Legend of Grimrock's cryptic spell repertoire is normally unlocked by experimenting with the Runeboard or finding spell scrolls on the floor. If this frustrates you and you would like to skip right to unlocking all of the spells, then this guide is for you.

Note that all spells have a skill level requirement that must be met before casting. The spell list in this guide also contains these skill level requirements, along with every Runeboard sequence needed to cast any spell.

Wizards and Battle Mages can cast magic with their bare hands, other classes will need a Magic Staff or Orb to cast magic spells. Note that the Quarter Staff does NOT count as a magic staff.

As already mentioned, all spells have skill requirements which are listed in this guide. All spells are learned permanently by simply casting them. There are scrolls scattered around the game world that tell you how to cast certain spells, but these scrolls serve no purpose beyond informing you.

Casting is initiated by right-clicking the magician's hand/staff/orb. A Runeboard pops up when the player does this. By left-clicking a rune on the board and holding the mouse button, the player can drag the mouse cursor over additional runes to activate them. By activating specific runes and releasing the left mouse button, the player creates a rune sequence. Click the large button on the right of the Runeboard after creating a rune sequence to cast a spell. If your rune sequence is invalid, nothing will happen and you will lose energy.

Your starting rune in a sequence does not matter as long as the resulting rune sequence matches one of the sequences listed below. For example, Dispel (Water Spell) can be started from the bottom-right rune or the top-left rune, it doesn't matter.

Requirements to unlock all Air Spells
Air Magic: 4
Concentration: 3



Shock
Requires: Air Magic 1
Energy Cost: 25
Damage: High
Target/Effect: Touch Attack
Info: Conjures a blast of electricity that deals shock damage to all foes directly in front of you.




Lightning Bolt
Requires: Air Magic 4
Energy Cost: 50
Damage: High
Target/Effect: Ranged Projectile
Info: You channel the power of storms through your hands.




Invisibility
Requires: Air Magic 3, Concentration 2
Energy Cost: 45
Target/Effect: All Party Members | Invisibility
Special Note: Enemies can still detect and attack you if you stand one tile directly in front of them.
Info: Turns yourself and your friends invisible.




Shock Shield
Requires: Air Magic 3, Concentration 3
Energy Cost: 50
Target/Effect: All Party Members | Shock Resist Up
Info: Creates a magical shield reducing shock damage against the party.

Requirements to unlock all Earth Spells
Earth Magic: 3
Concentration: 3



Poison Cloud
Requires: Earth Magic 1
Energy Cost: 27
Damage: Weak (cloud)
Target/Effect: Touch Attack | Penetrates Gratings/Portcullises | Lingering Cloud
Info: Summon a toxic cloud of poison that deals damage over time.




Poison Bolt
Requires: Earth Magic 2
Energy Cost: 32
Damage: Moderate (bolt) + Weak (cloud) + Weak (poison)
Target/Effect: Ranged Projectile | Chance to Poison Target | Staggering DoT
Info: A sizzling venomous bolt of poison shoots from your hands.




Poison Shield
Requires: Earth Magic 3, Concentration 3
Energy Cost: 50
Target/Effect: All Party Members | Poison Resist Up
Info: Creates a magical shield reducing poison damage against the party.

Requirements to unlock all Fire Spells
Fire Magic: 5
Air Magic: 3
Concentration: 3



Fireburst
Requires: Fire Magic 1
Energy Cost: 25
Damage: High (touch attack) + Weak (burning)
Target/Effect: Touch Attack | Chance to Burn Target | Staggering DoT
Info: Conjures a blast of fire that deals fire damage to all foes directly in front of you.




Fireball
Requires: Fire Magic 3, Air Magic 1
Energy Cost: 43
Damage: High
Target/Effect: Ranged Projectile
Info: A flaming ball of fire shoots from your fingertips causing devastating damage to your foes.




Meteor Storm
Requires: Fire Magic 5, Air Magic 3
Energy Cost: 80
Damage: Moderate (per hit) | Extreme (total)
Target/Effect: Ranged Projectiles | 5 Shots
Special Note: Fires five shots in quick succession. Easy to mess up your own shots if you strafe/turn after casting.
Info: Unleashes a devastating storm of meteors on your foes.




