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Blesses
When creating a pretender, a number of options are available for bless effects. These can be applied to sacred units, and are an important part of pretender design. Each magic path on the pretender above 4 confers a number of bless points equal to the corresponding path level. Having 3 in all elemental or sorcery paths also enables bless points for those paths. Bless points can then be spent on the effects listed below. Some effects require certain scale choices in addition to consumin bless points. Various options can be taken multiple times, which causes their effects to stack.
Additionally, the more powerful effects are incarnate only, activating only when the pretender god is present on the tactical map. These effects will be inactive both before the pretender awakens, and while the pretender is dead.
Sacred units can become blessed by a priest, by certain items, or when in a battle with a pretender or disciple in friendly dominion.
Bless effects
Fire
| Main Cost | Secondary Cost | Required Scale | Name | Effect | Incarnate | Repeatable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1 | Superior Morale | +1 Morale | Yes | ||||
| 1 |  1 | Wasteland Survival | Wastland survival trait | ||||
| 2 | Minor Fire Resistance | FR+5 | |||||
| 3 | Major Fire Resistance | Fr+10 | |||||
| 3 | Attack Skill | +2 attack skill | Yes | ||||
| 4 | Inspirational Presence | +1 Inspirational, +30 leadership | Yes | ||||
| 5 | Death Explosion | On death 10AP fire damage, 5Aoe | Yes | ||||
| 5 | Heat Aura | Heat3, FR+10 | Yes | ||||
| 6 | Fire Shield | Fire shield (6AP damage) | Yes | ||||
| 6 | Flaming Weapons | 6AP fire damage on all weapons except natural ranged weapons | Yes | 1 | |||
| 7 | Awe | Awe+1 | Yes |
Air
| Main Cost | Secondary Cost | Required Scale | Name | Effect | Incarnate | Repeatable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1 | Minor Shock Resistance | SR+5 | |||||
| 1 | Precision | Precision+1 | Yes | ||||
| 2 | Farshot | Weapon Range +30% (not for spells or natural weapons) | Yes | ||||
| 3 | Swiftness | Swiftness trait (+30% combat speed, +1 defence) | Yes | ||||
| 3 | Major Shock Resistance | SR+10 | |||||
| 4 | Charged Bodies | 10AN shock damage on first hit | |||||
| 5 | Wind Walker | Map Movement +6 | Yes | ||||
| 6 | Air Shield | Air shield 80 trait (Blocks 80% of all projectiles) | Yes | ||||
| 7 | Thunder Weapons | 1AN capped shock damage + 3AN fatigue damage on all weapons except natural ranged weapons. | Yes | 1 |
Water
| Main Cost | Secondary Cost | Required Scale | Name | Effect | Incarnate | Repeatable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1 | Minor Cold Resistance | CR+5 | |||||
| 1 |  1 | Winter's Gift | Snow Move trait (No movement penalties from cold climate) | ||||
| 1 |  1 | Swamp Survival | Swamp Survival trait | 1 | |||
| 2 | Water Walking | Swimming trait (Can cross rivers in heat dominion) | |||||
| 3 | Major Cold Resistance | CR+10 | |||||
| 4 | Defence Skill | Defence +2 | Yes | ||||
| 4 | 1 | Frost Weapons | 8 cold damage on all weapons except natural ranged weapons. | 1, 2 | |||
| 5 | Chill Aura | Chill aura 3, CR +10 | Yes | ||||
| 7 | Water Breathing | Water breathing trait | Yes | ||||
| 10 |  1 | Quickness | Quickness trait (2 attacks per combat turn, double combat speed, attack+2, defence+2) | Yes |
Earth
| Main Cost | Secondary Cost | Required Scale | Name | Effect | Incarnate | Repeatable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1 | Mountain Survival | Mountain Survival trait | |||||
| 2 | Reinvigoration | Reinvigoration+1 | Yes | ||||
| 2 | Reconstruction | Inanimates don't have 'Never heals' trait | |||||
| 3 | Strength of the Earth | Strength +2 | Yes | 1 | |||
| 4 | Unbreakable | 75% Affliction protection | |||||
| 4 | 3 | Larger | +1 Size, +30% HP, +3 Strength, -1 defence, +2 Map Movement | 1 | |||
| 5 | Fire&Shock Resistance | FR+10, SR+10 | Yes | ||||
| 6 | Hard Skin | Natural protection +5 | Yes | ||||
| 8 | Fortitude | Pierce, slash and blunt resistant traits (50% damage reduction) | Yes |
Astral
| Main Cost | Secondary Cost | Required Scale | Name | Effect | Incarnate | Repeatable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1 | Minor Magic Resistance | MR+1 | |||||
| 1 | Arcane Command | +10 Magic Leadership | Yes | ||||
| 1 | 1 | Spirit Sight | Spirit Sight trait (can see in darkness, no penalty versus invisible) | ||||
| 3 | Major Magic Resistance | MR+2 | |||||
| 3 | 1 | Solar Weapons | 3AP damage, triple versus undead/demons, except natural ranged attacks | 1 | |||
| 4 | Magic Weapons | All weapons become magical except natural ranged weapons | |||||
| 4 | Far Caster | +50% combat spell range | |||||
| 4 | Arcane Finesse | +1 to magic resistance penetration, applies to spells and some magic natural attacks | |||||
| 6 | Twist Fate | Twist Fate buff (First successful attack is negated) | Yes | ||||
