Can someone let me know exactly what the Vitalize (life 3) spell does? The pedia just says it improves your terrain but I can't seem to cast it anywhere in my territory, it's always greyed out.

From some googling I fear it is just a matter of terraforming stuff from desert or ice to plains/grasslands. Which is quite useful. Except that the level 1 fire/water spells scorch/spring do the same thing in FF and Orbis, and Vitalize is an archmage-level spell! So I hope I'm just clueless about what it does.

If I'm not, shouldn't it be changed to do something that can't be mostly replicated by a could noob adepts way earlier in the game?

edit: I think this may be the same problem I had with "Genesis". I built the ritual and as far as I could tell nothing actually happened since I'd already used level 1 adepts to get rid of any ice/tundra.

Life III is Resurrection, which brings your hero back to life. (There is another spell of the same name and same promotion prereq that can only be cast on Graveyards, which gives you a free Champion.)


Vitalize is Nature III.


def reqVitalize(caster):
pPlot = caster.plot()
if pPlot.getOwner() != caster.getOwner():
return False
if pPlot.isWater():
return false
if pPlot.getTerrainType() == gc.getInfoTypeForString('TERRAIN_GRASS'):
return False
if pPlot.getTerrainType() == gc.getInfoTypeForString('TERRAIN_BURNING_SANDS'):
return False
if pPlot.getTerrainType() == gc.getInfoTypeForString('TERRAIN_BROKEN_LANDS'):
return False
if pPlot.getTerrainType() == gc.getInfoTypeForString('TERRAIN_FIELDS_OF_PERDITI ON'):
return False
if pPlot.getTerrainType() == gc.getInfoTypeForString('TERRAIN_MARSH'):
return False
return True

def spellVitalize(caster):
pPlot = caster.plot()
if(pPlot.getTerrainType()==gc.getInfoTypeForString ('TERRAIN_SNOW')):
pPlot.setTerrainType(gc.getInfoTypeForString('TERR AIN_TUNDRA'),True,True)
elif(pPlot.getTerrainType()==gc.getInfoTypeForStri ng('TERRAIN_TUNDRA')):
pPlot.setTerrainType(gc.getInfoTypeForString('TERR AIN_PLAINS'),True,True)
elif(pPlot.getTerrainType()==gc.getInfoTypeForStri ng('TERRAIN_DESERT')):
pPlot.setTerrainType(gc.getInfoTypeForString('TERR AIN_PLAINS'),True,True)
if pPlot.getFeatureType() == gc.getInfoTypeForString('FEATURE_SCRUB'):
pPlot.setFeatureType(-1, -1)
elif(pPlot.getTerrainType()==gc.getInfoTypeForStri ng('TERRAIN_PLAINS')):
pPlot.setTerrainType(gc.getInfoTypeForString('TERR AIN_GRASS'),True,True)

It turns Snow(Ice) to Tundra, Tundra to Plains, Deserts to Plains, and Plans to Grasslands.

It turns Snow(Ice) to Tundra, Tundra to Plains, Deserts to Plains, and Plans to Grasslands.

Thanks. Yeah, I meant nature 3 not life 3, sorry!

Since you can bring snow to plains with fire 1 (scorch) and desert to plains with water 1 (spring) and both of those are much, much easier to get than archmage-level nature 3 and vitalize, it seems to me that going from plains to grasslands isn't enough of a reward.

Or am I underestimating the advantage of going from plains->grasslands? It's just not sexy! I want archmage spells to be sexier!

I guess if you never had any fire or water mana...