Copyright 2003 John Gayl Westendorf This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. E-mail me if you want to use this FAQ. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Sacrifice Unit and Spell Guide Version 2.00 Last Updated: 10/11/2003 Authored by John Gayl Westendorf johnwestendorf@yahoo.com Four Horsemen Development TM Version History: 1.00 - Everything not noted in later version. 1.01 - Level Ratings started (see Spellbook Levels) 2.00 - Finished level ratings, small content and grammar changes Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Godwide Traits and Trends III. Creature Categories IV. Spellbook Levels V. Thanks I. Introduction I am writing this FAQ because Sacrifice (developed by Shiny and published by Interplay) is one of my favorite games of all time, and other FAQ's I have read have had a lot of faulty info about soul cost and creature order. Sacrifice has great gameplay, extremely innovative blending of action, strategy, and RPG genres, the best voice-acting I have ever witnessed in a game, graphics that are beautiful even today (Sacrifice was released in 2000), amazing sound, involving story, and replayability that warrants further discussion. In Sacrifice, you play as a wizard who can summon creatures and cast spells. Five different gods each have their own creatures and spells for 9 different levels of your wizard. In the single-player campaign, you can't use any combination of gods (as some don't like the others), but you can use most combinations, and in multiplayer you can customize your spellbook once you beat the game once. This means that their are 5^9 = 1,953,125 distinct possible spellbooks. The single- player missions are all interesting and different enough from each other that playing the single-player at least enough times to see each level for each god is fun for all. I have played through the campaign probably at least 15 times and I still do every once in a while. Yet another addition to the replayability factor is the skirmish/multiplayer. In skirmish mode you can choose your character model and play against computer-controlled opponents or people. The multiplayer maps are fun and varied, and the AI is competent. What this FAQ contains (for now) is a run-down of every spellbook level and the creatures/spells within. These will be listed by level and not by god, because more often than not someone is looking to decide on what to do with a specific level and it is inefficient to have to look through all the different gods and find the level you want, when a list sorted by level is available. Within each level, the spells and creatures will be listed by god in the following order: Persephone, James, Stratos, Pyro, Charnel. Finally, if you find any errors or typos in this FAQ, please e-mail me, and I will make corrections (citing you for new information). Thank you! II. Godwide Traits and Trends A. Persephone All non-Charnel creatures regenerate health when they are standing still and not attacking. Persephone's creatures regenerate at a much faster rate than the others. Persephone's spells and creature abilities also tend to be focused on healing and defensive support rather than offense. B. James James' creatures tend to have higher defense and more hitpoints, but slower than their counterparts for other gods. James' spells are almost all devoted to using rocks or the ground itself against the enemy, and James has the most terrain-deforming spells of any god. C. Stratos Stratos' creatures are faster and usually have special abilities or side- effects to their attacks (mostly moving the target), but are more fragile than other gods' creatures. The spell selection of Stratos uses lightning, wind, and ice to attack Stratos' opponents. D. Pyro Offense is what the creatures of Pyro are all about, as they have high amounts of damage, but somewhat lower defense compared to other gods' units. Offense is also what Pyro's spells are focused on, throwing flames, fireballs, and explosions at enemies. E. Charnel Unlike every other god's units, Charnel's creatures do not regenerate health while idle. Instead, these undead and demonic entities have vampiric attacks that replenishes their life based on how much damage they do to their target, which makes many of their units much more resilient in battle than other gods' units. Charnel's spells are varied in their effects and purposes, but all have something to do with death or necromancy. III. Creature Categories All the gods have a basic set of creatures that have mostly the same function. Each type of creature may appear at a different level for different gods, and may act differently in a lot of ways. In order for me to easily identify the basic purpose of every creature, it is easier to explain the types here and refer to them later than to explain each creatures purpose every time. Basic melee/ranged/flyer: Basic units of the three rock-paper-scissors types, each god gets one of each of these at level one and they all cost 1 soul (see "Spellbook Levels -> Level One" for more information). These units are best used in large numbers, as they are individually weak. Bug: Ranged units that each god receives at level two and have a side-effect on their attack that is usually more important than the damage. Bug units cost two souls. Brawler (second-tier melee): Brawlers are the improved melee units over the basic melee, and cost 2 souls each. Brawlers are slower than the basic melee units. Sniper (ranged): Ranged units that have fairly long range and a fast-moving projectile that moves in a straight line or hits instantly. Sniper soul costs vary between gods. Bomber (flyer): Bombers are flying units that attack not at range but hand-to-hand for a good amount of damage. They make good hit and run units (especially against manaliths) since they have high damage output and can fly over terrain obstacles. The name 'bomber' comes from the fact that all of these units have a creature ability that shoots something at other units (usually on the ground since these abilities can be inaccurate). I usually don't use bombers in my central fighting groups since they are large and, since they attack hand-to-hand, get in the way of my ranged units and each other. Soul cost varies between gods. Artillery (ranged): The artillery units have a very long range, fire their projectiles indirectly, and most have a large splash damage radius, just as you would expect from artillery. Artillery are a bit inaccurate, but all have an area effect. Soul cost varies between gods. Heavy-hitter (non-flyer): The heavy-hitters are the units directly below the best and cost 4 souls each. None of these creatures are flying, all have special abilities, and all dish out damage. Titan: Titans are the ultimate creature of each god and cost 5 souls each. They can defeat any other type of creature one-on-one without exception. All titans fly except for James' Rhinok, and most stand on the ground if idle for a while. IV. Spellbook Levels At most levels, each god receives one creature and one spell which are impossible to separate from each other, i.e. you can't have one without the other. Each level's spells and creatures are generally more expensive, in terms of mana and cooldown time, than the last level's equivalent. After each god in a level, I will give a relative rating for that level (*->*****) for that god, without respect to what was taken in any other levels. Keep in mind that many of these ratings are difficult to make between gods, that no level is worthless for any god, and that the usefulness of each spell and creature depends on the gods taken for other levels. These ratings are just my subjective thoughts, but I like every spell and creature in some situations. Level 1: At the first level, each god receives one of each of the three basic types of units in the game (melee, ranged, and flying), which should usually be used in a rock-paper-scissors sort of manner. Generally, melee units are good at beating ranged units, ranged units defeat flying units, and flying units defeat melee units. Spell-wise, each god receives the Speed-up and Heal spells along with a basic attack spell which shoots a missile of some sort towards the target (each of which does enough damage to kill any first level flyer). Speed-up: speeds up the targets movement for an amount of time proportional to its maximum hitpoints. Speed-up works great on anything you want to get to its destination faster, including yourself. This spell is ready to use again almost as soon as you use it. Heal: heals the target unit. Great for keeping units alive during a battle or for healing between battles. A. Persephone: Basic melee/ranged/flyer Druid (1 Soul): Basic melee unit with a special ability called "Life Shield" which makes a shield around the druid for a decent length of time that reduces damage to the druid significantly. Ranger (1 Soul): Basic ranged unit with a special ability called "Divine Sight" which sends a flying eye out that seeks the closest enemy. Divine Sight is not very useful since scouting on your own isn't very difficult. Shrike (1 Soul): Basic flyer with the "Life Shield" special ability (see Druid). The attacks of the shrike also knock down enemies, and their Life Shield can make them last longer in combat than any other basic flyer. Wrath: A glowing ball of light shoots out and homes in on your target, exploding with a little bit of splash damage. Rating = *: While all the gods are viable choices at the first level, Persephone is my least favorite. Druids and shrikes have the very useful Life Shield, but require a little micro-management to use it, which makes them less useful later in the game. Shrikes are pretty inaccurate with their short ranged attack. The ranger's ability is not very useful, and Wrath is nothing special. B. James: Basic melee/ranged/flyer Trogg (1 Soul): Basic melee unit with the innate ability that troggs are immune to hostile magic. Troggs can be healed, and flung into the air with erupt, tornado, etc., but won't be hurt by any direct damage spells. Troggs are pretty good because of this ability, but may fall because of their slow speed. Earthfling (1 Soul): Basic ranged unit with a special ability called "Rockform" that turns the earthfling into a boulder that is immune to damage, regenerates, and looks just like a regular boulder to enemies. Rockform is a good way to save almost dead earthflings, and could be used to setup ambushes. Gargoyle (1 Soul): Basic flyer unit that spews out a bunch of pebbles at enemies. The attack does area damage and stacks with multiple gargoyles. Without special abilities, the gargoyle is the toughest basic flyer, but still dies from spells and ranged fairly quickly. Rock: A boulder flies out of the ground and homes in on your target, but will hit anything in the way (especially since the boulder is so large). No splash damage. Rating = ****: None of James' first level units have a bad special or innate ability, and each unit is pretty good. C. Stratos: Basic melee/ranged/flyer Frostwolf (1 Soul): Basic melee unit with a special ability "Run Away" which makes them move much faster, like the speed-up spell had been cast on them. Frostwolves are already much faster than other ground units, and Run Away makes them faster. Frostwolves are very fragile in terms of defense and hitpoints. Great for charging ranged units. Sylph (1 Soul): Basic ranged unit with the "Stealth" special ability which makes the sylph invisible to all enemies until the sylph attacks. Stealth can be used just like Rockform to save near-death sylphs, scout, and ambush. Brainiac (1 Soul): Basic flyer unit that shoots brain waves at enemies. Brainiacs have much, much longer range than other basic flyers and knock down enemies that get hit. Good overall unit, brainiacs are very annoying when used against you as you get knocked down while casting spells. Lightning: A lightning bolt connects the wizard's hand to the target. The best thing about lightning is that it recharges much faster than any other first level attack spell and doesn't deal less damage. The down- falls of lightning are that it will hit anything in it's way and stop, and that certain Stratos creatures take almost no damage from lightning effects and even become powered up by them (no, you can't target your own units). No splash damage. My favorite first level attack spell by far. Rating = *****: Stratos is probably the best first level choice because of two reasons: brainiacs and Lightning. Brainiacs can be useful throughout the game