Total War: Warhammer/Tactics/Magic

This page goes into details about every single spell (Unique Spells and hero abilities not included) in the game, their uses, and so on. For the general gist of how magic works, head over to Total War: Warhammer/Tactics#Magic.

Generic Lores

Lore of Fire

Important to note: All spells from the Lore of Fire deal Fire Damage instead of Magic Damage. Duh.

• Fireball: Inexpensive projectile that is found all over the goddamn place. High Elven Mages get 4 uses of them for free. It's... alright-ish. Like all projectiles, Fireballs strongly depend the casters positioning and its damage is kinda meh. Can still be reliably used to snipe big monsters and Lords out of the sky, and its considerable range makes it a very attractive and cheap source of Fire Damage to be used against Ethereal units or Wood Elven tree spirits.
• Flaming Sword of Rhuin: Cheap buff for your troops that makes all of their attacks deal fire damage, as well as increasing their damage output by 22% for 17 seconds. Don't forget that this can also be cast on ranged units, so have fun experimenting with that.
• Cascading Fire Cloak: Extremely cheap (only 5 winds of magic!) AoE buff that increases AP Damage of your melee troops by 36% and also gives them 36 Melee Defence for 25 seconds. Gives your frontline a bit more staying power and makes Greatswords, not to mention Har Garneth Executioners or Swordmasters of Hoeth downright terrifying. Important to keep in mind is that it won't do jack shit for units that bring no AP damage on their own, like Imperial Swordsmen. A 100% increase of 1 would still be 2.
• The Burning Head: Oh sweet baby, yes! A medium prized (11 Winds of Magic) Wind Spell that deals an intimidating amount of damage and also terrifies people. This is the prime spell of the Lore of Fire. Tons of Fire Damage, but can also deviate a bit, although not as much as Vortex Spells would. It's cheap size relative to its effectiveness make it a very attractive spell to use, and is available in the campaign very early on.
• Piercing Bolts of Flame: No. Just no. Might sound good on paper, but is far too random to justify its high costs of 12 Winds of Magic. Warp Lighting and especially Searing Doom do essentially the same, but are far more efficient. Forget about it.
• Flamestorm: If you really want to make big blobs disappear, although The Burning Head would still be a more efficient spell for that. Costs a whopping 15 winds but will utterly annihilate any models caught in its wake.

Lore of Light

• Shen's Burning Gaze: Inexpensive Projectile, costs one wind less than Fireball does (7 to be exact), but fires three Projectiles at once. Has the advantage of higher base damage than said Fireball, and the disadvantage that all three projectiles need to land for the spell to deal full damage. Given that most entites except the largest ones aren't even big enough for all three projectiles to land, it's kinda mediocre.
• Net of Amyontok: This is why you pick the Lore of Light. A medium-prized (10 winds) AoE debuff that locks an enemy in place, right where they stand. The incredible utility of this spell cannot be understated. A must pick against factions with a lot of mobility, although it only affects units on the ground.
• Pha's Protection: A meek and cheap defense buff which lasts too short to have any meaningful effect. Grants 15 armour and 36 Melee Defense at the prize of 5 winds of magic... but only for 17 seconds. Perhaps a spell for the very late game, when only a handful of your fighters are still standing but other than that, its very short duration makes it forgettable at best.
• Light of Battle: AoE buff for 10 Winds of Magic that makes all units unbreakable for 25 seconds. Not to be underestimated, but needs a creative mind to use right.
• Bironas Timewarp: Pretty nifty buff spell that costs 11 Winds of Magic and gives a unit a whopping 24% increase of their movement speed and 36 melee attack. Perfect for Cavalry and other fast units.
• Banishment: May as well be the most cost-efficient vortex spell that's currently in the game. For a meager 12 Winds of Magic, you get a small zone of bright death that deals bonus damage against undead. The game advertises this spell as dealing "medium damage", which is bewildering, to say the least. Banishment definitely doesn't need to hide behind its bigger brethren from other Lores.

Placeholders for Warhammer 3 Lores (will get integrated into the main article once the game is out)

Lore of Slaanesh (Daemons of Slaanesh)

Total War: Warhammer Tactics Articles
General Tactics	Tactics Magic Banner Immortal Empires
Total War: Warhammer	The Empire Dwarfs Greenskins Vampire Counts Bretonnia Warriors of Chaos Beastmen Wood Elves Norsca
Total War: Warhammer 2	High Elves Dark Elves Lizardmen Skaven Tomb Kings Vampire Coast
Total War: Warhammer 3	Kislev Khorne Tzeentch Nurgle Slaanesh Grand Cathay Ogre Kingdoms Daemons of Chaos Chaos Dwarfs