Movement in land combat. | |
Web | Traps a target, forces a Flyer into Ground Movement (Combat Instant snare). | |
Wind Walking | None — Note: Does not grant Air Movement in combat, not even to the unit bearing the enchantment. | |
Wraith Form | Unit gains immunity to snares and may pass through City Walls. No combat terrain discounts. |