Age of Wonders 4gives players hundreds of spells to play around with, many of which can only be used during combat. In addition to providing you with a reliable way of dealing damage, combat spells can also be used to heal troops, debuff enemy units, summon reinforcements, and more.
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All culturesand factions can gain access to every combat spell in the game, however, some cultures are better than others at wielding certain types of spells. Similarly, both Wizard Kings and Champions can become good spellcasters, but playing as the former will give you certain advantages, especially in the early game. We took those factors into consideration, along with several others, when ranking the best combat spells in Age of Wonders 4.
10Conjure Amplification Pylon
Conjure Amplification Pylon is a Tier 2 combat summoning spell from the Tome of Amplification. The magical structure can’t move, but has a decent amount of health and gets the Lightning Blast ability, which can hit a unit for 16 Lightning damage once per turn. The Amplification Pylon can be summoned anywhere on the map, and you can have several of them active at the same time. Even more importantly, the Pylon boosts the damage of other combat spells by 20%.
In addition to the obvious benefits you can expect from a spell like this, Conjure Amplification Pylon has a few other advantages. For instance, the structure can be used to block choke points and distract enemy units. The AI tends to prioritize summons during combat and you can exploit that by throwing down a couple of Pylons behind enemy lines. Similar spells like Conjure Divine Beacon and Vine Prison are also very effective at that, but the Amplification Pylon’s +20% spell damage buff makes it even more useful.
9Call Forth Avatar of Chaos
Call Forth Avatar of Chaos is a Tier 5 combat summoning spell from the Tome of the Chaos Lord. This isn’t a particularly strong end-game Tome of Magic, but it’s still worth picking up just for this spell alone. Call Forth Avatar of Chaos can be used to summon a duplicate of your Ruler that has the same abilities. Your mileage may vary depending on how powerful your Ruler is, but even fairly weak faction leaders can still do a lot of the heavy lifting during a battle.
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The main highlight of the spell is that it can be used to summon an avatar of your Ruler duringanybattle, including those where the leader isn’t present. The avatar spawns with full action points and can attack immediately, potentially turning the tide of battle in an instant. As an added benefit, the avatar also gives all Demonkin and Fiend units on the battlefield a +10 bonus to their Morale. Morale is certainly not the most important stat out there, but in Age of Wonders 4 every little bit helps.
8Disruption Wave
Disruption Wave is a Tier 5 buff/debuff spell from the Tome of the Arch Mage. The spell disables all enemy unit enchantments for three turns while also dispelling all their positive status effects. At the same time, Disruption Wave dispels all negative effects from allied units. This spell might not seem all that impressive at first glance, especially given its astronomical casting cost, but it’s an absolute game changer in certain situations.
If you’ve been playing Age of Wonders 4 for a while now, you may have noticed that the game features some pretty overpowered enchantments like Keeper’s Mark or Meteor Arrows. Disruption Wave essentially erases all of them while allowing you to keep your own enchantments. This sort of spell wouldn’t be very useful in the early game, but you’ll definitely get a lot of mileage out of it by the time you reach the point where you can research the Tome of the Arch Mage.
7Lava Burst
Lava Burst is a Tier 4 damage spell from the Tome of the Crucible. If you’re looking to inflict as much devastation as possible with a simple click of a button, this is the spell for you. Lava Burst deals a massive 40 points of Fire damage to all units in a 2-hex radius while also inflicting the Burning and Slowed status effects. Burning causes targets to take an additional 8 points of Fire damage per turn while Slowed does exactly what it says on the tin.
Fire Resistance can mitigate some of this damage, but Lava Burst tends to hurt a lot regardless. Not just that but the spell also sets the ground on fire, potentially causing even more units to take damage over time. But the main reason why Lava Burst is one of the best damage spells in Age of Wonders 4 is because of its radius. A 2-hex radius spell can hit up to 18 units, which happens to be the maximum number of units allowed in a battle at any one time. The chances of seeing 18 units perfectly grouped together are pretty much non-existed, but you can still inflict a lot of damage even by hitting just 6 or 7 units.
6Awaken Instincts
Awaken Instincts is a Tier 4 buff spell from the Tome of Nature’s Wrath. The spell heals all friendly units for 15 temporary hit points and allows them to instantly regain all their action points. The healing by itself isn’t amazing, but it’s still pretty good until you unlock a better alternative like Mass Rejuvenation. It’s the healingcombinedwith the action points replenishment that makes this spell so valuable. When used properly, this allows all your units to attack and use abilities twice per turn.
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Awaken Instincts has a third effect that can be seen as either an amazing benefit or an annoying drawback depending on how you look at it. Friendly units affected by the spell will become Berserk for two turns, gaining immunity from Morale effects and Casualty penalties, but becoming uncontrollable in the process. Berserk units automatically attack their closest enemy, however, if there are no enemy units in range, they’ll turn on their allies instead. In other words, you’ll need to be very careful when using this spell to avoid doing more harm than good.
