Holy Weapon

	Buggy Feature
	As of Master of Magic v1.31, Holy Weapon is known to be malfunctioning in at least one way. Please read the Known Bugs section below.

Holy Weapon
Realm	Life
Spell Rarity	Common
Spell Type	Unit Enchantment
Casting Cost	50
Combat Cost	10
Upkeep Cost	1
Research Cost	80
Effects
Target Normal Unit or Hero receives  +10% To Hit to Melee Attacks and non-magical Ranged Attacks, and may now attack Weapon Immune units without triggering their special Defense bonuses.

Holy Weapon is a Common Unit Enchantment belonging to the Life Magic realm. For  50 it may be cast on a friendly Normal Unit or Hero on the overland map to empower its weapons with divine energy. As a result, the unit receives a  +10% To Hit bonus, which allows it to inflict more damage on average with each attack. Furthermore, when fighting enemy units possessing Weapon Immunity, the enchanted unit no longer allows the enemy its  10 from this immunity.

Alternatively, a cheaper version of the same spell may be cast for  10 during combat, in which case it will temporarily bestow the same bonus on a unit for the duration of the battle (with no permanent effects or upkeep costs).

Effects

Holy Weapon imbues the weapons of a Normal Unit or Hero with divine energy. This allows the unit to more often strike true with its attacks, thus increasing its average damage output. Furthermore, these weapons are now considered magical, and can be used against Weapon-Immune effectively.

Magical Attack

The first bonus bestowed by Holy Weapon is to turn the enchanted unit's Melee Attack into a  Magical Melee Attack.

With its Magical Weapons, the enchanted unit can now attack targets possessing Weapon Immunity without increasing those targets' Defense score. Note, that  Ranged Missile Attacks will profit from this, too.

This bonus applies only if the unit had  Normal Melee Weapons before this spell was cast upon it. Units already possessing  Mithril Weapons or  Adamantium Weapons will not "downgrade" to Magical Weapons as a result of this spell.

To Hit Bonus

Holy Weapon is often prized for the  +10% To Hit bonus it bestows on the unit.

This bonus will not increase the unit's maximum damage output during combat, but will increase its average damage output. In other words, the unit will be more likely to inflict  Damage on its enemies with each attack it makes.

This bonus applies to the unit's  Melee Attack,  Ranged Missile Attacks and  Ranged Boulder Attacks (if it has any). On the other hand, any damage-delivering Special Attacks like  Thrown or  Fire Breath won't be affected.

Note, that this +1 to Hit bonus works exactly the same way as the +1 to Hit bonus of  Magical Weapons, and is cumulative. This means, if a unit was build in a town possessing an Alchemists' Guild, and if it is additionally enchanted with Holy Weapon, then this unit receives a  +20% To Hit bonus to its melee and non-magical ranged attacks.

Example

A unit of Nomad Swordsmen contains  6 Figures, with each figure possessing a Melee Attack of strength  3.

When attacking or Counter Attacking, each Swordsman makes a  3 strength attack. However the unit has a To Hit score of only 30% (the default for most units), meaning that on average each swordsman will only deliver  3 *  30% =  0.9 points of Damage on average with each attack. The total damage output of the unit is therefore approximately  0.9 *  6 =  5.4 on average.

If Holy Weapon is cast on the unit, its To Hit score is raised by  +10% for a total of  40%. Now, each swordsman's attack delivers  3 *  40% =  1.2 points of Damage. The unit as a whole can now be said to deliver  7.2 on average with each attack!

Throughout the above example, the unit's maximum damage potential remains constant, at  3 *  6 =  18. However it is unlikely to deliver that much damage. The To Hit bonus skews only the statistically common amount of damage the unit delivers, bringing it closer to the unit's potential damage output of  18.

Usage

Holy Weapon may be cast during combat for the rather low Casting Cost of  10. In this case, the spell will only affect the targeted unit until the end of the battle - at which point it will dissipate.

Alternatively, Holy Weapon may be cast on the overland map for a lasting effect. In this case it has a base Casting Cost of  50, and requires an Upkeep Cost of  1 per turn to maintain. Failure to pay this Upkeep Cost due to lack of Mana will cause the spell to dissipate. However, as long as the spell is paid for (and not dispelled by any rival Wizard), the unit continues to enjoy its bonus.

Holy Weapon may only be cast on friendly Normal Units and Heroes. It may not be targeted at Fantastic Creatures. If the desired target is in an overland army stack, click on that stack to get a list of units inside it, and then select your desired unit.

Note that during battle, Holy Weapon may not be cast on any units mutated by the Chaos Channels spell. Nonetheless you may target these units freely on the overland map, and the effects will carry into combat. The Undead are not valid targets in either case.

Once the spell is in effect, the unit will glow with a white aura, unless there is a more powerful spell also affecting it.

If you've placed Holy Weapon on a unit, you may remove it by examining the unit's details and clicking the Enchantment's icon. The primary reason to do this would be in order to remove the spell's Upkeep Cost, thus conserving  Mana for other spells.

Acquisition

As a Common Life spell, Holy Weapon may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least one Life Spellbook. However, its availability during the game is not guaranteed unless the Wizard acquires at least 7 Spellbooks.

Customized Wizards possessing up to 10 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 11 Spellbooks are guaranteed to have this spell available for casting as soon as the game begins.

Wizards with 6 or fewer Spellbooks who have not chosen Holy Weapon as a guaranteed spell have a random chance of being able to Research it. The chance for this spell to appear increases with the number of Life Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay. With −3 Spellbooks, the spell is guaranteed to appear for Research if it is not already available for casting.

Holy Weapon has a base Research Cost of  80.

With at least 1 Spellbook, the Holy Weapon 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.

Strategy

Despite sounding like a pretty basic spell, Holy Weapon is in fact quite dangerous - especially when cast on high-tier Normal Units and Heroes. To Hit bonuses are exceptionally potent, can help weaker units take on enemies with high Defense scores, and overall increase the combat usefulness of Melee Attackers and Ranged Attackers alike.

Holy Weapon can also be used when fighting units with Weapon Immunity, so keep this in mind if the enemy creates many Werewolves or similar weapon-immune units.

Known Bugs

Holy Weapon has no effect at all, if cast in battle. On the other hand, Holy Weapon (as well as Holy Arms) works as intended, if cast on overland map: The corresponding unit receives a  +10% To Hit bonus and can hit weapon-immune units effectively with its  Melee and  Ranged Missile attacks.

Also note, that Holy Weapon is sometimes dispelled twice by Dispel Magic and similar spells.