"With the Library now yours to study, the location of the Fount of Wizardry has been revealed to you. Unfortunately, it has already been claimed by one of your rivals! Without the knowledge in the library of Chronos, it may be some time before they can control its power, but once they do, they will be unstoppable. However, the existence of an artifact of great potency has also been revealed by the library. This artifact has the power to completely nullify all magic in its presence, a most effective weapon against a rival Archmage..."
—Intro message, if arriving from The Eternal Scrolls
"The Orb of Negation is now yours, and with its power your victory is all but certain. But move quickly, for time is running out, and if the power of the Fount of Wizardry is bound by one of your rivals not even the Orb will protect you from their power."
—Intro message, if arriving from Power's End
Fount of Wizardry is the fourth and last scenario of the Wizard's Isle campaign in Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Price of Loyalty.
You must take control of the castle of Magic, where the fount of wizardry lies. Do this and your victory will be supreme.OffBck
The wizards and their barbarian ally manage to overcome their obstacles and capture the castle of Magic, and with it, the Fount of Wizardry.
Walkthrough[]
The player starts out with the barbarian hero Uncle Ivan, who possesses a Set Guardian spell (though he must buy a spellbook before he can use it) and, if arriving from Power's End, the Sphere of Negation, which prevents all spellcasting in combat. He has a wizard town, but not the resources to build it up. The red player has three red castles, and the yellow player has six towns and seven castles.
On an island to the southeast, there's a neutral necromancer castle, and next to it, a jail holding the wizard Marco. He's high-level, and equipped with a Legendary Scepter, a Crystal Ball, and a Fire Cloak.
Take either ore or gold as the starting bonus, which will be needed to upgrade the starting town to a castle as early as possible for gold and creature accumulation. Note that this scenario also suffers a bug like the last scenario of the The Price of Loyalty campaign: if the red player has access to dimension door, it can end the game real quick by overpowering the player with over 40 black dragons.
This scenario can be really difficult without the artifact from Power's End, as the player will face extremely high level warlocks which can disintegrate the player's troops with a few lightning bolts. Gather troops, head to the island south of the player, beat the guards and collect the ore and wood that needed to upgrade the town to a castle. Next, board the ship again, follow the sea bottles south until locating a Necromancer castle. Capture it, but don't bother to upgrade it. Rescue the wizard nearby, flag the gem mine, and board the ship again. Head back to the main castle and collect a fresh week of troops.
Now start sailing northwest until reaching a gem pouch artifact on an island. Pick up the artifact, then head soutwest to capture yet another Sorceress castle. Flag the mercury lab and sawmill here, then also flag the ore mine on the next island. Head southeast to flag yet another crystal mine. At the start of the second month, the player should have sufficient resources to trade in the 3 marketplaces from the castles to build the cloud castle in the main base. Gather at least 7 Titans and all other troops and start heading to the whirlpool in the middle of the island.
Upon undocking, have another hero cast summon boat to prevent the enemy from stealing the ship to get off the island. Head southwest and capture the nearest Warlock castle. If it is near the end of the week, wait until three black dragons can be collected. Head south to capture a warlock town first, then head back to the warlock castle and beat any enemy heroes approaching near. There are 2 paths to this warlock castle, and the enemy heroes comes in stacks of hundreds. Weaken them by leaving the warlock castle empty, move the main hero away, then attack when enemy heroes draw near. The player will have to do it until the Warlock castle is strong enough to defend itself, while the player's main hero is away in one of the paths to capture enemy castles. Send the second powerful wizard hero with a fresh batch of armies to help defend or capture castles in another path. Once all the castles are captured, go to the column of barriers to the right of the warlock castle. Be very prepared before unlocking the barriers, as one of them has at least 50 black dragons to start with.
Once the last two Warlock castles are captured, gather as many strong troops as possible for the final castle that is only accessible across a patch of water by the dimension door spell or summon boat. The last castle has at least 100 black dragons and 50+ red dragons, so get a sizeable army to match that and victory is assured.
"With all your rivals defeated and scattered before you, the Fount of Wizardry is yours. Now you will control the power to shape a new age of magic and unlock the secrets of time itself. Wield this power wisely and you shall become the greatest wizard of this or any other world."