Ye Olde Inn

Assume you're playing the Game System and KK & RotWL expansions

Here they are listed by group for easy reference:

Genie
Swift Wind
Tempest

Heal Body
Pass Through Rock
Rock Skin

Ball of Flame
Courage
Fire of Wrath

Sleep
Veil of Mist
Water of Healing

Here's mine:

1 Courage
2 Genie
3 Ball of Flame
4 Water of Healing
Heal Body
6 Sleep
7 Rock Skin
8 Tempest
9 Fire of Wrath
10 Pass Through Rock
11 Veil of Mist
12 Swift Wind

As a side note, I'd put Sleep way higher in the Elf/Barbarian Quest Pack because the Ogre has 10 BP & 2 MP, Wolf 5/1, Yeti 5/2, & Polar War Bear 6/2 would all be so vulnerable to the spell.

I'm not sure what the criteria for ranking is. Is it just how often the spells get used? You almost need to categorize them into Healing, Direct Attack, Indirect Attack, and Support. Well, then again... using Healing spells on your fighters allows them to attack more often, and Support spells work similarly... Ok, nevermind, these lists are good.

I like both your lists so far. Here's my .
1. Water of Healing
Heal Body
3. Courage
4. Genie
5. Ball of Flame
6. Fire of Wrath
7. Rock Skin
8. Tempest
9. Sleep
10. Pass Through Rock
11. Veil of Mist
12. Swift Wind

Nice lists!

Yeah the criteria is whatever you want it to be. I'm always interested to hear the different ways people look at these spells.

Well, in that case, here's an explanation of my ranking:

Daedalus wrote:

1. Heal Body
2. Water of Healing

My feeling is you win or lose by surviving and accomplishing Quests. These two spells allow that for two reasons. Most obviously, healing keeps you from elimination. But also, a fighting Hero that is healed can continue to fight for multiple rounds, usually causing more damage over many turns than any single spell.

Daedalus wrote:

Genie

2 1/2 average hits speaks volumes. Sure, well-armored baddies can usually shrug off a BP of damage, but 1 or 2 BP usually gets through. Plus, rolling 5 AD is dramatic when you're playing the Wizard. Oh, and the door thing.

Daedalus wrote:

Ball of Flame

1 1/3 average hits is almost as good as a Genie spell, but not quite.

Daedalus wrote:

Courage (I play it can be cast in advance, but only allows it's bonus for 1 attack--otherwise I'd rank it #3.)

1 average hit on top of a melee attack will usually punch through, so I'm switching it to better than Fire of Wrath. [Moved up 1 on list -edit]

Daedalus wrote:

Fire of Wrath

2/3 average hits is more sure than the Wizard's Staff, especially when well-armored monsters are involved. [Moved down 1 on list -edit]

Daedalus wrote:

Tempest

Delaying a Chaos Warrior or Gargoyle's attack for a turn--with no chance for spell negation--while swarming with the Heroes can basically double their attacks against it. If the true usefulness of this spell weren't quite so situational against a high-offense solo, I'd rank it higher. It also requires other Hero attacks to actually do damage to the monster. I imagine higer level Quests would see this spell proving its worth more, where a Warbear or Ogre could be neutralized, at least temporarily. Maybe this spell actually belongs ranked above Courage, considering the long run.

Daedalus wrote:

Sleep

The usefullness of this spell depends more than others on when the caster takes his turn. I'd want the caster to go first in the Hero turn order, as that would allow the three other Heroes to attack the defenseless monster before it could attempt to revive again on its turn. This dependency on turn order lowers its value for me. This spell is also weak against monsters with 3 MP or more, which should revive by their turn. Worse still, It doesn't even function against undead monsters. Where it does shine is when it is cast against a monster such as an Ogre Warrior, who only has 1 MP but also has a lot of DD to forfeit while asleep. This is situational, however. Because Sleep, like Tempest, still requires another Hero to spend an action to attack, I rank it lower than the damaging spells.

Daedalus wrote:

Rock Skin

+1/3 chance of cancelling an attack doesn't affect combat a lot, especially when it can be cancelled. I feel it's just as likely to be cancelled as it is to remain in effect and convert to a white shield that is needed.

Daedalus wrote:

Swift Wind

Occasionally, a burst of speed can bring in a Hero to rescue another, or to escape. The situational nature of this spell leaves it a "meh" for me.

