Dungeon Magic: Sword of the Elements/Magic

All magic in this game is performed by selecting anywhere from one to three runes on the Magic command menu. With 16 different runes to choose from, the number of combinations possible is immense. No one in the game really gives you any indication of what rune combinations are particularly useful. The instruction manual provides eleven potential spells, but players are left to determine the rest of them on their own.

Magic is divided into two major categories: Offensive spells, and Utility spells. Any combination that does not result in a Utility spell is automatically an Offensive spell. You only have access to spells that you have the runes for. If there is a spell that you want to cast that you don't have the runes for, you will have to find the elemental sword that corresponds with the same school and return it to the right town, where the Magician of the town will invite you to apprentice in that school.

Becoming an apprentice to a school of magic will give you access to four runes for that school. The first rune is the same for every school, the level 0 rune. The other three runes represent the levels 1, 2, and 3 rune for that school. Knowing which runes to select, and in which order, will help you tremendously throughout the game.

Utility spells
Utility spells are often broken down by their school. Note that some spells require a specific second rune, while others will accept a rune of a specific level, but from any school.

For example, the most basic shield spell requires the level 2 water rune, and any level 1 rune. So  will work, but so will   or   for example.

However, the more powerful version of the shield requires that the second rune be a water rune, so  will work, but   or   will not work, and will actually result in an attack spell instead.

Spells that require a particular level, but not a particular school will be indicated by [L1], [L2] , and [L3]. The letters which appear before each spell are only for use with the spell chart at the bottom of the page.

Any school

 * (A) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune level 0.png]] - Cost 0 HP - Open Doors:When this spell is set, any door that you approach will automatically open. This effect is passive; you don't have to be on the Magic command and press, it will happen regardless of what command you have selected.

Earth
There are six Earth based utility spells. Five of them heal status ailments, while the sixth is used to travel through water.
 * (B) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune earth 2.png]] [L1] - Cost 5 HP - Cure Poison
 * (C) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune earth 2.png]] [L2] - Cost 1 HP - Cure Paralysis
 * (D) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune earth 2.png]] [L3] - Cost 1 HP - Cure Hurt
 * (E) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune earth 3.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune earth 1.png]] - Cost 7 HP - Cure Darkness
 * (F) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune earth 3.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune earth 2.png]] - Cost 6 HP - Cure Curse


 * (G) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune earth 3.png]] [L3] - Cost 0 HP - Part Water:Cast this spell when you're facing a body of water, and it will clear the water away making it traversable to you. You will be able to step forward into that space, but you will have to continue to cast the spell on every grid space that contains water. Additionally, the space will fill back in with water as soon as you leave it.  Use this spell to reach areas you couldn't normally reach, but be aware that a different set of monsters occupy the water, and they are quite strong.

Water
There are six Water based utility spells, and all of them offer some variety of shield that boosts your defense against attacks by 10 points. Shield can either defend against only Physical attacks, only Projectile attacks, or both kinds. The level 2 rune version of the spell will block 7 attacks, while the level 3 rune version will block 15 attacks before wearing off. Note that the shield only applies to enemies in front of you. Any attack will wear down the number of uses it has left, even if an attack would have resulted in no damage to your character.


 * (H) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune water 2.png]] [L1] - Cost 1 HP - Physical Shield, 7 attacks
 * (I) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune water 2.png]] [L2] - Cost 3 HP - Magical Shield, 7 attacks
 * (J) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune water 2.png]] [L3] - Cost 5 HP - Physical and Magical Shield, 7 attacks
 * (K) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune water 3.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune water 1.png]] - Cost 3 HP - Physical Shield, 15 attacks
 * (L) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune water 3.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune water 2.png]] - Cost 6 HP - Magical Shield, 15 attacks
 * (M) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune water 3.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune water 3.png]] - Cost 8 HP - Physical and Magical Shield, 15 attacks

Fire
Fire magic is the only school which have no Utility spells. Every spell involving Fire is an Offensive spell.

Wind
There are three Wind based utility spells. They all involve summoning the Wind to warp you to different places.


