Air Shield:

At the expert level, this spell becomes very useful against armies with lots of ranged attackers
or multiple stacks of ranged attackers.  Especially useful when attacking towns with a citadel
or a castle and many ranged attackers behind the walls.


     Animate Dead:

This spell has the same effect as Resurrect, but it works for undead creatures only. A hero
with lots of spellpoints may never lose any creatures if you play very carefully.  Look at the
'Blind' spell for a combo.


     Anti Magic:

Anti Magic is normally not that useful, unless you are using it in a combo (see Armageddon) or
in an army with lots of resistance already.  You can also use it to prevent spells from being
cast on an enemy troop of creatures. (the stack is dispelled at end of turn too)


     Armageddon:

This spell deals a massive amount of damage to all creatures, unfortunately to your own
creatures as well.  There are several ways to make this spell more useful:
  1. Low damage Armageddon: By using spells as Anti Magic or Protection From Fire, or by
  using creatures as Golems, Dwarves or Fire/Energy Elementals, you can limit the damage
  your own creatures suffer while the enemy creatures get the full dosage.
  2. Suicide Army: This technique works very well to weaken a powerful enemy hero's army.  It
  involves 1 very fast fire-resistant or magically immune creature. (Phoenix, Gold Dragon, Black
  Dragon, or Firebird, and maybe an Efreet Sultan or a Magic Elemental) Attack the enemy
  hero, drop the armageddon on him/her once and then surrender or retreat. (The speed of your
  unit is essential for success) Recruit the hero again and do the same over and over again until
  you can defeat the army.
  3. Armageddon Army: I learned this technique in Heroes 2 when a computer crushed me with
  it using Black Dragons.  An Armageddon army contains lots of powerful creatures that are
  unaffected by the effect of Armageddon.  The opposing army gets weaker by the turn with
  every passing Armageddon and your own losses should be low, since your creatures are
  really tough. (use the same creature types as described in Suicide Army.

 
     Berserk:

Berserk is an excellent spell to disrupt an enemy strategy.  It is especially great to cast on
creatures behind siege walls.  At a higher level it affects more creature stacks, but make sure
that your own creatures don't get involved as well.  Another nice thing about it is that the
attacked creatures lose their retaliation.  It is best cast on creatures with nasty special
abilities, (like Medusa's, Medusa Queens, Scorpicores, Serpent/Dragon Flies, (Greater)
Basilisks, Mighty Gorgons, Wyvern Monarchs, Dread Knights, Ghost Dragons, Dendroid
Guards/Soldiers, (War) Unicorns and Thunderbirds) these abilities will do some extra harm to
their own troops.  There is also a very funny combo with Berserk:
  The evil tree combo: Berserk on Dendroid Guards or Soldiers has a funny side-effect.  The
  creatures they attack are unable to move as long as the Dendroids stand still.  A little Blind
  might be helpful here to ensure that the Dendroids don't move.  This way you can even disable
  the movement of otherwise magically immune creatures like Gold Dragons.  This combo
  becomes hilarious when you fight multiple stacks of Dendroids.  The retaliation of the second
  Dendroid binds the attacking Dendroid to the ground too, ensuring that neither of them is able
  to move.


     Bless:

In the early game, Bless is a very potent spell.  Later in the game it loses a lot of importance.
For creatures with a wide damage range, and especially when they are ranged attackers, Bless
can really increase the damage your creatures deal.  Bless is also an effective response to the
Curse-spell.  Certain creatures like Storm Elementals become really dangerous when blessed.


