| Alchemists' Guild | |||||||||||||||||
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| Races | All except Gnolls, Klackons, Lizardmen and Trolls. | ||||||||||||||||
| Construction Cost |
 250 | ||||||||||||||||
| Upkeep Cost |
 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Sells for |
83 | ||||||||||||||||
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The Alchemists' Guild is a type of Town Building. The Alchemists' Guild may be built by any race except the Gnolls, Klackons, Lizardmen and Trolls. A town must already contain a Sages' Guild in order to construct an Alchemists' Guild. The Alchemists' Guild's base construction cost is 250.
The Alchemists' Guild's primary benefits are two-fold: First, it provides 
+3 power per turn, augmenting its owner's magical prowess. Furthermore, it allows creating supernatural weapons for new Normal Units produced in this town. The quality of these weapons (and thus, their effects) depends on whether or not the town has any Mithril Ore or Adamantium Ore within its catchment area.
Furthermore, if the town's race has access to the University, the existence of both that and the Alchemists' Guild will unlock construction of the highly-expensive but extremely powerful Wizards' Guild - a structure that produces Magicians!
The Alchemists' Guild requires an Upkeep Cost of 3 per turn for its maintenance. If you're pressed for Gold, an Alchemists' Guild can be sold back for 83.
Description[]
Alchemy is a pseudo-science (at least in our real world), a predecessor to true chemistry in ancient times. Alchemists attempt to unravel the mysteries of matter and energy, but combine this with various types of mystical beliefs. The Alchemists' Guild is a specialized academy where experts and apprentices in this field can collaborate and coordinate their findings.
The Alchemists' Guild appears as a large tower, made of tan bricks and capped with a reddish sloping roof. A large orifice on the side of the building continuously spews out flames - possibly the result of a furnace inside whose purpose is to provide the heat for the various experiments carried out here. Internally, the building is probably sectioned into many rooms - laboratories for these dangerous experiments.
Races and Construction[]
Ten of the Races are capable of producing a Sages' Guild, making it easier to count those that are not: the Gnolls, Klackons, Lizardmen and Trolls, who are too warlike or simple to have any interest in advanced intellectual pursuits.
For those races that can build it, construction of the Alchemists' Guild requires a town to first build a Sages' Guild - from which some scholars will "split off" to pursue their own academic interests. If the Sages' Guild is missing, the Alchemists' Guild cannot be built. In fact, if the Sages' Guild is lost or sold off while the Alchemists' Guild is still in construction, the project will be canceled prematurely and cannot be restarted until this required building is rebuilt.
Construction of an Alchemists' Guild costs 250. The more Alchemists' Guilds you can build, the faster your Research efforts will go.
Continuous Effects[]
The presence of an Alchemists' Guild in a town has two continuous effects that are entirely different from one another. The first effect boosts the town's Power output by a whole +3 points. The second effect imbues the weapons of new Normal Units created in this town with one of three different effects, increasing these units' combat capabilities.
Power Output Bonus[]
The Alchemists' Guild produces 3 points of Power. This is added directly to the town's owner's Power rating. That wizard may distribute these extra points of Power just as he would distribute Power originating from any other source, such as the Fortress, Nodes, and so forth.
Depending on the distribution, this can increase Mana production by 
+3 per turn, increase Research by 
+3 per turn, or hasten the improvement of the wizard's Spell Skill (or any combination thereof). Therefore, the more Alchemists' Guilds there are within an empire, the better its master's magical prowess will be.
This bonus is also cumulative with the Power bonus from religious buildings like the Shrine, Temple, et cetera. In this sense, the Alchemists' Guild can be considered as a sort of religious building, despite being part of the intellectual development branch.
Special Weapons and Armor[]
When a new Normal Unit is created in a town that already contains an Alchemists' Guild, that unit receives one of three different types of special weapons. When equipped with such weapons, the unit receives a specific type of bonus associated with its received weapons, making it stronger in combat.
The type of weapon given to new units depends on the available resources in the town's vicinity. When a new unit is created, the game looks for any Mithril Ore or Adamantium Ore within the town's catchment area. If either mineral exists, new units will receive 
Mithril or 
Adamantium weapons respectively. If both resources are available, new units receive Adamantium weapons.
If neither resource is available within the town's catchment area, new units produced here will receive 
Magical weapons. This is still an improvement over the 
Normal weapons that units normally have (unless the Wizard owns the Alchemy Retort).
Note that if anything causes the available resources to change (whether by magic, Event, or otherwise), the type of weapon given to new units is altered automatically.
Further, note that only new units produced in this town (after the construction of the Alchemists' Guild) will receive upgraded weapons. It is not possible to upgrade the weapons of an already-existing unit in any way. Also, special weapons can never be "lost", unless the unit is completely destroyed.
Finally, note that only units produced in this town receive the special bonus from Mithril or Adamantium resources. If another Alchemists' Guild is constructed in another town, units produced from that town will receive weapons corresponding to resources within that town's catchment area.
As a result, a town that has access to either Mithril Ore or Adamantium Ore has a much higher incentive of being dedicated to unit-production, and of constructing an Alchemists' Guild as early as possible!
Special Equipment Effects[]
Any unit formed with special equipment provided by an Alchemists' Guild has permanently increased combat statistics. In the unit information window, if the unit has a Melee Attack, its Melee Attack strength will show a row of modified "sword" icons corresponding to Magical, Mithril, or Adamantium weapons, as appropriate. Non-magical Ranged Attacks do not show a special icon, but also receive benefits, even if the unit has no Melee Attack. A glowing sword icon on the unit viewed in the overland stack also marks units with special weapons.
