Mana System

Mana in Iron’s Spells ‘n Spellbooks is what every spell is paid for with when it’s cast from a Spell Book or an imbued weapon. You’ll start with 100 of it, and it refills on its own over time, so running out only stops you casting for a while.

Most of your extra mana will come from what you’re wearing, as mage armor, rings and Spell Books all add to the maximum. A bigger bar also gets more mana back each second, which makes Max Mana the stat you’ll want to raise first.

Mana Mechanics

Every school uses the same mana, and there’s only one bar that all of your spells share. It doesn’t matter if a spell is Fire or Holy, as the cost comes out of the same pool, and it’s refilled at the same rate.

The Mana Bar

Your mana is shown as a blue bar above your hunger, with the current and maximum amounts written on it. It won’t always be there though, as it only shows up while you’re holding a staff, a Scroll or an imbued weapon, or whenever your mana isn’t full.

Having a Spell Book in its slot isn’t enough to bring the bar up on its own, so it’ll disappear again once you’re back at full mana. If you’d rather see it all the time, the mod’s client config has an option to always show it, along with others for moving it around the screen.

Spending Mana

Casting from a Spell Book or an imbued weapon takes the spell’s mana cost off your bar, and the spell won’t cast if you don’t have enough. The cost is shown in the tooltip of the spell, and for most spells it goes up with each level.

Scrolls are the exception, as casting one by hand doesn’t use any mana at all. The cost you’ll see on a Scroll’s tooltip is listed under When in Spell Book, as it’s only charged once the spell has been written into a book.

Spells that are held down, like Dragon’s Breath and Ray of Siphoning, take their cost every half a second for as long as you keep casting. They’ll stop on their own once you’ve got less than two lots of that cost left, so a small bar will cut them short.

Mana Regeneration

Mana comes back every half a second, and each time it’s 1% of your maximum. With the 100 you start on, that works out at 2 mana a second, and an empty bar will take about 50 seconds to fill back up.

Because it’s a percentage, a bigger bar gets more mana back each second, with 600 Max Mana giving you 12 a second instead. It’ll still take the same 50 seconds to fill from empty though, and the only way to shorten that is with Mana Regeneration from your gear.

Building Your Mana Pool

There are two stats to build here, which are Max Mana and Mana Regeneration. Max Mana is the easier one to find, as it’s on nearly every piece of mage gear, whereas Mana Regeneration only comes from a handful of items.

Raising Max Mana

The first set you’ll be able to make is the Wandering Magician armor, as each piece is a Leather armor piece crafted with one Arcane Essence. It gives 25 Max Mana a piece, so the full set will double the 100 you start with.

Wandering Magician Hood

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Wandering Magician Robe

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Wandering Magician Pants

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Wandering Magician Shoes

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Mage armor is the big step up from there, as the Wizard armor and the school sets that are made from it, like the Pyromancer armor, all give 125 Max Mana a piece. A full set adds 500, which takes you to 600 before anything else is counted.

Your Spell Book and rings stack on top of your armor. An Apprentice’s Spell Book adds 50 and the books above it add more, and there are two ring slots, so a pair of Rings of Mana will give you another 200 between them.

Ring of Mana

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The Silver Ring can’t be crafted, so it’ll only turn up as loot, and it’s a weaker version that gives 25. Later on, a Mana Upgrade Orb can be added to armor, Spell Books and staffs at the Arcane Anvil for 50 Max Mana each, and every item is able to take 3 Upgrade Orbs.

Boosting Mana Regeneration

Mana Regeneration is a percentage that’s added to how much comes back every half a second. The Amethyst Resonance Charm gives 15% and goes in your necklace slot, and the Graybeard Staff gives 25% along with 10% Spell Power, though only while it’s held in your main hand.

The Tarnished Crown gives 25% as well, along with 150 Max Mana, but it lowers your attack damage by 15%. It’s worn by the Necromancer, which has a 15% chance of dropping it, and the Ice Staff is the other staff that gives 25% Mana Regeneration.

Graybeard Staff

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Amethyst Resonance Charm

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With the Charm, the Tarnished Crown and a Graybeard Staff all in use, you’ll get 65% more mana back every half a second. That brings a full refill down from 50 seconds to about 30, and it applies to the larger amounts that come with a bigger bar as well.

Restoring Mana

When you need mana back straight away, a Potion of Mana is the quickest way to get it. It’s brewed in a Brewing Stand from an Awkward Potion and Arcane Essence, and it can then be upgraded three more times, with each level restoring more.

The percentage is what makes the higher levels useful later on, as a level IV potion will restore 220 mana to a player with 600 Max Mana. Splash and Lingering versions can be made in the usual way too.

Gluttony is a Nature spell that turns food into mana for as long as its effect lasts. Each hunger point of the food you eat gives 2 mana at level 1 and 4 at level 5, so a Bread is worth 10 or 20, and you’re able to keep eating while your hunger bar is full.

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