for softening up forces at a range and knocking enemies down with good accuracy. Lightning just recharges so fast that it can be used a lot to tip the tide of a battle in your favor. D. Pyro: Basic melee/ranged/flyer Cog (1 Soul): Basic melee unit that excretes steam upon death, damaging anything nearby. Flame Minion (1 Soul): Basic ranged unit that spits fire, and has the "Run Away" special ability. Run Away is good for quick strikes and running away (who would have thought?), but in my opinion is not as useful as the other stealthy basic ranged abilities. Spitfire (1 Soul): Basic flyer unit that shoots a cone of flame which does area damage and stacks with other spitfires. Spitfires have the highest damage output of basic flyers and are great in large groups, if somewhat prone to dying. Fireball: A fireball homes in on the target, exploding and dealing good splash damage. Fireball is great for taking out groups of enemy flyers, because of the splash damage. Rating = **: I don't like the cogs' or the flame minions' abilities. Spitfires are cool, and fireball is the most damaging first level spell. E. Charnel: Basic melee/ranged/flyer Scythe (1 Soul): Basic melee unit. There is nothing special about the scythe, except that it, like all Charnel units, have vampiric attacks. The scythe is the most resilient basic melee unit in combat because of this life draining. Fallen (1 Soul): Basic ranged unit that fires clouds of insects and has the "Play Dead" special ability, which has the fallen lay down and play dead, which allows the fallen to regenerate (unlike other Charnel creatures). Great basic ranged unit because of the vampiric attack and Play Dead. Play Dead should be used like Stealth and Rockform. Locust (1 Soul): Basic flyer unit that sucks life and mana from enemies. Locusts are accurate and great in swarms as they can suck all the mana out of an enemy wizard. Insect Swarm: A swarm of insects homes in on the target, doing damage and returning a portion of that damage to the casting wizard as life. Just about the same as the others, but does decent splash damage. Rating = ***: Healing scythes between battle is annoying, fallen are great, locusts are good, insect swarm is ok. As I've said before, the first level of each god is a fine choice. Level 2: Each god gets his/her bug unit and a shield spell in the second slot of his/her spell book. The shield spells all protect the wizard in some way, and prevents slowing spells (see Level Three) from targeting the wizard. A. Persephone: Bug Scarab (2 Souls): Bug unit that heals hurt friendly units by shooting sparkles (which can miss). The scarab is definitely a must-have for any beginners, as it takes the micro-management of healing off of the player's hands. Usually, if I take scarabs, I try to have one or two in phalanx formation behind my wizard. Scarabs are a little slow and weak, though, so when retreating make sure to teleport or pick up the scarab's souls if it dies. I usually don't take more than one of the three specialty healing spells: scarabs, Rainbow, Animate Dead, and Healing Aura. Ethereal Form: This shield spell makes the wizard ethereal and unable to be harmed at all for a short amount of time. While this shield spell doesn't last as long as the others, it does stop damage all together instead of reducing it, and is great for grabbing souls. Rating = *****: While Ethereal Form is my least favorite shield spell because of the micro-management involved with the short length, scarabs more than make up for it. Scarabs are the best bug unit by far, freeing your wizard to do other things than heal. B. James: Bug Basilisk (2 Souls): Bug unit that petrifies units. The basilisk shoots a ray that petrifies any enemies that it hits for a few seconds as well as doing a small amount of damage. While a unit is petrified, they take much less damage than they would normally, but it is useful to keep an enemy out of a fight or from retreating (especially wizards). Stone Skin: A shield spell that turns the wizard's skin into stone for a long time. Stone Skin is the longest lasting shield spell, but it also has a very long cooldown time. This spell does reduce damage by a lot, and is good to cast before a battle. Rating = **: Standard shield spell. The basilisk is a little more useful, but less fun, than the vortick. Thus, James edges out Stratos. C. Stratos: Bug Vortick (2 Souls): Bug unit that creates a mini tornado where it's projectile hits doing damage and tossing nearby units into the air. The tornado created by the vortick is perfect for throwing creatures and wizards around, but it affects friendly units as well. The vortick is a fun unit, but not terribly useful. Air Shield: A sphere of swirling air surrounds the wizard, pushing nearby units away and reducing damage done to the wizard. The push away effect helps to keep melee units from doing some damage, but not much. Rating = *: Vorticks are pretty useless, and the air shield's push away effect is the same. D. Pyro: Bug Tickferno (2 Souls): Bug unit that shoots a laser which does damage and drains a good amount of mana from the target. Fireform: The only shield spell which does not reduce damage taken by the wizard, Fireform surrounds the wizard in a sphere of flame that damages any enemies that get too close. If you need extra damage in a battle, this spell can come in handy by turning it on and just running into enemy manahoars, wizards, etc. Rating = ***: Fireform is a little less versatile than Protective Swarm. E. Charnel: Bug Necryl (2 Souls): Bug unit that shoots slime at opponents that does damage over time, keeps the victim from healing and regenerating mana, and makes the victim more susceptible to damage. This slime is contagious and any other unit that touches a slimed one will become slimed as well, including your units. Not a horrible unit, the necryl has a very specific purpose as you don't want the slime spreading to you. Protective Swarm: A cloud of insects collects around the wizard, reducing damage that the wizard takes, minorly damaging any enemies that run into the wizard and giving some of that damage back to the wizard as life. A good all-around shield spell. Rating = ****: Protective swarm is nice (even though the buzzing can get annoying), and the necryl