     Blind:

This is one of the most useful and powerful spells in the game.  Many combats that would
otherwise be impossible to win can be turned to your advantage by blinding the right creatures
at the right time.  Creatures with fire or mind spell immunity (or undead) are so reliable just
because they cannot be blinded.  There are 2 great combos with Blind, one of them in
combination with Animate Dead/Resurrection.  I cannot tell how many times these combos
saved me, but they did plenty of times:
  1. Blind'em all: When you face an equally or more powerful army and the outcome of the
  battle is uncertain, (even if you would win, your losses would be that severe that you could be
  eliminated from the game soon after) this strategy might help.  Blind an enemy troop every
  turn, until you have blinded them all. (or all but one) Start taking out the enemy troops one by
  one, this way your losses will be minimal and you will probably be able to crush the hero's
  entire army.
  2. Afterlife Army: After using Blind on the last troop of enemy creatures, (or more troops)
  you have all time to resurrect/animate every single lost unit that you whish.  If you keep
  doing this at the end of each combat, you never lose anything and your army never weakens.
  I use this technique very often, but the big disadvantage is the huge amount of spellpoints
  it consumes.


     Bloodlust:

This is a useful spell at the advanced and definitely at the expert level.  In the early game or
during long battles, Bloodlust will increase the damage your creatures deal noticably.


     Chain Lightning:

Be careful when you use Chain Lightning.  If you just blast away, you will bolt your own
creatures.  Target straight lines of enemy troops and choose the troop you want to hurt most as
a primary target.  Very nice spell for clearing lots of creatures at the same time!  Check the
Suicide Army technique described under the Armageddon spell, that combo can be executed
with this spell as well.  Beware creatures that resist magic, they can ruin the spell by stopping
the Chain of bolts or by lowering the damage.


     Clone:

Clone is an extremely powerful spell, but you must learn when to use it.  The cloned image is
very fragile (1 health) so it is a matter of when to use it.  Usually it is a good idea to cast Clone
after the enemy has cast a spell, because a single Magic Arrow could already destroy the
image.  It is always nice to double a stack of really powerful creatures, or to double a really
large stack of creatures, but there are a number of other uses for Clone as well.  Some nice
examples of easy Clone-combos:
  1. Let your Phoenix wait and clone them before it is their turn.  You will have four subsequent
  attacks that really mash your enemies.
  2. Clone Arch Angels to use their Resurrection-ability.
  3. Clone Cyclops to get those siege walls down in no time.


     Counterstrike:

Counterstrike is not worthy of being a level 4 spell.  It can be useful if you face a greater
amount of creature stacks or if you send one troop out for all the enemy troops to hack on,
but there usually are better options.  There is one combo with Counterstrike: When you cast
Counterstrike on (Chaos) Hydras or Psychic Elementals, and then send them into a pack of
enemy troops, they will be able to kill at an unrealistically high rate.


     Cure:

Though the healing effect is rather negligible, (but nice for creatures with lots of healthpoints)
it is the cleansing effect it has on enemy spells that makes Cure a very valuable spell.
Sometimes your entire army is slowed, or your best creatures blinded...  Cure at the expert
level will annul all temporary negative effects on all of your creatures.


     Curse:

As with Bless, Curse is great in the early game, but weakens as the game progresses.  Curse
cancels the effect of Bless. (and vice versa) You will cast Curse on an enemy troop for the
same reasons as the controller of that troop would cast Bless on it: A wide damage range.
Curse at the expert level weakens the attacks of an entire army, an effect that can still have an
impact on a battle during the late game.


     Death Ripple:

This spell sucks, even if you are playing with an undead army.  The damage is too low to ever
really matter.  You could use it to prevent a hero from fleeing from the battlefield by destroying
the last remaining forces.


     Destroy Undead:

It does almost twice the amount of damage Death Ripple does, but it also costs more
spellpoints, and it works on undead only.  Destroy Undead is perhaps even worse than
Death Ripple.


     Dimension Door:

The cost in spellpoints of this spell is enormous, but the effect is incredible.  Crossing the
map in days, sneak attacks, jumping accross water or mountain ranges; it all becomes
possible.  Dimension Door is a major spell.  Not having it in large maps is a large setback.
This spell can be the key to victory, and finding it often brings up a turning point in the game.


     Disguise:

This is the worst spell in the game.  I have my doubts if it even works.  Any hero will 
automatically use Visions to check your status, so Disguise is always useless.


