Caster of Magic Warlord mod adds a lot to the game, slowing down end turn waiting times considerably, particularly in larger games. Warlord Lite preserves the vast majority of the additions from Warlord mod. It however strategically removes or adjust a few of these with end turn wait time as a top priority, reducing end turn wait times by 60%-85% depending on game size. The game also aims to reduce overall unit spam. Also check out full Warlord Mod by Author Suppanut4625 within the CoM Warlord moddb page. For more information, run launcher, select Warlord Lite, and click 'manual' button within launcher.
We provide launcher files to preserve Caster of Magic for Windows unmodded as an option. Note that these instructions assume Regular Warlords mod is installed and therefore will result in an additional slot (non-patched Master of Magic and caster non-windows DLC) being used.
1) create folder "Master of Magic Caster Windows Warlord Lite" in Master of Magic folder
2) copy all content from "Master of Magic Caster Windows" to "Master of Magic Caster Windows Warlord Lite" (Requires fresh copy of all content from CoM II's latest version)
3) extract content from from Warlord Lite zip compressed file into Master of Magic folder (overwrite all file in "Master of Magic Windows Warlord Lite" as well as Multi.config outside)
4) You may launch from launcher, select this mod (second of the 4 options), start game
Note: these are the same instructions as the full Warlord mod installation (instructions shown in this video Youtube.com), but with a different folder name.
What does Warlord 'Lite' Change – In Detail
Tactician simplified – the +2 to hero stats is restored (though armor is only +1 in battle). All units (not just terain-favorable) standing in tree, swamp, and rock tiles gain 2 armor, negate FS, and 5% to hit. However, when standing anywhere else, the +1 armor from Caster of Magic is removed. Basically retort instead of giving you a consistent +1 armor bonus, it either gives nothing or a lot more depending on unit placement. Still fun!
Benefactor no longer grants the hero stat bonuses – it is relatively strong anyways thanks to now starting with 'heroic heart' and earlier mercenariesEach realm has 10-11-15-12 spells in order of rarity (from 10-12-16-12), removing 10 spells
When adding books and having 10 spells of an uncommon or rare tier, the next step grants 11 instead of 12.
Books 8, 9, and 10 of a type ultimately gives you 1 more starting common than before.
Chaos common Rust changed back to Caster of Magic 'shatter' and new Shatter removed. However, new shatter also removes magic weaponry permanently, costs 1 more.
True Light removed, slight buff to guardian spirit and unicorn units to compensate.
Discipline comes back in game, albeit as a combat-only spell yet granting +1 move in combat.
Removed 'Venom', 'Zeal' 'Blaze of Glory', 'Purity',' Shadow Strike', 'Revenant', 'Mariner Mastery', 'Transmute Equipment', 'Teleport', 'Inner Power' , 'Angelic Guardians'
Resurrection moved back to life uncommon (from arcane)
Insulation reworked to be a global enchantment that grants all your units 'lightning resistance', assisting Chaos at attacking capital cities. Note: resistance simply removes armor-piercing effect.
Blazing Eyes restored, with effects from Chaos Embrace moved to Rare
Reaper Slash moved to Uncommon-tier, same as Caster of Magic
Sanctify, Bless, Blood Lust, Focus Magic, Nature Link, and Flame Blade unit buffs restored to Caster of Magic version
Invisibility no longer grants 'stealth' programmatically
Vampiricism simplified, moved to rare, only grants create undead trait.
Kraken loses stealth overland when in ocean (very resource intensive)
Mystic Surge does not provide removed buff effects anymore
Combat rare spell beat of Swiftness simplified - +2 move to all units during combat.
Combat spell Temporal Twist simplified - -1 move (minimum of 1), removes first strike, negate, teleport, and merging.
Soul Flay simplified – reduces 3 armor per level of experience instead of a mix of stats and costs 41.
Zombie Mastery simplified – reduced cost and only 'zombie' units gain +1 to melee, armor, resistance.
State of Rot rare global enchantment moved to a very rare combat enchantment that costs 65, prevents enemy units from healing (inc. regeneration) and reduces enemy units 'to defend' by 10%.
Eternal Night no longer gives 'poor sight' effects in combat.
Dance of Death no longer gives 'misfortune' to random units in combat.
Some item powers removed, but 'create undead' and +6hp stayed.
Food economy redesigned to be 80%-90% as prevalent as Caster of Magic, reducing unit spam
However, each wizard has 2 additional starting food income (compensating for the 4 starting units)
Enemy slightly less likely to produce cheaper low-to-mid tier units, reducing unit spam.
Many economy buildings cheaper to produce, to balance the food economy reduction and tilt the benefit to cost ratio of mid-late game economy buildings over military units (the latter getting more and more beneficial the later game goes on). This also reduces unit spam.
Some armory units gain +1 armor, +1 resist, +1 upkeep, and +15 cost … bringing them closer to Caster of Magic level and reducing unit spam.
Lizard riders no longer require armory – slight buff to lizardmen.
Monsters and raiders appear a few turns later and progress 5% slower, to compensate for slightly slower city development early in game.
New race Xuanyuan farmers grant +0.5 food (vs +1 food) but outpost growth +10
Version 1.0.6c – Compatible with Caster of Magic version 1.4.07
All 1.4.20 warlord mod updates compatible with Warlord Lite established
1.4.07 Caster of Magic update accidentally made all undead able to heal. Warlord mod reversed this accidental change.
State of Rot – reduces 'to defend' by 12% (from 15%) but all damage inflicted to enemy units is irrecoverable. Cost reduced to 65.
State of Rot visual bug – showed icon of another spell when cast
Guardian Spirit has +1 armor (same as Caster of Magic) given loss of True Light
Unicorn has +1 melee given loss of True Light and costs 10 more than in Warlord Mod
Fixed Magocracy not losing gold from Magic Market affected by Divine Order and various potential mismatches in script from current Warlord mod 1.4.20
Fixed sources of crashes with XuanYuan race.
New race Xuanyuan farmers grant +0.5 food (vs +1 food) but outpost growth +10
Why does it ask me to buy the game for the top left and bottom right?
Instructions in opening post of steam page had incorrect folder name, should have word Caster in it: 'Master of Magic Caster Windows Warlord' ... I believe the launcher was searching for an unrecognized folder, thus thinking it required a purchase.
Installation Instruction video: Youtube.com
Similarly, it should be 'Master of Magic Caster Windows Warlord Lite' for the Lite version (bottom right 'warlord' assuming full Warlord mod also installed). Hopefully this helps.