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Many of the most useful units and commanders in the game aren't bought with gold; they are summoned with gems or blood slaves. These have a variety of different roles; units range from cheap patrol chaff (Pack of Wolves summoning Wolf) to elite shock troops (Demon Knights), and commanders range from humble scouts (Black Servant) to high-end mages (Queen of Elemental Air) and powerful supercombatant chassis (Wraith Lord).
Like with some other kinds of spells, stuff acquired earlier in research tends to be inefficient or sub-optimal compared to later stuff. For example, Ogres are generally only worth summoning if a low-research nation needs to convert earth gems into an army urgently. On the other hand, later stuff might be too niche, difficult, or impractical to use, such as the Giant Monsters or the Seasonal Spirits. Some other summons are a crucial part of a nation's strategy, such as Ozelotls.
Most commander summons create only one commander; most unit summons create several (sometimes scaling with the caster's paths).
This pages details ritual summons which create permanent units; a separate page details combat summons.
Summon Fire Drake | Conjuration 4 | 2 • 6 | Fire Drake |
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Fire Drakes emit a "beam" of fire, which covers multiple squares and can deeply penetrates enemy ranks (or hit allies). Unfortunately, Drakes are somewhat unreliable; they're slow, Undisciplined, and are vulnerable to Charm Animal. They're also Cold-Blooded, even though they breath Fire. Drakes can be summoned in greater numbers by a Dragon Master, making them substantially cheaper and more turn-efficient. |
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Summon Flame Jelly | Conjuration 4 | 2 • 6 | Flame Jelly x10+ |
Underwater Only.The rare underwater Fire mage can efficiently summon these interesting creatures. Flame jellies have a Fire Shield that works Underwater for defense, and perhaps the highest magic resistance of any unit in the game. Their attacks are an interesting AOE1 fire/poison attack. While ineffective against targets with fire resistance, massed flame jellies can be effective against an enemy using Mass Protection underwater. | |||
Summon Summer Lions | Conjuration 5 | 3 • 20 | Summer Lion x5 +1/2 |
Like other seasonal spirits, these are Ethereal Mindless Magic Beings Animals with Spirit Sight, high magic resistance, and modest seasonal variation in HP. Summon lions have a heat aura and have remarkably high HP for their size (55 HP in Summer; 33 in Winter). | |||
Summon Fire Snakes | Conjuration 6 | 2 • 7 | Fire Snake x5 +1/2 |
An offense focused unit, with an AOE1 Fire Flare attack and a Poisonous Bite. These are often used as a fire gem dump, because they can very quickly destroy targets without fire resistance. They do better in Heat Scales, thanks to their Fire Power. They are undisciplined, but less vulnerable to Charm Animal than most other units with the Animal tag due to their high magic resistance. | |||
Summon Flame Spirit | Conjuration 6 | 3 • 30 | Flame Spirit |
An 3 mage with a retinue of 1d6 Will o' the Wisps. Commonly summoned by nations with limited access to break more deeply into fire magic. Vulnerable to cold damage and has no boots slot, which limits map movement. | |||
King of Elemental Fire | Conjuration 8 | 5 • 50 | One of: Pyriphlogos - King of Flames • Rhuax - King of Magma |
Summons one of the Elemental Royalty, high-end Mages that might be able to serve as heavy thugs or supercombatants. Rhuax is the better of the two for thugging, given his Earth Magic level and his higher toughness. You don't get to choose which King you get, though, and you can't get duplicates. Both have 5. If one "dies", that simply frees them up for re-summoning, by anyone. |
Bind Scorpion Beast | Conjuration 3 | 11 • 2 | Scorpion Beast |
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Scorpion beasts are size 5 beasts with with darkvision, good protection, and an impressive scorpion tail attack, which deals 35 poison damage if it pierces protection. These capabilities are offset by being undisciplined and thus hard to buff, and being an animal with only 5 magic resistance. This spell would likely be used more if it were more mage turn efficient. | |||
Terracotta Army | Enchantment 4 | 11 • 10 | Terracotta Soldier x10 +1/lv |
Clay pikemen that can be summoned quickly with . While their combat skills and hit points are worse than human infantry, the combination of mindless, spirit sight, fire resistance, poison resistance, immunity to Rigor Mortis, and physical resistances provide multiple reasons to summon these. Like the more durable Living status, they do not heal after battles. |
Summon Fire Ants | Conjuration 2 | 21 • 10 | Fire Ant x10 +1/lv |
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Fire ants are undisciplined animals notable for their stealth, decent protection, and armor piercing sting attack (which delivers weak poison). Like Swarm bugs, they are magic beings with very low magic resistance that are immune to Charm Animal because they are mindless. |
Call of the Winds | Conjuration 3 | 2 • 10 | Great Hawk • Black Hawk x41 |
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An early remote magic phase attack spell that can be used to snipe weakly-defended provinces (and unprotected mages in them) with a range of 5 provinces. The Black Hawks have only one good attack (their first one), and the Great Hawk rarely fights, so can lose to 6 PD. Surviving birds are valuable as patrollers or distraction chaff. Can be cast on a friendly province to just summon the birds. |
