Netherheim Wiki

Self spells

Cast on yourself. Difficulty 1–10; success rides sorcerers per land (SPL) and defensive corps power. Spell Halls only nudge duration toward the difficulty ceiling. Paladin: +35% magic effectiveness, +15% spell duration. Oracle path: +10% hostile Magic Power; Innervate (war only, +100% Ash for 3–6h, once / 24h; Paladin Circle-wide at 2–4h); Ember Muster (instant, difficulty 9, forges 0.1%–1% of your citizens into army; mix is random and can be a single unit type). Skill Tree Magic ranks also scale self-spell potency.

Mana pacing. Two independent lanes: defense (any self / Circle cast) and offense (any hex). Streak is lane-wide, five Hex Weaves means your next Fireball is also at streak 5. Listed Ash climb +4% per cast on that lane. Self / Circle (defense) also pay +8% every 5 streak. The other lane never touches it. Each game day decays streaks by 1 (Paladin: defense −2; Blight / Battlemage / Hexblade: offense −2). The Magic bar follows your selected spell.

• Barkskin Ward (500 Ash · Difficulty 1/10)
  Living bark sheathes your halls, −10% buildings lost to Kindling, Torch the Works, and Greater Torch while active.
• Battle Surge (1200 Ash · Difficulty 6/10)
  +20% offense while active.
• Harvest Blessing (750 Ash · Difficulty 2/10)
  +30% food production while active.
• Gold Blessing (1500 Ash · Difficulty 4/10)
  +25% gold income while active (3–7h). Unlocked by Prosperity → Mintwork max (Mint Charter).
• Ley Surge (1000 Ash · Difficulty 5/10)
  The ley lines hold steady, your Ash stockpile does not decay and every spell costs −10% Ash while active. Unlocked by Veilcraft → Ritual max (Blood Circle).
• First Blood (1200 Ash · Difficulty 5/10)
  Blood the vanguard before the charge: your next attack inflicts +5% enemy military casualties. One charge, held up to 12 days. Unlocked by Warpath → Vanguard max (Blooded Vanguard).
• Starlit Aegis (1100 Ash · Difficulty 6/10)
  +5% defense while active.
• Circle Aegis (1400 Ash · Difficulty 9/10)
  Paladin circle ward, +8% defense for you and your parent Circle (allied Circles excluded). Hard cast, washing a whole Circle takes real power.
• Absolution (1200 Ash · Difficulty 6/10 · paladin)
  Instant on yourself or one Circle mate. On a successful cast, each racial blight, Disease, and Curse has a 25% chance to clear, rising with your magic offense up to 80%. Magic hexes are untouched. Buildings never clear these afflictions, wait the timer or cast Absolution.
• Titheguard (1300 Ash · Difficulty 6/10 · paladin)
  Single Circle target. −25% military wages and +7.5% defense while active. Lighten their purse, hold their wall.
• Emberwell (1500 Ash · Difficulty 6/10 · paladin)
  Single Circle mate, instant, once / 12h. Pours 6 hours of their own Ash Kiln output straight into their stores. Cuts the wait after a war burn; cannot be cast on yourself.
• Labor Benediction (1200 Ash · Difficulty 6/10 · paladin)
  You or one Circle mate. +25% citizen productivity (one citizen covers 1.25 %-building jobs, lifting staffing). Difficulty 6; up to 10h with full Spell Halls. Mates get half duration.
• Shadowstep (800 Ash · Difficulty 6/10)
  +25% covert effectiveness while active.
• Mason's Haste (800 Ash · Difficulty 3/10)
  −20% building time while active.
• Conscription Hymn (600 Ash · Difficulty 5/10)
