| Lightning Bolt | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Realm |
 Chaos | |
| Spell Rarity | Uncommon | |
| Spell Type | Combat Instant | |
| Casting Cost |
 10-50 | |
| Research Cost |
 300 | |
| ||
Strikes the target unit with a  5-45 Armor Piercing Damage attack. | ||
Lightning Bolt is an Uncommon Combat Instant belonging to the Chaos Magic realm. It may only be cast during combat, and must be targeted at an enemy unit. For 10 the spell will strike the target with a Magical Bolt with a strength of 5. This attack delivers Armor Piercing Damage, and thus lowers the target's Defense by 50% for purposes of blocking damage from the bolt. Up to 40 additional Mana points may be spent increasing the strength of this bolt, with each 1 adding +1.
Effects[]
Lightning Bolt strikes the target with lightning, delivering direct damage to it. The target may only use half of its Defense score to reduce damage from this attack. The spell may be cast with additional Mana input to increase damage proportionally.
The Bolt[]
When Lightning Bolt is cast at an enemy unit during combat, a long bolt of electricity will shoot down from the sky and strike that unit. The bolt delivers an amount of 
Damage to the target based on the amount of Mana the casting Wizard invests in the spell.
The minimum strength of the bolt is 5. This value is used when the spell is cast at its base Casting Cost of 10. Each additional 1 spent on the spell increases the strength of the bolt by +1, for a maximum possible potency of 45.
The Lightning Bolt is considered to be a Ranged Attack originating from off-map (i.e. not from any of the units on the battlefield). It does not suffer any 
To Hit penalties for range, so each 1 strength point has a 30% chance of inflicting 1 damage point to the enemy unit. Therefore, a minimal Lightning Bolt delivers about 1.5 on average, while a fully-powered Lightning Bolt delivers about 13.5 on average.
Lightning Bolt delivers Armor Piercing Damage. Therefore, the enemy unit may block this attack using only half of its 
Defense score (rounded down), as per the normal Ranged Combat rules. For example, an enemy unit with 10 is only considered to have 5 for purposes of blocking damage from a Lightning Bolt. If the target contains 
Multiple Figures, each figure uses this halved score to block damage as necessary.
Usage[]
Lightning Bolt may only be cast during combat, for a basic Casting Cost of 10. It must be targeted at an enemy unit.
The casting Wizard may add up to +40 to the spell's Casting Cost in order to increase its potency. Each 1 beyond the spell's base cost of 10 will add a +1 bonus to the strength of the attack. The casting Wizard may not spend more Mana than he has in his Mana pool, nor spend more Mana than his current remaining Spell Casting Skill allows.
Lightning Bolt is shown on screen as a long stream of electricity - a literal bolt of lightning - striking down from the heavens at the targeted unit. Damage is dealt immediately on impact.
Acquisition[]
As an Uncommon Chaos spell, Lightning Bolt may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least one Chaos Spellbook. However, its availability during the game is almost never guaranteed.
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 who possess at least 8 Spellbooks, or Wizards with 11 Spellbooks who did not select Lightning Bolt as a guaranteed spell, will be able to Research this spell at some point during their campaign. Wizards with fewer than 8 Spellbooks have a random chance of being able to Research it. The chance for this spell to appear increases with the number of Chaos Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay.
Lightning Bolt has a base Research Cost of 300.
With at least 1 Spellbook, the Lightning 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.
Strategy[]
Lightning Bolt has one of the highest damage potentials of all direct-damage spells that target a single unit. This makes it an excellent spell on its own, especially when cast with the full amount of extra Mana.
Additionally, thanks to delivering Armor Piercing Damage, Lightning Bolt is especially useful for bringing down (or at least severely injuring) heavily-armored Fantastic Creatures, Heroes and high-tier Normal Units.
As a result, it is often employed well after becoming available, sometimes outdoing other, much higher-level direct-damage Chaos spells.