Stoning Damage is a type of Special Damage that can be delivered by Gaze Attacks, Touch Attacks, and a specific combat spell. An attack delivering Stoning Damage stands a good chance of killing one or more enemy figures outright, regardless of the target's Defense score.
When a target is struck by Stoning Damage, it does not make any Defense rolls against it. Instead, each affected Figure in the target unit makes a single Resistance roll. The result of this roll determines whether the figure is killed instantly or left completely unharmed.
Stoning Damage is commonly delivered by several Fantastic Units from the Nature and Chaos realms, most of whom deliver it by way of a Gaze Attack ( Stoning Gaze), and one by way of a Touch Attack ( Stoning Touch). Heroes may also add a Stoning Damage (Touch Attack) component to their Melee, // Ranged, or Thrown Attacks by equipping a Magical Weapon that contains the "Stoning" enchantment.
Finally, the Petrify spell delivers a Stoning Damage attack against every Figure in a target enemy unit on the battlefield.
Effect[]
Stoning Damage forces its target to make one or more Resistance rolls - with each failed roll killing off one Figure in the enemy unit. Stoning Damage delivered by units behaves somewhat differently depending on whether it is delivered by a Gaze Attack or a Touch Attack.
Resistance and Death[]
Whenever an attack containing a Stoning Damage component strikes any target on the battlefield, each affected Figure within the target unit must make a single die roll - resulting in a random number between 1 and 10. This number is then compared to the target's Resistance score (with possible modifiers, which are explained below).
The number of affected Figures depends on the type of the ability. For Gaze Attacks, one Resistance roll is made for each Figure in the target unit. For Touch Attacks, on the other hand, one roll is made for each Figure in the attacking unit (i.e. the unit performing the Touch Attack).
Each Figure that rolls a number higher than its unit's Resistance score is immediately killed off - regardless of how many Hit Points it has remaining or how high its Defense score is. The figure is simply destroyed. If all Figures in the unit have failed their Resistance rolls simultaneously this way, then the entire unit is destroyed.
Figures that roll equal to or lower than their units' Resistance are completely unharmed by this Stoning Damage.
Resistance Modifiers[]
- Each attack that delivers Stoning Damage inflicts a certain penalty on the target's Resistance score. The stronger this penalty, the less chance each target Figure has to "win" the roll and avert its own death.
- The Resistance penalty varies from attacker to attacker, with the "strongest" penalty being that inflicted by a Chaos Spawn's attacks: -4 Resistance! This attack has no problem affecting units with 4 or less (it will completely destroy them on the spot!), and can occasionally affect targets with Resistance scores as high as 13.
- The weakest Stoning Damage attack is that delivered by the Petrify spell, which gives no Resistance penalty whatsoever.
Immunities[]
Stoning Damage will never hurt any unit possessing Stoning Immunity. Such units ignore the effects of any Stoning Damage attack. Similarly, Stoning Damage is also entirely blocked by Magic Immunity.
Finally, since the weakest Resistance penalty applied by Stoning Damage is 0, any unit with a Resistance score of 10 or more may be completely invulnerable to Stoning Damage - it cannot possibly fail its Resistance roll. Of course, it's always important to remember that most Stoning Damage attacks inflict a greater penalty; if the penalty lowers the target's Resistance below 10, the attack has at least some chance to hurt that target.
Note that these immunities will only block the Stoning Damage component of an attack. If the attack also delivers any Melee Damage, Ranged Damage or any other type of damage, that damage may or may not go through the target's immunities unimpeded.
Sources of Stoning Damage[]
Stoning Damage is a relatively common Damage Type, at least compared to similar types such as Death Damage. Its primary sources are units possessing either Stoning Gaze or Stoning Touch - and there are 4 such units in the game. Furthermore, one spell delivers Stoning Damage directly, and Heroes may equip themselves with a Magical Weapon containing the "Stoning" Item Power.
Units with Stoning Gaze[]
- Main article: Stoning Gaze
The Stoning Gaze ability is the more common source of Stoning Damage. Whenever a unit possessing this ability makes a Melee Attack or Counter Attack, it will first execute a separate Gaze Attack that delivers one Stoning Damage attack for each living enemy Figure.
A Gaze Attack occurs before the exchange of Melee Damage between the attacker and the target. As a result, any enemy Figures killed by the Stoning Damage do not get a chance to cause any Melee Damage. Thus, Stoning Gaze protects the attacker by reducing the number of enemy Figures that retaliate against it. It may, potentially, kill the entire enemy unit outright, and thus end the combat round before the target can deliver any damage at all!
The strength of a Stoning Gaze ability is very important: it indicates how much Resistance penalty is inflicted on the target. The greater the penalty, the greater the chance of killing each enemy Figure.
The table below lists all units possessing the Stoning Gaze ability, and the Resistance penalty inflicted by the units' attack.
Icon | Name | Resist Penalty |
---|---|---|
Basilisk | -1 | |
Gorgons | -2 | |
Chaos Spawn | -4 |
Units with Stoning Touch[]
- Main article: Stoning Touch
The Stoning Touch ability is very rare - possessed only by a single unit (the Cockatrices). Whenever a unit possessing this ability makes a Melee Attack or Counter Attack, each living Figure of it will also execute a separate Touch Attack that delivers Stoning Damage.
A Touch Attack occurs simuntaneously with the exchange of Melee Damage between the two units. This means that the target gets to deliver its own Melee Damage and/or Touch Attacks before it loses any Figures to the ensuing Stoning Damage. As a result, Stoning Touch offers no protection to the unit using it.
The Cockatrices' Stoning Touch ability applies a Resistance penalty of -3 while affecting the target, so targets need at least 13 to shrug it off every time. Targets with 3 or less are always completely destroyed.
The table below lists the Cockatrices' Stoning Touch ability, and the Resistance penalty inflicted by the unit's attack.
Icon | Name | Resist Penalty |
---|---|---|
Cockatrices | -3 |
Stoning Weapons[]
A further source of Stoning Damage comes from weapons imbued with the "Stoning" Item Power. This enchantment can be placed only on weapons (Swords, Maces, Axes, Bows, Wands, and Staves).
When the enchanted item is equipped on a Hero, it adds a Stoning Damage (Touch Attack) component to the attack associated with the item. Therefore, Swords, Maces, and Axes add Stoning Damage to the Hero's Melee Attacks (and Counter Attacks); while Bows, Wands, and Staves only add Stoning Damage to the Hero's / Ranged Attacks. Axes further add Stoning Damage to Thrown Attacks, if applicable.
The Stoning Damage delivered by a Hero's attack always inflicts a Resistance penalty of -1 on the target.
During the custom Item Crafting process, the "Stoning" Power is only available to Wizards possessing at least 2 Nature Spellbooks. Naturally, it's always possible to find a weapon containing this bonus as a reward for defeating Encounters.
The Hero's attack will only deliver Stoning Damage while the Hero is holding the enchanted item. If the item is removed or lost, the Hero's attack no longer delivers Stoning Damage.
The Petrify Spell[]
- Main article: Petrify
Petrify is a Rare Combat Instant belonging to the Nature Realm. When cast upon an enemy unit on the battlefield, it will deliver a single Stoning Damage attack against each Figure of that target.
The spell has a basic Casting Cost of 35, making it only mildly expensive. It is worth the price when cast at low- Resistance, Multi-Figure targets, where it can do a lot of damage. It is often way too expensive to cast at powerful Single-Figure units, but can sometimes have a chance of killing such a dangerous opponent outright, so keep it as a last-ditch option.
Since Petrify inflicts no Resistance penalty on its target, units need only 10 to be completely immune against this Stoning Damage.