Magic in Olden Era includes combat and world map spells. Spells can be learned through the Mage Guild, visiting sanctuaries on the map, scrolls, Pandora Boxes, choosing a specialist hero with a unique version of a spell, as well as through skills and sub-skills. A Spellbook is given to all heroes by default. Source: Devlog #10.
Schools of Magic
Magic is divided into four schools founded by the scholars Arina, Naira, Hksmilla, and Doreath: Daylight, Nightshade, Primal, and Arcane Magic. Any hero can learn Tier I and II spells, but to access Tier III, IV, and V spells of a corresponding school, the skill for that school must be learned. The developers compare this to Wisdom from Heroes II-III and the schools of magic from Heroes V-VII.
Mana and Regeneration
The mana system is similar to Heroes V: each point of Knowledge provides 10 mana and 1 point of mana regeneration per turn. For example, with 10 Knowledge, a hero restores 10 mana per turn. Skills and sub-skills can affect the mana pool and recovery.
Spell Research
In Olden Era, spells can be researched. Once a day, a player can unlock any missing spell for resources, and one Mage Guild can eventually obtain all spells within its maximum tier. This solves the problem of random spell distribution and the need to capture other towns just for new options.
Spell Levels
Spells have their own levels. These can be increased through the Mage Guild, the skill of the corresponding school, perks, artifacts, and special objects on the map. A hero without a school of magic can upgrade a spell to a maximum of level 2. A hero who has invested in Primal Magic, for example, can bring a spell up to level 4 and learn high-level spells of that school. Magic heroes generally find it easier to unlock the full potential of this system.
Neutral Magic
Neutral Magic includes unique spells from skills and most world map spells. Overly powerful spells from previous games, such as Town Portal and Dimension Door, have been moved here so that one school does not dominate because of them. To unlock neutral spells, you must develop the hero and learn enough spells to reach a minimum threshold; for the first neutral tier, simply learning the required number of spells is sufficient. Upgrading spells and developing towns also progress the player toward global spells.
Examples of Neutral Spells
- Tier I: Second Wind — gives the hero additional movement points.
- Tier II: Shadowflight — allows the hero to fly over obstacles.
- Tier III: Gate of Light — creates a gate on the map through which any hero can move a very short distance; the gate exists until the end of the day.
- Tier IV: Town Portal — transports the hero to a selected town; the number of uses per day is limited.
- Tier V: Dimension Door — transports the hero a short distance; teleporting between zones is not possible without defeating the creatures guarding the passage; the number of uses per day is limited.