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Number of books - What exactly does that do?

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 4:48 pm
by Shredding Day
I remember hearing somewhere that your book count gives you a casting cost reduction on spells of that color. If this is not the case, then 11 book setups and low books + lots of perk setups are optimal while 9 or 10 book setups are likely the worst. Can someone fill me in?

Re: Number of books - What exactly does that do?

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:11 pm
by Lucern
Personally, I value certain retorts over magic. I virtually always play as a Warlord just because of the common troop differential between Impossible AI players with their production compared to my own. I like to not lose troops. Also consider that even with the considerable bonuses involved with high book games, certain races and colors really benefit from a couple of retorts. In any case, low book games should probably be considered extra challenging. It's hard to make use of a number of retorts if you don't have any good spells to cast, and for those looking to trade up, read below carefully as there are some pitfalls. Still, I think the guy who has by far the highest score on this board played with 2 books of each type to maximize his spell number. Note that he wouldn't get any of the bonuses below because they're 8 books of different colors.

11 book games are rumored to be very powerful on these boards. There is cause for this. Here's the breakdown, as the Prima guide puts it:

8 spell books = 10% research and casting cost reduction (for that color)
9 = 20%
10 = 30%
11 = 40%

There are also some milestones related to how many books of a color you have.

2 - The number you need to learn, or even trade for or find rare spells.
3 - The number you need to learn, or even trade for or find very rare spells.
8 - Guarantees that you can research all of the uncommon spells of a color.
10 - Guarantees that you can research all spells of a color
11 - 3000 research points are deducted from the Spell of Mastery. ( I guess they figure you'll be behind with all those spells. But with 40% reduction? I think not. )

In addition, you get 2 spell skill per book, and your fortress generates one mana per book per turn. It also says that for each spell you know, half of its base research value goes towards the spell of mastery. Each spell also contributes to your final score.

Re: Number of books - What exactly does that do?

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 4:51 am
by Shredding Day
Thanks a bunch.

Re: Number of books - What exactly does that do?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:22 pm
by Incanur
One decent 9 book setup would be Chaos/Nature/Sorcery Mastery and Conjurer. You get a 60% discount on casting summons in the chosen type of magic.

Re: Number of books - What exactly does that do?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:49 pm
by Lucern
Whoa, there were posts under those spambots :)

That sounds like a fun non-11 book strategy. I rarely summon anything other than magic or guardian spirits. Sometimes, when the apprentices and pointy-hatted guards aren't looking, I gaze out of my tower and hardly feel like a wizard at all.