Lore Attribute(s):
Shield of Saphery (High Elves):
Whenever a spell from the Lore of High Magic is successfully cast, the caster and the unit he is in get a 6+ Ward Save until the start of the caster's next magic phase. If the target and his unit already have a Ward Save, then it is increased by a numerical value of 1. I believe the most the Ward Save can be increased is to a 3+, but don't quote me on that part. This is a really big deal, because the High Elves are not the most defensive army in the world. Once something gets past their to-hit phase, there's not much to stop them after that. This attribute is a perfect solution because a Ward Save can't really be negated all that easily. Plus, there's a lot of one or two dice spells in this lore that you can shove out to increase this save for next to no risk. Out of the three races that have attributes and access to this lore, this is the 2nd best in my opinion.
Contemplations (Lizardmen):
If a spell from the Lore of High Magic is successfully cast, the caster can choose to forget this spell at the end of his magic phase. He then immediately generates a replacement spell from any of the other lores he would normally have access to. If the caster swaps for a spell that is not from the Lore of High Magic, he must use that lore's attribute when casting the swapped spell. This lore combined with the Focus of Mystery (he becomes a Loremaseter on High Magic) discipline on a Slann Mage Priest is the ultimate tournament wizard in my opinion. Playing an Empire player with Demigryph Knights and Steam Tank? Swap a spell for Searing Doom. Playing an Ogre Gut Star? Swap for a Death snipe or Purple Sun. Playing Undead or Daemons? Swap Soul Quench for Shem's Burning Gaze. This is the best lore attribute out of the three, and my favorite by far. I know I'm biased, but you know what, at least I admit it goddamn it!
Ancients' Protection (Wood Elves):
Whenever a spell from the Lore of High Magic is successfully cast by a Wood Elf wizard and it is not dispelled. place a protection counter next to his model or the unit he is in. Whenever the caster or a model in the same unit as him suffers an unsaved wound and there are one or more protection counters next to him, then remove a protection counter and treat the wound as having been saved. This my least my favorite attribute, but it's still pretty damn nice in my opinion, especially in the context of the Woodies. See, Wood Elf casters are very lightly protected, so being able to save them from pretty much anything in the game is a big deal for any caster, but especially themselves. It should be noted that only Lord level casters can choose to take the Lore of High Magic, so pretty much every time he casts a spell, he's buying foolproof insurance for himself against any danger that comes his way. Something to keep in mind if you play the Eco Terrorists with no armor.
Signature Spell #1: Drain Magic
This spell type was popularized by Daemons players and I personally really like them due to their excessive utility. This spell acts as an Augment if it targets a friendly unit and a Hex if it targets an enemy unit. It has base casting value of 7+ and a range of 18". No matter whom it targets, this spell immediately terminates any and all spells on the targeted unit, including spells that remain in play. You can boost this spell to encompass all units (friend and foe) within 18" for a casting value of 14+. This, in my mind is the ultimate magic defense spell in your casting value. Need to get rid of Okkam's Mindrazor? Need to get rid of Soulblight? Then this spell is your go-to man. This spell is really nice if your opponent is relying very heavily on Augments and Hexes, like Nurgle, Beasts, and Shadow. It's a great spell to swap for if you roll one of the crappier spells in the lore, and if you play Lizardmen, I wouldn't be too keen to swap this one out for a different spell. It's that nice to have. I give it an easy 4 out of 5.
Signature Spell #2: Soul Quench
I know what you're thinking! "Signature Spell #2? That must be a typo!" Nope, both the Lores of High and Dark Magic have two signature spells! How friggin awesome is that?! Moving on, this spell is a Magic Missile with a range of 18" and a casting value of 8+. It inflicts 2D6 S4 hits, but can be boosted to inflict 4D6 S4 hits for an increased casting value of 16+. This is your basic utility MM, designed to clear out chaff, smaller units, and help whittle down bigger units. While it's not as good as Drain Magic, this spell is still very nice to have, and I would against certain opponent swap for it. For Lizardmen players, this is a nice spell to use to clear some chaff and then swap for something a bit more useful. In my mind, this spell is deserving of a 3 out of 5 rating.
