Skaven Spells of Ruin

Skaven Spells of Ruin is a lore of magic introduced in Total War: Warhammer II. It is unique to the Skaven race.

Lore Attribute[]

Musk of Fear[]
As the Lore of Ruin siphons the Winds of Magic, an unholy despair takes hold on the surface dwellers… the rats lurk in the shadows.
	Passive Ability Skaven Spells of Ruin
Type	Hex (Area)
Target	Enemies
Leadership	-4
Melee Attack	-12
Effect range	Map-wide
Duration	8 seconds
Affected units	Affects enemies in range(all)
Enabled if	Casting
Triggers when casting spell

Howling Warpgale[]
The caster gestures twitchingly to the skies and fierce gales swirl about, making flight impossible.
	Spell Skaven Spells of Ruin
Cost	5 Winds 9 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Hex (Area)
Target	Ground, Enemies
Cannot move
Range	100 metres
Effect range	55 metres
Duration	14 seconds 28 seconds (Overcast)
Cooldown	30 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Affected units	Affects enemies in range(all)
Affects units if	Flying unit
Extended effect duration

Warp Lightning[]
Dire greenish-black lightning strikes at the Skaven’s chittered command.
	Spell Skaven Spells of Ruin
Cost	6 Winds 11 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Bombardment
Target	Ground, Enemies
Ranged Damage	224 (100%)
Explosive Damage	24 (100%)
Range	200 metres
Duration	5 seconds
Cooldown	30 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Increased number of missiles
Causes moderate magical damage Medium strike area Good against armour Strong vs multiple combatants Weak vs a single combatant

Death Frenzy[]
Gesticulating wildly, the caster gifts an allied unit with a rabid, frothing need to attack and consume the foe!
	Spell Skaven Spells of Ruin
Cost	6 Winds 12 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Augment Augment (Area) (Overcast)
Target	Self, Ally Allies (Overcast)
Base Weapon Damage	+30%
Armour-Piercing Weapon Damage	+30%
Melee Attack	+24
Immune to Psychology
Range	200 metres
Effect range (Overcast)	35 metres (Overcast)
Duration	28 seconds
Cooldown	43 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Affected units	Affects allies in range(max: 1) Affects allies in range(all) (Overcast)
Added effect area

Scorch[]
The Sorcerer thrusts his paws into the ground summoning forth a great gout of green flame.
	Spell Skaven Spells of Ruin
Cost	7 Winds 11 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Breath
Target	Ground, All
Ranged Damage	36 (0%)
Duration	3 seconds 6 seconds (Overcast)
Radius	6 metres
Movement Speed	24m/s
Range	150 metres 450 metres (Overcast)
Duration	12 seconds
Cooldown	44 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Extended effect duration Extended cast range
Causes major magical damage & fire damage Long, thin, expanding, tear-shaped attack Strong vs multiple units Weak vs a single combatant

Flensing Ruin[]
Green ribbons of Warp-Energy tear the flesh from the target’s bones. It's very nasty to behold – as nasty as it sounds, in fact – but far nastier, of course, if you're the recipient…
	Spell Skaven Spells of Ruin
Cost	14 Winds 20 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Direct Damage (Area)
Target	Enemy, Enemies
Damage Per Second	25-50
Armour	-30
Range	100 metres
Effect range	35 metres
Duration	24 seconds 38 seconds (Overcast)
Cooldown	52 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Affected units	Affects enemies in range(all)
Extended effect duration
Causes damage to combatants Strong vs character Strong vs a single combatant Weak vs a single unit

Crack's Call[]
With the incantation invoked, the Skaven stamps his horrible, rattish foot, causing the very ground to split asunder.
	Spell Skaven Spells of Ruin
Cost	15 Winds 20 Winds (Overcast)
Type	Wind
Target	Ground, All
Damage	35 (100%) 70 (50%) (Overcast)
Duration	1 second
Radius	7 metres
Movement Speed	60m/s
Range	150 metres
Duration	10 seconds
Cooldown	52 seconds
Miscast chance	50% (Overcast)
Affects units if	Grounded
Increased damage
Medium, forward-moving area of effect Strong vs multiple units Weak vs a single combatant

The Dreaded Thirteenth Spell[]
The Curse of the Horned Rat is the dreaded 13th spell – the fabric of reality is torn and the Horned One’s children spill forth!
	Spell Skaven Spells of Ruin
Cost	20 Winds
Type	Explosion
Uses	2
Target	Ground, All
Explosive Damage	81 (33%)
Range	150 metres
Duration	13 seconds
Cooldown	52 seconds
Summons a unit of Stormvermin Summons a unit of Stormvermin (Sword & Shield) (Overcast) Huge explosion area Strong vs multiple units Summoned units degrade over time
Available to Grey Seer (Ruin) only

Unit
The Blue Scribes	🗙	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	🗙

Unit
The Changeling (Formless Horror: Ikit Claw)	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	🗙
The Changeling (Formless Horror: The Blue Scribes)	🗙	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	🗙
The Blue Scribes	🗙	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	🗙

Unit
The Blue Scribes	🗙	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	🗙

Warp lightning is one of the most cost effective spells in the game. For very few winds of magic it can do quite a bit of damage.

Musk of Fear which powerfully lowers melee attack and leadership for all enemies.
Howling Warpgale is situational, but very good if you have ranged tools to gun down flying units held in place.
Death Frenzy is a strong buff, not a ton to say about it other than it can turn a mediocre Skaven unit into a much more dangerous one.
Scorch is a very narrow breath spell, but can do good damage if cast appropriately.
Crack's Call is a powerful but expensive wind spell, effective at damaging groups of armored infantry locked in melee
Flensing Ruin appears to be a strong spell and offers the added utility of being direct damage to a monster or character. The tooltip may seem counter intuitive at first, but the spell is most effective when targeting a single entity such a lord, hero, or monster while they are surrounded by friendly units. This makes it similar to the Final Transmutation spell from the Lore of Metal.