 * (N) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune wind 3.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune wind 1.png]] - Cost 0 HP - Warp one dungeon floor:You can only cast this spell in dungeons, it does not work in caves. It will transport you to the previous level, in the same X,Y coordinate that you are currently standing in.
 * (O) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune wind 3.png]] [L2] - Cost 9 HP - Warp to dungeon entrance:Once again, this spell can only be cast in dungeons. When cast, it transports you to the location where you entered the dungeon from.
 * (P) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune wind 3.png]] [L3] - Cost 10 HP - Warp to Granville:Unlike the other two spells, this one can only be cast when you're outside in the Overworld. It will instantly transport you back to the location you started the game from inside Granville.

Fairy
Fairy magic provides more Utility spells than any other school, a total of nine. Many of them are about obtaining information, particularly maps of an area, but some are about transporting you to different locations.

The map spells are unique in that you can add a third rune to the spell. The third rune can be from any school, but the level determines how long the map is displayed to you. If there is no third rune, or you choose, the map will be presented for half of a second. If you add a [L1] rune, it will be displayed for a full second. A [L2] will make it stay for two seconds, and a [L3] will make it display for four seconds.


 * (Q) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 1.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 1.png]] - Cost 0 HP - Basic map
 * (Q) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 1.png]] [L2] - Cost 0 HP - Basic map:A basic map only provides you with your position and an outline of the wall or obstacles around you.
 * (R) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 1.png]] [L3] - Cost 0 HP - Monster map:A monster map will also display the locations of any monsters around you (shown with an M) as well as your position and the area around you.
 * (S) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 2.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 1.png]] - Cost 0 HP - Monster and Treasure map
 * (S) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 2.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 2.png]] - Cost 0 HP - Monster and Treasure map:The full version of the map not only shows you where monsters are located, but also where treasures can be found as well (shown with a T). Since all versions of the map cost no hit points, favor this version of the spell.
 * (T) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 2.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 3.png]] - Cost 0 HP - Player data:Cast this spell to display information about your current position, as well as how much damage you give to an enemy (ATP), and how much damage you receive (DAM). You can cast this spell once to make this info appear to the left until your next stay at an Inn.
 * (U) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 3.png]] [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 1.png]] - Cost 0 HP - Monster data:Cast this spell to display information about how powerful an enemy is offensively (POW), and defensively (DEF). It will also alert you to when you are being attacked from another direction. Like the previous spell, cast it early for maximum benefit.
 * (V) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 3.png]] [L2] - Cost 3 HP - Warp to Sky World:Cast this spell to be transported to another realm above the earth. Note that it contains incredible powerful enemies, so you should not do this until much later in the game.
 * (W) [[File:Dungeon Magic rune farie 3.png]] [L3] - Cost 4 HP - Return from Sky World:While up in the Sky World, cast this spell to return down to the regular world, although it is not the only means to do so. If you still possess the Red Ring, it will return you as well.

Offensive spells
Attack magic can be performed by composing any combination of one, two, or three tiles that does not result in a utility spell. The first one or two runes determine which spell is cast, and the third tile, if present, it a modifier on the power of that spell.

All offensive spells cost a certain number of your character's hit points to cast, and do a certain amount of damage to the enemy (after the enemy's magical defense level is taken into account.) Ideally, you should seek to cast spells to have a good cost to damage ratio; i.e. spells that cost less and damage more.

While the first two runes determine the base cost/damage of a given spell, the third rune, specifically its level, will modify those values accordingly: For example, the spell of level 2 Fire followed by level 3 Water  costs 20 HP to cast, and does 56 damage to an enemy (before the magic defense reduction). However, if those runes are followed by any level 3 rune like another level 3 water, then the spell of   will actually cost 53 HP, and do 140 points of damage instead.
 * No third rune or [[File:Dungeon Magic rune level 0.png]]: Cost × 1, Damage × 1
 * [L1] : Cost × 1.5 + 1, Damage × 1.5
 * [L2] : Cost × 2 + 2, Damage × 2
 * [L3] : Cost × 2.5 + 3, Damage × 2.5

Note that possession of the Tores Sword actually adds a 32 point damage bonus on top of the base damage of a spell, which is then further augmented by the level of the third rune. So a level 3 rune can boost that damage bonus to 80 points if applied.

The following chart displays the base cost and damage outcomes of every pair combination of runes, with the first rune down the left side, and the second rune along the top. As you can see, Water/Air combination runes cost the most and do the most damage, followed by Water/Fire combinations and Water/Fairy combinations. Any combination which would actually result in a Utility spell is indicated by a letter, which maps to the letters in the list of Utility spells above.