Soul Vortex is a nifty self-buff for mages, increasing their longevity at the expense of those around them.

The spell is a Level 6 Alteration, that requires 3 and costs zero Gems to use. It gives the caster a special Aura with a power of 8, which inflicts 1 armor-negating life drain damage to those affected by it if they fail a Magic Resistance check. Foes with levels of Death magic have a better chance to resist.

Due to the aura's value, the aura applies roughly eight times each round, but to a random square next to the caster each time, or even to the caster's own square. The caster is immune to this effect, and thus doesn't get to drain their own life into their own HP and Fatigue pools.

The variety of Life Drain Soul Vortex provides is unlimited; this means that the potential damage-increase due to DRN might increase the healing with it to quite-high levels, but it also makes Inanimate beings immune to the damage.

Soul Vortex costs 40 Fatigue to cast. This is reduced by levels of overcast; for example, casting it at 4 costs only 20 Fatigue, while casting it at 6 costs only 10 Fatigue.

Since Soul Vortex costs no Gems, 2 mages are free to spend 1 to cast it.

Since the Aura has 9 squares to affect each combat round but will generally only affect 8 at most, Soul Vortex isn't very reliable for one-on-one fights. The high Fatigue cost exposes its caster to additional damage, in fact, at least from melee hits. That being said, the Fatigue can be quickly recouped for mages surrounded by troops; archers/crossbowmen held in place, Bodyguards, and even Blood Slaves can all serve as "batteries" that keep the caster slinging spells past when they'd usually pass out.

Soul Vortex can be rather good on thugs, since they'll often be outnumbered and swamped in troops. It pairs decently with Phoenix Pyre, since the Fatigue recovery from the life-drain can offset the cost of the Extra Lives.