--- Introduction ---

The sister books of Nature and Seas experienced some major loyalty shifts during the first few weeks of their release. At first, everyone considered Seas to be vastly superior, with its big damage numbers: Nature, on the other hand, does little damage, and requires a lot of setting before you can move in for the kill. Then, people realised Seas spells are totally unreliable: in a flash, people switched allegiances from Seas to Nature, which enjoyed a sudden boost in popularity due to the discovery of the power of the Fungus Familiar and Flurry (I still remember the many WTF!? moments I got from Flurrying people back then�).

However, even though the might of Nature is well known amongst veteran players, new players still struggle to become adept at this remarkably strategic book. I have thus decided to create this guide to help new players get on their feet with Nature. Who knows? Perhaps even the veterans could find some useful tips in this.

So� down to business. The Book of Nature �focuses on trapping enemies and controlling the battlefield�. Indeed, Nature is one of the most strategically demanding books, as all its tactics require quite a lot of planning and cunning use of spells, often taking many turns to prepare: but once they�re ready, they�re all one-hit killers. Unfortunately, it fails almost completely at general combat: to use Nature, you must rely on trapping spells to delay your opponent while you prepare your combos to unleash hell. 

--- Level One Spells ---



[Thorn Ball]

This is the only spell in Nature that can do decent damage without preparing traps. It is generally very similar to Fire Ball, being a Ball spell with 50 damage. Unlike Fire Ball, while Thorn Ball does explode when it hits a target, it doesn�t detonate when it hits the landscape: it simply sticks there. This is not just for decoration: when a Thorn Ball is hit by a land destroying spell, it will detonate doing 25 damage. That by itself isn�t much, but if it destroys other Thorn Balls nearby it will detonate them too. Note that some people think Thorn Balls triggers if you step on them: they don�t.

Despite this ability, this spell isn�t great for trap setting at all: all your opponent has to do is not end their turn near Thorn Balls. That�s not to say the trap ability is useless: you can, for example, stick a Thorn Ball next to a Den of Darkness and hit it with another Thorn Ball for 50 + 25 damage, destroying it; and it can also interrupt minions charging through terrain, like Dark Knights and Dwarves.

Thorn Balls will disappear, leaving a small hole, if they exist for more than 20 turns.



[Vine Whip]

Vine Whip is similar to Arcane Flash: both spells are used to knock Arcanists and minions into the water, or to tunnel. Vine Whip creates a series of small explosions ending with a large explosion, and most of its power is in the final explosion. Each small explosion will knock your target away until the final explosion blasts them out of the arena.

Flash is more versatile, able to send people flying in angles that Whip cannot do easily. Flash also works at close range and can blast people through walls (as long as the Flash can destroy the wall), both of which Whip cannot do. However, Whip does more damage and has more knocking power. In terms of tunneling, Flash creates a circular hole while Whip creates a bulbous tunnel: the annoying thing is you can get stuck in one of the bulbs. 

[Entangle]

Ah, now this is my all-time favourite spell. Entangle not only drags Fliers to the ground, but it also prevents your opponents from jumping more than a millimeter, and seals away their Arcane Gate. While the dragging down Fliers part may seem pointless when any old Fire Ball can do it, remember that a Protection Shielded individual won�t fall to an attack spell as long as they still have Shielding, and that�s where Entangle really shines: not to mention as long as they have Shielding, Entangle won�t wear off (although strangely, certain attacks will still end the Entangle on a Shielded individual, such as a spell cast by the victim themselves or the Armageddon spell).

This brings us to Entangle�s primary weakness: it is dispelled the moment your victim takes damage, so you can�t bind them in a hole and happily bomb them to oblivion. What Entangle can do, apart from dragging down a Flier with 50+ Shields, is to bind your enemy to the spot while you go away and heal, or prepare a devastating assault to unleash on them while they�re helpless (more on this later). Some people like to hit themselves to dispel an Entangle: often this is a simple matter of Entangling them again. If you don�t feel like risking yourself, send your Man-Trap to do it.



[Summon Man-Trap]

I consider this one of the best minions, ever. As a Nature Arcanist, the Man-Trap is essentially a mini (or mega, depending on how you see it) you: it can cast all your Thorn and Vine spells, which is essentially all your spells. I like to send my Man-Trap to Entangle my enemy with no danger to myself, or really use any of my spells without fear of counter-attack. A nice tactic to use would be to make the Man-Trap stand on your opponent�s head and use a Fugused Vine Bomb or Thorn Bomb (or both, Vine first Thorn second), the point being to stop them from towering and thus negating Thorn Bomb�s power. The most dangerous spell in a Man-Trap�s arsenal, however, is Vine Bloom: more on that later. 

