• Type: Combat
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 5 / 4
• Untrained / Basic: Target, enemy troop receives ((Power x 10) + 10) damage.
• Advanced: Target, enemy troop receives ((Power x 10) + 20) damage.
• Expert: Target, enemy troop receives ((Power x 10) + 30) damage.

There isn't a Magic Arrow spell that's specific to the Earth magic school and from my experience, the level of Magic Arrow is the level of the highest magic school that you have. It's available in most Mage Guilds and can be used to whittle down stacks of archers early in the game.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 5 / 4
• Untrained / Basic: Hand-to-hand damage delivered to target, allied troop is reduced by 15%.
• Advanced: Hand-to-hand damage delivered to target, allied troop is reduced by 30%.
• Expert: Hand-to-hand damage delivered to all allied troops is reduced by 30%.

Shield is a spell that's best used when the opposing army is made of mostly melee attackers since it won't defend against archers. Shield works in addition to your hero's defense and the Armorer skill so it is possible to significantly reduce the damage that your troops receive. I am not going to discuss the offense vs. defense schools of thought but I don't think you can go wrong with Shield if you want to boost your army's chances of making it through the battle in one piece.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 6 /5
• Untrained / Basic: Target, enemy troop's speed is reduced to 25% of normal.
• Advanced: Target, enemy troop's speed is reduced to 50% of normal.
• Expert: All enemy troops' speed ratings are reduced to 50% of normal.

Another great spell and especially so at expert version because Slow not only shortens the range that enemy troops can walk thus giving your archers more shots, but it also reduces their initiative so that you get a better chance to attack first. Unfortunately, you can cast Slow and then the enemy hero can cast Haste which reverses the effects of Slow and hastes at the same time. Despite this, Slow is a great spell to cast because even if the enemy hero casts Haste it at least prevented them from casting something more dangerous like Meteor or Chain Lightning.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 5 / 4
• Untrained / Basic: Target, allied troop's defense rating is increased by three.
• Advanced: Target, allied troop's defense rating is increased by six.
• Expert: All allied troops' defense ratings are increased by six.

Just as Shield works to reduce the damage taken by melee attacks, Stoneskin works to reduce the damage taken from all attacks, but the amount of the reduction will typically end up being less. Instead of reducing the damage by a percentage, Stoneskin instead reduces your defense rating, which results in your creatures taking less damage.

• Type: Adventure
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 2 / 1
• Untrained / Basic: Displays the location of all loose resources on the View World Screen.
• Advanced: Displays the location of all mines and loose resources on the View World Screen.
• Expert: Displays the entire terrain, all mines and loose resources on the View World Screen.

On maps where resources are hard to come by, View Earth can be the key to building up your town much more quickly than you could otherwise. Instead of scouting around blindly, you will know exactly where they all are. At the advanced level, you can even get a hint where the enemy is because the mines will have the color of whomever flagged them. At expert level, you can see roads (among other terrain) which can give you an idea of where towns are located. A very important spell with many applications.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 10 / 8
• Untrained / Basic: All creatures (except undead) troops take ((Power x 5) + 10) damage.
• Advanced: All creatures (except undead) troops take ((Power x 5) + 20) damage.
• Expert: All creatures (except undead) troops take ((Power x 5) + 30) damage.

This spell is great for Necromancers because it won't affect their own undead troops, but due to its very low damage it is only good for taking out enemy scouts that only have a few low level creatures, armies divided into many stacks, or if you have a really high power.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 8 / 6
• Untrained / Basic: Quicksand pits are placed in four random hexes. They are invisible to creatures unless they are on native terrain. Troops stepping on pit hexes have their movement halted for the current round. Once a pit is stepped on, it is revealed to all.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except that six pits are placed.
• Expert: Same as Basic Effect, except that eight pits are placed.