does damage. Level 3: At the third level is when the gods really start to differentiate from each other by having different creature types at different levels, as well as different types of spells. Most of the gods give you a slowing spell at this level. Slowing spells target one unit and slow or stop the movement of the target for a period of time, but can not target shielded wizards. A. Persephone: Brawler Troll (2 Souls): Brawler unit that regenerates even faster than other Persephone creatures, which helps keep down healing micro-management. Grasping Vines: Slowing spell that can only target ground units. Vines come up from the ground and hold the creature in place for a time proportional to the target's maximum hitpoints. Excellent for stopping a retreating creature, or keeping a wizard from collecting souls, or isolating a manahoar. Rating = *****: A low maintenance brawler combined with a good slow spell. Persephone just doesn't have anything to dislike at level three. B. James: Brawler Taurock (2 Souls): Brawler unit that is really slow, but powerful once it gets into combat. The taurock has an innate ability that causes its defense to go up as it's hitpoints go down, which helps them stay alive long enough for you to heal them. Soul Mole: Cast this spell on a blue soul and a boulder sticking half-way out of the ground retrieves it for you. Note that once the boulder reaches the soul, the body that the soul came from is destroyed, which means that the soul becomes blue for everyone. Note also that if you let the "mole" just come back to you, it will take the same round-trip time no matter how far you are from the target soul. What this means is that the "mole" will travel really slowly if you are close to the target, and really quickly if you are far away. Therefore, Soul Mole is only useful from far away. The "mole" also knocks over anything in its path (friend or foe), but does no damage. In my humble opinion, this spell is not as useful as the slowing spells. Rating = **: The fact that taurocks are so slow limits their utility, but they are hardy. C. Stratos: Sniper Squall (2 Souls): Sniper unit that shoots a blast of air at opponents, knocking them back and doing damage. Not a bad unit, but I don't like squalls as much as the other snipers (probably just because they are all higher level). Freeze: Freeze is a slowing spell that creates a block of ice around the target, incapacitating it for a period of time proportional to its maximum hitpoints or until the unit is attacked. Freeze also does a little damage to the target. The damage is a nice bonus, and freeze keeps the target from doing anything. Rating = *: Freeze is a far better spell than Soul Mole. However, squalls are the weakest sniper in the game and extremely slow. D. Pyro: Brawler Firefist (2 Souls): Firefists are Pyro's version of Trolls. Instead of the trolls' high regeneration, firefists' attack power goes up as their hitpoints go down. Can help, but the taurocks' ability is more useful. Rings of Fire: Creating shrinking flame rings around the target, Rings of Fire is a slowing spell that slows the unit and does damage over time for the length of the spell. What did you expect from Pyro, a non-damage spell? Rating = ****: Pyro's third level is similar to Persephone's, but I think that Grasping Vines is more useful than Rings of Fire. E. Charnel: Bomber Blight (2 Souls): The blight is a giant, rotting, undead vulture that is a bomber unit. Weaker and cheaper than the other bombers, blights have a special ability called "Blight Mites" that flings a bunch of insects at a target. A unit covered in Blight Mites is slowed and lowers the unit's defense. Slime: A slowing spell, slime slows down a unit (both movement and attack speed), and lowers the target's defense. Slime lasts an amount of time proportional to the target's maximum hitpoints. Rating = ***: Taking a cheap bomber might make early manalith hit-and-runs useful to distract the enemy, plus slime is great and causes wizards to cast incredibly slowly. Level 4: Soul costs for creatures differ between gods on spell levels four through six. Generally, though, the creatures are fairly balanced, with the cheaper creatures being a little bit weaker (of course you can afford more, though). Also, spells of this level or higher (known exceptions noted below) generally make your wizard stand still while casting. A. Persephone: Sniper Gnome (2 Souls): Sniper unit that carries a gun which makes their shots hit instantly. Rainbow: This is a great healing spell, that heals five of your units. You target the first unit and then the rainbow bounces to four others. Rainbow is really cheap and has very low cooldown time, and can easily turn the tide in a battle. This spell does not require stationary casting. I usually don't take more than one of the three specialty healing spells: scarabs, Rainbow, Animate Dead, and Healing Aura. Rating = ****: Great spell in Rainbow, but nothing special about gnomes. B. James: Artillery Flummox (3 Souls): This lumbering unit, lobs boulders at enemies from afar. when the boulders hit, they create a shockwave that knocks down nearby units. Annoying as hell when arrayed against you, but I don't like this artillery unit as much as the others. Erupt: The targeted ground swells up and pops, like a pimple, tossing units around. Erupt has a nice area of effect and is good for softening up a charging army or killing off some retreating units (the units take damage when they land). Rating = *: The flummox is very inaccurate, slow, and doesn't do area damage. Erupt, on the other hand, is a versatile spell for damaging or slowing an opposing force. C. Stratos: Brawler Storm Giant (2 Souls): Storm Giants are brawler units with the "Call Lightning" special ability. Storm Giants have an innate ability that causes them to take less damage from lightning attacks than normal, and for a decent amount of time after the lightning hits a storm giant, the storm giant becomes stronger and shoots lightning off of himself at units close by. Call Lightning causes a lightning bolt from the sky to strike the storm giant, which triggers its innate ability. Chain Lightning: Shoots lightning at an enemy, the lightning shoots to the nearest enemy within range each