     Dispel:

At the expert level, Dispel clears all magic from the battlefield.  That is very powerful, but you
will almost never need such a drastic approach.  At the basic level it has a similar effect as
Cure, but all good effects are gone as well. (and it doesn't remove everything) At the advanced
level you can target enemy creatures.  It certainly is not a bad spell, but good opportunities to
use it are rather rare.  A nice thing to know is that expert Dispel also clears the protective
Landmines that lie beneath Tower walls.


     Disrupting Ray:

Disrupting Ray uses quite a lot of spellpoints, but it can be a very potent spell in certain
situations.  Because the effect cannot be cured and lasts until the end of the battle, you can
lower the Defense skill of a troop so much that your creatures deal 3-4 times more damage
to the now defenseless troop.  Nice on level 7 creatures, you will never have seen them go
down that fast.  This spell is not handy if you face multiple stacks of powerful creatures.


     Earthquake:

In an army with lots of ranged attackers and/or lots of creatures with flying, Earthquake is
usually not the best choice of spell during siege combat.  For slower armies with lots of
footsoldiers in it, Earthquake can be a key element in winning siege battles. (Very useful for
Fortress and Stronghold heroes)


     Fire Shield:

Fireshield can really crush your enemies, when used properly.  There are 2 great combos I
use with fireshield:
  1. Lethal blow: I only use this combo when I see that my chances of winning the battle are
  small.  When you face a large stack of powerful creatures, cast Fireshield on a stack of
  your creatures that are sacrificial.  Charge on the powerful meanies, they will retaliate and be
  scorched.  Do this a couple of times to really make them suffer.  Really works great on
  powerful enemy creatures that deal a lot of damage compared to their health.  The best
  creatures upon which to cast Fire Shield are Dendroid Guards and Dendroid Soldiers.
  Once they strike an enemy creature, it is either the Dendroids or the enemy creature(s)
  that go down.
  2. Fire strike: Quite a nice combo during siege combat, whether you are attacking or
  defending.  Enchant a stack of relatively tough creatures with Fire Shield. (when you are
  attacking a town, it is better to take flying creatures) Then move it to the other side of the
  walls.  All nearby enemy creatures will start attacking yours, and get the Fire Shield damage
  in their faces.


     Fireball:

Personally I think the damage done by Fireball is too low to make the spell still useful after the
early game, I would use Meteor Shower instead.  Be careful that your own creatures are not too
close to the blast.


     Fire Wall:

Fire Wall is one of the worst spells in the game.  The damage is very low, and it lasts only two
turns.


     Fly:

The cost in spellpoints is rather high, but Fly is a great spell.  Fly often allows you to take
shortcuts, launch surprise attacks, cross bodies of water or get that little bit further over rough
terrain.  Though Dimension Door is better in most situations, it can only be cast 4 times per
day at the expert level.  After that you might get stuck, Fly can extend your hero's movement
even more and it costs less spellpoints.


     Force Field:

Force Field would be a formidable spell if it lasted longer than just 2 turns.  When you are
defending your town, you can prevent enemy units from entering your walls by placing a Force
Field every two turns.  In a normal battle, Force Field can block the path of enemy troops when
there are lots of obstacles already.  This allows your ranged attackers to take more shots at
them.  Large creatures (occupying 2 hexes on the battlefield) in a corner of the battlefield can
sometimes be blocked for two turns by placing a forcefield in front of them, this is very useful
if you don't have Blind ore the creatures have magical immunities.


     Forgetfulness:

This spell can totally cripple an army if that army contains lots of ranged attackers.
Forgetfulness only gets really good at the expert level though.  Very nice to do during siege
combat, too often garrison armies rely on their ranged attackers for victory.  Beware of Cure
and Dispel however, they can be very unpleasant when you rely on Forgetfulness.


     Fortune:

At the expert level, Fortune may be ok, but as discussed in the 'Combat section' the effect of
Luck is too random to be of any tactical value.


