Ah, magic. Where would an enterprising druid be without it? Magic in the world is rapidly fading away to nothing, but in Shadowvale it is still a potent force. If you’re playing the Celts, it’s also your best tool and weapon.
The Spell Circles
There are five circles of spells: Health, War, Beast, Craft, and Spirit. (There’s also the Nether Circle, but more on that later.) Each circle has a corresponding skill (Health Circle, War Circle, etc.) and contains eight spells. To cast a spell, you need to have enough spell points and you need to know how to cast it. In addition, you must have a high enough skill in its spell circle (to cast the fourth spell in the War Circle, for example, you need a War Circle skill of at least 4).
To have the active character cast a spell, you press the Cast Spell button, select the spell, and then select the target(s). As always, to change the active character, click on its portrait or type ‘1’-’6’.
Nethergate has three playing modes (town, outdoors, and combat). Some spells can only be cast in certain modes (Battle Rage, for example, can only be cast in combat). Some spells are very challenging and time consuming, so you can’t cast them in the heat of combat (such as Capture Soul or Beast Ceremony).
The Nether Arts
It is rumored that there are, hidden in the most remote parts of Shadowvale, secret and incredibly powerful spells. These spells make up what is called (in the awestruck whispers of amazed druids) the Nether Circle.
If such spells exist (and I can’t confirm or deny that fact) and you get one, go into the Character Info screen to find out what it does and how high your statistics need to be to cast it.
Learning New Spells
When you start a new party, you get as many spells in each circle as your skill in that circle (so if your starting druid has a Health Circle skill of 6, you start with the first 6 Health Circle spells). This will, of course, only be a small fraction of the spells in the game. To find the rest, you’ll need to look around.
All of the lower level spells in the circles can be bought in towns. Ask around in Vanarium and the Faerie Bazaar. The most powerful spells, however, can only be found by searching more remote areas of the outdoors, towns, and dungeons. When you find one of these spells, you will probably need to have a high Rune Reading skill to understand it. Other powerful spells are given as rewards for doing missions, so be sure to talk to the powerful people you meet in your travels.
Targeting Spells
Some spells are cast on a character in your party. To select the target, click on the character’s portrait (or type ‘1’-’6’).
Some spells are cast on your enemies. If a spell damages, say, three foes, click on all three of them. This will make target symbols appear. Click on a target again to cancel the selection. If you don’t want to use all of your targets, hit the space bar to launch the spell.
All Known Spells
These are the 40 spells (8 from each of the five circles) you start out knowing about. After the name of the spell, in parenthesis, are the cost in spell points and the modes you can cast the spell in (O for outdoors, T for town, C for combat).
Some spell descriptions refer to your bonus for the spell. Your bonus for a spell is your intelligence plus your skill in that spell circle.
Health Circle
Mild Healing (Cost: 2, TCO) - This powerful restorative heals (2-8 + Bonus/2) points of damage to one character.
Purge Venom (Cost: 1, TO) - Some creatures’ blows fills your veins with lethal, slow-acting venom. Fortunately, this spell prevents 3-12 + Bonus points of poison damage for one poisoned character.
Alertness (Cost: 1, TC) - When one of your characters is magically put to sleep, this spell wakes him or her up. If it’s cast on an awake character, it protects him or her from being put to sleep.
Healing (Cost: 4, TCO) - When a wound is too serious for Mild Healing, you can try this spell instead. It heals (3-18 + Bonus) points of damage, putting you back in action that much faster.
Recovery (Cost: 4, TO) - Impure substances clogging your veins? This powerful spell completely removes poison and disease from an afflicted character.
Unshackle Mind (Cost: 6, TC) - Certain extremely dangerous monsters can paralyze you or cloud your mind and turn you against your allies. When this happens, this spell will restore one victim of these effects to an alert, sensible state.
Total Healing (Cost: 7, TO) - This is the most powerful healing spell in the Health Circle. It restores all of a character’s health points, cures all poison, and removes all disease.
Raise Dead (Cost: 20, TO) - The power of some druids is sufficient even to return your allies from beyond the veil of death. To cast this spell requires Balm of Life. This does not work on characters who have been turned to dust, but it does help characters who have been turned to stone.
War Circle
Battle Rage (Cost: 2, C) - This gives one character (1-3 + Bonus/3) levels of blessing. Each level increases the chance of hitting in combat by %5 and damage by 1. Blessing slowly fades with time.
Shielding (Cost: 2, C) - This gives one character (1-3 + Bonus/3) levels of shielding. Each level reduces the chance of being hit in combat by %5 and damage by 1. Shielding slowly fades with time.
Lance of Fire (Cost: 4, C) - This is the first of the damage inflicting spells. It strikes one foe with a lance of fire, dealing (1 + Bonus / 3) times (1-8) damage.
Quicksilver Feet (Cost: 3, C) - This makes a character move much faster, doubling his/her number of actions in combat. This effect lasts for (3-5 + Bonus/3) combat rounds.
Beast Ceremony (Cost: 15, T) - This powerful ritual fills your party with the power of fierce beasts. Each character is given the effects of Battle Rage, Shielding, and Quicksilver Feet. Ceremony spells are very time consuming. You can’t cast this spell when any hostile creatures are in sight.
