Ward of Destruction (spell)
From Arcanum Illyria
| Ward of Destruction | |||||||||||||||
| Family | |||||||||||||||
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| School | Runes | ||||||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||||||
| Death Rune < Killing Glyph < Ward of Destruction | |||||||||||||||
| Behavior | |||||||||||||||
| Ability | Kill most kinds of incoming hostile units (diplomatic or military) | ||||||||||||||
| Targets | casting city | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | until canceled or depleted | ||||||||||||||
| Charges | 250 | ||||||||||||||
| Base Power | 1,600 x Mage Tower level | ||||||||||||||
| Cooldown | Measured span of time either expressed as components ([Ad] [Bh] [Cm] [Ds]) or one to three ordinals ([[hhh:]mm:]ss). Times are always exact to the second.  16h |
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| Cost | |||||||||||||||
| Cast |
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| Upkeep | 20 Rate of mana consumption Expressed in units per hour  |
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| Prerequisites | |||||||||||||||
| Research | Ward of Destruction | ||||||||||||||
| Runes - Spells | |||||||||||||||
Ward of Destruction is the most powerful of general killing runes.
Once in place, it will kill up to 250 enemy hostile military units or diplomats, excluding scouts and spies. Upon depleting or canceling the rune, no other rune can be cast for 16 hours.
The number of charges and the number of affected units can be enhanced by a Runemasters' Grounding. The number of charges is determined at the time of the spell.
Usefulness
General killing runes serve for decent everyday deterrent against random threats. Players looking for someone to rob or raid will likely not want to lose 250 expensive units before even facing any of your own diplomats or armies. However, for specific or recurring threats, targeted runes like Ward of Intentions are more effective, often costing raiders too much even when plundering very rich stockpiles or pushing for key strategic objectives. General runes do not replace proper diplomatic defenses, but targeted runes generally prove sufficient protection against a single attack, allowing players to slightly specialize their diplomatic forces to exclusion of that type.
Note that if you value your privacy, you must use some combination of targeted runes, scouts, and spies to prevent them from tracking your military strength and the value of your stockpiles.
