- This article is about the advanced magic tower in the first Kingdom Rush. For the Kingdom Rush: Vengeance enemy based on this tower, see High Sorcerer.
"Ashes to ashes!"
The Sorcerer Mage is a Level 4 Magic Tower in the first Kingdom Rush. Upgraded from the Level 3 Wizard Tower, Sorcerer Mages handle forces that are close to darkness itself. They can summon Elementals, powerful and durable units that do area damage, or Polymorph enemies into harmless sheep. It is the only tower in Kingdom Rush to have an intrinsic passive ability: Cursing attack.
Description
"Sorcerers handle forces that are close to darkness, weaving spells that temporary lower enemy armor and deal damage."
Compared to the Arcane Wizard, the Sorcerer Mage has better crowd control and acts as an excellent support tower, thanks to the Elemental, its ability to lower enemy armor and its higher attack rate. The Polymorph ability allows even the toughest enemies to be clicked into oblivion.
Its basic attack has a passive ability to curse the target and lower its physical armor for 4 seconds, whilst also dealing extra true damage over time while the curse is applied (10 damage per second). Curse damage does not stack. If the Sorcerer Mage attacks an already cursed target, it only resets the duration of the curse.
Note: curse damage is not factored into the tower's damage values.
Abilities
Polymorph
"Meeeeh!"
Polymorphs enemies into harmless sheep. Sheep are very weak but cannot be blocked.
The Sorcerer transforms the target into a sheep (flying enemies are transformed into flying sheep), rendering them incapable of engaging in combat, disabling any abilities, nullifying armor and magic resistance, and halving their original health. However, sheep are unblockable and will still take lives. They will still be targeted by Reinforcements with Spear Throw and Barbarians with Throwing Axes. The transformation is irreversible. Bosses, Skeletons and Skeleton Knights are immune to Polymorph. Polymorphed enemies can be clicked to death, similar to sheep and goat critters on various stages, but do not give gold when killed this way on the Flash version.
| Level | Cost | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 300 | 20 seconds |
| 2 | 150 | 18 seconds |
| 3 | 150 | 16 seconds |
Summon Elemental
"Rock is Eternal" 
Summons an Earth Elemental, the stout avatar of the land's power, to block and attack your enemies.
As the only tower beside the Barracks capable of summoning units on the path, the Summon Elemental ability gives you an exceptionally resilient foot soldier crafted from the spirit of the land itself to support your human soldiers. The Rock Elemental does area damage. An Elemental killed in a level with a Poison Pool will spawn a bounty-less Swamp Thing.
Attack rate: 2.0s, Respawn: 8s, Health regeneration: 20 HP/s
| Level | Cost | Health | Damage | Armor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 350 | 600 HP | 30-50 | 40% |
| 2 | 150 | 700 HP | 40-60 | 50% |
| 3 | 150 | 800 HP | 50-70 | 60% |
On flash, the Elemental is a bit different. It costs the same amount of gold, but its attack rate increases to 3 seconds and its damage per attack is higher.
| Level | Cost | Health | Damage | Armor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 350 | 600 HP | 50-90 | 40% |
| 2 | 150 | 700 HP | 60-100 | 50% |
| 3 | 150 | 800 HP | 70-110 | 60% |
Range
- 43% wider than Mage Tower
- 12% wider than Wizard Tower
- Same range as Arcane Wizard and Rangers Hideout
- Elemental's rally point range is 90% of Sorcerer Mage.
Strategy
- The appearance of the elemental does not change when upgraded. However, any hit points lost will be replenished when the ability is upgraded. Use this to your advantage.
- Sorcerer Mage has a different target priority. Instead of targeting the enemy nearest to the exit, it targets the one nearest to the exit without an active curse debuff. Place your towers accordingly.
- Enemies transformed into sheep can be clicked upon to make them explode, killing them instantly!
- Fully upgrading Polymorph is only 150 gold cheaper than Death Ray. Thus, when you have to choose, upgrading Death Ray is usually preferable.
- Placing Sorcerer Towers near the beginning of the map allows curse to achieve maximum effect, dealing damage over time and weakening enemy armor for other towers, and allows other towers more time to kill off tough polymorphed enemies, such as Yetis or Forest Trolls.
- As polymorphing disables armor and abilities, it is a godsend when dealing with Trolls, Troll Champions, Troll Chieftains, Troll Breakers, Swamp Things, and Forest Trolls due to their HP regeneration. It also enables you to kill off armored enemies with other towers in less time.