Fireshield
Requires: Fire Magic 3, Concentration 3
Energy Cost: 50
Target/Effect: All Party Members | Fire Resist Up
Info: Creates a magical shield reducing fire damage against the party

Requirements to unlock all Water Spells
Water Magic: 3
Air Magic: 1
Earth Magic: 1
Concentration: 3



Dispel
Requires: Water Magic 1, Concentration 1
Energy Cost: 42
Damage: High
Target/Effect: Ranged Projectile | Damages Elementals Only | No Friendly Fire
Special Note: Counts as Cold Damage for resistance purposes.
Info: Shoots a ray that damages elementals.




Ice Shards
Requires: Water Magic 1, Earth Magic 1
Energy Cost: 30
Damage: Moderate
Target/Effect: Ground Spikes | Hit All Targets in a Line
Info: Deathly sharp spikes of ice thrust from the ground hitting your opponents in a line. Every point in Water Magic increases the spell's range by one.




Frostbolt
Requires: Water Magic 3, Air Magic 1
Energy Cost: 37
Damage: Moderate
Target/Effect: Ranged Projectile | Chance to Freeze Target
Special Note: Frozen enemies cannot move or attack.
Info: You hurl a bolt of ice death dealing ranged damage and freezing your opponents. Every point in Water Magic increases the probability and duration of the freezing effect.




Frost Shield
Requires: Water Magic 3, Concentration 3
Energy Cost: 50
Target/Effect: All Party Members | Cold Resist Up
Info: Creates a magical shield reducing cold damage against the party.

Requirements to unlock all Utility Spells
Concentration: 3



Shield
Requires: Concentration 1
Energy Cost: 35
Target/Effect: Caster Only | Protection Up
Info: Creates a magical shield around you. The shield protects from physical damage by increasing your Protection by 25. Every point in concentration skill increases spell's duration by 10 seconds.




Darkness
Requires: Concentration 2
Energy Cost: 25
Target/Effect: All Party Members | Nullify Light Sources
Special Note: Held torches remain lit, but do not give off light while spell is active.
Info: Negates all magical and non-magical light sources carried by your party.




Light
Requires: Concentration 2
Energy Cost: 35
Target/Effect: Illuminate Party
Info: Conjures a dancing ball of light that illuminates your path.




Force Field
Requires: Concentration 2
Energy Cost: 35
Target/Effect: Summon Indestructible Cube Directly in Front of Party (temporary)
Special Note: Surrounds party with a cube when cast at a wall.
Info: Creates a magical barrier that blocks all movement for 10 seconds. Each point in Concentration adds 5 seconds to the spell duration, to a maximum of 25 seconds at level 5.
(note: the Jeweled Scepter of Ruling can cast 5 charges of a special force field that lasts 45 seconds)




Darkbolt
Requires: Concentration 3
Energy Cost: 25
Damage: Low
Target/Effect: Ranged Projectile | Chance to Blind Target
Special Note: Blinded enemies can still detect and attack you if you stand on the tile in front of them. Otherwise, blinded victims randomly wander around. Counts as Shock Damage for resistance purposes.
Info: Shoots a ray that engulfs the target in magical darkness.

Magic users provide the most utility of the classes in Legend of Grimrock 2, while also serving as secondary damage dealers. Their damage output starts off strong in the early-game, but does not scale as highly as melee-focused characters.

That isn't to say that damage spells are worthless. Offensive spells always hit their target, and they hit every monster standing in a swarm for full damage. Parties should have at least one good offensive spell for dealing with those pesky high-evasion monsters & swarms.

Now on to the specifics.

The following are the most essential spells to consider when planning out your magic user:

Force Field - The crowd control spell. No hard-mode party should be without it. This critical spell allows you to seal away a monster temporarily or block a hallway. Essential when dealing with more than one enemy. At level 2 Concentration its duration is 10 seconds, and at level 5 its duration is 25 seconds.