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Summon Wyverns | Conjuration 4 | 2 • 3 | Wyvern x2 |
Wyverns are flying, cold-blooded animals with good poison resistance and shock resistance. In contrast with other Drakes, Wyverns are Disciplined and have good combat stats, but they don't get a Breath weapon, having two melee attacks instead. The second melee attack deals an impressive 50 Fatiguing Poison Damage if it deals actual damage and the target fails a magic resistance check. Their modest strength means this attack can have trouble piercing protection, though buffs like Strength of Giants, Enlarge/Army of Giants, and Weapons of Sharpness can solve that problem. Drakes can be summoned in greater numbers by a Dragon Master, making them substantially cheaper and more turn-efficient. |
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Summon Gryphons | Conjuration 4 | 2 • 9 | Gryphon x5 +1/2 |
Gryphons are undisciplined Flying animals with high magic resistance. This spell requires the same research level and path cost as Summon Wyverns with a similar per-unit cost. While they have a little more HP and damage output, mage turn efficiency and the lack of cold-blooded are the main reasons to prefer Gryphons. | |||
Summon Spring Hawks | Conjuration 5 | 3 • 20 | Spring Hawk x5 +1/2 |
Like other seasonal spirits, these are Ethereal Mindless Magic Beings Animals with Spirit Sight, high magic resistance, and modest seasonal variation in HP. Spring hawks have high combat skills (especially in Darkness) and are notable for their shock damage attack. While they are ethereal, the combination of no protection, low hit points, and low damage output limits their effectiveness when used unbuffed. One possible role for Spring Hawks is to counter enemy thugs with shock vulnerability (e.g., countering a thug who you expect to have negative shock vulnerability after casting Ironskin). | |||
Contact Draconians | Conjuration 5 | 3 • 30 | Draconian Chief • Draconian x15 |
Draconians are large flying cold-blooded humanoids with a poisonous bite. The Draconian Chief can summon more Draconians each turn via the Summon Allies order, making this spell one of the ways to invest gems to create a freespawn economy. This spell is also one of the more mage-turn efficient ways to generate siege strength. | |||
Summon Great Eagles | Conjuration 6 | 3 • 8 | Great Eagle x5+1/2 |
As size 6 birds, Great Eagles are extremely mobile flyers with decent combat ability and remarkably high morale and magic resistance. Great eagles are frequently summoned for their impressive +10 bonuses to both siege and patrol strength. | |||
Queen of Elemental Air | Conjuration 8 | 5 • 50 | One of: Aella - Queen of Storms • Thuella - Queen of Thunder • Nephele - Queen of Clouds |
Summons one of the three Air Queens; they're probably the best of the Elemental Royalty, due to their extreme mobility, and due to the demand for high-end Air battlefield spells like Mass Flight and Fog Warriors. All three are mostly identical, but Thuella has the best combat power in exchange for lacking allies to summon; not that summoning allies is a great use of time for such powerful Mages. All three have 5 |
Watcher | Enchantment 5 | 31 • 5 | Watcher |
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May cast underwater. Durable immobile unit with a very high damage lightning attack and very high Patrol bonus. Watchers are not commanders, so a commander with magic leadership must patrol in order to benefit from the patrol bonus. |
Corpse Man Construction | Construction 1 | 11 • 1 | Corpse Construct |
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Corpse constructs are interesting chaff. Because this spell costs only one gem, and its output can be boosted by a Lightning Rod (+3 constructs) and Storm Spool (+2 constructs), it is one of the most efficient ways to turn gems into HP and siege strength. They have a built-in Charged Body effect that can stun attackers in melee, which is important because their combat skills are abysmal. Notably have high elemental resistances, but no protection and only 4 MR. |
Summon Amphiptere | Conjuration 3 | 21 • 3 | Amphiptere |
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A flying cold-blooded creature, superficially similar to a Wyvern. The Amphiptere is tougher, with special features on both attacks: "death poison" (35 damage) when its fangs pierce protection, and a 15 damage ranged poison spray attack. The combination of undisciplined, a rare cross path, and only being summonable one at a time means these are rarely used in any numbers. A potential use case is to embed within a flying raiding force as a counter to thugs. |
Call Kraken | Conjuration 3 | 3 • 1 | Kraken |
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Underwater Only. A huge beast with four armor piercing attacks for just one water gem. A Kraken could be a strong combatant with enough buffs, but they suffer from a poor comparison with Summon Water Elemental as well as poor magic resistance. | |||
Summon Ice Drake | Conjuration 4 | 2 • 7 | Ice Drake x1 |
Ice Drakes emit a "beam" of armor negating cold damage that lingers for a bit, capable of penetrating deep into enemy lines and freezing opponents with insufficient Cold Resistance. Ice Drakes are undisciplined, can inflict friendly fire, and have poor melee skills, so are best used in combination with undead or other cold-resistant allies. Drakes can be summoned in greater numbers by a Dragon Master, making them substantially cheaper and more turn-efficient. |
