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This article is about the unit ability labeled "Thrown" in the game. For the specifications of the attack executed by this ability, see Thrown Attack.
Ability Thrown

Thrown is one of the many Unit Abilities available in Master of Magic. With this ability, a unit making a voluntary Melee Attack starts this attack with a barrage of thrown weapons, predominantly axes, lobbed at the enemy from some distance away before engaging in close combat. This is referred to as a "Thrown Attack".

The strength of the Thrown ability is noted after its name (e.g. "Icon Thrown 1"). This indicates the attack's strength, and thus the maximum Icon Damage Damage it can cause (though this is subjected to Icon ToHit To Hit rolls and the target's Icon Defense Defense rolls).

Seven different units in the game possess the Thrown ability by default. 4 of these are Barbarian Normal Units, while the remaining 3 are Heroes. For all seven units, the strength of the Thrown ability improves with Experience Level (and is one of the only Unit Abilities to do so!).

There is no way to add the Thrown ability to a unit that does not already possess it. However, it is quite possible to improve the strength of this ability by several means for units that do possess it, particularly for the three Heroes.

Description[]

While there are many units that can perform a Ranged Attack to attempt to damage their enemies from a long distance, some units prefer to lob heavier projectiles at the enemy from a significantly closer range. Throwing axes and spears are preferred weapons for such an attack, but all must be unleashed at a relatively close range. The unit will lob its thrown weapons at the target just prior to charging it with hand-to-hand weapons, counting on the initial damage from the thrown attack to weaken the target.

Effect[]

Thrown is automatically used whenever the unit voluntarily makes a Melee Attack against any opponent. Before the unit commences its actual attack, it will unleash a Thrown Attack delivering a certain amount of non-magical damage.

This is carried out in a similar fashion to a regular attack. The Throwing unit makes a number of Icon ToHit To Hit rolls equal to the strength of the Thrown ability. The target then gets to make Icon Defense Defense rolls to try and block some of this incoming damage.

As a Icon Thrown Thrown Attack, this occurs before any other exchange of damage or other attacks between the unit and its target. It precedes Gaze Attacks, Touch Attacks, and any exchange of actual Melee Damage.

As a result, any Icon Figure figure in the enemy unit that is killed by the Thrown Attack does not get to retaliate at all – it is already dead by the time its unit begins the retaliation (that is, if the unit survived at all). This confers a great deal of protection to the Throwing unit: if it can kill a large number of enemy Icon Figure figures (or all of them) with the Thrown Attack, the target can return very little damage at it.

All Thrown Attacks deliver regular combat damage, similar to Melee Damage. As a non-magical attack, it cannot be blocked by Magic Immunity. Thrown Attacks don't even trigger Weapon Immunity. Large Shield is the only Unit Ability that grants some protection by increasing defense by Icon Defense +2.

Note that Thrown is not used when the unit is Counter Attacking to an enemy assault. It only works when the unit makes a voluntary Melee Attack against an enemy. Also note that Thrown allows a ground unit to initiate Melee Attacks against Icon Movement AirFlying Units.

Units with a Default Thrown Attack[]

There are no less than 7 units in the game that possess the Thrown ability: 4 are Normal Units produced by the Barbarians and the other 3 are Heroes.

Tactical BarbarianSpearmen Barbarian SpearmenIcon Thrown 1
Tactical BarbarianSwordsmen Barbarian SwordsmenIcon Thrown 1
Tactical BarbarianCavalry Barbarian CavalryIcon Thrown 1
Tactical Berserkers BerserkersIcon Thrown 3
Tactical Hero Bahgtru Bahgtru the Orc WarriorIcon Thrown 3
Tactical Hero Gunther Gunther the BarbarianIcon Thrown 3
Tactical Hero Shalla Shalla the AmazonIcon Thrown 4

Note: The ability strengths listed above indicate the unit's initial Thrown strength only. For all these units, Experience will gradually improve the strength of the attack. The 3 Heroes can also equip items that improve it, and many additional effects may also increase the strength of the Thrown ability as explained below.

Acquiring Thrown[]

There is no known method of adding the Thrown ability to any unit that does not already possess it. The 7 units listed above are the only units that will ever possess Thrown.

Improving Thrown[]

A unit's Thrown ability can be improved in many different ways, some transient and others permanent. In this regard, the Thrown ability is much more similar to basic unit attributes (like Melee Attack or Resistance) than it is to other Unit Abilities.

