Spells and prayers in 4th Edition Age of Sigmar will have more flexibility and counters for players with these new rules.
GW has promised that AoS 4th Edition will bring many changes to the core rules, battletomes, and modular rules. However, you’ll still need to cast spells to empower your units and smite your enemies!
In this edition, there will be a lot more flexibility and options for both you and your opponents.
Spells & Prayers Rules Get Big Changes in 4th Edition AoS!
Here is the latest on how spells and prayers work in 4th Edition AoS from Warhammer Community.
- Each spellcaster in the game is identified by the keyword WIZARD, which is followed by their power level.
- Spell Lores have changed in the new edition and one lore will be selected as part of constructing your army.
- No more than one friendly wizard can cast the same spell each turn unless that spell has the new UNLIMITED keyword.
- Casting rolls are still 2D6, and if a casting roll includes a double 1, then the spell is miscast.
- Unbinding is an important part of spellcasting counterplay, and the range is 30″
- Like spellcasters, you’ll pick one specific prayer lore when building your army.
- Every prayer will ask you to roll a D6 chanting roll, and on a roll of 2+, your PRIEST gains that many ritual points.
- Each prayer has a chanting value that you’ll need to match before it will be answered.
- Building up your rituals comes with a risk, and the gods in the Age of Sigmar can be extremely petty, so a chanting roll of 1 will lose your priest D3 ritual points.
- Prayers can’t be unbound, so astute commanders will have to target enemy prophets while they’re busy amassing ritual points for swift execution.
Age of Sigmar: Casting & Unbinding Spells
Each spellcaster in the game is identified by the keyword WIZARD, which is followed by their power level – a number in brackets that determines the number of SPELL, UNBIND, and BANISH abilities that they can use per phase. So a hero with the keyword WIZARD (2) could fire off a single SPELL and still attempt to BANISH an endless spell or invocation.
You have to decide to choose between your options, and you can’t do one of everything. This means if you only have level-one wizards, you might want to save one or two for Unbinding or Banish.
Spell lores have changed in the new edition, and are selected as part of constructing your army. Pick a single spell lore, and every sorcerer in your army can attempt to cast any of the spells from that lore. This means you no longer need to keep track of which specific Weirdnob Shaman knows Mighty ‘Eadbutt – you can attempt to cast that spell with any of them.*
Spell Lores are changing, and every wizard in your army must use the same lore. However, this might make it easier as all your mages know the same stuff. While the Weirdnob Shamans are only level-one wizards, just put them next to ten+ Ironjawz and get an extra power level.
No more than one friendly wizard can cast the same spell each turn, unless that spell has the new UNLIMITED keyword – and even UNLIMITED spells can’t be repeatedly cast by the same wizard in the same turn. Casting rolls are still 2D6, and if a casting roll includes a double 1, then the spell is miscast – the caster takes D3 mortal damage and can cast no more spells in that phase.
D3 Mortals (or three if it’s a Wizard) is not the wildest thing, but with only a casting level of 6, you should be able to get it off a decent amount. We expect Unlimited Spells to be fairly small spells, as even something like Mighty ‘Eadbutt isn’t.
You can miscast, and it will always be the same: D3 Mortal wounds and no more spells this turn.
Unbinding is an important part of spellcasting counterplay, and with Magical Intervention letting canny casters crack off spells in their opponent’s hero phase, the Unbind reaction ability is vital.
As an exception to the usual restrictions on abilities, a WIZARD can attempt to use the Unbind reaction multiple times per phase, based on their power level – but only once per casting roll.
Unbinding is pretty simple; you just have to roll higher than the enemy, and with a 30″ range still, you should at least still have a chance most of the time.
Chanting Prayers
The gods have cast their divine light on the prayers in the new edition, which are now more powerful than ever – and very different from spells, in some key ways. As with your spellcasters and sorcerers, your PRIESTS are marked out by a keyword with an associated power level, and may use a combination of PRAYER and BANISH abilities each phase up to that number.
Again, the number will be super important, as it means how much they can do per turn.
Like spellcasters, you’ll pick one specific prayer lore when building your army – but there the similarities end. Instead of making a single dramatic casting roll, these combative clergy beseech their deities (who may even be on the battlefield with them at the same time) through chanting. Every prayer will ask you to roll a D6 chanting roll, and on a roll of 2+, your PRIEST gains that many ritual points, which accumulate over multiple turns.
For Priests, you gain ritual points on a 2+, so you should be able to build them up pretty quickly.
Each prayer has a chanting value that you’ll need to match before it will be answered – and many include a higher value that can power up the resulting miracle even further. For example, a Slaughterpriest can choose to unleash the Witchbane Curse to weaken an enemy WIZARD once they’ve gathered 4+ ritual points… or hold out for a chanting value of 8+ to also deal three mortal damage to the target.
If most casting values are around 4, you’ll need a couple of priests to build up points quickly, as with only one or two, this will take some time. However, some seem like they will be quite strong, as turning a wizard to level zero basically makes them useless.
Building up your rituals comes with a risk, and the gods in the Age of Sigmar can be extremely petty, so a chanting roll of 1 will lose your priest D3 ritual points. Note that prayers can’t be unbound, so astute commanders will have to target enemy prophets while they’re busy amassing ritual points for swift execution.
Don’t roll those ones when praying, or you’ll lose a bunch of points!
Manifestation Lore
Endless spells and invocations are still in the mix – but instead of spending points to add endless spells when constructing an army, you can pick a manifestation lore. This grants access to a selection of endless spells and invocations that you’ll be able to summon in battle.
Some factions will have their own Manifestations, while the current endless spells from Malign Sorcery and Forbidden Power are divided into thematic lores. You’ll find the infamous and ghastly Purple Sun in the Morbid Conjuration Manifestation Lore, for instance, alongside Suffocating Gravetide, Malevolent Maelstrom, and Soulsnare Shackles.
Hopefully, if you’ve already bought the spells, they will still be usable for your army, but it seems like they should be.
Wizards and priests both can attempt to use the Banish Manifestation ability to expunge these autonomous arcane forms. There are more ways to interact with these conjurations, which we’ll cover in more detail next week.
We’ll see how high the costs are, but we hope they are high, as otherwise, they might not last long.
Overall, the changes to spells and prayer rules in 4th Edition AoS promise to bring more flexibility and counterplay to the game. With the new spell lores and chanting rituals, players will have to make strategic choices on which abilities to use and when.
GW Confirms New AoS Edition, Free Rules & Release Date
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