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Summon Sea Serpent | Conjuration 4 | 2 • 4 | Sea Serpent x1 |
Underwater Only. These enormous aquatic Drakes are notable for having enormous hp, fear, and inflicting death poison if their fangs deal damage. As an undisciplined unit with high combat speed and modest protection, they are likely to die quickly unless supported by other undisciplined troops (like province defense). Beware nature mages: An 8 MR Animal is a prime Charm Animal target. Drakes can be summoned in greater numbers by a Dragon Master, making them substantially cheaper and more turn-efficient. |
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Contact Sea Trolls | Conjuration 5 | 3 • 15 | Sea Troll x5 +1/2 lv |
Sea trolls are excellent late-game blockers, with built-in regeneration (doubled underwater!), high hit points, and good magic resistance. Lacking the weapon and armor of the land Troll, they also lack its extreme fire vulnerability. Each sea troll has the upkeep of a 50 unit. This spell is much less economical than Sea King's Court. | |||
Summon Winter Wolves | Conjuration 5 | 3 • 8 | Winter Wolfx5 +1/2 lv |
Like other seasonal spirits, these are Ethereal Mindless Magic Beings Animals with Spirit Sight, high magic resistance, and modest seasonal variation in HP. Winter wolves are notable for their high combat speed, AOE1 cold damage attack (similar to a Frost Brand) and large cold aura. Winter wolves have modest HP and no protection (relaying on Ethereal for defense), but can very rapidly kill or freeze targets that are vulnerable to cold, either natively (Imp, Devil, Fire Elemental) or due to Marble Warriors | |||
Summon Bishop Fish | Conjuration 6 | 3 • 15 | Bishop Fish |
Underwater Only. The Bishop Fish is the primary non-national 3 summon. With a Shambler Skin Armor or Amulet of the Fish, can be used on land for Divine Blessing and claiming Thrones. Bishop fish lack a boot slot and have low map movement, so you need a Flying Carpet to boost their mobility. | |||
Sea King's Court | Conjuration 6 | 3 • 55 | Sea King x1 • Sea Troll x15 • Troll Guard x5 |
The Sea King is a powerful underwater troll with 3, good resistances, 15-25% Regeneration, and the ability to generate a free water gem each month. While worth casting just for the Sea King, the army of sea trolls are solid troops who unfortunately have the upkeep of a 50+ unit. Often part of climbing Water: a 2 Mage forges a Water Bracelet and casts this spell to summon the 3 Sea King. |
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Summon Asp Turtle | Conjuration 7 | 3 • 13 | Asp Turtlex1 |
Underwater only. An enormous aquatic trampler with very high natural protection and fear. While 13 magic resistance is far above that of the Kraken or Sea serpent, Asp Turtles suffer from being deeper in the research tree than both Charm Animal and Enslave Mind. | |||
Queen of Elemental Water | Conjuration 8 | 5 • 50 | Thalassa - Queen of the Sea • Bathusma - Queen of the Deeps • Limne - Queen of the Lake |
Underwater only. The water Elemental Royalty, all of these have 5, incredible underwater regeneration, recuperation, and built-in Liquid body, giving them the potential to be mighty underwater supercombatants (ideally with fluffers). Only the Queen of the Lake is naturally amphibious. |
Manifest Vitriol | Alteration 6 | 21 • 3 | Green Lion |
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Mages with the rare fire/water cross path can summon the mighty Green Lion. Like the Seasonal Spirits, Green lions are ethereal magic beings with spirit sight and excellent magic resistance. They are notable for their high precision armor piercing and corrosive ranged attack. |
Summon Yetis | Conjuration 3 | 21 • 13 | Yeti x5 +1/2 lv |
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Yetis are winter giants, surrounded by a cold aura. They are notable for being the strongest creature in Dominions with the Sticks and Stones attack, throwing two 19-damage projectiles per round with very low precision. These ranged attacks benefit fully from buffs like Strength of Giants and Army of Giants. Despite their resemblance to the great apes of Bandar Log, Yetis have high magic resistance and are not Animals. |
Summon Cave Cows | Conjuration 3 | 22 • 3 | Cave Cow x5 +1/2 lv |
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Cave only. Cave cows are an inexpensive summon that can ruin the day of armored knights with their highly acidic spit, which deals 10 armor piercing damage (increasing to 17 with Enlarge and Strength of Giants) and corrodes armor. | |||
Claymen | Enchantment 3 | 11 • 5 | Clayman x5 +1/2 lv |
Claymen are mindless constructs, notable for their built-in Regeneration and 20 damage hammer attack. With mediocre combat skills and low protection, they are primarily useful once defensive buffs like Fog Warriors are available. |
Streams from Hades | Conjuration 6 | 41 • 40 | Kokythiad |
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May use underwater. A water mage with some death access can summon this amphibious 33 mage using just water gems. The Kokythiad has high Fear, spirit sight, excellent magic resistance, and some invulnerability, but only human hit points. Useful for breaking into 3 and as a Stygian Rains caster. | |||
Summon Catoblepas | Conjuration 7 | 32 • 15 | Catoblepas |
Catoblepas are famous for their Gaze of Death attack, which deals 10 armor-negating damage in an enormous area (AOE 20; magic resistance negates) and thus can annihilate entire formations of low MR troops. Friendly fire can be a major problem, both with the Gaze of Death and the poison cloud that surrounds these deadly bulls. Mindless units like constructs and longdead are immune to the Gaze of Death. | |||
