Anti-magic

Antimagic is a way of life, espoused by the Ziguranth, and adopted by many citizens of the lands of Maj'Eyal. Practitioners of Antimagic take a vow never to use "unnatural" magic of any kind. In exchange for this vow, they gain access to special Antimagic talents.

Choosing whether to become a Zigur follower is an important choice most non-arcane classes must make.

Undead races (Skeleton and Ghouls) are unnatural creatures, and may not choose to pursue Antimagic.

Many racial talents are also categorized as spells, and these will be disabled if the character becomes a Zigur follower. Affected races include: Shalore, Doomelf, and Ogres.

How It Works

Those who wish to become Zigur followers must complete The Curse of Magic quest. This requires the character be able to enter Zigur, and speak with the trainer next to the town's arena after reaching level 10. The quest takes the form of a trial by combat. The player will be thrown into the arena and must fight eight spell casters that spawn one after another:

• Wave 1-3: skeleton mage, or fire imp, or greater gwelgoroth
• Wave 4-5: vampire, or umber hulk, or snow giant thunderer
• Wave 6-7: maulotaur, or faeros, or dread
• Wave 8: orc corruptor

The final orc corruptor is considerably stronger than typical level 10 enemies, so one should be well prepared or wait until a higher level before attempting this quest.

Consequences

Becoming a Zigur follower has several advantages:

• If you did not know the Antimagic talent tree already, you will unlock it and gain one level in Resolve.
• If you have unlocked the Antimagic talent tree already, you will gain +0.1 mastery level in it.
• You may ask Protector Myssil in Zigur for help with the Storming the city quest, and thereby unlock the Fungus talent tree.
• If Forbidden Cults is enabled, Cleaning the trash will later be offered in Last Hope. The quest may unlock Krog as playable race.
• You gain special bonuses when wearing certain artifacts.
• Ziguranth patrols on the world map are always friendly

It also has some disadvantages:

• You may not use runes.
• You may not wield/wear any arcane-powered items.
• You may not use any talents that are classified as spells (the description says "is: Spell").
• You may not complete the An apprentice task quest chain. If started, the Apprentice will run away forever when you next speak to him. The quest will still be marked 'Active' and cannot be completed.

To get the most of the Antimagic talent tree, you should have a high Willpower and be prepared to spend a fair number of generic points. Talents that allow faster Equilibrium regeneration will also be helpful in keeping Antimagic Shield up.

Characters who have passed the arena challenge may learn (or improve their knowledge of) the Fungus talents by defeating Urkis on Tempest Peak, and then returning to Protector Myssil in Zigur.

Strategy

The choice of becoming anti-magic can be a tough decision for some. It is important to consider:

• Do you have enough generic points to spend?
• If also taking the Fungus tree (available after defeating Urkis), do you have an extra category point to spend?
• Are your Willpower and Cunning high enough to make it worth it? Can you make good use of the skills provided?
• Can you do without Arcane-powered items?

Antimagic opens the player up to two trees. Antimagic is immediately unlocked. Fungus can be unlocked after defeating Urkis (this is optional). The base Antimagic tree offers defensive and offensive skills. Some players believe that the primary strength of Antimagic is mostly in the secondary tree, Fungus, which offers healing skills. Having the ~10-15 generics to spend between both trees will hamstring classes that otherwise have very strong use for their generic points. You must also spend a category point to unlock the Fungus tree, which may be a large hindrance, depending on your class.

The talents in Antimagic and Fungus require you to sustain or use Equilibrium to function, and if you cannot afford to max Willpower on the class you're playing, you simply won't have the resources to use the talents. Further, many of the talents also scale with mindpower, which cunning also gives. Without a high mindpower, may of the talents will be lackluster. Further, Ancestral Life is at its strongest when used with a strong heal talent (such as Nature's Touch or Nature's Equilibrium that would usually take a turn, as Fungal Growth will cause it to apply a regen, thus causing it to not take a turn.

While arcane-powered items may not seem specifically useful, realize that you'll be unable to use a significant fraction of the loot you'll find. Gear that might otherwise be fantastic may have a single arcane ego that will not allow you to use it. In addition, some of the most powerful artifacts are arcane-based.

Classes that naturally put points into Willpower (and to a lesser extent, Cunning), are natural choices for antimagic. Classes that work best with antimagic include: Mindslayer, Wyrmic, Solipsist, Doomed. To a lesser extent: Cursed. Oozemancer starts as anti-magic. Stone Wardens can not become anti-magic due to their mix of Wild-gift and Spellcasting abilities. All other classes either use magic as a core ability, or do not naturally use Willpower, which makes them poor choices for anti-magic.