Caster of Magic for Windows School Evaluations

[Anskiy]

Ah, I didn't know that. For some reason, Blur always seems underwhelming in action. Like, it never really seems to swing battles in mine or the AI's favor, and it obviously can't compare to stuff like Prayer and Black Prayer.

How much of a dispel resistance boost does AEther Binding give?

[Anskiy]

Here's my analysis of Caster of Magic's final elemental realm, but not its actual final realm. Behold, the realm of Chaos: https://revierofriver.blogspot.com/2024/...chool.html

[mewcatus]

Here's my analysis of Caster of Magic's final elemental realm, but not its actual final realm. Behold, the realm of Chaos: https://revierofriver.blogspot.com/2024/...chool.html

Interesting, I will take note of your analysis when I start doing modifications to pre existing spells (Yes, existing spells can be scripted to have extra behaviour) It wouldn't be so soon though, as I am in the middle of game testing at the moment.

[Anskiy]

I start covering the final two schools in the lineup, beginning with the more "divine" one: https://revierofriver.blogspot.com/2024/...chool.html

[martinl_00]

Here's my analysis of Caster of Magic's final elemental realm, but not its actual final realm. Behold, the realm of Chaos: https://revierofriver.blogspot.com/2024/...chool.html

• Chaos is elemental fire and, well, Chaos, which is seen in various fantasy works. Death is more "Hell" themed, despite the name of the chaos puppies.
  
• Many of the weak Chaos commons are great really early for screwing over small garrisons of mundane units. Early on, being able to open an hole in the wall for cav, or stop one or two longbowmen, or just nuke units from afar and run cheaply are great. They tend to pale later on, sure, but they are worth it if you are using a zerg rush of some type.
  Some realms get lots of common spells that shine all game, but in practice if the later tiers have good spells you don't need commons that work well mid game+. I didn't appreciate Chaos properly until I combined it with some really rabid gnolls and just murdered my way into a lot of territory earlier than I would normally even consider fighting.
  
• The important thing about chaos puppies and fire giants is they are fairly cheap - again to promote zerg rushing strats.
  
• Gargoyles are great gate defenders. If the enemy doesn't have enough wall crushing or ways to attack flying units, they can make the gate impregnable. Worth noting.
  
• Raise volcano can terraform tundra. Especially useful with change terrain. Also worth noting it can provide difficult terrain for defensive purposes.
  

[martinl_00]

I start covering the final two schools in the lineup, beginning with the more "divine" one: https://revierofriver.blogspot.com/2024/...chool.html

I agree with most of what you wrote, but some small additions.

• Life has a lot of "per figure" buffs. Keep an eye out for 8 figure units to pump way up.
  
• Life is the best realm for heroes. Heroes are OP and so the AI is coded to snipe them. Life can make that really hard and if all else fails it can just call them back from the dead when they are killed. You allude to this but it should be spelled out as a realm theme.
  
• Sanctify is for garrison units.
  
• Alter of Peace is a good conversion rate for Mana to RP even if you have a few wars. If you play strats and settings that leave EVERYONE mad ad you then no, but otherwise it is fine, if not great.
  
• It's worth mentioning that Life is anti-rush. A lot of it's abilities synergize with more advanced units and lots of time to prep a doom stack.
  

[Anskiy]

Thanks for the comments!

Chaos: I can see how it theoretically could work for swift strategies, but in my experience early wars are too risky to attempt, and nothing in Chaos' early lineup gives its units any durability, making it hard for them to hold onto any conquests. Still, it's certainly possible some races can pull it off reliably, especially those with great early game advantages like Lizardmen or Draconians.

Life: All good points. Personally, while I agree that Life's buffs are great on heroes, I wouldn't say that they are exceptional on their own, given that they just raise stats for the most part. Granting them extra defensive abilities is just as important, if not more so, and other realms, especially Sorcery, contribute far more to that.

[Anskiy]

 I got done covering all of Caster of Magic's magic schools. This issue covers Death magic and its cold, clammy ways: https://revierofriver.blogspot.com/2024/...chool.html