Hidden in Snow | Enchantment 6 | 31 • 75 | Various |
Mountains and Highlands only, Summons an army of tough undead. See Hidden in Terrain for details. |
Contact Naiad | Conjuration 5 | 31 • 35 | Naiad |
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Naiads are powerful amphibious 33 mages with many useful abilities, including stealth, Recuperation, and very high Awe and magic resistance. Naiads suffer from homesickness, and will die if away from their home province for long, but can be quite useful both for rituals and Foul Vapors. Homesickness can be removed using Transformation. | |||
Naiad Warriors | Conjuration 5 | 31 • 18 | Kydnid x15 |
Kydnids are efficiently summoned amphibious troops, with decent skills, bronze gear and high Awe. With their low strength, they won't kill much, but they can be valuable as amphibious blockers and bodyguards. | |||
Call Ancient Presence | Conjuration 9 | 64 • 25 | Ancient Presence |
An enormous swamp monster with fear and 40 Regeneration per turn, the Ancient Presence can devour whole any creature smaller than it (growing in strength as it does so). Unfortunately, comes as a unit, not a commander. While this monster has some physical resistances, it is much tougher when targeted by protection buffs and/or other fluffing. A Naiad can summon this monster with Construction 6 boosters. |
Summon Cave Grubs | Conjuration 1 | 1 • 6 | Cave Grub x5 +1/2 lv |
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Cave only. An early game way to get 60 siege strength worth of siege chaff given a 1 in cave province lab, cave grubs have an impressive 52 hit points, and a high damage bite attack that can corrode armor. Their slow combat speed is a feature: Their poor combat skills and low protection mean they tend to die in melee, and their poor MR makes them a target for Charm Animal. | |||
Summon Ogres | Conjuration 2 | 1 • 10 | Ogre x5 +1/2 lv |
Ogres are one of the game's most accessible summons. While their cold resistance is somewhat notable, their main use case is as a quickly massed source of 30 damage attacks in early game warfare. | |||
Summon Cave Drake | Conjuration 4 | 2 • 4 | Cave Drake |
Cave drakes are earth Drakes. A cave drake is a cold-blooded animal notable for its resistance to physical damage, with 22 protection and 58 hit points. Cave drakes have high strength but poor combat skills, so they combine well with immobilizing spells like Web and Earth Meld. Drakes can be summoned in greater numbers by a Dragon Master, making them substantially cheaper and more turn-efficient. | |||
Summon Fall Bears | Conjuration 5 | 3 • 12 | Fall Bear x5 +1/2 lv |
Like other seasonal spirits, these are Ethereal Mindless Magic Beings Animals with Spirit Sight, high magic resistance, and modest seasonal variation in HP. Notable for their built-in Regeneration and high HP, Fall Bears can be very effective blockers against targets without magic weapons, especially with protection buffs and/or Fog Warriors. | |||
Contact Trolls | Conjuration 5 | 3 • 15 | Troll x5 +1/2 lv |
Trolls are an expensive but powerful troop summon, with high magic resistance, high durability, a very high damage great club, and built-in Regeneration. Especially with buffs, they can be quite strong in combat against opponents that are unable to exploit their high fire vulnerability. Note that unlike most summons, trolls have high gold upkeep. | |||
Contact Hill Giant | Conjuration 6 | 3 • 3 | Hill Giant |
Hill giants are enormous size 6 units with a remarkable 106 hp, a 42 damage great club, and the ability to swallow humans whole (50% chance each round). Both attacks are capable of killing units protected by Mossbody or Mistform, especially if you manage to cast Weapons of Sharpness on your fast and undisciplined giants. Their high HP will attract attract both friendly buffs and enemy evocations, which can be desirable at times, but beware Enslave Mind casters, who are almost guaranteed to exploit their 9 magic resistance. | |||
Troll King's Court | Conjuration 6 | 3 • 55 | Troll King • Troll x10 • War Troll x5 • Troll Moose Knight x2 |
The Troll King is a useful summon, often used as a thug chassis or a caster for big earth spells like Army of Gold and Weapons of Sharpness. He comes with an army of trolls, which is a great bonus but makes this spell more expensive than many other mage summons. Troll Kings are important for path-boosting earth magic, since an 2 mage with Earth Boots can cast this spell and then give the Troll king his boots to create a 4 mage. Note that unlike most summons, trolls have high gold upkeep. | |||
King of Elemental Earth | Conjuration 8 | 5 • 50 | One of: Barathrus - King of Deeper Earth • Oreigenes - King of Mountains |
Elemental Royalty | |||
Clockwork Soldiers | Construction 3 | 2 • 5 | Clockwork Soldier x5 +1/2 lv |
Clockwork soldiers are a mechanical version of human infantry, with high resistances to all elements and high protection. They fatigue out very quickly (-15 reinvigoration), and thus will actively fight for at most 7 rounds of battle. All constructs are mindless and have spirit sight, though clockwork troops only have a few turns of activity after the casting time of Darkness would complete. | |||
Clockwork Horrors | Construction 5 | 2 • 9 | Clockwork Horror x10 +1/lv |
Improves on the similar Clockwork soldier by having two attacks and higher combat speed (thus wasting less of their limited combat value moving). | |||
Crusher Construction | Construction 5 | 3 • 15 | Crusher |