     Frenzy:

In my opinion, Frenzy costs too many spellpoints and the effect doesn't last long enough.  It
can be useful though.  The drawback is that when you attack with the enchanted troop, it is
really defenseless when the enemy troop retaliates. (since you normally attack powerful
creatures with a frenzied troop, you may expect a lot of retaliation damage) Frenzy is best
cast on troops of ranged attackers or creatures with the 'No enemy retaliation' special ability.
Another option is to attack troops that have already retaliated or if you are sure they will be
(almost) destroyed.  This spell works surprisingly well with Fortress troops, and makes
Behemoths nearly godlike.


     Frost Ring:

A Frost Ring is like a Fireball with a hole in the center of the blast, it could have been nice if it
did some more damage.  Use Meteor Shower instead when you have enough spellpoints.


     Haste:

Haste is one of the most important Combat spells.  Its effect is ok at the basic, good at the
advanced and amazing at the expert level.  For one thing, your creatures get to act sooner, plus
they move at a very high speed.  This sometimes allows them to attack on the first turn, and
enables slow creatures to actually take part in the battle in stead of protecting a stack of
ranged attackers.


     Hypnotize:

This spell requires a huge Spell power to work. Hypnotize itself is a good spell, but you can
only use it on weak small groups of creatures that are not worth the cost in spellpoints.  During
a siege it can be used to let a weak enemy creature stack lower the drawbridge to get in faster.


     Ice Bolt:

Ice Bolt is a fine one target-damage dealing spell.  I usually use Lightning Bolt for that purpose
because it deals more damage, but if you can destroy the same stack with Ice Bolt in stead of
Lightning Bolt, you save some spellpoints.


     Implosion:

When you need something dead quick, this is the spell you need.  The cost in spellpoints is
really huge, but so is the kill-rate.  Even with a weak army, this spell can lead you to victory
in a matter of turns.  This spell is especially great to flush legions or to decimate the numbers
of very powerful level 6/7 creature stacks.  Check the Suicide Army technique described under
the Armageddon spell, that combo can be executed with this spell as well.


     Inferno:

As with Frost Ring and Fireball, the damage dealt by Inferno is rather low.  The great difference
is the size of impact and the cost in spellpoints.  Inferno costs almost the same as Fireball, but
the blast spreads two hexes in stead of one.  It s really impessive to see, but hardly more
useful than Fireball or Frost Ring.


     Land Mine:

Land Mine is both too random and deals too little damage to really matter as a Combat spell.
Sometimes enemy troops don't even step into a single mine, and when they do it doesn't hurt
them much.


     Lightning Bolt:

Lightning Bolt is comparable to Ice Bolt, it deals a bit more damage and is also a very nice
single target-damage dealing spell.


     Magic Arrow:

Though Magic Arrow deals only a small amount of damage, it is still a relatively good single
target-damage dealing spell because it is the cheapest damage dealing spell in the game.
Often a Magic Arrow is just powerful enough to finish off a troop of enemy creatures.


     Magic Mirror:

Magic Mirror is the worst level 5 spell.  The effect is only valid for one single target and above
that, it is very random. (even at the expert level you only have a chance of 2 out of 5) I like to
use Anti Magic instead, it is much more reliable and it costs fewer spellpoints.


     Meteor Shower:

The cost in spellpoints may seem a bit high, but this is a multi-target-damage dealing spell that
actually deals a considerable amount of damage.  This spell is perfect to target enemy ranged
attackers protected by footsoldiers, you can even sacrifice one of your own troops when it is
surrounded by hostile troops. (more of the enemy creatures go down than in your stack) Check
the Suicide Army technique described under the Armageddon spell, that combo can be
executed with this spell as well.


     Mirth:

At the basic or at the advanced level, the effect is too random to be really helpful. (unless your
army has a terrible Morale and you don't want one particular unit to freeze when you need it) 
But at the expert level Mirth is worth the cost.  Mirth is definitely better than Fortune.


     Misfortune:

As with Fortune, Misfortune may be ok at the expert level, but the effect of Luck is too random
to really make Misfortune a valuable spell.