[Summon Elves]

Without the Fungus Familiar Elves are very, very weak, good for very little except Draining or to disable Deflection Shields in an area with Volley. With the Fungus, however, Elves are the deadliest minions to ever walk the lands of Arcanists. Volley does nothing on the turn you use it, but at the start of your turn after the first turn, your Elves will unleash a single arrow at the target (also note that a Target affects all Elves, enemies and friends alike, and they will all shoot at the beginning of their owner's turn). These arrows don�t destroy much land (so don�t expect them to tunnel) and do about 20 damage each: not very spectacular.

However, each level of the Fungus Familiar increases the number of arrows shot in Volley by 1, so an Elf can shoot up to 6 arrows every turn at level 5, for 120 damage maximum (240 for two Elves!). Despite this significant damage boost, the one turn wait gives people plenty of time to escape, thus Volley is primarily good against trapped or towered enemies (or if your opponent also has Elves). Volley really shines, however, in Team Games: get your teammate to set Volleys for you and your Elves will fire on your turn.

The other spell Elves can cast is Flurry: more on that later. 

--- Level Two Spells ---



[Thorn Bomb]

Thorn Bomb does 40 damage on detonation and creates a ring of up to 15 Thorn Balls on land around it. Despite its damage (up to 415, no idea why the description says 1,000), the Bomb only deploys Thorn Balls over a small area, and must be manually detonated: your opponent can easily walk away. That�s why a Thorn Bomb attack is always done in conjunction with a trapping spell: problem is, the area the Thorn Balls are deployed is so small it can�t penetrate most traps. Note also Thorn Balls won�t be deployed on active Forest Seeds.

Thus, a Thorn Bomb should always be used with the Fungus Familiar: each level adds one extra ring of Thorn Balls, up to 6 rings of 15 Thorn Balls: increasing its maximum possible damage to 2,290 and greatly increasing its area of effect. In its Fungused state, the Thorn Bomb spells death for any trapped individual unable to get away.

Thorn Bomb has a weakness: its damage cannot penetrate Towers. Using it against a Towered opponent is usually a waste, and a trapped, Thorn Bombed victim can simply use a Tower to trigger the Thorn Balls around them and suffer no damage to themselves. It�s a good idea to cast Thorn Bomb using a Man-Trap on your opponent, so they cannot Tower.



[Vine Bridge]

As its name implies, the primary function of Vine Bridge is to create a bridge which you can walk over. However, it has a very potent secondary function: a trap spell. Since it creates a strip of land, Vine Bridge can be cast over enemies to cage them in, without ending your turn to boot. You can thus Bridge an opponent, walk away and prepare your minions or your defences.

Vine Bridge �sags� down the middle when cast, and the caster�s end of the bridge will sink until it reaches the caster�s feet: this normally isn�t significant but is when you�re in a Tower, as it will sink all the way to the base of the Tower. Also, if the Bridge touches an Arcanist or minion when it sets, that section will disappear. 

[Vine Bomb]

In its un-Fungused state, Vine Bomb is nothing more than the bomb version of Mud Ball, with 5 extra damage and a smaller blast radius: almost not worth using. When fully Fungused, however, Vine Bomb creates a huge ball of Vines around the target, big enough that most towers cannot break out. However, being a Bomb spell still really hurts its effectiveness. You could use this to delay an enemy, or cast it at point-blank range with Man-Traps so you can follow up with a Thorn Bomb.



[Sanctuary]

Defensively, Sanctuary is probably the weakest of the non-Arcane towers. It destroys a lot of land, it�s a big target, and strangely its Shield counts somewhat as part of the tower: while spells won�* hit the Shield, spells detonating near the Shield counts as damage to the Tower even if the detonation was out of range of the Tower itself.

However, Sanctuary has probably the most useful ability of all Towers: the ability to cancel enchantments inside its Shield. You can thus use Sanctuary offensively: dispel that guy�s Storm Shield, remove that Aura of Decay, cancel that pesky Portal, take down a Flier that got a bit too friendly� For people who like using enchantments, a Sanctuary is their worst nightmare.

