Fire Magic

I've always thought of fire magic as being the destructive magic school and while there are three available (Fireball, Inferno, Armageddon) the first two are underpowered and the third one can only be safely used with the right creatures in your army. What Fire Magic is really good for are what I call utility spells, which don't strengthen your army or weaken the enemy or damage the enemy directly but cause other effects that can be just as effective. The only downside is that these utility spells will not affect Undead, Giants/Titans, Golems, Elementals, Efreet/Efreet Sultans, and Firebirds/Phoenix.

Level 1

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 5 / 4
• Untrained / Basic: Target, allied troop receives a +3 attack rating bonus for melee attacks.
• Advanced: Target, allied troop receives a +6 attack rating bonus for melee attacks.
• Expert: All allied troops receive a +6 attack rating bonus for melee attacks.

Just as Precision increases the attack rating for troops with a ranged attack, Bloodlust does the same thing for troops that use melee attacks. Since most armies have more melee troops than ranged troops, Bloodlust is a good spell to use.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 6 / 5
• Untrained / Basic: Enemy, target troop creatures deliver minimum damage when attacking (including retaliation attacks).
• Advanced: Enemy, target troop creatures delivers ((80% of their minimum damage) - 1) when they attack (including retaliation attacks).
• Expert: All enemy creatures deliver ((80% of their minimum damage) - 1) when they attack (including retaliation attacks).

Curse is a great spell because it reduces the effectiveness of all of creatures (both melee and ranged), more so for those with a wide damage range. For example, a stack of 10 Royal Griffins have a damage range of 30 to 60. With Basic Curse they will inflict 30 points of damage and with Advanced or Expert Curse, this will decrease to 23 points of damage.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 5 / 4
• Untrained / Basic: Troop in target hex receive ((Power x 10) + 10) damage.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except that damage is ((Power x 10) + 20).
• Expert: Same as Basic Effect, except that damage is ((Power x 10) + 30).

There isn't a Magic Arrow spell that's specific to the Fire magic school and from my experience, the level of Magic Arrow that you use is the level of the highest magic school that you have. It's available in most Mage Guilds and is good for clearing out the low-level wandering stacks around your starting town. It's a cheap spell and useful in the early parts of a map.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 5 / 4
• Untrained / Basic: Damage from Fire Magic spells is reduced by 30% for target, allied troop.
• Advanced: Damage from Fire Magic spells is reduced by 50% for target, allied troop.
• Expert: Damage from Fire Magic spells is reduced by 50% for all allied troops.

This is a good protection spell from the many damage fire spells but it depends on how many Fire spells the enemy hero is casting.

Level 2

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 10 / 8
• Untrained / Basic: Target, enemy troop is frozen until they are attacked. Deactivating attack is retaliated at 50% of base attack rating.
• Advanced: Target, enemy troop is frozen until they are attacked. Deactivating attack is retaliated at 25% of base attack rating.
• Expert: Target, enemy troop is frozen until they are attacked. Deactivating attack is not retaliated.

Blind essentially stops an enemy stack from attacking until it is attacked or Cure or Dispel is cast. This makes Blind very useful in preventing archers or the enemy's strongest creature from attacking your troops until you are ready. You can also use Blind to hold the opponent's last stack of creatures to give you time to resurrect fallen troops or cast defensive spells. Just be careful if you have a Catapult that you can't control since the blinded stack will become unblind if the Catapult attacks it. When used correctly, Blind is a very powerful spell.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 2 Rounds
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 8/ 6
• Untrained / Basic: A two hex-wide wall of fire is produced at target hex. A troop passing through these hexes takes ((Power x 10) + 10) damage.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except that wall of fire is three hexes wide and damage is ((Power x 10) +20).
• Expert: Same as Advanced Effect, except that damage is ((Power x 10) + 50).

