What are Winds of Magic TW: Warhammer Guide
Last update: 15 June 2016
Magic is a complete novelty when it comes to a game from the Total War series - there wasn't a mechanic even remotely resembling it in any of the previous installments. Adding spells to the game increased possibilities exponentially - you can either refrain from using them and focus on military prowess, or center the strength of your army around powerful spells.
To be able to cast spells you will need two things - a unit in your army that is capable of using magic, as well as sufficient supply of Winds of Magic. The latter one is basically 'mana' from other games.
Those of you who would like to learn about the term "Winds of Magic" should head to the Wikipedia of the Warhammer universe, but in short they are what allows certain units cast spells. It's a pool of points (hence the mana comparison) which is used to cast each spell - whenever a unit does that, a certain amount of Winds of Magic points are being used. Those points, as well as the possibility to cast spells are available only when on the battlefield - you can't cast spells when you're on the world map.
Casting spells depends on two things - the amount of available Winds of Magic points, as well as the reserve of those points. Both of those can be checked before the encounter starts (there will be a small, light-blue vertical bar visible on the pre-battle screen) and during the battle. During battle you can check their state in the lower right corner of the screen - the globe-like object represents the points that are available to you at the moment, whereas the small bar on the right side of it is the reserve.
Points available at the moment are the ones that allow one to use magic - each time a spell is cast a certain amount of Winds of Magic points will be depleted from the pool. Those points are replenished after a specific amount of time has passed (you can check it by hovering over the globe-like object), but as you empty the reserve bar the time needed to replenish a point will increase. When you completely deplete the reserve, casting further spells will not be possible.
There are multiple things that influence the amount of points in the reserve. Those are:
- The state of Winds of Magic on the world map. It changes every few turns, and it can be stronger or weaker depending on the place on the map. You can check it by hovering over any place on the world map.
- Hero and Lord abilities.
- Hero and Lord items.
Additionally, the reserve can be slightly increased during the encounter. It can be done by using abilities available to Lords and Heroes capable of casting spells (provided, that you unlock the said ability), as well as some items. Each time you use such an ability, the reserve will be increased by a few points.
Remember that the size of the reserve of Winds of Magic can be (and most probably will be) different than that of your opponent. This is caused by abilities unlocked by Lord and/or heroes located in the army.