time, hitting up to five targets. Chain Lightning is a great spell for killing flyers or just hurting a bunch of units. Rating = *****: Storm giants are probably the best brawler because of their lightning-related abilities, which give them some real crowd control. Chain Lightning is also a great way to soften up (or destroy) enemy armies. D. Pyro: Sniper Pyromaniac (2 Souls): Pyromaniacs look like evil gnomes, and shoot rockets at enemies. The rockets do a large amount of damage over a short period of time. Dragonfire: A dragon made out of fire flies at the target and then goes after two more enemies if there are any in range. The dragon can realistically hit more than three enemies, by flying through other units on the way to their target. Dragonfire is great for taking out flyers or dealing damage. If you find yourself the target of a Dragonfire, remember not to run away from it as it will do more damage while flying through you. Instead run towards the dragon, so it burns you for less time. Rating = ***: Pyromaniacs do tons of damage when they hit, and Dragonfire is useful for damage, but not usually as damaging as Chain-Lightning. E. Charnel: Brawler Netherfiend (2 Souls): Brawler unit with the special ability "Devour" which allows Netherfiends to eat blue souls. For each soul devoured, the fiend gains maximum hitpoints and a permanent defense bonus. Keep in mind that each soul gives diminishing returns (each consecutive soul gives less of a bonus) and that these souls never come back. I'm not sure if a resurrected creature that has eaten souls keeps the bonuses (anyone know?). Make sure to heal these between battles since they don't regenerate. Animate Dead: With Animate Dead, you target a blue soul from a dead body (it can't be used on gibbed souls) and within a couple seconds the unit is revived with full health and mana. This spell costs about the same mana as a manahoar, which is to say almost none, and is ready to use again once a casting is complete. Great spell, the only annoying part is regrouping the animated creatures. Bring back any soul cost creatures instantly for almost no mana and no time! This spell does not require stationary casting. I usually don't take more than one of the three specialty healing spells: scarabs, Rainbow, Animate Dead, and Healing Aura. Rating = **: I think the only reason I rated Charnel at two stars for this level is because I dislike netherfiends so much. Fortunately, if you use Animate Dead wisely, the netherfiends weaknesses can be overlooked. Level 5: All of the gods except for Charnel get their bomber unit at this stage (Charnel got his at level three), so if you want a bomber and didn't take the blight, now is the time to pick one. The spells of this level are all offensive spells. A. Persephone: Bomber Gremlin (3 Souls): The gremlin is Persephone's bomber unit. "Web Pull" is the gremlin's special ability. When Web Pull is used, the gremlin shoots a a spider web around the target with a cord attached to the gremlin. The gremlin then pulls in the unit and attacks it. After one attack from the gremlin, the unit is free, but usually in the air. Web Pull is good for getting wizards, manahoars, and retreating units. Rain of Frogs: A cloud appears over the target area and frogs rain down from the sky. The frogs hop towards the nearest unit, friend or foe, and latch on. For each frog on a unit, the unit is slowed. After a little bit of time, latched on frogs explode for minor damage. This spell can really screw with an army's strategies, as units are seriously slowed and damaged. Persephone enemies will use Rain of Frogs any chance they get. Rating = *: In my book, Rain of Frogs just isn't useful enough. If the enemy micro-manages healing well, the army will just be slowed. B. James: Bomber Ikarus (3 Souls): The ikarus is James' bomber, and has "Sticky Bomb" for its special ability. Sticky Bomb throws glue at an area, seriously slowing whatever enemy units get hit for a while. Halo of Earth: This spell causes multiple rocks to rise from the ground and hover above the wizard's head. Whenever an enemy gets within range, a rock flies after it and does about the same damage as a Rock spell. Once one hits, if the unit is still in range, another rock will fly after it. I love using this spell to kill things by turning it on and just running into a group of enemies. This spell can also be used to deal damage to manaliths if you run into the corner of one. Rating = ****: Halo of Earth is awesome, much better than Soul Wind, Explosion, and Rain of Frogs. C. Stratos: Bomber Seraph (3 Souls): The seraph has the special ability "Cage Pull", which is just like the Web Pull of the Gremlin. Use this bomber just like a gremlin. Soul Wind: With Soul Wind, you target a blue soul (like with Soul Mole) and a mini-tornado goes and grabs it and brings it back to you. While on the way to and from the soul, the whirlwind shoots one lightning bolt at each enemy within range, which knocks down the enemy and deals some damage. For further discussion of speed, making the soul blue to everyone, etc., see the Soul Mole description. Rating = ***: I like Soul Wind just for the fact that it knocks enemies down. D. Pyro: Bomber Pyrodactyl (3 Souls): The bomber of Pyro, Pyrodactyls have "Viscous Oil" for a special ability. Viscous Oil lobs a glob of oil at the enemy. If the oil hits, the enemy is blinded and loses its current orders (which is very nice) and if any fire-based attack hits the oiled creature within the oil's duration (good length) then the creature is ignited and takes damage over time. Explosion: Five tiny balls of fire around the target grow to a large size and then explode, dealing damage to and flinging nearby units away or into the air. Rating = **: Explosion is very much like erupt, except more damaging. E. Charnel: Sniper Deadeye (2 Souls): An undead gnome, the deadeye shoots poison needles at enemies at long range. If the needle hits, the target takes damage, has decreased ranged accuracy, loses mana, and can't regenerate mana or life, all during the poison time. I love these guys, but remember that they need extra damage-dealing backup. Demonic Rift: When cast, a portal to a demonic realm opens up underneath the wizard and pink demons shoot at any enemy