Invisibility - The most obvious utility spell comes with a myriad of uses, both defensive and offensive. Invisibility lasts a long time, but is lost when you attack. It is an essential spell for hard-mode parties, as it can prevent the player from being overwhelmed or cornered when used properly. It also works for deceiving bosses, and is great for positioning a backstab or special attack.

Meteor Storm - The highest damaging spell in the game. It is a bit finicky and expensive to use, but the ability to deal over a hundred damage reliably at long range proves useful even in the end-game.

Frostbolt - Another great crowd control spell. While Force Field lasts longer and never fails like frostbolt does, frostbolt comes with the advantage of leaving the victim vulnerable to attack. A level 5 frostbolt can freeze enemies for five or more devastating seconds, allowing easy backstabs and power attacks to be executed. Unfortunetly, many monsters in Grimrock 2 are resistant to frost & freezing.

Dispel - One of the only ways of damaging those pesky Air Elementals. Plus it deals good, reliable damage to elemental type monsters.

Shield - An inexpensive and reliable spell for mitigating incomming physical damage. It only requires 1 skill point in Concentration to unlock, so it is a viable option for front-row melee characters if your party has an extra Foci to spare for casting (tip: place the foci in their secondary hotswap, and swap/cast as needed). Not essential, but useful. Shield potion effects are identical and do not stack with the Shield spell.

Light - Torches are a waste of a good hand. Use this spell instead.

Fireburst - The best single-rune offensive spell. Extremely useful for damaging swarms (groups of enemies standing on 1 tile). At higher levels, it has a chance of setting enemies on fire for additional damage over time.

Poison Bolt - Good inexpensive ranged damage with the potential to apply a poison DoT. Each time this lingering poison DoT ticks, the enemy will stagger in pain, disrupting the timing of their movement and attacks a bit. Useful for monsters with dangerous side attacks like wargs if frostbolt is not an option.

Darkbolt - A cheap (25 energy) alternative to Frostbolt. Darkbolt blinds enemies, whom then wander aimlessly until they bump into you and attack. Blinded enemies are harder to land backstabs on than frozen enemies, but Darkbolt is not a Water spell, therefore is still effective against enemies that resist Cold.

Now for a damage-breakdown of the offensive elemental schools:

Air Magic - High instant damage, and very few monsters are shock resistant. The inefficient ranged Lightning Bolt spell is too expensive (50 energy) and has an awkward rune sequence.

Earth Magic - Poison cloud can penetrate gratings & portculises, but the damage it deals (even at level 5) is so pathetic that it will take many castings stretched across an unreasonable amount of time to kill even a single enemy. Poison Bolt on the other hand does good damage overall, and has the added bonus of triggering a pain state in enemies each time its lingering poison DoT ticks. This flinching effect causes enemies to move and react to you slower, and can potentially make the deadly side attacks of certain enemies (e.g. wargs) easier to deal with. Earth lacks a good single-rune touch attack spell which really hurts its value in close quarters combat. The hidden Earth-enhancing Shaman Staff that can be found in the mid-game can help make poison bolt damage competitive with the other schools. Some enemy types are Poison resistant.

Fire Magic - The highest raw damage of all schools. The single-rune touch attack spell Fireburst not only does high damage, but has a chance of igniting the enemy for damage over time at higher skill levels. This burning DoT causes pain/staggering each time it ticks. Meteor Storm is the highest-damaging spell in the game. It costs a whopping 80 energy points to cast and is easily misfired if the player turns/strafes after casting, but is still well worth learning. Few monster types are resistant to Fire.

Water Magic - Modest damage, and no single-rune touch attack. Ice shards is the only player-cast spell in Grimrock 2 that can damage multiple tiles at once, but the damage it does is only moderate and lining up your foes for an area of effect attack is highly impractical. Water magic's primary purpose is to freeze enemies with Frostbolt. Several enemy types are resistant to Frost & Freeze.

Stovich - Author, Editor, Owner
Toyoch - Contributed information on Poison Cloud & Invisibility.
dk - Contributed information on Fireburst.
Undare - Contributed information on Poison Bolt.
Jamesworkshop - Contributed information on Force Field.