| Wraith Form | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Realm |
 Death | |
| Spell Rarity | Rare | |
| Spell Type | Unit Enchantment | |
| Casting Cost |
 150 | |
| Combat Cost |
30 | |
| Upkeep Cost |
3 | |
| Research Cost |
 880 | |
| ||
| Target unit gains the Non-Corporeal ability, allowing it to move at a rate of 0.5 Movement Point per tile on any Terrain, and protecting it from several spells that only affect Walking units. In addition, the unit gains Weapon Immunity. | ||
|
Buggy Feature |
| As of Master of Magic v1.31, Wraith Form is known to be malfunctioning in at least one way. Please read the Known Bugs section below. |
Wraith Form is a Rare Unit Enchantment belonging to the Death Magic realm. For 150 it may be cast on a friendly unit on the overland map to give it the Non-Corporeal ability. This unit may now move at a rate of 0.5 Movement Points per tile on the overland map regardless of what kind of Terrain it enters. It can also move freely across Ocean tiles. Non-Corporeal units are also immune to several spells and effects that penalize or slow down Walking units.
Alternatively, a cheaper version of the same spell may be cast for 30 during combat, in which case it will temporarily bestow the same bonus on a unit for the duration of the battle (with no permanent effects or upkeep costs).
Effects[]
Wraith Form turns a unit Non-Corporeal. This allows the unit to ignore many movement restrictions, including those created by enemy spellcasters, and allows it to move at a uniform speed regardless of terrain. In addition, normal weapons pass right through the unit, replicating the effects of Weapon Immunity.
Non-Corporeality[]
While a unit is under the effect of Wraith Form, it is considered Non-Corporeal by the game, with several benefits regarding its movement on the overland map and during combat.
On the overland map, a Non-Corporeal unit may move into any tile regardless of its Terrain type. Therefore, the unit may cross Ocean tiles freely, even if its Movement type is 
Walking.
Furthermore, the unit spends only 0.5 Movement Points on entering any tile - again regardless of Terrain type. It spends the same 0.5 Movement Points entering a Mountain or Volcano as it does entering Grassland.
During combat, Non-Corporeal does not change the unit's Movement Allowance nor the cost of moving into any tile. However, the unit can move through City Walls unimpeded (though other walls, like Wall of Fire, may still cause issues).
Non-Corporeal units are also protected from a variety of spells that hinder or damage Walking units. Spells like Entangle will not slow down a Non-Corporeal unit, and spells like Earthquake will not damage it. Strangely, the mud created by an Earth to Mud spell does in fact slow down Non-Corporeal units as it would any other unit. This contradicts the idea behind Non-Corporeality, and is assumed to be an oversight by the game's developers.
Note: Wraith Form provides virtually no benefits to Flying units. Casting it on such units is somewhat wasteful - it will only come in handy if the unit loses its Flying ability for any reason, such as due to a Web spell. It has no other known benefits.
Usage[]
Wraith Form may be cast during combat for the base Casting Cost of 30. In this case, the spell will only affect the targeted unit until the end of the battle - at which point it will dissipate.
Alternatively, Wraith Form may be cast on the overland map for a lasting effect. In this case it has a rather high base Casting Cost of 150, and requires an Upkeep Cost of 3 per turn to maintain. Failure to pay this Upkeep Cost due to lack of Mana will cause the spell to dissipate. However, as long as the spell is paid for (and not dispelled by any rival Wizard), the unit continues to enjoy its bonus.
Wraith Form may only be cast on friendly units. If the desired target is in an overland army stack, click on that stack to get a list of units inside it, and then select your desired unit.
Once the spell is in effect, the unit will glow with a purple aura, unless there is a more powerful spell also affecting it.
If you've placed Wraith Form on a unit, you may remove it by examining the unit's details and clicking the Enchantment's icon. The primary reason to do this would be in order to remove the spell's Upkeep Cost, thus conserving Mana for other spells.
Acquisition[]
As a Rare Death spell, Wraith Form may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least 2 Spellbooks. However, its availability during the game is not guaranteed unless the Wizard acquires at least 10 Spellbooks.
Customized Wizards possessing 11 Spellbooks at creation time may choose this spell as one of their default spells before starting the game, in which case the spell will already be researched and available for casting immediately on the first turn.
Wizards with 2 to 9 Spellbooks have a random chance of being able to Research Wraith Form during the game. The chance for this spell to appear for research increases with the number of Death Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay. With 10 or 11 Spellbooks, the spell is guaranteed to appear for Research at some point, if it is not already available for casting.
Wraith Form has a base Research Cost of 880.
With at least 2 Spellbooks, the Wraith Form spell may be acquired as a reward for winning encounters in creature Lairs, Towers, et cetera, or when conquering the Fortress of a rival wizard who has already researched this spell.
Strategy[]
Wraith Form is the Death-realm's alternative to the Flight spell, or other movement-enchancing spells. It can potentially double the rate at which the unit moves across the overland map, and removes most obstacles that could potentially slow the unit down.
This is very important for exploration, something that Death units are not terribly good at. Most of them are slow, and only a few can Fly, so Wraith Form provides a good way to help a unit move around on the overland map, especially across Oceans.
Wraith Form is useful against enemy 
Nature-wielding wizards who like casting Web, Entangle or Earthquake. It is also an exceptionally good way of preventing a unit from being destroyed by an enemy's Cracks Call - one of the most hated Nature spells in the game.
Always remember that Non-Corporeality is almost the same as Flight ability, and is actually a little worse (Non-Corporeal Walking units lack a few of the benefits possessed by Flying units). Furthermore, Flying units always move at a rate of 1 Movement Point per overland tile, even when Non-Corporeality says they should move at only 0.5 points per tile. Therefore, casting Wraith Form on a Flying unit is often considered wasteful, and will only come in handy in a few, very particular, and very rare situations.
Known Bugs[]
Units enchanted by Wraith Form are immune to the following spells :
Call Lightning (fixed in 1.40)- Flame Strike (fixed in 1.50)
- Wrack
- Death Spell (fixed in 1.50)
- Holy Word (fixed in 1.50)
There might be more, not yet discovered spells affected. If you discover any, please commend or edit the list.