The Master of Magic Heroes Compendium

If you are a serious Master of Magic player, such as myself, you know that the first two sections of this chapter are just fluff. More like a random chance of getting a hero or two, but you don't rely upon them to win the game. You wait. You research. You save mana. You bargain and trade spells. And once you get it, you go hog wild. I'm talking of two of the most valuable spells you can possibly possess:

* Summon Hero, and
* Summon Champion.

Let's take a look at these two spells. To begin with, they are both arcane spells. This means that regardless of what spell books you pick, you can possess and cast these spells. Does this mean you always get them? Not necessarily. Depending upon the number of spell books you picked, you might not get Summon Champion. That is why trading spells with other wizards is so important. If you do not get Summon Champion in your spell book, trade for it as quickly as possible.

What is the difference between the two spells? The obvious is that one summons heroes and the other summons champions. There are a total of 25 heroes that can be summoned, and 10 champions. Refer to the Hero Compendium for more information. The spell Summon Hero gives you the ability to summon all 25 heroes. However, with the Summon Champion spell, some of the champions can only be summoned if you possess Life or Death spell books. In addition, the 10th champion, Torin, can only be summoned with the Life spell Incarnation.

In most cases, you will get the Summon Hero spell first. You should start putting it to good use immediately. It has a spell cost of 500 mana, and will take a few turns depending upon your wizard's skill. As you are casting this spell, you should start thinking about what type of hero you need at the moment. Are you in a defensive position with enemy troops near? Think about trying to get a spell caster. Are you on the offensive, trying to take over neighboring towns and nodes? Think about trying to get a fighter. Do you have any enchanted items, but no hero to give it to yet? Try to make the hero fit the item. This will give the hero a powerful boost to help your cause.

But how do you ensure that you get the hero you want? It is so easy, it is almost considered a cheat. I simply like to call it taking advantage of the rules. When casting the spell, pay close attention to the number of turns the spell will take to complete, then save the game. After enough turns have passed that there is only 1 turn left before completion of the spell, save the game again. To make it really easy, make sure you save the game after all units have taken their turns. When you take your next turn, the Summon Hero spell will finish and you will be presented with a hero which you can accept or reject. If you like the selection, you simply accept. If you don't like the hero, you reload the game. Since you saved it one turn before the Summon Hero spell completes, you only have to pass one turn before you get another selection!

Eventually, the Summon Champion spell will come into your possession. Once again, you should put it to use immediately. It has a casting cost of 750 mana and takes more turns to cast. By this point you should have at least one or two heroes in you army. If you have positions available in your ranks, fill them with Champions and keep your heroes. Use the same guidelines and "cheat" mentioned earlier for the Summon Hero spell.

You will quickly notice that Champions usually receive a larger number and higher quality of attributes. They also receive more random selections which offers the possibility of Super attributes. The "Super" feature increases the benefit of an attribute by 50% over the normal benefit. For example, a Champion with the Legendary attribute increases your fame by 3 for each level of the attribute. With Super Legendary, your fame would be increased by 4.5 for each level of the attribute. This can make quite a difference as that attribute increases.

What are some of the best attributes to look for in a Champion (or a hero for this matter)?

Caster
Spell-casting heroes are the most valuable heroes you can possess. Their ability to cast combat spells and attack with a variety of magical ranged attacks makes them a valuable asset. Since they use their own mana in combat and not yours, you practically multiply your power by the number of casting heroes you possess. The fact that they can cast spells not found in your spell books makes them even more valuable. Add the fact that they loan half of their spell skill to yours when left at your fortress, they are almost priceless in casting expensive non-combat spells, such as when creating magical items. Try to fill your ranks with at least 4 casters, and save two slots for tough fighters or an archer.

Missile Weapons
At first sight, heroes with missile weapons, or bows, don't seem to be much of an investment. However, if you have ever used one you quickly realized their benefit. Missile-equipped heroes often have a higher To Hit rating than most heroes, ensuring that it does maximum damage. Obviously their ranged attack allows them to pick off opponents from a distance. But one of the most important features is that its the only non-magical ranged attack a hero can have. This is incredibly important when you are attacking magic-immune creatures such as the terrifying Sky Drake. While your spell-casters are peeing in their robes because they cannot hurt a Sky Drake, your experienced archer can easily shoot it down in one or two shots. The only Champion with missile weapons is Allorra the Elven Archer. She should be one of your mandatory champions each and every game.

Arcane Power
This is a must-have attribute for your magical attack fighters. Arcane Power increases the strength of your hero's magical ranged attacks, greatly increasing the damage inflicted. It is possible to get a hero with Super Arcane power and they are absolutely devastating. Try to find heroes with the combination of Arcane Power and Blade Master, since this increases both your magical attack strength and your chance To Hit. This is an extremely rare combination, only found in fighter/caster combination heroes such as Warrax the Chaos Warrior. Once you equip these heroes with magical items which further increase their magical attack strength, they can take out an entire army by themselves.

Magic Immunity
If there is any attribute you should be praying for, magic immunity is it. Just like a Paladin unit, a hero with magic immunity is immune to almost all spells and to all magic ranged, gaze, and breath attacks! Since these are what your opponents will try to use to kill your heroes, this makes them twice as tough as all other heroes. Magic Immunity is available to wizards with a good number of Sorcery spell books, but is inherent only to Roland the Paladin, Mortu the Black Knight, and Torin the Chosen One. Personally, I find magic immunity the most valuable attribute available. Once you've had a magic-immune hero, I don't think you will disagree.

Blade Master
Since all units swords (attacks) only have a base 30% chance of inflicting damage, the To Hit skill is extremely important. Each increment of the To Hit skill increases that unit's chance of inflicting damage by 10% (on a per-sword basis). That is why Blade Master is so valuable. It increases the To Hit modifier above the unit's normal amount which allows the unit to inflict the maximum damage possible. In layman terms, it makes your hero kick more ass.

As you begin to play with this "cheat" you will often find that the computer wants to present a particular hero/champion over and over again, even if you reload the game. This can be quite frustrating if the hero is not to your liking. However, a friend of mine taught me a trick, an expensive trick, to avoid this situation. When your Summon Hero/Champion spell presents you with a hero you do not desire, accept the hero and then march him/her into certain death. Certain death means a lair or node which contains enough creatures to easily kill this hero. The death of this hero means you will never be solicited by, rescue, or summon this hero again, thus increasing the chance of your acquisition of a better hero. However, since you accepted the hero, you had to pay the mana of the summoning spell and the time necessary to cast it. These are not things a serious player can afford to lose. I wouldn't recommend this tip during a serious game, but it is useful to know.

If you have read all of the sections in this page, you will come to the realization that summoning is the best means to acquire your hero. As for which heroes and champions you should pick, it is dependent upon your style. You will soon learn which heroes suit your offensive/defensive attitude. Once you become comfortable with a set of heroes and champions, make it your first priority to add them to your army.