User Guide

11
Heroes can only purchase runes for spells that are in their Spellbook. The number of runes a hero can
purchase and carry depends on his Resource skill. If a hero doesn’t have this skill, he may only buy up
to 5 runes for any spell. The higher a hero’s Resource skill, the more runes he may have (See
“Appendices, Hero Skills” for more).
During each combat round, you will see a set of randomly selected spells from your hero’s Book
appear in his hand at the lower left-hand corner of the combat screen. Cantrips can be cast any number
of times, while more complex spells can only be cast if you have enough runes. Once a spell is cast, it
disappears from your hand for that round. When a hero has no remaining runes for a given spell, it will
no longer appear in his hand each round; instead, other cantrips will be randomly selected. Thus, to
keep a supply of your stronger spells available to your heroes during combat, you will need to replenish
your rune supply between combats.
Spells and runes can be bought at the various types of shops by expending various resources. The cost
and availability of spells depends on the type and level of the shop (See “Appendices, Structures”) and
the number of spells of that type which you already own. The Bargain skill allows a hero to buy spells
and runes at lower prices. Every shop has a “preferred” spell type that cannot be purchased elsewhere.
For example, towers specialize in summoning spells. Portals work the same way – each portal
specializes in runes for spells of a certain type. Runes for other types of spells will cost more.
The total number of spells in the Spellbook always remains 15, so when buying a spell, your hero must
exchange it for another one from his Book. If you buy several identical spells, each successive copy will
cost more. If you have several identical copies of a spell, the chances to receive that spell in your hand
during any give combat round are increased. On the other hand, you can save resources by using the
hero's Resources skill to buy more runes for one spell rather than purchase multiple copies of the same
spell. However, the probability of this spell appearing in your hand during combat does not increase
since it depends on the number of spells in the Spellbook. Part of your planning will be to decide how
to balance and “finance” multiple copies of spells versus multiple runes for each individual spell.
When buying runes, you can either purchase a set of runes needed for all spells or just certain runes for
individual spells, depending on how many resources you have. See the “Shops Interface” section for
more on shopping procedures.
Artifacts are unique objects found only on the Territory map. Any hero who finds an artifact can keep
it for his own use, pass it to another hero, or sell or swap it with another player (see the “Exchange
Interface” section). Artifacts are only used during combat. Furthermore, several combat rounds must
pass before an artifact can be used again in the same combat. The total number of times you can use an
artifact depends on the hero’s Artificer skill. Artifacts are initially found fully charged. Once
expended, they will slowly recharge over time or a Gnome-artificer can recharge them.
In addition to casting spells through individual heroes, you can cast global spells that work on the entire
Territory map. See below for more on global spells.
The Territory Map and the Game Turn – Moving around
On the territory map, you issue movement commands to your heroes. To move, left-click on a hero,
then left-click a location on the map. Be aware that heroes can cover only a certain distance during the
day, depending on their Mobility skill. Sometimes it might take several days (turns) to reach a remote
destination. A destination can either be just a point on the map or a specific object such as an enemy or
structure. If an object is selected as the destination, you are instructing the hero to complete a specific