Research Cost - Free
Mana Cost - 100 mana
Research Time - None
Fireball is the spell that does not have to be researched. Your mages automatically have this
spell when they are first built. At the cost of 100 mana, your mage can shoot a fireball about the length of one game screen.
This fireball is much like the attack of a dragon or griffon, in that it does a line of damage (splash damage). This spell is not that useful,
and should only be used when you don't have Blizzard researched. You will use this spell mostly against grifs/drags when you are
waiting for your Blizzard research to complete. This spell does not do enough damage to make it worth 100 mana.
Slow decreases the movement speed, and the attack speed of the targeted unit. This is a very useful spell that is easier
to control on slower game speeds. Against an orc player, slow can be useful when used on lusted ogres, death knights, and dragons.
It is a cheap spell (50 mana) and can really turn the tides of battle. You can even cancel out the effects of haste,
and change a deadly death knight, into an almost useless one.
Flameshield creates a ring of fire around any ground unit. This ring lasts about 20 seconds, and damages any unit or building
that it touches. This spell is not very effective, and does not do enough damage to make it worth while. If you have Blizzard researched,
it will always server you better than flameshield. This spell does have a lot of entertainment value however.
Casting flameshield on peons that are going in and out of your Hall or Mill has interesting effects. You should also
try casting flameshield on an invisible unit to give the enemy a magical moving flame show. It's just not a practical spell.
Invisibility makes any unit invisible for about a minute. This is useful for getting mages deep into an enemies base. The unit
will remain invisible until the spell wears off, or until the unit attacks (or casts!). This spell is very useful for humans
on bigger maps where it is hard to navigate, like No Way Out of This Maze. This spell is also very useful on many custom maps,
such as Castles, and Everything is Free. You can also use this spell on transports, paladins, or anything else you desire,
when you need to get a unit somewhere undetected.
Polymorph changes one organic unit into a cute little sheep. This spell is a good range, and it is good for taking out hasted death knights,
dragons, or ogres. The mana price is fairly steep, but you will find uses for this spell on certain maps. Especially those
where you can't get at your enemy right away (3vs3, TaigaBNE). The polymorphed unit will remain that way for the rest of the game
so that you never need to worry about it again.
Any spell that is named after the company that makes the game has to be great. This is the most useful spell in the humans spell book.
For a cost of 25 mana a shot, you will rain down shards of ice in a randomly placed 5x5 area on the playing field. This spell is
almost the equivalent of the Orc spell Death and Decay, but they do different amounts of damage to different units/buildings. Blizzard
causes more damage to units, and will be your main offense and defense when playing against an orc player.
Holy Vision is the spell that Paladins start off with after the Paladin upgrade completes. This is a very useful spell,
allowing you to scout a fairly large area anywhere on the map. Casting this spell grants you vision at that exact location
that you clicked for a couple of seconds. This is a great way to find enemy expansions, or incoming attacks.
Healing can give hit points back to any organic unit in the game. For every 6 points of mana you have, you will heal the targeted unit
for 1 hp. If the target is already at full health, then this spell will do nothing, and not waste any mana. The problem
with this spell is that 6 mana per hp, is too expensive. When it comes right down to it. You will not have time to cast this spell
in battle, and humans rarely survive with any paladins after a fight occurs with an enemies ogres anyways.
This spell can become useful in long drawn out games where none of the players have much money left. Your units can be used for hit and runs
and your paladins can heal whatever damage has occurred.
Exorcism damages any undead unit in the game, those of which are Death Knights, and Skeletons. This spell is great
for taking out Death Knights, but is expensive and slow to upgrade. Again, this spell can become useful on larger maps
where you have more time to build, and where you get an opportunity to see the enemy coming. Otherwise, this spell
is usually just a luxury. Exorcism does 1 damage point for every 4 mana you have. This means that a paladin with full mana,
will kill a death knight with one hit. This spell has a long range, and can hit a the enemy unit even if you don't click exactly
on it (area effect).