The Crusher is a tough blocker, with high hp, protection, and pierce/slash resistances. Consider fluffing your Crusher with defensive spells like Mossbody and Body Ethereal. Its very low combat stats mean that it will primarily crush targets that have been immobilized by spells like Earth Grip or Web. | |||
Mechanical Men | Construction 7 | 2 • 15 | Mechanical Man x10+ 1/lv |
Mechanical men are similar to the clockwork soldier in having very high resistances to elemental magic, without the reinvigoration penalty. Their direct combat ability is modest, with just 8 hit points and human level combat stats, but they have some of the best resistances of any troop in the game. | |||
Siege Golem | Construction 9 | 3 • 20 | Siege Golem |
Similar to a Crusher but with a large siege bonus, better resistances, and duel Shatterfist attacks (basically a built-in Smasher). Siege golems compete with both Crumble and Gate Cleaver as ways to transform into siege strength. They are quite durable, with high hp, protection, and elemental resistances, but comes as a unit (not a commander), and their modest magic resistance makes them a target for spells like Disintegrate. | |||
Enliven Statues | Enchantment 6 | 3 • 20 | Living Statue x10 +1/lv |
A mage turn efficient way to summon. Living statues are substantially better combatants than mechanical men, but lack the elemental resistances and do not heal between battles. All constructs have spirit sight, and Living Statues in particular have high attack/defense stats, which means they have very high relative stats in Darkness. |
Enliven Gargoyles | Enchantment 5 | 31 • 10 | Gargoyle x5 +1/2 lv |
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May cast underwater. With this rare cross path, you can summon a group of durable flyers with two attacks and similar attributes to the Living Statue. Because of their built-in physical resistances and small size, gargoyles can be efficiently buffed with AOE 1 spells like Mossbody to create very durable flyers. |
Summon Cave Crab | Conjuration 3 | 11 • 4 | Cave Crab |
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Cave only. Cave crabs are undisciplined amphibians with very high natural protection and a single 25 damage, armor piercing claw attack. While their combat skills are unremarkable, their darkvision allows them to fight effectively in caves and other dark places. Cave crabs are animals with extremely low magic resistance. |
Iron Pigs | Alteration 6 | 31 • 9 | Iron Pig x7 |
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Iron pigs are essentially undisciplined size 3 animal tramplers with Ironskin precast, including the shock vulnerability. While their low morale and magic resistance are certainly weaknesses, each can kill a large number of low damage size 2 units like Swarm bugs, skellyspam, or independent humans, as long as they don't run into anything size 3 or larger, which they will ineffectually attempt to bite. Just 3 of them can beat 6PD against common PD types. |
Hidden Underearth | Enchantment 6 | 31 • 75 | Various |
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Cave only. Summons an army. See Hidden in Terrain | |||
Hidden in Sand | Enchantment 6 | 31 • 75 | Various |
Waste only. Summons an army. See Hidden in Terrain |
Juggernaut Construction | Construction 9 | 5 • 25 | Juggernaut |
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Juggernauts are very durable size 6 Sacred construct, notable for being a unit (not a commander!) that spreads Dominion like a temple. With Divine Name, they become 3 for claiming Thrones. They are one of the slowest units in the game, and thus their trample ability is of limited use. | |||
Telestic Animation | Thaumaturgy 5 | 3 • 5 | Telestic Animate |
Cheap 2 immobile priest statue. One of the very few units with Innate spellcaster, though you'd need to empower in order to use that ability. |
Call Abomination | Conjuration 9 | 52 • 25 | Abomination x1 |
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A big monster that needs point buffs to survive late-game battles, but is an artiliry weapon that fires AOS instant death Mind blast (Magic Negates). Comes too late game to be the most useful thing to spend pearls on. |
Golem Construction | Construction 7 | 32 • 30 | Golem |
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May cast underwater. Golems are one of the defining summons of the late game, because they are a durable mindless astral mage. Mindless mages cannot be targeted by Magic Duel, making golems the preferred caster for important battlefield spells like Antimagic, Doom, and Will of the Fates when fighting a nation with far more astral access than you. Mindless mages are also immune to Soul Slay, Charm, Enslave Mind, and similar spells. These features, combined with the ability to move during the Magic phase with a Starshine Skullcap, make golems an important late game thug chassis despite their low combat skills. While 2 offers limited buff options, golems can be geared, fluffed, or (at great expense) empowered for use as a thug against armies. Golems have a key role during Astral Corruption and the Cataclysm, because horrors do not hunt mindless mages. |
Ether Gate | Conjuration 6 | 41 • 90 | Ether Lord • Ether Warrior x15 |
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May use underwater. The princely sum pays for dumping 3 on the province you cast it in, along with Magic half-giants armed with Moon Blades. The commander has 321100%, possibly busting you into a path/level you're missing. The troops are well-armored, and all of them are Ethereal, Amphibious, and possessing Spirit Sight. They perform better in Magic scales, too. The price is often far too high if you're needing only one feature of this Ritual, though. |