Unfortunately, spell cancel works on your own spells too, so you cannot use a Shield spell with Sanctuary; and your Thorn Balls and Entangles will be dissipated if they contact the shield. The cancel ability also doesn�t work on Flame Walls or Arcane Energisers, and won�t block Swallowing Pit like many people think it does. Despite these flaws, the Sanctuary is an invaluable tool for any Nature Arcanist. 

[Flurry]

Now we come to the spell that single-handedly established Nature as a formidable spellbook. One thing about this spell is that it isn�t for you: it�s for your Elves, and you can only cast it using your Elves. Without the Fungus Familiar, Flurry is a lackluster spell: it causes each elf on the map to shoot 3 arrows immediately at the target. Essentially it is an instantaneous Volley. Casting Flurry also removes any Targets from the map, so if Volley was being cast it will be ended.

Each level of the Fungus, however, adds 2 arrows to the mix, up to a maximum of 13 arrows per Elf: that�s 260 damage just from a single Elf, and is instantaneous. The best way to use Flurry is to set an Elf on either side of an opponent�s head and cast it on them with full Fungus: instant death even if your opponent is towered. If your opponent is using Deflection shields, be sure to remove them first with Sanctuary; else Flurry won�t work.

Since people usually kill Elves the moment they are summoned, a good way to summon them is over a ledge; so that one Elf will be on top of the ledge while the other will drop to the ground below. This allows you to space your Elves further apart on summon and lessen the chance that both of them will be killed in one blow. Trapping your opponents before hand with say, Vine Bridge, is also a very good idea before you bring your Elves to the battlefield.

Note that although only a single target can be specified for Flurry, you can position your Elves in such ways so that each Elf will shoot towards the same point, but hit different victims: a nifty trick in Team Games and Free For Alls, or against a Lich with a Soul Jar. This however is situational and only works if your targets and your Elves are at very specific positions, but when it does work it works wonders. Volley can likewise benefit from this tactic. 

--- Level Three Spells ---



[Nature�s Wrath]

Nature�s Wrath summons a Tornado that descends onto the landscape. I say "descend" because it doesn�t go through the entire map, but is blocked by the first object it sets on. If you destroy the land where it sets it will drop down, but summoning new land through the Tornado won�t block it.

Nature�s Wrath can be used every single turn once it is available, but this doesn�t summon new Tornadoes: it simply replaces the old one. If someone else uses this spell, they will replace your Tornado as well. Also note that you can cast Nature's Wrath outside the boundaries of the arena: can be useful for say, dampening an Ocean's Fury.

The Tornado blows Arcanists and Minions away when they try to fly through it or jump through it, but doesn�t impede movement if they simply walk through it at its setting point. It also blows away projectiles much like Flame and Wind Shield does, but with less strength: a well powered Ball or Bomb spell is still likely to penetrate it, though its trajectory may be altered as it passes through the Tornado.

As you could probably guess, Nature�s Wrath deflects primarily horizontally, away from the column. It is quite capable, however, of deflecting projectile air strikes, and casting it on or near you can protect you well from air attacks. Unlike other Deflection spells, the Tornado doesn�t lose effect when it deflects something, which is a big bonus.

Another ability of this spell is that the moment it is cast, all Thorn Balls in the arena explodes. This means that once it is available, you can detonate Thorn Balls anytime, anywhere, without having to get close to attack them. Normally this isn�t that significant, but can be useful in some cases � on Mos Le�Harmless, for example.

A problem with Nature�s Wrath is that it lags, especially if there is an Armageddon going on. It�s best not to summon it somewhere like Giant�s Mountains unless you want mega-lag when the map is filled with Volcanoes. 

[Vine Bloom]

A lot of people say Vine Bloom is weak, that it doesn�t deserve to be a level 3, that its place should be switched with Flurry and it should recharge� they don�t know what they�re talking about. Vine Bloom, while not exactly as strong as Flurry in many aspects, is just as deadly as any Nature tactic.

