Gift of iron unlocks from the Book of Stone research. The spell costs 45 mana, has no casttime and boosts all friendly units with 6(+3 per earth shard) cutting and pierce defense.
This is probably one of the strongest tactical spells in the game because it so easily counters all physical damage. If you get Gift of Iron it will be nigh impossible to lose a fight, much less lose a city. The fact that it affects all friendly units, and has no cast time, means it is very hard to counter.
The extra defense also stacks with Sovereign History "Armorer" and faction ability "Defensive", increasing the OP-ness further for those that pursue high defense. And finally it stacks with Stoneskin, potentially giving a leather-wearing champion cutting/pierce defense above the 40s.
The lack of Blunt defense is its only weakness, but it is mitigated by late-game plate armor (or mid-game light plate armor).
The AI does not attempt to counter high defense with magic.
"Wait a minute", I hear you say, "that's a lot of 'potential' but very hard to plan for." And that is part of the problem. This spell is a gamechanger for Gilden. If they get it, and cast it, you'll probably lose the game (they have Armorer sovereign and Light plate). If you play Gilden, it should be the first spell you cast in every important fight, and you'll win because of it.
In 0.982 (or 3) Stoneskin was nerfed from 6(+3) to 3(+1). Gift of Iron wasn't touched. Although that may be a bit extreme for Gift of Iron, I'd still like to see it get nerfed a bit. A casttime of 1 perhaps? Or 5(+2) defence?
