Mana

To perform the magic arts and influence the worldly or godly streams of magic, a mage must draw upon his own magical energy. This energy is known as mana. Effecting magic uses this power, consuming mana, but like the body’s strength, a mage’s powers regenerate with time.
In SpellForce, the amount of mana a character possesses is shown by the wisdom value in his stats. The intelligence value shows how quickly a character can recover from mana use, i.e. how fast his mana reserves replenish.

The Schools of Magic and their Specializations

There are four great schools of magic, and each school offers three paths of specialization a mage can learn:

White Magic, which divides down to the specializations of Life, Nature and Boons.

Black Magic, which has the specializations of Death, Necromancy and Curses.

Elemental Magic, that has the specializations of Fire, ice and Earth.

Mind magic, which divides into Enchantments, Offensive and Defensive Mind Magic.

An avatar can learn various forms and specializations of magic, for which he must not only learn the basics of a school, but also the details of each specialization.

Spells

There are many ways of performing magic; it can be contained in items, appear as a natural skill of certain creatures, or be learned through a spell. Spells are a way of containing magic, making it learnable and more easily controlled. A spell is a predetermined, magic formula that has been researched and written down by the old masters of the magic arts.

Spells are how a character can effect magic and learn new applications of the magic arts. In SpellForce, there exist many spells, which can often be found on scrolls. If your character has the requisite magic knowledge to comprehend the spell, he can transfer it to his Spellbook and use it at any time. To understand and master spells, the character collects knowledge in the different schools of magic.

Uses and Types of Spells

Spells are applications of the different types of magic. There are various effects these spells can have.
The scope of spells are classified as follows:

Directed Spells
These spells act on a specific target that the caster can choose. The spell only hits this target. Many offensive spells are directed, but also healing spells.

Undirected Spells
This type of spell either requires no target (such as the summoning of a creature) or effect wild magic that finds its own target. Offensive spells of wild magic are some of the most destructive and effective.

Area Spells
These spells affect a certain area. This can be used to attack and weaken multiple enemies, or heal and strengthen a group of allies.

Auras
Auras are a special type of area spell. Their effect is produced within a radius around the mage, and continues until the mage either ends the spell or runs out of mana. No further action is necessary once the spell has been cast, the spell works around the mage as long as possible or as long as wanted.

The duration of spells can be classified as follows:

Immediate spells
These spells unfold their their full power immediately, be it helpful or damaging. The effect of these spells is usually strong, but does not last.

Spells with duration
Such spells work for a certain amount of time. Strengthening and weakening spells count among them, but some offensive spells only reach their full potential with time. The spells may seem less powerful initially, but their duration more than makes up for this disadvantage.

Sustainable spells
This type of magic can work for any amount of time, depending only on the magic energy of the caster. These spells draw upon the mage’s mana reserves and continuously consume part of his strength. For example, control of a summoned creature requires constant magic energy.