Vine Bloom, like Flurry, is not for you: it is for your Man-Traps to cast. When a Man-Trap casts Vine Bloom, it becomes stunned (so your allies cannot move it), and at the beginning of your next turn it explodes into 5 Thorn Bombs and 5 Vine Bombs (which should be a total of 2,225 damage: not sure where they pulled 5,000 from). A lot of people complain that these Bombs aren�t affected by the Fungus and are thus weak, but in truth with this many bombs often even the initial explosion from ten Bombs is enough to kill. This means that you can kill with Vine Bloom without having to gamble 100 health. Also remember that since the Man-Trap explodes at the beginning of your turn, you can detonate them immediately with Nature�s Wrath, giving them no chance of escape.

You might argue that one has plenty of time to escape while the Man-Trap is preparing to explode, which is normally true: but that�s where Entangle comes in. Entangle your foe and they�re helpless, unable to jump, fly or to Gate. If they�re Entangled while the Man-Trap is charging, they�re toast.

The only flaw with the Entangle and Vine Bloom combo is your opponent may be able to flash the Man-Trap away, or use Blast from the Past to remove the Entangle and Gate. This is where Vine Bridge comes in: put a Bridge over your target and your Man-Trap so that the Man-Trap cannot be flashed away, and any Blast from the Past they aim into the sky will be smacked down by the Bridge. Alternatively, if Vine Bridge is not an option, you can set another minion on the Blooming Man-Trap, which likewise prevents it from being flashed. This doesn't protect against self-BftP, however, so make sure they can't do it. 

[Vine Bloom]

A lot of people say Vine Bloom is weak, that it doesn�t deserve to be a level 3, that its place should be switched with Flurry and it should recharge� they don�t know what they�re talking about. Vine Bloom, while not exactly as strong as Flurry in many aspects, is just as deadly as any Nature tactic.

Vine Bloom, like Flurry, is not for you: it is for your Man-Traps to cast. When a Man-Trap casts Vine Bloom, it becomes stunned (so your allies cannot move it), and at the beginning of your next turn it explodes into 5 Thorn Bombs and 5 Vine Bombs (which should be a total of 2,225 damage: not sure where they pulled 5,000 from). A lot of people complain that these Bombs aren�t affected by the Fungus and are thus weak, but in truth with this many bombs often even the initial explosion from ten Bombs is enough to kill. This means that you can kill with Vine Bloom without having to gamble 100 health. Also remember that since the Man-Trap explodes at the beginning of your turn, you can detonate them immediately with Nature�s Wrath, giving them no chance of escape.

You might argue that one has plenty of time to escape while the Man-Trap is preparing to explode, which is normally true: but that�s where Entangle comes in. Entangle your foe and they�re helpless, unable to jump, fly or to Gate. If they�re Entangled while the Man-Trap is charging, they�re toast.

The only flaw with the Entangle and Vine Bloom combo is your opponent may be able to flash the Man-Trap away, or use Blast from the Past to remove the Entangle and Gate. This is where Vine Bridge comes in: put a Bridge over your target and your Man-Trap so that the Man-Trap cannot be flashed away, and any Blast from the Past they aim into the sky will be smacked down by the Bridge. Alternatively, if Vine Bridge is not an option, you can set another minion on the Blooming Man-Trap, which likewise prevents it from being flashed. This doesn't protect against self-BftP, however, so make sure they can't do it. 

--- Strategy: First Turns ---



At this point of the guide, you should already have a very good idea how to use Nature, so this section is just to wrap it all up.

The first few turns of a game with Nature can be intense, as Flurry is available very early at turn 4 and is arguably Nature�s most dangerous killer. If you as a Nature Arcanist gets first turn, you get a significant, possibly even game ending advantage; as it means Flurry will be ready before your opponent gets Air Strikes: if you keep them trapped they could have no chance of getting at your Elves before they�re ready to kill. Even if you don�t get first turn however, you could still attempt to trap your enemy and summon Elves before Air Strikes are ready, then space them out so any Air Strike can only kill one of them. Even a single Elf can do a devastating 260 damage with Fungused Flurry.

Arcane Zero Shield is very useful, especially if you get first turn: it means you can Entangle your opponent and they will not be able to attack you or get it off short of Sanctuary. Use a Vine Bridge to block self-Blast from the Past attempts and you could possibly scrape a very easy win with Flurry. If you do not manage to Flurry your opponent early, don�t despair: usually against a decent opponent you wouldn�t anyway. 