     Prayer:

The effect of prayer is best described as a weakened Haste, Stone Skin and Bloodlust, all
together.  Though the effect of the previously described spells is weakened a bit, the boost
creatures get from Prayer is stunning.  Prayer is a great spell, and very useful in battles
that last many turns.  Combined with Haste, Prayer allows even your slowest creatures to
move at an unrealistic speed.


     Precision:

Precision can be used during a normal battle, but so far I have only used it during siege combat
and once or twice during a battle on the sea.  When you are defending your town it is especially
good if your ranged attackers can deal more damage to distant targets like enemy ranged
attackers.  When attacking a town, this also counts for your ranged attackers.  


     Protection From Air:

This spell is pathetic, it would have been slightly better if the expert effect would have counted
for all your units, but unfortunately it doesn't.


     Protection From Earth:

Protection From Earth is the best Protection From ... spell, it is actually useful sometimes.
Very nice at the expert level since it protects all your units from Implosions and Meteor
Showers.  Usually Anti Magic will be better however.


     Protection From Fire:

This spell is even worse than Protection From Air because the spells from the school of Fire
Magic do less damage.


     Protection From Water:

This spell is bad as most of the Protection From ... spells, there is no need to ever cast it.


     Quicksand:

The effect of Quicksand is (much like Land Mine) too random to be good.  Blind or Slow are
two spells that are much more reliable.  Even the very low cost in spellpoints doesn't make it
very useful.


     Remove Obstacle:

This spell is almost useless.  The only use ever is the combat situation where your strategy
is disturbed by an object on the battleground that blocks the path of one of your troops.  In
that case, it could be helpful.  I always use Teleport instead.


     Resurrection:

This is one of the best spells.  In larger maps you really need this spell to be able to compete
with your opponents.  Despite the huge amount of spellpoints required to cast it, I use
Resurrection plenty of times per combat until most of my creatures are revived.  The cost in
spellpoints lowered by having the Earth Magic secondary skill is really worth it, considering
the amount of times you will probably cast this spell.  Check the Blind spell for a combo.


     Sacrifice:

Though I normally use Resurrection to revive creatures, there are some situations where
Sacrifice is a lot better.  When you are low on spellpoints and Resurrection can't do the job,
it might be better to sacrifice a small or weak troop to revive a huge amount of other creatures.
Another great use of sacrifice is during (not at the end of) combat.  Resurrection only revives a
small number of creatures at a time, depending on the hero's Spell power and the type of
resurrected creatures.  This approach is much too slow if you are rapidly losing large numbers
of powerful creatures.  A sacrifice cast at the right time can surprise your opponent and turn the
battle to your advantage.  Summoned or cloned creature stacks cannot be sacrificed and the
spell doesn't work with undead creatures too.


     Scuttle Boat:

This spell is almost as ridiculous as Disguise.  If there would be no spell called Summon Boat,
Scuttle Boat could even have been useful, but since there is a Summon Boat spell, Scuttle
Boat is completely useless.


     Shield:

Shield is a great spell when it is cast at the expert level.  Its costs in spellpoints is very low
and the effect is more than noticeable in longer battles.  Shield is not that useful when your
hero's army faces many stacks of ranged attackers.


     Slayer:

Slayer is not that great, I like using Bloodlust instead.  Combined with Bloodlust, Slayer can
really crush level 7 creatures, but the effect is limited to the single troop you have cast it upon.
When you face a large stack of level 7 creatures and your hero's army also contains a large
stack of powerful creatures, it may be a good idea to cast Slayer on that stack and attack
the enemy stack with them.


     Slow:

Slow is, like Haste, one of the most important Combat spells in the game and it is the best
possible response to an enemy Haste spell.  At the expert level, Slow even makes the fastest
creatures slow while slower creatures are almost unable to move at all.  When you cast Haste
or Prayer on your own creatures, you can even increase the difference in speed so that even
your slowest creatures are faster than the enemy hero's fastest creature.


