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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 Icon Figure figures outright, regardless of the target's Icon Defense Defense score.

When a target is struck by Stoning Damage, it does not make any Icon Defense Defense rolls against it. Instead, each affected Icon Figure Figure in the target unit makes a single Icon Resist 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 Icon NatureNature and Icon ChaosChaos realms, most of whom deliver it by way of a Gaze Attack (Ability StoningGaze Stoning Gaze), and one by way of a Touch Attack (Ability StoningTouch Stoning Touch). Heroes may also add a Stoning Damage (Touch Attack) component to their Icon Melee Normal Melee, Icon Ranged Bow/Icon Ranged Boulder/Icon Ranged Magic Ranged, or Icon Thrown Thrown Attacks by equipping a Magical Weapon that contains the "Stoning" enchantment.

Finally, the Petrify spell delivers a Stoning Damage attack against every Icon Figure Figure in a target enemy unit on the battlefield.

Effect[]

Stoning Damage forces its target to make one or more Icon Resist Resistance rolls - with each failed roll killing off one Icon Figure 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 Icon Figure 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 Icon Resist Resistance score (with possible modifiers, which are explained below).

The number of affected Icon Figure Figures depends on the type of the ability. For Gaze Attacks, one Icon Resist Resistance roll is made for each Icon Figure Figure in the target unit. For Touch Attacks, on the other hand, one Icon Resist roll is made for each Icon Figure Figure in the attacking unit (i.e. the unit performing the Touch Attack).

Each Icon Figure Figure that rolls a number higher than its unit's Icon Resist Resistance score is immediately killed off - regardless of how many Icon Hits Hit Points it has remaining or how high its Icon Defense Defense score is. The figure is simply destroyed. If all Figures in the unit have failed their Icon Resist Resistance rolls simultaneously this way, then the entire unit is destroyed.

Figures that roll equal to or lower than their units' Icon Resist Resistance are completely unharmed by this Stoning Damage.

Resistance Modifiers[]

Each attack that delivers Stoning Damage inflicts a certain penalty on the target's Icon Resist Resistance score. The stronger this penalty, the less chance each target Icon Figure Figure has to "win" the roll and avert its own death.
The Icon SpellSave Resistance penalty varies from attacker to attacker, with the "strongest" penalty being that inflicted by a Chaos Spawn's attacks: Icon SpellSave -4 Resistance! This attack has no problem affecting units with Icon Resist 4 or less (it will completely destroy them on the spot!), and can occasionally affect targets with Resistance scores as high as Icon Resist 13.
The weakest Stoning Damage attack is that delivered by the Petrify spell, which gives no Icon SpellSave Resistance penalty whatsoever.

Immunities[]

Stoning Damage will never hurt any unit possessing Ability StoningImmunity Stoning Immunity. Such units ignore the effects of any Stoning Damage attack. Similarly, Stoning Damage is also entirely blocked by Ability MagicImmunity Magic Immunity.

Finally, since the weakest Icon SpellSave Resistance penalty applied by Stoning Damage is Icon SpellSave 0, any unit with a Resistance score of Icon Resist 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 Icon Resist 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 Ability StoningGaze Stoning Gaze or Ability StoningTouch 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 Ability StoningGaze 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 Icon Figure Figure.

A Gaze Attack occurs before the exchange of Melee Damage between the attacker and the target. As a result, any enemy Icon Figure Figures killed by the Stoning Damage do not get a chance to cause any Melee Damage. Thus, Ability StoningGaze 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 Ability StoningGaze Stoning Gaze ability is very important: it indicates how much Icon SpellSave Resistance penalty is inflicted on the target. The greater the penalty, the greater the chance of killing each enemy Icon Figure Figure.

The table below lists all units possessing the Ability StoningGaze Stoning Gaze ability, and the Icon SpellSave Resistance penalty inflicted by the units' attack.

Icon Name Resist Penalty
Unit Icon Basilisk Transparent Basilisk Icon SpellSave -1
Unit Icon Gorgons Transparent Gorgons Icon SpellSave -2
Unit Icon ChaosSpawn Transparent Chaos Spawn Icon SpellSave -4

Units with Stoning Touch[]

Main article: Stoning Touch

The Ability StoningTouch 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 Icon Figure 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 Icon Figure Figures to the ensuing Stoning Damage. As a result, Ability StoningTouch Stoning Touch offers no protection to the unit using it.

The Cockatrices' Ability StoningTouch Stoning Touch ability applies a Icon SpellSave Resistance penalty of Icon SpellSave -3 while affecting the target, so targets need at least Icon Resist 13 to shrug it off every time. Targets with Icon Resist 3 or less are always completely destroyed.

The table below lists the Cockatrices' Ability StoningTouch Stoning Touch ability, and the Icon SpellSave Resistance penalty inflicted by the unit's attack.

Icon Name Resist Penalty
Unit Icon Cockatrices Transparent Cockatrices Icon SpellSave -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 Icon Melee Normal Melee Attacks (and Icon Melee Normal Counter Attacks); while Bows, Wands, and Staves only add Stoning Damage to the Hero's Icon Ranged Bow/Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Attacks. Axes further add Stoning Damage to Icon Thrown Thrown Attacks, if applicable.

The Stoning Damage delivered by a Hero's attack always inflicts a Resistance penalty of Icon SpellSave -1 on the target.

During the custom Item Crafting process, the "Stoning" Power is only available to Wizards possessing at least Icon Nature2 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 Icon NatureNature Realm. When cast upon an enemy unit on the battlefield, it will deliver a single Stoning Damage attack against each Icon Figure Figure of that target.

The spell has a basic Casting Cost of Icon Mana 35, making it only mildly expensive. It is worth the price when cast at low-Icon Resist Resistance, Icon MultiFigureUnit Multi-Figure targets, where it can do a lot of damage. It is often way too expensive to cast at powerful Icon SingleFigureUnit 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 Icon SpellSave Resistance penalty on its target, units need only Icon Resist 10 to be completely immune against this Stoning Damage.

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