Buggy Feature | |
As of Master of Magic v1.31, Magic Vortex is known to be malfunctioning in at least one way. Please read the Known Bugs section below. |
Magic Vortex | ||
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Realm | Chaos | |
Spell Rarity | Rare | |
Spell Type | Combat Instant | |
Casting Cost | 50 | |
Research Cost | 1,200 | |
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Creates a funnel of magical energy that moves semi-randomly across the battlefield.
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Magic Vortex is a Rare Combat Instant of the Chaos Realm. It may only be cast during combat, and must be targeted at an unoccupied battlefield tile. For 50, the spell will create a Vortex of chaotic energies that moves across the battlefield on its own, with some very limited input from the caster. The Vortex inflicts 5 points of Doom Damage to any unit it passes over. Adjacent units have a 33% chance to be hit by a 5-strength Armor Piercing attack. Finally, each time the Vortex moves into a tile inside the 4x4 Town Proper area during a siege, it adds 5 to the Collateral Accumulator, increasing the chance for the Town to lose citizens or Town Buildings during the fight.
Effects[]
Magic Vortex creates a chaotic swirl of raw magical energy, which moves with a mind of its own. It will inflict significant damage to any unit caught in its path, hostile or otherwise, and may cause serious collateral damage during a siege.
Random Movement[]
The Magic Vortex moves semi-randomly across the battlefield at the end of its caster's turn (i.e. after all of the caster's units have finished their actions). Each turn, it takes four steps, with the first three directions being determined at random, and the fourth dictated by the caster. While the random movement is largely erratic, the Magic Vortex will never simply move back and forth. It can only change direction by a maximum of 90 degrees compared to the last movement it made. However, this restriction does not apply to the move directed by the caster. In fact, they can send the Vortex right back to the square it just left, although the chosen direction does limit the first random move that the Magic Vortex will take during its next turn.
The Magic Vortex may freely move into tiles containing units, City Walls, and most other obstacles – including other Vortices. On the other hand, units may not elect to move into a tile currently occupied by a Magic Vortex, even if they are completely immune to its damage. Every time the Vortex moves, whether randomly or by command, it may cause one or more of the effects listed below, depending on what assets are in- or next to the destination tile.
Doom Damage[]
Whenever the Magic Vortex moves into a tile containing a unit, whether friend or foe, it will immediately deliver 5 points of Doom Damage to that unit. This Damage Type does not require any Attack Rolls, nor does it allow the target to make any attempts to reduce the damage. Exactly 5 will always be dealt. The only exceptions are units possessing Magic Immunity or Righteousness, both of which allow the unit to ignore this damage entirely.
Secondary Damage[]
Any unit that is adjacent to a tile that a Magic Vortex moves into has a 33% chance of being struck by lightning. Again, this affects friend and foe alike, and several units may be struck simultaneously. The lightning counts as a strength 5 Armor Piercing magical attack. It does require an Attack Roll, but the target may only use half of its Defense value in any attempt to reduce this damage. The conditional effects of Bless, Resist Elements, Elemental Armor, and Large Shield do all apply against this attack, albeit their bonus will be halved along with the unit's Defense.
Units possessing Magic Immunity or Righteousness will never take damage from this attack either.
Collateral Damage[]
Finally, during siege battles, whenever a Magic Vortex moves to a tile inside the 4x4 Town Proper area, it immediately adds 5 to the "Collateral Accumulator". If it moves through multiple such tiles in a row, then the accumulator is increased for every such move. This effectively raises the average number of citizens and Town Buildings that will be lost to Collateral Damage at the end of the battle – by 10% and 5% respectively, per move. While these are ultimately just chances and have hard-coded limits – 50% for Population loss and 75% for building destruction –, they are rolled individually for each unit of population above the first, as well as each non-replaced building. As a result, the larger and more developed the Town is, the more likely that even a single triggering of this mechanic will have catastrophic consequences.
On the other hand, the Magic Vortex does not destroy City Wall sections when it moves through them.
Usage[]
Magic Vortex may only be cast during combat, for a basic Casting Cost of 50. It must be targeted at a map tile that does not contain a unit or other significant obstacle. Upon casting, the Magic Vortex appears at the selected location, and will start moving at the end of the turn.
The Magic Vortex is maintained by magic, but it is not considered to be a unit. It can be removed by either Dispel Magic, Disenchant Area, or their True versions, although this is not automatic in either case – the normal rules for dispelling magic apply. The Magic Vortex will also disappear on its own once the battle is over, and does not carry over to the campaign map. Therefore, it has no Upkeep Cost.
Acquisition[]
As a Rare Spell of the Chaos Realm, Magic Vortex may become available to any Wizard who acquires at least 2 Spellbooks. With any less, the spell can 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 Magic Vortex to be researchable (at some point) in the campaign is roughly 10% (with 2 books), which gradually increases with the number of Chaos Spellbooks possessed or found during gameplay. With 10 or more, the spell is certain to show up sooner or later, unless acquired from another source. It has a Research Cost of 1,200, although its research is quicker for Wizards possessing the Sage Master, and/or Chaos Mastery Retorts; or a bookshelf containing 8 or more.
Magic Vortex may also be selected as a starting spell by players who allocate all of of their picks into Chaos books when creating their Wizard. In this case, it will be available for casting as soon as the game begins.
Strategy[]
Magic Vortex is as powerful as it is risky. It can wreak a massive amount of havoc if it moves through the enemy lines, but its semi-random movement means that it may end up attacking the caster's own units instead. Therefore, Wizards using Magic Vortex should be aware that their forces are also at risk from this spell. Magic Vortex is usually best cast close to a concentration of enemy troops. However, those troops should be avoided by friendly units afterwards, if at all possible. When it comes to deciding which way the Vortex should go, it is typically better move it away from friendly targets unless they are immune to its damage.
Casting Magic Vortex during a siege is dangerous, especially if it's the caster's own Town being besieged! The last thing anyone would want is for the Vortex to rampage through their own City and destroy their own Town Buildings. Even if the siege is at an enemy Town however, if keeping that settlement after the battle is a priority, it may be better to forgo the use of this spell altogether. If the intention is to Raze the Town however, the attacking Wizard may even benfit from obliterating it with a Vortex (or two).
Known Bugs[]
While it is possible to cast several Magic Vortices during the same battle, this can allegedly cause the game to become unstable or crash altogether. Because of this, the unofficial Insecticide patch has reduced the Vortex limit per combat from 10 to only 4. However, dedicated testing and later analysis of the v1.31 code has revealed neither any instability nor memory corruption caused by Magic Vortex itself. This suggests that the original report may have been a false positive, where the observed problems were instead caused by something other than this spell.