--- Strategy: General ---



As you now know, Nature focuses on preparing devastating combos to destroy your enemies in an instant. A lot of your matches as a Nature Arcanist will involve you preparing your tactics while holding off your enemy with trap spells. Fortunately, Nature has a wide array of spells for trapping: Vine Bridge, Entangle, Vine Bomb, or just the plain old minion-standing-on-head trick; but it won�t hurt to bring more traps to help you. If you get the chance to Whip someone into the water, do so. Your trap spells can also often be used for defence: a Vine Bridge, for example, can also be used to block off openings; so if you find trapping to be not an option, you could always turtle up with your traps and towers.

While keeping your opponent away, you have three choices of finisher moves, each with a distinct method of preparation: Thorn Bomb, Flurry, and Vine Bloom. The first two are dependent on the Fungus, while the last two require use of your minions: though Thorn Bomb is also best used with your Man-Trap for optimal results.

Thorn Bomb is probably the trickiest to use because as a bomb, it�s not very controllable, and you need to trap your opponent first or they could easily escape; Fungus powered or no. Entangle won�t work as the initial Bomb blast can dispel it, and a Fungused Vine Bomb sometimes creates too much land for a Thorn Bomb to penetrate. I find the best way to do this is to use your Man-Trap to stand on your opponent, put down a Vine Bomb to trap, and then Thorn Bomb. This ensures they cannot tower while your Man-Trap is on them, and also ensures the Thorn Bomb will do maximum damage. However, this does take many turns to prepare and your opponent can still Gate away: as again Entangle won�t work in this tactic. 

Flurry is the simplest of the three killers to use. Summon Elves, set them in clear sight of your target or simply put them on either side of your target�s head, Flurry. Almost always an instant kill even through Towers. The weakness of this is of course the fact Elves can be killed easily, and on the turn they�re summoned they could both be killed in one blow. Try to summon Elves while your opponent is trapped and cannot attack them, and don�t summon them till Flurry is or is almost recharged.

Vine Bloom is the least known of the three Nature killers, but is still very deadly. This is how I prefer to use it: First turn, summon the Man-Trap somewhere safe. Second turn, Entangle your foe (whether you summon first or Entangle first doesn�t matter; but I prefer to Entangle later so my opponent has less chances to remove it). If it is necessary, use Vine Bridge before you Entangle to create an environment suitable for a Bloom Kill, i.e. a valley with the target at the bottom: just make sure most of the Bombs will settle near your target. Third turn, move the Man-Trap onto or near your target, then cast a Vine Bridge over both of them, and cast Vine Bloom. The Vine Bridge is to prevent self-BftP (to remove the Entangle so they can use Gate) and also to prevent the Man-Trap from being flashed off. If Vine Bridge is not an option, use another minion to pin the Blooming Man-Trap so it cannot be flashed away, but remember this doesn't protect against self-BftP like Bridge can.

If all goes well, on the fourth turn you get to use Nature�s Wrath and can enjoy your victory. Sometimes you don�t even need to detonate the Thorn Balls: the blast from ten Bombs could very well kill the target outright. 

--- Strategy: Team Play ---



Considering Nature is mostly about instant single target kills, it may be said that Nature is a 1 vs 1 book; and has little place in Team Games and Free For Alls. For Free For Alls this is more or less true, but not so for Team Games: in fact, a Team with three Nature Users could potentially be deadlier than any other combination.

Firstly, while in a Team Game your teammates can detonate your Thorn Balls for you, which mean if you order it right you could kill an enemy with Thorn Bomb without having to trap them, since they won�t even get a chance to escape. If you�re lucky, you could even kill two enemies at once this way with a Fungused Thorn Bomb. Secondly, your teammates can set Volley targets on your Elves for you, allowing them to fire immediately at the start of your turn: again, timed right your victim won�t get the chance to move away.

If your teammates also use Nature, they could even set Vine Blooms and Flurries for you; and remember that Flurry and Volley targets are universal for all Elves: even Volley could become an inescapable kill with multiple Nature Arcanists, so long as you plan it right. A teammate using Nature�s Wrath could also detonate your Thorn Balls without having to move into danger: nifty.

While intuitively, killing single targets is a bad idea due to the way the Team system works, used strategically it can be deadly. Remember Nature spells can easily kill an opponent at full health, so the health of your victims is nearly irrelevant: you could kill off that guy who�s waiting for his teammates to die and get triple turns without him being able to do anything to stop you, leaving the opposing team with two crippled members. 