  +1.5% draft rate while active.
• Quartermaster's Edict (1000 Ash · Difficulty 3/10)
  −5% military wages, −5% training gold cost, −10% training time.
• Ratswarm (900 Ash · Difficulty 6/10 · nestkin)
  The burrows boil over, +20% free muster rate and Nestlings fight at +1 offense and +1 defense for 3 days.
• Riptide (1000 Ash · Difficulty 5/10 · kraken)
  The tide drags attackers under, +10% casualties dealt to any army that marches on you while active.
• Ash Font (900 Ash · Difficulty 3/10)
  +25% Ash production from Ash Kilns while active.
• Innervate (1600 Ash · Difficulty 6/10)
  War only · once / 24h. +100% Ash production for 3–6 hours. Paladin: also Circle-wide at 2–4 hours (harder cast).
• Ember Muster (2400 Ash · Difficulty 9/10)
  Instant. Difficulty 9. Forges 0.1%–1% of your citizens into Rogues or Sorcerers, mix is random and can be a single type. Ash cost is high and scales with land.
• Mist Fertility (1100 Ash · Difficulty 5/10)
  +25% citizens birth rate while active.
• Iron Rations (700 Ash · Difficulty 3/10)
  −15% food consumption while active.
• Bloodward (1400 Ash · Difficulty 7/10 · warlord)
  −20% combat casualties while active.
• War Cry (1200 Ash · Difficulty 6/10 · warlord)
  The host roars as one before the march, +15% offense while active.
• Night Eyes (900 Ash · Difficulty 4/10)
  +20% covert defense while active.
• Ledger Seal (1200 Ash · Difficulty 5/10)
  The ledgers balance in your favor, −15% army wages while active.
• Bastion (1300 Ash · Difficulty 6/10 · warden)
  +15% defense and −12% combat casualties while active.
• Citizen Watch (1000 Ash · Difficulty 5/10 · warden)
  Every citizen takes up a post on the walls, +0.5 defense per citizen while active. Citizen defense is capped at 50% of troop defense.
• Rallying Banner (1100 Ash · Difficulty 5/10 · herald)
  +8% offense, +8% defense, and +10% covert effectiveness while active.
• Battle Focus (1200 Ash · Difficulty 6/10 · battlemage)
  +12% offense and +8% magic-facing grit (attack threshold) while active.
• Ley Latch (900 Ash · Difficulty 5/10 · hexblade)
  After a hostile hex lands, cut a door in their veil. Your next covert send to that target within 12 game days costs −25% rogues and ignores +1 difficulty. Fades if unused.
• Kilnfire Haste (1300 Ash · Difficulty 6/10 · Suits warlord / wood-elf)
  Stoke the column's kilns: your next march returns 20% faster. One charge, held up to 12 days.
• Stonebind (1200 Ash · Difficulty 5/10 · Suits warden / dwarf)
  Root the host into the walls: +10% defense, but you cannot march or launch expeditions while it holds.
• Veil of Ash (1000 Ash · Difficulty 6/10 · Suits ashbound)
  Drift ash over the citadel: Citadel and Root Surveys of you read up to 30% off. Rite Survey sees the veil, and Rite Scouring can strip it.
• Mirror Ward (1500 Ash · Difficulty 8/10 · Suits paladin / aetherborn)
  The first timed hex to land on you is caught in the glass, with a 25% chance it rebounds onto the caster. The ward breaks either way.
• Hexbreak (900 Ash · Difficulty 5/10 · paladin)
  Instant on yourself or one Circle mate: each Curse has a 25% chance to break, rising with your magic offense up to 80%. Does not touch Disease or Magic hexes.

Offensive spells

Cast on enemies. Your magic offense vs their magic defense. Paladin duration bonus applies to hostiles you land as well.