| 7 |  1 | Fateweaving | MR Save or suffer Cursed Luck debuff on striking blessed unit | Yes | 1 | ||
| 9 |  2 | Luck | Luck trait | Yes | |||
| 10 | 3 | Etherealness | Ethereal trait | Yes |
Death
| Main Cost | Secondary Cost | Required Scale | Name | Effect | Incarnate | Repeatable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undying | Undying HP+2 (Additional HP Pool once HP falls below 0, non-undead that end a battle still on the field but with negative HP die after battle) | Yes | 1 | |||
| 1 | Undead Command | Undead leadership +20 | Yes | ||||
| 2 |  2 | Half Dead | Sacred units don't need to eat and can resist disease | ||||
| 4 | Withering Weapons | All weapons (except natural ranged ones) cause decay, MR resist | 1 | ||||
| 5 | Stygian Flesh | +10 Invulnerability | Yes | ||||
| 6 | Reforming Flesh | +10% regeneration for undead | Yes | ||||
| 7 | Reanimators | 50% to revive a killed enemy as undead minion | Yes | ||||
| 8 | Death Weapons | All weapons (except natural ranged ones) deal additional 2AN & disease, individually MR resisted | Yes | 1 | |||
| 10 | Fear | Fear 5 | Yes |
Nature
| Main Cost | Secondary Cost | Required Scale | Name | Effect | Incarnate | Repeatable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Resilient | +1 HP | Yes | ||||
| 1 | Low Light Vision | 50% Darkvision | |||||
| 1 | Minor Poison Resistance | +5 PR | |||||
| 2 | Major Poison Resistance | +10 PR | |||||
| 2 | Forest Survival | Forest Survival trait | |||||
| 3 | 1 | Unaging | Sacreds age at 1/4th speed. Retroactive, except for certain commanders hard coded as Old | ||||
| 4 | 1 | Poison Weapons | +5 poison damage on attacks, except natural ranged attacks | 1 | |||
| 5 | Recuperation | Recuperation trait (recover from afflictions) | Yes | ||||
| 5 | Berserker | Berserker +2 | Yes | ||||
| 6 | Barkskin | Barkskin buff (10 natural prot, -5 FR) | Yes | ||||
| 7 | Regeneration | Regeneration +10% | Yes | 1 |
Blood
| Main Cost | Secondary Cost | Required Scale | Name | Effect | Incarnate | Repeatable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1 | Strong Vitae | +1 HP | Yes | ||||
| 3 | Strength of the Flesh | +2 Strength | Yes | 1 | |||
| 4 | Blood Surge | Upon killing, sacred gains temporary buff for a few rounds (+3 Att, +3 Str, +1 Def, +1 Reinvig). Does not trigger upon killing inanimates | 1, 2 | ||||
| 5 | Blood Bond | 50% of damage taken is transferred to other sacreds within 5 squares | Yes | 1 | |||
| 6 | Unholy Weapons | +10 AP damage, only affecting enemy sacreds and gods, on all weapons except natural ranged attacks | Yes | ||||
| 8 | Blood Vengeance | Attackers must make MR save or take equal damage | Yes | 1 |
Additional various notes
Weapon-bless-analysis by taorec
Frost weapons
Frost weapon with it's 8 damage is usually not capable to getting through even the weakest of prot and generally not considered useful.
Strength booster
Strength booster are often better damage bless effects compared to specific weapon blesses.
Withering Weapons
Withering Weapons is usually not fast enough acting to help in troop engagements, but it can ruin thugs/SCs.
Blood Bond
Blood Bond does not propagate 999 damage effects as they are considered special.
Undying
- A non-undead unit with Undying and a source of regeneration can heal in the after-battle-phase into positive HP-values to survive the battle even after dipping below 0 HP.
- Undying does not count as max. HP for the purpose of HP regeneration per turn.
- Luck on units with Undying only affects the initial hit bringing the unit to or below 0 HP. [TBD: Interaction with healing above 0 again to be determined.]
Swamp Survival
Swamp Survival protects agains MA C'tis disease dominion.
Blood Surge
Blood Surge is not a once-per battle effect but activates anew after each kill.
Fate Weaving
See cursed-luck
Blood Vengeance
Blood Vengeance damage is untyped and tagged as internal, meaning many special types of reduction such as twist fate or mistform don't apply to it.
Common Bless Templates
This section lists general bless templates that my be useful for a variety of nation. It is intended as a general jumping off point, not as a specific guide. See also pretenders.
- RegenFortyBBond The combination of Regeneration, Fortitude and BloodBond turns tanky sacreds into extreme damage sponges. A classic hellbless rush option.
- Full resist Carrying Fire,Cold,Shock and Poison resist allows sacred troops - which already tend to naturally be superior to normal chaff - to be quite resiliant to spells that are typically used kill these. Special note to the combination with casting cloud spells in combat. Also useful for thugs.
- Max. strength Based on the observation that sacreds that hit really really hard can solve some issues that might otherwise be quite a problem stack +6/8 strength modifiers, usually with magic weapons as well.