Fire Wall is similar to Force Field in that it creates a barrier on the battle field which lasts for two rounds. Instead of preventing troops from passing through, Fire Wall damages them when they do. It does cost less than Force Field so you could use it as a cheaper alternative since I doubt very many would actually move one of their troops through it.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 day
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 4 / 2
• Untrained / Basic: Displays number of monsters in a wandering monster troop and whether or not the troop will offer to join the casting hero's army. Range is equal to Power or three, whichever is greater.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except an enemy hero's primary skill stats, and the composition and quantity of that hero's army can be viewed. Range is (Power x 2) or three, whichever is greater.
• Expert: Same as Advanced Effect, except an enemy town's statistics and garrison composition and quantity may be viewed. Range is (Power x 3) or three, whichever is greater.

Knowing the enemy is an essential part of combat because lessening the number of troops that you lose in a battle is very important. Many times I have skipped battles with wandering stacks since I knew that there were too many of them and they would not flee or join. Many times I have waited for another week's troops or used another hero before attempting to take over a town. I don't see this spell in Mage Guilds as often as I'd like, but it's very important to a good battle strategy.

Level 3

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 15 / 12
• Untrained / Basic: Troops in target hex and its surrounding hexes take ((Power x 10) + 15) damage.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except that damage is ((Power x 10) + 30).
• Expert: Same as Basic Effect, except that damage is ((Power x 10) + 60).

Fireball has always been one of my most favorite spells but in HoMM3 is barely more than tickles the enemy. It's good if you don't have Meteor Shower but since even untrained Meteor Shower is more powerful than an expert Fireball, you probably won't be using Fireball very much.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Until Touched
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 18 / 15
• Untrained / Basic: Land Mines are placed in four random hexes on the battlefield. A troop stepping on a mine takes ((Power x 10) + 25) damage. Enemy creatures battling on their native terrain can see the mines and can cross them safely. To all others they are invisible.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except that six mines are placed, and damage is ((Power x 10) + 50).
• Expert: Same as Basic Effect, except that eight mines are placed, and damage is ((Power x 10) + 100).

Land Mine is similar to Quicksand and damages the enemy that lands on it instead of simply stopping it. Once a mine has been activated, it is destroyed and if the enemy has any troops that are native to the terrain all of the mines are visible. The only time I'd use Land Mines is if I had Expert Fire Magic and if the enemy had a lot of non-flying troops.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 12 / 9
• Untrained / Basic: Luck of target, enemy troop is reduced by one.
• Advanced: Luck of target, enemy troop is reduced by two.
• Expert: Luck of all enemy troops is reduced by two.

What happens when you have negative luck? The answer is that you don't get a chance for having a double damage attack. Unlike negative morale, the troops won't freeze or suffer any other drawbacks. Hence, Misfortune is a completely useless skill.

Level 4

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 24 / 20
• Untrained / Basic: All troops take ((Power x 50) + 30) points of damage.
• Advanced: All troops take ((Power x 50) + 60) points of damage.
• Expert: All troops take ((Power x 50) + 120) points of damage.

The Armageddon tactic is one that is well known to veterans of HoMM3. Simply use Black Dragons, Efreet, Efreet Sultans, Fire Elementals, Gold Golems, or Diamond Golems and cast Armageddon until the enemy army is wiped out. You can also use advanced or expert Anti-Magic to make some of your troops immune. Armageddon is a very powerful spell that is difficult to defend well against (Orb of Inhibition and Orb of Vulnerability are two artifacts that help in addition to the Protection from Fire spell).

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 18 / 15
• Untrained / Basic: Target attacks nearest troop. All creatures in a 1 hex radius affected.
• Advanced: Target attacks nearest troop. All creatures in a 7 hex radius affected.
• Expert: Target attacks nearest troop. All creatures in a 19 hex radius affected.