units within range for a short period of time. Once a demon has locked on, there's no escaping it, and a unit can only be targeted once per rift. Say good-bye to massive amounts of cheap units, there's one demon for everyone! Rating = *****: The deadeye is, I believe, the best two soul sniper, with huge range. Demonic Rift is a great damage spell. What else needs to be said? Level 6: Each god except for James gets his/her artillery creature at this level (James gets his sniper). Most gods get a wall spell at this level, which cuts off an avenue of retreat or keeps the enemy from getting into an area. The computer will almost never run units through wall spells. A. Persephone: Artillery Mutant (3 Souls): This artillery unit chucks exploding hunks of itself at the enemy that do area damage, and when a mutant dies, it heals all allies near it. I believe that mutants have the longest range in the game, and their ability can come in useful. Great damage potential. Healing Aura: Target a friendly unit and a glowing aura will surround them that continuously heals the unit and all nearby allies for the duration of the spell (pretty long). I usually cast this on myself, or melee front- runners. Good if you need healing power. I usually don't take more than one of the three specialty healing spells: scarabs, Rainbow, Animate Dead, and Healing Aura. Rating = **: I don't find mutants' innate ability that useful. B. James: Sniper Boulderdash (4 Souls): James' sniper is expensive, but worth it! The boulderdash is probably my favorite unit in the whole game. It shoots a a rock that splits into three rocks (two going off at 45 degree angles) about two-thirds of the way to the target. Each rock does great damage, and if all three hit, then it's almost a guaranteed kill against any creature with less than 5 souls. Boulderdash's, like any James unit, are slow. Wall of Spikes: Spikes shoot up in a line perpendicular to the direction wizard is facing. The spike wall is centered on the targeted location. If any unit goes into the spikes, friend or foe, a spike will impale the unit. Being impaled this way causes damage and knocks the unit down. Rating = *****: As mentioned above, the boulderdash is my favorite unit, and Wall of Spikes is a good wall spell. C. Stratos: Artillery Flurry (4 Souls): The flurry is an artillery unit that throws giant snowflakes at enemies. When these snowflakes hit something, they create an imploding sphere that sucks in units and deals small splash damage (a direct hit causes better damage). Most units affected by the implosion will be pulled towards the center, in the air, and will be knocked down. Multiple flurries can keep an army from making much movement. Frozen Ground: When cast, Frozen Ground fires a ball of snow at the target. The snowball creates a large circle of ice on the ground upon impact, freezing any units in that area (just like the freeze spell). Any units walking on the ice after the initial creation will not be frozen. However, after a little while the ice explodes damaging any units on it. Although this spell doesn't create a wall, I still classify it as a wall spell, since the computer tends to avoid the circle of ice created. Useful against concentrated groups of enemies. Rating = *: Flurries just don't have the damage potential of the other artillery units of this level. Frozen Ground is also much harder to use effectively than the other wall spells. D. Pyro: Artillery Bombard (4 Souls): Bombards hurl exploding fireballs, and do the most pure damage of any artillery unit. When the fireballs hit, they do damage to everything in the area over a small amount of time. Massive damage potential. Firewall: A wall of fire spreads perpendicular to the direction the wizard is facing, centered on the target. Any units going through the wall, friend or foe, catch on fire and take damage. Rating = ***: Damage, damage, and more damage! E. Charnel: Artillery Abomination (3 Souls): An undead mutant, these artillery through bloody chunks of their rotting selves at enemies. These chunks leave a trail of blood when they are flying through the air and anything the blood lands on takes minor damage. The projectiles also explode on contact. Great damage potential. Wailing Wall: A wall of wailing souls spreads perpendicular to the direction the wizard is facing, centered on the target. Any units going through the wall, friend or foe, get a huge amount (almost always all) of their mana drained. This wall lasts much longer than the other wall spells, which makes it very useful (unless against a human opponent who doesn't care about losing all his/her mana). Rating = ****: I prefer Wailing Wall over Firewall because of the longer duration. Level 7: Most gods get a rain spell here (like Persephone's Rain of Frogs from level five), which are good for damaging areas or keeping enemies from moving through an area. Also note that these rain spells' projectiles will aim for any units or buildings in their target zone. The heavy-hitters of James and Persephone are similar melee units. Pyro and Charnel have ranged heavy- hitters that are similar. Stratos has a melee heavy-hitter. A. Persephone: Heavy-Hitter Ent (4 Souls): A large quadruped that looks kind-of like a spider, the ent is Persephone's heavy-hitter. Perhaps the best thing about the ent is its special ability, called "Protector". Protector puts a Life Shield (see Druid and Shrike) around the ent and every friendly creature nearby. Lowers enemy damage by a large amount. Vinewall: A wall of vines sprouts from the ground perpendicular to the direction the wizard is facing, centered on the target. Any enemies walking into the Vinewall will be grabbed by vines, just like the Grasping Vines spell. This is the only wall spell that has friend or foe differentiation. Rating = **: Vinewall is not that great a spell for seventh level, since if you put up a wall, you usually don't want to go to the other side of it. Protector more than makes up for Vinewall, though. B. James: Heavy-Hitter Jabberocky (4 Souls): These creatures have a similar model to the ent, but more elephant-like, with the head and trunk of an elephant. The Jabberocky is really slow, so if you're going somewhere you can't teleport to, plan accordingly. "Quake" is the