• Hex Weave (Magic)
  Hostile or Circle war. −15% covert power for 6–9 days. Duration ignores Spell Halls.
• Curse of Clumsy Fingers (Curse)
  Hostile or Circle war. Failed covert ops increase rogue losses by 15% for 6–9 days. Duration ignores Spell Halls.
• Snarl Hex (Curse)
  Hostile or Circle war. +1% rogues required for covert ops and raids for 1–3 days. Duration ignores Spell Halls.
• Shattering Winds
  Hostile or Circle war. Blast ~0.8–1.2% of built land in their largest building cluster (economy, military, magic/covert, or utility).
• Ley Siphon
  Hostile or Circle war. Instant mana tax, steal ~8% of the target's Ash (min 200).
• Land Siphon
  Hostile or Circle war. Tear ~1.5% of the target's acres away as your own open land. No Might range, the haul scales with how much land they hold. Counts as 3 casts on your hex streak.
• Citadel Rupture
  Hostile or Circle war. Torch ~1% of built land to open land. Fizzle slays 25% of your sorcerers.
• Meteor Cascade (Magic)
  Hostile or Circle war. Burning skies, each day ~1–1.5% citizens and ~0.5–0.8% home military perish (4–6 days).
• Starfall (Magic)
  Hostile or Circle war. Burning meteors fall each day, 2.5% citizens slain and 1.5% of buildings shattered to open land (4–10 days).
• Mana Fray (Magic)
  Hostile or Circle war. Fray their rites, −12% spell success and +10% Ash cost on casts for 5–7 days.
• Aether Burn
  Hostile or Circle war. Instant conflagration, scorch ~3–5% of their citizens and ~2–4% of troops at home.
• Veilpiercer (Magic)
  Hostile or Circle war. Pierce the veil, +18% rogue losses on failed covert ops, +2% rogues required, and −10% covert power for 5–7 days.
• Oracle's Dread (Curse)
  Hostile or Circle war. Dread saps the host, −8% military offense and defense for 5–7 days.
• Hex of Weakness (Curse)
  Hostile or Circle war. Cripple their lines, −12% military offense and defense for 2–4 days.
• Silence Rites (Magic)
  Hostile or Circle war. Seal their self-rites, they cannot cast self-spells for 2–4 days.
• Rite Scouring
  Hostile or Circle war. Instant, each active self-rite on the target has an 80% chance to dispel (wards, surges, blessings). Does not touch racial blights.
• Street Riot (Sabotage)
  Economic sabotage from the alleys, −10% gold income and −10% citizen productivity for 3–5 days.
• Sabotaged Aether (Sabotage)
  Ley lines cut, −20% Ash income and −8% spell success for 5–7 days.
• Whisper Campaign (Sabotage)
  Propaganda from the alleys, −12% birth rate and −10% draft for 5–7 days.
• Blockade (Sabotage)
  Rogues choke the roads, seizing 15–30% of all Circle aid sent to or from this province. More rogues sent, longer it holds.
• Bribed Marshal (Curse)
  A marshal took coin from enemy rogues. Your next march takes +15% casualties, unless your garrison marshal roots out the traitor first.
• Forged Ledgers (Sabotage)
  Rogues cooked your books. Other provinces see your Might 15% high or low until the forgery is found out. Covert Probe shows the truth.
• Choked Kilns (Curse)
  Rogues choked the flues, −25% Ash Kiln output for 3 days. A Curse: Absolution or Hexbreak can lift it.
• Mole in the Deep Survey (Sabotage)
  A planted guide waits among your surveyors. Your next Deep Survey claims 30% less land.
• Lured Watch (Sabotage)
  Rogues drew your watch off its posts, −30% Watch Post effect for 2 days.
• Brittle Bones (Curse)
  Curse. Hostile or Circle war. Their defenders take +12% casualties for 3 days.
• Famine Whisper (Disease)
  Disease. A hunger that will not settle: +20% food eaten for 4 days. Harvest blessings offset it, Absolution cleanses it.
• Sundered Banner (Magic)
  Magic. Tear the wall-rites: Bastion and Citizen Watch work 15% weaker for 3 days.
• Slow Tides (Curse)
  Curse. Drag at their wagons: their marches return 15% slower for 4 days. Kilnfire Haste pulls against it.

Covert operations

Relative covert offense / defense (RPL-driven) plus Covert Halls and Watch Posts. Halls train rogues at 0.03/day each (banked like Spell Halls). Covert path: +25% covert effectiveness. Shadow: +35% covert effectiveness, +30% intel / op duration, and −20% rogue return timers. Hearthkin: +15% covert effectiveness, +20% intel duration, Quiet Alleys. Mycelid (Dusk): +20% covert effectiveness, Spore Roads (+50% hall rogue gain), Rot Bloom (march win or a successful sabotage op → −Covert Def / +cas blight; never from steals, and it doesn't soften steals). Steals carry at most 60 Gold, 120 Food or 12 Ash per rogue you own, and each successful steal puts the target on Alert (lighter hauls, sharper watch, decays over a few days). Surveys share with your circle when noted.