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Call the Eater of the Dead | Conjuration 8 | 44 • 50 | Eater of the Dead |
Essentially an Ancient Presence with better ramp-up between battles, due to its Trample-and-Swallow method of feeding and its Corpse Eater trait, but worse initial stats and a Disease aura. It can at least damage Size 6 foes. The Eater gets progressively better as it eats more, up until it becomes the Unfettered and turns against you; not that the added attacks matter a whole lot, unless the Eater finds itself next to Size 6 supercombatants. |
Summon Animals | Conjuration 1 | 2 • 10 | Various |
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See Animal Summons. | |||
Pack of Wolves | Conjuration 2 | 1 • 2 | Wolf x10 +1/lv |
Wolves are a very cheap animal summon. As fast undisciplined units that are substantially weaker than many PD troops, their combat effectiveness is typically limited to serving as a distraction. A popular use case is as early game patrol chaff for blood hunting. | |||
Summon Horned Serpents | Conjuration 2 | 1 • 4 | Horned Serpent x5 +1/2 lv |
Horned serpents are easily massed undisciplined cold-blooded animals with a poisonous bite. While 29HP may seem impressive, their low defense skill and modest protection mean they trade poorly with many basic units, like province defense. However, their low cost, high attack skill, high MR, and 15AN poison mean they can have a useful role as a tool against thugs or other elites lacking high poison resistance. | |||
Summon Killer Mantis | Conjuration 2 | 2 • 4 | Killer Mantis x5 +1/2 lv |
Killer mantis have the rare combination of being both a magic being and an animal. They are notable for having two decent attacks and unbreakable morale. | |||
Awaken Vine Men | Conjuration 3 | 1 • 1 | Vine Man x3 |
Mindless, poison resistant chaff. With two very weak attacks, unbreakable morale, some physical resistances, and awful combat stats, vine men are typically used as blockers or as bodyguard "batteries" for a mage casting soul vortex. Spell scales with the Ivy Lord ability, which is most easily obtained by forging an Ivy Crown or summoning an Ivy Lord. |
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Awaken Algae Men | Conjuration 3 | 1 • 1 | Algae Man x3 |
An amphibious variant of the vine man, with higher protection but lower HP. | |||
Call of the Wild | Conjuration 3 | 4 • 12 | Werewolf x1 • Wolf x30 |
Technically a remote attack, this spell can be cast in friendly territory as a remote summon. Gives less wolves outside forests. Less efficient as a summoning spell than Pack of Wolves, but the Werewolf can summon 3 wolves per turn. It takes ten months for the werewolf to produce an equal amount of wolves per nature gem, assuming the spell was used in a forest. | |||
Summon Leogryphs | Conjuration 4 | 2 • 12 | Leogryph x10 +1/lv |
Leogryphs are fast, undisciplined animals with high attack skill and two attacks. Unlike many animals, they have decent magic resistance. | |||
Awaken Vine Ogres | Conjuration 4 | 3 • 3 | Vine Ogre x2 |
Vine Ogres are inexpensive mindless magic being plants with an impressive 55 hit points. Because of their low cost, they can be cost-effectively used in many ways, including as siege chaff, evocation bait, blockers, or soul vortex batteries for powerful death mages. Spell scales with the Ivy Lord ability, which is most easily obtained by forging an Ivy Crown or summoning a Vine Lord. | |||
Spirits of the Wood | Conjuration 5 | 3 • 8 | Woodland Spirit x10 +1/lv |
Woodland spirits are fragile homesick ethereal spirits with high awe and 20% regeneration, but unfortunately no protection. Their attack permanently steals strength (magic resistance negates). They are moderately effective blockers against foes lacking magic weapons or having low morale; with powerful buffs (such as Fog Warriors), they might be able to block foes lacking magic weapons for a very long time. | |||
Contact Forest Trolls | Conjuration 5 | 3 • 10 | Forest Troll x5 +1/2 lv |
Trolls descrip | |||
Awaken Sleeper | Conjuration 5 | 4 • 10 | Sleeper x1 |
descrip | |||
Forest Troll Tribe | Conjuration 6 | 3 • 37 | Troll Shaman x1 • Forest Troll x15 |
Trolls descrip | |||
Contact Forest Giant | Conjuration 6 | 3 • 2 | Forest Giant x1 |
descrip | |||
Contact Lamias | Conjuration 6 | 3 • 5 | Lamia x5 +1/2 lv |
descrip | |||
Animal Horde | Conjuration 7 | 4 • 15 | Various |
Animal Summons | |||
Awaken Ivy King | Conjuration 7 | 4 • 30 | Ivy King x1 |
descrip | |||
Faerie Court | Conjuration 8 | 5 • 40 | Faery Queen x1 • Sprite x15 |
descrip | |||
Awaken Tarrasque | Conjuration 9 | 6 • 25 | Tarrasque x1 |
A super tough regenerating dragon with a big poison cloud. Comes too late in research to be useful, as you would prefer a fully slotted super-combatant chassis at Conj 9 |
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Wooden Construction | Construction 5 | 3 • 3 | Lumber Construct x1 |
Poorer Golem. If you get one during a random event, it's tradition to thug it out for good luck. | |||
Awaken Treelord | Enchantment 7 | 5 • 35 | One of: Treelord • Treelord • Dying Treelord. All Treelords are immobile high nature casters with Innate Caster. |
descrip | |||
Call the Worm That Walks | Thaumaturgy 8 | 5 • 30 | Worm Mage |
Immortals descrip |
Summon Sea Dogs | Conjuration 1 | 11 • 2 | Sea Dog x5 +1/2 lv |
---|---|---|---|
. | |||
Summon Crocodiles | Conjuration 1 | 11 • 4 | Crocodile x5 +1/2 lv |
. | |||
Summon Sea Lions | Conjuration 3 | 21 • 10 | Leocampus x10 +l/lv |