I don't like this spell very much because it's not very reliable. Let's say that all of my troops attack, and then the enemy attacks with the last creature and it lands in one of my Quicksand pits. They are stopped for the current round and the pit is revealed so that no one else will go there if the enemy hero has any smarts. Then the next round begins and the creature that was stuck is now able to move again. Add that to the randomness of whether a creature will land in the Quicksand and I'd rather use Blind or an offensive spell.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 day
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 4 / 2
• Untrained / Basic: Displays number of monsters in a wandering monster troop and whether or not the troop will offer to join the casting hero's army. Range is equal to Power or three, whichever is greater.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except an enemy hero's primary skill stats, and the composition and quantity of that hero's army can be viewed. Range is (Power x 2) or three, whichever is greater.
• Expert: Same as Advanced Effect, except an enemy town's statistics and garrison composition and quantity may be viewed. Range is (Power x 3) or three, whichever is greater.

Knowing the enemy is an essential part of combat and lessening the number of troops that you lose in a battle is also important. Many times I have skipped battles with wandering stacks since I knew that there were too many of them and they would not flee or join. Many times I have waited for another week's troops or used another hero before attempting to take over a town. I don't see this spell as often as I'd like but it lasts a long time and seems to work on all of your heroes so it's very important to a good battle strategy.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Permanent
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 15 / 12
• Untrained / Basic: Reanimates ((Power x 50) + 30) health points worth of killed undead creatures in target, allied troop.
• Advanced: Reanimates ((Power x 50) + 60) health points worth of killed undead creatures in target, allied troop.
• Expert:   Reanimates ((Power x 50) + 160) health points worth of killed undead creatures in target, allied troop.

This is absolutely the best spell available for both might and magic heroes that command the undead. I don't know why there are two separate spells that brings back fallen troops but Animate Dead does have some advantages. Firstly it's a level 3 spell which means that it's more readily available and the troops that are reanimated remain after the battle ends even if you just have Basic Earth magic. If Animate Dead is only found in a town that is on the opposite side of the map, it is good enough to make a special trip out there to learn it.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 15 / 12
• Untrained / Basic: Target, allied troop can only be affected by level 4 or 5 spells.
• Advanced: Target, allied troop can only be affected by level 5 spells.
• Expert: Target, allied troop is immune to spell effects.

There are certain creatures that enemy heroes (both computer and human) like to target such as your archers, level 6, and level 7 creatures. Anti-Magic will prevent them from being able to decimate your archers with lightning bolts. Its biggest fault is that you can only use it on one stack at a time, but that's okay because the enemy hero usually focuses on one stack at a time anyway. Still, I find that my troops are more often in danger from the enemy troops rather than the enemy magic, except during siege combat.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 20 / 17
• Untrained / Basic: Does damage to two, random castle walls during siege combat.
• Advanced: Does damage to three, random castle walls during siege combat.
• Expert: Does damage to four, random castle walls during siege combat.

I don't use this spell very much because the Catapult is much more useful even if you don't have any skill in it. If the enemy destroys your Catapult in the early part of the battle then Earthquake could be useful but I rarely see that happen. I'd rather use my spell points to either destroy the enemy or enhance my own troops.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 2 rounds
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 12 / 9
• Untrained / Basic: A two hex-wide force wall is created at target hex. Movement through these hexes is blocked.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except the force wall is three hexes wide.
• Expert: Same as Advanced Effect.

This is one of the most useless spells in the entire game. I spent several battles using it in order to find something good to say about it and found none. The enemy can't pass through the force field, but unless you manage to place force fields completely around a stack then the enemy will still be able to attack. That is, if a force field is in front of a stack of archers but not to the top or bottom then the enemy can still attack from those areas. In addition, ranged attacks go through them with ease which doesn't make any sense at all. Avoid this spell because it won't help you at all.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 12 / 9
• Untrained / Basic: Damage from Earth Magic spells is reduced by 30% for target, allied troop.
• Advanced: Damage from Earth Magic spells is reduced by 50% for target, allied troop.
• Expert: Damage from Earth Magic spells is reduced by 50% for all allied troops.