Experience[]

First and foremost, the strength of a unit's Thrown ability will improve as the unit gains Experience. It is one of the only Unit Abilities in the game that does so.

For the four Normal Units listed above, the Thrown ability improves at a rate of +1 per every 2 levels – which means Icon Thrown +1 at Icon Experience Level Level 2 ("Regular"), Icon Thrown +2 at Icon Experience Level Level 4 ("Elite"), and Icon Thrown +3 at Icon Experience Level Level 6 ("Champion").

For the Heroes, the Thrown ability improves by Icon Thrown +1 per every Icon Experience Level Experience Level.

Magical Weapons[]

Normal Units equipped with Icon Melee Mithril Mithril Weapons or Icon Melee Adamantium Adamantium Weapons receive a bonus of +1 or +2 (respectively) to their Thrown ability, if they have it. Icon ToHit To Hit bonuses from such weapons (and also from Icon Melee Magic Magical Weapons) do not apply to the unit's Thrown Attack, unless the unofficial 1.40 patch or higher is used.

For Heroes, an Axe or Jewelry with Attack Strength bonuses will apply those bonuses to both the Hero's Melee Attack and to their Thrown ability, if they possess one. This makes Axes the preferred weapon of any Hero who possesses this ability. Note that Icon ToHit To Hit bonuses on such an Axe or Jewelry do not apply to the Hero's Thrown Attack, unless the unofficial 1.40 patch or higher is used. Offensive Item Powers (such as Flaming) do apply to Thrown Attack if used on an Axe.

Hero Abilities[]

The Might ability does not increase the strength of a Hero's own Thrown ability (if he/she has one at all). However, the Leadership ability does help – increasing not only the Hero's Thrown ability, but also the Thrown ability of any unit accompanying this Hero into battle.

With the "standard" version of Leadership, the bonus is exactly Icon Thrown +1 and applies once the Hero reaches Icon Experience Level Experience Level 6 ("Lord"). It does not improve beyond Icon Thrown +1.

With Super Leadership, the bonus is Icon Thrown +1 when the Hero reaches Icon Experience Level Experience Level 4 ("Commander") and Icon Thrown +2 when the Hero reaches Icon Experience Level Experience Level 8 ("Super Hero").

Icon ToHit To Hit bonuses from the Blademaster ability (or its Super version) and Lucky apply to the Hero's Thrown Attack.

Other Magical Effects[]

There are many spells in the game that can be used to augment a unit's Thrown ability, increasing its strength. The list below is probably missing a few such effects, but is at least mostly complete.

Spell Name Effect on target's Thrown ability
Icon Life Lionheart  +3
Icon Chaos Flame Blade  +2
Icon Nature Giant Strength  +1
Icon Death Black Channels  +1
Icon Chaos Chaos Channels  +2 when fighting in/around a Chaos Node
Icon Chaos Metal Fires  +1

Hurting an Enemy's Thrown[]

There are several spells available in the game that can reduce the strength of an enemy's Thrown ability, thus reducing the danger from that enemy unit. The list below may or may not be complete.

Spell Name Effect on target's Thrown ability
Icon Death Weakness  No effect (due to bug), should be -2
Icon Death Black Prayer  -1
Icon Chaos Shatter  Set to exactly  1
Icon Sorcery Mind Storm  -5

Spells and Abilities affecting Thrown[]

