BattleJewels

Available Spells and Effects

Spells represent magic and special abilities of the various classes in the game, and help differentiate characters. A Gladiator for instance will almost certainly acquire the spell Thrust, while a Friar will usually not. This helps you both pick a class to your liking, and gives you lots of replayability through trying other classes or purchasing spells from other classes into your own.

Learning Spells

Learning spells requires Spell Points which are obtained through only two methods currently -- through winning battles and levelling up, and through studying Tomes. Tomes are purchased from the Adventurer's Mart or very occasionally found in battles. After levelling up or reading the appropriate Tome you will be awarded some Spell Points, which may be used to learn new spells.

Spells are each associated to a given mana; physical combat spells for a Gladiator are usually in the Blue mana school, just as the Gladiator is associated to Blue himself. This means our friend can pick up one Blue spell (Lunge, for example) for 1 spell point, and usually you will receive one spell point for each level up, or for each Tome read.

Spells from other mana colours cost more, with how much more depending how 'distant' the difference is. For instance, the Gladiator might have to be 2 or even 3 spell points (multiple levels worth!) just to obtain a spell that another class might get for 1 point. By example -- a Knave can acquire Stealth for 1 point, but that old Gladiator -- she would be required to pay 3 points to obtain it. Big steel combat boots and heavy weapons training just don't loan themselves out to learning Stealth, and so she must pay much more. Likewise that Knave isn't learning Gladiator spells very cheaply either.

So cross-pollination of spells from other classes can certainly add flavour to your character, and can really tip the balance when you build interesting combinations of powers .. it is also much more expensive than sticking to your own classes natural fit. It is up to you to decide if you wish to go less deep in your own classes spells and to dip into other classes. Fortuantely, you can always buy Tomes at the Mart, and thus even if you've maxxed out your level in the current game, you can work hard to buy more spell and skill points regardless.

To summarize - the cost in spell points does not imply how amazing a given spell is.. instead it just tells you the cost to learn it. A 3 point spell is just another classes spell that is hard for you to learn, but it does not make it three times better than a 1 point spell!

Most spells come in multiple levels; Again, our sample Gladiator might acquire Thrust very early on at level 1 or 2. A few levels later, he might have the option to buy "Thrust 2", which is just a stronger version of Thrust. ie: The spells do not automatically grow in power as the character does .. you must keep learning newer versions of each spell to get the beefier versions. As a side effect, this allows you to cast lower versions of a spell when in a pinch -- if your opponent is low on life, but you've not the mana to smash him with a big heavy spell, it might be enough to just squeek through with a lower level version of your damage spell to finish him off. Likewise, different spell levels sometimes to very different things, and you might just want the effects of a different level of spell.

One thing to note -- you cannot acquire (for example) Earthwarden 2 until you already have learned Earthwarden 1. Hence, you might wish to learn a less useful version of a spell just so you can pick up a stronger version of it down the road.

