Following the path to check on your opinion regarding a possible rework for spells, let's start with Earth Magic School. Please, post your suggestions and give your opinion on the subject.
***
I vote that it needs some tweaks here and there.
For all schools, I'd place an additional spell to the Master level, equaling the number of spells for each school as we have in MM VII.
EARTH MAGIC
Spells taken
Poison cloud (one property used for 'Rock golem' and lingering damage and are of effect passed to acid burst). Why? Because I like bamboos. Seriously, because the spell had a repetitive feeling about it, not to mention an unexplainable effect against ranged foes (which don't attack through it). Not that I can't understand this effect, it simply is not described as an effect of that spell. It's like it's a bug.
Crushing weight (boosted to a new spell with large aoe, thus higher mana cost): the spell is almost nice, if it wasn't the chance of failure being rather high and you can only target 1 foe per time and the lower hp a foe has, the lower it'll damage it: but what bothers most is the high failing ratio associated with the single targeting feature.
Spells added
Rock golem: Master level spell.
Cycle of nature: Master level spell considering the idea of having the Petrified ailment in this game.
Earth split: Grandmaster level spell.
Novice
- 1. Earth ward
2. Entangle
3. Poison spray (replaces Regeneration, just exchanging places, because regeneration is a bit OP to be given so lightly)
4. Cure poison
- 1. Regeneration (replaces Poison Spray)
2. Stone skin
3. Strength of the earth
- 1. Acid burst: it’ll damage 33-47 and reduce armor values for all targets in front by 50%. Lingering acid will do 10-15 damage for another 2 turns whenever enemy takes an action. Damage is given after that action (so it's mainly a fusion of Poison Cloud and Acid Splash; it'll be a 'poison for bosses')
2. Rock golem (replaces Poison Cloud): creates an impassable barrier in front of the party for 2 turns. Only 1 barrier can be active per time. Neither the party or enemies can attack the golem, nor move nor perform a ranged attack through it (so, here you have the Poison Cloud non-described effect taking a role as a new spell, with an additional different usage)
3. Cycle of nature (new Master tier spell): it can restore a target’s condition from petrified to normal (if a petrify condition was to be added to the game, that is). If cast on a foe it can instantly turn it into dust based on its current HP. Chance = 15 + [(Max HP – HP) + 1]/100. It wouldn't work on bosses, of course
- 1. Earth split (replaces Crushing Weight): on an area of 3 in front of the party, all foes can suffer damage ranging from 10% to 20% their current HP. It won’t affect floating, earth based and winged units. The more units in range, the more mana it’ll cost. Base mana cost is 70 + 5 mana per affected target, even if said target resists the spell (it's a pretty much more impressive version of the crushing weight which escalates power and mana consumption when there are more than 1 target