Magic

The way magic works in Songs of Conquest is different from other similar games. A Wielder can cast spells only when they have enough essence of the correct type to cast the spell. Once the wielder has the required essences, they can cast the spell at any time during one of their troop's turns.

There are a myriad number of ways to gain essences. The most common is through troops. Each troop has a stat that tells you how much essence and of what type it will generate on its turn. The **Charge Essence** troop ability (Necromancer, Chelun Elder) can double this on a troop turn, and the spells Strengthen Essence and Destroy Essence can likewise increase or negate these gains. Furthermore, upgrading troops to a higher tier or improving them through Research often grants them increased or changed essence amounts and types. This is the reason that it is wise to split your troops into as many stacks as your wielder Command stat will allow, as it will improve their essence generation with more stacks of troops equalling more essence per round.

The second most reliable way to generate essence is through the wielder's own per-round essence accumulation (granted at the beginning of a combat round) which can be added to through Research, capturing certain points of interest, or through skills gained by leveling (Order Magic, Chaos Magic, Destruction Magic, Creation Magic, and Arcane Magic) and one Power (Attuned). This can also be temporarily augmented by visiting certain points of interest.

The third most common way to generate essence is through Essence Burst, a wielder skill that grants a number of each type of essence at the start of combat only.

Finally, the skill Essence Leech will grant the wielder essence based on enemy troop stacks killed. This is an uncommon and unreliable way to generate essence, but can be powerful in niche situations.

Spells also have three tiers each. Increasing a spell's tier is done by increasing the respective wielder skill(s) of their essence types. Tier 2 of a magic skill unlocks that respective essence's Tier 2 spells, and Tier 3 unlocks Tier 3. Dyad spells will inherit the lower tier of the two possible magic skills (for example, if you have Tier 3 Arcane Magic and Tier 2 Creation Magic, you will cast Entangle at Tier 2). Spells start at Tier 1 and Tier 1 magic skills only grant a wielder per-round essence generation without increasing spell tiers. Increasing a spell's tier will improve it in some substantial way. Examples include increasing the damage significantly, increasing the number of targets or summons, increasing the duration, increasing the range, or increasing the buff/debuff amount.

The below tables replicate the UI you will see in the game, with essence amounts visible for each and links to the spell's more detailed page. You can also find details of each spell in their respective magic type page.

Pure Essence Spells
4
3
5
4
 Protection
5
5
8
5
 Pacify
8
8
10
7
 Rally
12
14
14
12
16

Dyads
3 Order3 Arcane
3 Order3 Arcane
3 Creation3 Chaos
 Burst of Strength
3 Chaos3 Destruction
3 Arcane3 Destruction
3 Order3 Creation
 Justice
4 Order4 Destruction
4 Creation4 Arcane
4 Order4 Arcane
 Lethargy
5 Chaos5 Arcane
6 Order6 Chaos
6 Chaos6 Arcane
 Entangle
6 Creation6 Arcane
7 Creation7 Chaos
8 Creation8 Destruction
8 Order8 Destruction

The below tables are detailed information about spells and their effects by tier.

Duration refers to number of troop rounds unless otherwise written. A troop round is the time between a troop's current turn and its next, not including its next turn. If the field says "Round(s)", this refers to a combat round, meaning the duration will end at the end of the a round rather than during a troop's turn. If duration is empty, it means the spell's effects happen instantly.