Jaberrocky's special ability, which creates a shockwave around them, damaging enemies and knocking them down. Quake has a fairly long animation, so make sure it is worth it at the time. Bombardment: For this rain spell, huge boulders fly out of the ground from all around the wizard for a long time, flying very high, then crashing down on the area. The boulders knock the ground down a bit if they don't hit a unit or building. An original bug with bombardment is one of the many, many reasons to get the latest patch. Originally, the boulders could hit your flying creatures on the way up. Rating = *: Jaberrockies and Bombardment are good, the competition just edged James out. C. Stratos: Heavy-Hitter Yeti (4 Souls): Sharing a similar model to the netherfiend, yetis are Stratos' heavy-hitter. Unlike the other heavy-hitters, yetis have no special abilities, instead having a couple innate abilities. First, they have the same innate ability as the storm giant (see Storm Giant) regarding getting hit with lightning. Second, when the yeti attacks, there is around a fifty percent chance that the target will be frozen (just like the freeze spell), as well as taking the regular massive damage. Fence: A late wall spell, this spell causes little bubbles to float above the ground in a line perpendicular to the direction the wizard is facing, centered on the target. These bubbles shoot lightning between each other periodically, and if any unit gets to close, they will get zapped by electricity for good damage. Rating = *****: Yeti's are amazing melee units which aren't abhorrently slow, like the jaberrocky or (to a lesser extent) ent. D. Pyro: Heavy-Hitter Warmonger (4 Souls): Prancing about on tentacle-like legs, warmongers carry shoulder-mounted machine guns with a fuse. At short to medium range, these guns mow down enemy units. "Firewalk" is the warmonger's special ability. Firewalk allows the warmonger to teleport to the target destination, which takes very little time (their progress is shown by a line of fire moving along the ground). Firewalk is good for retreating and getting to ranged units. Since the warmonger is a ranged unit, do not leave them open to large amounts of damage without healing. Rain of Fire: Another rain spell, rain of fire creates a cloud above the target area that rains down fireballs on the area. Note that these fireballs do a small area of damage. There are cinders in the air after this spell. Rating = ****: Warmonger's can chew up enemies fast, even though they die fast if any get through. E. Charnel: Heavy-Hitter Styx (4 Souls): Like the warmongers, the styx sport a fused gun on their shoulders. The gun of the styx shoots an exploding projectile that leaves a trail in the air. The range is about the same short to medium range as a warmonger, but the explosion does area damage. Styx have a special ability called "Rend Soul" that targets a blue souls and shoots it, causing the soul to explode. This soul explosion deals massive damage to anything in an area around it, and the soul is gone forever. The more souls in the group (2-Soul creature, etc.) the bigger the area and the greater the damage. If you can explode one in the middle of a battle in the middle of the enemy, I applaud you ("golf clap? golf clap" -Men at Work). Plague: A rain spell that drops plague-ridden blood, which causes damage over time. Rating = ***: Rend Soul is only slightly harder to use than Firewalk, which is why Charnel falls below Pyro for this level. Level 8: At the eighth level, each god gives his/her two ultimate spells. The first spell is generally not as good as the second, and the second spell always costs more mana and has a longer cooldown time. All of these spells are awesome (or awe-inspiring if you prefer). A. Persephone Charm: Target an enemy creature within a short range and hearts will fly out and around the creature. Soon the creature will just become yours, forever, even its soul(s) when it dies. 5-Soul creature anyone? Charm never misses, but if the creature dies before it becomes yours, then Charm fizzles. MeanStalks: Four gigantic vines grow out of the ground and proceed to bend over, impale, and then fling way up into the air any unit within range. Each unit can only be impaled once per MeanStalks. These stalks last for a while, so you can use them as you would a rain spell, but don't squander them! Remember not to get to close to these, or you could be racking up a lot of frequent flyer miles (although the views are nice). Rating = *****: I couldn't decide between the spells, they are all so cool! B. James Bovine Intervention: A humongous cow (not a bull) flies out of the ground way up into the sky, and then does a swan dive onto the targeted creature. This diving cow never misses, and causes a shockwave when it hits the ground, knocking down nearby units. The targeted creature is always gibbed as well, meaning that the body is destroyed and the souls are blue to everyone. Bore: A boulder just like the "mole" from Soul Mole spirals outward from the targeted ground, leaving a black line in its wake. About a ring inwards from the mole the ground starts falling away until it makes it all the way out to where the mole stopped. A short while after the ground have finished falling, it will reappear from the inside at roughly the same speed. Any units on ground that is falling away will die and their souls will be just like flying units shot down over empty space. Flying units will not fall unless killed. Wizards who fall will appear at their altar, and will not be killed even if they are being desecrated. Buildings and ground around and under them will not be affected. This is a large area, people, about the size of an altar. Rating = *****: I couldn't decide between the spells, they are all so cool! C. Stratos Cloudkill: Close to a rain spell, Cloudkill creates a little cloud that shoots lightning at all within range for a lot of damage. Units and buildings can be hit multiple times from the same Cloudkill. If you target a building or the ground, the cloud will remain stationary. If you target a unit, the cloud will slowly follow that unit. Cloudkill seems to recharge faster than the other spells of this level. My favorite strategy for this spell is to target the enemy wizard (who