Winds of Magic

The Winds of Magic provide spellcasters in Total War with their source of power. The available magic is depleted when a spell is cast. They recharge quickly at first, but get slower each time a new spell is cast until eventually they no longer recharge. The Winds of Magic pool is shared across all spellcasters in a player's army. Not all powerful abilities are spells. In Warhammer Fantasy lore, all magic derives from Chaos.


 * For an in-depth guide, see this magic guide by Reddit user KamachoThunderbus.

Winds of Magic Panel
The Winds of Magic Panel is part of the Battle User Interface located in the bottom right of the screen.

If the player's army contains no spellcasters, this Panel will simply be a golden image of Morrslieb, the Chaos moon which strongly influences magic in Warhammer lore.

The Power Meter
However, if the player's army has spellcasters, the center of this panel will be a blue meter with a number between 0 and 30. This is the Power Meter. This indicates the current amount of Winds of Magic available to the player's army.

If the player has selected a spellcaster unit, such as an Empire Light Wizard, then the caster's available spells (up to 6) will be arranged around the Power Meter.

If the caster has access to more than one lore of magic, then a small bar will appear above the Winds of Magic Panel with buttons to switch between the lores.

Each spell has a cost in Winds of Magic such as 4 for a relatively weak spell or 16 for a very powerful one.

The Reserve Bar
The small blue bar to the right of the Power Meter is the Reserve Bar or Recharge Bar. It indicates how much magic is left to refill the main Power Meter, as well as how fast the Power Meter will recharge. A full Reserve Bar means that the Power Meter will recharge very fast and that there is lots of Magic left if the player can wait.

Every time a player uses one of their spellcasters to cast a spell, the Reserve Bar will go down permanently.

When the Reserve Bar reaches 0, the Power Meter will no longer recharge.

Some character abilities (often called augments of the winds) such as Arcane Conduit and Greater Arcane Conduit can cause the Reserve Bar to recharge slightly.

Magic availability in the Campaign, and "Gambling"
"The fickle Winds of Magic blow whence they will..."

In Warhammer Fantasy lore, the Winds of Magic are extremely unpredictable at times blowing a gale and at others suddenly still. As a result, the amount of magic available to the player's army in a battle in the Campaign mode can vary greatly depending on the army's location. The Map will tell players how strongly the winds of magic are blowing in any given Province.

At the start of a battle in the campaign, the player is presented with the option to gamble, or to accept the current amount of magic available. If the player chooses the "gamble" option then the amount of magic and reserve magic may go up or down at random. As such, it is generally inadvisable to gamble if the Winds of Magic meter is at 15 (out of 30) or higher.

If the result is positive and the amount of magic rises above the previous total, then flavour text appears stating that "Ranald favours you!"

Overcast spells and miscasts
Some spells can be overcast which increases and/or changes their effects. This costs extra winds of magic, and has a risk of resulting in a miscast which damages the spellcaster, although the spell will still be cast with the extra overcast effects. Some character skills and items in the campaign mode can decrease the risk of miscasting.

Notably, miscast damage is magic damage, so it can be reduced depending on your caster's magic resistance or ward save.

To overcast a spell, double-click its button before casting/setting a target. Spells which can be overcast will have a small double arrow on their button in the battle UI.

Lore Attributes
Lore attributes are passive abilities. Each lore of magic has its own associated lore attribute. For instance the Lore of Heavens has Roiling Skies, which is a map-wide constant debuff against flying enemies. Most casters that use just one specific lore have access to that lore's attribute. Teclis is notable for having access to 9 different lore attributes in campaign.

Bound Spells
Bound spells are spells - the same ones in the various lores of magic. However they are conferred by an item or other ability/upgrade and do not cost winds of magic to cast, nor do they have a risk of miscast. A character need not be a wizard/caster to cast a bound spell. Bound Spell ability buttons are put next to the character portrait window in battle.

Some characters unlock bound spells through ranking up and choosing skills: for instance Teclis in the campaign can unlock Fiery Convocation.

In other cases bound spells may be attached to certain items or banners. For instance, the Ruby Ring of Ruin confers Fireball as a bound spell.


 * See Category:Items with bound spells.

Types of Spells
This section lists different types of spells, with some examples of each.

Augment
A buff spell which increases the power/stats of friendly units or gives them new attributes (eg: Mantle of Ghorok).

Regeneration

 * Not to be confused with the regeneration ability.

A buff spell which causes units to heal over time, or even raises them from the dead (eg: Regrowth).

Hex
A debuff spell which weakens enemy units, lowering their stats, preventing their movement, or causing them to suffer fear/terror (eg: Net of Amyntok).

Magic Missile
A missile which shoots across the battlefield towards the enemy. Magic missiles can miss, or be blocked by terrain (eg: Fireball).

Wind
A spell which travels in a straight line, doing damage and/or knocking enemies down (eg: Wind of Death). In Total War: Warhammer II, wind spells can aimed in a specific direction by holding down the left mouse button and rotating the cursor when targeting.

Breath
Similar to a Wind spell, but has a cone-shaped area of effect rather than a rectangular shape (eg: Pestilent Breath). Breath spells can aimed in a specific direction by holding down the left mouse button and rotating the cursor when targeting.

Direct Damage
A spell which targets enemy units directly and does damage to them (eg: The Fate of Bjuna).

Bombardment
A spell which targets an area or enemy unit, and bombards them from above with damaging missiles (eg: Comet of Cassandora).

Explosion
A spell that causes a violent explosion outwards from a central point, damaging and knocking back all units (eg: Foot of Gork).

Hiding
A spell, similar to an Augment, which causes a unit to become invisible (eg: Skitterleap).

Vortex
A devastating spell which stays on the battlefield for some time, damaging all nearby units, friend or foe. Most vortex spells move randomly, though some stay still or home-in on the enemy (eg: Curse of Da Bad Moon).

Summons

 * Main article: summons.

Some spells summon new units to the battlefield. These spells are usually classed, officially, as Augments or Explosions (eg: Transformation of Kadon).

Unique Spells

 * Main article: unique spells.

Some spells are unique to certain casters / types of casters, and not part of any lore of magic.

Lores of Magic
Introduced in Total War: Warhammer:


 * Lore of Light
 * Lore of Fire
 * Lore of Death
 * Lore of Metal
 * Lore of Heavens
 * Lore of the Big Waaagh!
 * Lore of the Little Waaagh!
 * Lore of the Vampires
 * Lore of Beasts
 * Lore of the Wild
 * Lore of Shadows
 * Lore of Life

Introduced in Total War: Warhammer II:
 * Skaven Spells of Plague
 * Skaven Spells of Ruin
 * Skaven Spells of Stealth
 * Lore of High Magic
 * Lore of Dark Magic
 * Lore of Nehekhara
 * Lore of the Deep

Introduced in Total War: Warhammer III:
 * Lore of Ice
 * Lore of Tempest