- Against enemies with high health, but no armor or magic resistance, Polymorph can sometimes be detrimental, as it allows the creature to pass through your defenders. Examples of such enemies are Yetis and Magma Elementals.
- Although the Sorcerer Mages' regular attack is less damaging than the Arcane Wizard's, it has the ability to output greater DPS when its curse affects multiple enemies and its Elemental is active.
- Certain enemies will retain some characteristics when polymorphed: for example, Wulves will retain their speed, and flying enemies will turn into flying sheep.
- As the Sorcerer will prioritize enemies which are not affected by curse, it is very efficient in dealing with waves of low HP enemies such as Gargoyles. It will either instantly kill the enemy with its initial attack, or let it be finished off by curse damage.
Strengths
- Due to their good damage and reasonable rate of fire, Sorcerer Towers are able to shred hordes of low to mid HP enemies. They can also aid towers that would otherwise be less effective against armored enemies, with their curse and the Arcane Shatter Upgrade helping to lower enemy armor.
- The Elemental is one of the best blocking units in the game, possessing high armour and very high HP which allows it to stall almost any enemy, save for certain bosses. It also has an area attack, which enhances the Sorcerer's crowd control ability.
- Polymorph allows the Sorcerer to deal with tough or troublesome enemies, disabling any abilities, nullifying armor and magic resistance, and halving their original health.
Weaknesses
- Sorcerer Mages' Polymorph is not as effective as Arcane Wizards' Death Ray. The polymorphed enemy will still be targeted by attacks and abilities on it, wasting damage and utility if the player intends to click them to death. On the Flash version clicking these polymorphed enemies to death does not give gold.
- Naturally, high magic resistance enemies are the mage's bane, although curse does True Damage and the Elemental deals physical damage.
Additional Stats
- DPS: 28 to 52 (average 40)
- Total Cost: 800 G (720 G with Hermetic Study)
- Cost Efficiency: 20 gold per point of DPS (18 with Hermetic Study)
- The Empowered Magic upgrade increases the base DPS by 15%: 32.66 to 60 (average 46.33)
- Curse increases the DPS by 10 points per enemy affected (max 4 enemies at a time). Curse does true damage
- Elemental Level 3 increases the DPS by 25 to 35 (average 30) | 23.33 to 36.66 on Flash (average 30)
- Total Cost with abilities fully upgraded: 2050 G (1970 G with Hermetic Study)
- DPS with max abilities and upgrades (single target): 67.66 to 105 (average 86.33) | 66 to 106.66 on steam (average 86.33)
Related Upgrades
- Spell Reach (1 Star): Increases wizard's attack range (by 10%).
- Arcane Shatter (1 Star): Magic attacks destroy a potion of enemy physical armor on every hit. (-3 armor level)
- Hermetic Study (2 Stars): Mage Towers construction and upgrading costs are reduced by 10%.
- Empowered Magic (2 Stars): Increases wizard's attack damage. (by 15%)
- Slow Curse (3 Stars): Magic attacks slow enemies by half their speed for a moment (half a second, Also disables Rocket Rider Turbo boost).
Spell Reach (1 Star): Increases wizard's attack range (by 10%).
Arcane Shatter (1 Star): Magic attacks destroy a potion of enemy physical armor on every hit. (-3 armor level)
Hermetic Study (2 Stars): Mage Towers construction and upgrading costs are reduced by 10%.
Empowered Magic (2 Stars): Increases wizard's attack damage. (by 15%)
Slow Curse (3 Stars): Magic attacks slow enemies by half their speed for a moment (half a second, Also disables Rocket Rider Turbo boost).Related Upgrades for Elemental
- Spiked Armor (3 Stars): When attacked, soldier's spiked armor return a percent of the damage received to the attacker. (~12.5% reflection of damage)
Spiked Armor (3 Stars): When attacked, soldier's spiked armor return a percent of the damage received to the attacker. (~12.5% reflection of damage)Related achievements
SHEPHERD
Polymorph 50 Enemies into sheeps [sic].
ELEMENTALIST
Summon 5 rock elementals in any one stage.
Quotes
- "Do or do not, there is no try!" (main)
- "Back to the shadows of Hell!" (main)
- "Ashes to ashes!" (main)
- "Meeeeh!" (polymorph) (sound from sheep)
Trivia
- "Do or do not. There is no try"
- A line spoken by Yoda in the 1980 film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
- "Ashes to ashes"
- Part of the phrase "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" spoken during a burial service, to denote the finality of the corporeal body.
- Polymorph is based on the spell of the same name from Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.
Gallery
