Master of Magic Best Build

Welcome to my guide for the 11 Life Book Build in Master of Magic. Due to its healing, buffing and ability to choose the Incarnation spell in chargen, the 11 Life Book Build is one of the best builds in Master of Magic. 11 Life Book Builds are notable for their reliability under varied scenarios, and they often result in the best custom Wizards possible.

Note that I'm currently conducting a Master of Magic Iron Man run with a much weaker 9 Life Book Warlord Build.

Uncommon Life Spell Selection for 11 Life Book Build

We receive all Common Life spells in 11 Life Book Builds. On top of that, we are allowed two Uncommon Life spell selections. Suggested Uncommon Life spell selections are True Sight (which we perma-buff Torin with) and Prayer (another great buff for combat units).

Rare Life Spell Selection for 11 Life Book Builds

We are allowed only one selection of Rare Life spells, but that is all we require: Incarnation for the Torin the Chosen summon. Suggested in-game selection is Lion Heart, which further buffs Torin. We want High Prayer as well.

Civilization Selection

Since Torin dominates the field entirely, civilization selection does not matter unless playing on higher difficulty settings. However, I would suggest High Men or High Elf if playing Iron Man Impossible.

Campaign Progression for 11 Life Book Builds

Initial Construction Progression

Suggested initial construction Progression is as follows:

Granary (+2 Food, +20 People per turn)
Marketplace (Tax Revenue +50%)
Farmer's Market (+30 Food, +30 People per turn)
Sawmill (+25% Production of Forest terrain)
Forester's Guild (+2 Food, Production +25% Forest terrain)

Strong focus on food, production and population growth is recommended. Be sure to survey the terrain tile as your first action, but starting terrain RNG should not impact 11 Life Book Builds too much since they quickly annex strongholds on both planes by virtue of Incarnation.

If you are unlucky enough to be stuck on an island, you are going to need to build ships or find another way to get to the mainland or move across (what could be) an archipelago.

Assuming High Men civilization, starting city resources and garrison are as follows:

Pre-built buildings are as follows:

And what we can initially build and train is as follows:

If located on the coastline, we can also build a Shipwright's Guild followed by a Ship Yard and Triremes.

High Men units:

Life summons:

Order of Initial Actions

Crank Mana acquisition in the Magic Menu.
Begin building a Granary and follow that with the above-listed construction order
Summon 2x Magic Spirits for scouting purposes.
Choose Planar Travel as soon as it becomes available. Often, PT is the first research pick.
Begin casting the Incarnation spell. While the spell is casting, Magic Spirits scout for mana reserves and other landmarks and strongholds that Torin will explore and assail. Depending on mana crystal RNG, you may be able to cast Incarnation in a just a couple years.
Ideally, Serena, Zaldron and/or Shuri would come along. But you should take any low-tier Heroes and employ them as mules for the magical items farmed by Torin. Later on, kill off the low-tier Heroes and summon or otherwise recruit top-tier Heroes.
Once Incarnation has been cast, check Torin's mods. Note that Torin is powerful regardless of mod RNG, but Blademaster and Agility are the absolute best mods due to their scaling offense and defense bonuses. Luck is good as well. It is possible to get Torin with Blademaster + Agility, which is amazing (see summons screencap posted above).
Buff Torin with as many relevant Life Spells as you can, such as Heroism and Endurance. Cast Planar Travel on Torin as soon as you get it.
At this point, Torin moves around the map searching for treasures, landmarks and strongholds, taking out basically everything that is stupid enough to get in his way. Don't forget to cast True Sight on Torin when going up against Phantom Warriors and Phantom Beasts, and avoid epic enemies such as Great Wyrms until Torin has some levels under his belt.
When you get Invulnerability, cast it on Guardian Spirits.
Lion Heart and High Prayer are the ultimate buffing spells that become available for research later.
Cast Stream of Life, Prosperity and Inspirations on towns.
Cast Crusade and Charm of Life.

As a rule, the best items for Torin are those which grant big bonuses to offense and defense or confer movement rate bonuses and flight or water-walking capability. We don't strictly need the offense- and defense-boosting items, but flight or water-walking is recommended in order to facilitate terrain mobility because we can't abide hindered movement on powerhouse combat units.

In a single attack sequence, a Great Wyrm CAN still slay that demi-god Torin build. However, it is extremely unlikely to do so.

In order of desirability, the best mobility items for Torin (indeed, for any Hero) are as follows.

Jewelry slot:

Ring of Dasmiff (+3 Att, +2 to-hit, +1 Movement, Flight)
Helm of the Tides (+4 Att, +2 to-hit, +15 spell skill, Water Walking)
Bracer of Mrad (+4 Att, +4 Def, +3 Movement, +6 res)

Armor / Shield slot:

Suit of Power (+6 Def, +4 Movement, +6 res, Endurance)
Disc of Advancement (+6 Def, +4 Movement, +6 res)
Supreme Shield of Death: +6 Def, +4 Movement, Wraithform, Invulnerability
Protection of Ramses: +6 Def, +4 Movement, Cloak of Fear, Endurance
Holy Shield: +6 Def, +4 Movement, +6 Res, Righteousness

However, it is unlikely that these items will be found short of save-scumming. A Torin that lacks Flight or Water Walking capability is going to be hamstrung if water separates the landmasses. In that case, you need to build ships or find some other way to cross water. Planar Travel may also overcome the problems posed by water (switch plane, move, switch back). Otherwise, Wind Walking spell/Hero or the Flight spell could be options (though you will have to find the Hero or spell, in-game).

Best Weapons for Torin:

The Kick Axe: +6 Att, +2 to hit, Haste, Giant Strength
Maul of Bathory: +4 Att, Vampiric, Elemental Armor, Haste
Golden Axe of Rath: +6 Att, +2 to hit, +10 Spell Skill, Giant Strength
Fang's Avenger: +4 Att, +2 to hit, +1 Def, Vampiric
Double Axe of Pain: +4 Att, +2 to hit, +5 Spell Skill, Flaming
Vampiric Vanquisher: +4 Att, +2 to hit, +10 spell skill, Vampiric
Storm Mace: +3 Att, +5 Spell Skill, Lightning, Flaming
Sting: +3 Att, +3 to hit, +1 Def, Lightning

The Haste weapons are not easy or early finds. If you find any of these weapons, you're set. The Golden Axe of Rath is probably the ultimate Torin weapon that can be found early.

11 Life Book Build Retorts & Secondary Spell Books

Bonus retorts and spell books are not necessary for victory. However, they can make us more powerful or versatile. 11 Book Builds of any kind may not choose Retorts or spell books of other schools of magic in chargen. Thus, they can only be found in the gameworld.

Ideally, we would find the Warlord retort and one each of Sorcery and Chaos spell books (or 2x Sorcery) in addition to our full Life complement. However, we are unlikely to find Warlord short of hardcore save-scumming. Note that Warlord stacks with Crusade, causing ALL of our combat units to eventually reach Champion tier.

Chaos spell books are good for 11 Life Books because they can give us Flame Blade and Eldritch Weapon buffs, but Sorcery spell books are much better because they can give us Flight, Invisibility and Haste. Take for example:

Anyway, with the notable exception of Impossible Iron Man vs. Aggressive Expansionist Wizard rivals, I believe 11 Life Book Builds with Incarnation to be an infallible path to victory in Master of Magic.

Next up: Iron Man Master of Magic.

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