--- Recommended Spells ---



[Arcane Gate] 9.9/10

The only reason Arcane Gate doesn�t have 10 this time is because Nature is very capable of killing enemies early, which diminishes the importance of Gate ever so slightly. Still, if you don�t bring this you�re likely to get your behind handed to you on a silver platter, an early drown could take away most of your health and leave you unable to charge up Fungus to full.



[Arcane Zero Shield] 6.5/10

Nature is one of the few strategies that actually benefit directly from Arcane Zero Shield. If you get first turn and your opponent happens to be in Entangle�s reach, you could greatly increase your chances of getting an early Flurry kill. And if you don�t get first turn, this will protect you from Shock Bomb or Flash attempts, which could force you to heal before you can charge your Familiar.



[Arcane Portal] 5/10

Opponent�s hiding in a hole somewhere to escape from your Elves? Use a Portal so you could send your Elf over and Flurry them. In general though, I�d simply Vine Whip my way to my opponent� after all, it doesn�t matter if they heal up or spam Shields, since Sanctuary dispels them all and no matter how much you heal, Nature tactics can still get you in a single shot. You can afford to wait a few turns while you dig to them. If you get tired of the Portal, you could use Sanctuary to close it.



[Mud Ball] 7/10

Extra trapping spells never goes awry, especially one as versatile as Mud Ball. Sure they could tower to break out of it. But what does it matter? Double-Elf Flurry can kill you, Tower or no. Mud Ball is great for buying time, or maybe as a precursor to Thorn Bomb, as Vine Bomb creates too much land for Thorn Bomb to work effectively.



[Rock Slab] 7.5/10

While it doesn�t create much land like Mud Ball does, Rock Slab can be used from anywhere, on anywhere; and has infinite uses with no recharge. I consider this spell to be superior to Mud Ball under most circumstances. 

[Storm Spirit] 6.5/10

Apart from being able to cast Spirit Shield (keep it away from Sanctuaries when you do this), Storm Spirits are particularly useful as elevators. On Grassy Hills, for example; you can move the Spirit to the very edge of the map and put an Elf on it. Make sure the Spirit is "facing" away from the center, and make it fly down. This allows you ferry Elves down the sides of the map to Flurry that annoying hider.



[Drain Bolt] 8/10

No spell lineup is complete without a healing spell, and Drain Bolt is a great one. As Nature you have access to Elves, which comes in pairs and can be drained for 60+ health per drain; and also the Man-Trap which can be drained many times with its 100 health. If your opponent comes knocking, put your minions next to them and Drain: you get a chunk of health and also damage your foe for 30. With Drain Bolt, even Nature with its weak combat abilities can hold its own with the help of towers and a healthy minion supply.



[Protection Shield] 6.5/10

Yes, I know I said using shields are not recommended with Nature because Sanctuary dispels them, but� Protection Shield is just too useful. Besides, you could simply try not to use both at the same time: use a Sanctuary when your shield fails, or slap on a shield when your Sanctuary breaks. However, you could probably do better with another Tower instead.



[Sky Ray] 6/10

Nature lacks an Air Strike, and Sky Ray is quite a good one with its immunity to deflection, good knockback, and heavy damage against Undead. If you want to use Protection Shield you might as well go with this one too.



[Forest Seed] 7.5/10

Forest Seed is not only an excellent trapping spell, but is also an excellent defence spell. You can use it to trap your opponent, maybe drain some health; or you can use this to shield yourself from enemy spells. While this is one of the best trap spells, it suffers from being usable every 5 turns only; but its superiority more than makes up for that. 

[Summon Pixies] 7/10

Good for two things: as an Elf Elevator like Storm Spirits, and can be drained for a massive 90 health in a single turn. Fairy Ring ability is not half bad either for getting you out of sticky situations without wasting Gate. They do require Forest Seed, which is also a great Nature Spell in it's own right. All in all, a good choice for Nature, especially on Grassy Hills (for Elf Elevator).



[Sphere of Healing] 6.5/10

I personally find Heal inferior to Drain, as it is quite useless when you�re under attack and doesn�t heal very much at all, whereas Drain can be used on multiple targets for large amounts of health. And, with Nature, you should easily be able to maintain multiple targets for you to drain off. However, Sphere of Healing does have the advantage of being able to heal your minions, so you could heal up that Man-Trap instead of discarding it if it gets hurt too much before it can Bloom.



