Earth magic - an overview

Earth tier 1:

Enchanted hammers - just too strong

Lower land/raise land - dunno really

Nature's cloak -right now useless because the world does nothing magic, spells are so weak and ignorable you dont need any res ever, potentially can be too strong i think, once magic is powerful and you fear it having such a high % reduction for such a low cost seems just plain OP

 

Earth tier 2:

Stoneskin - good but not op
Tremor - didnt use it much but could be useful sometimes

 

Earth tier 3:

Set in stone -didnt use it much because cities are jack of all trades mostly but ok, on some fortress once you have other source of reserach this is definitely good
Shockwave - cost is too higgh for the low dmg it provides, also as usual mages dont like being in melee range so PBaoe kinda sux, need a sure buff, being a melee aoe should have more dmg than any ranged aoe

 

Earth tier 4:

Fracture - well decent but usually when you fight things with 200+ hp then you have  a mage with lots + dmg that can do pretty much the same every turn, need some rework imo

Summon earth elemental  - strongest summon i think atm, still like every other summon isnt enough mid game, but i think buffing the summon traits this can really work until endgame
Destroy land - dont like the design
 

Earth tier 5:

Birth of summer/bloom of twilight -dunno, as usual when you are at this point you usually dont need cities, also i dont want a game that force ppl to keep builging even end game, so plz just chaneg this spell or set it at tier 3 or so

Earthquake - seems good but as usual conquering a city is easier and more profitable
Giant form - very strong, kinda OP

Diamondskin - in a game where magic is so weak, this is plain OP

 

Combo spells:

Syphon strength - once it works perfectly ill test it better

Cloak of thorns -never tried this, seems quite a good enchant tbh, unless working only on spells then like other things magic is so weak and uselss you dont really need to care about it

Stinking mud - cool spell i think

Nature's call - good summon early

Hammers + Set in Stone = 150+ Production! I say set Hammers to +1 Materials and keep Stone as is. That would then require research to get OPed.

Earth tier 5:

Birth of summer/bloom of twilight - 300 mana strategic - revive a 3x3 square of land so that it can be settled

I've gotten earth 5 on multiple champions in every one of my games, but I've never gotten Birth of Summer (playing as Kingdom).  Is there a known issue with it or something?

I used stinking mud quite a bit in my last game; mostly for end quests; where I wanted to immobilize large number of opponents while my other csaters charged fireballs; worked like a charm - and made those quests very easy.

Think the posters got it right. Magic is too weak. 

Earth tier 1:

Enchanted hammers - use a lot

Lower land/raise land - sometimes

Nature's cloak - sometimes

 

Earth tier 2:

Stoneskin - sometimes

Tremor - sometimes

 

Earth tier 3:

Set in stone - never

Shockwave - sometimes

 

Earth tier 4:

Fracture - never

Summon earth elemental  - never

Destroy land - never

 

Earth tier 5:

Birth of summer/bloom of twilight - never

Earthquake - sometimes

Giant form - never

Diamondskin - never

 

Combo spells:

Syphon strength - never

Cloak of thorns - never

Stinking mud - never

Nature's call - once

I believe you need to have Life/Death magic as well as Earth to get this spell.

Hmmm looks like destroy land and bloom/birth have been removed or are hidden away in some quests - perhaps they're exclusive to the campaign?

They require an endgame tech called 3rd Book of the Magi.

Earth tier 1:

Enchanted hammers: A great boost in the early game, and worth continuing throughout.

Lower land/raise land: I rarely use this, though as an old SMAC player, I can understand the strategic value of terraforming.  It would certainly be a lot more final to lower all the land around the edges of a rival's territory, instead of setting up outposts for them to ignore.

Nature's cloak: Excellent boost.  Very useful even in the early game against air shrills, and keeps helping throughout.

 

Earth tier 2:

Stoneskin: Another must.  Because no matter how good at dodging your melee types are, they will always come up against something that's simply more accurate.

Tremor: At best, a stopgap measure to halt roaming monsters while you desperately try to get an army there.  I prefer Pillar of Fire.

 

Earth tier 3:

Set in stone: Don't underestimate this on a fortress.  As long as you've got a few towns churning out gold, you'll have a fast-producing army machine at your disposal.

Shockwave: Sure, I should drop my mage champion/sovereign right next to a group of attackers in order to use this spell.  Riiiight.  Of course, if they can't be hit...but then, there are other mass effect that don't require the setup.

Earth tier 4:

Fracture: Not bad.  Works well against some creatures that have high resistance to fire, for instance.

Summon earth elemental: Nice.  Haste one of these kiddies, and let 'em rip.

 

Earth tier 5:

Earthquake: I'd rather just take over somebody's city, than half destroy it.  And you can't do this at a distance--you have to see the place with an army to level it.

Giant form: Worth getting all the way up the Earth tree for this...

Diamondskin: ...and this.  These are boss killers.

 
Combo spells:

Syphon strength: Almost never play the Death book, so I can't comment.

Cloak of thorns: Not a primary defense, but useful on top of everything else--if only because it's fun watching some of the damage bounce back to the caster.

Stinking mud: Great spell.  Nothing but nothing beats watching those stupid mites slowed to a crawl.

Nature's call: Useless.  You've gone up two spell trees partway, and you're rewarded with a spell that summons something which makes a wolf look dangerous.

 
Just my two cents.

Set in Stone is crazy awesome for getting a new city up and running. Enchanted Hammers + Set In Stone = everything builds in 3 turns plus can probably rush in less for refunds. It's just ridiculous.

needs more damage doer type spells and summonses. 

Is that always present, or is it only in some games?  I don't see it in my current one.

It's definitely not life / earth, as my sov is 5 life / 5 earth

It is random with a 75% chance to show up. The first thing I mod when I get a new version of the vanilla game. ^^

I moaned about this too

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

The graphics of the Stinking Mud spell look more like an insect swarm to me. Maybe we could get something that really looks like muddy ground. And as an aside, some kind of insect swarm spell might be cool too.

I think its 25% chance to occurr, it is something I watched for during lots of restarts until I got frustrated and modded it