Underwater only. | |||
Summon Sea Lions | Conjuration 3 | 22 • 7 | Bog Beast x5 +1/2 lv |
Underwater only. | |||
Summon Swamp Drake | Conjuration 4 | 21 • 7 | Swamp Drake x1 |
Swamp drakes are slow cold-blooded animals with a poison gas beam attack. Because of their poor combat skills and modest protection, they are best used in combination with poison immune troops, such as undead. Like Bog beasts, Swamp Drakes can be an effective way to field poison damage for nations with limited access to the poison cross path. Drakes can be summoned in greater numbers by a Dragon Master, making them substantially cheaper and more turn-efficient. |
Summon Kithaironic Lion | Conjuration 4 | 31 • 5 | Kithaironic Lion |
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descrip | |||
Summon Manticore | Conjuration 6 | 21 • 5 | Manticore |
descrip |
Contact Lamia Queen | Conjuration 6 | 52 • 25 | Lamia Queen |
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The mighty 212100% 100% Lamia Queen has an impressive 50% regeneration in both her humanoid and Serpent Queen forms, giving her substantial thug potential despite her modest hit points. High regeneration allows Lamia Queens to be used as turbo communion batteries with a Slave Matrix; the second form regenerates 14 hit points a turn even without buffs like Enlarge or Personal Regeneration, while the humanoid form can support almost a many with a Coral Blade to boost her hit points. Commonly summoned for the 47.5% chance to be a blood mage on nations without native blood access, with the other randoms being useful death or nature casters. Contact Lamias will summon 2 extra Lamias when cast by a Lamia Queen. All Lamias are cold-blooded. |
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Construct Manikin | Construction 3 | 11 • 9 | Manikin x10 +2/lv |
descrip | |||
Construct Mandragora | Construction 6 | 21 • 10 | Mandragora x5 +2/lv |
descrip |
Black Servant | Conjuration 1 | 2 • 5 | Black Servant |
---|---|---|---|
A scout. Useful if you need an amphibious scout or need a scout with spirit sight. | |||
Summon Shades | Conjuration 2 | 2 • 8 | Shade x5 +1/2 lv |
Rarely used. | |||
Revive Wights | Conjuration 3 | 2 • 20 | Wight x5 |
May use underwater. Descr | |||
Revive Bane | Conjuration 3 | 2 • 7 | Bane |
May use underwater. Descr | |||
Summon Shade Beasts | Conjuration 4 | 3 • 15 | Shade Beast x15 +2/lvl |
May use underwater. Descr | |||
Spirit Mastery | Conjuration 5 | 1 • 4 | Dispossessed Spirit x15+ |
May use underwater. Descr | |||
Revive Bane Lord | Conjuration 5 | 4 • 12 | Bane Lord |
May use underwater. Descr | |||
Summon Ghosts | Conjuration 6 | 2 • 14 | Ghost x5 +1/2 lv |
May use underwater. Descr | |||
Summon Spectre | Conjuration 6 | 3 • 22 | Spectral Mage |
May use underwater. Descr | |||
Summon Mound Fiend | Conjuration 7 | 3 • 28 | Mound Fiend |
May use underwater. Descr | |||
Harvester of Sorrows | Conjuration 7 | 3 • 28 | Harvester of Sorrows |
May use underwater. Practically summoning a thugable Banevenom Charm. Kills about 5% of the current pop as an anonymous event every turn. Can dispatch light PD and patrols that were expecting a scout with a charm. More of a Troll tool for its price than an actually win strategy. |
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Call Wraith Lord | Conjuration 7 | 5 • 40 | Wraith Lord |
May use underwater. Descr | |||
Legion of Wights | Conjuration 9 | 6 • 30 | Wight x20 +3/lv] |
May use underwater. Descr | |||
Tartarian Gate | Conjuration 9 | 7 • 10 | Summons a Tartarian |
See the Tartarian Gate page for a complete description of this endgame spell. | |||
Enchantment | |||
Reanimation | Enchantment 1 | 1 • 10 | Longdeadx10 |
May use underwater. | |||
Revive King | Enchantment 2 | 2 • 3 | Mound King |
May use underwater. | |||
Create Revenant | Enchantment 3 | 2 • 9 | Revenant |
May use underwater. Turns Death gems into Researchers. Probably only needs some early game to spam death magic and dedicated death site searching. | |||
Behemoth | Enchantment 4 | 3 • 7 | Behemoth |
May use underwater. An undead elephant. Decent MR and morale mean these do not share some of the weaknesses of other elephant units; low defense and protection mean that these perform substantially better with defensive buffs. | |||
Pale Riders | Enchantment 5 | 3 • 10 | Longdead Horseman x20+ 2/lv |
May use underwater. descrip | |||
Carrion Reanimation | Enchantment 7 | 3 • 10 | Soulless Ghost x100 +2/lv |
May use underwater. descrip | |||
Ritual of Rebirth | Enchantment 7 | 4 • 15 | Revives a hero as a Mummy |
May use underwater. descrip | |||
Lichcraft | Enchantment 8 | 5 • 30 | Lich |
May use underwater. descrip |
King of Banefires | Conjuration 8 | 34 • 50 | Antrax - King of Banefires |
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Elemental Royalty. descrip | |||
Reanimate Archers | Enchantment 6 | 21 • 5 | Longdead Archer x10 |
descrip |
Ziz | Construction 6 | 32 • 4 | Ziz |
---|---|---|---|
An undead version of the Great Eagle. More expensive and harder to mass, but the greater cost pays for complete elemental resistances, spirit sight, Storm immunity, and Fear. |
Poison Golem | Construction 5 | 42 • 35 | Poison Golem |
---|---|---|---|
A tough thug chassis with Reaper and Banefire shield but no magic paths. |
Despite the high numbers, Blood slaves are fairly easy to collect and considered cheaper to spend then gems.
A main downside for A lot of Blood summon troops, is that you have to summon them one of time until you get to the late game horde versions.
In addition, Unique Demon commanders return to the summoning pool when killed.
