Langrisser II/Spells

The effectiveness of spells depends on the caster's level (NOT on their class).


 * Levels 1-3: Minimum area of effect and damage for spell
 * Levels 4-7: +1 radius if area of effect, +1 damage if an offensive spell.
 * Levels 8-10: +2 radius, +2 damage.

For some reason, the AI does not like to reduce its MP to 0. It will always use health on itself if the only spells it has would reduce its MP to 0.

Magic Arrow

 * Cost: 1
 * Range: 5
 * Damage:: Low
 * Area of effect: 1 space (single enemy)
 * Learned by: Warlock

A nice spell for nudging near death enemies into oblivion, or for softening up enemy leaders before you attack directly.

Blast

 * Cost: 10
 * Range: 2
 * Damage:: Extreme
 * Area of effect: 1 space (single enemy)
 * Learned by: Wizard, Dragon Master, Royal Guard, Zarvera, Hero

An extremely brutal spell, it's probably more dangerous to you than the enemy. The enemy's best leaders usually have high magic resistance, and you'll want to be able to hit their troops besides. However, if you're not careful, this can take one of your own seemingly healthy characters and send him/her to oblivion.

Fireball

 * Cost: 2
 * Range: 4
 * Damage::Very low
 * Area of effect: 1 space + 3-5 radius, depending on caster ability
 * Learned by: Sorcerer, Magic Knight, Dragon Knight, Bishop

A good spell for hitting a lot of enemies, but for smaller or more spread out groups thunder is better.

Meteor

 * Cost: 8
 * Range: 10
 * Damage:: Very high
 * Area of effect: 1 space + 2-4 radius, depending on caster ability
 * Learned by: Archmage, Summoner, Zarvera, Agent

This is the most often used spell in the game, for good reason. It hits hard, and over a sizeable area that the caster has a lot of flexibility in targeting. Expect to see it a lot, so you might as well jump on the bandwagon and start giving the enemy back some =P. It is capable of destroying a full health ballista in one shot.

Thunder

 * Cost: 4
 * Range: 7
 * Damage:: Medium (more damage when enemy is in water)
 * Area of effect: 1 command (the commander and its units)
 * Learned by: Shaman, Dragon Lord, Serpent Lord, Highmaster

A great spell that does decent damage. It's also nice for taking out units that are lagging behind their commander (like ballistae).

Tornado

 * Cost: 2
 * Damage:: Medium
 * Area of effect: 3-5 space radius around caster
 * Learned by: Hawk Knight, Mage, Swordmaster, Silver Knight, Paladin, Saint.

This is probably the worst of the second-tier damaging spells. It does decent damage, but the area of effect is so limited it's a chore to get it to hit enough units to make it worthwhile.

Blizzard

 * Cost: 3
 * Damage:: High
 * Area of effect: 4-6 space radius around caster
 * Learned by: Serpent Knight, Knightmaster, Archmage

A bit better then tornado, but I still prefer fireball and thunder.

Earthquake

 * Cost: 12
 * Damage:: Very high
 * Area of effect: 5-7 space radius around caster
 * Learned by: Grand Knight, Sage, Serpent Master, Zarvera, Highmaster

The only characters of the above who will find this worthwhile are the sage and zarvera. The MP drain that this spell causes means that any fighting class that uses it will probably be unable to cast anything else for the rest of the scenario. Even the magic users will find the fixed target area annoying... it's usually just better to meteor.

Heal1

 * Cost: 2
 * Range: 6
 * Heals for: 3 maximum
 * Area of effect: 1-3 radius
 * Learned by: Lord, Cleric, Healer

Quick, easy experience. If you have a bunch of damaged units clustered together, cast this on them, even if they aren't being threatened by anything. The exp you get from one heal spell isn't much, but if you make a habit of it, it does add up.

Heal2

 * Cost: 4
 * Range: 6
 * Heals for: 9 maximum
 * Area of effect: 1-3 radius
 * Learned by: Priest, Saint, Sage, Dragon Master, Royal Guard

Extremely effective at what it does. Best used at the end of the turn, when you can maximize its effect.

Force Heal1

 * Cost: 3
 * Range: 6
 * Heals for: 3 maximum
 * Area of effect: 1 command (the commander and its units)
 * Learned by: Healer, Highlord, Bishop, Dragon Lord, Paladin, Serpent Lord.