Nerve. Every op and survey also spends Nerve, a covert budget capped by path: Warmonger 25, Oracle 50, Covert 75. Shadow and Hexblade raise the cap with Steady Nerve on the Shadows branch (+1 per rank, +5 more at max, up to 85). It refills 6 per game day (Shadow ×1.25, Covert path +1). You need at least 5 Nerve (or the op's cost, whichever is higher) to act. Probes cost 1, Root and Citadel Surveys 2, steals 3, heavy sabotage and kills 6 to 8. Nerve caps spam without touching your rogues: a full tank funds a sharp opening, then you pace.

Smuggle Out. Hide 10% of your Gold in a cache for 4 days (5% fee, one cache at a time, 3 Nerve). It comes home on its own, but raiders who break your walls loot the cache along with your vault.

• Root Survey (Difficulty 3/10 · 2 Nerve)
  ★ Exact modified defense + military roster for War Room clean strikes. Commits 5% of your rogues. Shared with your Circle for 12 days.
• Citadel Survey (Difficulty 2/10 · 2 Nerve)
  Land, stores, citizens, buildings, and fogged army / rogues / sorcerers. Root for exact military. Shared with your Circle for 12 days.
• Covert Probe (Difficulty 3/10 · 1 Nerve)
  Target RPL and modified covert offense / defense. Exact Covert totals on their intel profile.
• Arcane Probe (Difficulty 3/10 · 1 Nerve)
  Target SPL, magic offense, and magic defense. Exact Magic totals on their intel profile.
• Structure Survey (Difficulty 4/10 · 1 Nerve)
  Exact building counts, full Build-tab view on their intel profile.
• Skill Tree Probe (Difficulty 3/10 · 1 Nerve)
  Exact Skill Tree level / XP / talent ranks. Shared with your Circle for 12 days.
• Rite Survey (Difficulty 4/10 · 1 Nerve)
  Covert path only. Exact active rites, hostile hexes, and racial blights with days left. Shared with your Circle for 12 days.
• Ambush the Wagons (Difficulty 4/10 · 6 Nerve · shadow)
  Shadow only, while an army that stole your land is still away, peel land from their wagon train. Optimal send reclaim up to 8% of remaining haul; under-sending softens yield and chance.
• Steal Gold (Difficulty 5/10 · 3 Nerve)
  Available anytime. Optimal send is 5–7% of your roster (3–5% Shadow, 4–6% Hexblade), higher success needs fewer. Full send lifts ~6–10% of their treasury (× Might match), capped at 60 Gold per Rogue you own. Under-sending softens yield and chance. Big stockpiles yield a smaller share. Recent thefts by anyone put their stores on Alert: lighter hauls and sharper Covert Defense until it fades (~3 days per stack).
• Steal Food (Difficulty 4/10 · 3 Nerve)
  Available anytime. Optimal send is 5–7% of your roster (3–5% Shadow, 4–6% Hexblade), higher success needs fewer. Full send lifts ~8–12% of their stores (× Might match), capped at 120 Food per Rogue you own. Under-sending softens yield and chance. Big stockpiles yield a smaller share. Recent thefts by anyone put their stores on Alert: lighter hauls and sharper Covert Defense until it fades (~3 days per stack).
• Steal Ash (Difficulty 5/10 · 3 Nerve)
  Available anytime. Optimal send is 5–7% of your roster (3–5% Shadow, 4–6% Hexblade), higher success needs fewer. Full send lifts ~6–10% of their Ash (× Might match), capped at 12 Ash per Rogue you own. Under-sending softens yield and chance. Big stockpiles yield a smaller share. Recent thefts by anyone put their stores on Alert: lighter hauls and sharper Covert Defense until it fades (~3 days per stack).
• Snatch Crowd (Difficulty 5/10 · 3 Nerve)
  Available anytime. Optimal send lifts ~2–4% of their citizens (× Might match). Under-sending softens yield and chance.
• Kindling (Difficulty 5/10 · 4 Nerve)