Spell #1: Apotheosis
This is an Augment spell that targets a single model within 18". On a casting value of 5+, that target immediately regains a single lost wound. You can boost this spell so that it restores D3 wounds for an increased casting value of 10+. The targeted unit also gets the Fear special rule until the start of the caster's next magic phase, regardless of how many (if any) wounds are recovered. I think that for its casting value, this spell is really nice to have. If recovering lost wounds is your thing, then I would point you to the Lore of Life, but in a balanced spell list like High Magic, this is a really handy spell to have. In Monster Mash lists, this perhaps the best spell in the lore. Which for all three races that have access to it can run effectively since they all have access to very scary monsters like Treemen, Frostheart Phoenixes, and Stegadons. I give it a 4 out of 5, but I can understand why you want to swap for it in the case of not being a loremaster. To all my Lizardmen brothers, do not swap for this spell, unless you're running a Slann with Transcendent Healing. My opinion, but it's all been tempered with expierence.
Spell #2: Hand of Glory
This is an Augment spell with a range of 18" and a casting value of 5+. The targeted unit increases either it's Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Initiative, or Movement by D3 until the start of the caster's next magic phase. You can boost it so that it increases all of those attributes by D3, for an increased casting value of 10+. Just like how Soulblight is the evil twin of Wyssan's, this is the good twin of Miasma. There are two things that make this spell exceptional beyond the obvious. One, it is dirt cheap to cast for what it does either at its base level or boosted value. Two, it can increase Movement, which is very pivotal and fun if you're doing a two on two game with Dwarfs as your allies. I give it a 4 out of 5, and a recommendation not to swap it unless you have a very good reason.
Spell #3: Walk Between Worlds
An Augment spell with a range of 24" and a base casting value of 8+, this spell targets a single unengaged unit which then gains the special rule Ethereal and may immediately make a 10" movement as if it were the Remaining Moves sub-phase. This spell can be boosted to increase that movement to a 20" occurrence for an increased casting value of 16+. This spell is phenomenal, no matter what army you play spells that allow you to move again are just awesome. Don't believe me? Ask a Tomb Kings player how much he likes his Desert Wind spell that moves him again. I give it an easy 5 out of 5, mostly because a well-placed Walk Between Worlds on a horde of Saurus has one my many, many games.
Spell #4: Tempest
This is a Direct Damage spell with a range of 30" and a casting value of 12+. Place the large round template anywhere within 30" of the caster. It then scatters D6" and all models under the template suffer a Strength 3 hit. Models with the Fly special rule suffer a Strength 4 hit instead. If a unit suffers any unsaved wounds from this spell it suffers a -1 penalty to-hit for booth shooting and close combat attacks, and anything that doesn't rely on Ballistic Skill to shoot hits on a roll of a 4+. This spell is the big stinker out of the lore in my opinion because to be S3 with a scatter is absolute shit. The only good thing about this spell is that it's cheap to cast and create a psuedo-barrier on the battlefield that most people will not be avid to charge immediately through. My suggestion is to swap it for Soul Quench or if you have the loremaster of High Magic discipline as a Slann, then cast it immediately and the swap it for something much more useful. The -1 to-hit is kind of nice, but the spell is just too random for me to definitively say it's worth taking. Gets a 2 out of 5 from me.
