Martyr

From the Might and Magic Wiki - Might and Magic, Heroes of Might and Magic, King's Bounty

[edit] Description

Martyr is cast on a friendly target. All the damage done to a second friendly target will then be transferred to the recipient of the spell. This effect lasts for the entire combat.

Level: 2 Cost: 3

[edit] Comments

Similar in concept to the death spell Sacrifice, this can be a very useful spell if used correctly. The martyred stack should be a hero whom you can keep alive with healing spells as transferring damage from one of your creature stacks to another doesn't really achieve very much. If you do 'martyr' a hero, make sure the protected stack doesn't get mobbed too quickly as the hero takes as much damage as the creature stack would otherwise have - his/her GM combat won't do anything to help.

Many games end with a final battle between two late-game armies, complete with high-level heroes. In these instances, Martyr can be useful to keep your late-game heroes alive in the face of high-level Chaos spells and the like, and the loss of some Monks or something is easily justifiable to keep your Grandmaster Tactics hero alive.

[edit] Spell Combos

Martyr + Summon X = Summoned creatures, being temporary, are the natural choice for cannon fodder.

Martyr + Create Illusion = Yes, your illusions (or your Genies' illusions) can also absorb damage on the behalf of your real units.

Martyr + Heavenly Shield = As Heavenly Shield gives you a lot of additional hitpoints, and heroes generally have more than low level creatures, you can use the hero with Heavenly Shield as a Martyr for effective low-level creature defense.