Posted October 30, 2020
Just been replaying Dragon Wars lately, and there are a few things I've noticed about the game mechanics.
* Fire Light does only 1-6 x P damage, not 1-8 x P as the manual says. This means that High Magic doesn't have an advantage over Sun magic at exactly 30 feet, except before you get access to Rage of Mythras.
* Sun Stroke also does only 1-6 x P damage, making it useless for any character who knows Rage of Mithras.
* There are 3 spells that you can't learn, with Wrath of Mithras being one of them. If you hack them onto one of your characters, the spells do work as described in the manual.
* It is possible to get the Druid Magic skill by wrestling with Enkidu. To do this, you need 16 Strength (not 18, as some sources say), though the chance will be higher at higher Strength scores. Doing this will give you 2 in Druid Magic if you don't already have the skill; if you already have Druid Magic 1, it is not increased to 2 (but you will still learn the spells, including Whirlwind which I believe has no scroll.
* A character who does not have Low Magic can't learn Miscellaneous Magic, even if the character has Druid Magic.
* The Charger spell works with any item with a spell attached. This includes certain items that come without charges (the Luck Wand, the Bombs that appear in the same treasure as the Speed Wand, and the Magic Chain from Necropolis); it seems that giving these 0 charges is a mistake. (Some sources say the Luck Wand has infinite charges; that is sadly not the case, as the Luck Wand has no charges, and can only be used if you cast Charger on it first.)
* Dead Bolt casts Mage Fire when used; therefore, Charger works on it, so you can get more of them that way.
* Scrolls have the spell they teach attached to them; therefore, Charger will work on them. This allows you to use the same scroll many times in one playthrough, allowing you to teach the same spell to multiple characters with just one scroll.
* The powered up Sword of Freedom casts Inferno at level 9 (I saw both 9 and 33 damage in testing). The Dragon Horn casts Rage of Mithras at at least 9 (I saw 53 damage), and the Ice Wand casts Ice Chill at at least 8 (I saw 32 damage here).
* Fistfighting is a good skill. I haven't cracked the details (in particular, I still haven't figured out what level it stops improving), but it ends up being stronger than all the early and mid game weapons, but not as strong as late game weapons (like the Dragon Sword, the 2 Spiked Flails, and the Freedom Sword).
* Full Auto with the Gatlin Bow is limited to 30 shots; in practice, this only matters if you equip the Magic Quiver on the same character (which I *highly* recommend doing once you have both).
One thing I still haven't gotten around to testing is what happens if you let a summon spell wear off, then use the well beneath Necropolis to revive it.
* Fire Light does only 1-6 x P damage, not 1-8 x P as the manual says. This means that High Magic doesn't have an advantage over Sun magic at exactly 30 feet, except before you get access to Rage of Mythras.
* Sun Stroke also does only 1-6 x P damage, making it useless for any character who knows Rage of Mithras.
* There are 3 spells that you can't learn, with Wrath of Mithras being one of them. If you hack them onto one of your characters, the spells do work as described in the manual.
* It is possible to get the Druid Magic skill by wrestling with Enkidu. To do this, you need 16 Strength (not 18, as some sources say), though the chance will be higher at higher Strength scores. Doing this will give you 2 in Druid Magic if you don't already have the skill; if you already have Druid Magic 1, it is not increased to 2 (but you will still learn the spells, including Whirlwind which I believe has no scroll.
* A character who does not have Low Magic can't learn Miscellaneous Magic, even if the character has Druid Magic.
* The Charger spell works with any item with a spell attached. This includes certain items that come without charges (the Luck Wand, the Bombs that appear in the same treasure as the Speed Wand, and the Magic Chain from Necropolis); it seems that giving these 0 charges is a mistake. (Some sources say the Luck Wand has infinite charges; that is sadly not the case, as the Luck Wand has no charges, and can only be used if you cast Charger on it first.)
* Dead Bolt casts Mage Fire when used; therefore, Charger works on it, so you can get more of them that way.
* Scrolls have the spell they teach attached to them; therefore, Charger will work on them. This allows you to use the same scroll many times in one playthrough, allowing you to teach the same spell to multiple characters with just one scroll.
* The powered up Sword of Freedom casts Inferno at level 9 (I saw both 9 and 33 damage in testing). The Dragon Horn casts Rage of Mithras at at least 9 (I saw 53 damage), and the Ice Wand casts Ice Chill at at least 8 (I saw 32 damage here).
* Fistfighting is a good skill. I haven't cracked the details (in particular, I still haven't figured out what level it stops improving), but it ends up being stronger than all the early and mid game weapons, but not as strong as late game weapons (like the Dragon Sword, the 2 Spiked Flails, and the Freedom Sword).
* Full Auto with the Gatlin Bow is limited to 30 shots; in practice, this only matters if you equip the Magic Quiver on the same character (which I *highly* recommend doing once you have both).
One thing I still haven't gotten around to testing is what happens if you let a summon spell wear off, then use the well beneath Necropolis to revive it.