Damn you, Cracks Call! Damn you to hell!

[Elok]

Okay, I just started trying to really improve my Master of Magic game. There are certain ridiculous imbalances I can accept, like the way a shot of Invulnerability and another of Lionheart lets a single spearman wipe out two dragon turtles, six javelineers, and four War Bears. That's absurd, but not too bad, especially as the AI doesn't seem to grasp that there's no point in attacking an invulnerable unit.

But Cracks Call is too much! One relatively low-level spell destroys a hero and all of his equipment; he can't be resurrected, and every form of "magic invulnerability" that claims to block spell effects of one type or another doesn't work against it. What do I need to do to block that frigging spell?

[DaveV]

From the MoM FAQ:

4.22) Cracks Call killed my hero.  How do I defend against it?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Cracks Call is quite difficult to defend against.  Here are some ideas
  that might help:

      - Note: Magic Immunity doesn't help.
      - Flight: Spell or artifact.  However, you are still vulnerable to the
        combination of Web and Cracks Call.  Any wizard that has Cracks Call
        is likely to have Web.  Also, enchanted flight can be dispelled.
      - Invisibility: If they can't see you, they can't Crack you.  Again,
        if enchanted, vulnerable to combination of Dispel and Cracks Call.

        Although... If they can't see you, they can't "dispel" you.  They have 
        to use the more expensive (research and casting) "disenchant" instead.  
        Biggest trouble with invis as a defense against cracks call is the 
        ghoul-summoning wizard who also happens to know cracks call.       [DP]

      - Counter Magic: Reduces further the chances of a successful Cracks
        Call, but it still is possible.  Given a 50 power Counter Magic,
        chances of success per cast are:  .25 * 20/70 = 7% chance of success.
      - Wraithform protects you from Web and Cracks call.  There are 8
        artifacts which grant Wraithform, so you might be lucky enough to
        get one of those.  Wraithform is a rare Death spell, so you probably
        won't have it unless you have a lot of Death spell books.
      - Check how much mana the wizard has.  If it is not too large, take
        a stack of spearmen and attack one by one, until the wizard has used
        up his mana.  He can't get more until it's his turn, so you are
        safe from Cracks Call, and other combat spells.  Strategic combat
        is even better for this because it uses up the wizard's full spell
        skill every time.  Of course, it will do the same to you, so only do
        it if you have mana to spare, or you have alchemy and can turn your
        mana into gold first.
      - Power Drain.  It's the best damn "counter magic" "anti-cracks call"
        "anti-lightning bolt" "anti-psionic blast" "anti-doom bolt" spell you
        could ask for!  Throw it right before attacking, leave him with 0 mana
        left, and the enemy wizard's casting skill or spell knowledge is
        utterly irrelevant!  Sure, it doesn't work very well in mid-game when 
        the enemy wizard has 20 cities and more mana piled up than you can get
        rid of, and you still have to watch out for heroes, but early and late 
        in the game, it's awesome.                                         [DP]
      - Stack of invisible units.  The computer players usually don't have
        a very high mana balance.  You can use the Magic screen + right click
        on their picture.  If the balance is fairly low, send in invisible
        units one by one.  Each round the computer player will cast spells,
        you just hit done.  Bleed the computer player down to zero.  They won't
        get more mana until their turn.  Now you are safe from Crack's Call
        or other spells.  This won't work if they have Flame Strike or other
        non-targeted damaging spell (Wrack, maybe others).
      - The mana leak spell will drain 5 mana per combat round from the wizard.
        If you can make the battle go for the maximum 50 rounds that is 250 
        mana!  For example, if you have a flyer to attack a city with only 
        non-flyers.  When the mana is gone - no more Cracks Call.    
                                                      [BLJ, Drew Fudenberg, DC]

[Elok]

Thank you. I guessed it would be a pain to block. Probably it was put in to compensate for the general suckiness of Nature magic.

What kind of magic is Power Drain? Sounds like Death, but I hope not. I love Life magic. Actually, do you, or does anyone for that matter, have a link to that FAQ?

[DaveV]

Yes, Power Drain is an Uncommon death spell. I have never played a game as a death mage, so I don't know much about using it...

The latest FAQ is a very helpful document. I attached it below.

[Elok]

Thank you very much.