Icon Name Description
Attack Strength
Icon Melee Adamantium Adamantium Weapon Icon Thrown +2 (requires Alchemists' Guild and a nearby Adamantium Ore)
Icon Melee Mithril Mithril Weapon Icon Thrown +1 (requires Alchemists' Guild and a nearby Mithril Ore)
UnitEnchantment Lionheart Lionheart Icon Thrown +3
UnitEnchantment GiantStrength Giant Strength Icon Thrown +1
UnitEnchantment FlameBlade Flame Blade Icon Thrown +2 (normal units only)
CombatEnchantment MetalFires Metal Fires Icon Thrown +1 for all allied normal units (non-cumulative with Flame Blade)
UnitEnchantment BlackChannels Black Channels Icon Thrown +1 (normal units become Undead)
CombatEnchantment BlackPrayer Black Prayer Icon Thrown -1 for all enemy units
UnitEnchantment MindStorm Mind Storm Icon Thrown -5 if unit hasn't Illusions Immunity or Magic Immunity
UnitEnchantment Shatter Shatter Attack is reduced to Icon Thrown 1 if normal unit fails to resist
SpellIcon ChaosSurge Chaos Surge Icon Thrown +2 for all units associated with Icon ChaosChaos (Chaos Channeled units)
CombatEnchantment ChaosNodeBonusAura Chaos Node Aura Icon Thrown +2 for all units associated with Icon ChaosChaos (Chaos Channeled units)
CombatEnchantment Darkness Darkness Icon Thrown +1 for all units associated with Icon DeathDeath (Undead units);
Cloud of Shadow and Eternal Night have same effect
CombatEnchantment TrueLight True Light Icon Thrown -1 for all units associated with Icon DeathDeath (Undead units);
Heavenly Light has same effect
Ability Leadership Leadership Icon Thrown +1 for all accompanying normal units if hero reaches Icon ExpLevel 5 6th Level
Icon Thrown +2 if hero has Super Leadership and reaches Icon ExpLevel 7 8th Level
ItemPower Sword Red Flaming Icon Thrown +3 (only if this Item Power is used on an Axe)
Item Axe 1 Axe up to Icon Thrown +6
Item Misc 1 Jewelry up to Icon Thrown +4
To Hit Modifiers
Ability Lucky Lucky Icon ToHit +10% (also: Icon ToBlock +10% To Block)
CombatEnchantment Prayer (High) Prayer Icon ToHit +10% for all allied units (also: Icon ToBlock +10% To Block)
Ability Invisibility Invisibility an enemy attacking this unit receives Icon ToHit -10% (unless enemy has Illusion Immunity)
UnitEnchantment Vertigo Vertigo Icon ToHit -20% if unit fails to resist
CombatEnchantment WarpReality Warp Reality Icon ToHit -20% for all units not associated with Icon ChaosChaos (Chaos Channeled units)
Ability Blademaster Blademaster up to Icon ToHit +40% (Icon ToHit +60% if Super Blademaster)
Icon Melee Magic Magical Weapon only in unofficial 1.40+ patches: Icon ToHit +10% (requires Alchemy or Alchemists' Guild)
UnitEnchantment HolyWeapon Holy Weapon only in unofficial 1.40+ patches: Icon ToHit +10% (cumulative with Icon Melee Magic Magical Weapon)
Item Axe 1 Axe only in unofficial 1.40+ patches: up to Icon ToHit +20%
Item Misc 1 Jewelry only in unofficial 1.40+ patches: up to Icon ToHit +20%
Non-listed Defense
Ability LargeShield Large Shield Icon Defense +2
Ability WeaponImmunity Weapon Immunity only in unofficial 1.50 patch: Defense is increased to Icon Defense 10, if
attacked by a normal unit without any kind of magic weapons
Other
UnitEnchantment EldritchWeapon Eldritch Weapon opponent's chance to block is decreased by Icon ToBlock -10%
UnitEnchantment Invulnerability Invulnerability absorbs the first 2 damage coming from each enemy Icon Figure figure; unit gets Weapon Immunity
UnitEnchantment Haste Haste Icon Thrown Thrown attack is executed twice, Icon Movement GroundMovement is doubled
CombatEnchantment Blur Blur roughly 10 % of all enemy Icon Thrown attacks will miss (regardless of hit roll)
UnitEnchantment Immolation Immolation every enemy Icon Figure figure is hit by a Icon Ranged Magic 4 Fire Damage attack (To Hit modifiers have no effect)

Note: Icon Thrown Thrown attacks won't profit from the Icon ToHit To Hit bonus of Icon Melee Magic Magical and Holy Weapons, neither will they trigger Weapon Immunity (both in contrast to Icon Ranged Bow Ranged Missile Attacks). Strangely, Eldritch Weapon will affect Icon Thrown Thrown but not Icon Ranged Boulder Boulder attacks, whereas it is the opposite behaviour in case of Icon Melee Magic Magical and Holy Weapons.

Note: Axe and Jewelry will both improve Icon Thrown Attack strength, but won't affect Thrown's Icon ToHit To Hit. If a Hero with Icon Thrown wears an Axe granting certain Touch Attacks (as Death, Stoning, Life Steal, Dispel Evil or Destruction), then this Touch Attack will be executed both in Thrown and Melee Phase.

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