5Battlefield Reanimation
Battlefield Reanimation is a Tier 5 combat summoning/healing spell from the Tome of the Eternal Lord. This is a two-phase spell that revives allied troops while raising fallen enemy units as Zombies. Resurrected troops are also healed for 50% of their hit points, however, the spell only affects Undead units. That can be a drawback in some situations but, generally speaking, if you’re researching something the Tome of the Eternal Lord, your armies are probably comprised mostly of Undead units anyway.
As far as the second part of the spell is concerned, Battlefield Reanimation raises all enemy corpses as Tier 1 Zombies and puts them under your control. Zombies aren’t amazing in combat but they’re essentially free units and, once again, every advantage counts in Age of Wonders 4. Zombies can be buffed with a variety of spells and can be used as meat shields, so they’re far from useless, especially if you have a whole bunch of them.
4Time Stop
Time Stop is a Tier 5 debuff spell from the Tome of the Arch Mage. Much like Disruption Wave from the same Tome, Time Stop isn’t a flashy spell, but it is a very effective one. The spell does exactly what it says on the tin and completely freezes enemies in a 1-hex radius regardless of their level. In addition to being Stunned for one turn, affected enemies are also Distracted for one turn and Marked for three turns.
Stunning a handful enemy units for one turn may not seem like a big deal, but it can be incredibly crippling to the enemy army when used at the right time. Stunned units receive extra damage thanks to the Distracted debuff while the Marked status effect considerably lowers their chance of evading attacks. In short, enemy units caught in Time Stop’s radius are sitting ducks. It’s also worth noting that Time Stop doesn’t have a cooldown, meaning you’re able to use it every turn to freeze enemy units indefinitely. Provided you have enough Mana and Casting Points, of course.
3Tectonic Shatter
Tectonic Shatter is a Tier 5 damage spell from the Tome of the Creator. While often considered the worst Tier 5 Tome of Magic, the Tome of the Creator does have a couple of very powerful spells, including this one. Tectonic Shatter deals 30 points of Physical damage toallenemy units on the field. 30 points of damage sounds a bit low for a Tier 5 spell, but keep in mind that you can use it every turn if you have the resources. In fact, you can use it twice during a single turn if you’re playing a Wizard King.
Being able to inflict a whopping 60 points of damage during a single turn is pretty incredible, but Tectonic Shater has even more to offer. All enemies hit by the spell have a 60% chance of becoming Stunned while any obstacles present on the map have a 50% chance of being destroyed. Stunned is one of the strongest status effects in the game and even though it’s not guaranteed to trigger, a 60% chance still means you’re more likely than not to paralyze enemy units whenever you cast Tectonic Shatter.
2Withering Mist
Withering Mist is a Tier 5 combat enchantment spell from the Tome of the Eternal Lord. The spell deals 15 Frost damage per turn for three turns while also applying two debuffs in the form of Blind and Weakened. Withering Mist affects all enemy units on the field and is arguably the best spell in Age of Wonders 4 when it comes to dealing with things like Keeper’s Mark or Vine Prison. Any army that focuses on horde tactics or token units will find it very difficult to deal with the damage over time.
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Damage aside, the debuffs aren’t too shabby either. Blind only lasts for one turn, but is a very powerful debuff that reduces the accuracy of ranged attacks by 50% and prevents enemies from performing retaliation attacks. Meanwhile, Weakened causes enemies to deal less damage and lasts for up to three turns. There’s a caveat when it comes to both debuffs in that there’s only a 90% chance they will trigger whenever Withering Mist is cast. That said, the RNG applies to each unit individually, so even if the debuffs don’t trigger for all of them, they’re almost guaranteed to trigger for most.
1Mass Rejuvenation
Mass Rejuvenation is a Tier 5 healing spell from the Tome of the Goddess of Nature. While spells that deal direct damage and apply debuffs may seem more useful in the early game, nothing beats a good healing spell in the late game. Mass Rejuvenation heals all friendly units for 40 temporary hit points while also resurrecting some of your fallen forces. This gives your army a ton of staying power on the battlefield even when you’re grossly outnumbered.
The resurrection portion of the spell is similar to Battlefield Reanimation, but instead of Undead units, it brings back Plants and Animals with 50% of their total hit points. It’s worth noting that Mass Rejuvenation synergizes incredibly well with Gaia’s Chosen, a Major Race Transformation from the Tome of Paradise that gives your entire faction the Plant trait. If you’re using Gaia’s Chosen, which you should if you’re playing a Natured-aligned faction, Mass Rejuvenation will apply to pretty much all your units. The spell can even be used toresurrect fallen heroesand Rulers.