Spell #5: Arcane Unforging
This is a Direct Damage spell with a range of 24" and a base casting value of 13+. It targets a single enemy model, even in a unit, and the target suffers a single wound on a dice roll greater than or equal to his unmodified armor save (basically a lore of metal spell, and if the target has no armor save then this spell does not work). No armor saves can be used against this spell, and the enemy player must then reveal to the caster all the magic items on the targeted model. The caster, on a roll of a 2+ on a D6 roll, may randomly select a single item and destroy the item. This does not effect items that are listed under the following profiles; mounts, magic items with bound spells that have been miscast during the game, and items that are one use only and have already been used. Do not include any of these items in the randomization selection process. This spell will almost always prove useful at one time or the other, but the primary thing I use it for is punishing Warriors of Chaos and Chaos Dwarf casters. Casters who think they're safe behind armor only to find themselves without a Talisman of Preservation or even better, an unused Dispel Scroll. However, my experience does come from an area where Chaos Dwarfs are very prevalent, so that biases me on the use of this spell. Against any combat characters, this spell will also make them very susceptible when they get into combat. I like this spell though, but I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea. For that, I give it a 3 out of 5, and a suggestion to my scaled-skin brothers on the internet, do not swap for it unless there's just no viable use for it.
Spell #6: Fiery Convocation
A remains in play Direct Damage spell with a range of 24" and a casting value of 19+. Every model in the targeted unit takes a S4 Flaming hit. Additionally, at the end of every subsequent Magic Phase, every model in the target suffers a S4 Flaming hit. This spell is fucking incredible. As High Elves, Lizardmen, and Wood Elves, you're going to run into a similar problem despite how differently these armies run. All of these armies are considered to be elite armies, meaning they put out troops with more quality, but with less ability to field these troops en mass. Thus, when you run into armies like Empire, Skaven, Greenskins, Daemons, etc, you're going to have a tough go of it trying to plow through hordes of bullshit infantry. Especailly if you're a Wood Elf player. Firey Convocation is an excellent solution, because you're punishing these armies with higher numbers and lower toughness. I cannot tell you how many Empire hordes I have straight up annihilated with this spell. Those Halberdiers that were supposed to guard your artillery are now gone, and my Cold One Riders are now spanking the shit out of your war machines. Love this spell, LOVE it. I give it a 5 out of 5 easily, I know I'm biased, but that's how awesome this spell is.
That's High Magic, and to be honest, I like it more than some standard lores. It's by far one of the most diverse lores in terms of spell type and application, and utility wise it's damn near unparalleled. How you should run it depends on which of the three armies you're playing that has access to it.
High Elves; Take a Level 4 on this with the Book of Hoeth. With the special rule for getting +1 to cast out of High Magic, this makes you a very dangerous wizard on the battlefield. Take it from a guy who runs a Level 4 Prophetess on Life with the Verdant Heart, being a Level 5 caster is never a bad thing. I would shy away from hero level casters rocking out to this, but if that's your cup of tea then knock yourself the fuck out. I'd instead be running a Loremaster as my support caster, but that's just me and I don't have all that much experience playing as High Elves. Definitely the Level 4 with Book of Hoeth combo though, that's the best magic user for point cost in that entire army.
Lizardmen; If your Slann is rocking out to High Magic, then make him a loremaster of it. The diversity and lore attribute allows you damned near infinite magical flexibility, and in a meta that is very much anti-Lizardmen at the moment I would take this attribute and not think twice. Since you can't take Skinks on High Magic, any support casting is impossible from this lore.
Wood Elves; This is where it gets tricky. Since only your Lord level caster can rock out to High Magic you're pretty much relying on getting a right combination of spells in order to make this lore usable. The lore attribute is certainly the biggest reason to roll with High Magic in a Woodies army, and sticking him in a forest also makes him very powerful caster in his own right. There are two possible effective army styles for Wood Elves. The first is the traditional run-and-gun army with lots of shooting, chaff, nasty little trick items, and general shenanigans that anyone playing against or as the Wood Elves before their 8th edition book knows and dreads. The second is a more orthodox fighting style army, filled with Wild Riders, hordes of Glade Guard, annoying groups of War Dancers, and really scary killy characters. High Magic, in my humble opinion, should be used with the latter of the two armies. High Magic is all about setting yourself up to be in the better position when combats start happening. Drain Magic, Hand of Glory, Arcane Unforging, and Fiery Convocation are evidence of that. Burning up a horde of infantry for a turn or two before throwing a group of War Dancers into them is certainly a viable tactic for combat Wood Elf armies. Again, that's my opinion, so if you disagree, please comment below and tell me why.