  Available anytime, light arson. Optimal send kindles ~0.4–0.7% of built land to open land (lighter than Torch). Under-sending softens yield and chance.
• Street Riot (Difficulty 5/10 · 4 Nerve)
  Available anytime, economic sabotage. Success imposes −10% gold income and −10% citizen productivity for 3–5 days. Optimal send matches Steal Gold (roster %).
• Torch the Works (Difficulty 7/10 · 7 Nerve)
  Hostile or Circle war, sabotage buildings into open land (no land stolen). Optimal send razes ~1.5–2.5% of built land; under-sending softens yield and chance.
• Silence the Choir (Difficulty 6/10 · 5 Nerve)
  Hostile or Circle war, cut down sorcerers in their Spell Halls. Optimal send kills ~5–7% of their sorcerers; under-sending softens yield and chance.
• Ley Overdraw (Difficulty 6/10 · 5 Nerve)
  Unfriendly or Circle war, sabotage their rites. Success +1 defensive and +1 offensive mana-pace streak (next self and hostile casts cost more Ash). Optimal send matches Steal Gold (roster %).
• Night Blade (Difficulty 7/10 · 7 Nerve)
  Unfriendly or Circle war, cut down standing army at home and on the march. Optimal send slays ~5–7% of their military; under-sending softens yield and chance.
• Greater Torch (Difficulty 7/10 · 7 Nerve)
  Unfriendly or Circle war, torch ~1.2–2% of a chosen building cluster (Economy, Military, Magic/Covert, or Utility). Pick the target role when launching.
• Sabotage Aether (Difficulty 7/10 · 7 Nerve)
  Unfriendly or Circle war, cut ley income and fray their rites. Success imposes −20% Ash income and −8% spell success for 5–7 days. No resource steal. Optimal send matches Steal Gold (roster %).
• Assassinate Adepts (Difficulty 6.5/10 · 6 Nerve)
  Unfriendly or Circle war, cut down sorcerers in their Spell Halls. Optimal send kills ~3–5% (lighter than Silence the Choir).
• Whisper Campaign (Difficulty 7/10 · 7 Nerve)
  Hostile or Circle war, propaganda saps morale. Success imposes −12% birth rate and −10% daily draft for 5–7 days. No resource steal.
• Blockade (Difficulty 6.5/10 · 6 Nerve)
  Unfriendly or Circle war, choke their roads. Success seizes 15–30% of all Circle aid sent to or from them (soldiers, treasury, care land). Optimal send holds 6 days; send fewer for a shorter Blockade, up to 1.5× optimal for 9 days. No resource steal.
• Bribe the Marshal (Difficulty 6/10 · 6 Nerve)
  Unfriendly or Circle war. Gold in the right pocket: their next march within 6 days takes +15% casualties. Root Survey shows the marshal as compromised, and their garrison marshal may root out the traitor first.
• Forge Ledgers (Difficulty 5/10 · 4 Nerve)
  Available anytime. Cooked books make their Might read 15% high or low to everyone else for 4 days. Covert Probe reveals the true value.
• Spoil the Granaries (Difficulty 5/10 · 4 Nerve)
  Available anytime. Rot their stores instead of carrying them off: destroys ~4–6% of their food (×1.5 against Nestkin and Human). Nothing comes home with your rogues. Feeds their food Alert like a theft.
• Cut the Kiln Draft (Difficulty 6/10 · 5 Nerve)
  Available anytime. Choke the flues: −25% Ash Kiln output for 3 days. A Curse, so Absolution or Hexbreak can lift it.
• Turn Coats (Difficulty 8/10 · 8 Nerve)
  Circle war only. Whisper to their wall: ~1–2% of their defensive specialists desert and join your soldiers. Night Eyes and Watch Posts are the counter.
• Mole in the Deep Survey (Difficulty 6/10 · 5 Nerve)
  Available anytime. A planted guide leads their next Deep Survey astray within 6 days, claiming 30% less land.
• Lure the Watch (Difficulty 4/10 · 3 Nerve)
  Available anytime. Draw the watch off their posts: −30% Watch Post effect for 2 days, and your next op on them within 2 days is 1 difficulty easier.