A unit with any of the three kinds of special weapons receives a 
+10% To Hit bonus on all Melee Attacks and non-magical Ranged Attacks it makes. However, 
Ranged Magic Attacks and Special Attacks like 
Thrown or 
Fire Breath won't benefit. Furthermore, when the unit attacks an enemy possessing Weapon Immunity, that enemy's Defense score is not increased to 
10 as would happen when attacked by Normal Weapons.
A unit with Mithril or Adamantium Weapons, in addition to the +10% To Hit bonus, also receives a bonus to its Melee Attack strength, 
non-magical Ranged Attack strength, Thrown Attack strength, and Defense. These are shown as additional golden icons, similar to those resulting from magical enchantments. The bonuses are all +1 for Mithril and +2 for Adamantium.
Note that a unit lacking a Melee Attack entirely will not receive the ability to make Melee Attacks due to this bonus. The same goes for the Thrown Attack, Ranged Missile Attack, or Ranged Boulder Attack. Also note that Ranged Magical Attacks are not affected at all, unlike the other ranged attack forms.
| Combat Statistic | Magical
|
Mithril
|
Adamantium
|
All special weapons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melee Attack
|
- | +1 | +2 | +10% To Hit
|
| Ranged Missile Attack
|
- | +1 | +2 | +10% To Hit
|
| Ranged Boulder Attack
|
- | +1 | +2 | +10% To Hit
|
| Ranged Magic Attack
|
- | - | - | - |
| Thrown Attack
|
- | +1 | +2 | (no upgrade To Hit) |
| Defense
|
- | +1 | +2 | (no upgrade to Defense rolls) |
| For all attack types above, Weapon Immunity is bypassed. | ||||
| No other combat statistics are impacted, including Gaze, Breath, or similar attacks. | ||||
- Note: The presence of more than one Mithril Ore or Adamantium Ore tile in the town's catchment area does not amplify the bonuses bestowed to new units. Only one tile is required and taken into account. If both types of ore are present, Mithril Ore is ignored - since it is inferior to Adamantium Ore.
Unlocked Town Buildings[]
For 6 of the 7 races that can construct a University, the Alchemists' Guild plays an important role in unlocking the powerful Wizards' Guild. These races include the High Elves, High Men, Orcs, Beastmen, Dark Elves and Draconians. Nomads is the only race that can build both University and Alchemists' Guild but not Wizards' Guild. For all other races, the Alchemists' Guild is a developmental dead-end, representing the end of the intellectual branch of development.
The Alchemists' Guild provides the seed for the exploration of magical mysteries and research of magical materials. It takes the University, with its established organization of research and learning, to unlock a center for the training of magicians - who can manipulate magical forces to their will. This is the Wizards' Guild, which for most races will unlock their most potent Ranged Attack units - the Magicians. Dark Elves, already expert in the ways of magic, will instead be able to create Warlocks, whose power is truly terrifying.
Unlocked Normal Units[]
The Alchemists' Guild unlocks no new units for any race, not even in conjunction with other Town Buildings. However, the bonuses bestowed even by the simplest Magical Weapons will enhance the strength of any new unit produced in this town. As a result, even dedicated unit-production centers may have a strong incentive to construct this building.
Strategy[]
Strictly concerning the yields to the controlling wizard, the 3 and 5 from the Alchemists' Guild and its prerequisites are more cost-effective than any religious building. But there is the host city to consider, of course.
A city devoted to improving the empire's economy needs to quell unrest and pursue tax revenues and hammer-boosting projects before beginning work on a building of this kind. Likewise, Normal Units at every stage benefit from magical weapons, but not enough to justify the 430 detour down the intellectual development branch early on, which is required by an Alchemists' Guild.
The advantage of installing an Alchemists' Guild in the vicinity of Mithril Ore or Adamantium Ore, though, absolutely cannot be dismissed. Beelining the structure and gearing early-game units up with advanced metals is an option for raising a very efficient army. This strategy remains advantageous for a long time; Magicians, for instance, want any extra defense they can get, and the Alchemists' Guild is required for the Wizards' Guild anyway. All Normal Units gain a great deal of strength from the guild's equipment when it can use the Mineral specials.
With the Alchemy retort[]
Fittingly, a wizard who has the Alchemy retort has much less need of Alchemists' Guilds themselves, unless Mithril or Adamantium ore is present, being able to innately provide most of the same benefits as the building. Such a wizard may therefore postpone or skip building the Guild in most cities, thereby saving its Production costs to be used for other purposes in the early to mid-game. It may still be useful to build some as prerequisites for Wizards' Guilds later in the game.
The building's upkeep cost of 3 and output of 3 means it essentially converts Gold to Power on a 1:1 basis, while alchemist wizards can already convert Gold to Mana at the same rate, at will and at large scale. It should be noted that Mana is not the same as Power, which can be allocated to other purposes than mana. However, the prerequisite buildings to an Alchemists' Guild already produce 5 (at a higher gold efficiency). Furthermore, a Shrine and Temple collectively have the same upkeep as a Guild and the same power output. They do have a modestly higher 50 total cost to build, but have the additional benefit of quelling Unrest, and the additional religious buildings available to most races far outstrip the capacity of an Alchemists' Guild. So, the wizard can simply allocate more of their Power to Spell Casting Skill or Spell Research, and use Alchemy to convert 3 from the 3 that would've been spent on upkeep, rather than from Power. This is effective for a roughly even balance of Skill, Mana, and Research. Of course, some wizards may still desire the building's additional Power to support a Skill- or Research-intensive strategy.
Similarly, alchemist wizards use their innate skill to automatically provide normal units with Magical weapons, so have no need for a building to provide them. However, it is still well worth it to build an Alchemists' Guild in a city with Mithril Ore or Adamantium Ore available, so units produced there can receive additional benefits to attack and defense, which the Alchemy retort does not provide.