how magic works in Songs of Conquest

Learn all about Wielders, the leaders of your armies, in our Songs of Conquest guide. Learn about Wielder Sheets, inventory, builds, magic and Essences.

Most Important Information About Wielders

Wielders are the playable heroes who, along with their armies, move around the map-similar to Heroes from the Heroes of Might & Magic series. Each Wielder is described by attributes, experience level, inventory, and Unit Slots used for deploying military units. Limited by sight range and Movement Points, they can move a certain distance per turn.

While the Wielders themselves don't engage in any combat, they can cast spells and provide passive bonuses to their troops. You typically start with one Wielder, but you can hire more. Each Wielder acts independently and has their own movement orders.

Gaining levels, as Wielders do, you will choose one of three options available to the Wielder to learn or upgrade. These are usually new powers or enhancements to an already learned power. You can choose Powers at certain levels; these are a class of more powerful abilities compared with the standard skill. For an in-depth explanation of how heroes develop and level, have a look at our "Experience levels of heroes" guide.

Wielders can die if all their army is defeated at battle. Sometimes they can be resurrected, sometimes not. Check out the "How to resurrect a Wielder?" guide for more info. In some cases, the death of a Wielder will instantly mean game over.

Magic, Essences and spell-casting

Songs of Conquest has a unique spell system where the Wielders have all their spells available from the very beginning of a match. The only restriction is Essences, which act like mana. Spells are divided into different types of Essences: Order, Chaos, Destruction, Creation, and Arcana.

To open your spellbook, click on your portrait and hit V. Along the left side, you will find a customizable hotbar that houses quick access to your favorite spells. The center column displays all of your spells sorted by their required Essence type, while the column along the right lists those spells that take multiple types of Essences.

At war, anything goes-no limit on the amount of spells cast; however, Essence supply is crucial. Current amounts of each are represented by essence orbs, while the spell list denotes hotbar and recommended spells. Full spellbook will be displayed with the scroll icon.

Essence bonuses can be derived from the following:

• Units: Each unit generates a certain type of Essence.

• Artifacts: Worn artifacts may provide an Essence bonus.

• Beacons of Power: Temporarily enhance the flow of Essence.

• Buildings: Captured Buildings reward permanent Essence bonuses.

• Skills Certain skills raise particular types of essence.

• Technologies Research technologies give permanent gains in Essence.

Essence gained from units is awarded at the beginning of their turns. All other sources of Essence give their essence at battle start and each round.

Inventory

Remember that Artifacts are crucial for your Wielders' success. You need to equip them by opening the inventory through C or by double-clicking the Wielder portrait. Inventory space is limited, so sell, drop, or transfer items that you don't need. Various stat bonuses can be gained with an Artifact-out-of-attack, out-of-movement, and so on. The color defines its rarity: Purple/Orange > Blue > Green/Grey. You will want to equip an artifact specifically against enemies' strengths. For example, fighting a lot of ranged units, you would want to use a ranged resistance artifact.

Inventory space: This is visible in the inventory window. Remember to equip clothes, weapons, and talismans. You can either have a two-handed weapon or you can have one one-handed weapon and one shield. If you are playing the story campaign, remember to transfer any really valuable artefacts to your main Wielder prior to completing missions so that they will carry over to the next scenario. See our guide for more on the campaign.

Wielder Sheet

The top-left corner is where the Hero's attribute distribution. Further below comes the specialization of the wielder and the list of appropriate bonuses. On the left-hand side, the various tabs show the active Modifiers: permanent bonuses, active temporary effects, and those conferred by equipped items. To the right will be the list of the Wielder's current skills, with their detailed descriptions available on hover. 

Finally, toward the bottom of your screen will appear the Powers that you have unlocked.

With this explanation of how magic works in Songs of Conquest, we hope we've been as helpful as possible in making you understand how that works.