usually won't die) so the cloud follows him and his army. Tornado: A huge tornado comes down from the heavens and whirls all units that get close to it around its edges in an upward spiral. The tornado moves, so units can fall out before the spell is over. Units take a good amount of damage when they hit the ground, and can fly over edges. This spell makes a great stall tactic to keep an enemy army out of your hair for a while when you are attacking their buildings or building an army of your own. It always rains during this spell. Rating = *****: I couldn't decide between the spells, they are all so cool! D. Pyro Blind Rage: Target a unit, and a red hand will seek it out and explode in concentric red circles when it reaches the target. Anything within the outermost circle (except for wizards) becomes berserked and attacks the nearest unit (friend or foe) with hand-to-hand attacks. This can seriously cripple an army as it tears itself to shreds. Blind Rage is also the only way to see many ranged and flying unit's melee attacks. Berserked manahoars have no attack, but don't listen to orders. Volcano: Easily the most destructive spell in the game, Volcano creates a volcano that makes the ground swell until it explodes. The volcano then proceeds to spew a huge stream of lava into the air (beautiful graphics if you look at the sky) for about a minute. Anything in or near that stream takes huge amounts of damage and will be lucky to get out alive. Fireballs also fly out of the stream of lava, firing in a very large radius and targeting any unit or building. Understandably, there are cinders in the air after this spell. Rating = *****: I couldn't decide between the spells, they are all so cool! E. Charnel Intestinal Vaporization: This Charnel spell causes a pulsing mass of intestines to fly at the targeted creature. Once the mass reaches its target, little intestines orbit the creature as it grows more and more bloated until it explodes, leaving behind only blue souls for everyone. The creature is gibbed, and unlike Bovine Intervention, it is easy to see which creature is the target for both you and the enemy. Death: You summon Death, a large cloaked figure with bloody blades for hands. Death will go for the nearest creature and kill them with one swipe no matter how much health the creature has. Death lasts for a large number of killed creatures (not sure how many) or a long amount of time, whichever comes first. Make sure Death doesn't turn on you. A good way to take care of Death headed your way is to churn out manahoars for it to kill until it disappears. Rating = *****: I couldn't decide between the spells, they are all so cool! Level 9: The final level of the spellbook contains a titan, the powerful five-souled creatures. A. Persephone: Titan Dragon (5 Souls): Persephone's titan is the only one that attacks hand-to- hand. The dragon flies and does huge amounts of damage. The dragon has an innate ability that casts Grasping Vines on units it hits, which is very nice. "Breath of Life" is the dragon's special ability, which is identical to the Animate Dead spell, except for the animation. Unfortunately the dragons are so large that if you have more than one dragon attacking the same unit, they will get in each other's way, but one is all you need anyway. Rating = **: The fact that dragons don't do well in groups is all that drops them to two stars. Think of dragons as super bombers and wizard killers. B. James: Titan Rhinok (5 Souls): The rhinok is the only titan that doesn't fly. Rhinoks have a slightly weaker version of the "Halo of Earth" spell, since its attack can not hit flyers. To attack the rhinok jabs his tail or third leg into the ground and a bunch of spikes jabbing up through the ground go towards the target and then 'explode' into a ring of spikes shooting through the ground going outward to a large radius. If you've every played Starcraft: Brood Wars, it's a lot like the lurker attack. A great unit that will kill off ground units in droves and is very hardy, but needs some help against many flyers or buildings. Rating = ****: There is no better way to decimate a ground army than rhinoks. Rhinoks' proficiency at this one purpose makes me overlook their shortcomings in other areas. C. Stratos: Titan Silverback (5 Souls): Silverbacks are giant silverback gorillas with wings. "Run Away" (see Frost Wolf and Flame Minion ) is the special ability of these flying apes, and they share the innate ability of the storm giant and yeti (see Storm Giant and Yeti). When attacking, silverbacks shoot out a stream of frosty air that damages and freezes the target (just like the Freeze spell). By attacking the same unit over and over, Silverbacks can keep that unit from doing anything until it dies. Rating = ***: The freezing ability of the silverbacks can really turn the tide against other titans, and it doesn't hurt that they eat lightning. D. Pyro: Titan Phoenix (5 Souls): A gigantic, hovering, insect-like unit that never lands is Pyro's titan unit. The phoenix fires a beam similar to that of the tickferno that does a lot of damage and drains mana very quickly at medium range. The phoenix also has an innate fire shield ability (just like the Fireform spell) that activates when something tries to attack it in melee. Rating = *****: The ability to hit from medium range, take out mana, and work well in groups puts the phoenix at the top of my titans list. E. Charnel: Titan Hellmouth (5 Souls): Hellmouths are huge winged demons that fire what look like lost souls at their victims. These souls orbit their victim for a while, if the hellmouth doesn't miss (most of the time they hit) dealing damage and draining mana. Hellmouths also have the "Devour" special ability (see Netherfiend), but gain a proportionately bigger bonus than the netherfiend. Hellmouths do not make good manalith and guardian destroyers, as their damage over time doesn't work as well as immediate damage because of manaliths' fast regeneration rate. Rating = *: Hellmouths are great creatures, but their weak special ability and inability to take out buildings puts them at the bottom of my titan list. V. Thanks Michelle - for everything Adrian - for proofreading and tips www.gamefaqs.com - for providing a great place for gaming info