Available Spells

• Arrow -- usually used by highwaymen and monsters; a quick shot with an arrow always hurts! Higher levels cause more damage or may have effects.
• Backstab -- a finisher move (depends on Stealth to cast) that does a lot of damage to the opponent, and takes you out of stealth. Backstab is expensive to cast, but deals pretty heavy damage for a single hit. Higher levels of the spell cause more damage.
• Benediction -- A very efficient healing spell; it provides minimal benefit on casting, but it continually ticks over over time. As the next few turns pass by the caster receives more health. As the spell level goes up, more healing is provided each turn. In a pinch in won't save you, but since it is so efficient you might keep it cast upon yourself all the time to continually provide benefit.
• Brambles -- an inefficient damage dealing spell. As with many other Druid spells, it is not so efficient as equivilents for other classes, but it does the job; Druids are good at getting mana, so Brambles can be formidable. Other classes may want it for making use of extra green reserves they might build up, or to slip a green attack against opponents weak to that colour.
• Curitive -- cures poison effects. Can be handy if a Knave is forever poisoning you.
• Earthwarden -- converts mana pieces in the playfield into green mana pieces. EW1 converts blue to green, which can be punishing to certain opponents. Later Earthwardens will convert other colours or even gold into green mana. The objective is to make more mana open to yourself, and possibly to rob the opponent of mana he could use. Time its use correctly for maximum effect. Can cause very large matches to occur for yourself or the opponent, so as with many Druid oriented spells -- they can be amazing, but you must be careful!
• Exorcism -- destroys all skulls in the playfield, dealing to damage to the caster and his opponents both. Could be a strong finisher when you're in the better health position, or good to use when you've got a heal spell or potion held ready. Since it nabs all skulls, it could be a devestating attack!
• Fire Breath -- used by monsters only; a very efficient red damage dealing spell.
• Gaea's Heal -- a simple yet moderately efficient healing spell. This spell lands immediately, so is a little more expensive than you would like, but does the job well. Higher levels provide more healing.
• Hurricane -- This spell is available equally to all classes; when cast, the playfield is reset (newly randomized with pieces.) If you're just having bad luck and not getting the mana you need, or its serving the opponent too much through purely bad luck.. start fresh!
• Litany -- brings up a powerful shield around the caster; damage received is partially reflected back at the caster of that damage. Mostly good for skull related damage. At higher levels more damage is reflected, but to start with approximately 30% of damage is bounced. A classic of the Friar -- take damage yourself, cast some heals to survive it, but punish the opponent for daring to damage you in the first place.
• Lunge -- a powerful spell to attack a group of squares (centered on the selection.) The first Lunge destroys a cross (+) shape of squares, while later levels destroy a 3x3 grid. All squares are destroyed and caster receives all benefits from those squares. A good way to destroy a pack of unmatching skulls all at once, or to get a bunch of unmatching mana or the like. Hurts the caster a little too, but also sticks it to the oppinent a medium amount too.
• Poison Dart -- A damage over time spell; when cast, it does little to the receiver, but over the following turns a little damage will trickly into his system. Keeping poison up on an opponent is a sure way to burn them down over time! Higher levels of the spell will cause more damage each round or last for longer.
• Sap -- Reduces the toughness rating of the opponent for awhile; by which, it finds the kinks and holes in the opponent armor and defences, allow primarily your skull damage to penetrate more. For instance, if you're about to Backstab the opponent with a large amount of damage, or using a high level skull-clear, you might wish to soften the opponent of with Sap first, to ensure more damage gets through the cracks.
• Shield Slam -- brawl an opponent over, causing them to lose a turn or two; higher levels have a higher chance to stun the opponent a little longer.
• Stealth -- the stealth spell puts you into a semi-hidden state which in turn opens up the option of casting 'finisher' moves. You cannot backstab (for example) while your opponent is able to see you, but if you stealth out of site you can now cast a backstab. However, your opponent can still detect you, so if he performs skull-damage you will be found. Luckily, that attack that locates you is avoided, so stealth will save you from one incoming attack, or permit you to launch a finisher spell. Higher levels of stealth will last longer before being forced back into the open.
• Tsunami -- destroy a wide assortment of squares on the playfield; higher levels of player and of spell will destroy more squares in the field; you do not get to control which squares are damaged, but the caster does receive benefits of destroyed squares.. and opponents will feal the skull damage!
• Thrust -- attack a specific square on the playfield, destroying it. Caster receives benefits of the squares destruction, and as normal pieces above will flow down. Use it for attacking skulls without the need for matching, or to steal special pieces. Actually hurts the caster a little, but also damages opponent directly a little more too - especially if you're picking off skulls. Higher levels of the spell cause more damage.
• Undead Will -- primarily used by undead enemies. Provides a very small heal to the caster, and stuns the opponent a small amount (more so as the spell level increases.) This spell might get altered in the future if it becomes overly annoying to play against.
• Witchhunt -- Create skulls in the playfield; the higher level the caster, the more skulls created.
• Wind Buffet -- primarily used by Dragons to knock players back and out; provides a brief stun so the dragon can collect some gold!