A nice trick for this spell is to take a unit like fliers that tends to go ahead of the front lines, keep behind one griffin, and continually cast this on the griffin while the others fight the enemy. This spell provides instant supply lines.

Force Heal2

 * Cost: 6
 * Range: 6
 * Heals for: 9 maximum
 * Area of effect: 1 command (the commander and its units)
 * Learned by: Princess, High Priest

You'll mainly use Heal2 for mass-healing purposes. This is only better in special cases (like the supply lines thing), or if your caster's level is too low to affect enough people.

Attack

 * Cost: 2
 * Range: 5
 * Learned by: Warlock, Knight, Highlord, Dragon Knight, Knightmaster, Dragon Master, Agent.
 * Effect: All units under the same command (excluding the commander itself) will get +4 attack until next turn.

Quite useful, even late in the game, because that extra attack can make a big difference when the forces are evenly matched, or when you're trying to level up a late joiner.

Protection

 * Cost: 2
 * Range: 5
 * Learned by: Cleric, Healer, Lord, Highlander, Serpent Knight, Swordmaster, Grand Knight, Princess, Summoner, Royal Guard, Zarvera
 * Effect: All units under the same command (excluding the commander itself) get +4 defense until next turn.

Not as useful as attack, but still nice when your forces are otherwise evenly matched. It's great when you're going against those annoying ballista units.

Sleep

 * Cost: 2
 * Range: 4
 * Learned by: Highlander, Magic Knight, Saint, High Priest
 * Effect: All units within 1-3 space radius of the target square have a chance (depending on magic resistance) of being unable to move or attack. If attacked, they will not defend themselves, having the offensive power of a bunch of civilians. At the beginning of each enemy phase, there is a chance of them being able to recover from the spell.

Sleep is one of most useful (and, in my opinion, cheapest) spells in the game.

Charm

 * Cost: 6
 * Range: 4 (have to target the commander)
 * Learned by: Princess, Agent
 * Effect: Chance of converting enemies into allies. All units in the same command (including the commander), if successful, will become your allies. They will move/attack at the same time that NPC's normally would. At the end of enemy phase, there is a chance of them recovering.

A nice spell, when it works, but I prefer to just kill things myself. Charm is a waste of experience.

Resist

 * Cost: 2
 * Range: 8
 * Learned by: Mage, Wizard, Serpent Master, High Priest, Hero, Highmaster
 * Effect: Makes one command (the commander and all its units) immune to harmful magic.

This is incredibly useful - cast it a lot.

Mute

 * Cost: 3
 * Range: 5
 * Learned by: Bishop, Priest, Sage
 * Effect: Silences the target leader, stopping it from casting spells.

Zone

 * Cost: 6
 * Range: 6
 * Learned by: Grand Knight, Wizard, Silver Knight, Archmage, Serpent Master, Hero
 * Effect: Deactivates leader's attack and defense bonuses on its units.

Extremely effective, because by the time you get this spell the leader bonuses are very large.

Illusion

 * Cost: 2
 * Learned by: Sorcerer, Shaman
 * Effect: Creates 0-6 illusions of the caster, depending on how many troops the caster already has. No character can have more than 6 units, so if the caster already has six, spell won't work. If the caster doesn't have any units, it will make a full 6 illusions. They look exactly the same, but if they ever go into combat they vanish in a puff of smoke.

Great distractions if you're fighting someone you don't want to kill just yet, but in a no-holds-barred combat it's probably better to just frag them with a meteor or fireball.

Turn Undead

 * Cost: 5
 * Learned by: Healer, Priest
 * Effect: Kills all undead within 4-6 space radius of the caster. That includes skeletons, zombies, wraiths and elementals.

Depending on the situation, this spell ranges from totally awesome to useless. 95% of the time, it's the latter.

Teleport

 * Range: 16
 * Cost: 5
 * Learned by: Agent
 * Effect: Takes a unit up to 16 spaces from the caster and drops them onto any square, 16 spaces from the caster.

Not only is this spell incredibly useful, it's also a lot of fun. Unfortunately, you get it too late in the game to take much advantage of it.