Bind Shadow Imp | Blood 1 | 1 • 4 | Shadow Imp |
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Cheap scouts that take mage turns instead of fort turns. | |||
Bind Spine Devil | Blood 2 | 2 • 3 | Spine Devil |
Solid two poison attack chaff with high Prot and Poison barbs. | |||
Bind Fiend | Blood 2 | 2 • 5 | Fiend of Darkness |
Sneaky Flyers with Darkness Power and two solid poison attacks. | |||
Bind Serpent Fiend | Blood 4 | 1 • 2 | Serpent Fiend |
descrip | |||
Horde from Hell | Blood 5 | 4 • 44 | Devil (commander) • Devil • Imp x25 |
descrip | |||
Bind Succubus | Blood 5 | 4 • 66 | Succubus |
descrip | |||
Ritual of Five Gates | Blood 6 | 5 • 39 | Fiend of Darkness • Devil • Frost Fiend • Storm Demon • Demon Knight |
descrip | |||
Plague of Locusts | Blood 7 | 5 • 88 | Demonic Locust (commander) • Demonic Locust x8 |
descrip | |||
Bind Heliophagus | Blood 8 | 5 • 111 | One of: Mastema - Heliophagus • Amaimon - Heliophagus • Gorilon - Heliophagus • Mabakiel - Heliophagus |
Summons one of four unique commanders. descrip | |||
Forces of Darkness | Blood 9 | 6 • 50 | Fiend of Darkness x14 +1/lvl |
Summons one of four unique commanders. descrip | |||
Bind Demon Lord | Blood 9 | 8 • 150 | One of: Pazuzu - Lord of the Plague Wind • Belphegor - Lord of Hell • Belial - Lord of Corruption • Buer - Goat Sun • Geryon - Monster of Fraud • Ashmedai - Prince of Lust |
Summons one of six unique commanders. descrip |
Bind Fiery Imps | Blood 1 | 11 • 6 | Fiery Imp x5 +1/2 lv |
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Their ranged fire attacks benefit from strength buffs. | |||
Bind Devil | Blood 3 | 22 • 7 | Devil |
Fairly strong shock troop summon. Flyers with Two attacks (one inflicts paralyze) and a heat aura. | |||
Bind Arch Devil | Blood 7 | 42 • 99 | One of: Buriol - Arch Devil • Ethanim - Arch Devil • Furcas - Arch Devil • Magoth - Arch Devil • Igarak - Arch Devil |
Summone one of five unique commanders. Descr | |||
Infernal Forces | Blood 9 | 52 • 50 | Devilx7 +1/lvl • Impx20 |
A more efficient late-game way to amass Devils, while also getting a lot of imps for practically a steal. |
Bind Storm Demon | Blood 4 | 22 • 10 | Storm Demon |
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Ethereal Lighting throwers with shock fist attacks in melee. Can be very efficient under the right circumstances. | |||
Infernal Tempest | Blood 9 | 52 • 50 | Storm Demon x7 +1/lv |
More Storm Demons for less slaves and mage turns. |
Bind Frost Fiend | Blood 3 | 22 • 8 | Frost Fiend |
---|---|---|---|
Low Prot but decent HP and high Defense Skill. Primarily a shooter but becomes a flying melee fighter if you buff their prot. | |||
Bind Ice Devil | Blood 6 | 33 • 88 | One of: Nycafor - Ice Devil • Oriax - Ice Devil • ??Gaap - Ice Devil? • Bifrons - Ice Devil • Cimejes - Ice Devil • Bune - Ice Devil |
Summons one of six unique commanders. Descr | |||
Forces of Ice | Blood 9 | 52 • 50 | Frost Fiend x8+ 1/lv |
Summon Fiends more Efficently |
Bind Demon Knight | Blood 5 | 22 • 15 | Demon Knight |
---|---|---|---|
Summons a strong knight with Fear. Very good demon summon. Fill the role of hard-to-kill flankers. | |||
Father Illearth | Blood 7 | 34 • 105 | Pedoseion - Father Illearth |
Summons a unique commander. See Elemental Royalty for more. | |||
Infernal Crusade | Blood 9 | 52 • 50 | Demon Knight x10 +1/lv |
Efficient way to summon tons of Knights in the late game. |
Cross Breeding | Blood 3 | 11 • 15 | Cross breeding x20 +1/lv |
---|---|---|---|
descr | |||
Awaken Dark Vines | Blood 5 | 13 • 12 | Dark Vines x2 |
descr | |||
Improved Cross Breeding | Blood 8 | 22 • 20 | Cross breeding x40 +3/lv |
descr |
Bind Bone Fiends | Blood 2 | 11 • 5 | Bone Fiend x5 +1/2 lv |
---|---|---|---|
Turns Blood slaves into nacked Undead with Good two Stength claw attacks. Most perfer the Greater number of Londead chaff or more durable Demons. |
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Blood Rite | Blood 7 | 22 • 11 | Vampire |
Naked guy, but still hard to kill and immortal. | |||
Curse of Blood | Blood 7 | 34 • 77 | Vampire Lord |
Great Late game mage with great access to death and blood magic. Hard to kill and immortal. Great qualities to have. |
Notable Spells | ||
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Rituals | Personal Enchantments | Divine Name/Gift of Reason • Transformation • Twiceborn • Cure Disease |
Strategic | Domes • Globals • Magic Phase Movement • Remote Attacks | |
Summons | Cross Breeding • Elemental Royalty • Hidden Underneath/in Snow/in Sand • Infernal Breeding • Reanimation • Release Lord of Civilization • Ritual of Rebirth • Tartarian Gate | |
Other | Wish | |
Combat Magic | Battlefield Enchantments | |
Buffs | Hell Power • Life after Death • Mossbody • Pain Transfer • Phoenix Pyre • Returning • Soul Vortex • Strength of Giants • Time Stop | |
Debuffs | Armor of Achilles • Earth Grip • False Fetters | |
Direct Damage | Divine Magic • Magic Duel • Soul Slay | |
Summons | Reanimation | |
Other | Communions • Enslave Mind |