Earth magic has two very powerful attack spells (Meteor and Implosion) that can seriously hurt your troops. If you have seen that the enemy will be using these two spells, casting Protection from Earth is a great idea.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 16 / 12
• Untrained / Basic: Troops in target hex and adjacent hexes take ((Power x 25) + 25) damage.
• Advanced: Troops in target hex and adjacent hexes take ((Power x 25) + 50) damage.
• Expert: Troops in target hex and adjacent hexes take ((Power x 25) + 100) damage.

I view Meteor Shower as an upgraded Fireball because they have the same range and almost the same spell cost, but Meteor Shower's damage is more than twice as powerful. If the enemy groups some of their troops (to protect their archers, for example) then Meteor will work to great advantage to damage many creatures for a relatively low cost. I would only use Meteor Shower if I can target two or more creature stacks at the same time. If I want to target just one stack then I'll use another spell such as Ice Bolt or Lightning which can be more efficient but which affects just one hex.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Battle (Untrained/Basic) / Permanent (Advanced/Expert)
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 20 / 16
• Untrained / Basic: Target, allied troop with dead creatures has ((Power x 50) + 40) health worth of creatures restored to life for the duration of the current battle.
• Advanced:   Same as Basic Effect, except that ((Power x 50) +80) health worth of creatures are restored permanently.
• Expert: Same as Advanced Effect, except that ((Power x 50 + 160) health worth of creatures are restored.

What's important to keep in mind is that a stack doesn't have to be completely destroyed for you to cast Resurrection on them. So if a stack of 100 creatures loses 20 of them then you can get those 20 back by using Resurrection. Not every creature can be resurrected though. Undead, Golems, Gargoyles, Elementals and others are unaffected. I like to use Resurrection when I lose Level 6 or 7 creatures because they are so scarce. I sometimes use Resurrection when the computer wipes out my stack of archers. I've read about other people casting blind on the last enemy stack and then resurrecting as many creatures as possible before finishing the battle. Of course, that requires a lot of mana.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: 1 Round/Power
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 16 / 12
• Untrained / Basic: Target, enemy troop's morale rating is reduced by one.
• Advanced: Target, enemy troop's morale rating is reduced by two.
• Expert: All enemy troop's morale ratings are reduced by two.

Lowering the troop's morale gives them a chance to freeze and lose their turn. That sounds great but it's not a sure thing and for 12 mana, I'd rather use another spell that will be much more valuable. I'd only use Sorrow if that were the only spell available to me.

• Type: Adventure
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 16 / 12
• Untrained / Basic: Casting hero is teleported to the nearest allied town. 300 movement points are expended when the spell is cast.
• Advanced: Casting hero may teleport to any allied town with no visiting hero. 300 movement points are expended when the spell is cast.
• Expert: Same as Advanced Effect, except that movement point cost is 200.

Town Portal allows one hero to (almost) protect all of the towns under your command by quickly arriving at a town just before an enemy gets there. You can also easily get more troops by going to the towns yourself without having to use heroes to take them to you. When you use Town Portal, you get a list of all of the towns under your command so you have to know the town's name. Definitely one of the most powerful adventure spells available.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Instant
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 30 / 25
• Untrained / Basic: Target, enemy troop receives ((Power x 75) + 100) damage.
• Advanced: Target, enemy troop receives ((Power x 75) + 200) damage.
• Expert: Target, enemy troop receives ((Power x 75) + 300) damage.

This spell is very, very powerful and is great for high level creatures such as Gold Dragons because even if your hero has a power of 1, it will still destroy one Gold Dragon or Archangel with their health of 250. Just point your cursor at the offending stack and, most likely, they will not be long for the battle. A most useful and utterly destructive spell.

• Type: Combat
• Duration: Combat
• Untrained Cost / Trained Cost: 25 / 20
• Untrained / Basic: A troop containing (Power x 2) Earth Elementals appears on the side of the casting player. Only one type of elemental can be summoned.
• Advanced: Same as Basic Effect, except that (Power x 3) earth elementals are summoned.
• Expert: Same as Basic Effect, except that (Power x 4) earth elementals are summoned.

Earth Elementals have a good deal of health so they are useful if you want to distract the computer while resurrecting or enhancing your troops. Unfortunately, they are extra slow so it may take them a few turns to reach the fighting.