Dark Magic spells (H5)

For the skill, see Dark Magic (H5).

Dark Magic is a school of magic appearing in Heroes of Might and Magic V.

Spells

Level 1

Number of spells: 3

Icon	Name	Mana cost	Description	Skill level				Notes
				Unskilled	Basic	Advanced	Expert
	Weakness / Mass weakness	4	Causes the selected enemy unit to inflict less damage in combat. Spellpower determines the duration of effect.	50% decrease of max. damage to min. damage	65% decrease of max. damage to min. damage	80% decrease of max. damage to min. damage	100% decrease of max. damage to min. damage	Weakness, at expert level, is cast by archliches. It is inflicted by spectral dragons, death knights and shadow matriarchs at basic level. This spell, along with vulnerability, at advanced level with Spell Power 5, is inflicted by the moat the battlefield when a Necropolis town is besieged. Raven is a specialist in this spell, where it also decreases targeted enemy's defenses by 1 per three hero levels. The hero can cast this spell on all enemy units with Master of Curses ability, but with double the cost.
								It is also inflicted by earth daughters, mummies and shadow mistresses.
	Slow / Mass slow	4	Makes target enemy stack take fewer actions in combat.	25% Initiative decrease	30% Initiative decrease	35% Initiative decrease	40% Initiative decrease	Slow, at advanced level, is cast and inflicted by shadow witches and its upgrade, shadow matriarchs. The hero can cast this spell on all enemy units with Master of Mind ability, but with double the cost. Greaves of the Dwarven Kings grants immunity to this spell.
								It is also cast, at advanced level, by shamans and its upgrades, sky daughters or earth daughters. It is inflicted by earth daughters, mummies and shadow mistresses.
	Sorrow	5	Decreases morale and luck of selected enemy creature.	-1 Morale and Luck	-2 Morale and Luck	-3 Morale and Luck	-4 Morale and Luck	It is inflicted by ghost dragons.

Level 2

Number of spells: 2

Icon	Name	Mana cost	Description	Skill level				Notes
				Unskilled	Basic	Advanced	Expert
	Vulnerability / Mass vulnerability	5	Destroys armor of target enemy stack, reducing its defense. Can be cast several times on a single stack, but defense will not go lower than zero.	-3 Defense	-4 Defense	-5 Defense	-6 Defense	Vulnerability, at advanced level, is cast by pit fiends and their upgrade, pit lords, as well as shadow witches and its upgrade, shadow matriarchs. Faiz is a specialist in this spell, where he can inflict Air damage to the targeted unit. This spell, along with weakness, at advanced level with Spell Power 5, is inflicted by the moat the battlefield when a Necropolis town is besieged. The hero can cast this spell in a 4x4 area with Master of Pain ability, but with double the cost.
								It can also be cast, at advanced level, by shadow mistresses. It is inflicted by mummies and earth daughters.
	Decay / Mass decay	6	The stack receives Earth damage each time it takes an action. Decay damage is 8 * (Power + 4).	2 turn duration	3 turn duration	4 turn duration	5 turn duration	Decay, at advanced level, is cast by archliches. Lethos is a specialist in this spell, where he can cast this spell (on random multiple enemies) just before the combat starts. The hero can cast this spell in a 4x4 area with Master of Curses ability, but with double the cost.

Level 3

Number of spells: 2

Icon	Name	Mana cost	Description	Skill level				Notes
				Unskilled	Basic	Advanced	Expert
	Confusion / Mass confusion	9	Makes creatures in target enemy stack forget what they are doing on a battlefield. Some of the affected creatures will forget to use shooting attacks and retaliation strikes.	50% of stack affected	70% of stack affected	90% of stack affected	100% of stack affected	Confusion, at no level, is cast by shadow matriarchs. The hero can cast this spell on all enemy units with Master of Mind ability, but with double the cost. Alastor is a specialist in this spell, where upon casting this spell, he can also reduce the enemy's mana by 1 point per level.
								It is also cast, at expert level, by mummies, as well as shadow mistresses, at no level.
	Suffering / Mass suffering	5	Makes creatures in target enemy stack forget what they are doing on a battlefield. Some of the affected creatures will forget to use shooting attacks and retaliation strikes.	-3 Attack	-6 Attack	-9 Attack	-12 Attack	Suffering, at advanced level, is cast by archliches. The hero can cast this spell on all enemy units with Master of Curses ability, but with double the cost. The hero can also inflict this spell on enemy creatures through Weakening strike ability.
								It is also cast, at advanced level, by lich masters. It is inflicted by mummies and earth daughters.

Level 4

Number of spells: 2

Icon	Name	Mana cost	Description	Skill level				Notes
				Unskilled	Basic	Advanced	Expert
	Frenzy	15	Drives target stack of creatures frenzy. Frenzied stack considers all other creatures and war machines its personal enemies and attacks the nearest one with increased minimal and maximal damage.	1 turn duration			2 turn duration	This effect cannot be removed with cleansing. It is inflicted by shadow matriarchs. Shield of the Dwarven Kings grants immunity to this spell.
				1% * Power increased damage	2% * Power increased damage	3% * Power increased damage		It is also inflicted by shadow mistresses. A Stronghold unit gains twice the normal amount of Blood Points under the effect of this spell.
	Blindness	10	Blinds the selected enemy creature so that it cannot move, attack or use any abilities. Blindness is dispelled if the affected creature is attacked.	Affected target can retaliate			Affected target cannot retaliate	Helm of the Dwarven Kings grants immunity to this spell. Fire trap is set on the battlefield as a moat when an Academy town is besieged, and inflicts blindness spell upon being triggered.
				15% * Power turn duration	20% * Power turn duration	25% * Power turn duration		Blindness is cast by zealots. However, this spell is removed from their spellbook in Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East expansion pack.

Level 5

Number of spells: 3

Icon	Name	Mana cost	Description	Skill level				Notes
				Unskilled	Basic	Advanced	Expert
	Puppet master	18	Gives the hero temporary control over selected enemy unit. The spell does not work on undead, elemental and mechanical units. Unit under this spell can't counter-attack. The targeted creature remains under the caster control for 0.25 * Power turns. Only one unit can be controlled by the hero. In addition, the affected target gains Initiative (which is capped at 100% increase).	1% * Power Initiative increase	3% * Power Initiative increase			Prior to patch 1.3, the hero could recast puppet master for other enemy stacks.
				15% * Power turn duration	20% * Power turn duration	25% * Power turn duration
	Curse of the Netherworld	15	Deals Water damage to all creatures on a battlefield, except infernal and undead creatures.	4 * (Power + 1)	3 * (Power + 4)	6 * (Power + 5)	12 * (Power + 12)	Master of Pain ability gives the hero gains +4 Spell Power when casting this spell.
	Vampirism	10	Selected friendly creature gets all Undead attributes and the ability to drain life, just like vampires. The unit gains health proportionally to the damage it deals, but not above the Hit Points it had at the start of the combat.	2% * (Power + 5) healed	2% * (Power + 10) healed	2% * (Power + 15) healed	2% * (Power + 25) healed	Vampirism cannot be cast on mechanical or elemental creatures. This spell stacks with vampires' Life Drain ability.