Haste (Item Power)

Haste
	Item Power
Cost	2,000
Required; Spellbooks
Valid; Items	Sword; Mace Axe; Bow
Effect
	Haste
Availability
	Create Artifact; Treasure; Merchant; The Gift

This article is about the Item Power called "Haste". For the spell that this Power emulates, see Haste.

"Haste" is an Item Power derived from Sorcery, and functions exactly as per the combat-only Unit Enchantment, Haste. It may be added to melee weapons and bows created for Heroes via Create Artifact. Some of the 250 premade Items possess this power, and these may be acquired primarily from Merchants during the campaign.

Effect[]

A Hastened Weapon distorts the uniform flow of time for the decisive advantage of its wielder. The enchantment requires a specialized Sorcerer. It is a delicate and pricey operation.

Main article: Haste

"Haste" functions exactly as the Unit Enchantment Spell of this name, but to imbue the Power, you neither need to research nor be able to cast the spell.

Haste confers two powerful benefits:

Doubled Combat Actions: The Hero automatically makes two back-to-back Melee Attacks, Counter Attacks, Special Attacks, or Ranged Missile Attacks, whenever these combat actions occur. Ammunition is consumed twice to account for this.

Doubled Combat Movement Allowance: The Movement score of the Hero is doubled during combat. In addition to the huge maneuverability, this effect reveals that a Ranged Attack costs 10, and fast heroes can fire multiple volleys each turn.

"Haste" is a bit more encompassing than other weapon-derived Item Powers. It does not matter what sort of weapon is used; all attacks get doubled-up. As with the spell, the Power is only disregarded during Ranged Magic that uses the hero's Mana pool. These behave normally.

The Item Power is transient: it will dissipate immediately if the Hero ever removes or loses the item. While worn, however, it cannot be dispelled. Moreover, the Item Power is activated before the first turn of combat, and therefore bestows its doubled movement allowance and counterattacks before you could possibly cast Haste. These are serious advantages over the spell and may justify the additional Cost of enchantment.

Strategy[]

This Item Power does not conflict with any abilities a Hero might inherently possess. There are, in fact, no injunctions whatsoever against it. "Haste" doubles the speed, offensive strength, and counter-offensive strength of the hero in combat. There is nothing else like it.

Heroes enchanted with "Haste" through their weapon have the blue aura customary for Sorcery enchantments (it is one of the only item powers that produces a graphical trace). The battlescape AI does not seem to realize that the effect cannot be dispelled, and computer players will usually blow their entire Casting Skill reserve trying to remove it. They may end up fizzling other enchantments on field, if any; but on the other hand, their spellcasting gets tied down by this expensive, useless effort.

"Haste" is prohibitively difficult even to qualify for. So in games where you do meet the required 7 ranks and can soldier through the expense, take advantage of this Power.

An Artificer / Runemaster cannot start with more than 5 books of a single color; "Haste" is therefore inaccessible until such a Wizard is able to capture very strong Sorcery Nodes. An Artificer can start the game with access to "Haste" simply by picking enough Sorcery Books, yet still the power might lie beyond reach... rendered inaccessible de facto by its huge cost.

Acquisition[]

Create Artifact[]

Main article: Item Crafting

With 7, "Haste" may be added to melee weapons and bows of your own design through Create Artifact. Crafting is an expensive and time-consuming process, particularly in light of the Mana investment demanded by this Item Power, and this can only be addressed by the Artificer and Runemaster Retorts.

**Casting Cost Structure for "Haste"**
Base	Runemaster	Artificer	Both
2,000	1,500	1,000	500

Overland[]

Main article: Magical Items in Treasure

The game data files contain 250 pre-defined Items. Of these, six possess "Haste". Item Powers cause a premade Item to demand that the Wizard have particular Spellbooks in order to appear in Treasure. The requirements are irregular, and in the case of "Haste", extremely stringent.

There are three different ways by which you can acquire one of these pre-defined Items:

By winning a difficult Encounter.
By purchasing it from a Merchant, a random petitioner.
As result of a Random Event called "The Gift".

It is often better to acquire items in this way, as it means you do not need to spend any time or Mana to create them. Still, Items found through these means are in no way guaranteed to exactly suit your needs. "Haste" items won't surface unless the stars truly align for you.

The table below lists the pre-defined Items with this power.

	Item	Attributes		Realm Powers		Required Ranks
Premade Items with "Haste"
2400	Ray of Light	1	1	Haste	Resist Magic			7	2
3050	Hand of God	1	10	Haste	Holy Avenger			3	7
4000	The Kick Axe	6	2	Haste	Giant Strength			3	7
2850	Axe of Haste	1		Haste	Magic Immunity		7	5
Merchant Only
	Item	Attributes		Realm Powers		Required Ranks
3750	Maul of Bathory	4		Vampiric Haste	Elemental Armor		5	4	7
5200	Blade of Blood			Vampiric Haste	Lightning Phantasmal	5	5	6	7