Darts of Ice (Cost: 6, C) - Devastate your foes with lances of ice, flung through the air into their bodies. This spell creates (1 + Bonus/4) chunks of ice, which must target different enemies. Each does (1 + Bonus / 3) times (1-8) damage.
Heartshock (Cost: 8, C) - Some druids can grab and still the heart of a living foe, doing a devastating amount of damage. Not pretty. This spell only affects living beings who actually have hearts. The victim takes (1 + Bonus / 2) times (1-12) damage.
Hero of Old (Cost: 10, C) - This powerful ritual makes one of your allies incredibly powerful, lightning fast, and heavily protected. It is said that it even, for a short time, makes the character indestructible.
Beast Circle
Call Aid (Cost: 3, C) - Druids skilled in the Beast Circle can summon beasts to help out in battle. This spell brings (1 + Bonus/5) small animals, which stay and fight on your side for a short time.
Bite of the Serpent (Cost: 3, C) - Not only do your foes sometimes poison you, but you can return the favor. This spell fills (1 + Bonus/3) targets with venom, damaging them continuously during combat.
Coils of the Serpent (Cost: 4, C) - This powerful spell constricts (1 + Bonus/3) foes with invisible bonds, causing them to move more slowly. They will only get half the normal number of actions in combat.
Charm Beast (Cost: 4, TC) - A skilled druid can control and tame an animal with magic. This spell has a chance of charming a beast, making it fight on your side for a short time. This spell only works on animals (giant or normal).
Beast Call (Cost: 5, C) - As your power increases, you will be able to call larger and larger creatures to your aid. This spell summons (1 + Bonus/6) medium sized animals to fight with you for a short time.
Capture Soul (Cost: 15, T) - When you successfully cast this very powerful spell, your mind will contain a perfect image of the target. You can then clone this creature by casting Simulacrum. This doesn’t work on ordinary humans or faeries. You can memorize images of four monsters. When you successfully cast the spell, that monster will be stored in one of these four slots, selected at random. This will copy over whatever creature is already there. When you meet a powerful monster, try to make a copy of it! Certain, very strong monsters are immune to its effects.
Simulacrum (Cost: 7, C) - You can use this spell to create a copy of a creature you captured with the spell Capture Soul. The more powerful a creature you summon, the less time it will stay and help.
Mighty Beast (Cost: 10, C) - This spell summons the largest creatures nearby and brings them to fight mightily on your side. It brings (1 + Bonus/7) huge beasts.
Craft Circle
Create Light (Cost: 1, T) - You no longer need to fear the darkness of caves and dungeons. This spell creates a magical light which lasts for (50 + 5 * Bonus) turns.
Piercing Sight (Cost: 4, TO) - You see a magical vision of everything near you, even things which would be blocked by walls. These areas then appear on your automap. This spell can help you find hidden areas.
Pass Portal (Cost: 5, T) - When this spell is cast, every locked door within two spaces has a chance of becoming unlocked. Some doors will require several castings, and a small number of doors are immune to this spell.
Remove Curse (Cost: 5, TO) - Some items are cursed. When you equip them, they can’t be removed. When this spell is cast on a character with a cursed item, it has a chance of removing the curse.
Word of Recall (Cost: 15, O) - This spell instantly moves your adventurers to just outside the town where you started.
Create Food (Cost: 3, TO) - Your adventures might sometimes lead you to places where you’re dangerously low on food. This spell summons edible (if unappetizing) meals from thin air. It creates (2-8 + Bonus/2) units of food.
Break Barrier (Cost: 8, T) - Sometimes, your progress will be blocked by a powerful magical barrier. This spell has a chance of destroying any such barrier within two spaces of the caster. It may take several castings to destroy any one barrier.
Stone Guardian (Cost: 12, T) - The most powerful ritual in the craft circle, this spell turns the very ground itself against the foe. It forms the earth into a deadly statue, which fights for you for a short time.
Spirit Circle
Disrupt Spirit (Cost: 3, C) - This spell fires a bolt of bright, happy, positive energy, which deals (3 + Bonus / 5) times (1-12) damage to one undead or demonic creature. Other types of creatures won’t be affected.
Sever Seal (Cost: 6, C) - Every great once in a while, you will come across an item or place which has had a magical seal placed on it. When such an item is within two spaces of the caster of this spell, the seal will be broken.
Spirit Ceremony (Cost: 6, TO) - This heals everyone in the party, and, if that isn’t enough, it also removes any negative effects which afflict you (poison, disease, paralysis, etc.).
Ravage Life (Cost: 5, C) - This vicious and nasty spell damages, slows, and curses a living target. However, it only works on living foes, not, for example, statues or the undead.
Control Life (Cost: 7, C) - You attempt to seize control of an enemy’s brain and force that foe to fight on your side for a short time. It might not work, though, and this only works on living beings (not, say, the undead).
Soul Lance (Cost: 7, T) - You throw (1 + Bonus/7) powerful bolts of magical energy, each of which deals a vicious blow to its target. Each bolt must be thrown at a different enemy.
Call Spirit (Cost: 10, C) - When you cast this spell, several wights appear nearby and proceed to destroy your foes. They stay for a little while, and then disappear.
Doom (Cost: 14, C) - You deal (10-100 + Bonus) damage to one target. This damage can’t be reduced or prevented. This awesome spell is known only in legend. It is likely that nobody knows it anymore, if anyone ever did.