[Deluge] 6.5/10

A powerful and reasonably accurate Air Strike. Since Nature doesn�t have an Air Strike it could use one, but it isn�t exactly essential: still, a nice bonus if you think you can afford the slot.



[Summon Brine Goblin] 6/10

You might be thinking �what!?� right now, but Summon Brine Goblin actually has some synergies with Nature. The credit for this discovery goes to a player whose name I cannot remember (sorry), but kudos to them.

This is what you do. Summon a Brine Goblin, move it next to your target, and throw in a Thorn Bomb. The idea is that as the Goblin is killed by the Thorn Bomb�* explosion, it will explode and detonate the Thorn Balls. While it sounds good in theory, in practice it doesn�t work as well because the Thorn Bomb must detonate really close to the Goblin to kill it, and usually the Goblin explodes before the Thorn Balls have finished deploying, or simply fly off and explode out of range. Despite these flaws, this tactic is still capable of inflicting decent damage. 

[Static Ball] 6/10

Apart from the fact that Static Ball is a decent stalling spell, it can also augment some of Nature�s tactics. While using Vine Bloom, the Man-Trap is vulnerable to getting killed: using a Static Ball before you use Vine Bloom can protect the Man-Trap from most spells, and the Ball dissipates the same turn the Bloom activates. This does take an extra turn in the already lengthy Bloom tactic, but it can be well worth it.

Static Ball can also be used to use a Thorn Bomb on an Entangled individual: Entangle, Static Ball, and Thorn Bomb. The Static Ball will delay the Thorn Bomb so it detonates at the start of your turn, letting you detonate it immediately; and it also prevents your victim from removing the Entangle by shooting themselves.



[Static Shield] 5/10

Why do I mention Static Shield here? Because of Sanctuary. Sanctuary can dispel Static Balls and Shields, which means using it you can end a Static Shield at the end of your turn instead of the start of your next turn. This means you could do things like store up a Flurry and unleash it with a Sanctuary. Not very practical, to be sure, but it*s still interesting.



[Recall Device] 5/10

The Recall Device can teleport you without ending your turn, which is always a good thing if you�re trapped or something. The reason I mention it here, however, is because of its level 2 spell�



[Calling Bell] 5.5/10

� Calling Bell. With this spell, you could do things like set up a Thorn Minefield somewhere, put a Recall Device in it, trap the Recall Device with Vine Bridges or Bombs or whatever, Entangle your opponent, and then use Calling Bell on them. Like Static Shield and Brine Goblin, these aren�t very practical synergies, but they�re synergies nonetheless.



[Clock Tower] 8/10

The best tower. Level 1, decent health, can move, compact, the usual lecture. With both the Clock Tower and the Sanctuary a Nature Arcanist could be quite well defended. 

--- Recommended Maps ---

Nature isn�t a particularly map-dependent book, and can work well on any map. However, since Nature�s killer tactics do require you to be able to reach your enemy, it�s probably best to choose a map with few hiding places. A few Nature tactics also rely on valleys somewhat, and Whip can take care of people on mountains; so a rugged terrain could also work to your favour.



[Grassy Hills] 7.5/10

With few significant hiding places and usually rugged terrain, Grassy Hills is quite good for Nature. However, there are hiding spots at the sides which Nature spells cannot reach, and you�d have to dig your way through if you wish to get at people who simply hide resolutely. You can also use a Nature's Wrath at the sides of the map so you can deflect spells onto enemies hiding at the sides, or use a Storm Spirit to lower an Elf to their level (their reactions when you do this is priceless).



[Giant�s Mountains] 6/10

While this map generally has more significant differences in elevation, it often doesn�t have as many nooks and crannies as Grassy Hills does; and the sides of the mountains aren�t very friendly for bouncing bombs and such. Still a decent map as it has few hiding places. The Armageddon clashes horribly with Nature�s Wrath to create epic lag, so be wary.



[Elven Isles] 6/10

Usually, this map has lots and lots of hiding places and inscalable mountains, and can be a pain to transverse. If your opponent is determined you won�t get near them, chances are you won�t. However, the terrain is usually very rugged, allowing for lots of places to trap your foes; and sometimes the map renders flat: good for Whipping and of course, getting to your targets.



[Goblin Caves] 6.5/10

Goblin Caves often has a few caves to hide in, though there aren�t that many and are easy to break through. Since a lot of the action will probably happen under cover, Air Strikes shouldn�t be problematic and the claustrophobic caves are good for your traps. 