     Sorrow:

As with Mirth, Sorrow isn't useful until at the expert level because the effect is too random.
Sorrow at the expert level can work very disruptive on the enemy hero's strategy when the
wrong troops (for that enemy hero) freeze in combat.  It still isn't very reliable.


     Stone Skin:

Like Bloodlust, Stone Skin is a useful spell that can be really helpful during long battles,
certainly so at the expert level or in the early game.


     Summon Air Elemental:

The quality of all Summon ... Elemental spells depends greatly on the Spell power of the
casting hero.  These spells begin to become useful at the expert level and with a Spell power
of 15 or more.  Normally you won't need these spells until you are really in trouble and then
Sacrifice could be of more help.  Also keep in mind that you can't win a battle with nothing
but summoned creatures left.  Be sure to resurrect some 'real' creatures before the end of the
battle.  Air Elementals are fast, so if you need speed, summon them.


     Summon Boat:

Summon boat is really helpful in maps with a vast amount of water.  Instead of having to walk
all the way back to your ship, you just summon one and embark.


     Summon Earth Elemental:

To Earth Elementals, the same rules apply as to Air Elementals.  Earth elementals are much
slower but also a lot sturdier than Air Elementals.


     Summon Fire Elemental:

To Fire Elementals, the same rules apply as to Air Elementals.  Fire elementals are quite
average in speed and power when compared to the other elementals.


     Summon Water Elemental:

To Water Elementals, the same rules apply as to Air Elementals.  Water elementals are quite
average in speed and power when compared to the other elementals.  They are a bit faster and
a bit weaker than Fire Elementals.


     Teleport:

This spell can really be incredibly useful on large stacks of relatively slow creatures.  It allows
them to participate in combat much earlier than normally would be possible and very often
enemy heroes neglect the possibility of creatures sneaking past their defense and slaughtering
their ranged attackers.  When some of your troops are blinded and you don't have Cure or
Dispel, you can use Teleport to move those creatures next to en enemy stack of ranged
attackers.  Since they can't shoot, they will have to move or attack and unblind your troop.


     Town Portal:

At the basic level, Town Portal is quite ok if you have but one single town.  From the moment
that a hero is able to cast it at the advanced or the expert level, Town Portal becomes the most
important spell of the game in larger maps.  With this spell you need but one garrison hero, (or
not even one at all) and you can hop around the map using your towns as waypoints.  Used
together with Dimension Door, (and/or Fly) Town Portal allows your hero to conquer the whole
map at a speed that is otherwise impossible.  Traversing the entire map in one day is no
problem when you combine Town Portal with Dimension Door.  Not having Town Portal at the
advanced or expert level on a large map will make the way to victory much longer and almost
an impossible task.


     View Air:

At the basic level, this spell has no value, but at the advanced and especially at the expert
level View Air is a very interesting spell.  During the mid- or the late game in larger maps, this
spell is very useful to locate towns, to track down enemy heroes and to see heroes coming to
attack one of your towns before it is too late.  The spell also costs virtually no spellpoints so
you can cast it every day if you want.


     View Earth:

Though this spell is not as good as View Air, it still is useful at the expert level.  With View
Earth you can plan the best attack route or discover things on the map that are still invisible.


     Visions:

Visions is not that useful unless your hero has the Diplomacy secondary skill.  Visions allows
you to see what requirements you need to make a group of wandering creatures join you.  It
can also be useful to check on garrisons and unknown enemy heroes. (it is definitely worth
the very low cost in spellpoints)


     Water Walk:

Water Walk can be a good alternative to Fly when crossing water because it costs a lot less
spellpoints.  Otherwise Water Walk is a below average fourth level spell.


     Weakness:

Combined with spells like Stone Skin and Shield on your creatures, (and very nice for Fortress
heroes and troops) Weakness can really decrease the damage you receive.  But much like
Bloodlust and Stone Skin, Weakness is usually only useful in the early game or at the expert
level during long battles.