Daedalus wrote:

Pass Through Rock

Pretty much the same uses and limitations as Swift Wind, but less distance.

Daedalus wrote:

Veil of Mist

Runt of the litter. What's the advantage of getting a Hero behind the lines, if a rear spell-caster can't be disrupted anyway? Okay, there are possible uses, but as a rule this spell has little advantage to offer.

1./2. Heal Body/Water of Healing - Healing is just so damn useful!
3. Genie - Higest potential damage output and even has utility uses too (although rarely used)
4. Ball of Flame - pretty much gauranteed 2 BP of damage
5. Fire of Wrath - pretty much gauranteed 1 BP of damage
6. Courage - While a very good spell, it is a bit situational.
7. Rock Skin - Attack is better than defense.
8. Tempest - Strictly a bosskiller utility
9. Pass Through Rock - Can be useful if stuck/lost, but you risk getting stuck in a wall. In many ways gamebreaking.
10. Sleep - The fact it is only effective agains low MP monster, makes it less good.
11. Veil of Mist - It's just meh...
12. Swift Wind - The fact that you can't use it and still attack makes it bad.

Overall I'd say wind is the weakest spell group. It has no healing and only one damage spell.
Earth is definitely better than water.
So fire or earth? Well... Do you want offense or defense?
All in all given the nature of the game there are too few actual damage spells.

Goblin-King wrote:1./2. Heal Body/Water of Healing - Healing is just so damn useful!
3. Genie - Higest potential damage output and even has utility uses too (although rarely used)
4. Ball of Flame - pretty much gauranteed 2 BP of damage
5. Fire of Wrath - pretty much gauranteed 1 BP of damage
6. Courage - While a very good spell, it is a bit situational.
7. Rock Skin - Attack is better than defense.
8. Tempest - Strictly a bosskiller utility
9. Pass Through Rock - Can be useful if stuck/lost, but you risk getting stuck in a wall. In many ways gamebreaking.
10. Sleep - The fact it is only effective agains low MP monster, makes it less good.
11. Veil of Mist - It's just meh...
12. Swift Wind - The fact that you can't use it and still attack makes it bad.

Overall I'd say wind is the weakest spell group. It has no healing and only one damage spell.
Earth is definitely better than water.
So fire or earth? Well... Do you want offense or defense?
All in all given the nature of the game there are too few actual damage spells.

Yup, that would be my too

I couldn't make a list, I tried making one but water of healing and heal body ended up not close together which is just stupid so I gave up.

I can tell though that the absolute number one in my book is tempest. Can't play a quest and not use it. Should that happen, then it's an unbalanced easy quest.

I can only rank the schools:
1. Air spells
2. Fire spells
3. Earth spells
4. Water spells

If the 2 damage fire spells are played with 5/6 chance to hit then I'd rank the fire school first. But I always play them US style, 2/3 chance to hit.

Ok, here's my attempt at this.
I play the EU version where all monsters have 1BP & this has influenced the order of this list!

1. Fire of Wrath - More or less a guaranteed kill anywhere on the board.
2. Genie -Again, a pretty good chanceof killing any monster anywhere on the board.The damage isn't guaranteed (you could roll ) also the rest of the Wind Spells are pretty useless so I prefer Fire of Wrath
3. Ball of Flame - Even more likely to be an instant kill, but the monster must be in sight
4. Heal Body - Above water of healing as the rest of the Earth Spells are better than the Water Spells
5. Water of Healing - Loses out to Heal Body as the rest of the Water Spells are useless

And I couldn't really list the rest as they very rarely get used....
but Goblin-King's list from 6 down seems about right.

Goblin-King wrote:6. Courage - While a very good spell, it is a bit situational.
7. Rock Skin - Attack is better than defense.
8. Tempest - Strictly a bosskiller utility
9. Pass Through Rock - Can be useful if stuck/lost, but you risk getting stuck in a wall. In many ways gamebreaking.
10. Sleep - The fact it is only effective agains low MP monster, makes it less good.
11. Veil of Mist - It's just meh...
12. Swift Wind - The fact that you can't use it and still attack makes it bad.

For what it's worth, I have written a quest where Swift Wind comes in very useful & I also have an idea for a quest puzzle that makes use of Veil of Mist.