I got this spell. I don't really understand how it works, but I haven't found a situation where I liked the outcome better than if I had just spammed Meteor on a full mana bar.

Each time I cast it, some random number of weak enemies on my screen die after a second or two. The radius seems small and inconsistent, it doesn't seem to kill wyverns or wizards, it seems less reliable for killing swarms of archers than a few meteors, and genies just drain my mana before I can cast it.

So what's really the use of this spell? I don't get it.

Casting Global Death is sort of like dropping a time delayed nuke at the location where you cast it. After 2-3 seconds delay (I don't remember exactly how long), everything that isn't you (or a building?) in its small AOE is killed. Go-ahead-and-claim-their-mana-now dead.

It is massively expensive to cast just once. It has a delay. It stays where you were when you cast it. It murders.

You might not be able to kill a wizard with it, but that's because wizards are very mobile; it is probably harder than it is worth to try and maneuver an enemy wizard into being in the AOE when the spell goes off (should be a one-shot, if you manage it). It will absolutely one shot every single wyvern in its AOE, though; I used this spell extensively to clean out a wyvern heavy level (you'll know it when you play it).

I'd probably use meteors on swarms of weaker monsters (except griffins, of course). Global Death should kill a genie if you manage to cast it before being run out of mana; you just need to maneuver so the genie is hovering near it when the spell finishes.

Because of the mana cost, this spell is more of a level mop up spell than primary artillery. If it were cheaper, it would be stupidly OP.

on those occasions where one is chasing you though, it's great for them then. goodbye Vodor.

i've always known this spell as 'time bomb' so it took me a while to figure out what you guys were talking about

i love it because it's powerful and doesn't mark you as the antagonist - e.g. it'll kill griffins without the rest of them immediately coming for your blood (or your castle)

I did eventually manage to land a Global Death on an enemy wizard, and it does indeed murder them too.

I still prefer lightning, I think. Meteors work even better if they don't have Rebound.

i just got it for this playthrough, and managed to kill 4 of them that were chasing me (the fools) but it comes into the game so late, as you say it is more of a convenience and mop-up spell than a staple - for most kills, i use meteor whenever possible (even on griffins, if they're on one side of a wall and i am on the other) and lightning because you get it early.

but, yeah. meteor.
nothing says "can i have my mana back please" like a burning bus-sized rock to the face.

** just realised i have around 5 different distros for mag carpet - floppy, cd + separate expansion, mc plus, an 'award winners' budget version, and now gog. maybe another i have forgotten about. did i mention i like this game?

Hear hear!