[Murky Swamps] 7/10

Very rugged terrain, but usually easy to transverse with a bit of land destruction. This map is okay for Nature and often has plentiful cover to defend you from long ranged spells.



[Graveyard] 7/10

A very flat map that, on one hand, means you can reach your opponents no matter where they are; but on the other makes trapping spells and tactics less effective. There�s usually significant cover to protect from Air Strikes, but considering the flatness of the terrain battles will probably be fought at close quarters rather than at a range anyway.



*Sky Castles] 6.5/10

The fact that most of the landscape consists of floating clouds means that trap spells generally won�t work well, as there�s lots of holes between the clouds; and bomb spells are likely to roll off and into the water below. On the plus side, cover is everywhere, and there aren�t many hiding spots except at the sides; which are easily reached.



[Mos Le�Harmless] 7/10

The Nature themed map. You can use Nature�s Wrath to detonate monkey Thorn Balls, which means if your opponent accumulated a few around them from missed monkey attacks you could detonate them. Nature�s Wrath can also protect you very well from attacks from your own monkeys. However, this map is a huge downside: monkeys take up minion slots, and Nature relies on its minions. However, usually you can use detonate Thorn Balls (with Nature�s Wrath) to kill many of the monkeys on the map.

Be wary of Liches: they heal from damage their minions do, and Monkey Thorn Balls do count. Detonating Thorn Balls could actually heal a Lich.



[Arcane Crystals] 7.5/10

This map is flat, has few hiding places but lots of nooks and crannies for you to seal with Vine Bridges or to drop bombs into. Not a bad map, downside would be how big it is: Nature needs time to move its minions around into position, and if your opponent is on the other side of the map you may have problems moving two Elves over without your turn ending. 

--- Enemies of Nature ---

Nature doesn�t really have specific weaknesses: its weakness is in the way it�s played, specifically it having very little direct combat ability and can only use its powerful but time-consuming combos to kill. However, there are still some spells and builds which a Nature Arcanist needs to watch out for.



[Storm Spirit] 5/10

With the ability to spam Spirit Shield, and with Nature not having a non-deflectable attack, your opponent could fly high, high in the sky and protect themselves with this very annoying minion. You could try to Sanctuary them with the help of Vine Bridge, but that won�t always reach. Bringing a good Air Strike along (Sky Ray, Deluge) is also a good idea, though won�t always work if they also use Protection Shield while flying. Your best bet is to play on a map with an air-based Armageddon, or one where the land is high enough so that Vine Bridge + Sanctuary will almost always reach (Grassy Hills).

Note here that there may be a way to break a Spirit Shield with Flurry. Have one Elf close to your target and the other as far away as possible, but still in range. When you cast Flurry, the first Elf's arrows will disable the Shield, allowing the second Elf's arrows to penetrate and hit the Arcanist and the Storm Spirit.



[Swallowing Pit] 6/10

A well timed Swallowing Pit could thwart a Flurry or Vine Bloom attempt in its tracks. Thankfully the spell can only be used once.



[Death Damage Spells] 6/10

If one of your Elves gets zombified by your opponent, keep all your other Elves away from yourself; because they can now use that Elf to cast Volley; which as you remember affects all Elves, friend or foe. Thus, on your turn you may find your Elves a bit too happy to turn their own master/mistress into a pincushion. 

[Full Underdark Users] 7/10

The primary threat they pose to you, apart from being able to capture your minions, is their Soul Jar. It gives them a second life, so without an Overlight spell you�re not likely to kill them with a single Flurry or Vine Bloom. A good idea is to somehow trap their Soul Jar so when they respawn, they won�t get anywhere. Remember though that Underdark Users also have Swallowing Pit to interrupt one of your minion-kill attempts, so you could almost say they have three lives� very hardy.



[Full Seas Users] 7/10

Against Full Seas, you really have to kill them quickly with your first Flurry attempt, or you may never get a chance to kill them once they�ve Gated into their Maelstrom caves. On the water, they�re practically immune to trapping spells, and with a Water Lord they can gain unrivaled mobility on the water. Basically, kill them fast, or don�t kill them at all. 

==The end==

This guide to the Book of Nature is written by City of Wonder, for use only on www.funorb.com and www.supercheats.com. All copyrights go to Jagex LTD for the creation of their wonderful game, Arcanists. Email me at [email protected]