I consider Berserk to be a better form of Hypnotize because Berserk doesn't take into account the health of the target troops. Just be careful that your own troops aren't considered to be the nearest troop or they will be attacked. In my experience with this spell, the berserked troop tends to go after War Machines which is incredibly annoying. However, having another troop on your side, even temporarily can be a big advantage. Berserk is removed by the Cure and Bless spells.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 16 / 12
• Untrained / Basic: 20% of melee damage inflicted on target, allied troop is counter-inflicted on attackers of the troop.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect except that 25% of damage is counter-inflicted.
• Expert: Same as Basic Effect, except that 30% of damage is counter-inflicted.

Fire Shield is good to cast on strong creatures that typically get surrounded. For example, when attacking a town you could cast Counterstrike and Fire Shield on a flying unit and have them fly over the moat. Then they'd be much more effective at damaging the enemy, especially if they are strong enough to last many rounds. Another benefit of Fire Shield is that it damages every troop that is surrounding it.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Until target troop's next action
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 24 / 20
• Untrained / Basic: Target troop's attack rating is increased by 100% of the troop's defense rating, and its defense rating is reduced to zero.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except attack rating is increased to 150% of the troop's defense rating.
• Expert: Same as Advanced Effect, except attack rating is increased to 200% of the troop's defense rating.

You definitely don't want to cast Frenzy on a surrounded creature stack because they will take significantly more damage than usual. Frenzy is best used when there is little chance of retaliation or when you can kill most of the enemy so that its retaliation will do little damage. As can be expected, the computer will target the creature with Frenzy so you could always use it as a diversionary tactic while you move your other troops to better positions.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 16 / 12
• Untrained / Basic: Strikes target hex, and all hexes within two hexes for ((Power x 10) + 20) damage.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except that damage is ((Power x 10) + 40).
• Expert: Same as Basic Effect, except that damage is ((Power x 10) + 80).

Inferno is a slightly improved Fireball with a small damage increase and a bigger range for about the same cost. Unfortunately, the damage is still not very much and I would only use it if I was able to target many stacks at the same time.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 16 / 12
• Untrained / Basic: Target, allied troop's attack rating is increased by eight against behemoths, dragons, and hydras.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except that attack bonus also affects devils and angels.
• Expert: Same as Advanced Effect, except attack bonus also affects titans.

While Slayer increases one stack's attack rating more than the other spells that do the same thing, Slayer has a few weaknesses. Firstly, it only works on one stack and not your entire army. Secondly, the attack rating is only effective against level 7 creatures. Precision, Bloodlust, and Bless all have similar affects and can apply to all of your troops and against any enemy creature. In my opinion, Slayer is not worth using.

Level 5

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Combat
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 25 / 20
• Untrained / Basic: A troop containing (Power x 2) fire elementals appears on the side of the casting player. Only one type of elemental can be summoned.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except that (Power x 3) fire elementals are summoned.
• Expert: Same as Basic Effect, except that (Power x 4) fire elementals are summoned.

Fire Elementals are a bit faster than the Earth Elementals and almost as strong, which makes them a good choice. The computer likes to attack Fire Elementals even more than your archers but they can usually last long enough for you to resurrect your troops or to cast some defensive spells.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Permanent
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 25 / 20
• Untrained / Basic: Target, non-undead troop is sacrificed (destroyed). Then another target dead troop has ((Power + Destroyed Troop's Creature Base Health + 3) x number of Creatures Sacrificed) in health total of creatures returned to life.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except that health total of creatures resurrected is ((Power + Destroyed Troop's Creature Base Health + 6) x number of Creatures Sacrificed).
• Expert: Same as Basic Effect, except that health total of creatures resurrected is ((Power + Destroyed Troop's Creature Base Health + 10) x number of Creatures Sacrificed).

At first glance, you might wonder why you'd ever sacrifice your own troops. However, you can resurrect many more creatures than you can with the Resurrection spell. Good creatures to sacrifice are those that joined your army or a low level creature stack that won't be effective against the enemy. Undead troops can be neither sacrificed or resurrected using this spell but that's why there's the Animate Dead spell. Sacrifice is a much better way of resurrecting some of your troops as long as you have other troops that can be sacrificed.